When you’ve got a figure that is posed like this, the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. And the number of tentacle stands that you own.
As everybody knows, Sonico is the mascot of software developer Nitroplus. This Sonico figure is manufactured by Gift and is sculpted by Takayuki Kondou, the same sculptor responsible for crafting Gift’s 1/4 scale Tamaki Kousaka and the 1/4 scale Nanoha StrikerS swimsuit figures. Unlike those figures, this Sonico is 1/6 scale, and her legs-up pose and small base give her a compact shelf footprint.
This version of Sonico has no castoff option, so setup is quite straightforward; she simply needs to be unboxed and placed on her base. The base is a black piece of plastic meant to look like a cushion, and there’s a helpful imprint matching the bow on her back that informs her new owner as to how she should be oriented. However, as the base is slightly inclined, she can be turned the other way to have her fully lying down rather than merely reclining.
Many female anime-type characters that become popular get put into a maid uniform at some point, and so it is with Sonico. This particular figure is labeled the “gothic maid” version, and I don’t know what differentiates a “gothic maid” from the garden-variety of maid. At any rate, while she lacks cleaning supplies and does not appear to be in a position to handle her duties, her outfit clearly marks her as an anime-type maid.
Sonico wouldn’t be Sonico without her headphones, and in a cute touch her phones are integrated into her maid headdress.
Less cute and considerably more slutty is her maid dress, which is wide open in front, giving everyone a view of her breasts, or at least as much as her legs permit.
However, though her outfit is nominally the main attraction – her costume being the only thing that identifies her as a maid – the highlight of this figure is really her pose. It’s quite obviously a very sexualized pose, and it ought to come as no surprise that this figure is based in large part off of a 3D mousepad which was sold a couple of years back. While the main themes are present, the figure deviates from the illustration in a number of respects: the positioning of her hands is different, as is her facial expression, and she lacks the mysterious white substance coating her thighs. One additional thing that this particular figure lacks is the red ribbon restraining her legs; this is the cheaper edition of this figure, and the more expensive version comes with the ribbon as well as a more elaborate base. I didn’t care to spend the extra money on what amounts to accessories.
I freely admit that Sonico’s pose is really what compelled me to buy this figure; her pose, and the things that her pose allows to be done to her.
Her pose is anything but subtle; she’s essentially begging for people to study her crotch, and it looks a bit puffy, a bit bulbous, even. This appears to be something that carries over from the illustration, and I’m not going to posit any explanations as to why her cameltoe is so swollen. I’ll just say that it looks a bit odd.
Moving on, Sonico’s face is not particularly emotive, which I suppose can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you choose to view it. She doesn’t seem particularly distressed – she seems to be more embarrassed than panicked – so it can be assumed that nothing bad is about to happen to her. On the other hand, if bad things were to happen to her, a more worried and anxious expression would’ve been appreciated.
Looking at her, I can’t shake the impression that her torso seems overly long. It could just be my imagination, though.
However, all in all, I think this is a pretty good figure of Sonico. If I were only going to own one figure of Sonico, it wouldn’t be my first choice, and given the sheer number of figures she has in the marketplace, it probably wouldn’t be my second pick, either. However, she still looks very nice, and she’s also fairly large, which I always regard as a plus. Sonico integrates well with some of the photographic props I use, which is really the reason I bought her, and this was a fun shoot to do.
Pretty nice set, especially near to the last ones (needs more tentacles!). With that being said, I wish someday the Sonicomi game would get translated. Sonico ftw.
I probably shoulda taken a few more shots with the tentacle stand. These sorts of figures – those that are lying down or sitting down – are usually not too interesting for me to photograph, so being able to have some fun with props makes the shooting session more fun.
Perhaps JAST will look into bringing over Sonicomi, since they seem to have a pretty good relationship with Nitroplus. It’s still sorta strange for me to hear about the game, though, because I remember seeing it a couple years ago as a Kill Bill-themed April Fools Day joke on Nitroplus’s website and I always think of that rather than the picture-taking game that it eventually turned into.
Once again he has proven no girl is safe from him! And considering his facial expression, he really took his time with Sonico. What a gentleman!
It’s always those kind of figures which are way to risque for myself that I look forward the most to when you review them xD
The figure itself looks ok, she’s got some nice touches like the inward twisted feet, but I feel like the paintjob is a bit sloppy for a 1/6. Especially on the headphones and the straps on her lingerie.
And nice scenery! The colors really match the style of the figure. Is that a towel on the ground?
Indeed! He knows how to treat all the ladies right. Hmm, I wonder if I can get him some 1/6 scale swim trunks and build a jacuzzi set for him and Native’s Super Sonico, whenever she gets released. Or a hot springs set.
Yeah, I noticed the sides of her garter straps aren’t painted. It’s not the sort of thing I focus on when deciding how much I like the figure but it’s noticeable very close up.
It is indeed a towel. It works pretty well as faux carpeting, I think.
Oh you got the poor mans version version without bedframe and ribbons.
What I like the most about her is the lower body, stockings and shoes are a good combo and the posing of her legs is arousing. The swollen cameltoe is not on the realistic side, yet it is also nice, reminds me of this certain Vivio hug pillow ^^
It’s a little disappointing that the face expression is so neutral, where is all the ecchiness from the illustration? To me it appears like she is brooding over a math problem 😀
Well, Im a blush maniac so pretty much biased in that regard. I don’t understand why so many figure manufacturers decide against adding rosy cheeks to their figures when they are obviously part of the character. Sonico without blush isn’t Sonico in my opinion.
Enough of the nagging, the quality of the figure seems very well done overall even when she doesn’t show much blushing, maybe she got used to the lewd orders of her master XD
Its cool how Obama can hold Sonico, especially in picture 10, somehow romantic.
