In February 2016, I’ve reviewed the Shigure Kai Ni version, that focused on the character as warrior. Kancolle figures are generally bristling with guns and equipment for naval warfare, but this Shigure has none of such things.

Like the name implies, the Shigure – casual version is portrayed on her day off, she is wearing her winter school uniform with a jacket over it to match the autumn theme.  The Shigure – casual version was released in August 2018 and manufactured by GSC. The figure is scaled 1/8 and more or less based on an illustration that was in the Nyantype magazine from November 2016, sculptor Yuukoon had a bit of artistic freedom and turned it into a very nice figure.

Although the figure measures only 21 cm her portrayal and appearance are very expressive and nearly iconic. Shigure is very photogenic, she looks like right out of an outdoor shooting from a fashion magazine. Shigure is leaning on a fence, one you would see in a nature related park. She and the fence are attached on a round brown base, it has an appealing stone like texture, half of the base is covered by a cluster of as well as separate ginkgo tree leaves.

Shigure’s hair looks beautiful, it accurately follows her official character design with huge ahoge and the “dog ears”, it shows sharp contours and has a fluffy look at the same time. On the left side of her head is a nice hair ornament.

At 1/8 scale she apparently has a small head, but the figure has a very detailed face nevertheless. Shigure has beautiful blue eyes, the optional red framed glasses give Shigure a mature and also smart appearance, without them her face looks a bit “naked”. Her cheeks show some subtle blush and the slightly open mouth is cute.

The clothes of this Shigure are what you would consider casual, still many elements of a school uniform are present, although a casual look has been created. The jacket is quite nice, it looks cool how Shigure has one hand in the side pocket. Her red loosened up necktie is nice to look at. The very pretty square patterned skirt might be piece that isn’t looking like part of a school uniform. Overall the clothes look great and are nicely sculpted I like how the clothes follow the bodylines tightly and how the slender but attractive body is accentuated.

The figure is designed in a way that you could display her without skirt, wearing her black panties, but I thought it would be rather weird to only wear panties in the park. Her legwear consists of black kneesocks and brown loafers.

With the added items like bag and a retro camera around her neck, she could pass as a student of photography.

Because of her size Shigure might appear like a simple figure, but she isn’t. The pose were Shigure is leaning on the fence in an expressive way shows great articulation. I really like how her left hand touches the glasses frame with her hand, that said fingers and frame doesn’t align that well, there is 1-2 mm distance, maybe I was too dumb to get it in the correct position.

Final Words

This was my th review of a Kantai Collection figure, I really like my Shigure – casual version figure, that shows a different approach on the origin she is based on. It’s very nice to see one of the Kantai Collection characters in a different context than with weapons and machine parts, after all the character designs from the game are enchanting.

The appearance of this figure is rather mature. In this adaption Shigure is not brimming with a smile, of course her character is actually not the upbeat type. Here she wears a serious and yes, a somewhat blank expression. I think it fits the overall style of the figure. The figure has a cool pose a pretty looking outfit and an appealing base.

Good Smile Company planned a few more figures of Kantai Collection characters with a casual  look, tagged as “Shopping Mode”. These figures are based on Kaga, Haruna and Kashima.

Are you interested in some more casually dressed Kantai Collection characters?

Check out my other Kantai Collection figure reviews

Kashima – Amakuni/

Takao – light armament ver. – Max Factory

Yuudachi Kai Ni – Good Smile Company

Shigure Kai Ni – Good Smile Company

I – 168 – chuuha version – Max Factory

Kongo – chuuha version – Max Factory

Yamato – mizugi mode – Banpresto

I have bought quite a number of Kantai Collection figures in the last few years, but this one is especially nice. Amakuni’s Kashima has a number of additional  parts; 1 alternative arm and hand part for left and right. The figure also has a second smaller base, for displaying her without weapons, for this also a nice back cover is provided.

Kashima is a character from the Kantai Collection browser game, she is very popular and with her voice and overall appearance she is especially cute. Unlike her sadistic sister ship Katori, Kashima is a very gentle girl, her general pattern of speech is friendly, slightly flirty and coquettish. Twitter and Pixiv or fanart in general portrayed her as easy to have girl, which I found rather cruel, but more about it in a later paragraph.

On a historical note Kashima was officially a training cruiser for the Imperial Japanese Navy, sometimes she was used as flagship but her main purpose was that of a training cruiser. The Kashima cruiser actually survived World War II and was not used for tests of nuclear weapons afterwards. Instead she was made a repatriation transport ship that under the command of the American authorities, transported japanese prisoners of war back to the homeland, which is rather sweet when I think about it.

