Since I have a self-mandated quota of six posts per month to reach, it’s time to look at some of the stuff due for release later this year (that also means that there will be a pillowcase review tomorrow). Although we haven’t even gotten past January, manufacturers are already unveiling their summer release schedules. It seems like a bit of a slow year thus far, but with Wonder Festival just a couple of weeks away, we’ll certainly be seeing a lot more good stuff. For now, let’s take a look at a few figures that are already available to order.
March
Ikaros from Sora no Otoshimono
For a series that got two seasons of television shows and a movie, Sora no Otoshimono doesn’t really have a bunch of figures. I guess it could be worse; some shows, such as Kampfer, haven’t gotten any figures at all. Most of the ones that it has gotten have come from less-heralded makers, and this figure of Ikaros is no exception. Although I don’t hold Griffon Enterprises in high regard, I do like the way this one looks. I might get it, though I kinda would’ve preferred it had they gone with this version of the source illustration instead (that image is actually used on the inside cover of the Heaven’s Lost Property Blu-ray set).
May
Cryska Barchenowa from Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse
Kotobukiya is making another figure of Cryska. This time, she’s in her piloting suit. Like all of her other figures, she’s not standing up. I’m not sure why sculptors of Total Eclipse figures are so averse to letting the characters stand up. At any rate, I’m glad that she’s wearing her uniform, as sculptors also seem to prefer to pose the characters in their underwear or in swimsuits, which is nice, but loses the distinctiveness of Muv-Luv’s styling. All of Kotobukiya’s Total Eclipse figures have been great, and as I’m looking forward to their upcoming Yui Takamura figure, I’ll also be getting Cryska to sit next to her.
Elin from TERA
I played the TERA beta for about 45 minutes, which was long enough to decide that I wouldn’t buy the retail version. The main reason I was interested in it was because I liked the player models, particularly the Castanic females. I was less of a fan of the Elin, who are sort of short and squatty. They also got censored in the North American release, as I understand it. However, this figure looks pretty nice; the character doesn’t look quite as young as she appears in the game, nor does she seem to be as stunted in stature. On the negative side, I’m not too enamored by the animal ears, I don’t really care for the symbol-shaped eyes, and it’s a really expensive figure. I’ll have to think about this one. I do think that I like its positives a good deal more than I dislike its negatives, though.
Inori Yuzuriha from Guilty Crown
I was a bit surprised to see that Azone planned to roll out a large-sized Inori Yuzuriha doll; Guilty Crown is a very well-known and highly-hyped anime, and I figured that Volks would do a Dollfie Dream doll of her first. Maybe they still will. However, this Inori doll appeals to me since it uses Obitsu’s 50-centimeter tall body, which is the same basic body frame as all my Yamato vmf50 dolls. She also looks quite pretty, though I’m sure a lot of people will beef about the painted eyes. That doesn’t bother me; what does bother me is that she’s wearing a nondescript black dress rather than her sexy combat/stripper uniform, which is one of my favorite aspects of her character design. However, though I’d much prefer that outfit, I do have a lot of doll clothes that she can wear, so it’s not too big a deal to me. The other problem – potential problem, anyway – is that I have Azone’s 50-centimeter Saber doll and while she looks great in most respects, her wig is terrible. Hopefully Inori’s wig will look like it does in the promo photos. If it does, this’ll be a great doll, and both I and the tentacle stand will look forward to getting her.
Yuu Kawamura from se.Kirara
Yu will be the fourth se.Kirara figure. As I own or have preordered the first three, it would be logical to pick this one up, but I’m still deciding if I will. She’s pretty cute but if I got her, it would be more for the sake of completionism than because I really like the figure. I’ll put this in the maybe column and think about it some more.
