Cu-poche “The Idolmaster” Haruka Amami

It`s time to review the first figure in Kotobukiya`s completely new line, Cu-poche, that was announced this summer.   From the very popular game turned anime, Idol Master, comes the cheery Amami Haruka. I recently finished the Idol Master anime, a great story about a group of twelve girls and their journey to become idols, along with the help of the staff at Production 765. Haruka is one of these girls, working towards her dream of being an idol.

The Cu-poche line is much like Good Smile`s Nendoroid series, as it`s a moveable, pose-able, chibi sized action figure, but there are some noticeable differences. For one they have longer bodies, in fact their taller on average, and unlike most Nendoroids, their leg, arms, feet, hands and waists have more joints for even more ways to pose them. Meaning they don`t need as many changeable parts to do different stances. They also have magnet bases, with magnets in their feet to help keep them stable, which I really like. Magnets reduce the amount of holes and pegs in a figure, and I`m always down for less stand, more figure.

Haruka is featured here in one of her many stage outfits. The gold detailing is wonderful, with the lines on her top and belt.  The general painting on the outfit is rather simple, but it`s done with care. I adore the wrinkles in the back of her shirt and the clean pleats in her mini skirt. My only problem with her outfit would be her hair bows, which have been left red, instead of using the matching white bows that go with this outfit.  Leaves me wondering if no one took the time to look back at the source material after they finished.

She comes with three different faces, a wide eyed smile, a winking face and a closed eyed, tongue out version.  I`m not in love with the third face, but they are all very Haruka. The eye decals are clear, bright and the smiles perfect. Her hair is painted rather flat, but it does have gradient at the tips, so it gets a pass.

She also comes with three pairs of hands, closed, open and pointing, a microphone and mic stand. But best of all, she has attachable angel wings and an angels halo! The halo attaches into an extra hair piece, and the wings into her back.

Adorably cute is an understatement when talking about Haruka, and Kotobukiya has captured her aura of joy in this figure. Major positives include the variety of poses you can achieve without having to switch out arms and legs and other body parts, as well as the new magnet base.

With my only negatives being a tad flat paint job on the hair, and the wrong hair bows, this new line has got off to a great start. I hope Kotobukiya keeps up the good work with the other girls waiting (including Madoka, Mami & Saber)

In comparison to the average action figure of this size, they`ve keep the price very reasonable, and I think she`s well worth a pre-order. She’s currently up here on Otacute, with a release date set for April 2013.

Latest 4 Plushies from Gift

So far Gift has released over forty plush figures in its popular Nendoroid Plus Plush Series, so today we’ll be looking at their latest four, all coming from the popular anime To Aru Majutsu no Index II, also known as A Certain Magical Index in English.

To Aru Majutsu Index is one of my favorite anime, set in future where superhuman students study in the advance Academic City. The story revolves around the 0 level Kamijo Toma who meets Index, a magic welding nun with a library of books implanted in her head. He often finds himself bumping into the level 5 esper Mikoto Misaka & her friend Kuroko Shirai along the way to fight, well, whoever happens to get in his way.

Let’s start with Toma, the only male of the group. Like figures, it’s pretty rare to see a male plush so I almost have nothing to compare him to it seems. Toma is pretty basic, wearing his normal black school pants and a white top. Gift did a fantastic job adapting his messy black hair into plush form, it looks perfect from the front and the back. While there aren’t many fine points to mention, the red on his school shoes shows they didn’t cut any corners in his outfit. The expression tops the cake though; a frowny face suits his troubled life.

Next up is the electric Misaka Mikoto, one of the highest level espers in the show. Mikoto is also in her school uniform, which I’m enjoying. The pleats are always lovely to see done on a plush, and the vest has clear school crest and detail lines. By far though, my favorite part of her outfit is her socks, which I’m delighted to see they took the time to make look baggy instead of skin tight. That little detail moved her up into the A+ plush category.
Like with Toma, they did an excellent job adapting her hair style, but her hairclip worries me. It appears it’s simply glued on instead of sewn, and even in the promo shots the clip seems to be detaching. I own enough plush to know that glued on parts never stand up to wear, and I wouldn’t trust that piece to stay on long.

Third is Misaka’s roommate, Shirai Kuroko. A member of the peacekeeping institute Judgement, Kuroko has the same basic outfit as Mikoto, with a few minor differences, namely her shorter socks, what looks like her nail holders poking under that skirt and Judgement armband. I can’t tell for sure off the photos, but it appears that the armband is just the green and white stripes, with the Judgement Crest left off. Pretty disappointing for that detail to be left off.
Shirai hair ribbons are also a tad bit of a letdown, as the simple flat ribbon doesn’t portray the full rounded bows the source material has. Rest of the hair is perfection, but the little details on her fall flat.

