It’s been a couple of months since the last preorder outlook post, so let’s take a look at some of the figures I’m thinking about buying. There’s no Alter figure on this list, which has become a depressingly regular occurrence of late. There’s quite a few porno figures, which has happily become a much more common thing in the last couple of years. Sometimes I have to wonder whether this is really all that healthy for the hobby or anime in general but well, social norms change rapidly. On to the preorders.
May 2015
Hell Seducer
This is a figure I’ve known about for years, though I never expected that it would get a PVC version. I’m highly pleased that it is, though I know nothing about the manufacturer, except that it seems to be affiliated with the company that made those unimpressive Kanojo x Kanojo x Kanojo figures. That’s not at all encouraging but well, I’m going to remain optimistic regardless. If this figure comes anything close to decent, it could be a candidate for the premier spot on my five favorite figures list for this year.
Saber of Red
It seems like we’re getting more and more weird-looking Saber figures these days. There was the one by Alter of her in the dress (review pending here), there’s all those wacky Fate/extra figures, and then there’s this one. I suppose there’s something to be said about the strategy of protecting the dignity of the franchise’s leading lady while sexing up various spinoff versions of her (and giving them alternate identities, to further accommodate plausible deniability). At any rate, this is quite a different take on Saber, with a tube top and booty shorts. I like it a lot, though it would’ve been nice if Saber’s ass were a little larger. I think I’ll probably get this figure, and maybe I’ll do a series of weird Saber figure reviews one of these days; I know I certainly have enough to make it happen.
June 2015
Ai Saeki from Fault!!
This is a figure I didn’t really notice until I was going through the Hobby Search and Amiami listings today. It’s a nice representation of Ai, seemingly spacing out while brushing her teeth. The clothing doesn’t really look that great and it would be nice if she were fully castoff-able – the description indicates only her panties are removable – but it’s an otherwise good-looking product at a reasonable price (these days) for a 1/6 scale figure.
July 2015
Mio Naruse from Shinmai Mao no Testament
Shinmai Mao no Testament was a surprisingly enjoyable show to watch; the plot moves briskly, the characters are attractive, and the male protagonist is a cool and capable dude rather than being useless. Mio Naruse is the lead girl, though I don’t know if I would call her my favorite character in the show. Nonetheless I like her and the series enough to be interested in getting a figure of her, and this one will be the first available. Unfortunately, it looks sort of like Dwell is implementing some kind of semi-castoff system, which I don’t think looks all that great. It doesn’t look bad, though, I guess, so I’m probably still going to buy this figure, but I’m curious to see if someone else will do a better version.
August 2015
Angela Balzac from Rakuen Tsuiho: Expelled From Paradise
I haven’t yet watched the movie that this character comes from, but what little I saw of it looked a little strange; it’s all animated in 3D, like many mecha anime, and so the characters sort of look and move like giant robots. I have no problem with the show’s concept art or character designs, though, particularly that of Angela Balzac. The price tag is pretty high, particularly for a 1/8 scale figure, but the figure looks so nice that I think it will be worth it.
Sakura Harumoto from COMIC Kairakuten BEAST
This character is actually designed by the same guy who designed Angela Balzac. This figure is obviously quite different in theme, but still looks great. It’s obviously a figure that I am going to buy. Alphamax’s SkyTube brand is one of the best things to happen to figures.
Percival from Eiyuu Senki Gold
I own several of FREEing’s bunnygirl figures so it’s natural to consider their newest one. Percival looks pretty nice, and the armored gauntlets (with something like exhaust fans) are a nice touch that differentiates her from the traditional bunnygirl look. The main issues I have are her price – less of a big deal since this is a 1/4 scale figure – and the way her upper torso seems overly large for her hips and legs. Then again, the artist of Eiyuu Senki definitely has a peculiar style so perhaps that could just be chalked up to artistic license.
September 2015
Bertille from Walkure Romanze
It’s great to see Daiki Kougyou making another bikini armor (or armored bikini) figure from Walkure Romanze, an anime that I enjoyed much more than I thought I would. I was hoping they would make one of Akane, though it seems Alphamax is doing one of their own so that base is covered. I actually think I’d prefer to see a figure of Bertille in her normal armor, which isn’t much more modest than what she wears here, but this is good too. Bertille is going to look great next to Celia and Mio.
