Category: Eastern

Mico – Default ver & Limited Color ver

Note: this post will feature boobs scattered throughout. If you’re at work, you’ve now been warned. 

After failing to buy the default (green) version from Mandarake, I decided to pick up the black version (limited color ver)  in my large SAHRA order. Some time later, the green version popped up on Yahoo! Auctions Japan, so I decided to go for it, via Buyee. After bidding slightly more than intended, I managed to win her, and worked out cheaper than buying her at Y! marketplace/Amazon. 

As I ordered the limited color version first, I shall talk about her first:

image

Was hard to get the focus correct when photographing her, due to her monochrome nature. 

Though for a monochrome figure, she reflects the light well to give her detail:

image

The back moulding gives you something to look at. 


Here she is without Tollg:

image

She has some details in black, but most of the detail is from the light reflecting off her. On her right side, she does look to have some minor scuffing on her bottom rib, but it isn’t a biggie. 

As this one is effectively the least detailed of the three, I will likely display her in her tube:

image

I won’t be demoing the light feature again in this blog – all three of the tubes are the same, barring the paint colour. This one the plastic seems to be in a less scratched state than the purple Mico’s. 

Now onto normal-coloured Mico:

image

Happy to have her in her ‘original’ colours. Her Tollg has a different colour painted for its eyes. Kinda need to get to the part of the anime series that features her!

Here she is from the back:

image

Same as the backside of the purple version.

Without Tollg:

image

Even more neon than the purple version, especially her lips! Her vein colours match her Tollg. 

Here’s a ¾ view showing more of her veins:

image

Happy to have her, and really liking having most of the set – at least the ones I was interested in. 


With these two, the bases are inversions:

image
image

I found this mildly interesting :). 

Here are all three of the Micos I now own:

image

There is a fourth silver one, but I’m unlikely to buy it, mostly due to availability, and owning the limited black ver kinda covers the monochrome angle.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can switch around their Tollgs for an interesting look:

image

I do rather like the purple Tollg on the black Mico. 

Here are the three tubes:

image

The darker one belongs to the black Mico, middle one is the default one, and the blue one goes with Acid Purple Mico. 

Here are the tops of the tubes, showing the matching details:

image

Not decided if I’m going to display them in proximity of each other or not – will probably come down to space constraints. 

Parfom Gwendolyn

This figure I was on the fence about ordering, up until her near-release. Went for it, without many days to go. Then she got delayed ><.

Fiiiinally in the new year she turned up!

And wow, is she pretty! These Parfom figures aren’t exactly cheap, but I’m definitely impressed with this one. My only real complaint is the chest articulation, as it tends to look a little odd if she’s not dead-centre. Oh, and the branches to assemble on the “fancy” stand were a pain!

Here she is on the stand sideways:

Her small wings look quite cute. 

Back, on the stand:

Here you can see where the detailed base slots over the clear base. Initially, I didn’t realise it did this, and thought she had to balance on it. I then looked her up on MFC, and saw the arm of the clear stand in one picture, and figured it out. Her arm joints do look a little strange from the back, plus some gapping from the aforementioned chest joint. 

Left side:

The leaves were much of a pain in the backside to put on than they look. There’s only small dents where they hook in, and no reference pics in the instructions. They’re also not poseable – I split a glued joint whilst trying to figure out how they were supposed to go on the thinner one (on right of pic above). Fortunately it was just some weak glue that gave way, so I glued it back together. 

She she comes with three faces:

… and that wasn’t one of them. 

Shocked face:

Sleeping face:

The semiserious face is in the other shots, so no real need for another close-up. 

She has some large wings you can use instead of the small ones:

From the front:

They also have a joint, so they’re poseable:

Initially I wasn’t planning on using them, but after taking these photos, I changed my mind. 

And here is a pose of her on the base with her large wings:

Pretty!

Here she is with the shield, which I didn’t pose her with:

I love the range of accessories the figure comes with, and the colours and design of this character really appeals to me, so glad to have bought at least one version of her. 

The next few pics go into detail of the accessories she comes with, and the base, so if this post isn’t enthralling, feel free to stop reading here.

