I’d planned on wrapping up my reviews of Alter’s Ikki Tousen figures by doing a writeup of Kanu Unchou, but then I got Seira in the mail and I figured that the world doesn’t really need another Kanu review right now. Accordingly, I decided I’d photograph Seira first, being that I’m still trying to think of a way to shoot Kanu without making it look utterly boring.
Seira Orgel is from the visual novel and anime Chaos;HEAd, although she’s technically not a character from those properties but is instead a character from Blood Tunes, an anime within the anime and game. I’m not personally familiar with any of these things and I don’t recall ever hearing much about them. I took a look at Danbooru for Chaos;HEAd hentai on the basis that the quantity of pornography derived from a particular franchise is a reasonable indicator of its stature in the anime zeitgeist but there wasn’t much there at all. It seems that this show just came and went without it having made much of an impression on the masses.
The visual novel was developed by Nitroplus and 5pb., a familiar name among fans of scrolling shmups. 5pb. later ported the PC game to the Xbox 360 as Chaos;HEAd Noah and a look at their game lineup indicates that they are primarily a 360 publisher, as far as home consoles go. That seems quite strange, akin to placing an NFL expansion franchise in Brazil or opening up a pulled pork barbecue joint in Pakistan. I’ve been thinking about possibly looking into maybe picking up a Japanese 360 later on to play Strike Witches and maybe THE iDOL@MASTER: Live for You! so I might try out their stuff.
Seira is manufactured by Orchid Seed in a nominal 1/7 scale, although she’s unsurprisingly smaller than billed and is closer to 1/8 scale. She’s about fifteen centimeters tall not including her impressive hot pink bludgeon. She comes with a base, but like all kneeling figures she does not need it to stay upright. She also comes with a couple of pieces of hair.
Her outfit has certain vague thematic similarities to the sort of sailor outfit that you often see in anime and manga, but one of the most distinctive aspects of her clothing is its mix of colors, with pearly white, navy blue, bright lime green, and golden accents mixing with her pink hair to effect a very striking appearance. Also striking is her massive club, which conveys stark brutality by its golden spikes and sheer size along with playful femininity in equal measure in its hot pink color and cute red bowtie.
Not knowing anything about the character, it’s not easy to ascertain her personality from this figure. Her face expresses worry or perhaps surprise and her look is a bit incongruous with the huge club that she’s holding; when you’re carrying around the biggest nail-bat of reeducation known to mankind, what do you have to worry about?
Up close – and I mean up close with a magnifying glass – she looks a bit rough, in terms of quality. In particular, there are some black flecks in her paint, including one right on her cheek. Her paintwork isn’t all that clean and there are some small and curious ridges and bubbles in the edges of her clothing.
Like most Orchid Seed figures, parts of her clothing can be removed. In Seira’s case, it’s her hat, tube top, and underpants. Her top slides off under her necktie without much difficulty, and she separates at the waist to facilitate removing or replacing her panties, which simply wrap around her hips without anything holding them up on her body. She still has some gold pasties and some sort of star-shaped maebari to uphold her dignity and keep her plausibly work-safe.
She comes with a large piece of hair but I’m not quite sure how to attach it. It appears to somehow fit to the left side of her head but I didn’t feel like bothering.
Removing Seira’s hat reveals one problem with this figure: there’s a big hole in her head. This hole can be filled with a smaller sprig of hair that’s included in the box and visible to the right here. However, the ahoge is rather flimsy and doesn’t fit all that securely, and I’m about 95% certain that I’m going to lose it at some point. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded if they had dispensed with the ahoge completely so that her scalp could have been left intact and whole but as it is, if you misplace her hat, she’s going to have a prominent hole in her head, and if you misplace the ahoge, you’ll have to keep her hat on her head, and if you lose both, you’re screwed.
I’ve got no quibbles with how she looks sans top, though.
And I can’t say I have many quibbles with the way she looks overall, either. She’s a bit lacking as far as quality control goes but that’s not particularly surprising and she’s a bit smaller than I was hoping but that’s not particularly surprising either. She’s a unique figure and she looks nice. She’s not the most epic figure around but she ain’t bad and I’m pretty happy with her.