June
Celia from Walkure Romanze
This one’s a tough decision for me. I really like everything here except for the size of her head; her head looks way too small to me, particular as an anime-type character, where heads are typically much larger than they are in real life. It’s the same reason I haven’t been too interested in some of Orchid Seed’s Chichinoe figures, which otherwise look fantastic. I don’t mind that Celia has sort of chunky proportions, I just wish her head was bigger. (Side note: Celia was sculpted by the same guy who sculpted gangsta lean Saber, but you probably wouldn’t be able to tell that, just looking at both figures; Toshirou is noted for often sculpting prominent lips and heavy-lidded, almost sleepy-looking eyes, but you don’t really see that on Celia. Another side note: if I remember right, Walkure Romanze is from the same company and artist who did Princess Lover!, which was adapted into a fan-servicey anime that also hasn’t gotten many figures of note.)
Elf from Lineage II
Yet another nameless female battler from a Korean MMO, the elf is a really great-looking figure from Max Factory. Lineage II has gotten a few figures over the years, including another elf figure from Orchid Seed and Good Smile Company’s well-regarded dark elf figure (really from the first Lineage game, I think, as the Lineage II dark elves have blue skin), which is gratifying as it has some really appealing character designs. Like TERA, I tried out L2 for a little while and didn’t find it to my liking, but I definitely liked the character models, particularly the female dark elves. As I’ve gotten a couple of L2 figures already, I’ll be getting this one as well.
Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
When I wrote up the review for Gift’s 1/4 scale Nanoha figure, I mentioned something about how it is a shame that she did not display any cameltoe. I was joking then, but perhaps my request was heard because Fate definitely does so, so much so that Good Smile Company’s blogger made a funny comment about that picture perhaps being too naughty to post. With a feature like that, how can I pass this figure up? I have a special place in my heart for Fate figures, and I’m definitely looking forward to this one.
July
Golden Darkness from To Love-Ru
To Love-Ru is one of those fanservice shows that I’ve heard a lot about and seen a ton of fanart of its characters, but I’ve never actually seen it. I have the feeling I’d like it on some shallow level but I’m already backed up on a lot of shows that I want to watch. Golden Darkness was the character that most appealed to me, since I like her blonde hair and red eyes and I am told she is sort of a quiet, enigmatic type of character. Lately though, I’ve seen some good doujinshi of Mikan and that might be swaying my opinion towards her instead. This figure doesn’t really look completely faithful to Yami’s anime and manga appearance, but I think that’s okay. Rather, she looks like she conforms to the Alphamax “house style,” so to speak, as she has a similar-looking face to a number of Alphamax’s other swimsuit figures. The main attraction here, though, seems to be the way she’s tugging her swimsuit bottom. It’s kind of a cheap way to get attention, in a sense, but it’s hard to deny that it’s a very effective tactic. Effective enough, anyway, that I’m pretty sure I’ll order her.
When I followed your link to the alternate Ikaros illustration, there was a banner ad for “Tentacle Grape” http://www.jlist.com/product/TEN001 LOL, what a coincidence!
I still can’t get over the fact that those Muv-Luv pilot suit figures show incredible detail on their bellies, but not on their breasts. I’ll probably still get them, but with protruding nipples they would be so much more incredible.
We’ve had speculations about another (I think) Fate figure that had a suspicious bulge down there, but this figure really hits the jackpot, and in 1/4 to boot!!!
When I first saw this Golden Darkness figure, I thought it was Reiko Wingfield. She pulls her bikiini bottom just the same. But she still is a cute figure.
Yeah, that drink seems to be a popular product. I’d definitely try it if I could get it at the supermarket, though I sorta expect it would taste like any other purple soda.
I definitely agree with that; it kinda sucks that that’s omitted, since a lot (though not all, admittedly) of the official artwork shows perky nipples. And when the suits are so tight that you can see the navels, you sorta expect to see the nipples too.
That would be Alter’s Summer Holiday Fate, which I do have … somewhere around here … I think it’s probably at the bottom of the stack. I really need to get working on that review. It’s been so long since I took a look at her that I don’t even remember if she does have that conspicuous bulge or not.
Man what is it with swimsuit figures these days? Wave in particular is just cranking them out like they’re going out of style (which I hope they do).
Out of the figures on this list I’ve got the elf pre-ordered, and am seriously thinking about the Elin one. I had the same thoughts about Celia – head’s too damn small.
