Monthly Archives: March 2013

Dakimakura Review – Pretty Girl Knight from the Art of Nakajou (NSFW)

%3 Figure Review

I have to admit that one of my favorite themes in pop culture is the scantily-clad female fighter. It’s not as common a motif as it used to be, I think, which is sort of unfortunate, but it can still be found in anime properties like Queen’s Blade or video games like Code of Princess, which I sadly doubt I’ll ever get to play, given my general bias against handheld systems (though I do actually own a PSP, purchased mainly to play Persona 3 Portable, but I’ve since lost the UMD somewhere). It’s never been a frequent theme in dakimakura cover artwork, though, so when I saw this pillowcase, my interest was piqued straight away.
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Doll Review – vmf50 Shiho

vmf50 Shiho by Yamato

Yamato’s vmf50 lineup hasn’t always had a clear identity. Its closest analogues – Azone’s original and Hybrid Active Figure series and Volks’s Dollfie Dream line – have, in contrast, clearly-defined target markets. The Dollfie Dream and HAF dolls are generally modeled after characters from anime culture, whereas Azone’s original dolls are simply happy-looking female characters, with the occasional scowling Goth-loli character thrown in on occasion. The vmf50 series is, however, much like Yamato’s larger product line: all over the place. At first, it seemed like they were interested in appealing to anime fans, and their early dolls, such as Risa and Yumi, featured anime-like styling. Then they made a doll of Nitroplus mascot Super Sonico, which was quite unexpected, at least by me. Subsequently, they switched over to using artificial eyes in their newer dolls and introduced a host of body types, principally distinguished by bust and leg size. After observing their product line for the last several years, I think one can simply say that Yamato wanted to make really sexy dolls, with costumes and characteristics that frequently strayed into ero classification. This doll, named Shiho, is one of the more overt examples, as can obviously be seen.
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Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 (Black Underwear Version)

Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 Figure Review

Given the prevalence of Tamaki Kousaka figures in the market, it’s a little surprising that we haven’t looked at a Tamaki figure here in 364 days. It seems like you can’t go a month without seeing a new Tamaki figure go up for preorder. As much as some may decry the proliferation of Tamaki figures – and I can’t say that they don’t have a point – there does seem to be a market for them, so let’s look at this one.
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Horizon Ariadust from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere (Wave Version)

Horizon Ariadust Figure Review

Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere was one of my favorite shows from the fall 2011 anime season. It features a compelling setting, a likeable cast, a delightfully dense plot, and some of the nicest character designs in all of anime. Those designs, plus the sheer volume of characters in the show, would suggest that the series would be one that would get a lot of figures.

So one would think, anyway; however, it’s now been about a year and a half since the show debuted and only a handful of figures from the series have made their way to retail. Even more perplexing is that all of those figures come from Wave. Unsurprisingly, the great majority of those figures belong to their 1/10 scale Beach Queens line, but they did make one anomalous figure of Horizon Ariadust, which is what we’ll be looking at here.
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