Kiyou was released in December 2020 and is scaled 1/6 and with 260 mm and the extra volume of the character she has a quite impressive appearance. The sculptor in charge was Tsutakaze Toshi.
The figure was manufactured by Daiki Kougyou.

I’ve always been a fan, their choice of characters to be turned into figures is often really good, it are mainly curvy ero manga characters, that range from demon girls, sexy housewife, girlfriend or Walkure Romanze characters.

The character has been illustrated by Akasa Ai. The figure has the following parts included in the box, a green grass base, a staff as weapon (the tiny circles at the top can be rotated), There are two hair pieces; one with visor and one without, exchangeable arms and a torso without clothes are also included.

Obviously Kikyou is a pointy eared Elf, I mainly ordered her because of that, which might be a bad impulse to spend 20.000 Yen.

Kikyou is a pretty Elf, the cute head is great. The face is nice, on one side it has a mature motherly warmth, but it also looks youthful and bubbly. The eye decals are very well made. The nose is nicely sculpted, but her open mouth is really outstanding with its level of detail and the addition of a tongue. What I also really like about her is the beautiful hair, sculpting and coloring are great.

I think the figure is not bad at all, but I will go into detail about her few shortcomings and the good sides in the following text.

Kikyou is a very nice big figure, she has a great looking outfit. Cape and dress create a good combination. You can display her with cape or without, I like her with just the cocktail dress and choker.

Everything looks pleasant when she is fully or partially dressed, she holds the magical staff tightly under her breast which looks amusing. The cape covers over her shoulders has a nice pattern.

Daiki Kougyou figures nearly always provide a cast off feature. It offers different display options, when swapping parts color transfer can happen, those paint transfers are often easy to remove, but it’s still annoying.

In the nude display option her boobs and wide hips are exposed. In any case I prefer the dressed display option, the nude display option doesn’t look as good as on other Daiki Kougyou figures.

The cocktail dress has a tight fit and accentuates the figures beautiful body, the belly is partially exposed. The blue color looks really great and bold and the white parts increase the contrast. The area of bare legs between boots and dress is very attractive.

Overall, the figures is pretty and the face is simply gorgeous with the detailed sculpt and adorable happy expression. The overall quality is good, the paint is cleanly applied and there are no rough areas or ugly seamlines on the sculpt at all. The only bigger flaw is that the back of the exchangeable torso doesn’t align properly.

Today I’ll show you Takatsuki Akiko, a figure made by Daiki Kougyou. The figure of the cute housewife is scaled 1/5, she has been sculpted by Toushirou . The figure was delayed a few times, but finally was released in February 2020.

What a joy to receive the very first new figure of the year, I had no new one since October 2019, mainly due to delays, but also because I was scammed by Nippon Yasan I didn’t receive figures I’ve been waiting for, but that is a long story.

Takatsuki Akiko is based on an artwork from Ojo it should be no surprise that the illustrators works are mainly of ecchi nature. I really like the unique design of his characters faces. It was one thing that made me interested in this figure, sure she has her nice curves, but there is also her very sweet face, the facial features remind me of Mariah Carey.

The boobs look beautiful with the shiny nipples it’s simply an alluring sight. There is also her cute plump butt, ah she is such a sweetie lol. What I like aside from this are the wrinkles at the sides as a effect of her turned torso, the rather big hands and feet and overall the slightly stout overall appearance of the figure.

Her face is so darn cute when it conveys a feeling of embarrassed and joy. The woman is described as being mother in her mid twenties, so her face is quite youthful, her hazel brown eyes beem with energy. The smile of her mouth is very nice, too I like how the corners of her lips are curled upwards and how her teeth are showing. She rather visibly blushing lines and a white highlight circle at the cheeks. Under the left eye a beauty mark has been set in place.

Takatsuki Akiko has nicely detailed brown hair, sculpted in a light wavy hairstyle, at her left side, she tied up one flock of strands with a pink scrounchy. If there is one thing I would complain about at this figure it would be the green cloth at the back of her head, it won’t even come off *grrrrrr*.

The figure is obviously a cast off one, the process is designed in a smart way, you can decide for about more than 10 combinations, probably. By default she wears an apron above a purple colored jersey jacket, above a yellow bikini combined with a half downed pantyhose.

The latter one won’t come off after all. The clothes have nice strong colors, but have a tendency to stain the nude figure easily, it comes off again but still means additional care from the owner.
I currently have her on display with the yellow bikini only.

She is a very pretty ero figure with just the right amount of chubbiness and a nice soft appearance of the skin.
It’s a detailed nude body with everything I would think is appealing. The hips are wide and she shows a nice waist.

From normal angles you don’t see her anatomically correctly sculpted part, you know in general I don’t take pictures of those spots anyway. What is nevertheless nice is the pubic hair which is printed on in a butterfly shape.