It sounds all kinds of messed up for me to whine about too many swimsuit figures – when a man’s lost the ability to appreciate a cute anime girl in a bikini, he’s lost everything – but man there are a lot of them. It’d be nice if they’d at least have a little more variation in swimsuit styles; it seems like every manufacturer thinks the only swimsuits out there are either school swimsuits or solid color two-piece low-rise suits. (I do like Celia’s body armor, though; if manufacturers want to keep cranking out bikini figures, they ought to put some of them in body armor.)
I ended up passing on the Elin. I did pick up Kotobukiya’s Beach Side Mikoto and Orchid Seed’s Manami Ichijou. So right after railing on swimsuit figures, I go and order two lol
You did?? I can see how the bikini thing is REALLY beginning to get played out…..but….well…..I ordered Manami AND something pervier – Maya Kamiwazumi.
Speaking of which this is a head’s up Tier. I can’t guarantee, but you may be adding another Alphamax Fault! girl to your collection.
Her name is Maya Kamiwazumi, she is evidently from Fault! New Rival. There is a sequel?? Anyway, looks like Alpha may have another nice one to offer.
I am curious if she is preorder-worthy in your opinion….
Yeah, I’m probably going to order that figure. I’m kinda surprised that they skipped to her instead of doing Reika or Mio first; I was also a bit surprised (though less so) that there’s a new Fault!! anime coming out this month. That’s a pretty quick turnaround time. (I’m also very amused that Alphamax barely even tried to censor the promo photos; they haven’t been making ero PVC figures for very long but they definitely know how to sell them).
I have to admit that the Elin figure is an automatic buy for me. Did you know that the game is going free to play in February? You should take a look.
Is it? I did not know that; maybe I’ll give it a whirl, then. I think I got my beta character up to around level 10 or something and lost interest, but I didn’t really give it much of a chance and being that I re-upped my Warcraft account a couple of months back, I’m sort of in an MMO-playing phase, anyway. Thanks for the heads-up.
I have the Gathering version of the Elin, but I am still tempted to get this legit version, despite the Gathering one I have being really quite spectacular (easily Alter level) quality. Though changing from Yamato to “Arcadia” as a manufacturer has made me hesitate.
I’m also really tempted by that Yami, despite the fact it breaks all of my collecting rules. But I’ve broken them with other girls, so I should probably just pull the trigger.
Hmm, I didn’t even notice that the Elin is made by Arcadia rather than Yamato; I assumed Yamato was the maker since they always do Cerberus Project’s stuff and I vaguely remember seeing a photo of this figure with a Yamato nameplate at one of the figure conventions. Though looking at Arcadia’s website, it looks like they also do vmf50 doll stuff so I’m guessing they have a relationship with Yamato.
You should! If you really want it, anyway. I kinda find that while rules make a lot of sense when you follow them, after you break them, you look back and really have no idea why you had arbitrary rules in the first place.
I did earlier today. Couldn’t resist, she’s too good to not have.
As for the Arcadia issue, I’m not entirely sure what is going on there. I assume they’re simply some daughter company of Yamato or something, since it was definitely announced to be a Yamato figure. Can hope quality is good and all, but I’m still hesitant about it. Especially seeing as I already have a gloriously high quality Gathering version.
Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking as well; I’m guessing it’s sorta like Lechery and Kaitendoh, or Native and Max Factory (though both of those offshoots seem to have specific reasons to exist, and I’m not sure why Arcadia was established). I’m still waffling too, though her size might sway me in the end; she’s gotta be a pretty huge figure.
Ikaros looks so cute in the prototype state, but Griffon is dead for me, I don’t like their manufacturing, be it the cheap materials they use or the meh quality of their final figures.
Im more interested in the upcoming swimsuit Nymph from PLUM.
I ordered Yui, partially because of her colors ^^ Blue Purple is not so appealing to me. I still hope that someone makes a figure of Chobit, or the funny china girl.
The GK of Elin was already pretty nice, the pvc figure should turn out the same, it’s a cute .design. Yuu Kawamura looks simple, but pose and facial expression make her quite charming, somehow she’s my favorite figure from the bunch. I will probably get her.