All of the Parfoms come with a clear base:

These bases can be locked together, using some connectors that come with them, but I don’t see myself doing that.

This is how the base fits into the fancy base:

Kinda wish the other Parfoms came with some kind of “stage”, or you could buy one separately to suit them. Maybe they’ll do the latter if enough people suggest it. This one really adds to the figure, without being too massive. 

Spare parts:

The small red blob is initially attached into the bottom of the berries she’s holding in the above pics. If you want her to hold the berries, you swap in a piece that has a clear plastic bit for her to hold, but if you just want them in the scene, you can leave the red blob in, and it looks like a full set of berries. 

Here’s the large wings, when not plugged into her body:

The smaller wings just have a static plastic rod to attach them, which I think is enough for them. The real fun is in these larger wings :). 

And here’s some pantsu, for those who read this far:

Not totally hiding the articulation gaps, but doing the job! 

Yoko Litner Noodle Stopper – Part 2

So this post will be dedicated to showcasing the replacement Yoko, and comparing it to the original one. Fortunately this one came in one piece, and is less flawed than the first.

So here she is, on the Pasta n’ Sauce:

Looking much better than the first one – no snapped noodle, and the paint has reached the “corner” of her pants. Sadly the grey smudge just above her stocking is a mark like the other one had, but on her backside. 

Here she is from the back:

Nothing here to complain about. The tiny dot on her hair is fluff. 

From the top:

She looks better from this angle too – none of her back is shiny like the previous, studs are better painted on this one too (but not perfect – would be a difficult bit to paint tbh). 

And finally the rear shot:

No random grey dots here. I think most people will find this shot agreeable :P. 

Now to compare the two:

Seeing double! Feel free to play spot the difference :). 

Here’s the undersides:

Note how the one on the right is slightly less attached together properly, but the new one has a bit of stray white paint on her pants. 

Above:

Not sure if it’ll really show in the above shot without zooming in, but the back of the new one is attached better. Also the belt is painted better on the second (left). 

Lastly, here are two backsides to contrast and compare:

Yep, comparing… If you get to this paragraph, well done! Also I’m pleased with the replacement, and is more in line with what I hoped for. It’s not flaw-free, but for the price, you can’t really expect that. Still would strongly recommend using these as display pieces only, but it is a second lottery if you’re going to get one that looks like it should have passed QC or not. 

Yoko Litner Noodle Stopper – Part 1

Saw this up for preorder, decided to go for it, as I wanted a Yoko figure, and this was inexpensive, and a small form factor, so it wouldn’t take up too much space. Unfortunately, my first one came partially broken, and a number of flaws.

I didn’t have a small noodle pot to hand, so here she is stopping some Pasta n’ Sauce:

image

From this shot, you can see where the top hair chopstick has been snapped off – it doesn’t show too much from this angle, but it is shorter than it should be. 

Here’s a close-up of her face, which is probably her best angle:

image

And a more side-on view:

image

In this shot, you can see where the black paint didn’t quite get to the corner of her pants. Her face is nice though. 

Here she is from the back:

image

You can see the chopstick breakage from here, plus a mark on her backside. Her stockings are nicely done though. 

Opposite side:

image

This angle’s actually pretty good for lack-of-flaws. The details ion her boots is nice, and the way her hair flows is nice. 

So what is her underside like?

image

Super-flat so she can act as a noodle stopper! The bra on this one is decently painted, especially compared to some others I saw, however the pants-body joint is a mess. 

Here’s a close-up of the waist:

image

Yuck. Looks almost like someone tried to take her apart :/. Some of the silver blocks are bootleg-level of quality, sigh. 

The next few shots will be closeups of the flaws I’ve found.

First up, the back of her hair: 

image

There is some clumpy paint, and a black scuff. Note the broken hair decoration – I had a quick feel of the other one – this figure would make for a bad noodle stopper, as it’d be awfully easy to break these, especially if you had to clean her. 

Some weird black mark under the sealant: 

image

Also some thigh gap going on, on the left. 

