Tag Archives: Figures

Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart 2 (Sports Lessons Swimming Version)

written on March 27, 2011 by Tier
BEAT Tamaki Kousaka from To Heart Figure Review

I sometimes give my figures informal nicknames, particularly if I have multiple versions of a particular character. I’ve got E.T. Miku, transvestite Yoko, gangsta lean Saber (review pending for over a year), and now I have this figure, which I’ve taken to calling fat Tamaki. It’s not a very charitable nickname and its accuracy is questionable as well, but the main thing is I had planned to cancel this figure. Unfortunately for me, Hobby Search revised their cancellation policy while I wasn’t paying attention and so I was stuck with my order. I guess I could’ve simply refrained from paying; I don’t think Hobby Search would have carried out any reprisals against me, since I’ve purchased the equivalent of an economy automobile from them these last couple of years. However, I did appreciate some aspects of this figure and now that I have her, there are some things I like about Tamaki, and some things I don’t, which is better than how I expected to feel.
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Emaretta-chan from the Art of Shunya Yamashita (Black Armor Version)

written on March 21, 2011 by Tier
Yamato Emaretta from Shunya Yamashita Figure Review

2011 may be the year of Tamaki and Miku Hatsune, but here at Tentacle Armada, we are busy celebrating the greatness of the beautiful fighting girl. Four of the seven figure reviews posted here since the start of the year have featured swordsgirls and today we have the fifth. Another Tamaki figure is probably next up but for now, we shall continue showing our love for big-eyed anime girls in tiny bikinis with big swords. It’s a classic combination that can’t be beat.
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Yagyu Jubei from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls (Queen’s Gate Version) (NSFW)

written on March 11, 2011 by Tier
MegaHouse Yagyu Jubei from Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls Figure Review

Good Smile Company’s Nanoha actsta action figure has been sprawled out on my desk for the last week. I planned on photographing it for my next review but a couple days back, I found out that I’ve misplaced part of her base. Being anything but an exemplar of self-motivation, I put off looking for it until the other night, when I decided that I really ought to write a new post. However, a comprehensive search of my room didn’t turn it up and now I have no clue where it might be. So instead of doing a Nanoha review, I thought that I’d take Jubei out of her box and photograph her instead. I was saving her for some time when I had more interesting ideas for photographing her, but life is about adapting when things do not go as planned. Besides, I can’t say I was too enthusiastic about doing a poseable figure review since I’m no good at them, anyway.
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Kyou Fujibayashi from Clannad (Gym Shed Version)

written on February 28, 2011 by Tier
Kotobukiya Kyou Fujibayashi from Clannad Figure Review

Kyou Fujibayashi is one of the best-known alpha females of anime: she is confident, athletic, violent, and also domestically talented. She is similar in many ways to Tamaki Kousaka but for some reason, she doesn’t get nearly the same level of merchandising love. And what love she receives doesn’t feature anything close to the variety that Tamaki gets. Tamaki’s figures depict her in her underpants, swimwear, as a samurai in her underpants, blue jeans, and a maid uniform, among other costumes. Kyou, in contrast, generally gets stuck in a gym suit. Not that I have a problem with that, since I have this thing for girls in tight athletic wear. Similarly, I have this thing for figures of anime girls with vulnerable expressions. It really simplifies photographing them.
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Preorder Outlook IX

written on February 20, 2011 by Tier

It’s been a couple of months since the last one so I think it’s a good time to take a look at some of the figures I’m thinking about preordering. Time is flying right by, it looks like a lot of figure makers have shown off their products through much of the first half of this year. Me, I’m still struggling with remembering to write 2011 instead of 2010.
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Lily from anim.o.v.e

written on February 12, 2011 by Tier
Lily from Vocaloid Figure Review

Phat Company’s Lily is the newest Vocaloid figure to the market. Unlike the most famous Vocaloid girl, it’s pretty easy to tell what she does for a living. If you looked at Miku, you’d think she was a student at a high-tech school or a high-flying armored superheroine or a troublemaking, rabble-rousing revolutionary. Lily, however, is quite obviously a singer. Perhaps she just hasn’t been in the music industry long enough to sell out yet. It happens to so many who stick around and make it big, though, so time will tell.
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Kiriko Hattori from Enka Oudou Dai Shogun

written on January 31, 2011 by Tier
Yamato Kiriko Hattori from Dai Shogun Figure Review