Final Words

I’m basically overjoyed about this figure, is cute and erotic. The Ojo character design has been adapted very well, the face which combines cartoon and anime aesthetics is quite appealing. Takatsuki Akiko has a beautiful face, I really like her eyes. The figure looks embarrassed but also happy which is fun. Additionally she has a sexy, cuddly body. The different options to display her are good to have, even when there is a risk of color transfer, I appreciate the cast off feature of this figure. Daiki Kougyou is known for making attractive, wholesome figures and this one is no exception.

The figures release was in July 2019. She was sculpted by Shunzou. Natsukusa is scaled 1/6 and is 27 cm tall.

I was looking forward to receive the figure, although the first thing I noticed about it was the troublesome castoff feature, when she arrived at home her dress was already popped open the panties didn’t fit into place. So the first impression of this figure was a mayor letdown, honestly. I ordered this figure because of her enchanting appearance in dressed state. For the review I skipped the castoff feature, since the dress and stuff is too much trouble to deal with.

Natsukusa greets us with a wide and very sweet smile. Her aquamarine colored eyes are very clear and crisp, it’s nice how her eyes are aiming to the side. The figures face reminds me a little of Tony Taka just a bit more lively ^^.

The figure has nice brown hair with cleanly sculpted and carved strands, the parted bangs create an interesting look. One odd thing is that the left strand of hair is attached to the shoulder via 2 block shaped pegs, in my opinion a totally unnecessary thing. Surely the arm must come off, to take off the dress, but what has the hair to do with that.

Natsukusa apparently is a beautiful girl from the countryside, her body is very pretty and shows the figures nice womanly curves. Generally she has a sturdy build frame with nice bare legs, an ample bosom and wide hips.

The innocent summer dress doesn’t look especially innocent on her, though. Its a nicely sculpted summerly dress with a pretty lacy seamline, it looks light and thin and all the folds create a realistic outfit. The dotted ribbon around her waist is a nice additional detail. Around her left arm and right leg are thin white ribbons attached. I also love the huge straw hat of the figure, optionally you can also place a sunflower in the figures cleavage.

Pulling and tugging at her summer dress makes everything look a bit teasing and flirty without being too bold overall.

The pose and body language of the figure are great , I really like the tilted head in combination with the position of her eyes.

Final Words

Natsukusa overall is an enchanting anime figure with a wonderful holiday atmosphere, her overall appearance is great, although there are a few problems with her outfit, like I really can’t use her panties, what a shame XD
The character nevertheless has a really good looking face and a dynamite body.

I believe that without castoff option the figures dress would fit much better, here and there it hangs around a bit loose. The dress material on the other hand is very hard and allows not much movement and I would not recommend to put it on and off too often. Anyway the positive things outshine the bad things, Natsukusa is a wonderful figure barefoot and with straw hat.

There are a number of nice figures that are going to be released around autumn 2019. For me t’s quite hard to decide which one I would like the most. Buying more figures than 15 is definitely out of question though.

Lucoa – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid -Casual Wear ver.

I really like the Lucoa character and this figure of her is a nice adaptation of the curvy dragon. It is quite nice how the 1/7 scaled figure stands there with a cute pose and the main outfit from the “Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid” anime.
She is announced to be released in August and her official non discounted price is 17.800 Yen *omg*

Emilia – Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World

Well, I rarely seen a show more broken than Re:ZERO XD not because it was bad, but because it’s a story with highly disturbing events. I don’t want get reminded of it. Nevertheless this Emilia looks wonderful and her buddy Puck is the cutest. This Emilia is going to get released in September. Her figure is scaled 1/8 and the official price is 13.800 Yen.

Akagi – DreamTech – Azur Lane [Rakuen no Higanbana]

I’ve never seen a bikini figure with a more perfect psycho expression on the face than this Akagi and she looks great that way. The figure seems to be really nicely sculpted,also pose and outfit look terrific. She is going to get released in September and the official price asked for her is also 13.800 Yen

Super Sonico China Dress ver. – Emon Restaurant Series

Can’t have enough Sonico figures, can I? With this alternative hairstyle and tight china dress the figure looks quite… tasty. She is looking cute and has the obligatory big boobs and wide hips of Sonico. She is scaled 1/7 and will probably be released in October and officially costs 12.800 Yen.

Atago – Manatsu no Koushinkyoku ver. – Azur Lane

I think this Atago looks better than her recently listed sister Atago even though she is way more expensive. The figure has a beautiful head with a great flirty expression and nicely shaped body. The white bikini and beach accessories gives her some elegance. She will be released in October or by the manufacturers habit some time LATER. Officially this Atago costs 17.800 Yen and is scaled 1/7.

