Didn’t I just do one of these?
A dizzying array of figures have been announced for the second half of 2009, and I’m losing track of which ones I want to keep an eye on. This list includes figures that I’ve already preordered or am thinking about preordering. Pictures are shamelessly ripped from Amiami and Hobby Search.
August
Ultra Vibration Valkyrie Mirim from Queen’s Blade
This one is definitely preordered. She’s cute as hell, swings a chainsaw sword, sports a great outfit, and how can anybody turn down a character whose listed profession is Ultra Vibration Valkyrie?
Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier
Macross is one of my favorite anime franchises, and as such I intend to preorder Sheryl unless I learn something objectionable about her character. I haven’t yet watched Macross Frontier, which is a bit strange as Robotech was one of the favorite anime series I saw while young (I do not care if any Japanophile purists find that distressing), and I still have fond memories of watching an amazingly execrable dub of Do You Remember Love? on a Beta cassette at my cousin’s place. But I digress. Sheryl is cute and I wholly support outfits made of electrical tape.
Kyo Fujibayashi from Clannad
You know, I’m not too sure about this one. I don’t own any Wave figures and from what I’ve seen of their work, I’m not all that enthusiastic about changing that. But I really do like the promo pictures of Kyo, despite not really knowing much about Clannad. Plus the combination of gym shorts and basketball is really cool. The only thing that might make this better is if she were holding a football instead, and maybe wearing eye black and shoulderpads instead of a shirt.
Sister Hell from Prism Ark
I have the feeling this is a figure that only Prism Ark fans or people like me (which is to say, perverts) are interested in. The promo shots look pretty bad. Horrible, even. I don’t know why they even bothered making her headwear removable, it looks like somebody chopped a huge chunk out of the top of her skull. Man that strappy outfit is cool, though. It’s really the only reason I’m looking at this figure.
September
Yoko Ritona from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
I preordered this one quickly despite some initial misgivings. When I first saw the promo pictures, I thought she looked like a transvestite, which, while not uncommon in this hobby, is not something I find all that appealing. She’s looking better at second glance, though, and I do like 1/6 scale figures, so I’m looking forward to this one.
Silfa from To Heart 2 Another Days
I’m not really sure how much I want this one. On one hand, it’s rather plain. Nondescript. Boring, even. On the other hand, Silfa is pretty cute, and I like her ponytail. I might pick this up from an American retailer to save on shipping costs.
Yoshika from Strike Witches
Why oh why did they have to stick ears and a tail on her? Yes, I know, it’s because they pop out when they bust out their magic while throwing down. That doesn’t make me like them any more. I’m hoping mightily that Alter includes an alternate hairpiece and, uhh, ass which dispenses with the animal parts but otherwise I’ll be taking a pass on her.
Yukino and Kanade from Candy Boy
Now here is a pair of figures I am conflicted on. I don’t know anything about Candy Boy beyond what the Wikipedia page tells me, but it seems to comprise exploitative, unsophisticated pandering at its most obvious, and as such immediately elicits my interest and deserves a preliminary, enthusiastic thumbs-up. Now the problem is if I buy one, I have to buy the other, because I couldn’t separate the pair, could I? I mean, they love each other. And it’s a beautiful kind of love. Or it would be, if Candy Boy were an ero anime, and I guess it’s not. But anyway, I do like both figures, but I might hold off on the preorder and wait for a discount sale on both.
Alleyne from Queen’s Blade
September is shaping up to be an expensive month. I haven’t preordered Alleyne yet but I’m thinking I will, as she looks fantastic. I wonder if her outfit can be removed? MegaHouse thoughtfully includes that option on many of their figures, I hope they do so here as well.
Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangelion
Another one! They just keep coming; I’ve got three Reis reviewed on this site, another one in the mail right now, and yet another still waiting for her turn in front of the lights and camera. I really don’t need another one, but this one is pretty damn cool. It’s also pretty damn expensive, perhaps enough so to deter even me. I wonder how big the figure itself is? Let’s see, it says here that the whole thing is 13.5 cm tall, which makes it a little over 22 cm in length. Rei is then about 6 cm tall. That’s not very big. Hmm …
Birdy from Birdy the Mighty
Love the costume, don’t think I love the face. Although I guess she does look like that in some of the promo artwork I’ve seen. I dunno. An odd thing is that she has a 2.39 rating out of 5 on her English Hobby Search entry but a 4.25 rating on her Japanese page. Curious. Admittedly the sample size of the latter isn’t large enough to draw any conclusions, but I’ve never been one to let mere mathematics get in the way of my opinions.
