Hi people! Review time again, I have a serious backlog with my figure reviews and that can only be changed with a faster posting pace than in the previous weeks, Wieselhead fighto!!!
Todays victim is Yui Takamura from Muv Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse. I hoped for it to be a hard post apocalyptic action anime, where humanity tries to stop utter defeat by the hands of nasty space aliens. At first it delivered exactly what I hoped for, but soon they exchanged the grim front lines with a cozy test facility for next generation mechs.
Yui Takamura is the Imperial Japanese attendant of the XFJ Plan and overseeing the progress of the test pilots is one of her tasks. One day a new testpilot called Yuuya Bridges arrived a young man who has serious problems with his two part nationality. During the first machine tests several problems occur that leads to direct confrontations between him and his boss, Yui.
Seriously, I loved these passionate arguments full of sexual tension between Yui and Yuuya. Other aspects of Muv Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse are national racism and Cold War themed conflicts between Russia, China and USA. Later it even turned into a harem show at some point. Overall I really liked this show and it’s characters, it had some bumpy directed scenes, but the setting was definitely interesting. I would like to see a continuation of it’s story.
This Yui Takamura was manufactured by Kotobukiya and released at the end of April 2013. She is scaled 1/7 and has a height of 25,50 cm Most or nearly all figures of Yui, Cryska and Inia were made by Kotobukiya and Alpha Max, GSC made some Nendoroids and Max Factory made Figmas. Surprisingly only Kotobukiya felt the urge to adapt the female characters in their pilot suits, the rest is either presented in swimsuits or other skin revealing outfits.
As I checked the pictures after my first shooting of Yui Takamura, I felt that they were terrible. Well after several weeks I ckecked again and was more pleased with the pictures.
Hair & Face
Yui Takamura has beautiful brown hair with quite voluminous bangs. Several long strands of hair are flowing around, it’s like they are slightly touched by a warm breeze of wind. One of her strands is decorated with a white ribbon. The hair is sculpted nicely and has a clean appearance. In case you aren’t prepared for it the deep hanging bangs can be an obstacle when you want to capture her face properly, it’s nice in person, but challenging in terms of photography.
The face from the anime was adapted very well, from the shape to the sparkling purple eyes, Yui looks pretty and alluring as well. Her expression seems to be a bit lost in thoughts or can be also interpret as sad, the slightly open mouth which reveals her teeth is a nice touch to her face.
Outfit & Body
Yui is wearing her pilot suit, that makes her able to use the high maneuverability of her battle mech to the fullest, without loosing consciousness. What I always find funny on figures with plug suits is the posing, often in a pin up style that doesn’t have anything do with the plug suits purpose. After a mission you should be looking forward to undress this tight and sweaty thing.
Yui is no exception to this plug suit matter with her tilted hips and arched back, she looks undeniable sexy. Her rack is quite developed and her rear is nicely shaped as well.
With her Katana she also won’t win against any beta, but ok it is badass and has that noble Samurai touch, that underlines Yui’s determination to fight for a better world that she showed in the anime.
The dress is skintight and shiny like a waxed car, the colors are nice, there is dark purple, construction vehicle orange and a lighter tone of purple. On closer expection the gloss is not as polished as I wanted it to be, but I’m a bit too picky here the only little more bumpy area is noticeable at the side of her thighs. The sculpt has many embossments that accentuate the details all over her suit. The advanced pilot suit also has a number of strange excrescences.
The most flamboyant ones on her hips and chin, the chin guard reminds me of an old Kung Fu Master. Overall I like the design of her suit, it looks futuristic and has appealing colors, the strange thing on her hips is something about it that I don’t like very much, it can’t be helped.
Yui is placed on a nice looking, base, the figure slides in with one foot and hand rests on the wall. Actually the base is very well done, it resembles a concrete ruin and it does that in a really detailed way, with scratches, cracks, realistic brims and shading. There are also a few smaller rocks included that can be placed randomly.
Final Words
Back then I was happy to order Yui Takamura from Kotobukiya, because I liked the show and how this figure looked. As she arrived Yui looked very good with a nice face, nice curves and a cool base. It also is a very well done figure in terms of quality, the paintjob is so good ^^. Only after the not so satisfying photoshoot my enjoyment of the figure decreased quite a bit, on second thought the pictures aren’t bad, but still I don’t feel like keeping her now.
another review of this Yui Takamura figure and of Cryska that I’d actually rather ordered instead can be found at Tier’s Tentacle Armada
BioToxic
I was really disappointed with the Muv-Luv anime. After the first 2 episodes it lost it’s tension and descended into drivel. I still watched it to the end though and would probably watch any continuation since the characters were great fun. One thing that really irked me about the anime was how Yuis’ character falls from being captain cool to an emotional wreck. Why couldn’t they keep her as a strong willed personality is beyond me.
Anyway, I’ve got both Yui and Cryska here sitting by my desk. I’ve actually got a second Yui in a box since I ordered her from Hobby Search and Amiami without realising xD. I really like this version of Yui, her pose and curves are very appealing. And her tight glossy suit is nice to look at. The stone themed base is also a nice addition and adds a bit of context to her figure. I’m glad you like her too.
Speaking of Cryska, I’m not so keen on the Kotobukiya battle suit figure. I much prefer their santa swimsuit version they released a while back. The battle suit one, her face looks a little off – which I think is more to do with the way her eyes are painted.
wieselhead
Hi Toxic, how are you? At first I also was dissapointed by the sudden change from the frontline setting, it could have continued as badass as Shingeki no Kyon.
The transition was also quite bumby, but I found it very entertaining over all, since the characters grow on me.