Akiko Takatsuki – Midareta Tanaoroshi

Actually this post feels a bit unnecessary, since the figure I probably like the most from the list is Takatsuki Akiko from Daiki Kougyou. It’s an adaptation from illustrator Ojo and I really like the unique facial features of the figure she is is beautiful and a little lewd, I like that She is castoff able, too. my only bothering thing is the towel on her head. She is also going to get released in October With an 1/5 scale the figure is rather big, her price is about 18.000 yen.

You see, I have a few problems to decide to preorder the last figure for 2019.
Whom from the figures listed would be your choice as last figure order of 2019?

The prices became too crazy recently I also think about only ordering 8 figures for 2020, the stress on the budget has been too high for the past 3 months and space is another factor, so I realized that I can’t continue like in the last few years, so the plan is to only order 8 a year, I hope I can endure that ^^

The plan of buying less figures than last year works so far, although it makes the hobby more exhausting, when I decide about the pro and cons of certain figures, compare them and decide against preordering instantly, instead of ordering everything pleasant for the eye.

Some more months passed after New Preorders part 25, since then I accumulated 4 orders and that justifies a new Preorder Post, it’s part 26 of New Preorders. I will talk about my preorders and other figures that appeared recently and I consider as appealing.

Ordered Items

Fate/EXTRA – Saber EXTRA

I was very much looking forward to the day preorders were opened, I saw this Saber at last years Wonderfestival as she was still an early prototype. A more curvy Saber in swimsuit is the right thing for me, I got super excited as I’ve learned that she’s scaled 1/6. I like most alternative Saber figures, I already have the Saber Maid R, which I still think is awesome. This Saber has a confident face expression and body language and appears a little teasing and dangerous, not to forget that she looks damn hot ;D

manufacturer: Alter release date: August 2015 scale: 1/6 price: 11.664 Y

Nakahara Tomoe

With a official price of 14.815 ¥, This is probably is my most expensive preorder, since Native doesn’t ship to germany and I wasn’t that determined to pay a proxy, shiping costs and customs fees, I placed my order at a german shop, Figuya.com. It’s based on a Toni Taka artwork, what I like is that sculptor applied a few changes on her face to make her look more distinctive. The figure has a rich design and looks just beautiful. As Native figure she is supposed to be a little sexy, she’s not as lewd as other Native products she shows her allure with her low cleavage and revealed legs, she has optional panties and a partial castoff feature.

The figure is sitting on a tableclothed table and also comes with a big traditional umbrella.

manufacturer: Native release date: August 2015 scale: 1/7 price: 14.815 Y

Shigure – Kancolle

In their evolved form Shigure and Yudachi are the coolest looking Destroyer Class girls. As I saw Shigure shown at the last Wonfes I literally freaked out since she is one of my favorite ship girls, if they had shown Samdare I would have probably suffered a heart attack XD

The design is based on a collector card, that is why she looks a little different than in the Kancolle browsergame, but it is no drestic difference, she’s still looking awesome. I like that she has these big guns, GSC also made them exchangeable with smaller guns, I’ve read that it is also possible to remove the gunholder at her back. The torpedo pods are rotateable.

manufacturer: GSC release date: September 2015 scale: 1/8 price: 13.704 Y

Kafuu Chino – Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka?

Awww this was a warm and sweet slice of lifew anime, have you seen it? Chino is a girl who works at a coffee shop, even with her young age she is very composed and demure, still she is really cute when interacting with her friends. I was really happy about this figure announcement from Ques Q, Chino looks really adorable, I love her pretty uniform and the cute facial expression. She’s listed as 1/7 scaled figure what I really appreciate.

It’s funny that this figure is so not fitting with my other preorders this year, you can guess why. Since she comes out in the same month, I combined her order with the buxom Succubus lady, which I start to feel embarassed about, I can’t imagine myself to display the 1/6 Demon girl though I’m also looking forward to it and her beautiful face… whatever.

manufacturer: Ques Q release date: July 2015 scale: 1/7 price: 9.200 Y

 Moco – Captain Earth – Dengeki Special version

I’m a big fan of Captain Earth, it’s the kind of show I enjoy with action, friendship, romance and cool villains. At least one figure of it was announced, Moco one of the villains, not my favorite character from the show, but it’s fair enough. Yeah she’s a sensual character and her clothes are raher extreme. As special version she has some extra parts. I did not hear much praise about Embrace Japan but I can’t be picky also the prototype looks more than just good.

 manufacturer: Embrace Japan release date: July 2015 scale: 1/8 price: 10.260 Y

Interesting figures

I haven’t ordered these figures, but at least I find them overly interesting and like to list them. It’s unfortunately that most are sheduled for a July release, with 3 preorders in this month I’m already full. Nevertheless, feel free to tell my which one you like or which not, or which figure you would like to see in a review

Push!! Cover Girl

I feel like I’ve waited an eternity for this figure to reach preorder status, I was follwing the “progress” since it was a grey unpainted prototype. I was delighted to see her ready last Wonfes, but you know happened I don’t want her that badly anymore, that feels so bad.

