Many of the figures I buy tend to fall into at least one of two categories – usually they are holding some kind of weapon or they are dressed in an overt sexual manner. Nadeko could technically fit into that second category but even so, she stands apart from many of the figures I own because I didn’t buy her for her sexy swimsuit. I’ve been looking forward to Nadeko for a while and though spring isn’t really the most appropriate season for her, I’m happy she’s here since this is another great figure.
Nadeko Sengoku comes from the well-received anime Bakemonogatari and is manufactured by Good Smile Company. Many manufacturers have unveiled prototypes of figures derived from that show, but curiously GSC seems to be the only major company with a Nadeko figure in its lineup. She’s 1/8 scale and stands around either 12 or 18.5 centimeters tall, depending on how you elect to display her.
I like many things about this figure, and we’ll start with her hat. It is big and baggy and partially covers her eyes, tremendously enhancing her cuteness. I also like her jacket and this is one of the few figures I own where I’m much more inclined to keep her fully dressed. The modeled movement of the empty sleeves gives the figure a breezy, whimsical feel which wonderfully complements her joyous expression. Should we wonder why her sleeves are wafting in the wind while the leaves are firmly locked in place? Of course not; why should we be so crass? Some things are better left to the imagination than science.
Speaking of her expression, Nadeko’s happy smile is also something that I like. She sports a simple expression of youthful delight, and the leaves she’s gathering on her dress reminds us to appreciate the beauty of nature and to not forget the simple pleasures of life. I’m always cheered up when I glance at Nadeko on my shelf; I think many of us can relate her happiness to our younger days, collecting leaves or rocks or seashells or insects and jumping in puddles and in sandboxes and playpens full of plastic balls. Of course, how silly would we look if we did that now? We are far too mature for that sort of thing.
Nadeko’s base is also quite eye-catching; it is composed of a pink plastic base vaguely shaped like a cartoon animal head with a couple of torii posts sprouting from it. The posts are shattered, ancient and overgrown, somber sentinels that stand in marked contrast to Nadeko’s youth. The leaves also present an interesting dichotomy; while the posts are fairly realistic with simulated wood grain and subtle shading, the leaves are shaped like starfish, individual portions jutting out like shuriken blades. The shading is bold, even cartoonish, providing a striking comparison to the weathered structures they sprout from. The only part I don’t like is the base’s pink color; I would have liked something that doesn’t stand out quite so much. A blue base, something that looks a bit more like water would have been my preference.
Of course, I don’t suppose I can not mention Nadeko’s swimsuit. I’m not a big fan of the archetypical Japanese school swimsuit but I think it looks great here, mainly because it doesn’t call too much attention to itself, at least from the front. The low cut of the suit stays relatively modest but exposes Nadeko’s spindly legs, thankfully left bare. From the rear and sides, it provides a tantalizing glimpse of Nadeko’s cute backside, giving the figure an element of eroticism.
Nadeko’s jacket and hat can be removed; you pop off her head to remove or replace the jacket and the hat just stays on by itself. She’s still cute but it’s not the way I prefer to display her. You do get a different effect from the figure, though, mainly because you can see her eyebrows. The upward slant of her brows gives her a nervous or embarrassed appearance rather than a joyous one, which isn’t the way I like her to look, so I like her with her hat better.
Her legs can also be removed and replaced with a couple of stumps meant to make it look like she’s thigh-deep in water. That’s also not my favorite way to display her, mainly because she then looks like she’s sinking into my shelf. It also looks strange when compared to the other figures on my shelf, all of which have whole legs. I’ll keep her with her legs and with her hat and jacket; she looks absolutely perfect that way.
Good Smile Company has received a bit of negativity recently with respect to a few of their figures but Nadeko looks fantastic. The sculpt is superb, from the stalks of her hair to her individually-defined toes, and the paintwork is gorgeous as well. But what I like the most is her cheerful, innocent look. Nadeko looks a bit odd amongst all the angry fighting girls and seductive anime temptresses that populate my shelves, and I suppose that’s the way it should be, because this is a special figure indeed.
Nadeko kicking it b-boy style with the hat turned to the side. Rockin’, it don’t stop it y’all, gonna turn this sucker out, if you’re feeling it let the rhythm get into your soul let it sing and shout.
You know the name of this site. And they’re kinda like snakes, right?
Great review! The outdoorsy look suits her well. I think Nadeko’s embarrassed expression without the hat is really cute, though I’ve elected to keep her hat and jacket on as well. The one thing I don’t like is how her right foot doesn’t attach to the base. It makes her a little wobbly.
