Tag Archives: Kotobukiya

Tomo Asama from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere (Zudon Miko Version)

Tomo Asama from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

As we’ve noted before, there aren’t that many figures of characters from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, and those that do exist are mostly from relatively minor manufacturers. Fortunately, a couple of exceptions have been recently released: Alter’s Kazuno and Tomo Asama by Kotobukiya. This happiness is tempered by the realization that those two figures may be amongst the last figures from the series to be released (Wave has a Beach Queens Kimi Aoi scheduled to drop next month, and Volks is supposedly doing figures of Kimi and Kazuno, but who knows whether those will ever materialize). A sad state of affairs, that, and it appears that figure companies are moving on to the next big thing, such as Kantai Collection, which somehow feels a bit like it’s worn out its welcome before even having arrived. The only consolation is that if Tomo is the last Horizon figure to be made by a major figure company, she is at least a very fine one indeed.
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Psylocke from the Uncanny X-Force (Fine Art Version)

Psylocke from the Uncanny X-Force

As I’ve remarked before, even though Japanese anime culture has a number of parallels with Western pop culture, they don’t seem to intersect that often. This is particularly and peculiarly evident in manga and comics; despite their similarities (and the influence of American comics on the development of manga), I don’t know too many anime fans who read Western comics, and I’m certain that there are many comic book readers (particularly older ones) who don’t care that much for anime.

Despite this separation, fans on both sides frequently share a passion for collecting things, particularly figures. Figures of characters from Western properties often have some differences compared to anime figures; they are often sculpted in polystone, they are typically on the larger side, and they often come from specialist manufacturers unknown to collectors of anime figures. However, that is not the case with this particular figure; this figure of Psylocke comes from Kotobukiya, a company that every anime figure collector knows. Strangely, this figure is not the first, nor the second, nor even the third, but is the fourth figure of Psylocke that Kotobukiya has released in the last four years. Kotobukiya has made some attempts at integrating the two audiences, particularly with their Bishoujo series, which combines Western comic book and science fiction characters with anime-style design sensibilities, but they also make a number of statues targeted squarely at Western comic book collectors. We don’t often look at such figures here but as Psylocke is my favorite character in all of comic books, for her we will make an exception.
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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.
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Peace Keeper Daisy from Tony’s Heroine Collection

Daisy from Tony's Heroine Collection

Many figure companies have made figures of Tony’s artwork. In recent times, many of those figures were based off of characters designed for existing properties; Sega’s Shining series, the Vocaloid image character lineup, and eroge like Fault!!, for instance. This figure is a bit unusual in that, although she comes from a very big toy company known for making figures of well-known characters from popular game and anime franchises, Daisy is, as far as I can tell, an original character whose sole earlier appearance was on the cover of the artbook Girls! Girls Girls! 9 ~Decoration Girls~. That title might suggest that the book is full of naughty pictures but it’s actually quite tame, with illustrations contributed by artists like Kantoku, Hiro Suzuhira, Oyari Ashito, and of course, Tony Taka. I’m not sure what “peace keeper” denotes – Daisy looks neither aggressive enough nor adequately dressed to conduct peacekeeping operations – but I’ll assume there’s some meaning to the title. In the meantime, let’s take a look at our heroine.
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Meiya Mitsurugi from Muv-Luv Alternative (Kotobukiya Version)

Meiya Mitsurugi from Muv-Luv Alternative

Continuing with the tight bodysuit theme, today we’ll take a look at Meiya Mitsurugi, the heroine from Age’s eroge Muv-Luv Alternative. Kotobukiya, of course, has made a number of figures of the characters from Total Eclipse – quite probably the best-known property of the Muv-Luv franchise, thanks to its recent anime adaptation. It’s a little bit surprising that Kotobukiya has gone to the older title, since few manufacturers aside from Volks and Good Smile Company have ever shown interest in making figures of its characters. Nonetheless, I’m glad that they have, since its character designs are quite appealing, particularly because of their pilot suits.
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Cryska Barchenowa from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse (Eishi Strengthening Equipment Version)

Cryska Barchenowa figure from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse

Kotobukiya has followed up their Yui Takamura figure with one of Cryska Barchenowa, one half of Total Eclipse’s Soviet duo. This is the third Cryska figure that I own and that Yui figure is the third one that I own of her, as well. When it comes to figures, it seems like these two girls plus Inia Sestina are the only ones to exist; one wonders if Stella and Cui Yifei will ever get their turn to shine. Oh, and Tarisa too, I guess. It’d be nice to see them get some love from figure makers, but for now, let’s take a look at our favorite commie mech driver.
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Yui Takamura from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse (Eishi Strengthening Equipment Version)

Yui Takamura figure by Kotobukiya

There have been a number of figures of the characters from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse. To date, most of them have put them in swimsuits or their underwear. Not that that’s a bad thing (would you trust a heterosexual man who said he didn’t like panties?), but given the appeal and distinctiveness of Muv-Luv’s pilot suits, it’s a shame that figure makers haven’t chosen to adapt the most iconic look of the Total Eclipse characters. That is, until now; Kotobukiya has finally made a figure of lead girl Yui Takamura in her pilot suit, and that’s who we are looking at here.
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Inia Sestina from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse (Kourai Version)

We looked at the querulous Yui Takamura earlier in the year and the petulant Cryska Barchenowa a few weeks ago; today we’ll look at Inia Sestina, the younger-looking, more affable member of the Scarlet duo.
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Cryska Barchenowa from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse (Guren Version)

Cryska Barchenowa from Total Eclipse Figure Review

It’s time for Christmas in July, courtesy of Kotobukiya. It might seem odd to release a Santa-themed figure in the middle of the year, particularly one of a Soviet commie, but the timing is nonetheless auspicious as Total Eclipse is in the early stages of its anime run and many viewers seem uncertain as to just what to make of it. Even so, I think most people can agree that the female characters are very hot and are worthy of having figures made of them.
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Yui Takamura from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse (Gekka Version)

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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