Sealant, what sealant?:

image

On her left hand side, you an see some mottled, shininess. This is present all across her back, and I’m pretty sure this is related to the sealant layer being done improperly. I’m not an expert though. Also the lower half of her body isn’t well contected into the strap, leaving a bit of a mess. A the very top of the pic, you can see where the purple paint has escaped its designated area. 

I was disappointed with this figure, and especially considering it arrived broken, I contacted the retailer to investigate my options. They very kindly sent me another one free of charge, part 2 will show pics of the replacement. 

Anastasia S-Style

Since finding out this series, I’ve set about buying some of the others that are already released. This one I saw for sale on a UK site for a good price, shortly after Christmas, so had to order it. 

Here she is:

Love the colour of her swimsuit, and she’s nicely posed. Love the necklace and charm details. 

Here she is from the left side:

And the right:

And her back:

Nicely sculpted posterior here. I find her hair slightly on the too-glossy side, but some of the post-editing may make it look a bit more distinctive than it actually is. 

She also comes with the option of an overshirt/top. To put her top on, you need to first take off her arms and head:

Not her prettiest angle! The dent on her right arm is where her forearm touches her upper arm, so this flat surface doesn’t show when she’s together. 

And with the top on:

It looks OK, but for me, it looks too much like a plastic mac, so I’m not planning to display her with it. There is some nice detailing in it though:

Zipper is well painted, and there’s the suggestion of some pockets. 

Top from the left:

And the right:

This side you can see where the top joins – it pops apart, so you can slip it over her shoulders. It comes apart and goes together with relative ease, so it’s unlikely you’re going to break the nubs, and it stays together well once assembled (have had figures where the clothes tend to pop apart). 

And from the back:

It hangs nicely over her. Is a pretty colour, but I prefer the purple more. 

Closeup of the hood:

Doesn’t look like a “true” hood from this angle, but you’re not likely to be looking at it like this. 

Happy with this figure, and glad they made the overshirt an optional accessory. Personally, I think she looks better without it, but I think it works if you like it. Whilst small, these figures have the quality of scale figures, which I think makes them great for collecting on a budget – of money and space. The line seems to be gaining popularity, as there are several being released in the next few months – some of which I have on pre-order. Hopefully I’ll be able to display the ones I buy as a collection together, but I don’t think I’ll pick up every release. 

Poison Ivy

I’ve had my eye on this one for a little bit, seeing as I saw it was released, but not really in the UK yet. Went to a local comic shop who were selling her for a good price, so I couldn’t resist picking her up, despite my December overspend.

The vine is a separate part, which can be posed however you like. The detail in her face is also impressive:

Looks like she paid special attention to her makeup this morning :). 

Right hand side:

Love the vibrant red colour of her hair. Her skin is also nicely painted, giving it a very skinlike appearance. 

Left side:

Hiding behind the leaves! I have them mostly going over her legs, are they are very much an expanse of green – on one side this does give you the place to display them, on the other hand she looks a bit too much on the bland side without the extra leaves. Her top is nice and leafy though – however, I’d prefer it if they prioritised the leaf shapes over the top shape, as it looks a little too flat imo. 

Back:

Perfect angle to admire her hair :). Maybe not as competent as more expensive figure manufacturers, but it does the job, in an eye-catching red. There uis a bunch of shades in there though, which does help it along. 

The base and her shoes:

A very simple base, but works surprisingly well. The boot painting is very eye-catching though, and I really like her footwear. The base is a translucent green, which matches the figure and probably looks better than the photo I took here. It’s not a base that’s going to win awards, but it works with the figure, and is more exciting than a plain disc, and doesn’t detract from the figure. 

This one is likely to have a prominent position in my new display cabinet… once it has been built… Can’t have too much Poison Ivy!

Tiger & Bunny: Kotetsu and Blue Rose

After pondering what I could pad my Mandarake order out with… I remembered I wanted to get some Tiger & Bunny figures. After some deliberation, I went for a Kotetsu prize figure and Chibi Arts Blue Rose. Ordinarily I wouldn’t go for a chibi figure, but Blue Rose seems to be woefully catered for in the figure market. 

First up, Kotetsu:

image

Lookin’ nice from the front. Some good shading, most of the paintwork is good, a bit missed on the chin, but it’s not really noticeable. Not pictured are the way he fits into the base – he looks like he’s wearing platform shoes, but the extra “shoe” fits into the strangely shaped slots on the base. 

