Another day, another figure from Sega’s Shining franchise. Personally, I’d like to see figures of Tao and Anri and Amon and May, but I’m quite certain they are never going to be made. It’s a shame that the figure hobby didn’t really take off before the last few years; maybe Sega could’ve saved their hardware division with their figure licensing profits.
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The internet is a pervasive force in everyday life. One of the things the internet is good for is finding reviews of stuff. In particular, I find movie and video game reviews to be helpful because people whose tastes are similar to mine generally view games and films in a similar way that I would. Not a long while ago I asked a friend what he thought of the film Sucker Punch and he said he didn’t really like it, and I knew I probably wouldn’t like it much, either. Our subjective tastes significantly overlap, and on top of that, there are objective criteria that one can use to assess a game or movie, such as plot coherence, the quality of dialogue, the quality of graphics, and so on.
Figures, however, are a funny thing because their appeal is so personal, at least to me. Take the Black Rock Shooter figures, for instance. On the surface, they seem to match many of the things I like: cute girls, fearsome weapons, and not many clothes. And yet I don’t particularly like them very much. Or take Miku Hatsune, whose character design I don’t particularly care for either. Certainly her design looks very similar to many characters that I do like and yet I don’t have much affection for her. Or take Yuri from Angel Beats. She’s cute, has a short skirt, and packs a big gun. Okay, I heard Angel Beats got a mixed reception but I haven’t even seen it and don’t plan to, so that doesn’t affect me at all. Why didn’t I buy the figure? Beats me. I’m thinking maybe I should check whether she’s in stock anywhere.
Basically what it comes down to is that every collector is going to decide for him or herself whether a figure is a worthwhile purchase, and that decision is going to be influenced by very nuanced and very personal factors. It’s a decision that really can only be made by the individual.
I’m guessing that a large majority of people reading this post have no idea where I’m coming from with this intro. That’s okay. I wish I were among you, to be honest. But enough of that, we have a figure to look at. This is my opinion of Rin Tohsaka.
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Dizzy? Great figure. Junko? Great figure. Saber Alter? Great figure. But as great as those figures are, sometimes a person wants something different. Sometimes a person wants something really special. Sometimes a person wants a porno figure. Okay, Erina was pretty nice but she’s more on the softcore side of things, as far as figures go. Fortunately, Native is always willing to oblige the more explicit side of the hobby. Except for this figure, anyway. And this one. Oh, and this one. Okay, maybe they’re going soft on us, and that’s a bit disappointing coming from a company whose motto is “Naked & Creative,” but beggars can’t be choosers. And fortunately, Ishikei’s Chie is such a nice figure that she more than makes up for any concessions those upcoming figures make.
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I’m a big fan of corrupted girls in fiction. Kerrigan in Starcraft, Seven of Nine in Star Trek Voyager, Yomi in Ga-rei Zero – love them all. The eroge Fate/stay night has a couple of corrupted female characters who have deserved figures for a while. Dark Sakura has a cool design and Gift has recently released a fine figure showing her in all her evil glory. But as a fan of armored girls wielding big broadswords, I really wanted a good figure of Saber Alter. Good Smile Company has finally obliged, and their rendition of Saber Alter is set to redefine the meaning of badass.
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It’s not uncommon for figures to get delayed, but some delays are just inexplicable. Like Xecty’s, for instance. I ordered her last summer during Hobby Search’s EMS shipping discount sale. And then I waited. And waited. I mean, this is a swimsuit figure, it’s not like they haven’t made them before. I guess the factories must have been too busy rolling out nendoroids and Figmas.
With some things – like the novel A Dance With Dragons – my enthusiasm is undimmed by delays. And with other things – like Starcraft II – I find myself not caring at all when they finally get released. Xecty falls in the second category – when Hobby Search sent me her bill, I was like, “Aww man, I ordered this?” I left her in her box until a few days ago and needing something to review, decided to take her out. I was a bit conflicted on how I feel about her, but seeing her now, she’s a nice figure. Special? No way. But nice, yeah, I can agree with that.
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One of the nice things about Hobby Japan’s Queen’s Gate series is that it gives a spotlight to a few characters who wouldn’t otherwise get a lot of love from figure makers. Dizzy was one, at least until Alter made their figure, and I’ve also ordered Ivy Valentine’s figure, since she’s only gotten a few thus far. I gave some thought to trying to get the Queen’s Gate figure of Katja from Seikon no Qwaser, but while I like the character, I would’ve liked the figure more if she were in her dominatrix outfit. Curiously, Lily from Namco’s Tekken series stands out as the sole Queen’s Gate character not to get a figure thus far. That’s a shame; I wouldn’t mind seeing a figure of her, especially in her 3P costume. Oh well. Junko Hattori is another character that would seem an unlikely candidate for a conventional, mass-market figure; she’s not generally regarded as one of the best characters from her show, and her show is primarily known for its absurd level of incoherence. At any rate, I do like both the character and the way that she looks, so even though having to go through a proxy service is a bit of a hassle, I ordered her right away and here she is now.
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Back when I wrote about Kotobukiya’s Dizzy, I mentioned that I wished a better manufacturer like Alter or Max Factory had done the figure instead. Dizzy was the main reason I first played the Guilty Gear series and while I enjoy the games on their own merits now, Dizzy is still one of my favorite characters across all fictional media. While I did not dislike Kotobukiya’s figure, I still hoped that someone would do a better job of it. I didn’t expect to ever see that happen; after all, I’ve been pining away for an Irma figure – since MegaHouse has done almost all of the other Queen’s Blade figures – and an Itsuki Kannagi figure – since Good Smile Company sponsored Sora Kake Girl – to no avail. But fate works in strange ways and Dizzy now has two figures. I’d still like to see Irma and Itsuki get figures but when it comes to wishes made on a wing and a prayer, one out of three ain’t bad at all.
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Action figures are a very popular segment of the figure market but I haven’t ever reviewed one here. That changes today as I’ve finally gotten around to taking some pictures of Good Smile Company’s Nanoha. This is part of their actsta line, which curiously has been restricted only to characters from the Nanoha franchise. Oddly, this is also the first figure I’ve gotten of the white devil magician girl, despite having several figures of her blonde counterpart.
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Many of the figures I reviewed early this year were fighting girls but now we are seeing a glut of swimsuit girls. Following Nadeko is Eleanor Mercer. Like Nadeko, Eleanor sports a sunny expression that is sure to cheer up everyone. Unlike Nadeko, Eleanor radiates pure sex appeal – or wanton sluttiness, depending on your particular lexical inclination. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and because of that Eleanor offers an impression distinct amongst all the other swimsuit figures on my shelf.
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Many of the figures I buy tend to fall into at least one of two categories – usually they are holding some kind of weapon or they are dressed in an overt sexual manner. Nadeko could technically fit into that second category but even so, she stands apart from many of the figures I own because I didn’t buy her for her sexy swimsuit. I’ve been looking forward to Nadeko for a while and though spring isn’t really the most appropriate season for her, I’m happy she’s here since this is another great figure.
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