Last but not least is the leading lady herself, Index. She looks adorable in her nuns outfit, which has some nicely detailed gold lining. Her eyes are bright, but I would have preferred a more green blue to be used in the inside circle. Her light purple hair is done perfectly. You can really feel the positive and cheerful vibes coming off her.  I would have liked to see her outfit include the safety pins she uses to keep it together, but it’s a minor complaint.

In the end, Gift did an excellent job on the four To Aru Majutsu no Index II Nendoroid Plus Plushies. Though they did fall short on some details on Kuroko, everyone else makes up for it. For a fan of the series, or a plush collector, this is for sure a great group (or even just single plush) to have. I know I’ll probably be picking up Toma for myself this fall.

Toma and Index are scheduled for a November release, and Misaka and Shirai for a December one. Which means you won’t get hit for the price of all four in one month, making it easier to order them all. They’re available here on Otacute right now!

Until next time, happy figure (or plushie!) hunting!

Medaka Kurokami Review

“Medaka Box” Kurokami Medaka

One of my favorite shows this spring was Medaka Box, a fun high school comedy about a student body president hell bent on carrying out the requests and suggestions of the students left in her suggestion box. With the help of Zenkichi, her childhood friend, and the other members of student council she picks up along the way, Medaka Kurokamispends the anime getting into more and more conflicts and solving them in her own insane way. I was thus so pleased to see that Max Factory was doing a 1/8^th scale of her!

Set to be released in late January 2013, this is pretty much the first Medaka Box PVC out (besides perhaps the Cutie Figure Mascot set), and it’s nice to see the bar set at a good level!

Medaka is posed with her wonderful fan, hand on her hip, and I’m waiting for her to issue some orders. I love strong, in control females, of which she is certainly one. Medaka has a skinny body, which almost seems like it should collapse under the weight of her chest, but I think Max Factory has done a nice job flaring out her skirt to give her a more hourglass figure. It, and the wave of her hair, give her more balance to her top heavy body.

I really enjoy her personally modified uniform. Medaka is not one to hide her cleavage, and it’s accented fairly well here. The cloth seems to be straining against being wrapped around her so tight, and her chest pops out in a slightly gravity defying way.  While it’s not the most realistic, it’s accurate to the source material. I would prefer for her breasts to have a better crease line between them, from the top they kind of look like one blob instead of two.

The top and skirt have a good paintjob, and the little details on the armbands, fan and crests are looking clean. Her left hand has airspace between it and her body probably so her green armbands (the ones she eventually gives to her other student council members) can be removed with more ease, but it almost seems unnatural. The hands themselves are lacking details, seems rushed.

While the legs are sculpted nicely (perhaps a tad too skinny on the thighs) the paint on her stockings is not welcomed. With the rest of her outfit being matte, the random

shine added to them sticks out like a sore thumb. I feel it could easily make work if

they just took it down a degree or two, to a less noticeable glare or added a touch of

shine into her hair.

Speaking of her hair, while I feel it’s a good sculpt, it almost feels like they could have ripped it off any figure with long hair and thrown on her bangs. The back doesn’t have enough body, leaving her hair looking much shorter than the past her rear length it should be at. Medaka’s known for an almost messy, free flowing hairstyle, and while the front gets in down perfectly, the back leaves much to be desired.

All in all, I think Max Factory did drop the ball on her a little. As a fan of the show I can easily overcome the little issues I have with her, but she doesn’t entirely live up to the Max Factory standard we’re used to.  Regardless, I’ll be ordering her anyway.

While she may not be perfect, Medaka is still a nice scaled figure, and a good addition to a collection. She’s up here on Otacute for pre-order! Until next time, happy figure hunting!

C-style Petit Eva Rebuild of Evangelion Ver.

Evangelion has continued to be a very popular franchise ever since the airing of Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995. The apocalyptic mecha anime, has inspired many spin offs including the origin of the adorable trading set I’ll be reviewing today!

Petit Eva: Evangelion@School, is a parody of the popular show in which all the characters are made chibi and lovable. So to celebrate the upcoming 3rd movie Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo, in the new Rebuild of Evangelion series, Bandai is releasing a C-Style trading set in the Petit Eva style!

The set contains nine figures, with three version of each of the characters. All of them are on grey parallelogram bases that fit together so you can easily display all three at once, or have them separate. I enjoy when trading figures can be combined to display together, and this set does it super well, with varying heights and poses.

First off is Kaworu Nagisa, one of the series teenage Evangelion pilots. He comes in his blue piloting uniform, which I’m surprised how good the detailing is for such a small figure. His grey hair is blowing in the wind and he’s so delightful! Kaworu has his normal version, a shiny haired version, and a winking version. I prefer the winking version by far, but the shiny haired version has something oddly wrong with it. The face looks off centered and not very attractive.

