Tag Archives: thong

Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

written on October 10, 2015 by Tier
Motoko Kusanagi figure

Right, it’s time to get back to work. The review queue is impressive: scads and scads of Tony figures, a couple of Asukas (but – strangely enough – no Reis), and a bunch of Seven Deadly Sins figures that I never seem to know how I want to photograph. We’ll start off looking at this girl, one Motoko Kusanagi of Public Security Section 9, who is dressed to kill in her own unique way. One can surmise that Scarlett Johansson won’t be wearing anything like what Major Kusanagi is wearing here.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Mu-12 from BlazBlue: Alter Memory

written on June 23, 2015 by Tier
Mu-12 from BlazBlue Alter Memory

Arc Systems Works has been pushing the BlazBlue franchise hard in recent times. Notably, the fifth and most recent console iteration of the game – BlazBlue Chrono Phantasma Extend – is due for release in the North American market in just a few days. In addition, its ofttimes incomprehensible plot has been extended by a dizzying array of multimedia: spinoff games – including, rather incongruously for a fighting game series, some visual novels – manga, light novels, and a poorly-received anime series. Concomitant with this expansion is the sort of product push that the better-known Guilty Gear series never received, comprising a variety of wall scrolls, stickers, hugging pillowcase covers, and of course, figures such as this one. This isn’t even the first Mu-12 figure to hit the market – that distinction goes to FREEing’s version from well over a year back – but being that the last time Alter made a figure of an Arc System Works character turned out quite well, the redundancy is not at all unwelcome.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Cammy from Street Fighter (Bishoujo Version)

written on September 17, 2014 by Tier
Cammy from Street Fighter

People who’ve visited this site before may know that I’m a big fan of fighting game girls. There are less of them that I’d like, particularly of the characters from Street Fighter. Like many gamers, Street Fighter II was my introduction to fighting games, and though I did not play as Cammy very often, I appreciate her design, particularly in all its immodesty. Therefore, when Kotobukiya rolled out this figure of Cammy, it was a no-brainer to buy it, no? Well, not quite, which is a little odd, because their Bishoujo series synthesizes Shunya Yamashita’s artwork, characters and series popular amongst international audiences (including characters from Star Wars and DC and Marvel comics), and low prices. Should be a no-brainer, but I had to think a bit before buying Cammy, and while I’m happy with this figure in the end, it’s an equivocal level of happiness.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Kamael from Lineage II

written on July 16, 2014 by Tier
Kamael figure from Lineage II

Despite its age, Lineage II has been a popular source of inspiration for figure manufacturers. Thus far, Good Smile Company, Orchid Seed, and Max Factory have made figures of its characters. That’s gratifying to see, as Lineage II has some very attractive character designs. It’s not atypical in that respect; this may be over-generalizing, but I’ve long thought that Korean MMOs – a group that also includes TERA, Aion, Blade & Soul, and Scarlet Blade Online – have some of the best character designs in video games. The Kamael is the latest such figure to be released, and it’s the third Lineage figure to be produced by Max Factory; we’ll be looking at them in reverse order.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Tomo Asama from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere (Zudon Miko Version)

written on June 23, 2014 by Tier
Tomo Asama from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere

As we’ve noted before, there aren’t that many figures of characters from Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere, and those that do exist are mostly from relatively minor manufacturers. Fortunately, a couple of exceptions have been recently released: Alter’s Kazuno and Tomo Asama by Kotobukiya. This happiness is tempered by the realization that those two figures may be amongst the last figures from the series to be released (Wave has a Beach Queens Kimi Aoi scheduled to drop next month, and Volks is supposedly doing figures of Kimi and Kazuno, but who knows whether those will ever materialize). A sad state of affairs, that, and it appears that figure companies are moving on to the next big thing, such as Kantai Collection, which somehow feels a bit like it’s worn out its welcome before even having arrived. The only consolation is that if Tomo is the last Horizon figure to be made by a major figure company, she is at least a very fine one indeed.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Kouko Kaga from Golden Time (PS Vita Version)