Diabolus Macrodontia from Black Arts Keeper
I’m not actually sure I got the character or series name correct, but anyway, this girl looks very nice – surprisingly nice, even, and that would normally be a good thing, except I own a few Embrace Japan figures and while I generally like them, I would not call them very impressive in a technical sense, and that makes me wonder about this figure. It’s particularly problematic being that this figure is listed as non-scale – a complete lie to anyone who can do arithmetic – and is very, very expensive. Admittedly, this figure might not actually be more expensive than the original Diablo Inclinatus figure, which was much cheaper but was released when the USD to JPY exchange rate was something like 65% of what it is now. I’m probably going to need to see a few more pictures to make a determination on this demon girl.
PUSH!! Cover Girl
This is a nice figure from Orchid Seed; the girl is pretty, the swimsuit is cute (though a little odd in how her top is tied in front), and the size looks good. It’s a cheery, happy figure, and I’m pretty sure I’ll order it, particularly since her top can be removed.
Utaha Kasumigaoka from Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata
I have the feeling that I enjoyed Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata less than most people. The female characters were okay, in sort of a one-note manner, but the male lead was an irritating douchebag. But the character designs were nice, and fortunately that’s all I need to evaluate here. Utaha looks very nice, though there’s a bit of a disconnect here in that the character designer for the show is known for doing hardcore anime porn but the anime did not seem to feature much fanservice. I suppose this figure is going for a happy middle ground.
Some good picks, I’m interested in several of these myself, Mio and Diabolus Macrodontia in particular. Hopefully they turn out well as I don’t think I have anything by those manufacturers yet.
And pardon my ignorance, but just what do they mean by non-scale figure anyway? As you said, mathematically any figure is some scale of what it’s based on. Do they just mean it’s not exact scale like 1/7, but slightly off?
In my experience, non-scale usually means something like “smaller than you expect but we’re not going to admit it.” (Although Yamato used to release non-scale figures that were typically around 1/7 or 1/6 scale in actual size.)
So, this is the Hell Seducer, the first time you mentioned the name in my Wonfes post, I was like heh? what? never heard of it ;D It’s quite an elaborate looking sculpt, even though scary.
Haha if bone man has a boner XD
For me alternative Saber figures are the best, in the animated versions I always admired how prertty she is, but disliked a mayor part of her personality. I like Yakuza girlfriend Saber, it are great clothes. Well, she could be less thin, can’t we get chubby Saber haha maybe not.
Mio Naruse whooo, red hair red eyes what should I say her character design is nice.
The girl looks great in her modest uniform, the cast off is nice, too.
I’m slightly offended that so many “great” figures come out in July, especially since I set some preorder rules this year. Delays might help me with getting most of my wishes for July in the end though, if not the aftermarket is always there,
As I looked on mandarake two days ago I was shocked by the cheap offers.
Rakuen Tsuiho: Expelled From Paradise looked so weird, I couldn’t get used to it at first.
Sakura Harumoto, another nice lewd figure, but I really love that face.
unfortunately when fully casted off, there is not much left from her curvy illusion, the butt is so small. Anyway SkyTube came a long way, they are really popular these days, I have none of their ero figures on order, but I like seeing their work.
It’s nice that Freeing picked a more elaborate bunny girl outfit, Percival looks really adorable and the pose is so appealing.
Bertille looks fantastic, she might be borderline buxom, but that is still in my zone of being attractive. The colors of bikini, skin and armor match just nicely. Mhh I wish they would start to invest in bases. I’m still annoyed that one peg of my Kanu figure broke off fortunately it was just the smaller one and she can still be displayed.
I have one Embrace Japan figure on order, I hope it turns out okay. Just from the promo pictures Diabolus Macrodontia looks awesome, a lovely face and a great demon look.
I wish I would be as hyper about PUSH!! Cover Girl as I used to be.
Sure she is a cheery, happy figure, but why these socks and shoes, barefeet would be ideal for her *cries*.
I think there was a lot of fanservice in Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata, ok no panty dive or boob grab accidents XD Utaha is my favorite, strangely I liked her Wonfes ptrototype more, but it should be 100% the same, or was it changed?
It is! I’m mildly surprised that it hasn’t gotten more notice given its theme and its wide availability.
