Inia Sestina from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse (Eishi Strengthening Equipment Version)

Inia Sestina from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse

Last year, we took a look at Kotobukiya’s figures of Yui Takamura and Cryska Barchenowa. A few months after those figures hit the market, Kotobukiya released a figure of Inia Sestina, which is what we’re looking at here. It appears that Inia closes out the series, which is unfortunate for fans of Tarisa Manandal, Stella Bremer, or Cui Yifei, who seem unlikely to get figures of their own, and I suppose I can also mention the male characters as well, who almost certainly will not ever get figures. It’s a mildly curious situation, as the various Muv-Luv Alternative series have always been accompanied by strong merchandising efforts, but those are just the breaks, I guess.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

We’ve looked at a ton of Total Eclipse figures here but just in case anyone needs a recap regarding the source, Total Eclipse is a story spun off of Age’s Muv-Luv series, in which the Earth has come under attack by a bunch of hungry aliens searching for a good meal. The story was initially published in the magazine Tech Gian and later received an anime adaptation which concluded in December 2012 and is undoubtedly how most people became familiar with the series. Following the final episode, the story returned to its visual novel roots, with Age and 5pb publishing a Total Eclipse video game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms which presumably concludes the storyline.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

I recently resumed watching the anime after having dropped it around the eighth or ninth episode, and it didn’t take long for me to remember why I didn’t like it. The amount of talking-head exposition is ludicrous, even for a property spawned from a visual novel, the plot meanders aimlessly (when it does lurch forward, it does so with the grace and subtlety of a sledgehammer), and the characters are almost entirely lacking in depth and charisma. On one hand, none of this should be that surprising, being that it’s reasonable to assume that Total Eclipse mainly exists to sell toys, books, and pillowcases rather than to tell a story. On the other hand, that doesn’t explain why the series received a full 24-episode treatment. That the principal characters are almost relegated to guest-star status early in the show by a bunch of random commie military people is also puzzling. The sci-fi alien invasion trope is a good one, and one has to work pretty hard to screw it up, but somehow the producers of Total Eclipse managed to do it. There’s a good story somewhere in there; they just weren’t competent enough to bring it out.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

But the show’s character designs are still good; if it’s hard to botch an alien invasion show, it’s really hard to mess up a design philosophy predicated on vacuum-sealing large-breasted female (and muscular male) characters into skin-tight suits, and that’s a major reason why I keep buying figures of characters from this show (and Evangelion, Space Battleship Yamato, Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, and so on).

As mentioned, this particular figure is manufactured by Kotobukiya; it’s sculpted in 1/7 scale and stands about 16.5 centimeters in overall height. Inia is basically ready for display right out of the box; she comes with no accessories, not even little plastic rocks like those supplied with Yui.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

Inia is the younger half of the pairing called the Scarlet Twins, and a comparison between the two seems like a good place to start. Obviously, Inia is more slightly built than her older counterpart. Her hair is a bit different as well; while Cryska’s hair is a matte purple color, Inia’s hair has an almost satin sheen to it and is slightly lighter in color.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

One aspect in which Inia doesn’t greatly differ from Cryska is in the development of her chest; Inia’s bust is a little smaller than Cryska’s but it is still much larger than expected, especially considering that she otherwise has the basic body build of a young girl. Interestingly, Inia’s breasts appear to be about the same size as Meiya Mitsurugi’s, even though she is smaller in all other respects.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

Of course, Inia’s breasts are highlighted by the design of her piloting suit. In keeping with anime convention, her outfit is ridiculously tight, showing off every contour of her body. The glossy coloring heightens its appeal as well, along with giving her uniform a futuristic look.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

That, of course, includes her navel. I like the little symbol above her pubic region.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

And I also like her big clunky shoes, which I think are pretty cute. Her shoes, gloves, pauldrons, and chin guard frame Inia’s body, presenting a bulky, solid, and almost mechanical look that complements her sinusoidal, obviously feminine form.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

As with their previous figure of Inia, Kotobukiya has presented her hair as sweeping to the side.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

The bases of Yui, Cryska, and Inia can all fit against each other so that they can be displayed together.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

Also in keeping with anime convention, Inia’s eyes are large, larger than Cryska’s, giving her a much younger-looking appearance than her sibling, and her eyelids slope upwards from the outside of her face towards the bridge of her nose – this style is called “tareme” and generally denotes a younger person with a gentle, meek, or otherwise diffident and agreeable sort of personality, which seems to be appropriate for Inia. Her wide eyes and parted lips convey a slight sense of anxiety – understandable for a girl who doesn’t really fit into society, even military society, all that well.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya

I’ve liked all of Kotobukiya’s figures of the Muv-Luv characters in their piloting suits, and Inia is no exception; she looks great. She has a lovely design made sexier by the attractiveness (some might say lewdness) of her outfit. Pretty much the only regret I have is that I paid full price for this figure; virtually every single one of Kotobukiya’s Muv-Luv figures has hit the bargain bin shortly after release. But then, she looks so nice that I don’t mind that much.

Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
Inia Sestina figure by Kotobukiya
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12 Responses to Inia Sestina from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse (Eishi Strengthening Equipment Version)

  1. wieselhead says:

    Total Eclipse was by far no masterpiece, but I felt entertained most of the time.
    Well, I can enjoy anime with half baked stories, like Hyakka Ryouran when there are aspects I like, be it character interaction, appealing character designs or whatever. Hey I also watch Blade & Soul, whch is hilariously badly executed on the sad side it might be Gonzo’s final gravestone, I really appreciated their previous works from years ago, I don’t understand why B & S is such a mess, why can’t they use the potential when it is right there. My only complain about the Total Eclipse show is that no second season was announced so far.

    Ohhh what a cute girl today! The figure looks great, she’s a great example of boobs and moe combined into a figure. Her proportions appear rather well balanced thx to the bigger head the boobs appear less massive, not that I would complain anyway ^^ Well, I also love her cute face.

    The gloss of her suit also has this certain roughness, like car paint.
    The first picture looks so good, last time I was “drooling” over Cryska, but it seems that Inia is my favorite from these 3.

    • Tier says:

      I just got through the Soviet arc; hopefully it gets better. Even a harem arc would have been better than that and as I understand it, that’s what Total Eclipse turns into. The portrayal of the Russians as devious, conniving, and amoral was pretty funny in light of contemporary events, though. There’s a pretty straightforward reason there’s no second season of Total Eclipse; they finished out the story in the Xbox/Playstation game. From what I understand, fans of Total Eclipse’s characters might be better off not knowing how the story concludes.

      Haha, yeah, Blade & Soul is a little, hmm, uninspired, particularly with respect to the main character, who has all the personality of, well, an MMO character. That’s another show where I like the character designs but don’t particularly care for the characters (not that they’ve shown much to care about). It would be too bad if Gonzo does go under for the last time; I really liked Witchblade and Last Exile. (It’s kinda interesting to note how the Queen’s Blade anime did a better job of giving personalities to its characters, even though they were all originally just illustrations in game books.)

      Inia does look great, especially this combination of petite from and large bust size is seldom seen together. I wonder why. Kotobukiya has been doing a lot of great stuff recently; while I don’t really expect them to make any more figures of the Total Eclipse characters, it’d be nice if they did some figures of the other spinoffs, like The Euro Front and Schwarzesmarken. The latter would be interesting since I don’t think Carnelian has had many of her illustrations adapted into figures, which is a little odd for an artist who’s been around for so long.

  2. Dvalinn says:

    Total Eclipse was an example of a show that I liked despite its many, many flaws. Because, yeah, I can understand why some people think it sucks. I mean, the story is slow and faffs around quite a lot, the animation can be godawful at times and it’s not exactly the most original thing in the world. Despite that, however, I still kept me entertained more than a lot of other mecha shows do (like, say, Captain Earth this season), the characters had nice designs and I could appreciate how most of them were adults.

    The figures are the best thing to come out of this show, however, and this one is no exception. Though I don’t have her myself yet, she is in the ‘buy her if you find her on Manda for a reasonable price’ category and figures of this show supercede my ‘one figure per character’ rule because they all look nice (I’ve got the other two pilot suit versions and the two swimsuit ones from Koto). Besides the fact that I just like her general design (both of the suit and the character – and indeed, petite with big breasts really is an underused look), her face looks really nice and I like how her hair flows around her. Even it if doesn’t make any sense compared to the rest of the set (looking at Yui, which way is the wind blowing?). Her base looks cool too and I like how the three of them all have different poses that complement each other (standing, sitting and lying down).

    Hell, I might go and look for her when my next salary comes in. Not like I have any pre-orders the next few months anyway.

    • Tier says:

      I think my antipathy towards Total Eclipse stems from its unrealized potential. There’s a lot of material that they could have worked with and yet they managed to botch it quite badly. It doesn’t help that the first couple of episodes gave people an entirely wrong impression about what the series was actually about (which is too bad, the Soviet arc could’ve used some of that brutality). It reminds me a little of Guilty Crown in that respect; it’s funny how I keep coming back to that show. Both shows tried to present a serious, mature tone and theme and they both failed at it. Nonetheless, I’m going to try to finish out the show since this current anime season doesn’t seem that impressive.

      Inia was pretty cheap on Amiami not long ago, though I think she’s sold out now. In fact, I think all of Kotobukiya’s Muv-Luv figures have hit the bargain bin shortly after release; if they make any more, I don’t know if I’m actually going to preorder them because I could’ve saved myself a lot of money in the past by waiting. I haven’t checked but I’m sure she’s available for cheap on Mandarake now.