It’s a shame about Celia’s head, it would look fantastic if it was more appropriate to her hot buxom body, but like that it appears rather wrong. For me an appealing part of the Lineage Elf illustration were the shadows under her eyes, I kind of miss that on the prototype 🙁
Oh these monsters gave Nanoha no cameltoe, but Fate!? I like the 1/4 Fate, she has a good design and colormix overall. Nanoha is always cute while Fate always was the more attractive magical loli, I think that can also be seen in this figure, she’s more alluring.
To Love-Ru is funny, but the harem element ruins pretty much every romantic scene between the main character and girl X, they just tease the fans. While speaking of that the fanservice is great 😀 You could watch the Ova’s at least. Hmmm I haven’t watched the latest season yet, maybe later.
Yeah, I have to admit that I’m not a big Griffon fan, either. I don’t really like to discriminate based on manufacturer – the fact that I have several figures by BEAT and Gigapulse probably testifies to that effect – but I kinda expect Griffon to have improved over the years and it doesn’t really look like they have.
It’s kinda odd how Yui and the two commie girls get all the love, while Tarisa, Stella, and Cui Yifei seem to get far less attention, at least in terms of merchandise. Hopefully they’ll get some stuff in the future. Hopefully the Euro Front and Schwarzesmarken characters will get some figures, too.
It’s pretty funny how it looks like since Nanoha had no cameltoe, they decided to compensate on Fate by making it really, really prominent. I guess it fits in a way, since Fate always seems to be the more sexualized character, both in terms of appearance and in terms of kinkiness. It’s all kinds of wrong, being that she starts off at nine years of age, but I guess it’s not even surprising now, given the sorts of themes you see in anime these days.
Ahh, well, that kinda sucks; it’s okay for a while but a whole season or more of that would get on my nerves, I think. Maybe I’ll just watch the OVAs like you say, and look at the doujinshi, too.
Hey, that Inori reminded me…did you ever get that Houkago Play doll? You know, the one with the long black hair and freaky yellow eyes. If I had the cash I probably would’ve gotten that one. She looked pretty cool. Inori looks alright, but like you said, not digging the painted eyes. Plus I’ve yet to see an Azone doll with good hair. I mostly pass on their Pureneemo stuff because the wigs are horrendous.
I can’t believe Celia’s by Gangsta Lean Saber man. Speaking of which, you really should review that one someday. Her and that bizarre Parasol Saber from e2046. Maybe review them together. Weird Saber Party, yeah?
I almost didn’t recognize Golden Darkness. I’m still not used to her new fanservicey incarnation. I still think of her as Eve from Black Cat. I guess the shounen thing didn’t work for Kentarou Yabuki…seeing as he’s found far more success with smutty To Love-Ru (which, admittedly, is a fun read if you’re in the mood for excessive fanservice)
And I’d definitely get Elin if she was several thousand yen cheaper. As much as I love the sculpt (especially the colors), I’m not seeing enough OOMPH to justify her high price.
I did not; I wish that I did, and I was kinda hoping it wouldn’t be sold out on release but it was. (And of course, the Saber doll that had come out the month before got a huge discount after release, and the money I might’ve saved would’ve been enough to get Girlfriend.) I’m really hoping Inori doesn’t have the same sort of bulging bowl cut that Saber has; Saber’s hair is awful. I’ve been thinking of trying to get a Dollfie Dream wig and cutting it down, but I don’t think that’s an easy process.
That is indeed the idea I was thinking of; I’ve also got Golden Caliburn Saber ordered and I was kinda thinking of doing Wacky Saber Week. I might have to leave the GSC figure out of it, though, since I’ve heard they’ve been having some manufacturing issues and I don’t actually know when that figure is going to be released, or re-released, as it were.
Yeah, I remember always confusing those two characters, particularly since my local comic shop had a Black Cat wall scroll with Eve on it and for a while, I always thought of that character whenever I saw Yami. Now, I guess I’ve seen enough To Love-Ru doujinshi that I can distinguish Yami, particularly since the series has run so long. (I’m a huge fan of excessive fanservice, I must admit.)
yuu face in that banner is soo attractive,,
the last 2 figure can’t wait for it man..face-chan soo cute
She definitely is; I remember thinking that her unpainted sculpt didn’t look too great, but her painted version is super cute.
