Last time, we looked at some monstrously large breasts; today, we’ll flip it one hundred and eighty degrees and look at a far more modest rack. However, while the previous character exemplified purity, grace, and tact, Kuroko Shirai embodies … well, none of those things.
Kuroko Shirai is one of the main characters of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, or A Certain Scientific Railgun. I haven’t watched much of this show or Toaru Majutsu no Index, the preceding series, which is a little odd for me. I’ve watched lots of other female-fronted action anime simply because they were female-fronted and on the surface, A Certain Scientific Railgun ought to be something that I like. I think the lack of sex appeal amongst the principal cast members has a lot to do with my reluctance to watch the series; Mikoto and Kuroko and the other characters are pretty cute but their visual appeal tends to be played down, at least from a casual viewpoint. (Then again, the shower groping scene in the first episode is very impressive. And from the other bits and pieces I’ve watched, I liked the relationship between Yomikawa and Tsuzuri. I think they could make a series starring those two; there have been many television shows and films built on the mismatched cop buddy theme.)
This figure, however, isn’t lacking in sex appeal … unless one is put off by Kuroko’s age, being that she’s supposed to be twelve or thirteen. Given her personality, though, this outfit does seem appropriate, even if she doesn’t quite fill it out.
Kuroko is the latest bunnygirl in FREEing’s long-running line of bunnysuit figures. Like all of the figures in the series, Kuroko is huge – she’s sculpted in 1/4 scale and stands about 35 centimeters tall at the top of her head, and around 39 centimeters tall overall. Also like most of the other bunnygirl figures, she’s pretty much ready for display right out of the box, though FREEing does throw in an extra face that we’ll look at in a bit.
I have to admit that I’m starting to like the bunnysuit look, despite my initial antipathy towards the theme. Much of that distaste was caused by the bunny ears, since I really do not like animal ears on anime characters. However, being that they are obviously artificial here, it’s not too difficult for me to get over them, and moreoever, I really like the high-leg leotard look. It looks great on Kuroko, who’s flaunting her twelve-year old body about as well as she can, given her lack of physical gifts.
Kuroko’s bunnysuit deviates a bit from the most iconic look in that she wears stockings rather than pantyhose. It’s a nice change and I prefer this look, as it focuses attention to the high-cut legs of her suit and the bare skin of her thighs. The stockings are made of a real fishnet material, which looks quite nice; the garter straps attaching them to her suit, however, are not, and so it looks a little odd in how they appear glued down on her skin (which they actually are, I suppose). I don’t think it’d a bad thing, since separated, free-floating straps would probably be prone to breaking, but it is conspicuous.
Her leotard is made of a glossy material reminisicent of vinyl or latex, which looks great; it’s seductive, sexy, and showy, which perfectly fits Kuroko’s libertine personality. She has the usual accessories: a pair of bunny ears, some wrist cuffs, a collar with a cute bow tie, some armbands, and high heels. The purple color of her tie and the ribbons on her hips tends to blend in with the black, but that’s not too big a problem, I think.
Speaking of her hips, Kuroko does have a very nice body shape for … well, a twelve-year old. Her hips are prominently curved, contrasting sharply against her total lack of breasts. Her waist is tapered, and she also has a nicely-shaped rear, which is a bit unexpected but quite nice to see.
On a technical note, my figure has some noticeable scratches on her left thigh. I’m not sure what caused them; I’ve seen these sorts of scratches on polystone statues but not on PVC figures.
And here is her rear, complete with bunny tail.
Kuroko’s pose is saucy and ostentatious, emphasizing her sex appeal, or at least her attempt at generating such. Her legs are wideset, knees bent with ass and (non-existent) chest thrust out. It looks vaguely ridiculous given her obvious youth and modest body build, but it still looks quite right.
She’s flashing a sly, knowing smile, conveying confidence and seemingly offering a bit more. Her broad grin and widely-spaced eyes are a little unusual and can be a little disconcerting if you stare at her face for a while. Nonetheless, she looks quite pretty.
And if you want something a little more in tune with her usual comportment, the figure comes with this extra face. An instruction sheet is provided, showing how to swap out her faces, but it’s pretty straightforward: just pull off her bangs and then detach her face. Personally, I don’t really dig this look that much but for anyone who likes this sort of predatory feline look, FREEing has you covered.
