Because there just isn’t enough Sonico merchandise out there.
Many figure collectors have already become acquainted with Sonico but for those who have no idea who this character is, she is the mascot of noted H-game maker Nitroplus. Initially she was just something of a cute face that occasionally made appearances in artwork and on their website, but over the last year or two she’s become a full-fledged character in her own right.
Native needs no introduction to figure collectors either, but for those not familiar with them they are a maker of ero figures of the highest caliber. They are affiliated with Max Factory, or at least they were when they started; I’m not sure if they still are, though I have no reason to assume not. Their corporate websites list different locations for their respective headquarters, for what that’s worth.
In keeping with their style, Sonico comes with a bevy of accessories. Foremost is the bathtub that also serves as her stand. She has several bathtub toys, including the classic rubber ducky, and some little plastic pieces of shower foam to adorn her body. Finally, she comes with a couple of things that can cover up her breasts, making at least a pretense of decency. I don’t think anyone buys a Native figure with the expectation of getting something chaste but for those who prefer her with at least a modicum of modesty, the option is there. No such option is provided to hide her ass, however.
Sonico is about 23.5 centimeters tall, not counting the bathtub. She’s listed as 1/6 scale, and that seems about right. In relative terms, however, she’s a huge figure; her robust body build and large head give her the appearance of being far larger than most other 1/6 scale figures – though admittedly, figure makers seem to rarely get scale factors right.
Sonico is, obviously, quite naked and so the amount of detail provided in her sculpt is necessarily limited by the lack of opportunities to provide such. An alternate cue is thus required to command the viewer’s attention, and, also obviously, Sonico offers one – or more precisely, two – hanging over her left arm. Sonico was designed from the start as a buxom girl and her chestiness here is perhaps more apparent here than on any of her other figures. It’s one of her major selling points and in that respect, she does not disappoint in the least.
Nitroplus has made efforts to establish a personality for their mascot, and Sonico is conventionally depicted as an energetic and upbeat girl. You wouldn’t guess that by looking at this figure though – nor indeed, by looking at most of her other figures. Curiously, most figure makers enjoy making her look shy or discomfited – as in Orchid Seed’s bondage version of her – or placing her in compromising situations, like in the Gift figure that came out a few months ago. I also have her Yamato baby doll figure – whose review has been pending for over a year – which has her being accosted by cats. None of them are smiling and neither is this one – though admittedly, being that she’s nude and stepping into the tub, she’s got good reason to look embarrassed.
Also curious is the degree of explicitness afforded by this figure. She’s got a removable towel – seen up in the first picture – that preserves her dignity. That’s not the only thing covering her up, though – apparently she’s also protected by an unexpected sense of daintiness on the part of either Native or Nitroplus. While Native has never had much of an issue producing fully explicit figures, Sonico’s naughty orifices are concealed by a patch of foam conveniently – or inconveniently – placed between her legs. Presumably Nitroplus didn’t want their spokesperson showing everything off. I guess I’m not too bothered by that since you can see virtually everything anyway, but their reserve is a bit surprising, being that Nitroplus has made some really raunchy rape games. They’re also making a Guilty Crown visual novel, which would be much better off as a rape game.
Sonico’s castoff method is a bit atypical; her left arm pulls off laterally, away from sockets in her body, rather than detaching from her upper arm. Her head doesn’t come off so some care needs to be taken not to mess up her hair, but her pink locks are fairly elastic.
Sonico’s design eschews the common anime waif physique and instead presents her as very curvy, thin-waisted but still very sturdily built. I like her design a lot; many anime artists draw full-figured women with tiny heads and impossibly enormous breasts, but Sonico’s bust is very appealing and her head size is about right for her body.
Unsurprisingly, Sonico has a very large backside.
Though when viewed directly, it looks a bit like each cheek is fusing together. It’s a little bit disappointing since Hotori Yoshii has a spectacular rump.
She definitely has a very meaty body; her leg looks like a really big chicken wing. Viewed from the front – probably the most typical viewing angle – the melding between her upper and lower leg isn’t quite so apparent.
That’s kind of a big scratch on her thigh there. And is it me, or does the lower part of her thigh have a bit of a grainy look to it? Macro lenses really are not friendly to figures. Hopefully this doesn’t send people scurrying over to their shelves to check out their Native figures for scratches.
Sonico wouldn’t be Sonico without her headphones – even when she’s heading into the bathtub. Her headphones are rendered very well and their inclusion adds a humorous touch to her shy look.