Another long preorder comment from me…
I usually start with figures I don’t care for, so why change the tradition. Normally there are quite a few figures that I am not a fan of in these previews, but this time it is only Celia, and it is for the same reason you mentioned. Her head is way too small for her body. The small head makes me think she is going to be cheaply made and poor in quality. She has a cool design, but that is it.
I am not a doll person so Inori doesn’t do anything for me either. I would like to see her red outfit on her though. The black dress is just plain.
I think Yuu, Elf and Ikaros have great designs but I prefer the FREEing Ikaros for whatever reason (probably because I like Astraea’s a lot) and I think the pose for Elf is pretty boring. If she were more dynamic I would like Elf a lot more. As for Yuu, the perv in me just wants to see the dress fly up so I can see what she is wearing underneath.
Golden Darkness is another one that is interesting enough to pique my interest, but is missing something to make me follow the figure.
That Fate is nice. I cannot wait to see your review of her. That cameltoe is epic which goes to show that she is not “packing heat” like some of her other swimsuit figures. And the dark blue really shows off her glorious ass.
The last two I have thought about ordering. Elin has been on my watch list ever since I first saw her. I thought about getting her from e2046, but decided against it. Most people love the paintjob, but I really love how she looks to have a curvy body. Her lifted thigh just has an epic roundness to it that really makes her look like she has some curves. Too bad she costs so much as I cannot justify that price for something I have no knowledge of.
Cryska is another one I want to order but won’t. I love the skintight uniform and I think her suit is much better than Yui’s (I hate the odd bumpers Yui has, and Yui’s chinstrap looks funny to me), but I would prefer her standing. Yui has a much better pose between the two of them. As it goes, I have preordered Yui’s figma and just preordered Cryska’s figma. I even went through a proxy to get Kagami Sumika’s figma since I love these suits so much and the joints are well hidden by suit. With the figmas I can have the best of both worlds (cool suits and great poses).
Yeah, I passed on the Ikaros bunnygirl figure, but now I’m kinda wondering if maybe I should’ve gotten it. The bunny ears still don’t do much for me but I really dig the leotards and fishnets, particularly since I’ve had their Nanoha figure sitting on my desk for the last couple of months. I’m a lot more excited for their Fate figure than I was when I ordered it, too.
I forgot to mention it, but one of the promo photos for Yuu shows her dress flying up dangerously high; I think we will definitely be able to see what she is wearing underneath. I remember that Aya (the lead girl) had some really fancy panties so maybe Yuu will be wearing something special.
Gift’s Fate really looks great. Besides her more sexual aspects, I really like the mouth hold; I didn’t think I would like it when I saw the unpainted version but seeing it colored, she looks really cute.
Yeah, that’s kinda how I feel about the Elin, too; I really like the curvy, thick proportions she has, so much so that I think they do enough to compensate for my dislike of the animal ears, but the price tag is real high, given that I’d probably would rather buy figures of the human, elven, or castanic females from the game.
That reminds me that I should probably order Yui’s figma; I’m not a huge figma collector but I do like to buy the ones whose character designs I really like, and Yui (and Cryska) both definitely fit that criterion. Plus the first figma I bought was Meiya Mitsurugi, and Yui has a lot of thematic similarities to her.
Definitely getting Cryska and Ikaros as for lineage Elf… I prefer the orchid seed one something about the face in the Max Fact throws me off, but the body’s nice so still pretty much on the fence with her. :-/
I think the Orchid Seed elf has a prettier face, but one thing I really didn’t like about it was that it was lot smaller than I expected it to be. The Max Factory one is listed at something like 24 centimeters in height, I think, which is a big plus in my evaluation.
Let’s see:
I ordered Celia a bit ago…I am suprised how well received she appears to be. I thought too many would think she is too thick (nice wide hips, good for child burrin’ ). I am looking forward to my rubenesque goddess.