Also, the stump legs are good for amputee fetishists.
Yeah, I noticed that too, especially since it was breezy that day when I took her out for pictures. I kinda wish her right foot wasn’t right at the edge of the base too; it disrupts the balance of the figure, I think. Wish I coulda taken her pictures during autumn but I guess waiting another six or seven months to review the figure would be silly.
I am not among those people but I’ve seen enough artwork on Gelbooru to know they are out there. Unfortunately some of the fetishes that I do search for tend to overlap heavily with amputee art; I probably ought to just filter those out in the search query.
I’m not familiar with Bakemonogatari and so when I first saw this figure on amiami I honestly thought she was some sort of amputee victim. Or maybe a character like The Phantom Limb on Venture Brothers. I get that she’s supposed to look like she’s wading in water.. but it just freaks me out. She’s cute with the legs on.
As always, thanks for the great writing & photographs.
Haha, yeah, that’s sort of the effect that I got as well. It’s a nice idea but I think it’s difficult to make it work well with a figure, unless she’s being displayed off by herself.
And thanks for the kind words XD
This is one of those figures I swear I ordered, because I was really looking forward to it, but yet nope, apparently I didn’t order. ARRRRG! Looks like I’ll have to wait for an eventual rerelease. About the only thing I was wondering how it would turn out is the base, the post and leaves. So apparently, these are alright.
Ouch >.< Maybe you could get her from a US retailer? She's a great figure and is definitely worth seeking out. That reminds me that I better check my e-mail to make sure I've put in orders for everything that I'm anticipating.
the idea of walking through a muddy pond full of leaves in autumm gives me the creeps XD.
Nadeko is a very cute figure, I like the colors and the look of her hat and the jacket, but somehow I prefer her without them. The pocket at her waist is a nice looking detail and these slightly exposed buttocks are very pretty. I would also display her with legs, because I like legs ^^ the other option is not my thing because it looks incomplete somehow.
The pictures this time are especially nice, I really like 03,07,10 and 11,
It’s cool that you went out again for some outdoor pictures, it suits Nadeko very well.
Imagine if that pond had snakes!
I want to get more practice taking my camera outside, I’m really, truly, unbelievably clueless about taking photographs outside. Heck, I don’t even feel comfortable in aperture priority mode, since I shoot indoors in manual. After every picture, I was chimping on the LCD, wondering, “Did the camera really meter this right?” I enjoyed spending the afternoon outside though, it felt good to get some fresh air and exercise.
Kyaaah! XD
Well you are more used to shoot your figures indoors, but I think you can handle that outdoor photography also very well.
As long as you don’t take the pictures at too bright day light, noon for example it should work out 🙂
Thanks XD Hopefully I’ll get a chance to get more practice, I’ve got a couple of ideas that I’d like to try out, if I can find a good spot to set up and shoot. That’s one of the less attractive things about where I live, it’s all suburbs and roads for miles in every direction.
she looks really awesome but i had to make choices… thanks for the great review really like the photo’s
Thanks! Yeah, she’s a bit pricey for 1/8 scale; I kinda wish they dispensed with the detachable legs to lower her price a bit.
I’m rather surprised that YOU ordered this figure Tier. It was always on my list of orders but for you it seems so out of place. Where are you displaying her? I hope she gets a proper spot on a shelf and not piled like some of the other figures you have.
I’m still unsure how I’ll display mine. I like her with her legs on and off, and while she’ll look like she’s sinking into my shelf it will be more accurate. And the pink base is accurate to the illustration she’s based on, accurate at least in that it’s a pink colour, not necessarily the right pink.
She ended up having a rather nice bottom and I’d never really noticed that fanny pack (hip bag) of hers.
Lastly, those tentacles are too big for her.. unfortunately. But I suppose they’re snake-like enough, sure. They need to be binding her though… for uh.. accuracy, yeah, accuracy.
Uhh, man, I dunno yet. I’m literally out of surface space now. I need to reorganize my shelf next to my Detolf since it’s just off to the side of my computer monitor and that’s where I want to put my favorite figures. She’ll probably be going there. I can probably shift off some stuff like some of my more abysmal Griffon figures and the older Volks Super Robot Taisen girls to clear off that room.
Ah, well, I suppose that makes sense then. I guess the pink color isn’t too bothersome on the shelf as it is outside on a park bench.
I could really use a 1/8 scale tentacle stand. The Inju Ouji is serviceable in a pinch but his tentacles aren’t really long enough and he falls over too easily.