I recently read a nice quote about her on mfc “seems like a long time since figures with this kind of art style has been made.” Well, it probably wasn’t the intention of the writer, but you can say that she as figure is kinda outdated after these three years. She’s nevertheless cute, don’t you think? I can’t help myself I hate these shoes and socks, that is no convincing beach figure…

 manufacturer: Orchid Seed release date: September 2015 scale: 1/7 price: 11.000 Y

Girls und Panzer – Yukari Akiyama

This figure is a great portray of the friendly tank otaku Yukari, Girls und Panzer was one of my top favorite animes recently and I approve of this, be it the dress, the way she is posed or her friendly and bright smile, she’s very cute and surprisingly affordable. Would be cool if all characters of team Anglerfisch would get a figure, I’m no fan of sets, but would consider to make an exception here.

 manufacturer: Kotobukiya  release date: July 2015 scale: 1/8 price: 7.800 Y

Katsuragi Nama – Senran Kagura

This Katsuragi figure has a certain feature, you can put things between her soft boobs…
I kind of like how this figure is made, her body looks great and the carttonish Senran Kagura style has been adapted faithfully. Ok the often so confident Katsuragi doesn’t look that happy, but that also has a certain appeal to some folks. She’s somehow very cute.

 manufacturer: Toy’s Works release date: June 2015 scale: 1/8 price: 10.250 Y

Mobile Suit Gundam: Sayla Mass

I don’t know this character to be honest, but I like pretty vintage space opera costumes like hers, the woman herself has a nice expression on her face and an appealing hairstyle.

 manufacturer: MegaHouse release date: July 2015 scale: 1/8 price: 9.000 Y

Bertille Althusser – Walkure Romanze More & More

I like the design of this figure quite a lot, much more than their previous bikini armor figures to be honest, since bikini and armor have a more appealing desgn. Daiki is always good with strong and buxom warrior lady’s like Bertille is and recreated her alluring body’s in a very detailed way, even better since she’s scaled 1/6. Bertille has lovey corkscrew braids, too. While we are speaking about it, does Daiki still use these cheap black bases?

 manufacturer: Daiki Kogyo release date: September 2015 scale: 1/6 price: 14.800 Y

Sinon – Sword Art Online II

A figure that portrays Sinon as an even more badass sniper that she actually already is. I like that the face goes into a more realistic direction. Also she appears very detailed and nicely made, the 1/7 makes it more interesting, the retail list price unfortunately is a bit high, even when most shops have a discount.

manufacturer: Aquamarine release date: July 2015 scale: 1/7 price: 14.040 Y

Chitoge Kirisaki – Nisekoi

I plan to watch this show in the next few weeks, Chitoge has a very distinctive appearance as character, I’m already enchanted. Alter made anbespecially great looking figure in a lovely casual outfit captured in a super dynamic, cheerful pose. I love the details of her face so much. Damn July release, hopefully I can get her later… delay, delay, Delay!

manufacturer: Alter release date: July 2015 scale: 1/8 price: 12.744 Y

Upcoming figures I’m interested in

Sansei Muramasa – Bunny version

That is probably my favorite bunny suit figure, since she looks beautiful in it. She will have a happy face and an emarassed one. The figure is still work in progress, but I assume her to be ready for preorders within the next two months.

manufacturer: Wing release date: ? scale: 1/7 price: ?

After just one month in between, it is already time for a new preorder post, in the last few weeks several manufactures announced their latest  and upcoming figures that were shown at the last Wonder Festival. It was hard to choose, this time I added some longer awaited figures to my list.

Recently announced figures I find partially interesting (not ordered)

Estellise Sidos Heurassein – ALTER

Hehe look at this adorable strawberry milk drops, isn’t she jjust adorable with her charming smile. I don’t know her game, but Im quite enchanted by this figure, her face is already quite nice, but also her outfit is simply beautiful. The figure comes with landscape like base and a chibi figure of Estellise. I should actually consider to get this charming beauty.

Saten Ruiko – Chara Ani / Toy’s Works

This figure of Saten is enchanting … and here my manufacturer prejudices sense kicks in.

 Nyaruko – Max Factory

I love Haiyore! Nyaruko-san and I like Nyaruko as character, but my natural “naked apron” aversion prevents me from iordering this figure. Even though the frills are very cute.

Ishikki Akane – GSC

I was sure to get her, after I’ve seen her unpainted at Wonfes, despite her silly origin XD Now that I look at it something is missing, I can’t say what, can you say whats wrong with Akane?