Plugsuit Yui and Cryska are a lock. I just received Koto’s re-release Asuka and Rei (1st movie) and once I get Tomo, I think I will put together a plugsuit-themed shelf.
Man, does that Ikaros look good. If it wasn’t Griffon….and I haven’t been collecting seriously long enough to have manufacture prejudice. I just have a friend that has a couple of Griffon items – Ikki Tousen no less. Basically the most uninspired of the uninspired.
Anything else on your list isn’t really on mine (gotta draw a line SOMEWHERE), although that Elin is kind of tempting. So THAT is what they were – I was wondering what all that doujinshi was about 🙂
Yeah, I had kinda thought that opinion would be more solidly against Celia, since fostering mass appeal seems to mean having a very young, waif-like look. Then again, I had also thought that the 7th Dragon Samurai wouldn’t be too popular, either, and then I looked through Amazon JP the other day and she’s going for like 18k yen now.
That is definitely a good theme for a shelf. I was pretty bummed to see Tomo get kicked all the way to April, I was really looking forward to that figure.
Yeah, that’s where my opinion of Griffon comes from as well; I’m also not too big on them basically using the same base for every figure they’ve made, or at least every figure I’ve got. I do really like their swimsuit maid Sasara figure, though.
I was heavily torn on Celia for pretty much the same reason you have (her head/body proportion is off). I also don’t think her face exhibits the same charm that her official art does, and her cast off feature makes her bikini bulky; instead of holding her breasts, it looks as if the breasts hold the bikini. Also her nipples are rather large for my tastes, and they’re quite honestly the largest I’ve ever seen, including figures, porn, real life, comics, etc. Only fetish hentai porn with 2 inch long nipples beats this, but this figure shouldn’t be competing with hentai in the nipple department IMO. Her chubbiness is only slightly greater than the official art (http://myfigurecollection.net/image/hIE1356098990.jpeg) which makes her figure unique among the supermodel proportions most figures have. Also her armor is amazing; I’d actually prefer her in a fully armored state rather than this fanservice.
The Lineage 2 elf is also one that I’ve had my eye on, though only because I am eagerly waiting for the dark elf. This one was painted first and it does not fail to impress; the dignity it radiates is stunning. I haven’t ordered her yet because I’m trying to cut spending, but I think I’ll regret it if I pass her up.
Indeed, the character models for Lineage 2 were impressive, and I think the same can be said for TERA. I’m not a fan of MMORPG style gameplay though, so unfortunately I won’t get to play with the pretty characters. I’ve tried several MMORPGs to date, (WoW, Aion, TERA, TOR, Age of Conan, Lineage 2) but the combat is mind numbing in all of them IMO. I’m interested to see how World of Darkness and Blade & Soul turn out. The artwork for Blade and Soul is absolutely juicy, done by Hyung-tae Kim I believe, so it will be a visual treat for sure. Whether the rest of the game will hold up is another matter.
The sculptor definitely did a great job with the armor. I think one of the Orchid Seed Chichinoe figures might have larger nipples, proportionately speaking (visible here); yeah, it’s not really my thing, either, though Celia’s don’t bug me as much as the Orchid Seed figure’s do.
Yeah, I really like the artwork for Blade & Soul; I don’t know much about the game but Hyung-tae Kim’s artwork is fantastic. It is too bad that his style doesn’t really lend itself too well to figure sculpts, he’s done a lot of designs that I would otherwise love to see made into figures.
That is a lot of MMOs, given that MMORPG gameplay seems to not vary much between games XD Well, aside from UO, I guess. I was feeling a bit nostalgic recently and went looking through an Everquest wiki, and I was surprised to remember how similar EQ is to World of Warcraft. Though I guess that’s to be expected since a lot of Blizzard’s staff were EQ players.
Cryska and Celia are the ones who catch my eye, but you’re right about the latter: she’s got a small head. I think the cast-off option will override that particular objection, though. Cryska’s cool in that I have her “Christmas bikini” figure, so this would provide an interesting contrast of the character. I also only have one “laying down” figure (Satellizer el Bridget).