Here’s a close-up of the face to admire the beard paint:

image

As you ca see, it doesn’t quite fit in the marked area, and there is some mould fuzz on his hand. For a prize figure though, the derps are minor. 

From the right side:

image

He sadly has some marks on his hip, probably from rattlin’ around in his box. He hasn’t been out, but he was secondhand, so he may have been shaken around a bit. The marks don’t show from the front though.

Left side:

image

Do love the accuracy of the moulding of the jewellery and hand. It’s also been nicely, which is a strong bonus in prize figures. 

Finally, his back:

image

Some nice shading work here, if you want to admire his backside. Not doing it for me personally, but he does have good shoulders. 

All in all, pleased with my pic.

Next up, Blue Rose:

The speech bubble is of her catchphrase, and translates to:

“My ice may be a little cold, but your crime has been put completely on hold!”

She is a bit sticky with plasticiser, from being kept in her box, and she has some minor chipping on her headpiece, but this could be from when she was manufactured. This chibi works surprisingly well for me. 

Here’s two shots of her sides:

Her tendrils are nicely done in clear plastic, but her front hair doesn’t like to clip well into her back hair. May attempt to fix this at some point, with some hot air. Most of this figure slotted together surprisingly well, with the odd bits needing heating to get in place. 

Her back:

Tried to lean her against the board, but nah, she wasn’t gonna stand. Some details back here, which is nice. 

Here are her other parts:

Plenty of bits to choose from! The tiny guns go where here tiny holsters are on her legs (small blue lumps), if you don’t want her to be holding her guns. The arms in the top-right are the default ones, which she holds her hands out from her sides. I love the selection of items they provided. 

The other things she can say:

Yeah, I accidentally put the one in Japanese on its side… It translates to “I decided to believe my friends until the end as a hero”. At some point, I may swap in the Cutie Escape! one. 

Tiger & Bunny was a bit of an up and down show for me – some of it I loved, other bits I’m waiting for them to get on with it/less interested in what was going on. I may get figures of one or two of the characters, but I’m not going to be making a Tiger & Bunny display. Happy with my purchases though. 

Devilman & Migi

Shortly after writing the blog entry for Sirene… I went onto Mandarake and did an order, mainly for Devilman. Yep, I’m getting the set – the other one is moving around in the postal system, but may be some time before I see him.

So here’s Devilman by Bandai:

image

This guy was rather the butt to assemble. Needed to heat up most of the parts, and the tail peg became very rubbery, which made it hard to insert. He was worth the assembly time though!

Here he is from the front of his body:

image

Loving those wings, and the explosion. Here’s a closer shot showing the foot stomp (Deibru Smassshh~~), also showing some of the wing in more detail:

image

The explosion is two pieces pegged to the base. 

Here he is from the back:

image

Not too much to add here, still looking awesome.

Close-up of the wing:

image

Love the way they’ve done the details and the shading on the wings, plus the translucent orange. 

Finally, Sirene and Devilman together:

image

On his own, Devilman’s base does look lonely, and as if it should be part of something else. It looks a little lonely like this, but hopefully I should have the third figure soon! Really glad I found this set, it’s very nicely done, especially for the prices I got these two at, and hopefully the price I get the last one for. 

And as it’s just a short one to show, here’s Migi from this order:

He’s well-painted, and perfect to sticking to a Detolf :). 

Harley Quinn

This was the second figure for Christmas, but for this one I only saw the box beforehand, as it doesn’t have a window in the box (and the figure itself was in a well-taped polystyrene cube). 

And this one is ¾ of Harley Quinn – one of my favourite characters. This figure was more detailed than expected, so am pleased about that. I like the two textures used on the base. 

Here is a close-up of her face:

I like the expression she has, and the contrast in her face. Her ruff is pearlescent, which stops it from blending too much with the skin. 

Harley’s left side:

She has a tattoo on this side, which is a nice touch, and in this photo you can see the leather strap that holds the hammer in place. I thought this was a nice touch, as it does its job well, without being intrusive. It’s nice having the hammer as a separate part, as it helps it to look realistic (some figures have the accessories moulded in, and it always shows to some extent). 