Mamiya Marie – FREEing / Dragon Toys

Milf anyone? What are you saying Wieselhead don’t use such lewd words here that might scare the audience X<. Well, forgetting about her fetish origin Starless, Marie is a very attractive figure, portraying an adult woman. She has great curves, obviously, but the part I like the most is her beautiful face. Marie is scaled 1/6 but on the downside she costs 13.400 Yen, literally too much.

Hasegawa Kobato – Kotobukiya

This one isn’t up for preorders at the moment, but definetely something I consider to get. Kobato is the archetype of a cute goth loli and I like what Koto did with her, the face is cute and the dress looks lovely. I also think that the chair is a cool accessory/base. Kobato get.

Kashiwazaki Sena – Aoshima

Ah GK adaptions my secret love, GK always feel much more inspired than popular PVC figures. Aoshima got the rights for one of Sena’s best GK, Aoshima who also makes diecast kits of cool Japanes cars, recently found their love for girls. I want to give them a chance when this Sena is up for preorders soon. On the pictures so far she seems to be promising.

The False Songstress – Sheryl Nome – Max Factory

Thats a pretty much elaborate sculpt of Sheryl Nome, with an artistic diorama base and a very detailed sculpting of the character. Im sure that Max Factory will deliver a fantastic figure, but I don’t like Sheryl enough to spend around 16000 Yen for this figure.

Oda Yae – Daiki Kougyou

She’s pretty nude *huh* ? I can’t help myself, but I like her healthy proportions and her wide face with this cute expression. Displaying her like that would be rather troublesome, I actually could try to give her some clothes, but Im not if it’s worth the trouble to begin with.

What I actually ordered instead.

Maeda Keiji – ALTER / Hobby Japan

Lets start this post with a BANG! This is the figure of Maeda Keiji from the action – comedy anime Hyakka Ryouran. Maeda is a Hobby Japan Exclusive, the order period  is  from 2013/4 till 2013/6/.  She was sculpted by Tanaka Sen’u who already made a number of nice figures.
The figure grabbed my attention as I’ve seen her illustration in the Wonfes Wishlist Winter 2013 post at Plastic Parfait.  I thought it would be something worth to keep an eye on.

A few days ago her painted prototype was revealed and I totally love how the figure turned out, her colorful outfit is great and the upbeat looking face is lovely, the Nitro+ style is very well recreated on this figure. I also like the amount of revealed, sexy skin and the huge umbrella.

Maeda Keiji is scaled 1/8 (280mm) and her release is planned for September this year.

Super Sonico PKG ver. – Orchid Seed

It got a bit silent in terms of announced Super Sonico figures that I want to have, but Orchid Seed came to my rescue and announced the imo best Sonico figure ever! Yeah Im pretty much excited about this one. Since she was a grey prototype, I waited impatiently to order her.
Im happy about nice and new figures of this cute and curvy, pink haired girl, called Sonico.

PKG is no nameplay on a popular manufacturer of headphones, it stands for Sonicomi Package version. The figure is based on the illustration of the Sonicomi game manual the swimsuit with stockings and heavy boots is an unusual yet nice creation. I like that Sonico is standing up.

This figure shows her in a rather chilled way which is quite nice in my opinion, after all the flustered and happy faces. The Sonico PKG figure is scaled in a not very common 1/5 with
330 mm she will be a rather tall figure. The release is sheduled for December 2013. ♡(>◡<)♡

Alleyne – Queen’s Blade – Orchid Seed

A 1/6 scaled Queen’s Blade figure from a Company known for great body sculpting, count me in. Swimsuit figures are nice when put into interesting poses that differs  from the hundreds of other swimsuit girls. Alleyne looks a bit like she’s annoyed by her wet hair. I have a weak spot for pointy ear elf girls and this one also has cute, flushed cheeks and an overall pretty face.

The leaf bikini of this figure looks rather interesting, the contrast between skintone and green is very nice. In case someone wants to see whats below, the figure is also completely castoffable.

1/6 is a nice scale for such a  figure, 270 mm of appealing and flushed elf service *Wafuuu*. Nevertheless the release is far away, I actually have to wait for the release date until January 2014, on the other hand it’s good that Alleyne  isn’t part of my figure budget of 2013.

Kanbaru Suruga – Bakemonogatari – GSC

Finally! Finally !!! I didn’t get my hands on this figure as she could be preordered, but in the end I got her from a nice MFC member in an unopened state, for a higher price than on release of course. Why can’t I sell my figure like that? Im probably too impatient to wait for “victims”.

Anyway the fgure arrived a few days ago and she looks really cool with her booktowers base and michievous smile. Im happy to have her and looking forward to take pictures of Kanbaru.

On a sidenote I hated her character with passion in the anime, but only at first. For the rest of the show and the second season she really grow on me, and turned into one of my favorite Bakemonogatari characters. With Shinobu and Kanbaru I now have the Bakemonogatari figures from GSC that I’ve wanted. Too bad they made no figure of Araragi so far.