Also, totally with you on Ikaros. 😉
I’m kinda hoping to find Celia on sale down the line; some of Daiki Kougyou’s stuff has a peculiar way of getting big price slashes after release. I’m kinda doubting it’ll happen with Celia, unless she gets a couple of extra color variants, but I guess I won’t be too disappointed if she doesn’t.
I’ve been stalking your blog for a very long time and it’s my first comment ever, I just want to say I absolutely love your figure collection, I’m an artist and your figures have given me more than just ideas for poses and such. I was looking at a few of these on some Japanese site, and when I saw Elf from Lineage II I was like hopefully Tier does a pre-order or buys this figure…sure enough. xD I love this site xD Thanks for the gorgeous pictures. 🙂 I totally fangasmed sorry xD
Thanks for the kind words XD They are definitely appreciated.
Cryska is the only one of the bunch that I’m planning to pick up. Kotobukiya has a bad habit of disappointing me, but Cryska looks pretty good and Koto US pricing makes the risk more palatable. She appears to have a lot of glossy paint and it seems like glossy paint is somehow harder to screw up, which is a good thing because I feel that’s exactly where Kotobukiya usually falls short of expectations.
I have no intention of getting Celia, but I do think there’s something kind of awesome about combining a bikini and plate armor.
I’m not liking Max Factory’s Lineage elf at all. I though I would, but the painted version gives me this weird uncanny valley vibe. I guess it’s the realistic style. Here’s to hoping that their dark elf is better.
Yeah, I’m kinda wondering if I should’ve ordered Cryska from a US store, though I haven’t checked to see if any of them have her listed yet. I think I’m feeling okay about Cryska, since I really like their earlier Total Eclipse figures, but yeah, they do have a lot of stuff that isn’t that great looking (and some stuff that just looks bad, like a lot of their Bishoujo stuff).
Indeed, I really do like the concept; there is something so profoundly Japanese about it, at least in the sense of anime culture, which so often seems to combine the wackiest things.
`Celia would probably be my last (?) figure outside QB. Btw Tier, I wish you’d reconsider and also pick her up. I think the smaller head is an optical illusion based on the angle of most of her shots……….and I really love how you do you pictorials with babes like her hehehe
I might pick her up if she gets a huge price cut later on. I still kinda doubt it, but then again, I’ve gotten other figures for the flimsiest of reasons.
I guess this will be the year for more swimsuit and tightsuit figures it seems. Muv luv pilot suits are looking great, I wonder if they’ll also make a Yuuya figure to lead the harem. And Fate looks definitely sexy with that pose and cameltoe. And Max factory is determined to finish thier se:Kirara set and they’re all looking lovely (although I really don’t like Nozomi’s pose to be honest, looks like she’s copying senjougahara minus the scissors and rulers).
Oh and Wonderfest will arrive at approximately 4 days from now. For sure, it will be flooded with hype.
I am guessing if Yuuya gets a figure, it would come from Alter or one of the GSC companies, which would mean good things in terms of quality. I don’t normally collect male figures and I don’t know if I would get a Yuuya figure, but it’d be kinda cool to have his harem clustered around his feet, since they’re all sculpted sitting or lying down.
Gee, Wonder Festival is already here. Time sure does fly when you’re, uhh, wasting life in an MMO. I don’t even have any idea what’s going to be shown there, so it’s all going to be a big huge surprise for me.
That double underwear combo on Celia looks pretty irresistible to me, not to mention her high heel armor leggings! (Wonder if those really are historically correct?) A shame really – my wallet could do with a rest…
I am guessing not; I am absolutely not an armor expert but it looks like it would be hard to ride a horse with those heels (not that it stops her or any of the other characters in the game; a lot of the game art shows all the characters jousting). I definitely do dig the look, though; it sounds silly but I really like female fighters with high heels.
Out of these, I’m definitely getting Cryska and Golden Darkness.
Koto’s Muv-Luv plugsuit figures look really appealing to me and Yui and Cryska are probably the figures I look forward towards the most right now. They pretty much hit all the right marks for me; they’re colourful, relatively big, they have an interesting design and she’s all shiny, which I have a thing for, I guess. Not to mention I liked the show (even if a lot of people didn’t). Got the US version from this one too, which should save me some money.
