Over a year after Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere (or Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, if you prefer the more-grammatically-correct American title) concluded its two-season run, figures have been slow to trickle out. The few that are available have come from a variety of manufacturers; Wave has released a few figures in its Beach Queens series, as well as an anomalous figure of lead girl Horizon Ariadust, which we looked at a while back. Alter, as is their wont, is going with a minor character in an action pose. (I previously expressed some trepidation regarding the figure’s price tag and size but lately I’ve been thinking she’d look pretty cool battling my Yamato 1/48-scale VF-1 Valkyries, and that could also make for some pretty cool photo ops.) Volks’s figures show a lot of promise but nothing yet substantive. Kotobukiya has a few in the pipeline, including an action-oriented one of Tomo Asama, who is who we’re looking at here. This figure, by Max Factory, is decidedly not action-oriented; instead, it is pretty obvious what attributes they wished to emphasize.
Tomo is one of the main characters of Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, though that’s mostly meaningless given the expansive size of the cast. She is, like most of the characters, a student in Class 3-Plum at the Musashi Ariadust Academy, and she’s also a Shinto shrine maiden at her family’s shrine. She’s a kind-hearted, friendly girl, but she’s also an expert archer who is sometimes nicknamed the “Sniper Maiden.” Despite being a pious shrine maiden, she has no problem fantasizing about Toori Aoi groping other people’s breasts – though maybe that’s just because she knows Toori better than most.
Tomo has a few things that distinguish her. One obvious thing is her artificial left eye, which even has its own name (“Konoha”) and seems to provide magnification and rangefinding abilities, among other functions. Another is her distinctive pink-and-white bodysuit, which she wears during combat and occasionally during other times. She is also accompanied by a flying familiar named Hanami, who can grant blessings. Lastly, she carries a bow named Ume-Tsubaki, which can fire a variety of ordnance, from typical arrows to anti-battleship torpedoes.
I like almost all of the characters from the Horizon series, but I think I’d say that Tomo is my favorite. She has an appealing personality, being friendly yet also a bit flighty. I also like that she actively engages in combat; many of the show’s principal characters do not. And obviously, I think she has a pleasing appearance. The product description for this figure assertively states “she has one of the most appealing bodies of anyone in her class”; this is a matter of opinion, of course, but I would agree with the assessment.
This figure is, as mentioned, by Max Factory. It’s nominally listed as being 1/7 scale, but this is a very conservative value; she’s closer in size to many 1/6 scale figures. She comes with a very large pink base, which she doesn’t need to stay upright, and a ton of accessories, which we’ll look at individually in a bit.
The female characters of Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere all have attractive bodies, and it’s apparent that Max Factory wanted to emphasize that aspect of Tomo’s design. Tomo is known for having a particularly large bust size – second only to Kimi Aoi, perhaps – and in this respect, Max Factory has gone for broke; Tomo’s rack is absolutely enormous. Indeed, her breasts are far larger than they appeared in the anime, and their size and shape aren’t going to be considered attractive by everybody. Personally, I would’ve preferred if they had exercised restraint and toned them down some; from a few angles, they aren’t too bad, but from other viewpoints, they look like enormous, overinflated balloons, or swollen pustules moments away from bursting.
Max Factory didn’t stop there, though; they also enhanced the size and shape of her buttocks. The tightness of her bodysuit – which is ludicrously unrealistic in the way it is molded to her body, even for anime – only makes this more apparent, as does her pose; she’s crouching down, chest and ass thrust out, back arched in an almost wince-inducing curve. Tomo is presented here in a very erotic manner, and that may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the taste and preferences of the viewer. Me, this isn’t the pose I would have picked, but I do admit that I like this more sexualized take on Tomo, particularly because she’s such a sweet, upbeat girl in the show.
I’m more equivocal on her face. Her face doesn’t look bad – she’s too pretty for her face to look bad – but she’s obviously reacting to something and unless you display her with Toori, there’s no context for her evident discomfiture. That said, all that is required to mitigate that concern is an overstimulated imagination, and her distress does open up some photographic opportunities that a neutral expression would not provide. It’s all about how you see it and what you can do with it.