Mission accomplished!

Haruka Amami –  Cu-Poche – Idolm@ster – Kotobukiya

I already mentioned this one in the New Preorders part 15 post, but after I’ve seen pictures like here, I definetely wanted to get her. Due to high demand the figure was restocked and I secured my order instantly. A Cu Poche is something like a Nendoroid sized action- figure with doll joints and mangnetic feet. I never was a fan of posing Nendoroids, maybe it will be a bit more comfortable with this adorable and cute looking Haruka from Kotobukiya.

The Delays

Due to some delayed figures I could sqeeze two more orders into the already full April. The Delays were rather unwanted ones, even though the overall sum of figure purchases in April decreased because of it . Man I really wanted my Akari in April, but ALTER seems to have a few problems with their production facilities and pushed her back to summer. Akari included they nearly delayed all of their announced figures for the next few months. Prism Illya was only delayed by one month.

Which figures from my listed items, have you ordered ?

sorry all vote plugins are bullying me!

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Today I’ll let down my pants, only in the figurative sense, of course

Inspired by Adam’s Figure Financials posts I decided that I wanted to create something similar by the end of this year. I’m fully aware that a detailed look at the figure expenses of this year might be a shocking experience, but join me  and face the ugly truth in this post.

Let’s take a look at the things I’ve bought this year, overall it were 27 figures that I’ve purchased and received this year, 1 less compared to 2011. Since I already sold 2 figures I end up with a number of overall 25 collected figures in 2012, it was one of my goals to stay under 28 figures.

monthly figure expenses

In the diagram below every bar shows what I’ve spent each month, surprisingly I ordered nothing in February and May. With 4 figures, I kind of overdid it in June and October, it were expensive months, but this also partially happened because of unforeseen events. In November I also ordered 4 figures, but these figure were from the aftermarket and comparatively cheap.

I won’t write down the entire sum I’ve spent this year, it would be a too big shock for me XD

manufacturer appointments

It looks like I chose ALTER for most of my purchases, their figures really caught my interest even some older figures from them. Surprisingly GSC, which I really can’t stand or better said it’s the constant hype about their products. Anyway I went out of my way and ordered four of their figures, I really like Sayaka and Shinobu. I also got really nice figures from Max Factory.
For some reason I only ordered 3 (4) Orchid Seed figures, maybe that will change in 2013.

I also tried different companies, that I’ve never bought from before, like Alpha Max, Native, Daiki Kougyou, PLUM, Phat Company and Volks who will relase their Nagisa figure soon. Unlike my bad experience with Griffon, these companies provided solid quality and very good figures.

Shop appointments

new exclusive and old figures comparison

Aside from 15 new figures, I bought 5 Exclusive figures (Sonico – Bath Time version,
Noel Vermillion, Miku Hatsune – Cheerful Japan, the Sonico Nendoroid and Nagisa).
The 7 old figures were Max Factories Tamaki Kousaka and Haruhi Suzumiya Gekisou version, Echidna from Megahouse. From ALTER I ordered the Louise Francoise – school uniform version, Fate/Hollow Ataraxia – Saber Maid R and non R version and Fauna at last.

I spent a lot for the Tamaki figure, but in other cases there were a number of significant price drops at Mandarake and AmiAmi preowned in this year, these prices were so low that I couldn’t resist these figures I always was slightly interested in. Asida from Echidna, who had a stained butt (it wasn’t me XD) I made no bad experiences with these aftermarket figures.

additional costs

When looking a these numbers I’m quite surprised that the custom fees only take ten percent of the spent budget, hehe four times my packages weren’t charged. 17 percent for shipping also appears lower than expected, this year I used more SAL shipping and domestic shipping, when more figures arrive in one month it makes no sense to use EMS for all orders. I used EMS 11 times, SAL 12 times and domestic shipping for local shops was used 4 times.

favorite figures of the year

Ok, enough of these dry statistics lets end this post with my personal favorites of the figures I’ve purchased this year this year.

Bakemonogatari – Oshino Shinobu (Good Smile Company)

This was my first GSC figure that I actually like a lot. The donut eating loli vampire Shinobu from Bakemonogatari was very well recreated in this figure, be it the adorable and cute face, the petite appearance of her body. Also the outfit with the cool motorcycle helmet and the light looking summer dress are also a convincing part of her. While not being sculpted perfectly sharp, the donut bed like base with it’s overload of details is a nice addition to the figure.

Another nice detail is that she can be taken off her base and be placed nearly everywhere.

Ikki Tousen Xtreme Xecutor – Kan’u Unchou (Daiki Kougyou)

I saw, drooled in excitement and ordered ^^. This figure appeared convincing for me from the day she was announced. I like Ikki Toussen quite a bit, but I never bought a figure of it before.