Time for an online garage sale! :p
I probably should sell off some stuff, not just figures but the camera stuff I don’t use anymore. I wonder how much I could get for that really old Griffon Kanu figure I got; I’d be happy to let it go for ten bucks if I could get that much.
Screw you Tier! You posted this now on purpose! How am I supposed to even entertain the idea of buying a compact after looking at these shots…….oni.
Ah but seriously like the last one your writing again on this one is top notch! I was expecting more pervy comments or something…Well not that pervy isn’t ok, but defying expectations is nice too! :p
This does confirm that I do want a Nadeko figure, but one with pants…This one is very charming, but instead of legs/no legs would have been nice if it was bare legs/baggy pants. T_T
I did! When I got to the lake, I sat there for a while wondering how I was going to take these pictures and then I thought to myself, “Ahh fuggit, I’ll just crank the lens open and blur out the background.” It’s really easy to do.
I delight in confounding expectations. I find I really enjoy writing reviews of figures that can almost explain for themselves why I like them. That’s another reason I probably ought to think twice about some of the more mediocre figures that I preorder.
Yeah, I would’ve liked that a lot. I’ve seen art of Nadeko wearing a pair of jeans and I’d like that as well. That’s one of the things I like about Nadeko that I didn’t mention, that she looks more or less like an actual person, with her skinny build and her shaggy shoulder-length hair. You see anime girls with giant ponytails or ankle-length hair and twintails and drill hair and antenna hair and hair of all different colors and while I don’t mind any of that, it’s nice to see a character with a normal haircut.
Dude. I am sooo friggin envious. I hate you. Oh My GOD I am jelly as hell of oyu right now. Daaamn joo!! Great pics again. Hate. I love Nadeko… cause of Kana… and of how she was portrayed as well. Hate. I mean Love. I mean Jelly. Asdfgh!!
Haha, it’s not too late to get one of your own! I think. At least, I’ve seen her listed at a few US retailers and there are a few up on Yahoo Japan. She’s a great figure, you should pick her up.
I shall! Catched up on IS or anything yet?! :O
Nope, not yet … I keep hearing negative things about it and that kinda scares me off. Against my better judgment, I recently tried to give Freezing another shot and found it just as unwatchable as I had first thought. I recently finished watching Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou, which gives some idea of how regularly I watch anime.
Oh Tier, how would I go about planting a tentacle tree? I’m amazed that these majestic plants should be such rare sights — if there is any justice in the world, they should be in every public park, providing shade and pleasure to all who rest under its wriggling comfort. I have tried to to graft squids and octopuses onto trees for the desired effect, but all I got for my efforts was a smelly mess. What am I doing wrong?
Well, the main thing is that you have to raise it properly. If my study of anime has taught me anything, it’s that tentacle trees require the right sort of food. However, it can be difficult to procure this food, so an assertive attitude to providing for your tentacle tree is also helpful. Once you’ve snared a wide-eyed, saucy-bottomed anime girl, her natural secretions should help it swell into a healthy, tendriled titan of lust and lovemaking, thus making this dream a reality and turning the world into a better place.
That is hilarious!
XD
Seems quite a lot of people have picked up this Nadeko figure. Who can blame them, she does look very nice.
When I first saw her without legs it looked like some pink slime monster was swallowing her up instead of water. But after I spent a bit more time looking at her I’ve actually come round to liking her without them. She’s a beautifully sculpted 3D representation of a 2D artwork.
That’s also the cool thing about having the different swappable parts, you can pick what you like best ^^.
Indeed! It’s also nice that Nadeko isn’t too hard to disassemble or put back together. When I get a Daiki or MegaHouse figure with a castoff option, I despair a bit inside because it’s sometimes a real pain just getting all the plastic sheeting out. I’m hoping GSC’s Junko isn’t too hard to take apart, either.
Not terribly original but I would have liked to see you immerse her half-legged form in water. I’m not sure if you are the type of person to mind subjecting your figure to some risks but it would have looked great in picture I imagine.
Although pic17 gave me nightmares, your convo with chag about it was quite hilarious. Good work!
Yeah, I would’ve liked to have done that too. I couldn’t find a suitable body of water though; I was near a lake but the shoreline wasn’t too conducive to putting the figure into the water. I need to find some better spots, like maybe a creek or a shallow stream where nobody is around.
Your blog has some of the best high-quality awesome figure shots out there, can you share a little bit about what kind of DSLR camera & what type of lens that you’re using?
Sure, I use an EOS 7D now, but I used to use a Rebel XS. I mainly use a 100mm macro lens for most of my shots, but I sometimes use a 35mm f/1.4 lens for larger figures or for perspective purposes.