Next is the blue haired beauty, Rei Ayanami. Rei is no stranger to the figure world! Once again her suit is adorable, and I love the coloring of her hair, the flat color with white light lines works great on a trading figure, as it captures the chibi concept nicely. Rei also come with a shiny haired version, as well as a smiling version!

Lastly is the ever popular Asuka Langley Souryuu. Of all three, they did the best job on her pose. The blowing hair along with a wonderful placement of her hands makes what could have been a really boring figure into a mini masterpiece. Like Rei, Asuka also has a shiny haired and smiling version, all three of which are awesome.

The set also comes with Asuka’s helmet, the pieces of which are placed in each characters box, meaning you’ll have to have at least three to assemble it. It’s a pretty neat bonus that kind of rewards you getting all three of them.

The downside to buying this set, would be you probably don’t want 3 of each, which is why it would be best to find some friends who each want a set and split the cost. Or if you adore Eva, you can have a set at home and at work. I prefer my trading sets to have more different figures in them, and I wish they would have instead done more of the cast instead of just tripling each one.

In the end, besides the shiny haired version of Kaworu, this is a very wonderful trading figure set for an Eva fan. This is the second C-Style set Bandai has released, and I’m hoping they produce some sets from other series as well.

If you collect trading figures or are a fan of Evangelion, I’d recommend getting this set! Though if you more into scaled figures, it might not be your style. The set is available here on Otacute, with a set November release!

That’s all for today, happy figure hunting!

“Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai” Kashiwazaki Sena

It’s been a busy couple weeks in the figure world, and now that Wonderfest is all wrapped up, Good Smile is giving us one of its many upcoming releases, a 1/7^th PVC Sena from Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai. Great timing considering their 1/7^th matching Yozora was just released at the end of July.

Getting down to business, Sena, the busty high school student who joins the Neighbours Club so she can learn how to make friends, has been really popular the last year in the figure world, and I’m surprised it took Good Smile this long to release her.

First thing I noticed about her is that mid run pose. I often talk about figures having movement, and this is a prime example. Her sculpt captures the movement of her body, with things like the lift of her skirt and tie, the angle of her legs and the bounce in her hair. 

Her clothing is well done, and I’m loving the pleated skirt and creases in her top. The blazer, as well as the undershirt, really grips her chest perfectly! I think the paint on her blazer is a little shiny, but all together they did a great job. They’ve chosen to go with her manga coloring, which has the plaid skirt, unlike her nendoroid version which had the flat grey anime version. I’m very pleased to see this, as the manga version is a much more detailed, and has a more sepia tone to it. For example, her undershirt is more of an off while yellow than the bright white the anime versions has. 

The coloring continues to be wonderful in the shading of her hair, giving her blonde locks the perfect shading and dark tips. Her trademark butterfly clip is nicely detailed as well, and like with all Sena figures, I’m curious to see how it turns out. 

A great deal can be said about the little details on her, including the crest on her blazer, and the fine ruffles from her skirt. The attention to detail on her stockings and cuffs really brings her together as one adorable girl.

Now for the part I don’t like her face. They seemed to be going for the embarrassed face from the cover of the second volume of the manga, but missed an important detail, her blush. With that frown, and the worried eyes, Sena looks more upset or even sick, rather than embarrassed. I personally like my figures to be happy, so for me the upset face, with no option to make it as smile, is a real turn off. At the same time, her face is in character, and I think most Sena fans probably would like her this way. She looks like she’s ready to knock Yozora into next week for beating her at Moster Hunter!

In conclusion, other than my personal dislike of the expression, Sena is an excellent figure for any fans collection, and I wouldn’t want to own Yozora without her.  She’s up here on Otacute for pre-order, with an expected late December release.

Until next time, happy figure hunting!

Gundam Seed Double Review: Athrun Zala & Lacus Clyne

This week I’ll be doing a double review on two new releases up for pre-order from the popular anime Gundam Seed! Megahouse brings us Lacus Clyne from their Excellent Model line and Athrun Zala from their G.E.M. series. 

Gundam Seed (in short point form) primarily revolves around a war between Naturals and Coordinators, in the Cosmic Era. I personally have never watched Gundam, so I don’t want to mess up the explanation, but I can tell you it’s full of mecha and plenty of action. 

First off let’s take a look at Athrun Zala, member of the military organization ZAFT, and childhood friend of the main character Kira Yamato.

Athrun is looking great in his striking red jacket. I enjoy his entire sculpt, but most of all his jacket. The way it flares out takes his honestly uninteresting stance and adds a lot of movement to him. The creases and folds in it are beautiful and I love the coloring. The same can be said with his boots, the shading on them is perfect as well. 

Furthermore, he comes with an alternative face. I prefer his smiling face, but the more serious face is a nice addition. His eyes are pleasantly painted and the green nicely stands out to give him life. One thing I personally don’t like is his hair, I find it a bit too shiny and disorganized, but upon comparing against the canon, I suppose it’s accurate enough to not be a negative. 