I was sad to hear that Carl Macek passed away a few days ago. Macek was probably most famous for Robotech, which wasn’t the first anime I’d seen (I’d watched Tranzor Z and Battle of the Planets before that) but it’s still one of my favorite shows and was the strongest influence in my becoming an anime fan. Then I learned that Guru – the MC of the well-known rap group Gang Starr – died of cancer a couple of days ago. I think I’ll watch my Robotech DVDs and listen to Jazzmatazz this week in remembrance.
Nice review. Curious how you did the lighting effects. Originally thinking it was just a background I then saw the last picture which had light on Seira as well.
I watched some of Chaos Head, and then it just faded away and I never thought of it again, not even enough to finish it. It was just strange and couldn’t keep my interest.
Glad you stopped doing Ikki Tousen figures, I wanted to comment but I couldn’t find anything I liked about them, and didn’t want to be seething with hate like people thought I was recently on my Index review. And since my Mother always told me “If you don’t have something nice to say, dont’ say anything at all” I opted for that route.
At any rate, I like Seira’s costume, it’s definitely got that pervy magical girl thing going for it with the underboob and the short ‘skirt’ like aspect, the little bit of exposed skin above the panties (when they’re on). Zettai ryouiki is nice, and that kneeling wirh her arms up pose reveals a nice figure as well. Of course I have to end it with boobs too big.
I’d never tell her that last bit though, lest I be bludgeoned with that beat-stick of hers.
Hi!!! well this figure is not espectacular but is very pretty, i saw her in the past but i dont know where is she coming to… Excelent photos tier!!!!
Saludos…
>> Aka
I used some Christmas tree lights; I strung them up behind the figure, killed all the ambient lights (after focusing), set the shutter speed to around two seconds and set a flash to rear curtain sync. Then I shook the lights while the camera took the picture. For the last picture I shook the camera instead of the lights.
I found some episodes on Youtube and really quickly glanced through a couple of them. I didn’t really get much of a feel for what the show was about. Strange that it was so unremarkable, you usually see more merchandise and fanart for anime shows whose cast mainly comprises cute schoolgirls.
Ha! I’m happy to hear the hate. I’ll never advise anyone not to hate on anything. I’m happy to hate on Virginia Tech, the Los Angeles Lakers, the entire state of Maryland, a certain American political party, reality television, the paladins in the one raid guild I joined back when I played Warcraft … I had an idea for how I wanted to photograph Kanu but I’m going to use it for Elwing instead … I think she’s supposed to ship next week.
Yeah, the costume is really nice. Especially how she’s not wearing pants. Or a skirt, really; it looks a bit more like a really wide belt or strap. How can her boobs be too big? :O They’re smaller than her head!
>> Marcucho
Thanks! Yeah, that’s how I’d describe it. Pretty nice but not the sort of figure that you’d be counting down the months to release for. Probably the sort of figure that you’d put on your cut list, if you were running out of money and had to cancel preorders, but you’d probably regret it later on. At least a little bit.
Wow you really went apeshit with the lighting on this one…Brilliant! Back when I still had her on order I didn’t have a damn clue how I’d shot her, but this is a great idea for her.
Ah anyway yes the anime sucks do not under any circumstance watch it…Play the game, which is about 100x better in all regards and probably one of the best Visual Novels (Yes its a VN not a Eroge…No H and no paths for each girl on the PC version though it does have several endings) I’ve played the past few years.
As far as popularity…I think its actually one of the best selling titles for Nitro and 5pb…Not really sure why they never merchandised it much though…odd. If they got someone who had a clue about transparent materials they could make some awfully spectacular figures with the girls displaying their swords!
@Tier, Creative! I wish I could think of stuff like this. I have so much trouble coming up with anything. Then again, I only own so many types of lights, none of them Christmas, many of them in use and/or screwed to surfaces.
Boobs are too big when they’re bigger than my hands (assuming life-size).