She comes with a number of accessories, and of course, nothing precludes her owner from making one’s own props. Let’s look at what comes in the box.
First, she comes with some wings that attach to a small socket in her back. Unfortunately, they don’t fit very securely at all and are prone to falling out even if you just pick her up. They do seem to be reasonably durable, at least, which is a good thing since they’ve fallen to the floor a number of times already.
For those who don’t like the mecha girl style as much, there’s a simple plug that can be used instead.
Tomo comes with two pairs of hands, one meant to cradle her bow and the other meant to hold down Toori. The bow seems to fit loosely in her hands, and I mean really loosely; I was not able to keep it steady in her hands. That probably means I was doing something wrong. Note that the bow doesn’t come with a bowstring.
She also comes with this rolled-up version of Toori Aoi, or at least something that resembles a chibi form of Toori. I’m not sure why he’s rolled up like this or why Tomo is straddling him or whether this really is him and not a peculiar inflatable doll or something. He does provide a reason for Tomo to look so uncomfortable, as if someone walked in on them while she was doing something naughty, but the size disparity between the two makes it difficult to believe that this is really him.
Tomo’s bodysuit is very attractive, particularly in the way that it encases her body. It also has a neat thong back, which I like, and some futuristic embellishments, including something that looks a bit like a belt that goes over her waist. Unlike the black-and-white school uniforms that most of the show’s characters wear, Tomo’s shrine maiden suit leaves her arms and shoulders bare, which looks quite nice (though I recall that in the anime, her left arm is covered in some sort of armor plating when she fights in this outfit; that is obviously not included here). Her outfit has a nice glossy finish, giving it the look of latex or vinyl, which will certainly appeal to spandex fetishists.
One of the neatest things about the Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere world is the way futuristic styling is fused with traditional sensibilities. For example, Tomo wears something like a cybernetic version of the traditional tabi shoes on her feet.
The paint job is quite nice, though my figure has a black speck on Tomo’s ass that irritates me far more than it probably should. I like the way Tomo’s hair has a satin-like finish; I don’t think I’ve ever seen this type of paint used for a figure’s hair before. While Tomo’s design isn’t enormously complicated, unlike some other mecha girls, there are a some nice, subtle touches, such as the torii symbol on her back.
I like this figure quite a bit, even though I concede it’s not entirely the perfect Tomo figure that I’ve been waiting for. It’s a very specific take on Tomo, one that places heavy – perhaps excessive – emphasis on tits and ass. It is unabashedly crass and I don’t doubt many people will skip this figure because of that. However, while I think her breasts should’ve been a bit smaller – I thought the same thing regarding Max Factory’s old Tamaki Kousaka figure – it doesn’t bother me too much. Being that Tomo is my favorite character in the show, I’m alright with her being presented in a sexy fashion, and given how strangely rare figures of the show’s characters are, I’m just happy she got a full-sized figure at all. For those who don’t prefer Tomo with a giant ass and enormous breasts, perhaps Kotobukiya’s upcoming version will have more appeal.
She is pretty, for a mutant. And yay Obama. The thing that really strikes me about this figure is dat ass. Then the chest ruins it. And I’m not even fond of butts in any way, yet somehow I like this sort of styling. Weird.
The absolutely massive breasts are incredibly disappointing, though. That said, I have already ordered Koto’s Maou, who is similarly absurdly sized. However I adore her character, so I can forgive it. Maybe it’s the same for fans here — I still haven’t seen the show, it is rotting in my backlog with tons of others.
Anyway, I like the set. What is that industrial/military armour grade walling you are using as a backdrop there?
Tomo is a nice girl, but she doesn’t get a whole ton of screen time … actually, nobody does, not even the lead guy and girl, really. I like her anyway, though.
The backdrop is a square thingy of particleboard with a bunch of little wood sticks glued to it. It’s actually the same construction as the backdrop I’ve used for Yagyu Gisen and Naoe Kanetsugu in the past, though arranged slightly differently (rectangles instead of squares). I took a bunch of setup shots so maybe I’ll write a post about it.
