We have here Iroha, another female combatant from a fighting game. Iroha has had a peculiarly enduring presence in the figure world considering her limited exposure in the Samurai Shodown series. Here we have the latest figure in her likeness, sculpted by diskvision and manufactured by Yamato as part of their SIF EX lineup.
Thus far, Iroha’s only appearance in Samurai Shodown is in Samurai Shodown VI but that hasn’t stopped her from becoming an exceptionally popular subject for hobby goods. She’s been featured in the Queen’s Gate series of books, and has had something like a dozen different figures made of her.
This is my second Iroha figure, my first being Good Smile Company’s 1/5 scale version. Man my old pictures look awful. Yamato’s figure has a very similar pose and size but a very different overall sculpt; diskvision departs from the usual big anime-style eyes in favor of a more realistic face and body build.
Iroha is built in a solid 1/6 scale, standing about 27 centimeters tall including her hairband. The trailing tails of her back ribbon come detached, as do her curiously-shaped knives. I was a little confused as to how to attach her weapons at first, but the simple answer is that you have to pry open her fingers and slide them into her hands. I was a bit nervous about that but the plastic is fairly pliable. Her base is a big purple circle, which differs from the prototype shots which had her standing on a wooden pedestal.
If her clothing looks a bit loose, that’s because it is. Oddly, her maid tunic is cast as a separate piece and appears to be removable. I took a quick peek at her chest and found that she has no nipples, so I wasn’t all that inclined to take off her clothes. Personally, being that they didn’t bother detailing her chest, I would have preferred that Yamato glued her clothes down, since the visible clasps don’t look that great.
The rest of Iroha looks great, though. She’s got an expressive look to her face, as if she’s offering empathy or about to burst into tears. Or trying to suppress a sneeze.
Her sculpt is fantastic, with her chest and especially her backside being particularly nicely done. It’s great that she’s got some curves there, as all too often sculptors are disappointingly reticent to give proper definition to the rump. Iroha definitely does not have that problem.
I like her toeless socks. She’s got cute toes, and she even has toenails. I also like her splayed-out ribbons, even though they take up a huge amount of space. I’m not as big a fan of her cleavers, which look a bit clunky for close-range battle.
Painting is good, although admittedly, she’s got a pretty simple color scheme.
I ordered this figure as a bit of an afterthought, but now that I have it, I like Iroha much more than I thought I would. The figure looks great, the character design is awesome, and I always approve of big figures; put all that together and you have an outstanding figure.
Not really my taste for this one, a bit too realistic.
Lake Wolfheinrich, I don’t like her realistic face. But your picture are beautiful, I love decorations and the atmosphere ! COngratulation ^^
It is true, someone said this recently of Bounty-Hunter Yoko, how she has no butt at all.
I think it goes with the realm of “Long Legs”.
Nice face, though I waffle on it, but it is interesting, like faces you keep looking at in real life and wondering, “Do I like it or not?”
Her base seems pretty small. Air has a HUGE base, lol.
I’m not a big fan of how her bottom part looks from the front, these “bikinis” that are too thin on the sides, only being a thin strip up the center. Then again, your last review before this also shared that unappealing aspect, so I guess you’re a fan 😉
>> Wolfheinrich
Yeah, I’ve got the feeling that this figure’s not going to appeal to too many people, besides me.
>> Leonia
Thanks! I’m going to have to find something better than ground coffee to use as fake dirt, the smell is overpowering.
>> Guy
I had the same reaction when I saw Max Factory’s realistic Yoko (which I think is due for release this month). I look at it and sometimes she looks sexy, and other times she looks like a male transvestite. That’ll be an interesting review to write (and to read other people’s take on that figure).
Her base is actually pretty big (since the figure itself is pretty big), but it’s not too much of a drawback because Iroha’s ribbons take up so much space. I kinda wish they’d picked a more neutral color than this weird lavender though.
Yeah, I’ll admit I’m a big fan of girls in thongs. You’d think I’d have a ton more Queen’s Blade figures because of that, but I actually only have one and I haven’t even watched most of the anime series.
I get the feeling that alot of her popularity is from her finishing move in the game… the one where she strips off and smacks her opponent around during a moment of “weakness” She also reveals her “true form” if you look carefully.
Of course, it’s all done behind a screen so you only see the shadows but the kimono stripping doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
But I’m more of a shiki fan and she’s only appeared in Samurai Showdown 64 and SVC chaos!!
Yeah, it’s a great move XD I’ve only seen it in Youtube videos though; I haven’t actually played Samurai Shodown other than the first game.