She comes with these tub toys, which can be arrayed around and within her domain. I know I’m going to lose them if I leave them out so I put them back in the box; other than the duck, they don’t stand up very well, anyway. Personally, I think it would’ve been both cooler and cuter if they had modeled the ducky on the giant Osaka rubber duck.
Finally, a metal rod and plastic strut are provided to keep Sonico upright; she can stand unaided with her left leg attached to her base, but this is a really hefty figure and using the additional brace is probably a smart idea.
As Sonico storms the figure world, some people dance in the rain and others get their umbrellas. I wouldn’t blame anyone who would rather not see another Sonico figure – I feel the same way about certain characters (and certain types of figures). And while I expect that this will be my last Sonico figure for a while, I would not number myself among those who are tired of seeing her figures; she’s really cute, busty, and she often gets interesting figures. I think this one is my favorite one of her, thus far – no surprise since Native is one of my favorite manufacturers.
For another review of Sonico, check out Wieselhead.
A nice review, as always. A nice shoot, too. Even if most is white voided backdrops, I do like the checkerboard floor you use.
I just can’t bring myself to care about Sonico in any capacity. I understand company mascots are a big thing, but the level of marketing (and in her case, ero) some get is just alien to me. I can’t fathom it. I don’t see her appeal (though I can understand people liking big tits, it’s pretty common in the ‘anime’ world) she just isn’t an interesting design to me. And she’s not a real character from anything, as far as I can tell.
From what I’ve seen, Nitro+ are just trying to make another Miku type idol, with nothing to back it up. Miku got big due to the voice and tons of people making lots of music for her, the figures came after that. Sonico, on the other hand, is just… tits? I’m not entirely sure. I’ve seen absolutely nothing of her but the figures, and not a single one has appealed to me in any capacity.
Sometimes it’s hard not being a fan of big breasts, I guess. But I don’t like kids, either; not in to the clearly pedo side of loli. So I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place, in animedom. I like adult characters, with realistic chests, not mutant growths on them. I wish Asia would embrace our typically smaller chests with pride, instead of constantly trying to enlarge them in fiction and fantasy. I suppose the same can be said for male and penis sizes too, just about every eromanga (or game, or anime) I’ve seen has massive cocks to go with massive breasts.
One of the only places, if not the single one, I’d like to see a bit more reality in my entertainment.
I’m pretty happy with how the white background turned out; I wanted a look that denotes cleanliness, and white does a great job of it. This was also an exercise in getting exposure right; the last couple of times I’ve tried to blow out a white background, I got light bleeding all into the figure. Using the dingy, red-painted wall would’ve been interesting, but dirty, grungy bathrooms have some unavoidable associations that I did not want to bring up.
I would not say that I dislike Sonico, but I would say that I liked her better when she was just Nitroplus’s mascot and not someone who started appearing all over the place. I have no problem with her character design – I like it quite a bit, which is the main reason why I buy her figures – but I have a curious tendency to loathe things that become mainstream.
You’re going to like the new big-ass doll that I got. I should take some pictures of it soon.
Yeah, white is good. I still end up going for plain white or black backgrounds when shooting most of the time, as colours are difficult to work with and I can’t set up any kind of staging like you do.
Even lighting still eludes me, though. Even with my lamps I still end up with darker and lighter spots. I think I really need to make some snoots; I had some flags but I guess I need to put more effort in to them for it to work properly.
I am interested in dolls. Worryingly so considering their cost. I just know I’m going to end up buying a dollfie or two eventually.
Yeah, I’ve never had much luck with colored posterboard or foamboard backgrounds. If I need a solid background color, I’ll often just use a gel on a flash and fire it at a gray background. For some reason it works better for me than using posterboard of the same color. Though I’ve never gotten good results trying to get a green background.
Dolls are fun! I was actually a doll collector before I started seriously collecting anime figures. I’ve still got all my CyGirl and Lady’s Mission dolls piled up in a drawer.
It really is strange how a cheerful and happy girl like her always gets figure adaptions where she looks embarrased and shy or close before being abused. The Alphamax Gravure Idol and upcomig Nurse would be the first happy ones. Except a new very well looking figure of her appears I not buy any more non happy looking Sonico figures. I’d rather go with more happier ones, I’ve set my eyes on the announced Cheerleader Soniko, which considering the speed of Orchid Seed might be made in one or two(hopefully not XD)
The figure is quite nice, in terms of detail, pose and size she is actually the best Sonico figure. The sculpting of her head is especially nice, even though someone at Native decided to leave no blushmarks on her cheeks. I like her proportions, she still has a thin waiste and slender arms, but also some meaty areas like the boobs, the legs and the butt. As we already are on the topic, her butt could have been a bit sexier.
