The child-soldiers of Neon Genesis Evangelion comprise some of the most recognizable characters in anime, and figure makers show no signs of jumping off of the Rei and Asuka gravy train. Thus, here’s another figure of Rei. Plugsuit, wreckage, blank stare, blue afro, you’ve seen it all before. Actually, wait – you probably haven’t ever seen this figure. Imagine that.
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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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And back to fighting girl figures. A number of great fighting girl figures have been released this year, which is enormously gratifying. Quite a few of them aren’t wearing pants or skirts, which is also very pleasing. One such figure is presented here, and while Matabei took a bit of additional hassle to acquire, it’s easy to see why she was worth the effort.
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While I buy lots of figures, a quick glance at my collection indicates that I tend to buy figures of older characters who are often wielding weapons. You won’t find that many loli characters on my shelves, for the simple reason that while I don’t dislike them, they’re not really my thing. I usually like characters that are a bit older. So why did I buy this figure of Nymph? A careful and deliberate examination of the image above will reveal the reason.
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Another day, another figure from Sega’s Shining franchise. Personally, I’d like to see figures of Tao and Anri and Amon and May, but I’m quite certain they are never going to be made. It’s a shame that the figure hobby didn’t really take off before the last few years; maybe Sega could’ve saved their hardware division with their figure licensing profits.
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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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Dizzy? Great figure. Junko? Great figure. Saber Alter? Great figure. But as great as those figures are, sometimes a person wants something different. Sometimes a person wants something really special. Sometimes a person wants a porno figure. Okay, Erina was pretty nice but she’s more on the softcore side of things, as far as figures go. Fortunately, Native is always willing to oblige the more explicit side of the hobby. Except for this figure, anyway. And this one. Oh, and this one. Okay, maybe they’re going soft on us, and that’s a bit disappointing coming from a company whose motto is “Naked & Creative,” but beggars can’t be choosers. And fortunately, Ishikei’s Chie is such a nice figure that she more than makes up for any concessions those upcoming figures make.
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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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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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Yamato’s vmf50 line continues apace, with the company having recently released Image Girl #5 Ami and having shown off a couple of concept dolls at Doll Show 31. And Super Sonico’s popularity continues apace, with both Orchid Seed and Yamato having released PVC figures of her this week and with her game SoniComi scheduled for release this August. And even before all of that, Yamato revealed a vmf50 version of Sonico. I hadn’t planned to get her since she was really expensive. The first round of preorders opened up late last summer and closed down almost instantly, prompting Yamato to do a second run, which is when I changed my mind and placed my preorder. I received Sonico back in February and she’s been quietly lying in her box since then, but with her PVC figures having hit the market, I figure now is a fine time to take her out and put her in front of the camera.
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