Most of FREEing’s bunnygirl figures aren’t too impressive when viewed in a photograph; they’re not that detailed, the body definition usually isn’t spectacular (the faces always seem peculiarly flat), and the poses tend to not be too ambitious. I like them anyway, however, and Kuroko is not an exception. She looks both cute and sexy, and I really like the outfit, even taking the ears into account. All the bare skin is quite attractive as well, and her personality comes through quite strongly. And of course, she’s big, which is one of the best things about the figure and is one of the main reasons pictures don’t quite do it justice; she towers over almost every other figure I’ve got aside from other 1/4 scale figures. With all her charms taken together, I’m happy to own Kuroko.
heheh her pervert face is nice but something about her looks a bit off. Still this figure actually fits Kuroko’s personality pretty well.
As far as Railgun goes, it does have fanservice although probably less than you’re used to. I liked it a lot and am enjoying Railgun S currently. Unfortunately it doesn’t make for great figures as the character designs are mostly based around school uniforms. Nobody really goes out of their way to make action poses anymore, so the best you can hope for is something cute/sexy at best.
I wonder if Alter’s Kazuno is posed so dynamically because the only real criticism you can level at them is ‘boring poses’ – like Panty or Stocking compared to Sentinel’s version. Most are guilty lately, but Alter seems to be the worst offender.
Wave is by far the worst offender with their neverending line of identical-looking Beach Queens. Alter is definitely up there in the lack-of-ambition department, but they’ve got a few upcoming figures that make me think they’re returning to form (Misty, Melty, Kazuno as you mentioned).
Yeah, their figures have lacked a great deal of ambition and grandeur recently, which is a little odd, since many of their best figures border on excess. That reminds me that I have that Panty figure, somewhere around here …
I noticed the newer Railgun series seems to have a bit more fanservice; there was a cute character in a tight suit who looked pretty cool and might pique my interest. I also liked Mii Konori but I’m assuming the chance of her getting a figure is nil.
I’m a little surprised that Mikoto hasn’t gotten more action-oriented figures, given her superpower, which reminds me a lot of Gambit from the X-Men (just as Kuroko reminds me a lot of Nightcrawler, and that further makes me wonder whether I should have watched the show). I kinda expected someone to make a figure of her in her coin-flipping gesture, which is in the opening sequence, if I remember right. (I think Kotobukiya or someone actually did one, but if I remember correctly, it looked sorta horrendous.)
Yeah give it a shot if you have the time. The fanservice is pretty uneven throughout but the show does a good job of warming you up to the characters. There’s a flow and connectedness to the plot (at least for the first season) that makes it contrast against the rapid fire story arcs of Index.
The second season hasn’t required any knowledge of the first season so far, but I think the relationship you build up with the cast from the first season would be important for appreciating Railgun S.
Yeah, that’s the thing; with the show comprising a full run and with there also being a preceding series (which I think also got its own sequel), I don’t think I have time to watch the show. Though I guess I could do what I’ve been doing with Madoka, which is just leaving it on while I’m doing something else and watching fragments at a time. Given the length of the series – and to be honest, what I’ve heard about it – I don’t think I’ll miss much if I’m only watching it part of the time.
I think I can thank Playboy for my love of the bunny outfit. And I can thank you for motivating me to possibly get a FREEing bunny girl at some point. They are just as you describe – kinda plain, but I can see them being so much better in person than on a computer screen.
Dammit all, I saw Ikaros bunny went for something like $90 USD before shipping in Hobby Search’s bargain bin. Shipping has always intimidated me with these 1/4 scale figures, but I would have tried to work something out for that price. Man, I wish I could have gotten her.
Kuroko isn’t something I would get, but she is nice.
They are neat figures; they don’t come anywhere close to taking full advantage of their size (very few large figures do, strangely enough) but their sheer height makes them very impressive. Not to mention the fact that most of the ones FREEing makes are half-naked.
I saw the discount on Ikaros as well, and kinda wished I had picked it up, since I like their Nymph figure. That said, they do seem to get decent discounts after release, which is not too surprising; I’ve seen a lot of their 1/4 scale figures for several thousand yen under their initial price tags on Mandarake.
I was really tempted to get this. I like Kuroko a lot, and there really aren’t any good figures of her. But I don’t have room for these behemoths. 🙁
Also, I think the second face is better. It really does suit her character, and the mouth on the first one looks a bit too Griffon (and I say that owning dozens of Griffon figures).
