Tag Archives: Review

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.
Continue reading →

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.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, alice, Alpha Omega, Figures, gun, loli, megahouse, panties, queen's gate, Review | 47 Comments

Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 (White Swimsuit Illustration Version) (NSFW)

written on February 17, 2012 by Tier

Daiki Kougyou Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 Figure Review

Tamaki Kousaka is an exceptionally popular character amongst figure makers and, along with Vocaloid mascot Miku Hatsune and Nitro+ mascot Super Sonico, has had an extraordinary presence in terms of hobby merchandise this past year. However, while Tamaki seemed poised to claim an equal share of the spotlight with the other two characters, one has to feel that her star has dimmed a bit in comparison. Tamaki is a well-developed character with an established personality and background, whereas Sonico is still relatively unknown and Miku is, of course, anything people want her to be. The result is that although Miku and Sonico have received a variety of figures, none of them look unusual or inappropriate – for example, Sonico looks equally comfortable in a nurse’s uniform as she does wearing a bondage collar while rocking out with an electric guitar. Tamaki, in contrast, tends to get stuffed into a school uniform or a swimsuit and one would be forgiven for expressing weariness at seeing yet another figure of Tamaki in the bikini. With this figure, though, Daiki has gone for the hat trick with no fewer than three versions of Tamaki – and I suppose one would say they failed since all of them hit the bargain bin fairly quickly. Not that I saw that coming since if I did, I could’ve saved myself a lot of money. Oh well. Let’s take a look at it anyway.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/6 scale, daiki kougyou, Figures, Review, swimsuit, tamaki kousaka, to heart 2 | 21 Comments

Trunk Girl from the Native Creator’s Collection (NSFW)

written on February 11, 2012 by Tier

Staying with the theme of Japan-exclusive ero figures released a few months ago, now’s a good time to take a look at Native’s Trunk Girl. Native had a bit of an odd year last year, with several of their figures not actually being much more explicit than the average Queen’s Blade figure – though perhaps it’s telling that the average Queen’s Blade figure likely wouldn’t shock an experienced figure collector. However, Trunk Girl and their lineup for this year seem to mark a resurgent commitment to their Naked & Creative motto.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/7 scale, Figures, gun, hentai, Native, nishieda, Review, trunk girl | 40 Comments

Dakimakura Review – Sena Kashiwazaki from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai (NSFW)

written on January 31, 2012 by Tier

Time for more pillowcase talk. This one features Sena Kashiwazaki, the rich, insecure, somewhat bisexual eroge enthusiast from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai. I like the manga and I’ve been a fan of Buriki’s art for a while – entirely because of this picture – and I was pleased that the anime adaptation was a lot of fun to watch. Despite not straying past the bounds of convention, the characters are likeably quirky, and it was refreshing to see a show with a male lead that wasn’t completely clueless, milquetoast, or pathetic. It’s one of the few harem-style shows where I didn’t dislike any of the characters, and I’m not sure which one is my favorite. I guess I’d call it a tie among Sena, Kobato, and Rika, but all the characters are cool. Grading strictly on appearance, I’d probably roll with Sena, though, which is why I have this dakimakura cover.
Continue reading →

Posted in Dakimakura Review | Tagged boku wa tomodachi ga sukunai, dakimakura, hentai, Review, sena kashiwazaki | 45 Comments

Senhime from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls (Queen’s Gate Version) (NSFW)

written on January 28, 2012 by Tier

Numerous figures of the Queen’s Gate characters have been released, offering different takes on the characters depending on the artist that illustrated the respective game book. The Queen’s Gate version of Senhime, however is rather unusual in that she has no game book; her appearance is based off of a single illustration by the artist Yoshikazu Miwa. Perhaps better known by his doujin circle name Synthetic Garden, I’ve been a fan of his art for a long time, particularly because his work encompasses themes like tentacle hentai, girls in bondage, and girls with big breasts. He seems an unlikely choice to provide a Queen’s Gate illustration, particularly one of a character like Sen Tokugawa, and the resulting figure is one that comprises an unusual synthesis that is much more about his style and much less about the anime character.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, Figures, hentai, hyakka ryouran samurai girls, leotard, queen's gate, Review, senhime, spear | 31 Comments

Dakimakura Review – Lucrezia from the Art of Carnelian (NSFW)

written on January 22, 2012 by Tier

Lucrezia from Carnelian Dakimakura Review

Time for more pillowcase show-and-tell. This one comes from Carnelian, surely one of the most famous illustrators in the anime world. She’s a veteran artist, having been around as long as I’ve been on the internet, which goes back to the mid-90s, but although she’s quite well-known, she’s never had the sort of commercial stature of someone like Tony Taka or even newer artists like redjuice or Huke. She’s contributed character designs to just a couple of mainstream anime – Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito probably being the most prominent – though H-anime fans will also remember her work in Moonlight Lady. Instead, her work is much more visible in the doujin community, where she is very active. In particular, there are a number of dakimakura covers featuring her art; this particular one was released last summer during Comiket 80 and depicts an original character named Lucrezia.
Continue reading →

Posted in Dakimakura Review | Tagged bondage, carnelian, dakimakura, hentai, lucrezia, panties, Review | 37 Comments

Amane Shiratori from Anata no Shiranai Kangofu (NSFW)

written on January 16, 2012 by Tier

Anybody who’s read this site for a while knows that I like ero figures. And anybody who’s read this site for a while knows that I like big figures. Unfortunately, few figure manufacturers have made big ero figures – at least until recently. However, FREEing has stepped up to the plate to fill this niche, which is quite gratifying, particularly when the figure is as nice as Amane is.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/4 scale, amane shiratori, anata no shiranai kangofu, epic ass, Figures, freeing, hentai, panties, Review | 24 Comments

Lacia from BEATLESS

written on January 10, 2012 by Tier

One of the first anime figures I ever bought was Alpha’s Motoko Kusanagi Hard Disk Version. It’s cheaply-made and primitive by today’s standards, and it’s not a scale-size figure, but even so, I still like it, mainly because I like the character design. Scantily-clad female combat androids are a staple of science fiction anime and video games and, having grown up on that stuff, it’s a theme I like a lot. I hesitated for just a moment on ordering Lacia, since Good Smile Company sold this figure only through their online store and I always consider twice when it comes to paying for a figure up-front. However, after seeing her preview pictures, I felt that this was going to be a fine figure, and now that it’s here, my esteem for Lacia has only grown.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged 1/8 scale, beatless, Figures, Good Smile Company, lacia, leotard, Review | 38 Comments

Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (Swimsuit Version)

written on December 21, 2011 by Tier

Alter kicked off 2011 with Fate Testarossa and yet another figure of the blonde mage is among those that will close this year. In fact, Alter released five figures of Fate in 2011 alone, demonstrating that she is one of their favorite characters. Their love affair with the lightning wizard will surely continue unabated, as Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force is still untapped and more significantly, the second movie is on the way, with a new costume for Fate. Admittedly, it looks quite like her old costume with just a few changes but that certainly will not deter figure makers and Fate’s fans will certainly not object.
Continue reading →