With this figure Daiki came especially close to my image of Kanu. Her powerful fighting pose and the well trained, attractive body were quite appealing. The figure of Kanu has a kinda angry determined face expression, while I prefer cute expressions in general, I was fascinated by the look of this figure. As my first experience with Daiki Kougyou, Im quite satisfied with their work. The sculpting and the painting on clothes and figure turned out very well

Soukou Akki Muramasa – Sansei Muramasa – Maid (Max Factory)

This was quite maid year in terms of figures for me, but Sansei Muramasa throned above all of them. I was interested in her since a certain Wonfes a few years ago. I am totally happy that I was convinced to get her in the end. Her appearance of a grown up and very attractive dark skinned elf is really enchanting. Muramasa has a beautiful face, the eyes are very expressive and also the unique combination of a slightly embarrassed and pouting  face expression are nice.

Her dress is lovely with the detailed ruffles and also the color combination of cream white and silky shine black a quite classy, elaborate look is created. The figure also offers a cool looking base with red floor and a pretty table where parts of the included coffee dishes can be placed.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai – Takayama Maria (Max Factory)

Im still not a fan the Maria character, but she’s cute loli anyway. As image for the sculpting and painting Max Factory relied on the illustrator of the Novels, Buriki who has a quite unique style.
I really love how the face of this figure was adapted, she has super detailed eyes, blush marks and a cute open mouth with a sharp little fang. This Maria Takayama is a high quality figure with great looking body sculpting and an overall lively and playful appearance.

The dress is a little odd for a figure of a young girl, but is is very well done with pretty gloss and detailed shading effects. With a happy Maria inside the dress actually looks more cute than lewd.

To Heart 2 – Kousaka Tamaki – (Max Factory AquaPlus)

I saw this figure in the past, but in this year I noticed how appealing this figure actually is and was searching on the aftermarket. friend on MFC helped me and so I got my Tamaki Kousaka.

Not a cheap deal, but it was worth every cent. She looks a little different compared to her visual novel and anime origin, but in this case that is nothing bad.  On her fluffy, round base Tamaki radiates a romantic, cozy atmosphere what is quite charming in my eyes. The long red hair is pretty, the round face with the big eyes, rosy cheeks and the gentle smile on her mouth is really enchanting. The combination of a quite innocent appearance and an attractive curvy body works very well with this figure. Overall, the sculpting and paintjob of her are really top notch.

I still think that her boobs are too big, but with a cute face like this I accept this “minor” detail ;D

Nitro Super Sonic – Sonico –  Bath Time version (Native)

This was my first figure from Native actually, more importantly is that she’s a huge 1/6 scaled Sonico. I liked the creativity of pose and base a lot, these three little bathing friends are really cute accessories. The figure also has a very detailed and convincing face expression. I also like that they added more meat to this sculpt of Sonico like the Tsuji Santa artstyle always implies.

The figure can be displayed naked, not to the extent of most Native figures, but in my opinion  she looks best with one of her towels applied.Minor flaws are too faint blush marks and a  not that sexy looking butt, but nevertheless she is without question one of the best Sonico figures so far with the  Sonico – Bondage version from Orchid Seed following close afterwards.

Senran Kagura – Hibari (Phat Company)

I was quite happy as the cute GK of Hibari was quickly adapted to be turned into a PVC figure.
I didn’t had that much trust into Phat Company to begin with. But after unpacking her I was very much delighted, she looked very well done and came without major flaws. I love the cheerful face of Hibari with her flower eyes and the happy open mouth. I also liked her busty schoolgirl appearance dressed up in cute sportswear, like the jersey and the short bloomers that accentuates her meaty thighs. Her loose socks and the shoes are also a very cool detail.

Since I awaited this figure from Phat Company with lowered expectations my joy about her very good quality and looks were kinda amplified and Im still very happy about her purchase.

Do you have favorite figures from the ones you’ve bought?

Final Words

So far I always planned my purchases on a monthly basis, so that I won’t overstep my budget, in this post it was  interesting to take a look at the overall purchases of my figure hobby in this year. It appears like a lot of money and it probably is, but the truth is that there were more nice and pretty figures that I wanted to get n 2012, but I wanted to show at least a little retention.

Next year will be full of nice figures as well and I already preordered a few things, but lets see what and how many figures I will add to my next orders.

And you, Do you take a look back at your purchases and expenses of this year?

I there anyone who spent more? please let me know.

Today I’ll present you a review of one of my most awaited figures in this year, this Kan’u Unchou.
It’s actually my first figure from this manufacturer and also my very first Ikki Tousen figure.

The Ikki Tousen Xtreme Xecutor version of Kan’u Unchou was manufactured by Daiki Kougyou, the figure was announced nine months ago and the release occured on November 16th 2012.
The figure of Kan’u is scaled 1/6 and has a good height of 28 cm (32 cm with her spear weapon).