Yeah, looking at the photos, I kinda thought her first face was sorta amphibian-like, with the wide mouth and the big space between the eyes. I think it looks a lot better in real life, where the flatness of her face isn’t quite so apparent. The second face does seem to be more appropriate for her, but it scares the hell out of me so I put it back in the box. Facing backwards.
I dont like how face of this figure is made, for some reason there is difference from the series and so she dosent look like Kuroko im used to, tho outfit and rest of body fits just fine.
Overall i didnt like figure, i myself got Kuroko and biribiri in maid version ;D i think that one is better than this.
But i must say… tentacle monster fits pictures almost as good as obama for momo ;D
I think I remember those figures; super rats had a very nice review of them over on his website. Half the fun of this shoot was using the tentacles. Actually, more like 80% – as much as I like 1/4 scale figures, I really do not like photographing them because almost none of my backdrops are well-suited for anything that large.
Kyahh! I love Kuruko from the bottom of my heart, she’s so cute and I like that she’s a fun loving shameless person. I also liked when she is showing her mature side, it gave her some good depth.
In the animes with her I was always concerned about her well being, as she stepped into scary fights with evil thugs or sadistic girls.I never thought about the age of these characters and Im quite surprised now, but fighting evil psycho’s at the age of twelve is quite amazing on it’s own. Academy City is such a crazy place XD
The figure is really nice, even petite girls look very good in bunny suits *cough* good that everything is allowed in anime Haha. The details are lovely and the black suits her so well. It is great that they included her hilarious, playful face, that never fullfills it’s goal with seducing Misaka. They nailed it down perfectly, I love it =)
The only odd thing are the garter straps, maybe it are hinge joints.
At first I thought “she’s way too young for this kind of work” but then she brings down a building with her teleporter powers, and It’s like “nope, don’t mess with her!” I always thought Kuroko had the most potentially devastating powers.
Ah yeah I remember this episode, I really felt the urge to protect her XD But yeah she has an impressive ability and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Kuroko seemed like a really fun character; I never got much of a sense of Misaka’s personality (I heard somewhere that she’s supposed to be the princess type, and I was pretty amazed by that) but Kuroko is pretty easy to figure out, it seems. It is a little sad that Misaka is so unreceptive to Kuroko’s seduction, but seeing her get fried all the time is pretty funny.
It’s always funny how young anime characters are. Well, maybe funny’s not the right word … depressing might be, since it makes me feel old as hell. I didn’t feel too weird watching the 14-year old characters in Evangelion back when I was college age, but now, it’s kinda creepy for me, actually.
Misaka a princess, thats really interesting, to me she’s more like a boar XD
At first I found Misaka stupid with her angry and tomboyish behaviour, I didn’t like her much. Well it is understandable, when you see her in Railgun S which is a kind of prequel to Toaru Majutsu no Index. I started to like her after I’ve seen her running around cheerful and happy in a frilly bikini in the first Railgun Season, it was a hilarious episode.
I know that Im old, but I have no problem with watching middle school or highschool kid adventures. I actually never memorize how old a character is or how old she/he should be when in a certain class. Well I stay away from watching an ecchi anime with clearly too young characters, like Kodomo no Jikan :p
Yeah, I shouldn’t have much of a problem with it either, particularly since that it’s just going to become more problematic as I get older. (And to be honest, I’ve pretty much decided that I don’t want to grow up. I might grow old but I have no plans to grow up.)
The joke is that since Mikoto attends a super fancy rich people school, people expect her to behave according to the ojou-sama stereotype. However in actuality she’s quite childish and a bit of a tomboy.
I just got my Kuroko last week. The only thing I would complain is the tail.
Now, I don’t own any other figure in bunnysuit and I kinda understand that it could be hard to make it look right. But seriously, this one just look like a giant golf ball on her butt!
Anyone have an example of a bunnygirl figure with better-looking tail? I’d like to know.
I don’t think I know of one; I’ll be honest, I don’t pay much attention to the tail or the ears. I’d really prefer that they were not included, but I’ve gotten so used to them that I tend to not see them at all.
I never got into FREEing’s 1/4 scale bunny figures but I enjoy seeing your reviews for all of them! I haven’t seen the anime for this either and the lack of sex appeal coupled with the characters’ ages are the biggest reasons why. However, I did pick up the manga and unexpectedly I’m really enjoying it. With the manga I’m not as concerned with the sex appeal and moe elements and I can get into the story and characters without the distractions. That said I do like Kuroko’s character, she has some odd yet endearing qualities.
