Girls with guns time continues with a look at Alphamax’s rendition of Cryska Barchenowa. Previously known for their lineup of exorbitantly expensive polystone statues that seemingly nobody bought, Alphamax has in recent times redirected themselves towards mainstream PVC figure production. Many of their figures come from the usual franchises – Ikkitousen, K-On!, and To Heart, among others – and so I was surprised to see that they were going to make figures from Muv Luv Alternative Total Eclipse. Personally, I would have much preferred to see figures of the girls in their military data suits, but as there are so few Muv-Luv figures despite its long history and expansive cast, beggars can hardly be choosers.
Cryska is one of the principal characters of the Muv Luv spinoff Total Eclipse. This new franchise is centered on a story serialized in the eroge magazine Tech Gian, and also published in individual light novel volumes. There are numerous other products as well, including mecha toys, small figures, and a manga illustrated by Takashi Ishigaki of doujin circle Type-G. Most notably, an anime adaptation has been announced for next year, which I am very much looking forward to.
The plot of Total Eclipse involves a group of pilots who are stationed in Alaska as part of Project Prominence, where they are testing out the newest generation of Tactical Surface Fighter mecha. The lead character is Japanese-American pilot Yuuya Bridges, a lieutenant in the US Army with the callsign Argus 1. Peculiarly, he dislikes Japan, and I can’t help but think of Daiteikoku’s Kuchiki Isabella and her “Overthrow Japan” headband.
In the Muv-Luv Alternative world, much of the world’s male population has been decimated by warfare, and a pleasant side effect of this unhappy circumstance is that most of Yuuya’s comrades are hot girls with big breasts and saucy nipples. The presumptive lead girl is Japanese lieutenant Yui Takamura – and like most Japanese girls, she’s a brunette with violet eyes and an absolutely breathtaking rack. She is a duty-minded girl who comes from a samurai family, and given Yuuya’s attitude towards her ethnicity, I can make some assumptions on the nature of their relationship. Her callsign is White Fang 1; as Total Eclipse takes place in Alaska at Yukon Base, perhaps that is a neat homage to American literature. Then there are the two Soviet girls, Cryska and semi-loli Inia Sestina, who are both psychics with certain temperament quirks. They form a tight, somewhat standoffish pair and are called the “Scarlet Sisters,” though Inia warms up to Yuuya. Together, they drive an Su-37UB surface fighter, Cryska taking the callsign Eagle 1. The last girl is Nepalese lieutenant Tarisa Manandal, who doesn’t seem to get nearly the same face time as Yui, Cryska, or Inia. Perhaps it’s because her breasts aren’t nearly as big.
Alphamax bills this figure as being 1/7 scale, though at around 10.5 centimeters in height, Cryska is more like 1/8 scale, perhaps even smaller. She comes with a round plastic base and a rifle, which is simply propped loosely against her body for display.
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While Triela evinced a sense of loneliness and melancholy, Cryska is straight-up pinup, reminiscent of the famous scene from the film Jackie Brown. The figure is based off of an illustration by artist Miyata Sou, and all the other Total Eclipse girls get similar pictures. Cryska is sitting in her underwear, which is elaborate and lacy, while holding a Dragunuv SVD sniper rifle. The Dragunuv is one of two default weapons for any Russian or Soviet character, with any version of the AK always being the first choice. The AK is sort of a lowbrow weapon in terms of stature, with its reputation built on its rugged reliability and ease of use and manufacture rather than its sexiness, so the sniper rifle is a slightly more elegant choice. Not much more elegant, though; I think it’s a really ugly gun.
One oddity about this figure is her left thigh is flattened out, which is realistic but causes her left foot to hover off of the ground. That annoys me for some reason, and another odd thing is that her panties have this little flaps on the part that passes between her legs, and I’m not sure what those are supposed to be. A screwup would be my guess.
The characters of Total Eclipse suffer from variable breast size syndrome in their official art, and I think Cryska’s breasts are perhaps a bit too large here. I’m hedging that opinion because it’s hard for me to hate on tits but I think I’d prefer them a little bit smaller, as they appear in the source artwork.
But apart from that, I don’t see a great deal to criticize. She’s reasonably faithful to the art, though her expression deviates a bit; while the art gives her a neutral look, the figure seems to have a more seductive look. That seems more appropriate for a pinup girl, and at any rate, the figure retains the eye shape indicative of Miyata Sou’s style.
I like this collar she’s wearing, too. It’s a cute and kinky accessory.