I liked your idea with the frosted glass or film in the background, actually I thought about buying something like that, but as I was unsure about the size and how to put it into place I dropped that idea in the end.
I also admit that Sonico receives a lot ,maybe too much hype, heck there will be even a nendo from GSC. Strangely they didn’t jump on the bandwagon earlier. But next to the hundreds of Nanoha, Tamaki and Miku figures Sonico is still small in figure numbers. Im a little based after I played her game, so I get kind of angry when someone talks about her as a shallow big boob girl character, it just isn’t true ^^
Indeed! I must admit that I am probably more likely to buy figures where she appears flustered or embarrassed. It is great stuff. Sonico looks so cute when she is getting teased.
The frosted glass idea probably could’ve used a little more thought, since it doesn’t show up very well in most of the pictures. It probably would’ve worked better if I brought in the big criss-crossed frame that I used with the Yagyu Jubei pictures I took a few months back, except I broke off a big piece of it and haven’t yet repaired it (because the hobby store that carried the stripwood pieces that I sued to build it went out of business).
Haha, I can understand getting defensive whenever someone speaks poorly of a character that you like XD Heck, my big-ass dolls have no background to speak of but I will ban anyone who slanders their innocent, obvious purity.
Sonico? She’s pretty famous for being lewd anyway, at least in her most incarnations. Her figure army maybe small as compared to sabers, mikus and rx-78’s but they’re growing. The so-called “foam on the leg” is a bit unrealistic for me, but adding water effects is the most difficult to include on a plastic figurine so that’s understandable. How I wish obama could wear his trunks instead for head patting sessions. Guilty crown rape game? Sign me up….the story may be somewhat a ________ but the designs are deliciously goood. And that tentacle, speaking of which, dog days season 2; ep 2 in particular has some of it, albeit a “quality” one though.
She is! It’s telling that most of her figures are based off of existing artwork. Yeah, I’d like to get some casual clothes for the president; Amiami and Hobby Search are stocking 1/6 scale doll outfits and I’ve been keeping an eye on those, though most of the male outfit sets are made up of businesswear or military uniforms (they did have a pretty cool karate outfit that I thought about getting). A Guilty Crown eroge would be really, really awesome, I think, particularly since nobody would pay attention to how poorly the story transitions from each plot point. That reminds me that I need to get back to work on my review of the anime; it’s been slow going, mainly because I have to go back and re-watch parts of it, and that’s a really tough thing for me to do.
I will have to download and take a look at that.
I will probably end up with a Sonico figure someday. After all, I broke down and bought a Tamaki figure a few years ago. Sonico has my favored body type (hippy, busty, proud of it) but for some reason the pink hair pink eyes throw me. Her upcoming black bikini figure is the one I’ve got my eyes on, though. Her WING figure ain’t bad, either–it’s also quite large.
On this figure specifically, I can’t say I’m a fan of the “fused” look to her buns, right leg, and cleavage. It’s a consequence of the molding process, I know, but it’s still unfortunate. Despite that, I like where Native’s head is at.
I remember thinking I wouldn’t get a Miku Hatsune figure. Then I got one, and now I’ve got a couple more and two more preordered. When so many makers sell figures of a character, it gets hard to avoid them. Yeah, the Wing one looks pretty cool, I think. The color seems a bit muted, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing if one prefers a pastel-like look.
I actually really like Sonico whereas it seems like a lot of people just don’t care for her. I am not a fan of huge breasts (Sonico is pushing the max for what I think looks good), but they fit well with her body type.
This figure is pretty good. Normally I complain about lack of genital definition, but I was expecting that with this figure so no-harm-no-foul. It is slightly disappointing about the melding of her butt and thighs though and picture 27 makes her calf look really small when compared to her thigh. The bath toys are pretty awesome though.
Nice pictures and review too. I really like the checkered floor in the later pictures and it was fun to see Big Sonico holding Little Sonico.
Yeah, I like her as well; I’ve liked her for a while, I guess, since I first came across her design some years back (from this picture, if I remember right; it was used to advertise some sort of concert, I think). I also liked her appearance in Nitroplus’s April Fool’s joke a couple years back (which was called Soni Comi and was a spoof of Kill Bill, of all things).