Harley’s right:

Here you can see the detail on the hammer, which is nicely wood-like, and her nicely painted glove. The belt of bullets also looks good. 

Back of Harley:

She has a nice cape. but the paint in the middle isn’t quite done right, which is a bit of a shame. However, this doesn’t bother me much, as I won’t be seeing this side often.

Am glad I got this figure – it was nicer than I anticipated it to be, which is always a good thing. The mixed media, with the straps on the top and the leather holding the hammer are very nice touches, which help the figure stand out. I’m particularly pleased with the hammer’s texture too. 

Can never have too much Harley 🙂

Kaworu Nagsia

This was one of two figures I got as Christmas presents. This one I ended up ordering and having a sneak preview prior to Christmas.

And now I can finally appreciate him fully:

I love the shiny plugsuit, and the blue colour of it. Due to this and his pose, this figure is quite striking. 

Here is a close-up of his face:

Not much shading on his face, but it is nicely sculpted, and has good definition. 

Side of Kaworu:

Is a very arched pose, and he’s a very thin and tall chap :). Can also see where his hip bones jut out slightly, due to his slight build. 

The back of Kaworu:

Featuring one of his best features ;). He has a very shapely backside, so he might have to go in a mirrored cabinet, lol. The backpack is also nicely done. A decent amount of detail back here. 

I do love this figure – the colour and the pose really make it for me. He’s a figure I’m likely to pick up and appreciate, so I’m glad I asked for this for Christmas :). 

Sirene

Sirene is a character from Devilman. She’s a harpy with electric powers. This figure was on my Mandarake wishlist for some time, and my recent Urban Mine digging gave me the excuse to order it. 

image

She’s designed to go with two other Devilman figures, but still looks great on her own. Am impressed with the detail in this figure. 

Here’s a close-up of the base:

image

Her wings rest atop the branch, and her feet have some tiny little holes that her toes rest into. She’s a lot less easy to knock over than she first appears, which is nice. 

Close-up of her face:

image

She’s got very big head wings here. 

She also has butt-wings:

image

Never know when you might need to fan something away! Also there is a bit of a waterfall on this side, and the back is just “cut” water, rather than a waterfall. 

Back view of the figure:

image

This shows how the back really is the back, but the branch has been done nicely. Her head wings are also highly detailed on the back, which is nice. This would be a good figure for a mirror cabinet. 

View showing the spike details:

image

Glad I bought this figure – it exceeded expectations, and am now considering obtaining the rest have ordered Devliman. 

SnapP’s Al Azif

This was an addition to one of my recent Mandarake orders. This was super-cheap and Al Azif, so I chucked it into my cart. So what did I get?:

She has the approximate appearance of Al Azif, but her flesh colour is REALLY pale. Would be nicer if there was a bit more colour to her skin – she looks a little sick, lol. 

Back of the figure:

Some meh painting on the top bands, but OK other than that. There’s a hole here – I assume at least one of the

SnapP’s

figures comes with a tail, as this isn’t a stand hole. 

Left side:

There’s a gap in her hairpiece here – I did try to reduce this, but it’s rather obstinate. Not too much of a biggie, as it’s not visible from the front. 

Right side:

Less of a hair gap on this side. 

For a cheap figure, I can’t complain. The figure has a minimal of articulation – the shoulders and neck move. Would be nice if there was some hand articulation to get some actual poses out of it – moving the arms is a bit pointless, with the hand pose she has. The only reason she has this articulation in the first place is because her parts are replaceable with other figures in the range. If you want a “cosplaying” Al Azif figure, this figure is for you. If not, I’d give it a pass. 

Lilith Aensland

This was one of two items added to one of my Urban Mine boxes to fill out space. 

And here she is:

Nice, striking colours, but has a simple paint job, as she’s an older figure. For the most part, it’s a decently done paint job, but there is a bit of sloppiness at the top of her apron. 

Close-up of her face:

That’s one smiley, happy face. Can see the paint issues on the apron, but I don’t find them too distracting. 