written on April 30, 2014 by Tier
Kouko Kaga from Golden Time

Kouko Kaga is the lead female character of the light novel and anime series Golden Time. The show seems to have done reasonably well, having received a full 24-episode run along with the usual array of merchandise – posters, telephone cases, keychains, and so on – that accompany a popular series. However, it has yet to draw attention from figure companies, which is too bad, since the characters are both memorable and attractive. This particular figure of Kouko was not sold by itself; rather, it was a pack-in with the limited edition version of the PS Vita game Golden Time: Vivid Memories. That means that expectations need to be tempered, as such throw-in products are rarely as good as a figure that is sold by itself. However, it is to date the only figure of any Golden Time character, at least as far as I know, and I’m not aware of any upcoming figures depicting any members of the show’s cast. Again, that’s too bad, but I suppose one figure is better than none.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Cyril Brooklyn from Pieces 2 (NSFW)

written on March 7, 2014 by Tier
Cyril Brooklyn from Pieces 2

And it’s back to figure reviews – delayed due to an annoyingly persistent case of the flu. Winter’s end cannot come too soon. Today we’ll be looking at Cyril Brooklyn, a character that comes from the artwork of renowned artist Masamune Shirow. Shirow is best-known for creating the series Ghost in the Shell, and his style is perhaps most closely associated with that of the 1980s and 1990s. It seems appropriate, then, that this figure is manufactured by Arcadia – the reincarnation of Yamato Toys, who were well-known for their Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Macross Plus, and Macross 7 toys. Figures based on his illustrations are not all that common, but fans of his art now have this one, the previously-released Iris Hallett, and the upcoming Daiki Kougyou figure of Nanal Grahambury. It’s not exactly an embarrassment of riches, but it’s nice to see his work get some love from the figure makers.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

Konoe Tsuruma from Kono Naka ni Hitori, Imouto ga Iru!

written on February 10, 2014 by Tier
Konoe Tsuruma from Nakaimo - My Sister is Among Them

Today we’ll take a look at another figure by FREEing. That’s three figures in a row; their overall level of quality might be equivocal but no one can cast aspersions on their profligacy. This character is Konoe Tsuruma and she is the lead heroine of yet another incest anime. She’s all wrapped up and showing everything off, so let’s oblige her and take a look.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Mu-12 from BlazBlue: Chronophantasma

written on January 29, 2014 by Tier
Mu-12 from BlazBlue

Arc System Works’s BlazBlue is the spiritual successor to Guilty Gear, and on the whole both series are quite similar. Both are fast-paced 2D fighting games; both feature a colorful cast of eclectic and memorable characters; both feature awesome instrumental rock and heavy metal soundtracks. However, there is one area where BlazBlue diverges from its forebear and that’s in how it has been marketed. Guilty Gear is by no means an obscure series but it has always been something of a niche game; furthermore, its popularity has always been keyed by the game itself. With BlazBlue, however, Arc System Works is evidently trying to expand its appeal beyond its core fanbase. The most obvious attempt is its recently-concluded anime adaptation, titled BlazBlue: Alter Memory. BlazBlue has also been the subject of a heavy merchandising effort, including the usual telephone cases, telephone cards (often depicting Noel being molested by Rachel, or vice versa), soundtrack collections, and dakimakura covers – Arc System Works released the first dakimakura cover of Noel Vermillion way back at Comiket 76 in summer of 2009, and apparently she’s getting another one next month, and several other characters (including Jin Kisaragi, which surely made the ladies happy) have gotten or will be getting immortalized on a pillowcase. And of course, BlazBlue has gotten a variety of figures, including one of protagonist-turned-antagonist-turned-protagonist-again Mu-12, which is what we’ll be looking at here.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Kitana from Mortal Kombat (Pop Culture Shock Version)

written on December 10, 2013 by Tier
Kitana from Mortal Kombat

As an even cursory inspection will make obvious, this site focuses mostly on figures from Japanese anime culture, and so we don’t spend too much time looking at figures made for white people. Every now and then, though, we’ll make an exception. Today is such a day; here we’ll take a look at Kitana, the ten thousand-year old princess of Edenia and leading lady of the Mortal Kombat series.
Continue reading →

Posted in Figure Review | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 28 Comments