Ah, I did not know that the series had a manga. I don’t read a lot of manga anymore but I’ve noticed that they can be more enjoyable than the anime; I like the Ikki Tousen manga much better than any of its three TV series, for example, even accounting for its mangled translation.
Her face, o my, her face :P~~~
Nice. For me it’s a preview of what’s to come. I’ve had her on order since day 1. Also her counterpart 1/4 on the barstool is on PO. Love this set and it’s good to see she came out great. I must say I enjoy collecting these 1/4 Freeing bunnies. The only one 1 skipped is the Sonico bunny, but that’s because i went with the 1/2 Sonico.
Do you also have the 1/4 barstool on order?
Nah, I didn’t preorder Misaka; her pose seemed less attractive to me and I don’t have a great feel for her character. I figure one Railgun girl is enough for me.
Heh, that pervert face. I think her normal face looks a bit odd, so I’d for the second face if I ever were to display her. Regardless, this figure does a good job of capturing her personality – unlike Misaka, I can totally see her wearing this as well. I love the shiny look these suits have as well. And as for her age…eh, I always add a few more years to every anime character, because they hardly if ever act the abitrary age the anime says they are. The Railgun girls don’t exactly look like a bunch of twelve year old girls either.
Though I give props for making her wear something more interesting than the usual school uniform, and while I like the two Railgun anime a lot, she and Misaka aren’t high on my interest level for buying though. Their price and shipping are an issue (recently ordered my first 1/4 – bunny Asahina Mikuru – and the shipping hurt like hell) but I guess there’s also the fact I like more actiony poses for these characters (I’ve got a pretty badass prize figure of Misaka, for one, at least Sega’s providing). Now if they made one of Saten, they’d have my attention…but in general, while I have an interest in 1/4’s, I’m waiting for more fitting characters.
I do the same with anime characters and RPG heroes as well. I wonder why anime makers are so infatuated with high school, though; it seems like the vast majority of anime series star high schoolers or teenagers in general. Personally, I don’t recall much of my teenage years and I found college to be a far more interesting and formative experience than high school. Maybe things are different in Japan.
When I first heard of the series, I was interested in Saten’s character because she looked to have the largest bust size and I thought her name was kinda cute. Now, however, whenever I think of her, I can’t help also thinking of Alter’s figure with its peculiarly-shaped head and unsettling grin.
Same here. High school kind of sucked, whereas college was a far more interesting time. While there are a few anime situated at college, the majority is situated in high school (to an idiotic degree – it seems to be a requirement for every freaking hero nowadays, even though it adds nothing). I think I read somewhere that it was something cultural that caused them to value the time in high school far more than later periods of their lives – but then, I can’t help but think a bunch of suits waving slides with ‘target demographics’ around have something to do with it as well.
And yeah, Alter kind of dropped the ball with that figure, in my opinion. I just went with Koto’s version instead. Also, funny thing about Saten’s bust; they actually increased it quite a lot compared to the manga, for some reason. Wonder how they pitched that idea to the animation staff…
I know a lot of people, including at least one of my close friends, really didn’t like high school. For me, it was mostly mundane; I didn’t really have any negative experiences but I don’t really remember much of it, either, other than that I was one of the very few people of east Asian descent in the school (which was sorta weird; there’s a bunch of schools maybe 15 or 20 miles away from where I attended that are over 20% Asian). College was far more fun, particularly first year, since everything is so new and all of the rules and bureaucracy you deal with in high school vanishes. (Well, it was fun for me until I flunked out, anyway.)
That said, I guess it’s not just an anime-only thing, too; I recall that a lot of comic book heroes like the X-Men and Spider-Man were also high schoolers, at least at the start (it’s kinda hard to figure out how old the X-Men are supposed to be now).
That’s one of the few times when Kotobukiya’s figure looked clearly superior to Alter’s. Speaking of those two companies, it’s kinda funny how often they’ve made figures that look so similar to each other; I even though about writing a post comparing their figures.
Pingback: The week in figures: June 15, 2013 | Makigumo
“A Certain Scientific Railgun?!”
THAT’S A THING?
Yep. Anime titles these days…
Yeah, it is a strange title, though it’s one of the things that got me interested in the series when I first heard about it. (Then I looked at the main cast and saw a dearth of fan service and lost that initial interest.)