I also like the angle in picture 23, really nice how her eyes look over her thigh.
Im looking forward to the bathing Sonico from Native, might turn out as the best figure of her for the time being, hopefully they don’t forget or decide against the typical blushing ^o^
I am a cheap man. Actually, I knew right away that I was going to have her spend time with the president and the frilly, fluffy bed set wasn’t going to work with the backdrop that I planned.
Yeah, her expression is sorta odd, as if she’s asking you how she should be reacting. I think this figure works better if you’ve got something that she can interact with, like another 1/6 scale doll. Or some bondage equipment. Just sitting by herself, her pose and facial expression look kinda out of place.
You can cast it off. According to 2chan, the nipples are already painted underneath, but you’ll need to cut off the bra to cast it off (similar to your Keumaya figures, it’s an irreversible process).
Link to the 2chan’s archived thread (many of the pictures and replies are missing, though)
http://www.ayushii.net/archives/5412213.html
Ah, thanks. I see I’m not the only person who immediately grabbed another figure to prey on her pose. I don’t really count it as castoff if you have to destroy the parts to get it off, though; like with Daiki Kougyou’s gangsta lean Saber, I was hoping she’d be castoff-able like the original resin kit was intended to be, but you have to pry her dress off of her, which is kinda lame.
more pics of what is underneath:
http://omoteurablog.com/archives/53593637.html
and another one:
http://blog.livedoor.jp/miharuyui/archives/1877618.html
A figure in this pose without castoff option? Sort of a waste in my eyes. (Even if you can cut off her top…)
Yeah, no castoff option; I guess Gift isn’t in the R-18 figure business, unlike FREEing.
I said I probably wouldn’t comment…. but Obama and tentacles…. Good stuff.
Thanks! I need to get more props for the president to use with girly figures.
I like this figure and have absolutely no problem with her slightly enlarged cameltoe. I have to agree about not having a cast-off option though. For a figure such as this one, it seems that that would have been the first place I would have traversed.
I cannot believe that the ribbon wasn’t a standard accessory. It costs all of 10 cents to buy the right length of ribbon and another 10 cents in labor to tie it correctly. If it were me, I would just get some ribbon and tie her up.
Nice photos as usual too.
I guess they figured they didn’t need to include it since there’s not anything to tie her up to. The more expensive version had a bed with some posts that you could lash her to; the cushion base she has, of course, doesn’t have anything like that. But that’s okay since I really bought this figure to play with the president. Hmm, I’ve still got a couple of other 1/6 scale figures in the review queue, too.
Ya know, I knew I should have ordered this figure; but given my past experience with Gift (Gift Saber really put me off), I reluctantly passed this up. After our conversation about Gift figure some weeks ago I tried to look her up but by that time it’s already sold out everywhere. I like how the President having his way with Sonico and the image taken with the tentacles is just pure gold in my eyes.
It is still in stock at Hobby Search the last time I looked, which was earlier this evening. It’s sorta funny since everybody knows Gift best because of those Saber figures and a lot of people really like them, but I don’t own any of them and I passed on all of them since they’re all really small, it seems. I really dig not dig the original Saber’s face, too (Saber Lily looks a lot better, I think); both of them looked really strange to me. Not that I can say anything since I’ve got gangsta lean Saber looking down at me from the shelf.
I just checked hobbysearch and you’re correct, they do have this Sonico in stock right now. I know I had checked them before and they had closed pre-order, may be they have extra inventory this time. Since I am a man of my words, order has been placed :3 Thanks bro.
You’re such a tease! All the talk of tentacles and pose options but then you only have ONE tentacle pic near the very end! For shaaaaame!!! I am quite disappointed! j/k
^_^
Everybody seems to love the tentacle stand. I really ought to use it more often, then. It’s actually kinda annoying to use since it’s so greasy; I guess I’ll have to get some cleaning wipes.
Too bad the top isn’t removable…or is it?
By the way Tier, where do you keep your figures anyways–on a shelf or glass cabinet?
It’s removable if you forcibly remove it, apparently. I keep my figures on virtually any piece of open flat space that I have, but the majority are on shelves. I have one Detolf cabinet that holds a few, too; I’d like to get another (or two more) but I’m lacking in space, and they are really freaking heavy and difficult to set up if you don’t have help (the assembly manual does say to get another person to help put it together).
I see. What do you do about dust that gathers onto the figures, do you frequently have canned air to dust them off?
Uhh, usually they just gather dust XD I’ll clean them off every now and then, or if I’m moving them around. Typically I’ll just gently wipe down the larger parts with a damp paper towel. I try to get dust off of more fragile parts (like ahoge and other hair strands or protruding bits of clothing) by using a rocket blower (a small squeeze bulb commonly used to blow dust off camera lenses) or a soft paintbrush that I bought solely to clean figures.
Sonico’s torso does look unusually long when she’s viewed from the side. That’s the main thing that discouraged me from getting this figure. Well…that and her absurdly suggestive pose. It’s a really nice Sonico overall. The details in the shoes are great.
Personally I would’ve gone for Yamato’s “baby doll” version of Sonico or Wing’s version where she’s wearing half a shirt and short shorts. My collection feels incomplete without a Sonico.
I do actually have that figure, and from what I can tell, she looks pretty nice, but I haven’t ever taken her out of her box. I guess it’s been … uhh … a full calendar year that she’s been in her box. Some part of me thinks that I ought to think that that sounds absurd.
sonico is hot but why is she being fucked by the prez ?!!!
Because the prez likes the ladies and can use his power to get what he requires.
What lady wouldn’t swoon in the face of the seductive charms of the leader of the free world?
its that Barack Obama? lmao
i think there’s a cast off version ..