I had planned to use the big Sonico doll in the last Sonico figure that I reviewed and flat-out forgot. I made it a point to remember to use the president, the vmf50 doll and the tentacle stand this time, since I really hate having to re-shoot the next day.
I don’t mind Sonico so much. Primarily because I’ve got a soft spot for pink haired anime girls, but also because there’s actually a decent amount of diversity to her figures. Every time you see her she’s wearing something different (or in this case, NOTHING AT ALL!). I think a big issue people had with Tamaki and Kan’u Unchou is that their figures were always the same thing: them in their school outfits in various degrees of sexiness. And if they weren’t in the uniforms, they were in swimsuits or something.
Miku was also a victim of this early on. Thankfully her figures are showing a lot more diversity nowadays though I feel she’s way way way way way way way over-merchandised. (CHILL OUT, GOODSMILE). And now that Saber has more…uh…incarnations(?) we’re seeing different things for her, too. Pink Dress Saber, Red Dress Saber, Black Suit Saber, Wedding-ish Leotard Saber…
This is a pretty nice Sonico. I still really like the Baby Doll one from Yamato. The one by Wing was nice but there was something wonky about her proportions (yeah yeah, I know. Anime + logical proportions = lololol), and her face bothered me.
Indeed! Yeah, it’s great that they look different; it’s a little bit curious too that she hasn’t actually gotten a figure of her in a normal outfit. As far as I know, anyway. I guess the Wing one comes close.
My first Miku figure was the Max Factory one that came out a couple years back, the one that looked very much like the popular GSC one. It’s one of the first figures I put back in its box when I needed to free up some space. The newer ones are pretty cool, though; I’m looking forward to the race queen one, and I’ve ordered the cheerleader one, too. I also have the Love Is War one, still in its box, waiting for me to build the Machine of Joy for her.
I want a Saber Bride figure … man, I’ve even contemplated ordering the PSP game for the Figma, even though I don’t really do much with the Figmas I own. I agree that GSC ought to take a break from the Vocaloids, but if they want to pump out a couple figures of Saber Extra in her two costumes, I am all for it.
That pic with the tentacle stand works eerily well…
But I’m not a particularly big fan of Sonico either. Like many of the others who have commented, I don’t really like the idea of creating a personality after the design. It’s the same with BRS and that danny choo mascot, though out of the 3 I’d say Sonico is the best because she’s not particularly trying to be anything else.
Her eyes looked perfect for the “surprise tentacle” moment.
I hadn’t quite connected Sonico that way, but now that you mention it, yeah, I can see the parallels with BRS and that’s one of the reasons I was quite apathetic about the whole BRS thing. That and the BRS OVA was terrible. I guess the TV show wasn’t great either, since I haven’t heard many people talking about it. It seems like the BRS franchise has kinda been run into the ground now. Wasn’t the whole BRS thing based off of a supercell music video or something? Given that the group has worked with Black Rock Shooter and Guilty Crown, I dunno if they ought to be involved in anime projects anymore.
Man, you got me going there; I just can’t pass up the opportunity to rag on Black Rock Shooter. Or Guilty Crown, whose review I need to get done. I’m gonna be taking a vacation of sorts soon and maybe I can get it done then.
Now you’ve got me wondering what a Super Sonico anime would be about.
It would be probably be something Idolm@ster like, except bad! Sonico tries to make it big as an Idol and thus, we get lots of scenes of her in cosplay and in photoshoots depicting her figure poses!
I’m going to stop right now in case this is giving ppl ideas.
I also actually like Supercell. They did the music for Bakemonogatari as well and Ryo wrote “light my fire” the 1st OP for Shana III. Plus, the music was the one thing from Guilty Crown I can’t criticise. It’s like FFXIII. Game was shit, characters were awful, but music was awesome!
And now I’m going to avoid talking about BRS, in case the venom starts dripping. I’m pretty sure I could easily match you in terms of the vitriol I have for that franchise. But yes, it was spawned from a music song created by supercell and illustrated by Huke. One figure, I could under stand. But then they just kept releasing more and more. When they started making up other characters, that’s where I drew the line and grabbed my flamethrower.
You are probably right. What’s more, I would not be very surprised if we do get a Sonico anime sometime in the future. Not that it’d necessarily be bad, I suppose, depending on how it’s handled.
I will have to take your word on it for those series. The music for Guilty Crown did not make a strong impression on me for the most part, with the exception of the two opening songs. The first opening song was execrable to the point of being intolerable. The second one was pretty good. I can’t remember much of the rest of the music.