Here is a riddle: gather together a major figure manufacturer, a world-famous anime artist, and a graphics studio whose portfolio includes contributions to Metal Gear Solid 4, Tales of Vesperia, and Valkyria Chronicles, and what do you get? The answer is absolutely nothing other than a pair of boobie mousepads and a figure. Enka Oudou Dai Shogun was touted as a multimedia event, but I haven’t seen any of its media apart from a couple of illustrations in Shunya Yamashita’s One Voice artbook. It looks like nothing more will come of it and presumably it will thus be consigned to the dustbin of memory, just like Shuraki. Anyone remember Shuraki? There were some good figures from that series. Fortunately, Kiriko is a fine figure as well.
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Mai Shiranui from The King of Fighters XIII (Hipline Version)

written on January 27, 2011 by Tier
Alphamax Mai Shiranui from KOF Figure Review

Back in my review of Kotobukiya’s Dizzy, I lamented that fighting games aren’t a more popular source for figure makers. That hasn’t changed at all in the year since I received that figure. In fact, I can think of only a few figures of fighting game characters that have been released since then – A-Label’s Vanessa, and I suppose the Noel Vermillion nendoroid, if you count that as a figure. 2011 isn’t looking any more promising, with the major ones being another Dizzy, a peculiarly pachycephalic Kasumi, and this figure right here. With a bunch of fighting games – Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the two Tekken and Street Fighter crossovers, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and the 3DS version of Dead Alive – scheduled for release, and with Super Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue still going strong, hopefully the situation will change and the girls of these games will grace us with more figures.
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Kaguya Nanbu from Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier Exceed (NSFW)

written on January 13, 2011 by Tier
Volks Kaguya Nanbu from Super Robot Wars Figure Review

There’s been some supposition that every figure I buy winds up in the bargain bin. I guess that’s partly a function of me buying a lot of figures and is also indicative of a curious trend in the figure hobby. In recent times we’ve seen VN02 Miku Hatsune, the first and the latest Black Rock Shooter figures, Dead Master, Vivio, and tons more figures receive huge price cuts and I’m not sure why so many high-profile releases are getting their prices chopped so hard. I’m sure this situation pleases collectors worldwide but I’m still a moron who pays full price for everything so I seldom get to partake of this happy occasion. I wonder what it says about the health of the industry. Regardless, here we have a figure that I’m sure won’t end up in a discount pile any time soon.
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Tamaki Kousaka from Manaka de Ikuno!! Final Dragon Chronicle – Guilty Requiem

written on January 9, 2011 by Tier
Kotobukiya Tamaki Kousaka Samurai Figure Review

One of the more lamentable trends in entertainment media during the last couple of decades is the phasing out of the action girl in the battle bikini. They used to be commonplace, particularly in video games, where examples include Golden Axe’s Tyris Flare, SNK’s Athena, the valkyrie in Gauntlet, Sheena in Contra Hard Corps, and a bunch of characters from the early Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest games. Nowadays, not only are they not nearly as common, you often see a peculiar aversion to sexiness on the part of female characters. World of Warcraft hasn’t had adequate bikini armor for two expansions now, much to the lament of my four paladins. I hear that the people running Tomb Raider want to place less emphasis on Lara Croft’s appearance, which explains why Square Enix can’t make good games anymore. Sonia Belmont got torched from Castlevania continuity altogether. This trend may be due to an attempt to be more inclusive and more appealing to larger audiences, or a desire to create more realistic characters, or a perceived lack of maturity associated with creating scantily-clad warrior girls. Whatever the cause, it sucks. Fortunately, Kotobukiya and Leaf agree, so here we have Tamaki Kousaka, the first of many Tamaki figures scheduled to drop this year.
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