It’s been a while since we’ve taken a look at the figures I’m contemplating ordering so let’s do that now. First though, a few notes: first, I’ve historically done a Five Favorite Figures of the Year at the end of the year (or early on in the following year) but I won’t be doing one for 2020 because something like half the figures I bought are either trapped in Japan or are in the mail or on cargo ships and are hopefully not lost. If anyone’s curious, I think the figures that would have made that list include Native’s Fairy Queen Elaine and Chloe (though I’ve actually not heard great things about Chloe, which is unfortunate and disconcerting). FREEing’s Rindo Kobayashi might have also made the list, though I feel a little reluctant to laud any of their bunnygirl figures too highly since many of them kinda look the same after a while.
Also, I hope 2020 wasn’t too terrible a year for anyone reading this though I expect that for many, it was a tough year to get through. For me, I’m a little sorry to say that 2020 was actually a really good year; I’m now in a good position to achieve a lot of the goals I dreamed of completing five or six years ago (and no, I didn’t get in on any of the recent GameStop madness). It feels heartless for me to say that since so many people lost so much but I’m hoping that better times are close at hand for all of us.
May 2021
Kallen Kouzuki from Code Geass
I have to admit I’m not that familiar with the Code Geass franchise but it seems like it’s going through some sort of rebirth, at least with respect to figures, since we’ve seen a bunch of FREEing bunnygirls and now we’re getting some MegaHouse figures. I’m not so sure about the FREEing figures aside from C.C., which I do own but I’m not sure if I’ll review since photographing figures that are crouching on all fours is a colossal pain, but I do like the pilot suits on the MegaHouse figures, and Kallen is no exception. This figure was a little hard to find since I think Amiami closed down their preorders a while back but I ordered her from BBTS for around the price I’d expect to pay at Amiami plus EMS shipping.
June 2021
Fifth Villager Kukuru from Elf Village
I own a couple of the elves from Vertex’s Elf Village series; I’m kinda ambivalent about the first, though I suppose she looks alright from a distance. I think Kukuru looks pretty good though, good enough for me to buy. I usually buy my figures from Hobby Search but Amiami has a deluxe version with an extra head; I’m not sure if the additional price is worth it but I’m thinking about it.
Muramasa Nisei from Full Metal Daemon: Muramasa
There have been a bunch of figures from Nitroplus’s eroge Full Metal Daemon: Muramasa but I think I actually only one figure from the visual novel and I’ve never reviewed it. I’m not sure if I own any figures from Wing, either; I don’t think I do and if I do, I don’t remember what they might be, which means it will be interesting for me to see what sort of quality they feature.
Rika Shiramine from the Art of Coffee Kizoku
I’m a big fan of Coffee Kizoku’s artwork and I’m glad to see that his original character Rika Shiramine is getting a figure courtesy of Union Creative. The combination of gym uniform and leotard looks very sexy and her pose shows off the distinctiveness of her outfit to good effect.
July 2021
Reisalin Stout from Atelier Ryza 2
I own the first Ryza figure that Wonderful Works produced (and I probably should get around to photographing it already), so I might as well buy this one, too. I don’t think I will actually ever play the games that she comes from, but I do appreciate the character design nonetheless.
August 2021
Ithnani from the Melon Books Hermaphrodite Tapestry
It’s another futa girl from the artist Ban! and I’m glad that this figure has a female option since that’s not really my thing. I’m pretty sure I’m going to order this figure as I really like Rocket Boy’s work.
Kelly from the Art of Saitom
FREEing’s catalog treads close to BINDing’s domain with this intriguing figure, which invites discussion as to how much is actually visible. I’m expecting that any explicit bits will be cleverly hidden but regardless, Kelly looks superb.
September 2021
Eureka from the Art of Tsunako
I’m a little more equivocal on this bunnygirl figure from Tsunako’s artwork. She’s really cute but lacking somewhat with respect to the overt lewdness when compared to the Kelly figure. Nonetheless, I think I’m likely to order this figure, unless another bunnygirl figure catches my fancy, and given how many FREEing and BINDing are pumping out, I suppose that’s not an unlikely event.