Here’s a side-on view:

And here’s a pic of her back:

Some detail back here, enough to make it not fully plain. Can see some paint flaws with the white paint on her shoulder and neck. 

Close-up of the base:

This base is designed to connect to two others, and the set consists of four figures total. As this figure is old, and I’m less interested in half the set, I’m unlikely to get hold of the rest. I am considering 3D printing a new base for her, as this one isn’t particularly nice on its own. 

This is the reason why I’d want to print one:

She has pronged feet, instead of the prongs being on the base, so she needs something to hold them in place to stand up, hence me considering 3D printing rather than using some of the pegged stands I already have. 

Evangelion Chronicle Rei & Asuka

Won these on the Urban Mine auctions. Paid more than I should have done for them, but ah well… Could’ve bought one from a Mandarake store for less, but was too late when I went to check. D’oh. Should have paid around ~£5 each, but ended up paying ~£10 each, so not a massive miscalculation. 

And I do like them:

Rei Ayanami

First up, Rei. 

I do like the pearlescent nature of her outfit, and the expression feels “Rei”. There’s a decent amount of detail to be found in this figure, especially for its age. 

Here’s her back:

Her “backpack” is present, and some shading in her hair. I like the colours chosen – distinctive, and complimentary. 

Asuka Langely

Next up, Asuka:

Not as keen on her expression as Rei, but the pose is interesting. Also her number is a bit oddly placed. 

The back of Asuka:

Nice amount of “animation” in the hair. And her butt. 

Here’s a side shot, showing off more of her pose:

With both of these figures, I needed to heat the feet to get them on their bases – the plastic is kind of rubbery, so gets quite flexible when warmed. With Rei, I had to douse her in cold water, to prevent her from setting in a leaned position. I won’t be surprised if these figures will lean over time, but they’ll be easy enough to “reset”. 

These figures make a nice pair, and am glad to have them. 

Urban Mine: Evangelion Extra Book

So.. this was a wildcard bid based on this picture:

I bid low on it, ¥200, and won it for ¥100. No other takers. I bidded it on because a) Evangelion b) T-shirt c) Possibly a figure thing. 

So, let’s see what was in there. 

First of all, the book and the box:

The outers… so far, so Japanese. 

So what was the “figure”? If you look closely at the 3rd picture (or read Japanese), you may have figured it out:

A cute little awakened EVA-01 strap. 

Here’s the back of it:

Was quite annoying to get the plastic copyright tag out of the way to photo this XD. He really is quite tiny, but he’s well painted. 

Now for the t-shirt:

Translating the text on the front of the “book” (we’d call it a magazine), it does say EVA wireframe T-shirt, and yep, it certainly is. 

Here’s a closeup of the EVA:

One dude being carried by another dude. A little difficult to look at, but I find it a cool design. 

Logos on the bottom corner of the T-shirt:

The T-shirt is slightly too big for me, but I think I can get away with it :P.It’s not particularly thick T-shirt material, but feels good to wear, so I’ll see how long it lasts. 

From what I can ascertain, the book details what you can “get” in terms of scenes from the Evangelion Pachinko machine, and some ads for other Evangelion merch. There’s some cool pics in it, but not much to write home about. 

Can’t complain for less than a fiver, including shipping. The T-shirt makes it worth it, and I have the awakened EVA hanging up in the bedroom currently. If you’re a size S T-shirt or UK12-14, this T-shirt should fit. I’m around UK10-12, for comparison. 

Urban Mine: Retro Asuka

Back on the Urban Mines! First lot, this one:

Initially thought this was a different figure, but it turns out it was one not on MFC. Stuffed a bid on it, and won it for ¥100. 

So what did I get?

Haha, that face! This figure really does show its age – it has a copyright date of ‘96, which is the end of the Evangelion anime run. In my photos, she looks about the right colour, but she’s actually slightly pinkish. The text by her feet is her name in Japanese:

Side of the figure:

Not too much to say about the side – hand angle feels a bit unnatural to me. You can see that painted side hair clearer here – looking more like a sideburn than a bit of stray hair. 

Finally, the back:

Not so much detail in the hair, but her butt looks good. 