I like Shiki too, it’s a shame that she hasn’t gotten much love from figure makers. I did see on Tokyohunter today that someone might be making a Vanessa figure, which is pretty cool.
I wouldn’t mind a figure of Mars People either. A poseable figure, preferably.
<.<
Good idea the ground coffee despite the unpleasant odor. It gives a lot of character to photos. The background is also studied.
I like curves Iroha and his eyes.
I am surprised to learn that his chest did not detail.
Yeah, I was disappointed by that. I think that if a figure is castoff-able and costs more than 10,000 yen, they should at least provide some detail to the chest.
Searching on the web, it seems a lot of people just use real dirt for building dioramas, but I don’t feel very comfortable placing a layer of dirt on my computer desk. I’m glad Wal-Mart sells big cans of ground coffee cheaply XD
I don’t really fancy this figure because I don’t know what the sculptor is trying to convene but you did a wonderful job with the photography for her. It would have been even better if you had covered her base for the shoot. ^^
Detesting the smell of coffee, I’d rather use dirt 😉
>> ELTboy
Perhaps this is an indication that I should not shoot photographs and write the review the same day that I receive the figure, but it completely slipped my mind to mention that this Iroha is based off of an illustration done by Incise Soul. So it’s a figure manufactured by Yamato sculpted by diskvision based off of a fan illustration done by Incise Soul of a character from Samurai Shodown. I’ll have to see if I can dig up a picture of that illustration.
>> Guy
You know, I’ve never actually drunk coffee. I just know that I don’t like the smell and I don’t like coffee-flavored candy or ice cream. I’m thinking that when the weather gets too cold to keep the windows open, I might have to forgo using my simulated dirt.
From experience, when writing long posts, we always have more to say, and almost always forget to say some of it.
The only real way is to write notes, one-line notes describing what we want to say, and to keep writing notes for a while, till we’re sure we didn’t forget anything.
Otherwise, in the action of writing, something will be forgotten, basically always.
Pretty nice diorama you build there!Would have never thought that this is grounded coffee.
I cant tell what I dont like about her pose but theres somthing thats bugging me.I dig the “realistic” style though.Its a shame we get that not so often
Thanks! It might be that she looks sorta like she’s supposed to be landing from a jump, but her body doesn’t seem tensed for impact. Yeah, I like big anime eyes but I also like realistic figures too. I did see a Vanessa (the boxer girl from King of Fighters) figure done in a realistic style recently that didn’t look too bad; I might keep an eye out for it.
Just got my Figure in and it looks Great! About the weapons attachments at first i thought about prying her fingers open and sliding it in also. but that’s not the case. Her fingers or rather the knuckle area actually detach from her fist. So just to let you guys know
Indeed she does! It’s a bit of a shame that this figure doesn’t seem all that popular; I’d put it at maybe my sixth or seventh favorite figure of last year. Thanks for the heads-up on the detachable fingers, that’s probably a lot safer than trying to force the weapons into her hands.
I have this statue …. A masterpiece of my (little) collection! Iroha rocks! 😀
She does! It is good to know there are people out there who like this figure, since it doesn’t seem to get a ton of love.
I love it! Her face looks like the CG works found in the latter half of the Final Fantasy series (thought I saw a Yuna there at first glimpse). It’s the perky nose and the glossy lips (which also reminds me of Yamato’s Odin Sphere’s Violet’s). And also the eyes. I’m not a big fan of realistic-looking figures (namely realistic faces), but this one is cute and charming especially with her expression.
Rest of the figure’s proportions match the head perfectly, so not much to say there, you’ve said it all.
You’re right, she does have that hybrid anime/realistic look that you see from Final Fantasy and a lot of other Japanese games. I like her lips a lot as well since they’re so vital in giving her that shy, sensuous look. Lips and eyebrows are such a big part of conveying emotion but they sometimes seem to be an afterthought as far as anime character design goes, and I’m glad that Diskvision put a lot of care in how they designed their version of Iroha.
I prefer the other one from Good Smile!
i commented earlier asking about the Diskvision Eve. i asked about figures that were similarly styled. just got this for $60 per your recommendation. looks like i got a hell of a deal.
Quite a steal indeed; this is still one of my favoritest figures, though I am certainly in a very small minority in thinking that.
These amazing photos made me fall in love with this Iroha figure. I just ordered her for a splendid price. Love this blog. ^_^
Thanks for the kind words! I’ve always thought this figure was very underrated.