Yay Tier! Great review, loving the shots. From certain angles, the oversized breasts look workable, I have no bad comments to say bout her ass (nice epic ass tag XD). And also the non-scale Toori is like that from ep7 of the first season. When he was rolled up in a curtain saying he was a sushi roll… LOL Anyway. After some more thought, I’ve decided to order Tomo as well. I liked her the most from S1, but I’m hoping more for a scaled Mary Stuart (from S2), figure to come. Question. What ever happened to your tentacle stand? I’ve not seen you use it for quite a while now. Forgive me if you’ve already answered this somewhere before, just wondering.
I don’t get to use that tag nearly enough. Ahh, I must have forgotten that scene … indeed, I think I’ve forgotten much of the first season, since I went back through some of the early episodes and could scarcely remember the details. I probably ought to re-watch them, since the fansubs I watched were of the TV broadcast and I have the Blu-ray disc here (and I’ve finally figured out how to watch Blu-rays on my BD-ROM drive … it’s amazing how ass-backwards the process is).
I’d like a figure of Mary too, and if I remember right, someone is doing one (I can’t remember who, though). I haven’t seen much of her since I’ve only seen the first few episodes of the second season, but she seems like a cute girl and I like her scars.
Ahhhh man, I had planned to use the tentacle stand here since she’s actually big enough for it to work (the tentacles are only about as big around as her thighs and in hentai anime, that’s not a problem for penetration). I do have the tentacle stand – both stands, actually. I used them most recently with the Shiho doll review not long ago and I’ll definitely need to remember to use them with these FREEing figures I’ve got laying around here.
Nice review! And great figure. I was a bit on the fence about Tomo with the pose and Xtra assets but decided to get her at the last minute and man, I’m glad I did. They did such a fantastic job with the sculpt and the paint job is really nice. I do wish they had added a little more like the armored arm or even more of her hip fins but I’m really nitpicking as she’s already one of my favorite figures.
Thanks! Yeah, I would’ve liked some extra stuff like that as well; I like mecha girls and Tomo is about the closest thing to one there is in the Horizon anime. I suppose Kotobukiya’s one will probably fit the bill, though. I hope theirs is similarly huge, since one of the things I really like about this figure is that it is much larger than I expected it to be.
Damn, it looks like her tits are made of dough. The rest of the sculpt is pretty nice, though (DAT ASS) but she’s not really my kinda thing. I’ve been trying to avoid figures that are in poses that make them appear smaller than they really are, and Tomo is pretty close to the ground. I learned this lesson after buying Christmas Cryska, who despite being (technically) 1/7 scale is probably my smallest girl.
I would’ve also preferred Tomo to be standing up, but she’s actually really large. Really really large; despite being listed as 1/7 scale, she’s about as proportionally large as Orca Toys’s (supposedly) 1/5 scale Tamaki Kousaka. It was a nice surprise to see how large she is, since that is always one of the things I look for in a figure.
Tomo has the biggest butt in figure history, that’s just awesome XD
I also like these Horizon anime, the author of this novel must be a creative genius. I feel a bit ashamed that I didn’t liked it on first watch, but I picked it up again and it was “the best”
I like all the students of Ariadust, the female ones are all charming on their own.
Im more a fan of the normal uniforms, it reminds me of the cool orca whales ^^
The butt and backside seem to be the main appeal of this figure.Her big boobs are ok, what is a bit irritating is the right one, it looks like a waterballoon when being pushed by her arm.
The complex articulation and mainly her tilted head gives her a few bad angles, I guess she is displayed best when turned like in picture 22. The exposed back is really delicious,
The face doesn’t really convince me, Tomo is the prettiest girl and yet it isn’t really captured in this adaption, a lack of detail I think. Is there really no blush on her cheeks? That would be a real shame, in such a pose every shrine maiden would be aroused. Yeah the pose is quite sexualized Tomo appears like a H Game “heroine” which is actually not all that bad =)
This is no bad figure after all, she’s curvy, shiny and has beauriful hair. These optional parts are also cool and being made by Max Factory is always a sign of high quality. Still something is missing. I would prefer her in a more simple, standing pose to be honest..
Argh! If only I would be more convinced by her face 🙁 I want a figure from this anime,really.