I’ll try to remember to lay the hate on in the future if and when I see it.
whoa, I love the background effect you used… 🙂
>> Ashlotte
I didn’t really know if this method would turn out all that great so I figured that I’d go for broke. It’s probably a bit excessive (okay, it’s way excessive) but that is the way I do things.
That does not sound like a very promising endorsement! I guess I’ve got a ton of other anime in the queue so this show wouldn’t be a high priority even if I were interested in it.
>> Aka
I thought of more things that I hate: Tim Tebow, nendoroids, the Duke basketball team, Notre Dame, Drossel, Apple, Linux, Windows 7, the revised NFL draft schedule, the Wii, and pretty much everyone with a Maryland tag that drives around here. I’ve noticed that almost every idiot that I’ve seen on the road this week was in a car with a Maryland plate.
I guess I’ll be reviewing Alter’s Kanu in a week or two so you can hate freely if you so choose XD
>> phossil
Thanks!
Don’t know anything about this series or figure but very nice effect on this set of photos! BTW, I have done a rather naughty set of photos of my DD recently, if you get a chance, come check them out and let me know what you think of it. I also got an epically naughty Dakimakura coming in the mail, will most certainly share that when it shows up.
@Tier, I love Drossel! And Windows 7 isn’t bad, but you like Vista then? You could have said Microsoft like you generalized with Apple and Linux.
But of that list, I hate Nendoroids with a passion, as we’ve discussed in the past. I recently saw a picture where the designers were I guess choosing a colour scheme for one, and comparing their Nendoroid to this drawing of what would have made a pretty good figure, but instead they had a Nendoroid in their hand. What a shame.
Idk how figures are cast, but in response to your comment about the”Curious ridges and bubbles along the edges” If figures are cast like pottery, then they cast the piece, prime it and bake (hence the grey unfinished look) they then paint and bake again. If too much paint is applied, it runs down and settles along the edges and base, as the heat thins it. It sometimes bubbles and hardens, leaving bubbles and ridges. Most quality craters sand and buff them out.
Also the black specks could be ash residue left from an unclean kiln.
Nice reviews btw, I’ve seen a few of yours amongst others. Keep up the good work.
Idk these are just my opinions, I could be wrong.
Thanks for the kind words. I don’t think they use pottery processes to cast the figures – these figures are made of plastic, so I would guess the manufacturing procedure is a bit different – but from what I can tell, many factories use a combination of machine painting and hand-painting, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if your explanation about the paint might explain some of the variation and defects you sometimes see.
Wow! Talk about psychedelic! lol
Nicely done with the lighting and exposure of the figure. All the flashy lights seem to fit the figure pretty well too – even though I have no idea who she is.
I always have issues thinking of what to use as background. =(
i was terribly disappointed when i found out chaos head wasn’t an eroge ^^; but man, come on… you’ve got your harem, equipped with crazy invisible weapons, nitroplus…no ero? didn’t add up 😛
when i first saw the anime i was hoping they’d come out with figures of the other girls… the translucent weapons could’ve turned out pretty cool… alas.
at any rate seira herself turned out pretty nice… not a bad pose, huge weapon… good stuff ^^
very nice touch with the lights. you’re on a roll ^_^
Trippy! That’s some pretty good effect you’ve got going there! I know how I’d replicate that in Photoshop, but seeing it done IRL is pretty sweet!
I need to explore the possibilities of my camera more. I’m very impressed with your creative uses!
Excellent lighting and review! 🙂
Loving the background ^^.
I bet she doesn’t have anything to worry about either with that huge bag xD. She’s a girl so making something like a nail bat cute and yet frightening at the same time is cute xD. Never seen pasties on a figure before so that’s interesting.
>> Wolfheinrich
I will DL and take a look! So to speak. I’m looking forward to seeing that dakimakura too, I bought a rather risque one recently myself, though I guess it won’t get here for a few more weeks since I had to get it off YJA.
>> Aka
Oh hell no, I hate Vista even more than Windows 7. I loved 2000 and XP, though, they were the greatest operating systems I’ve ever used (although Apple DOS and Windows 3.1 were good, too). Vista sucks so much ass. Windows 7 is mildly annoying in comparison to Vista.