October 2021
The Literary Type from the Art of Akemi Mikoto
I think that this figure needs absolutely no explanation as to why I’m ordering it, and why I expect that it’s going to be one of the best figures of this year.
December 2021
Enterprise from Azur Lane
I don’t play much Azur Lane anymore but I’m still very fond of the characters, particularly the Eagle Union characters, being an unabashed supporter of the United States (despite me not actually being born in the US). I’m happy to see that Enterprise is getting a figure, being that she’s one of the most prominent characters in the game. I actually would have preferred to see her in her normal uniform, but this is good, too.
Nice to see that Akemi Mikoto’s girl on your PO list! Her prototype photos are simply breathtaking. Hope you’ll review her someday!
She really looks amazing. With some luck, hopefully I’ll have a better space for photographing figures by then and I’ll be able to do reviews more easily.
2020 was so so, I discovered a new hobby and it wasn’t all bad for me.
BINDing bunnygirls are getting annoying already, I wish Native would shuffle their figure announcements a little more. And also focus on the things that are prototypes from some years ago. Although, I really like that they recently announced the Matagari figure, I’ll probably order it.
Yay, Kallen Kouzuki! I really liked the last Code Geass movie, it was a great conclusion for the franchise. The recap movies before were just crazy, so I was worried about how the new movie would play out.
Fifth Villager Kukuru is a beautiful elf, I only don’t like her skirt, there’s no need for it actually XD
I hate to sound like a smartass, but Muramasa Nisei is made by Wing ^^
I have her on order as well. The alternative outfit is awesome and that face is so sexy.
funny that she is supposed to be the mother of Sansei Muramasa, though.
I still have PTS from playing Atelier Totori, it looks cute, but you have to do so much in so little time, that it is more stress than fun. A friend told me that Atelier Ryzs has no time limit, so I should try it. Wonderful Works again made the figure with open mouth, it doesn’t look bad, but why again lol.
The futa girl trend is a bit weird, but it seems that it is a popular thing apparently.
I wouldn’t say that I’m a fan, but ignoring that the ban characters actually look gorgeous,
good to have the alternative parts here.
It’s good that 2020 wasn’t horrible for you; hopefully your new hobby is fun, whatever it is!
Ahahaha, I haven’t been paying much attention at all to the figure collecting community but I have to imagine there have been some complaints at how many bunnygirl figures are being cranked out. I guess they have to be pretty profitable. They’re definitely on the verge of being overwhelming if they aren’t already, though.
Ah, so there was a Code Geass movie, I was kinda wondering why we were seeing so many figures coming out. I should probably watch this series sometime, I have the feeling I would like it, or at least that I wouldn’t hate it. Hopefully.
Erp … I have no idea why I thought it was made by Wave, since I definitely knew it was made by Wing (I remember thinking about the one Purple Heart figure they made that I didn’t buy and swiftly got a big markup on the secondary market, at least until they re-released it). Thanks very much for the correction, I have edited the text so I don’t look so clueless.
That sounds unfortunate about Atelier Totori; I’ve never actually played any of the Atelier games. I think I was interested in trying out Atelier Marie way, way back in the day on the Sega Saturn but I never did play it.
Yeah, I’ve noticed that futa seems to be a big thing these days; moreso than it was before, at least. It’s not my thing but given the weird things I like, I’m certainly not going to criticize or disapprove of anyone who does like it. It’s good that fans of this sort of thing are getting some cool, high-quality figures. I kinda hope Native makes another tentacle-oriented figure someday, though.
Not super terrible 2020, but I hope won’t get any worse this year…
Since it got option part for pure female, I found out that the most interesting one is the Hermaphrodite one (not to mention the handcuff actually for cuff the D that super funny) and the axe wielding axe come second.
You mention rarely playing azure lane, do you also play many kinds of those gacha mobile game thing ?