Yui was bewitched of Yuuya’s manly manliness, I had nothing against some romance, but the harem was a bit much in an action anime.
Lol I guess that happens when you only buy figures from time to time. To keep track of my orders, I use an excel sheet with the figures, the prices and the month of release.
Yui turned out great, Kotobukiya put quite some more effort for Muv Luv figures.
Cryska in bikini looks great and super sexy (*￣Oﾉ￣*), but the girl in suit isn’t bad either, her curves look very appealing and the colors are just awesome.
feal87
I haven’t watched the anime (it’s in my backlog from quite a while), but this figure looks pretty good. The character design isn’t my taste (I prefer skimpier suits ;D), but well…
wieselhead
Im not sure if the start is suitable for you, but Imnsure you will like the bishoujo design of the girls, they look stunning :p
I see I see 😀 Well, Yui also wears a yellow bikini or her uniform…
kixkillradio
Yeah me too, I haven’t watched the anime. Is it good?
This figure of Yui is sexy and very attractive. I think Kotobukiya did a great job on this figure. I like her pose and face as well. She looks pretty.
My favorite is the last photo. I like how that light on the left corner give such a nice effect on the photo.
wieselhead
Hmmm is it good you ask? It has a few flaws at first, but in my opinion it’s a really good action show and the characters are good.
It’s appears better than what Kotobukiya does in general, it’s a convincing figure overall with a very attractive appearance.
Thank you, had to use some minor post processing in photoshop, what I rarely do.
Pinkcheeks
Ohh great photos again my friend! I like your set up and props on the 2nd to the last picture. Are those real blocks? But for the figure itself, yeah, the eyes look a bit off…it’s painted like covering the whole eye area..and I dont like the mix of matte x glossy…well, it’s just me 😀
wieselhead
Thank you, it’s been a while since I took them. Yes, you can get these as model train or Christmas crib accesoires
Haha too bad, actually it’s all glossy except hair & face, but thanks for being honest with me.
Hoshiko
I love her base! But maybe because I’m the kind of person who would decide what figure to buy based on the base…I like how you photographed the figure in your second last picture by making use the ruined concrete-like base to compliment your backdrop. Nicely done.
I find her chin guard overwhelms her face a little, but it’s part of her suit I suppose. Can’t do much about it. It would’ve been more lovely though if I can see her entire face.
wieselhead
Yes it’s quite nice to have a more elaborate base, hehe I see Im more the opposite ;D.
Thanky you. This chin guard is quite distracting I would also prefer to have more face.
Tier
Haha, poor Yui … I guess she flunked her photo audition so out she goes. I have had some figures which I liked more after taking their picture; I guess I can’t really say I have any figures that I liked less, even the ones I really struggled to photograph. (However, there are some figures that I liked less after seeing everyone else’s pictures. Like Black Rock Shooter. Anyone remember Black Rock Shooter? Yeah, me neither.)
To be honest, if you asked me which figure I liked better between Cryska and Yui, I think I’d say Yui, just because she’s standing up. I’m not sure why I have such a preference for figures that are standing; I guess it’s kinda like scale size with me, I really have strong preferences about both of those things.
wieselhead
Don’t get me wrong, I really think that Yui is a well made figure.
As always when Im not too satisfied with a photoshoot I don’t feel like keeping her.
Black Rock Shooter yeah I think it was bad and only looked cool, btw I also sold this figure after the shoot, these were really bad pics XD.
Ah I see, standing figures are also something I prefer, sitting is also nice, lying down is a bit less preferred.
Cryska’s colors are something very appealing about her.
Adam
I’m glad _somebody_ decided to make a proper set of Muv-Luv figures. Bikini figures are a dime a dozen, but these power suit designs are the thing that immediately springs to mind when I think of this series.
Going in, I thought I would like Cryska better than Yui, but after seeing both in person, I find I actually prefer Yui after all. I’m not really sure why. Maybe it’s the colors or the pose. Cryska’s not bad, mind you, but if I could keep only one of the two, it’d be Yui.
wieselhead
Yes, well bikini figures are nice, but these pilot suit figures portray the action aspect of the origin in a better way.
Ahaha I see, I don’t think Yui is far behind Cryska, but I like the brighter colors and the curvier curves ore.
Bakayaro
Ein wenig spät aber besser als nie. =D
Ich habe ja ehrlich gesagt noch nie einen Blick in diese Serie geworfen trotzdem gefallen mir die Figuren von Kotobukiya sehr gut. Diese Kurven in den hautengen scheinenden Anzügen sind einfach… hnnng! Da guckt man gerne zweimal hin. Aber irgendwie habe ich mir trotzdem noch keine Figur gekauft weil mir einfach der Bezug dazu fehlt. =/ Habe sie ja sogar im Kotobukiya Craftmanship in Tokyo selber betrachten können und sie sehen einfach toll aus. :3
Deine Fotos gefallen mir übrigens wie eigentlich immer sehr gut. Die Farben des Anzugs sind auch einfach schön und der Kontrast von dieser glänzenden sauberen Kleidung zu den “dreckigen” Hintergründen gefällt mir sehr gut. =)
wieselhead
Ja, stimmt schon, aber fiel mir echt schwer nach der Urlaubsphase wieder einzusteigen.
Achso, naja unterhaltsam war es auf jeden Fall und gute Robo Action, mehr Geballere wäre prima gewesen.
Das Design der Anzüge ist scharf wie ich finde, die Kurven der Mäddels sind sehr gut betont darin ^^
Ah verstehe, ja alle 3 sind eigentlich toll, evtl folgt noch die Chinesin mit Twintails.
Danke sehr für das Feedback