That’s a tragedy. It reminds me of the BlazBlue Noel nendoroid. I would love a figure of Noel, but the only one I’ve seen (besides model kits) is a fuggin’ nendoroid. Tragic.
>> Visual Fanfare
That’s the effect I was going for XD I figure she’s supposed to be a virtual character or something … I think. Actually, I dunno if all the characters in Chaos;HEAd are supposed to be virtual or not … it seems like this is supposed to be one of those weirdo pretentious existential shows … probably another reason why I might not like it.
I’m trying to come up with some better ideas for backgrounds … I think I’ve got some ideas for shooting on colored paper but the foo-bar-baz guy already does that, so I’m trying to do things a little bit differently, if I can (for better or worse!).
>> meronpan
Yeah, that’s messed up, isn’t it? Plus the girl characters are pretty cute, too … I got this thing for girls in collared dress shirts … especially when they’re unbuttoned.
I’m gonna have to check out an episode or two on Youtube and see what these transparent weapons are about. I’ve also got this thing for girls with armament.
>> radiant
Thanks! A lot of times, I’ll be sitting there getting ready to take pictures and I’ll think to myself, “I wonder what would happen if I did this?” To be honest, most of the time the idea doesn’t work nearly as well as I hope for >.>
>> AS
They did a really nice job making this figure look feminine XD It’s also interesting that they did cover her up like that, Orchid Seed usually doesn’t have a problem with making ero figures … I wonder if 5pb. and Nitro made that decision.
Funking Stars…..
Hmm..I am not really interested in the figures itself and was more intrigued how you managed those light effects.
All I knew was that you must have had a high f-stop set and somehow moved the light.I didnt expect those lights to be christmas lights though XD
The result is quite inmpressive ^^
hmm, from what little I saw of the character and anime while I was watching Chaos Head, the expression does look somewhat off…
She always gave a really energetic cute and bubbly personality whenever she was on screen (either as an anime or figment of the main characters imagination) so a worried look feels a little off…
And I didn’t shed a tear for Carl Macek and I don’t think you’ll find a more divisive person when it comes to old school anime…
Personally, I owe more to Jim Terry and his force five production which made it to the UK on VHS for my love of anime.
>> Blowfish
You could technically use a wider aperture by using a neutral density filter. I’m too cheap to spring for one of those, though (or a polarizer).
>> gundamjehutykai
I sorta got the same impression while skimming through a couple of episodes; she seemed cheerful and engaging in the brief scenes she was in, so I wonder why she’s depicted her with a bit of a frown.
I don’t really read a lot of anime boards but I’ve got the feeling that there are a lot of people who feel the same way regarding Carl Macek. People are people, I guess.
You got Orgel !!!!!!!!!!!
D: lucky you.
I guess ill try my best to get her, since i like her so much XD
Nice lighting effect on the bg.
Thanks! She doesn’t seem to be enormously popular – and I guess that’s not surprising since nobody seems to really be a big Chaos;HEAd fan – so hopefully she won’t be too hard to track down and procure.
i have orderd her to ,but i think she won’t come anytime soon (orderd her from a belgium shop)
the anime was great only a bit complicated when your native language is not english (i live in Austria)
normaly i don’t have problems with english subtitles
never played the VN before so i don’t know any difference
i hope more figures will come out from this anime
Great work on the backgrounds, especially with the recent figures. I’m always having issues with finding the right background – I’m getting a bit bored with the plain backgrounds that I use. But what can I say, I’m just not that creative. LOL
>> Sora
Ah, yeah, I’d imagine so. Sometimes I wonder how things with overly complicated language get translated overseas. Like I wonder what the German version of Star Trek is like; that can’t be fun to translate.
I really like the character designs as well, despite not knowing anything about them. I definitely would like to see more figures from this series.
>> VF
Haha, thanks; I’ve been trying not to revert back to black or white recently, having used them for most of my figures over the last year. Though then again, black or white can look good if done with the right figure.
I hate the litle golden stars!!! You know…
I love the lights behind!!!
Nice work!