I didn’t really watch or play through many of the Fate/stay night properties, aside from Fate/extra. I kinda liked Saber as being a stoic, dour warrior person; it was mainly Shirow that I didn’t like. Saber Extra is definitely cooler than regular Saber, though, and while I don’t know anything about Mordred Saber, I’m guessing she is also more interesting.
I have the feeling Mio might be one of those figures you can pick up cheaply after release; she looks nice but I do not think the source property is all that popular (being that fanservice harem shows like that are a penny a dozen).
Yeah, I haven’t watched Rakuen Tsuiho in its entirety either but the animation technique is pretty weird. It’s tough not to think that the characters aren’t huge humanoids like Ultraman or something.
Bertille is definitely very curvy; it bothered me initially when I saw Celia but then I bought the figure and it didn’t bother me as much. Yeah, Daiki has always gone with the cheap black bases. I guess on the nice side they don’t detract from the appearance of the figure but it’s never good when they break like that =/
I would’ve really like thighhighs on the PUSH Cover Girl; I kinda have this thing about anime girls in swimsuits with thighhigh socks.
Utaha looks kinda the same, I think, though I didn’t really study the convention sample figures all that closely. I guess my definition of heavy fanservice has been slightly skewed after watching Cross Ange and such XD
Not really anything here that caught my eye. Maybe Bertille, but it’s so close to the Celia Cumani Aintree figurine by Daiki I wager 2 of the same would be overkill.
I’ve been thinking lately what kind of figurines I’d like to see. Three come to mind instantly.
1. A monster girl. Maybe the one with human upper body and giant spider lower half, or a lamia (half woman half snake). That would be so awesome. Figurine makers take note!
2. A pregnant character. Nothing too lewd necessarily. Perhaps something dojin makers have already worked out, like pregnant Celia Aintree in a wedding dress.
3. Hinomoto Oniko.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinomoto_Oniko
You can’t get more Japanese than her.
“1. A monster girl. Maybe the one with human upper body and giant spider lower half, or a lamia (half woman half snake). That would be so awesome. Figurine makers take note!”
There’s actually a fair chance for this to happen, since this summer there is an anime adaptation of Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou, which is a manga featuring monster girls. The manga itself has been quite popular, so I’m really hopeful we’ll see some figures too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Musume
I don’t recall too many figures of monster girls, though I do recall that someone made a figure of Lady Vashj from World of Warcraft; she’s kind of a snake lady. Giga Pulse has also done a bunch of pregnant figures, and quite a few quadruple amputee figures, too. Not quite my thing but I’m sure they found customers.
I guess if Nazi-era warships – and Adolf Hitler himself – have received female anime adaptations, I suppose I can’t really be surprised that an anti-Japanese slur has gotten one too. If they made a figure of that character, I wonder if it would be manufactured in China?
This is a wonderful collection there i preordered two of them already and bertille certainly is one of them i love walkure romanze too and i have celia not mio though i think bertille will look wonderful next to celia which is already one of my favorite figures ever and soon bertille is going to be another favorite!
I was happy to see that Walkure Romanze’s characters are going to be getting a bunch more figures; i’m especially looking forward to Akane. Though off the top of my head, I don’t recall seeing any figures of Lisa, which is a little odd.
I pre-ordered Utaha without a second thought, and I didn’t even reach episode two of Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata yet. Basically, I love Misaki Kurehito’s style so much that I’m not able to say “no” to a figure of Utaha, that I love because of her design. It’s just like with Tony Taka’s stuff for me, and I can’t help it.
As for Mio, I completely loved Shinmai Mao no Testament and the fact that the figure is based on the illustration from the cover of first volume of the novel made me think she would have been an instant pre-order for me. However, I decided to skip her mostly because I’m not really interested in the castoff option and in general 1/8 scale figures are not a priority for me unless they are something I love already when prototype isn’t even painted yet. (I blame money for that, partly, but I so blame it >.<)
Saber of Red was tempting, I have to admit that, but in the end I know that I would buy every figure of Saber they make if I could because, well… it's Saber and I just love her.
Yeah, I’m ordering Utaha for much the same reason. While I didn’t enjoy the show very much the character designs are still nice. I’m sure I’ll order Eriri whenever they make one (and I’m sure they’ll make one). (The one figure of the squatting girl with the China dress and dildo kinda seems to reflect Kurehito’s style more, though.)