Whilst this is far from the best Asuka you can own, in some way it’s nice to own a bit of history, and to see how far figures have come over the years. The face is the weakest part of this figure, other than that it isn’t too bad. 

Ena Hoshijiro [Part 3] – Hoshi vs Hoshi

u So now I’ve introduced the two figures… let’s compare!

First off, the stands. FuRyu’s:

ACG’s:

Firstly, their holding capabilities… the ACG one is more awkward to get Hoshijiro onto, as it’s a bit of a tight fit, but she’s less prone to falling off it. If you so wish, you could actually pick Hoshijiro up, and have the stand come with her. However, the holder is actually visible from the front of the figure, unlike the FuRyu one. For the flat part of the base, I’m not particularly keen on either. ACG did try to do something to make it fit in with the figure, but I don’t think the amount of detail there justifies its size. The FuRyu one does the job of being a stand, and little else. I’d say the ACG stand wins out, but neither light my world on fire. 

OK, more important part, the figures!

With the ACG one looking matte, it definitely looks the more expensive of the two. Personally I prefer the ACG’s choice of Hoshijiro, as I like the flesh/meat mix more, but both are “valid” designs. For the hair colour, the FuRyu one is closer to the pics I can find. 

In terms of assembly, the FuRyu one was a mild pain, but it makes up for it in customisability. It would’ve been nice if ACG gave a couple of tentacle options, but it does have the added advantage that the tentacles can’t fall out :). 

The backs:

I do rather like the paint detailing on the ACG one. I feel if they did the hair shading brown instead of purple, it may have found more love. Both have clearly shaded parts, but the ACG one has stronger shading work. Which you’d expect from a scale. This angle does make the ACG support look less fugly than the FuRyu one though. 

Now for the bodies:

I think the ACG gets this one – there’s more to see of the FuRyu one from this angle, but I think the angle works better for the ACG one. I’m linking both from this angle though. 

Back view:

There’s more to see on the FuRyu one here. The ACG one is very “thin” from this angle. You can see a lot of the FuRyu tentacles here – the ACG ones have far better angles for seeing things. Also the seam line is apparent on the ACG one. 

All in all, I like them both, and they will have places in my collection. I think the ACG one is the nicer of the two, but they both have their strong points. Part of it comes down to what kind of Hoshijiro you like. With none of the other scales from other manufacturers panning out, these two are your main choices. The ACG one has potential – there could have been some additions and small changes that would have elevated it to a higher price imo, but I think its current price is a good one, if you like it and want to pick it up. 

Which Hoshijiro would you have gracing your shelves? Or would you choose ‘neither’ or ‘both’?

Ena Hoshijiro [Part 2] – FuRyu

So… this was the first Ena I got. FuRyu is one of my favoured prize figure makers, so I was fairly confident for this one when I bought it. Let’s see what I think about it currently. 

First up, a shot from her main viewing angle:

Her red growth is very much in evidence on this figure. Not necessarily a bad thing. Her tentacles are nicely visible, and you actually have a tentacle choice – the one with the pen can be replaced with just a tentacle. Let’s have a closer look at that pen:

Not perfectly painted, but I really like the fact they included this tentacle piece. However, if you’re not a fan, you can always just have tentacle. 

Here is Hoshijiro from the top:

Looking very tentacly, and shading in evidence on the red parts.

Now for her back:

Here’s where all the tentacles connect in. Initially, she has no tentacles, so you have to plug them into the holes provided. This does mean you could get rid of them entirely, if you didn’t like them, and displayed her in a way that the holes aren’t visible. Why you would do that with Hoshijiro, I don’t know, but hey, there’s probably somewhere out there doing that!

One downside of the tentacles is the connections are some are not the most secure:

Here, you can see little bits of the white tack I’ve used to “glue” them in. Fortunately this has been working for me, and they now stay in. Used to be they’d fall out if she got lightly knocked, which is a problem when I’ve displayed her next to a curtain. 