And even if she doesn’t precisely resemble the canon Yami’s face, I do still like Alphamax’ version of Golden Darkness. Besides the fact that I’ve got Momo on pre-order and good Yami figures are hard to find (the best one is the Alpha X Omega one, which is rare and expensive), there’s also the colour combination, which I like, little details like the book and the fact that she’s, well, sexy. I’m not the biggest fan of swimsuit figures, but Alphamax has a tendency to make me interested in theirs (waiting for Ichika to come in the mail atm). As for the series, the entire To-Love-Ru franchise has been kind of a guilty pleasure for me for a while now. I know it’s nothing stellar, but it’s still amusing for a harem show and I like the characters. And with the advent of To-Love-Ru Darkness, where this Yami is from, the series has just started taking refuge in audacity, really. The plot is whack, the artwork is gorgeous and sexy as hell (it’s always amusing to see the mangaka’s efforts to evade the censors every chapter, he gets quite explicit if you pay attention) and since it’s a seinen now, they’re allowed to get away with a lot more in the first place. I love it, really. So bring on the figures, and get me a Mikan one at some point, dammit!
Also, that Fate sure is quite…explicit. A 1/4 figure of a loli in a bikini with a big cameltoe? Well, uh, wow. I thought Max Factory’s Menma was already quite explicit, hah. Is it me or is there an increase in figures like that nowadays? My older swimsuit figures are usually not that detailed.
Yeah, I have to admit, I have a thing for women in tight, shiny clothes; I think it’s probably due to me being born in the 80s, not to mention that I mostly watched sci-fi anime while growing up. I’m still behind on watching the show and it didn’t make as strong an impression on me as I had hoped it would, but I guess I wouldn’t say that I dislike it.
I was actually looking around for the GSC Golden Darkness figure, which I like a lot and missed out on, but it’s a bit difficult to find without going the YJA route, and I don’t really know if I want to do that. I have the sense that that’s also what my impressions of To Love-Ru would be if I watched it; I don’t really watch a lot of harem comedies, but I usually wind up liking them more than I thought I would. I thought Infinite Stratos and Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls were trash when I first watched them, but after giving them a fairer chance, I actually liked both series a lot (though the last couple of episodes of Samurai Girls were pretty bad). And yeah, a lot of my interest in To Love-Ru is piqued by the artist’s work, which I like a lot (particularly in colored form; I don’t know if he does the coloring himself or if a particularly devoted fan is doing it, but there is some really nice colored renditions of his stuff out there).
I kinda notice that stuff seems to be getting raunchier and raunchier; not just with figures, but with anime in general, I guess, but I’m still a bit surprised that the sculptor made Fate’s cameltoe so prominent, being that Nanoha had none at all. I’m also pretty surprised that GSC and Gift were okay with it, given that Fate is a quite a prominent character. I wonder if you could call their Fate figure the most explicit Fate PVC figure on the market?
http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/431997-Daiki-Kougyo-Walkure-Romanze-1-6-Celia-Cumani-Aintree-NSFW-review
Take a look at this review i made. Hopefully you also give Celia the Tier treatment soon.
Yeah, this is one of those figures I’d really like to review soon, since I am not actually sure how much I like as I haven’t really seen her in person (I generally don’t remove figures from boxes until I’m ready to photograph them). Hopefully I’ll have some time soon as I’m taking some leave from work and there’s also the Labor Day holiday coming up.
I have this one. Really really like it. The bikini part was kind of bitch to remove but I liked the contrast between her naked body and armored feet and hands. (Kind of reminds some of those more outrageous female “armor” mods for Skyrim), It is also anatomically correct, I think like Diskvision Elsa.
Yeah, that’s one of the things I’m afraid of with this figure and a few others, like the Queen’s Blade Grimoire Alicia figure; I really, really hate figures which are difficult to cast-off or re-assemble. At least Celia doesn’t have a lot of clothes to remove, so that’s something.