I’m kinda talking myself out of preordering Mio as well. I think I would’ve liked it better if they hadn’t bothered with the castoff system. If they make a decent figure of nurse Chisato, though, I’m probably going to buy it.
I’m still moderately surprised that there are relatively few figures of Saber in her armored dress, and almost no figures of her in just her blue dress.
The hell seducer looks pretty cool to me if Mr Skeleton is not squeezing so hard XD
I got the cover girl from Orchid Seed preordered. Can’t believe it took them so long, if they could stop making a dark skin version for each single one of their product and use the time to finish those grey prototypes in the queue. Plus the bottom part is not cast-offable which is disappointing an R18 manufacturer
The other one I ordered is Harumoto Sakura from Alphamax. I can see their good attitude in making it fully castoffable, both apron and bikini. Alpha is expanding their subjects now although Tony Taka’s girls are still their favorite. The company is definitely gonna thrive in the next one year or two with the works from all these different illustrators. They totally beat Orchid Seed in numbers now and perhaps also in quality sometimes. If Orchid Seed can’t make it faster how are they supposed to get these most recent illustrations?
I was really interested in that red hair girl from Vertex but it doesn’t seem fully cast-off so I gave up. I need some more attractive features on these characters Im not so familiar with.
He’s definitely got a pretty firm grip on her. I haven’t paid a ton of attention to Orchid Seed’s displays at the various conventions, mainly because it doesn’t seem like they’ve released all that many figures (and because it seems like they’ve been showing the some concept art for years), so I don’t remember this Cover Girl figure at all. It’s a little depressing how scant their product line has been in recent times but as you say, it’s more than made up for by Alphamax. It’s impressive how far they’ve come so quickly. It seems like Alter is treading water with constant re-releases, Max Factory is more of a Figma company, Yamato/Arcadia/Flair(?) has really slowed down with figure releases, Griffon hasn’t really gotten any better over the years, but Alphamax has been putting out consistently excellent stuff.
A couple of interesting figures there. Bertille, like Celia, seems to have a rather small head. I’m not saying it’s too small, it’s just my humble opinion that it’s rather small.
Judging by the prototype pictures, Angela has a backside to die for. Unfortunately I don’t like the design of her suit. But what bothers me most is her feet, or rather the absence thereof.
People seem to be on the fence with Mio. I don’t know the character, she looks like just another Tamaki Kosaka to me, except for the red eyes perhaps. If I were interested in her, I’d also gamble to wait for her to bin.
Speaking of not knowing the character, I don’t know this one http://hlj.com/product/DAK37186/Fig either. However I’m pretty sure I’m not alone there. She’s scheduled for August, and she’s lewd enough to have been instantly preordered by me 😉
I’d agree with that; I’d prefer it if Bertille’s head were more in proportion with her body. It initially bothered me a lot with Celia, but then I bought the figure and it doesn’t bug me quite as much in person. I figure Bertille should be okay with me, too.
Yeah, I also agree that Angela’s footwear is odd. I’m not a big fan of that peg leg look, though one of my favorite figures – Alter’s Metatron – features the same thing.
I guess with me, that’s not a hugely bad thing, as I have a ton of Tamakis and I don’t really have any compunction against buying more (unlike, say, Miku; I thought about FREEing’s 1/4 scale version for about a half second before deciding to pass). I’m still hoping that Chisato gets a figure someday.
Yeah, I’m not familiar with the character, either, though Daiki Kougyou tends to do a lot of independent and doujin stuff. It’s great to see more figures with tentacles, though.
I’ve been following Diabolus since her prototype but that sticker price knocked me off the fence. She’s nice but that price pretty much dictates that she has to rock my world and I’m just not getting that vibe. She’ll stay on my wishlist long enough to see if she gets a discount shortly after her release, otherwise my sweet yens go to other gals.
Speaking of, I was pleasantly surprised by that Percival figure. I have a couple of other Eiyuu Senki figures so I had been pondering Ques-Q’s figure of her largely to fill out the lineup as she’s pretty cheap. The expression was a bit more derpish than I’d care for but the gauntlets were nicely sculpted. I’d signed up to be notified of changes to Freeing’s unpainted mockup but I guess it got lost in the e-mail noise as the first time I’ve seen here colored is here and, well, the choice is now very obvious. Freeing’s Percival will be several times more expensive but at least that more pleasurable to own.