  

I think Athrun is a great addition to the G.E.M. line, which as Megahouse’s male figure line, has hosted many strong males. Overall he’s stands out well, with a nice sculpt and paint job, as well as some different options on how to pose him.

 

Next up is the lovely vocalist and co-leader of the Clyne Faction, Lacus Clyne. 

Lacus is wearing her gorgeous teal dress, which I’m still on the fence about. The use of transparency and shine fits well with the character but I find it to be overkill and it almost comes off as tacky. It reminds me of sugar candy, like they melted some down and covered her in it. 

The way her hair is blowing is super cute, and like Athrun her outfit gives her lots of movement. My dislike of the coloring aside, the way it wraps around her thighs is wonderfully sculpted and the sleeves look amazing. 

Her pose though, does seem rather slanted, like she’s falling over, which I don’t find appealing. In general I like her stance, but that lean bothers me. It’s not noticeable in a the promo shots, so perhaps it won’t be noticeable on the final product, and is just a photo angle issue. 

Lacus also comes with an alternative face, and this time I prefer her open mouth to the closed, but both are darn cute. Bright eyes and finely detailed eyelashes on both of them round out her cheerful attitude. She comes with extra arms as well, meaning even more ways to display her, including with a white rose. 

Both Lacus and Athrun come with two Haro’s each! Two blue ones for Athrun and two pink ones for Lacus; each figure getting a closed and opened one. I love Haro’s because of how adorable they are. They fit perfectly into each figures hands, making them my favorite extras. 

While both are really nice stand alone pieces, they look the best when displayed together. Their arms line up perfectly so they appear to be almost reaching for each other. I would think a fan of Gundam would probably want to get both of them for their collection!

All in all I’m very much in love with both of them, even with Lacus’ odd lean. Both Athrun and Lacus are up for pre-orders here on Otacute with a release date set for the end of October.

Until next time, happy figure hunting!

“K-On!” Manabe Nodoka

It’s time for a treat from Alter, Nodoka Manabe from K-On! Today we’ll be looking at this 1/8 PVC of our wonderful glasses wearing high school student!

For anyone who hasn’t seen K-On, it’s a light and fluffy 4koma turned anime about the happenings of a certain light music club. Nodoka is the childhood friend of the lead guitarist Yui, and often gets caught up in their nonsense. She’s also on the student council, which is no surprise for a smart and well-mannered girl like herself. Though, she is easily annoyed at the bands drummer, and president, Ritsu, for never doing the proper club forms.

This is one of the first real Nodoka figures to come out, save a few prize figures and a figma, and I always wondered why, seeing as K-On is such a popular show.

Starting with her pose, Nodoka has a fairly basic and nothing special stance going on. She can be displayed with a backwards glance, or full front view, depending on how you use her arms. She is simply Nodoka, no frills or gimmicks, which make her a win/lose depending on what you’re into in a figure. I think if you’re looking for something amazing to display, you’ll probably walk right by her. But if you’re looking for a true to character, simple school girl, you’ve come to the right place.

That being said, I do think Alter could have done more with her, sculpting wise. Coming from a line of figures with very animated poses, Nodoka does stick out like a ridged stick in a field of dancing daisies. There is simply no bounce in her step so to say. Everything about her is like she just stopped to have her photo taken, whereas the rest of the line has been more caught in mid action.

Nodoka comes with several extra parts. She has two sets of arms, on holding her note book with an arm holding down her skirt, and one pushing up her glasses and a hand on her hip. I like both sets, and that they all look good together no matter which two you pick. The pose allows for the arms to really become a focal point, so having several different combos is nice.

She also comes with two smiling expressions, one with an open mouth, and another more serious version. And last but not least, she has a student council armband, as well as a hat. I enjoy these extras because they bring a bit of fun to her blandness. I can see her scolding Yui as I look at her, but at the same time she looks happy to be in her silly little hat.

The sculpting details are up to Alters standards though. Wonderful creases in her outfit, defined hair, round buttons and her signature red glasses are all little details that go a long way in making her perfect.

Not much to say about the coloring besides a nice use of gradient in all areas. Her shoes seem rather shiny compared to the rest of her though, something I’m not a fan of. The eye decals are wonderful, and the little bit of blush on her cheeks makes me smile.

In the long run there is only so much you can say about Nodoka, because there is only so much figure there to review. If you’re a K-On or Nodoka fan I do recommend picking her up like I plan to. She’s well detailed, well colored and has some cool extra parts.

If you’re looking for something with flair, as I said above, you should probably give her a pass.

Whatever you decide she is up her on Otacute for pre-order, with an expected October release. Have a great weekend, and happy figure hunting!