Tag Archives: 1/7 scale

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

Alphamax Yui Takamura from Total Eclipse Figure Review

The sexy bodysuit is a staple of science fiction anime. The most famous, of course, are the Evangelion plugsuits, but personally, the Muv-Luv Alternative pilot suits are my favorite designs. They are borderline ridiculous and very sexy, and are instantly identifiable by anyone with even a passing familiarity with the series. There aren’t many Muv-Luv figures out there, so I was happy to hear that Alphamax was going to be making figures of the Total Eclipse characters, and I was looking forward to seeing Yui in her black suit and the Scarlet Sisters in their distinctive navy and turquoise suits. But instead of featuring the distinctive Muv-Luv piloting suits, Alphamax has chosen instead to put the characters in their underwear. Oh well.
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Nanoha Takamachi from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (School Uniform Version)

Nanoha Takamachi from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Figure Review

Curiously, I have no scale-size Nanoha figures in my collection. I have six Fates, but no Nanoha. This imbalance must be amended – Fate is a lonely girl and she needs a friend. Somebody who will stand by her and give her a big hug. Somebody who will liberate her from a life of thralldom and unrequited love. Somebody who will occasionally Divine Buster her ass when she needs it.
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Cryska Barchenowa from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse (Lingerie Version)

Cryska Barchenowa from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse Figure Review

Girls with guns time continues with a look at Alphamax’s rendition of Cryska Barchenowa. Previously known for their lineup of exorbitantly expensive polystone statues that seemingly nobody bought, Alphamax has in recent times redirected themselves towards mainstream PVC figure production. Many of their figures come from the usual franchises – Ikkitousen, K-On!, and To Heart, among others – and so I was surprised to see that they were going to make figures from Muv Luv Alternative Total Eclipse. Personally, I would have much preferred to see figures of the girls in their military data suits, but as there are so few Muv-Luv figures despite its long history and expansive cast, beggars can hardly be choosers.
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Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (Ichiban Kuji Version)

Banpresto Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Figure Review

Fate Testarossa is undoubtedly one of the most visible characters in anime culture, and it’s no surprise that figure makers turn to her again and again. For example, Alter is on schedule to release or re-release five figures of her this year alone – an astonishing number for a character who doesn’t even take top billing in her show. Lesser-known scale figure manufacturers also enjoy showing love to Fate; this particular figure comes from Banpresto, who I know more for making trading-sized figures and mecha toys than 1/7 scale figures. Regardless of my unfamiliarity with Banpresto’s products, I have a mandate to be the world’s biggest Fate fan who hasn’t actually watched her television series, and so I went ahead and picked this one up.
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Haruka Morishima from Amagami

Haruka Morishima from Amagami Figure Review

Here we have a figure from Amagami SS, a school romance show featuring a male lead who sleeps in a closet. Ordinarily, I’d rather have nothing to do with a harem-based school romance show, given how bad Princess Lover! was and how bad Mayo Chiki! is looking to be, but one guess should suffice to divine what aspect of this figure enticed me enough to buy it.
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Super Sonico from Nitroplus (Bondage Version) (NSFW)

Orchid Seed Sonico Figure Review

Every now and then, you will see a whole bunch of figure makers schedule figures of the same character or from the same series all at about the same time. This happened with Ignis a few years back, when Alter, Orchid Seed, and Max Factory dropped their figures within a few months of each other, and with Haruka Takamori, when Alter, Volks, and Kotobukiya all released figures that looked very similar to each other, all at about the same time. And now it’s happened with Sonico, although Orchid Seed’s Sonico looks very much different than Yamato’s Sonico. Both of Yamato’s Sonicos, actually.
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Rin Tohsaka from Fate/stay night (Unlimited Blade Works Version)

Rin Tohsaka from Fate/stay night Figure

The internet is a pervasive force in everyday life. One of the things the internet is good for is finding reviews of stuff. In particular, I find movie and video game reviews to be helpful because people whose tastes are similar to mine generally view games and films in a similar way that I would. Not a long while ago I asked a friend what he thought of the film Sucker Punch and he said he didn’t really like it, and I knew I probably wouldn’t like it much, either. Our subjective tastes significantly overlap, and on top of that, there are objective criteria that one can use to assess a game or movie, such as plot coherence, the quality of dialogue, the quality of graphics, and so on.

Figures, however, are a funny thing because their appeal is so personal, at least to me. Take the Black Rock Shooter figures, for instance. On the surface, they seem to match many of the things I like: cute girls, fearsome weapons, and not many clothes. And yet I don’t particularly like them very much. Or take Miku Hatsune, whose character design I don’t particularly care for either. Certainly her design looks very similar to many characters that I do like and yet I don’t have much affection for her. Or take Yuri from Angel Beats. She’s cute, has a short skirt, and packs a big gun. Okay, I heard Angel Beats got a mixed reception but I haven’t even seen it and don’t plan to, so that doesn’t affect me at all. Why didn’t I buy the figure? Beats me. I’m thinking maybe I should check whether she’s in stock anywhere.

Basically what it comes down to is that every collector is going to decide for him or herself whether a figure is a worthwhile purchase, and that decision is going to be influenced by very nuanced and very personal factors. It’s a decision that really can only be made by the individual.

I’m guessing that a large majority of people reading this post have no idea where I’m coming from with this intro. That’s okay. I wish I were among you, to be honest. But enough of that, we have a figure to look at. This is my opinion of Rin Tohsaka.
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Saber Alter from Fate/stay night

Good Smile Company's Saber Alter

I’m a big fan of corrupted girls in fiction. Kerrigan in Starcraft, Seven of Nine in Star Trek Voyager, Yomi in Ga-rei Zero – love them all. The eroge Fate/stay night has a couple of corrupted female characters who have deserved figures for a while. Dark Sakura has a cool design and Gift has recently released a fine figure showing her in all her evil glory. But as a fan of armored girls wielding big broadswords, I really wanted a good figure of Saber Alter. Good Smile Company has finally obliged, and their rendition of Saber Alter is set to redefine the meaning of badass.
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Xecty from Shining Wind (Swimsuit Version)

Max Factory Xecty Figure Review

It’s not uncommon for figures to get delayed, but some delays are just inexplicable. Like Xecty’s, for instance. I ordered her last summer during Hobby Search’s EMS shipping discount sale. And then I waited. And waited. I mean, this is a swimsuit figure, it’s not like they haven’t made them before. I guess the factories must have been too busy rolling out nendoroids and Figmas.

With some things – like the novel A Dance With Dragons – my enthusiasm is undimmed by delays. And with other things – like Starcraft II – I find myself not caring at all when they finally get released. Xecty falls in the second category – when Hobby Search sent me her bill, I was like, “Aww man, I ordered this?” I left her in her box until a few days ago and needing something to review, decided to take her out. I was a bit conflicted on how I feel about her, but seeing her now, she’s a nice figure. Special? No way. But nice, yeah, I can agree with that.
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Eleanor Mercer from Honey Blonde (NSFW)

Orchid Seed Eleanor Mercer from Honey Blonde Figure Review

Many of the figures I reviewed early this year were fighting girls but now we are seeing a glut of swimsuit girls. Following Nadeko is Eleanor Mercer. Like Nadeko, Eleanor sports a sunny expression that is sure to cheer up everyone. Unlike Nadeko, Eleanor radiates pure sex appeal – or wanton sluttiness, depending on your particular lexical inclination. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and because of that Eleanor offers an impression distinct amongst all the other swimsuit figures on my shelf.
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