I feel like I made a mistake supporting the initial wayward trend of Muv-Luv figures back when almost all were swimsuit and lingerie-themed (not that I can bend the market to my will but I’ll always try). It took so much longer than I ever expected to get a good selection of the girls in their official “armor”. I find myself in a similar quandary with the Walkura Romanza figures; I really like many of the figures that have come out thus far but I was incurably tainted early on by Volk’s exceptional garage kits of them in full armor.
Whereas my penchant for scantily-clad plastic women would, I think, receive the Tentacle-Armada seal of approval, I am also just as moved extraordinarily well executed amalgamations of beauty and badassery as is so perfectly captured by those .
Vertex has apparently been working on just such a figure, albeit at a seemingly glacial pace, but, since it’s by Vertex, I’m anticipating a Diabolus-like price/quality conundrum if only because they’re such a young company. Any time Volks wants to make my wallet their bitch then I welcome them to ship finished variants of their Walkure girls; until then I’ll be impatiently sitting on my hands, quietly comparing all competing figures to the ones I’m so clearly smitten with.
Bah, I’d kill for a “preview” button so that I can un-hose my markup ridiculousness. I incorrectly presumed that they didn’t need closing tags. D:
I tried to fix up the markup, though I think some of your prose got chopped off. Yeah, I’m kinda feeling the same way about Diabolus girl; maybe if it were from a better manufacturer, or if it were larger, but I have a tough time dropping >10k yen on a 1/8 scale figure. It has to be an exceptional figure for me to want to do that and I’m not really feeling that with her.
The Walkure Romanze characters definitely look great in their armor. I would’ve liked to see Bertille in her normal armor at least. However, even though I’ve whined about how bikinis are kinda boring (and I still can’t quite believe I’m saying that), the juxtaposition between plate armor and swimsuit is really neat and highly uncommon, so I’m inclined to give these figures a pass on that. I’m not particularly inclined to wait around for Volks, though; I’d guess that they’re mostly focusing on their doll stuff these days. I don’t even remember if they’ve done any 1/4 scale model kits in the last couple of years; more the shame if they haven’t, as they used to do them quite frequently and they were always a treat to look at.
Ah, it looks patched up for the most part, thank you. That would have poked my compulsions with a stick every time I saw it.
Too true; both bikinis and bunny suits have been done ad nauseum but I have yet to tire of either. I hadn’t though about the unusual juxtaposition of armor and swimwear but the combo is more than potent enough to punch a hole in my [paper-thin] resolve. Time to check prices….
I’m still waiting for an Angela figure which I can really get behind. This one doesn’t push my buttons so I’m ok with giving it a miss. The movie was actually pretty decent but I’m used to the odd CG animation since I watched (and enjoyed) Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio Ars Nova, which used the same techniques. Knights of Sidonia did too.
And figure makers must love the “catch all” name of saber. Since it’s the name of the class of fighter (which many forget), they can put pretty much anybody in there, make them look similar to the previous ones and say “this is Saber.” and it will be true. Nobody recognises them as Arturia, Mordred or Nero. They are all Saber!
I’m guessing that more manufacturers will be making figures of her; she seems like a popular character. (Though not nearly as popular as that girl from the dungeon-exploring anime that’s airing now.)
That’s the great thing about anime characters, you can do virtually anything you want with them. Though I’m still peeved that gangsta lean Saber did not come with a castoff system like I expected. I’m assuming Type-Moon had something to do with that, as I don’t recall that there’s ever been an official Fate/stay night figure that featured nudity.
I ordered Diabolus Macrodontia too (and the new Inclinatus). Definitely have the same concerns about Embrace Japan. The problem for me has always been the way they make the cast off parts, so hopefully they don’t do anything too crazy with these two. They’re such cool designs, I’d hate to see them ruined by clunky cast-off pieces.
I have to admit, that with companies that I don’t have a high regard for, I kinda expect the worst. The good thing is that it’s gotten to be a little more selective with what figures I buy, and I’ve been saving a lot of money these last few months.