Her rifle is rendered very well. I guess that’s no surprise since even though it looks quite realistic, doll accessory companies are quite expert at making scale-sized weapon replicas.
And while I don’t have many bad things to say about this figure, I can’t say I’m all that excited about it either, which is strange since I think I ought to like it more than I do. I mean, it’s a figure of a girl with a gun in lingerie, and she has purple hair. I love purple hair – Sengoku Rance’s Senhime and the X-Men’s Psylocke have purple hair, and those are two of my favorite characters in fictional entertainment. Personally, I think I’m more excited about the fact that a major figure maker is making Muv-Luv figures than this individual figure. That said, Cryska does look nice, and she wasn’t too expensive, so I’m pretty happy with her. Hopefully someone will make more figures of the Muv-Luv girls in their piloting suits.
Cryska came out last month but I don’t recall if any English-language websites have reviewed her yet. However, there are reviews of her on several Japanese-language sites, including Kaijin’s blog and .30CAL Club.
Here’s Cryska next to a Figma. As you can see, Cryska isn’t really that big.
One thing I should mention is that although Alphamax’s upcoming Yui Takamura figure is castoff-able, Cryska is not. It looks a bit like her top should be able to come off, but it is attached to her body.
Despite a general unfamiliarity with the Muv-Luv world, I’ve acquired some stuff from the franchise. Here’s a mousepad bearing Cryska’s likeness.
Here’s a couple of books – volume 2 of the light novel on the left and volume 2 of the manga adaptation on the right.
Here’s a couple more books, which focus heavily on the mecha units of Total Eclipse. There’s a third book in this series which I haven’t purchased yet, since the shipping rates from Amazon Japan are insane. I’ll get it someday, though.
This is an artbook containing a number of illustrations from Total Eclipse artist Miyata Sou. The pictures are beautiful, though many of them can be seen elsewhere; the source illustration for this Cryska figure, for example. I’m a big fan of Miyata Sou’s artwork.
This is a book that Age sold at Comiket 78, I believe. The blonde girl is Lilia Kjellberg, a United States Marine. It’s nice to see the Marine Corps get some anime-style love.
This book includes this very nice illustration from Age artist Sayori.
And this amusing illustration of Cryska with her striker unit and some low-leg panties.
Great looking shots. I am quite surprised that as an AlphaMax scantily clad figure she doesn’t have a castoff option – thought that was pretty much a given with AlphaMax.
What do you think of her face though? Your second image makes it look a little distorted and flat from the side.
Yeah, I was surprised by that as well. I took it for granted until I took her out of her box and tried to tug her top off. It’s particularly surprising since their figure of Yui is castoff-able.
I like her face a lot; it’s very pretty and quite accurate to Miyata Sou’s art style, though not entirely exact to the particular illustration this figure is based off of. I’m a big fan of the Total Eclipse character designs; I don’t know a great deal about the franchise, but I do know the artwork is excellent.
Cryska looks dead sexy in that outfit. I thought about picking her up myself a few times. She has 2 very appealing themes – girls with guns and lingerie. Although in this case the gun is more of an accessory than the main focus of the figure.
Her floating foot is a little distracting once you notice it but the flaps on her underwear aren’t too bad. They’re odd, but not all that distracting.
Compared to her 2D illustration I’d have to agree her breasts seem to have inflated. Her facial features are also closer together which makes her look a little different. These differences however do not impact on how fantastic she looks in her lacy underwear. I thought she was a cast-off figure for some reason – I must be getting her confused with another short purple hair character. I always seem to get Orchid Seed and AlphaMax figures muddled as well.
I’ll look forward to seeing Yui Takamura if you’re planning on getting her as well. I wonder if AlphaMax plan on doing all the Calender girls. I’d like to see one of Tarisa Manandal if they do.
Orchid Seed and Alphamax do seem to be going for similar audiences these days. It’s great that they are, since I’m certainly a big fan of ero figures and I have no problem at all with more manufacturers going that route. It’s interesting how Alphamax has shifted from doing expensive-ass polystone figures of sometimes obscure characters to rolling out cheap figures of Denpa Onna and Mayo Chiki! characters with the quickness.
I’m definitely getting Yui and I’m looking forward to her. Wish she and Cryska were bigger, though; I’d probably be much more enthusiastic about Cryska if she were a bit larger. God I hope Yui isn’t a tsundere military girl in the anime.