October
Lancer from Red Stone? I dunno
I don’t know who she is, I don’t know what Red Stone is, but I do know she looks awesome. I haven’t preordered her yet but it’s as good as done. It’s strange how Korean MMOs have all these beautiful and sexy character designs but absolutely miserable gameplay.
Rise Kujikawa from Persona 4
Another Wave figure, and the same reservations listed above apply here. I should beat Persona 4 already; I stopped playing while the game time was in December. The odd thing is, Alter’s also making a figure of Rise, but I prefer Wave’s figure. For now, anyway.
Kakouen Myousai from Ikki Tousen
Yay for more Ikki Tousen figures! Amazingly, Alter is moving past Kanu, Hakufu, and Ryomou. Well, not Ryomou, but it’s a good start. Every journey begins with a first step, and even baby steps count. This one’s a definite preorder. Hopefully someday Alter will show some love to Rokushu and Bashoku and maybe that girl who infiltrated Kyosho High and lost her clothes and had to scramble out naked.
November
Shoujo M inspired by a pornographic picture
God I want this figure. Why must they sell it through their website and not through retail?
This Ultra Vibration Valkyrie does look pretty good and cute (under normal circumstances I would have ordered her as well), battle instructor is good too, Rei is cool, not sure about the “realistic yoko” kind of a turn off for me. But this is not normal time for me anymore, my finances are being controlled by my daughters…
Yoshika: Hehe ^^ Yeah I find those animal parts kinda unecessary as well ^^ The ears look like they could be removed similar to GSC Horo ^^ Wonder about bottom part ^^ I saw those exchangable 2 on some figures ^^ Could be funny… Was thinking on to get her, but since Ikkitousen poped up with Mou and Kakouen, Yoshika is out for now ^^ Maybe if Alter goes for other characters as well… cuz now it seems that various companies split Strike Witch fleet ^^
Yukino and Kanade… no you shouldnt split those ^^;
Alleyne: Dont worry ^^ She will be a cast off for sure ^^ I think you will be able to put down all besides her gloves and boots ^^
Kakouen is nice but I would like to see Ryofu ^^ Not rly cuz she is one of topones… but simply like her char design ^^
Btw Korean MMORPGs are not that bad ^^ Some titles are very nice, have interesting background stories and awesome graphics/characters and gameplay ^^
>> Wolfheinrich
Yeah, I’d imagine so … I haven’t looked at the price tag for Dollfie accessories, but I know that clothing for 1/6 scale dolls can cost as much as 1/1 scale clothes, and I’d guess Dollfie stuff is even pricier (not to mention the cost of the doll bodies themselves).
>> Shiddo
I hope so on Yoshika but now that I think about it, I can’t think of many (or any) Alter figures that had removable parts, other than weapons.
I agree on Ryofu, I like her character design a lot, even though she wasn’t in the manga for very long (I guess she came back in Great Guardians? I haven’t watched it yet, maybe I’ll watch it this holiday weekend). Plus, nobody’s really made a definitive figure of her; Griffon’s got a few medicore ones I think, but Ryofu deserves at least one high-quality figure.
I’ll have to take your word on the MMOs 😀 I’ve actually only played Lineage II. From what I’ve seen, a lot of them are either very repetitive or PVP-oriented, which isn’t really what I’m looking for. I might give some of the free-to-play ones a fair shot when I get a new computer, though.
I’ve got the Sheryl on preorder as well, but I’m still hoping for a resin kit of her goth cosume.
As for the Rei, you do know that it comes with an unpainted resin kit, right? At least that’s what tokyohunter wrote up. I’m kinda interested since it’s been years since I last did a Rei resin kit (and said kit has disappeared…)
And yeah, Ryofu is the best girl in Ikkitousen!!!
That’s pretty cool about the Rei figure; unfortunately I have no experience building resin models (although I’m interested in starting; I’ve been thinking about picking up an entry-level airbrush and compressor but I don’t really have enough space to paint and build models right now). Hmm, he says that there’s a limited run being released at the end of this month, and that it’s over a foot tall (maybe the 15 cm height listed on Hobby Search is for the figure itself?). Dang, I guess I am going to have to accelerate my decision making.
I’m not sure who my favorite Ikkitousen girl is, but Ryofu is awesome. I was flipping through the Battle Vixens manga (a simultaneously awful and awesome name) and I was struck by how it seemed like Kaku Bunwa was going to be one of the chief antagonists, and then she just sort of faded into obscurity. I wonder if the author just got bored with her.