Yeah, I liked the anime more than I thought I would, particularly since I lost a lot of interest after the opening few episodes, when the story started focusing on the non-Musashi characters (most of whom I don’t care much about). But it got a lot better when the storyline shifted back to Musashi and I’m enjoying the second season, which I’m slowly progressing through.
I think I prefer the normal uniforms as well. I didn’t care too much for Tomo’s pink outfit when I first saw it, but I’ve come to like it more and more since it distinguishes her from everyone else (sorta like Kimi and her bandeau top).
Yeah, no blush. I didn’t notice that it was missing, to be honest, and it’s not too important to me, but yeah, it would’ve given a little more context to her expression. Though for my purposes, the lack of it works actually kinda works, since from some angles, it looks like she’s screaming in terror. (This would have worked better had I remembered to use the tentacle stand.)
I think that Kotobukiya’s figure will probably get more acclamation, assuming that it looks like the artwork they’ve shown. Odd that there are a number of figures of archer girls, but so few of them show them in a shooting stance.
I agree on some of the points you’ve mentioned, the oversized bust and butt being the most particular one. Still, she evokes a very erotic expression and makes good use of some improvised props. And looks like Volks Horizon really got in the middle of nowhere since she has no definite release date (still). And Alter’s Kazuno has got the bust in a right shape and size for her. Any interest on Seven Sins figures from Orchid Seed?
Yeah, I dunno what’s up with that figure … I just really hope Tokyo-Hunter is still around whenever it is supposed to ship, since that’s who I ordered it from. I do actually have one of the Seven Sins figures sitting right here – I haven’t gotten around to photographing Leviathan, though, since everyone else has already reviewed her and I really have no idea what I want to do for her. She’s nominally all evil and demonic and stuff but I have the feeling she’s supposed to be a comical sort of character, and I’m not sure how to bring that out.
Woah, this figure really lends itself to pervy setups with Obama, doesn’t she?
I’ve been on the fence with this figure lately – my finger has hovered over the order button multiple times. She is one of the more interesting characters from Horizon, after all (though not my favourite, Kimi, Toori and Horizon herself probably qualify for that) and I have a real thing for characters in shiny suits (like the plugsuit girls from Muv-Luv). Not to mention Toori’s included with her, and figures from this show aren’t common to begin with.
On the other hand, her face could be a bit more expressive (like others said, there’s no blush) and, well, her boobs are massive on this figure, even for the show’s standards. Especially at the parts where they’re pressed against her armor and whatnot they resemble a pair of water balloons. And the knowledge that Koto’s announced a figure of her (that will hopefully be on the next Wonfes) in a more actiony pose urges me to wait and see their version first as well. I don’t have the budget to buy multiples of her anyway, so as such, I think I’ll put her on the backburner for now and possibly pick her up later.
She sure keeps tempting me though.
A big reason I was pleasantly surprised by her size is how well she integrated with the president. In truth, my opinion of this figure got a boost when I realized that he could give some context to her pose and expression.
I think the Kotobukiya figure is the one a lot of people are waiting for. Hopefully they can do a solid job of it; a lot of times, their figures hover around the mediocre to average range but sometimes, they make some very nice stuff, like their recent Total Eclipse figures. Futayo looks very, very nice so I’m thinking their Tomo will be excellent as well.
Wow, being a fan of Horizon, I now regret not pre-ordering this figure. I held off because I don’t like Max Factory too much, but this figure looks like it’s better than their standard quality.
Once again, your miniature Obama really has some great taste in women.
The perks of the second term! And of, uhh, absolute power. You know, I had this idea for doing photographic posts involving themes, maybe this could be one of them.
I think top of her head could use little more details from manufacturer.
And im no fan of mecha stuff, tho i like pose and size of… curvy parts ;P and ofc that innocent expression is very nice.
PS: Lol watch Obama browse internet and find this site whit him in such role ;D
Now that would be hilarious, if he or any other staffer came across this. Then again, I’m sure he’s heard far, far more vile stuff. And I’m putting him in the role of the victor! I portray him as strong and assertive and decisive – all admirable traits for the leader of the free world.