I don’t play too many, though my main game these days is Epic Seven and I play it a ton, probably more than is healthy (though it has a lot of autoplay options, so I’m not interacting with the game all the time). I still generally like Azur Lane but the gameplay is not a lot of fun in my opinion. Strangely, I’ve never played Fate Grand Order even though I buy all these figures of its characters, but then, I wasn’t a huge Fate fan to start with, I guess.
Eagle Union represent!
Silly question, you’ve mentioned some figures you’ve picked up before that never had a review. Is there any chance of seeing a similar list of figures you already own that haven’t seen reviews that you might review in 2021?
I know you usually post fairly new stuff, but I’d love to see some of your personal favorites you already own that never got their own post for whatever reason. (As my favorite figure reviewer, I’d love to see more reviews from you without you needing to drop a lot of cash on figures.)
That’s a really good question, actually … I did make a list a few years ago of figures in the review queue and a lot of figures have been added to it since then. I’d actually say that I have not reviewed – or even unboxed, and I mean from the shipping boxes, not from the figure boxes – the large majority of my collection, which is a little disconcerting to think about. There’s a number of figures I have in mind that I’d like to review soon, while I have some free time and before my employer starts calling people back into the office; some of them are the two Seven Knights figures I have, the Bikini Warriors figures, Olga Discordia, and a few Lineage figures. Actually, my personal favorites are probably not going to get reviews – I have a bunch of really large 1/4 and even 1/3 scale statues which I don’t have room to photograph, and I’m not sure that people are really interested in them anyway, since they’re mostly from Western comic books. Thank you so much for the kind words; I’m glad that people are still enjoying this site even though my updates have been pretty slow 😀
Thanks for the awesome reply! And love that we got a new figure review for an older figure since my comment. I’m looking forward to enjoying whatever reviews you’re willing to put in the work for!
Thanks very much again for the kind comments! Yeah, I’m hopefully going to get a bunch of stuff cranked out. With me not getting many new figures in the mail, I’m gonna pick out some older figures that I’ve been wanting to photograph and get their reviews done.
I’m glad to hear that you’ve prospered, as supposed to being one of the many who fall in the other category. While 2020 was not a good year, I did have to live with something akin to guilt, knowing that by comparison I was far better off than others.
Luckily, 2021 is killing it as the water main above our apartment burst a couple of weeks ago! We’ve been in a motel since the demo started but were just informed that we will not be welcome back once the space is considered habitable and are now trying to find a new “permanent†residence.
Sorry about that, I don’t have much of a vent these days.
In any case, that’s a heck of a lineup. Though the clear headliners in my opinion are easily Rika, and the Literary Type. Ithnani would also have made the cut (big ban/futa fan), but she seems a little too… idk, flashy or something. Though I do like the cuffs, which I like to believe are a nod to Poison who may or may not fall into the aforementioned category. Who am I kidding, I’ll probaby try for the aftermarket.
In actuality, my budget has been all but nonexistent as of late, and what money I can spend has been pooled for a Holy Grail recently made available for preorder! Project BM’s 1/6 rendition of Kaneda’s bike has been on my radar for the last decade and I simply can’t pass it up 🙂
Ouch, I’m sorry to hear that … I hope that you’re able to find a new place to live without too much expense. That really sucks >.< No worries about venting here, it is definitely understandable. You know, I remember hearing that Poison was a newhalf and that Kaine from the first Nier game is a futanari, but they seem to be presented as relatively normal women in the artwork and renders I've seen, so I was kinda curious if their transgender status is referenced anywhere in their games. It's always great when something you've wanted for a while gets turned into reality. The bike looks great! I remember growing up in Korea in the 80s, even then Akira was a legendary title.
Glad you’re doing well and still posting photo essays here!
I think my favorite design of this lot is Muramasa Nisei; the coloring and attitude are both striking.
Thanks very much! Yeah, Nisei looks great. Her design kinda makes me wonder why I don’t also have a figure of Sansei.