Haha, yeah, they do get in the way, don’t they? And thanks for the kind words!
Me gusta esto! Las estrellas son bonitas, no como sus pezones al descubierto … T_T del curso.
2010 nuevos lanzamientos de OrquÃÂdeas de semillas son agradables.
Oh man, it’s been a long time since I took Spanish. Not since high school, actually. Lemme see if I can interpret this … yeah, I like the stars too, that way I can keep the pictures work-safe (sort of) while still highlighting those parts. Though admittedly, I also wouldn’t have minded if they just showed everything off, too.
I’ve got Ameri Kawai preordered but I think I’m most looking forward to more of their Happoubi Jin figures, the Lineage II dark elf, and the Comic Megastore cover girl. They’ve got some great stuff planned, and I can’t wait to see the prototype figures.
Sorry about the Spanish! I was distracted!!! Man, my final exam is a true monster!
Orchid Seed is my favorite producer. I’ve been waiting for the Yuzuhara Konomi -loli!!!- and the Hustler Cardinal Red.
Again… sorry!!!
Haha, I understand, sometimes I wish I were still in school. It must be really nice to be bilingual, too. The Hustler figure is great, one of my favorites. It’s a little bit surprising to me that Orchid Seed made a Konomi figure instead of Tamaki, since they seem to like more mature-looking characters, but she looks really cute.
Good luck with the exam!
Thanks, Tier!!!
I have seen many illustrations that are based Orchid Seed to other figures, but still no resin prototype of these future works. For example, presumably there will be another version of Soniko: Bondage Ver.
Happoubijin’s Rider … is very … mmmm … sexy … yes, sexy. Even Hustler is more my kind of anime girl.
Yeah, I saw those, I’m looking forward to a bunch of them, especially the dark elf, Sister Hell, the milk princess (I think that’s what she’s called).
I saw that the painted version of the Rider got unveiled today … it looks great, I think that’s a definite preorder for me.
Princess Milk!!! Sano Toshihide!!!
She looks like Shiratori Amane.
She does! I wonder what pose they will give her … the one in the picture looked really nice, I hope they go with that one.
It’s very hard to explain Chaos;Head VN. The beginning of Chaos;Head anime is true to the VN in terms of feel, but it veers off later on, probably due to the fact that they were trying to adapt Choas;Head Noah, the longer version of Chaos;Head PC VN. And they only had 13 episodes worth of frames to work with.
Chaos Head is essentially a parody that’s a hybrid of horror/guru and harem/comedy. It does this by focusing on “delusions” which you can either pick the green or the red option. Which pill, green or red? Red is the “guru” route and “green” is the “comedy/ecchi” route. They aren’t completely mutually exclusive of the other. They’re just options you pick for which delusion you want to see. Because the whole plot is essentially about the main character’s delusions.
It’s a parody in this sense. The main protagonist is a hikikimori, which sorta means “man in box”. He basically lives… in a container box on top of a roof house and never goes outside except to attend school and get not expelled. That’s a hikimori I guess, literally speaking. And he fits the Japanese classical vision of an anime otaku. He doesn’t have a social life, he collects figurines (start getting why it’s a parody now), and he stays home in his “box” and plays MMOs.
If you think this is a pathetic start for a main character, you haven’t seen anything yet. That is why this is a parody: it makes fun of something by making it so extreme that it becomes ridiculous at times. And SEIRA is his favorite figurine and she speaks to him. She gives him advice in her cutesy voice of hers: “you don’t need 3d girls when you have a 2d girl like me”. And sometime or other, when things change, and the main pro no longer listens to SEIRA… guess what she does.
That’s the figurine you have in your hands, Tier.
Btw, if you want to see sci fi applications of the concept of the Dirac Sea in terms of magical power, read Chaos;Head PC Visual Novel.
The ending is one of the top uplifting conclusions i’ve seen in VNs. Probably because the main character is UTTERLY PATHETIC in the beginning and middle.
Hey Tier, do you still have this figure after all these years? I see it might be the only Chaos;Head one ever made…although I did also see a Nendroid from this series.