      She does have a really nice design, as do all the Muv-Luv girls, and that’s what really drives me to buy them. I’m a little surprised that her chest is so large here; I had kinda expected the sculptor to try to minimize them, but I’m glad that he didn’t. It’s a little strange how underused Inia and Cryska were in Total Eclipse’s first half; hopefully they make more of an impact in the second half.

  3. Galih says:

    Yayyyy!!!!!! finally the last of the trinity from muv-luv eclipse, though my favorite is still cryska, but this is still good. i think her bust size is too big for her moe face, but that’s all the bad side i can think

  4. Clan_Clan says:

    Tier, The Kagami Sumika figure has a similar style of base; do you know if it is intended to fit in with the above figures? http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10242959a/20/1 It kind of looks like it might fit into that gap below Yui. (Now if only Meiya’s base could fit in as well…all five of the Muv-Luv skin-tight girls together…)

    • Tier says:

      I don’t know, but I would highly doubt it, since they are technically from different series. I’ll be able to check for myself pretty soon, though. Now that you mention it, it is a little odd that Meiya got the oddball purple base while Sumika got the city wreckage base, just like the Total Eclipse characters.

  5. DarkFaiz says:

    Yup, I don’t understand why they make a 24 episode anime for a side story / spin-off like total eclipse while the main story (unlimited & alternative) is better (parallel world, alien invasion & giant mecha).

    BTW Inia is a great figure but I feel that the chest looks bigger from the anime.

    • Tier says:

      The story I read – and I don’t know if it’s true, but it sounds plausible – is that since Muv-Luv Alternative is a complicated story that relies on some knowledge of the previous Muv-Luv games, it would be a lot harder to animate than Total Eclipse, which can stand on its own … more or less, anyway.

      Her chest does seem to be quite a bit larger than much of the official art; that’s kinda neat, usually one doesn’t see a character with this sort of frame presented like this.

  6. Tsunami3k says:

    Oh man I had no idea they interlocked like that. I’m going to have to free these ladies from their boxes and try it out. I like that she’s a bit less….”anti-gravity” than Cryska although I’m sure if any lore has been devoted to the mechanics of their form-fitting suits then there’s no doubt an explanation as to the enhanced perk-factor.

    I’m not sure how it happened but I’ve inexplicably ended up with most of the Muv-Luv figures without ever consciously intending to save for the couple of “swimsuits’n’guns” figures and the older one of Kasumi with her bunny. Chalk it up to them being consistently cute and affordable I guess.

    It’s a shame that the series was such crap. How great would it be if great character designs and source material with solid potential wasn’t squandered. It reminds me more than a little of Tony Taka’s character designs. I’d love to see a serious production featuring his character designs in an animated work that wasn’t half-assed story-wise as I gather the small bit of Shining property that’s been produced has reportedly been; probably not as bad as Muv-Luv but still phoned-in.

    Hmm….I wonder if my Kotobukiya Misato figure’s rubble base would integrate into these..?! Haha, probably not but it would be fascinating if somehow every rubble base Kotobukiya has ever made eventually all fit together to form a secret message. Bah, it’d probably be a crummy commercial. ;D

    • Tier says:

      I suppose that since their mecha are modeled on fighter aircraft, it would make sense for their uniforms to act like G-suits. I don’t know if they ever state that but it would be a very convenient way to rationalize the fan service.

      I’ve always liked the Muv-Luv character designs, even though I’m not all that familiar with the franchise (I’m still hoping MangaGamer or someone brings over an official localization of Muv-Luv Alternative, though). The girls-in-tight-suits-driving-big-ass-mechs trope is one of the classic themes in anime, and it’s certainly one of my favorites.

      Haha, yeah; I really wish that it had turned out better. It is too bad that Total Eclipse and Guilty Crown failed so completely at trying to be more sophisticated and dramatic than a lot of anime aspire to (frankly, being that both shows fell so short in that goal, I would have enjoyed both shows more if they had just turned into fan-service shows like so many anime series do). (I often knock the Fate/stay night franchise for its pretentiousness of both its plot and its core fanbase but I have to give the Fate/zero anime some credit; while watching it I never got the feeling that it was insulting my intelligence like I did with Total Eclipse.)

      Yeah, it’d be nice if Tony’s work were incorporated into something more substantive (or if not, it’d be nice if he did more porn, which is what he’s best at). As I’ve whined a lot about the state of the Shining franchise, I’ll just say that I’d appreciate something more serious than a show or game about baking bread.

      It’d be pretty funny if there was some kind of weird connection between Kotobukiya’s rubble-themed figures. It would’ve been pretty neat if they made the Total Eclipse characters in 1/6 scale; not only would I have appreciated the larger size, they would’ve fit better with all of Kotobukiya’s 1/6 scale Evangelion figures.

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