I ordered her for 11920 Yen at Ami Ami, SAL shipping turned out cheaper than expected.

Her origin is the anime adaption of Ikki Tousen, the show is loosely based on the events and characters from the “Romance of the three kingdoms”, where modern Japan sees a similar struggle for power between different rival schools with the three strongest leaders. There are many healthy female Warriors who are involved into a lot of fights and battle damaged clothes.

I started to like the anime, after I’ve watched all three seasons that were available at that time at once. After the terrible first season from J.C. Staff, Arms continued the franchise in a better way, Dragon Destiny was a lot better and Great Guardians would be my favorite of these three.

Compared to the manga the anime is a bit different and it’s a pity that each season so far was only 12-13 episodes long, but overall it is a very entertaining show for me with appealing character designs. I especially like the characters from Seito and Nanyu and their interactions.

Kan’u is from Seito Academy, together with Chouhi, Koumei and Chou’un she is protecting her leader Ryuubi Gentoku, who is actually more into reading books than fighting and the school.

Kan’u is actually no lesbian, but she has strong romantic feelings torwards her leader Ryuubi.

With Special A Toushi Rank, Kan’u is one of the strongest and skilled fighters in Ikki Tousen.

Hair & Face

Kanu’u is a pretty girl with very long dark aubergine-colored hair with some lighter shading, the sculpting of it was done in a rather dynamic way even at the back it looks very nice. Her hair is showing many single strands all around, one of her eyes is hidden by a bang. At the back of her hair there is a metallic colored pipe like hairclip that holds everything together at the end.

A part I really like about the figure is the pretty face which shows an convincing expression, that is full angry determination and pride. In general I stay away from figures with in my eyes, too serious facial expression, but I like how Kan’u looks in this figure adaption. The slanted eye(s) captures the attractive style from the anime very well and lets the figure appear very lively.

Her mouth also looks very good, both lips are nicely sculpted and add a lot facial detail to the figure, the slightly rosy cheeks are another little but nice detail of her face.

Body & Outfit

Kan’u Unchou is a 19 year old girl, with the three sizes 96 – 60 – 91. Her height of 1,72 m makes her taller than your average Japanese women. I really like how sexy this figure is, the subtle muscular limbs show her well toned body, yet Kan’u looks still very feminine and curvy.

Her big round boobs are really nice in my opinion, they have an appealing shape and some underboob appeal is implemented, it might appear a bit odd that her boobs point upwards, but it can be justified with her dynamic fighting pose and some overflowing Chi, I don’t really mind.
Aside from that the body of Kan’u offers a nice belly as well as nice hips and meaty thighs.

The schools in Ikki Tousen were always lawless areas, I actually never saw a teacher or student council there and therefore nobody cares about the modified length of her shirt. Aside from this little modification Kan’u wears the Seito typical sailor uniform, a white short sleeved shirt with blue stripes, a blue skirt, loose socks and school model shoes. The sculpting of both, shirt and skirt looks very elaborate, detailed wrinkles and shading give her dress a nearly lifelike appearance.

The skirt comes off at the side and high cut panties are revealed. With her boobs so nice, round, ripe and bouncy it’s quite a shame that the shirt won’t come of on Moeyo it was shown that the figure can be forcefully castoff, but I think she was actually too expensive to make such a stunt.

As weapon Kan’u is wielding her “Blue Dragon Crescent Blade” Spear, it has a nice metallic like color with some shading. The spears has to be pushed (not pressed) it into her left hand, with the right technique it is a do-able task and once in place it’s stays firm and looks cool.

A more major letdown is actually the base, I already expected that I wouldn’t get the wooden disk from the promo shots, but a plain black disk with a cheap plastic shine is underwhelming for such a high quality figure. The figure is supported via two pegs, unfortunately the small peg broke during the shooting, from two other owners of her I heard of the same problem, maybe Daiki should have used sturdier material. Anyway the bigger peg is enough to keep the figure in place.

Final Words

Im very satisfied with this figure of Kan’u Unchou, she turned out like the promo shots implied (except the base). My image of Kan’u was recreated very well and even though she isn’t my favorite Ikki Tousen character, I’m totally happy about my decision of ordering this figure.

She has a very powerful, sexy and proud appearance and the quality is also very good, painting and sculpting are well executed, Daiki Kougyou left a very convincing impression with their
Kan’u Unchou – Xtreme Xecutor figure. It’s a nice feeling when a figure turned out as expected.

Another review can be  found at Tentacle Armada

This version and an alternative Pink version are still available at Ami Ami

For these review pictures I used two new items, the Sigma 28 mm F1,8 EX DG Macro, which works very well with bigger figures like Kan’u and a LQ-103 LumiQuest Ultrasoft bouncer.