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Yui Takamura from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse (Gekka Version)

written on April 12, 2012 by Tier

Yui Takamura from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse Figure Review

The Muv-Luv Alternative series is well-known and well-respected for its complex storyline, its realism – insofar as big battles between giant mechs and space aliens can be deemed realistic – and, of course, its sexy female characters vacuum-sealed into impossibly tight pilot suits. Not that you’d know that from any of the figures featuring Total Eclipse characters, though; Alphamax’s figure of Yui Takamura put her in her panties and this figure puts her in, well, her panties. Not that that’s a bad thing, of course – I’m not ever going to say that panties are bad. When a man has lost his ability to appreciate a cute girl in her panties, he’s lost pretty much everything.
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Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/7 scale, Figures, kimono, Kotobukiya, muv-luv, Review, thong, total eclipse, yui takamura | 29 Comments

Aegis from Persona 3 (Art Works Version)

written on April 6, 2012 by Tier

I was surprised when I learned that Alter was making another Aegis figure. They’d already done a figure of Aegis and their current catalog is mostly focused on popular, recent anime – Strike Witches, Bakemonogatari, K-On! and Railgun in their time, and so on. And though Persona 3 is a great game, it feels like it’s been overshadowed and overwhelmed by its sequel. While Persona 3 spawned a derivative and mostly-forgotten anime series, Persona 4 received a direct anime adaptation, on top of getting a fighting game developed by Arc System Works (to be fair, a few Persona 3 characters will be appearing in that game). And while several Persona 4 characters – such as Teddie, Nanako, and every female member of the player’s party – seem to be fan favorites, you don’t really hear anybody wax rhapsodically about Yukari or Ken. Me, personally, I like Persona 3 much more than Persona 4, so I’m glad that Alter chose Aegis once more.
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Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/6 scale, aegis, Alter, Figures, persona 3, Review | 48 Comments

Dakimakura Review – Fate T. Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS (NSFW)

written on March 31, 2012 by Tier

I’ve been looking for a good dakimakura cover of Fate Testarossa for a while now, and it’s been surprisingly difficult to find one despite the popularity of the Nanoha franchise’s number two lady. For one, many of her pillowcases depict her in her younger form, and while I don’t dislike her original appearance, I prefer her as an adult. Also, being that I’m fond of the character, I was going to be more discriminating than I might have been if I were unfamiliar with Fate.

One of my favorite dakimakura covers is Vivio, and I knew the artist had done one of Fate earlier. I had skipped it then, but being that I liked his work with the Vivio pillowcase, I decided that passing on it had been a mistake. When I heard that this Fate pillowcase showed up on Mandarake, I went ahead and picked it up. While I like the illustrations better than I did at first, this dakimakura cover came with an unexpected and quite unwelcome surprise.
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Posted in Dakimakura Review | Tagged dakimakura, fate testarossa, hentai, magical girl lyrical nanoha, Review | 25 Comments

Dakimakura Review – Rin Tohsaka from Fate/stay night (NSFW)

written on March 29, 2012 by Tier

It’s time for dakimakura cover show and tell, and today’s pillowcase features a character that needs no introduction at all.
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Posted in Dakimakura Review | Tagged dakimakura, fate/stay night, hentai, Review, rin tohsaka | 49 Comments

ER Nurse Miyuu from the Daydream Collection (NSFW)

written on March 23, 2012 by Tier

Nurse Miyuu from the Daydream Collection Figure Review

Like school swimwear, bunnysuits, and catgirls, nurses are a well-loved staple of anime art and anime character design. Not by me, though – school swimwear, bunnysuits, catgirls, and nurse uniforms don’t do a whole lot for me by themselves, not like, say, bodysuits or sportswear or revealing body armor. However, I ordered Miyuu less for her clothing and more for how she looks sans clothing. How does she look and how detailed is she?
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Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/6 scale, Figures, hentai, Kaitendoh, miyuu, nurse, Review | 64 Comments

Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 (Gift Swimsuit Version)

written on March 17, 2012 by Tier

If you’re a figure collector and a fan of Tamaki Kousaka, you are probably a happy person. Characters come and go with respect to their popularity amongst figure makers – Iroha was a favorite character for some time, as was Ignis, and the Ikkitousen and Sengoku Rance girls had their heyday … but Tamaki – her popularity is as high as it’s ever been, at least among figure manufacturers. This particular figure puts her in a swimsuit, which isn’t particularly noteworthy. What is special about this figure is its size – she’s got many, many figures, but few of them offer a solid fifteen inches of Tamaki.
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Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/4 scale, Figures, gift, Review, swimsuit, tamaki kousaka, to heart 2 | 40 Comments

Preorder Outlook XVII

written on March 11, 2012 by Tier

The pace of figure releases was rather languid at the start of this year, but now that we’re past Wonder Festival the preorder announcements have been popping up with the quickness. There’s lots of new faces from recent series and a lot of old staples, like Miku, Saber, Sonico, and Fate. No Tamaki Kousaka, curiously – though I’ll be photographing another Tamaki figure soon. As if the world really needs another Tamaki figure review; regardless, it’s coming later this week. But for now, let’s look at some stuff that I’m thinking about buying.
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Posted in Preorder Outlook | Tagged Figures, Preorder Outlook, Random Thoughts | 47 Comments

Naoe Kanetsugu from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls

written on March 5, 2012 by Tier

Alter is one of the most well-respected figure makers in the hobby, and they have a diverse product portfolio that encompasses a huge variety of properties. There are a few franchises that they seem to particularly prize – in particular, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Strike Witches, and Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls. One could make a good argument that Samurai Girls doesn’t deserve figures of this quality but although the show is quite terrible, the character designs are, at least, fairly pleasing to the eye. They’ve trickled out over the last few years, and though Alter seems committed to making figures of all of the show’s characters, they’ve shown little of the alacrity that they evince with chucking out Strike Witches figures, who seem to get a new one every few months. Nonetheless, the newest one is Naoe Kanetsugu, an evidently happy young girl who carries a very big stick.
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Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, Alter, Figures, hammer, hyakka ryouran samurai girls, naoe kanetsugu, Review | 40 Comments

Alice from Queen’s Gate (Designer’s Color Version) (NSFW)

written on February 29, 2012 by Tier

If I remember right, Alice was one of the first Queen’s Gate characters, if not the very first. While the characters of the Queen’s Gate series are, for the most part, licensed from existing properties, I think Alice was an original design contributed by Nitroplus artist NiÎ¸. However, even though she’s a relative unknown in a lineup stocked with famous characters from fighting games and anime, Alice is no less loved by figure makers – she’s represented in the hobby by no fewer than six figures. Her first figure – reviewed at HappySoda and foo-bar-baz – sported light green hair; a second version had white hair and the third version – which is this figure – has black hair. Alice also got three versions of her as a rather buxom grown-up character; as I understand it, that’s one of her combat moves. Or somesuch. Although it’s a bit out of character for me, I like this loli-style figure better. Let’s take a look at it.
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Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, alice, Alpha Omega, Figures, gun, loli, megahouse, panties, queen's gate, Review | 47 Comments

Year Three Retrospective

written on February 23, 2012 by Tier

This site is three years old today. Running this site has felt a bit like real life: the first year was like college, where I did a lot of dumb things and generally didn’t know what I was doing. The second year was like transitioning from school to work, where I was happy to be making money, particularly happy to be spending money, and discovered new interests, met new people, and started trying to make sense of where I was going. The third year was a bit like a job; this site is just what I do now, and I do it without really thinking a lot about it. That’s not a negative thing, mind you – this site is far more fun to run than my day job. But though it’s fun, maintaining this site is a routine to me – a comfortable routine, to be sure, but it’s not as surprising or novel as it was during the first or second years.

I don’t talk a lot about me on this site – at least, I don’t think I do, although I suppose I wouldn’t know if I do – but today I indulge myself, and I’ll write a bit about what it’s like to operate Tentacle Armada.
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