Ye ;D
and then his wife sees this and says: “omg darling iv seen pics of you cheating on internetz whit Tomo-tan”
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I KNEW your Tomo review was coming post-haste. I had checked a coupla times and nothing. I realize it’s been a few days, check again, and there is her ginormous glistening ass ^_^
I must admit, I feel the same as most about her. Her boobs ruin a perfect score from me. Now, the boob thing isn’t as big a demerit with me as with others, though. I am down for an occasional mammary freakshow (for anyone familiar with h-manga, all I have to do is say the words BLUE EYES and I envision nods of understanding), but this is a miscue on Tomo unfortunately. Her boob size was a 9/10 in the anime as it was, turning it up to 11.5 on the boob meter was unnecessary. She is still one of my favorites.
I try not to let my perviness completely control my figure buying, but I must say that once I saw the sheen on Tomo’s ass, I knew a copy would be mine. It is a losing proposition, being a fan of the show without heeding the fanservice call. Her glutes shine in every picture you took. Now thinking about it, they needed her boobs bigger to balance that butt. I think only that 1/5 Sonico will have a bigger ass in my collection. I find the older I get, the more of an ass-man I become. My love for this figure and most things Orchid Seed confirm this.
Thank you for coming through with more great Obama pics. Your pictures are nothing short of inspiring. So between the pictures of her butt and the Obama pics I laughed my ass almost off. I was thinking about how Tomo coulda been in one of Chingy’s videos back in the day when I see Obama with that chain. A couple of pictures later, lyrics kept coming to mind.
“Let me hit it from the back….hit it from the back…. ”
Your site is the best.
I was waffling on the way I wanted to shoot this one; I had a couple of ideas, one was an idea I’ve used several times before (basically the same setup as Gisen and some other figures) or this way. I had to build this backdrop first, though, which took a while.
I remember seeing some of the official promo art from Nyantype or other anime magazines where Tomo’s (and Kimi’s) breasts were enormous, and I didn’t like that too much since they looked grotesque. I like their size in the anime, and I think this figure would’ve been better if they had gone with that instead. (That said, I’m still waiting for a Kimi figure and if someone makes one, it’s going to have a strong tilt in its favor, even if it has gigantic boobs.)
Breasts seem to get all the attention in anime; fanservice seems to mostly refer to cleavage (or bare breasts), there are various factions within the anime community who support various breast sizes (with the flat chest fans being the most vocal by far, I think), and boob-jiggling seems to even has its own term (Gainax’ing, I think I’ve heard it called, though I guess that sort of thing is so common that it has kind of lost its meaning). You don’t really see too much discussion revolving the buttocks, which is a shame. I know I’ve had a few figures – particularly those by REFLECT – where it seemed like the rear end was an afterthought and that sort of thing always disappoints me.
And thanks for the kind words XD
Love your backgrounds! The amount of effort you put into setting the tone of each shot from crumbled concrete to lighting and slick backdrops like this one are one of the things I love about your site and work. Keep it up good sir!
Thanks very much! I appreciate it XD
You don’t happen to be on flickr, do you? Just a random question 🙂
Nope, I have a Flickr account but haven’t ever uploaded anything on Flickr.
One of the three girls I like in horizon. The other two are kimi and Captain Musashi. I was hopping Alter would release a Musashi Or Kimi figures. When I saw the show it was too late to get this figure.
Musashi would make for a pretty cool figure, I think, even though she gets nearly no screentime in the anime. Kimi would as well, and I would kinda think Kimi would be the most likely candidate to get a figure from Alter or Kotobukiya, but time seems to be going by without many new figures from the Horizon series being announced. Hopefully we’ll see some new Horizon figures at Wonder Festival (hopefully more than the ones that Volks is doing, which are a pain to purchase).
Alright, I’ve never actually watched this show, but I’ve seen this character numerous times through different sources of media and I gotta admit, she’s easy on the eyes.
Oh, and it may be a little weird but, I actually like the inflated ass and tits they gave her… heh.
The Horizon series has some very attractive character designs. I freely admit that’s what perked my interest in the series (and also kept my interest through the uneven first half dozen or so episodes).
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