I sort of dig this figure. Faces are extremely hard to pull off on figures but I think they did a pretty good job with it. Love the shoes and collar. Besides pleasing the male and occasional female viewer, I’m not sure what purpose her weapon and pose serve though. Guess I’m not used to females in their underwear greeting me with a smile and a rifle.
The chest may indeed be slightly inflated but at least the breasts look somewhat natural. Nothing is more disturbing to me than silicone gone haywire.
Not really a fan of floor reflections either but it added a welcome dimension to the figure. Exceptional lighting as always, some great intimate shots.
I guess it is straight pinup; I don’t really have a fetish for underwear models holding guns, but it seems to have its advocates. At least, I’ve occasionally seen calendars and other merchandise based on this theme. Me, I would’ve really liked to see her in her pilot suit; I have much more of a thing for cute girls in tight outfits.
Back after another extended hospital-related absence (I’ve had a shitty summer). This is a figure I wanted since it was announced but…now that I see it’s so tiny, maybe not so much. Love the bewbs, of course, and the pose, but I sort of like my girls to be around the same scale. Looks like Cryska here would be dwarfed by basically everyone else I own.
Hey man, hope you’re doing better. Or at least, I hope that things are looking up for your health. Yeah, she’s pretty small; I probably should’ve taken more pictures of her with some other figures to illustrate her size. I think she’d fit in okay with 1/8 scale figures, so if you have a shelf of those, she wouldn’t look too out of place.
Yui Takamura is cast offable?!? @_@! didn’t know that. Also got Cryska just recently and am pretty pleased with her too :D. Although am torn on either getting the Alphamaz/Skytube lingere one or the one that (Alter?) is going to make.
Hmm, well, I thought she was castoffable, and I found the sample review that I had seen a few months ago. Running the text through a machine translator, I’m not sure if her top comes off, but it can be moved a bit to show off her boobs. I’m not sure what to make of that; that seems like it’d be the worst of both worlds. Hopefully I’m just not interpreting the translation correctly.
Ah this one, I remember that I considered to get her, but things ended in a different way.
Her face doesn’t look 100% like in the illustration, but she still seems to look very pretty.
I like the compact pose of her even though she looks really small compared to the figma.
No castoff!? really? That surprises me a bit, I thought Alphamax always gives their figures a castoff option. Anyway she has nice curves and In your pictures 8 and 17 she looks really pretty.
These books look nice, I like the illustration style a lot I guess 😉
She is quite pretty indeed. I’m hoping she is an appealing character in the anime. I’m really, really, really hoping that the anime doesn’t somehow turn out to be an Infinite Stratos clone. Given its military and heavy sci fi leanings, I think it’ll be okay, but with the kind of drek anime makers chuck out these days, you never know.
Overall, I like this figure. Her lingerie is very sexy, she has large breasts(which is almost always a plus), and you can’t go wrong with girls+guns. Overall, cute, sexy, and a hint of danger with that dragunov beside her.
Also, I’m slightly intrigued by this series now.
All true things, and she also drives a big mech based off of a Soviet fighter jet. Man I hope the anime is more like Macross Plus and much, much less like Infinite Stratos.
As per usual you have amazing photos. I really love the background you used! Would love to know how you made it!
The figure itself is very sexy, the gun makes it better. I do love the purple hair too. I don’t know anything about the series or else I am sure I would like the figure more.
Thanks! It’s just a cheap wood plank that I bought at a crafts store for a couple of dollars. I painted over it with some various shades of blue paint to give it a more textured appearance. I wish I had used some brighter blue tones so it would stand out a bit more.
Haven’t been back here in awhile, pretty busy lately. =( Always nice to see your reviews and photos! I had Cryska on pre-order but cancelled her because I knew after I got her, she’d be “meh” to me. I think I really wanted her because of that Dragunov but then I came to my senses. She’s a nice figure, but I have no attachment to the series nor her character. I felt she’d be just another lingerie figure (albeit with a rifle) that I ultimately wouldn’t be that interested in.
I really like the blue-ish background you used for this one, makes the figure stand out very well. =)
Nothing beats your figure photography man! Really nice review and really good shots!!!
Thanks!
Can’t complain about this figure, I should make one of my DDs do this pose!
where can I order this?
I think Amiami still has this figure in stock, and I bet HLJ does as well.
Is there a way to order only the mouse pad ?
I don’t think so; as far as I know, the mouse pad was part of age soft’s goods package sold at one of the Comiket conventions, and I do not think it is easy to find now, even with the rest of the set.