I like this figure – she does look prize-figure-y, but she won’t burn a hole in your wallet. The lattice bits do look rather painted rather than part of the growth, but the part on her leg is done nicely imo. Her flesh could potentially do with some more paint details, but the red parts are nicely shaded. With the base being white, it is very “there”, but I don’t find it detracts that much. My main issues with this figure have been her tentacles falling out and her propensity to leap off her butt stand. 

Ena Hoshijiro [Part 1] – ACG

The next three blogs will be dedicated to Ena Hoshijiro. This blog will be about the ACG version, the next blog will be about the FuRyu version (as I bought this prior to starting this blog), and the third blog will be comparing the two. 

First… some history with me and this figure. Originally saw this one up for preorder, but couldn’t really afford it, and I couldn’t find much out about it, so I didn’t preorder it, despite wanting to. Instead, I went for the FuRyu version, which had the added advantage of already being released. I remember searching a lot for it on eBay until it popped up at a good price, and I went for it. 

Recently, I went to search for the ACG version, to see what happened to it, only to find the price had severely bombed, to a price comparable to the FuRyu figure. To compare, I paid £20 shipped for the FuRyu one, and I paid just under £28 shipped for this one. There aren’t very many photos of the actual ACG figure, so I decided to just go for it. And super-glad I never preordered it for £80-90!!

So, with the backstory out of the way, here she is:

I honestly don’t think they did a bad job with her, but I can see why her price dropped. She’s not really comparable to the expensive scales I own, but there’s definitely some nice detailing in her. If you look at the picture above, you’ll see three of her tentacles have been formed into hearts. Personally, I think it would have been better to stick with one at her hand, and maybe the more subtle one towards the bottom. Not keen on the upper one. 

A closeup of the hand heart:

I like the path this tentacle takes, and did go “d’aww” when I first saw it. 

Here’s a shot of the top of her body:

I don’t find her face too far off what it should look like, but it could’ve done with some paint detail to make it look a little less flat imo. The shading on her “placental” parts is nice though, and gives them a rich variety in colour. The bit on her leg could do with some tweaking to make it look less blood dribble and more “connector”. One leg is shaded more than the other, not sure this was a good decision, but for me I don’t really see both legs at once. 

A shot from the back:

Some nice shading in her hair, but a pretty obvious seam line. The tentacles are attached nicely, with some proper “holes” for them to come out of.

A shot from behind the figure:

She certainly looks tentacley, and I like that. I think if they got rid of those silly, tight kinks I’d be totally happy with the tentacles. 

Now for closeup of the stand:

Hm. Floor tile. The original artwork showed her with a black stand, which may have been a better bet. It’s grown on me a bit, but my initial thoughts is that it would have been better with a black, smaller base to contrast against Hoshijiro, and make her stand out. I think the base could’ve done with some weathering, and maybe the pen she used in the series… almost tempted to add the latter to the base, to give me something to look at. 

She’s also a good figure if you prefer your Hoshijiro less covered in… meat. I don’t think her hair colour is particularly accurate, but I’m happy to ignore that, as I like the colour. I think she’s a solid figure for the price I paid, but I think her original asking price was too much, so not surprised her price tanked. 

Racing Mari

Out of all the Black Friday sales, this was my only purchase, and I bought this from HobbyLink Japan. I don’t have much Mari in my collection, but in recent months, I’ve decided I need more Mari. So this one contributes to the total:

The blue and pink really work well as a colour scheme imo, It’s definitely prize-figurish, so I wouldn’t have paid a lot for it… and I didn’t. 

Here’s a close-up of her face:

I like the way she’s posed, her hair and glasses are nice, but her top is a bit of a mess, especially with the black paint. They seem to have tried to make a semitransparent bit on her chest with the number on, but I don’t feel it works too well. The collar is nice though. 

Here she is from the back: 

The number decal bit is done well, and still liking the hair, but the blue stripes are a bit shaky. 

Here is a close-up of her bacl:

The paint shading in her hair is nice, but below her top, there’s definite evidence of sloppy paint. At least the red paint on this one is fast, unlike my other large Mari figure! Isn’t shiny though. 

With this figure, the pose works for me, but it is let down with fairly visible paint faults. This is a figure I’m likely to display at a distance, so that the paint flaws aren’t as noticeable. I think it’s an OK figure for the price I paid.