Hope pretty soon she will be my first native figure, Sonico looks Innocent but seems she always trapped in embarrassing moment,but in term of lewd pose the gothic maid by gift looks the best for me ahahaha, I remember that apron sonico by orchid seed was the first time i realized about the existence of super sonico wish had buy the shimapan version last year, and also that vmf50 Sonico doll looks so pretty
Hope you get your figure soon, if you’re waiting for it. Ah, yeah, I remember that figure; I liked it though I wished that her thong looked better. I wouldn’t have minded if it weren’t removable because I would’ve left it on anyway.
I like NItroplus, but the sheer mass amount of Sonico material in recent times is getting kind of tiring. Just like Saber and Miku, pretty much.
Native’s quality is surprisingly good, I hope they expand their inventory in the future.
Also, is she wearing headphones in the bathtub?
Yeah, I miss the days when manufacturers would bring forth characters you’d never heard of. I remember when GSC made figures from eroge like Chu x Chu Idol and Unity Marriage; I’m guessing that at Wonder Festival, we’re gonna see a ton of stuff from Accel World, La Grange, and Guilty Crown. Probably more Madoka, too. I ought to watch that show one of thse days.
She is indeed rocking the phones in the tub. They must have a death grip on her temples. Or she just loves her tunes that much.
The white really suits her, plus the checkered floor makes it feel like a typical bathroom. It would’ve been nice if she came with a full bath tub though.
What lens And f-stop did you use for this shoot? I like how the object remained in focus while the background has a nice bokeh, particularly the last few pics where it looks like you used some sort of glass? But the bokeh diffused the outlines really well.
I used a 100mm macro lens for most of the pictures I think, other than the ones with the blue background, in which I used the cheap, ubiquitous 50mm f/1.8 lens. Most of the shots were shot at like f/8 or something, I think; I usually start at about f/8 with the 100mm.
Would you mind helping me out? I’d really like to get this, but I’m not entirely sure if it’s still available anywhere. Am I out of luck?
Mandarake has a damaged box version on their site:
https://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/shop/ja/item_s-934885.html
That appears to be the only one in stock at the moment. There are also a couple of listings on YJA, but you’ll obviously have to pay some proxy fees and it’s up to you if you trust the seller enough to buy from them:
http://page2.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b137042763
http://page2.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/b137042763
And for shits and giggles, here’s a makaizao version of the figure:
http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m98760440
A short Google search threw up this:
http://www.itcamefromjapan.com/Creators-Collection-Nitro-Super-Sonico-Soniko-Bath-Time-16-PVC-Figure-Native-Preorder_p_276.html
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-Sonico-Soniko-Bath-Time-ver-1-6-PVC-Figure-Nitroplus-Native-Japan-/221059728191 (Buy-now auction ends in two days, and pretty expensive though)
http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NT93118#.UBV00KB5e9x
If these offers are actually valid and still available, I’m afraid you have to find out for yourself. If you haven’t tried the usual suspects like Hobby Search, Amiami, Mandarake, Big In Japan et al already, use your favorite search engine with the appropriate keywords. I’m sure you’ll find her somewhere. Good luck!
I think Shashin has you covered. Here’s the international listing for the Sonico figure at the Shibuya store: http://ekizo.mandarake.co.jp/shop/en/item_s-934885.html . It’s a little cheaper, I’m guessing it doesn’t include a sales tax.
There are also a bunch of listings on Rakuten; I’ve never ordered from Rakuten but they’re a pretty big retailer and marketplace site, as I understand it. I am not sure what sort of condition the figures are in but at least there are a lot up for sale.
I ordered Trunk Girl from Entertainment Earth, so they’re also definitely able to fulfill orders even for Japan-exclusive figures. However, they’re based in the US which may not be any cheaper for you than ordering from a Japanese seller (although at least the figure is guaranteed to be brand new).
Excellent, thanks guys! I’ll probably go with Mandarake, as they seem to be the cheapest.
Yeah, Mandarake is definitely the place I’d go with. No proxy fees can’t be beat when you compare it to YJA and it wouldn’t make sense to order from a US site when you’re out of the US; I think you said once before you’re in New Zealand, right?
Yeah, I am. I’d buy from US resellers as a last resort, but that would really come down to how interested I am in the figure. At this point, the only stretch I’m willing to take is Yahoo! Japan for finished garage kits, they don’t come along too often and usually it’s pretty heavy on the wallet when they do.