I didn’t have much interest in Kashima before, she wasn’t part of my Kancolle online fleet and I wondered about all the hype. Shortly after the figures was announced a friend showed me a short doujinshi about Kashima. It showed her in different situations where she acts quite lewd like to be expected from her and breaks in tears in the end, because she doesn’t like it at all ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥⌓˂̣̣̥ )‧º·˚

That poorly illustrated piece created a deep feeling of guilt and sadness inside me, it points out a critique on anime pop culture, Kashima is a good girl but in most fanart she is bluntly put, mainly portrayed as slut, which is honestly often happening with female anime characters. Since that day I cant’t enjoy ecchi fanart like I used to. To protect Kashima’s dignity I decided to buy her figure and take good care of it. Show some respect for your anime waifus!

Now lets talk about the figure in detail, Kashima is wearing a sassy beret with Uniform Yankee signal flags at the sides.

Kashima’s hair is nicely sculpted and painted in a light purple tone, she sports a curly twintail hairstyle of rather short length. Overall her hairstyle is slightly curly at the tips. It is a very cute hairstyle that matches the characters overall sweet appearance. Her face has a very smooth texture without sharp corners, the figure has blue eyes with a distinctive design that makes her look attractive and adorable. Her sweet lips add the final touch to her beautiful face.

Kashima wears a gorgeous looking uniform, the cream white color and overall design create an elegant look, her olive green shirt shows it’s collar and frilly sleeves under the jacket, also her nice and modestly sized chest begins to show.

She wears a dark colored pleated miniskirt with decorative white line and inlay. Its shortness reveals her curvy thighs. While the overall figure has a slender silhouette, those meaty and womanly legs do stand out. I like that a lot about her. Amakuni added a special surface to her legs, the feature is called “soft skin” and you can feel the difference ♡.

The figure is castoffable, the skirt is, it’s absence reveals her fancy black panties. Unfortunately Kashima’s butt is more or less flat, compared to her thighs it’s a small disappointment for me, so I better leave her skirt where it belongs.

Kashima’s weapon backpack is the coolest and realistic looking that I have ever seen on a kancolle figure since Yuudachi. Between the main turrets she has two AA guns, one on each side, under those two searchlights are installed, the shiny lenses look really great. Her main turrets, AA guns and searchlights are extremely moveable. Furthermore Kashima’s equipment involves a pair of binoculars and a depth charge launcher carried like a briefcase.

Optionally the arm that hold the binoculars and has a ship part like bag can be exchanged with an arm where Kashima touches her collarbone. On the left side you can exchange  the hand that holds the depth charge launcher briefcase with a hand where Kashima moves her fingers playfully. When you don’t want to use the weapon backpack, because it requires too much space or for whatever reason, Amakuni was so kind to include a smaller base and a pretty plug.

Final Words

Amakuni’s Kashima deserves a premium tag and it’s worth every Yen. The figure has a very sweet face, a super beautiful and detailed uniform, exceptionally cool weapon backpack and different options to display her, make her an awesome figure from the Kancolle franchise. Also the big size gives her an iconic appearance. She is actually a bit better than the Kancolle figures that GSC or Max Factory made so far.

She was released at the end of January 2018. She was sculpted by Hiroshi and is scaled 1/8. There also was a WHS heavy armament version, to me it added not much to the figure, so I payed around 5k less for the pacifist version.

I seriously was [on] and [off] about this figure on the one hand i always wanted a figure of Takao on the other hand I wished for a different adaption than this. You should know, that I always was a fan of the elaborate Kantai Collection fanart on Pixiv, also the naughty ones ^^. The  Kantai Collection figures are all based on In Game design. Unfortunately, I would actually dare to say. In many cases I often wished for a different fanart adaption.

Nevertheless, even though I considered to cancel her a few times I’ve kept my preorder active.

Takao is a heavy cruiser, in Kantai Collection heavy cruiser literally means curvy character. She is a cool, soft spoken character and one of the older ship girls. In comparison to her bright and cheerful sister ship Atago, Takao is less flashy, she has a darker personality and is somehow more naughty.

The figure has pretty black hair, it’s nicely detailed and shows a number of separate strands and a nice dynamic flow. Takao’s face shows a puzzled expression with red eyes and cute raised eyebrows, maybe she noticed how short her skirt actually is. Joking aside the figure has a very lively and adorable expression.

The best aspect of this figure is the bright navy blue uniform, the design is really beautiful with the white edges, golden details and wrinkles. The sailor hat is so adorable. It’s actually quite amazing how tight fit this uniform is and how it’s even able to stretch around Takao’s ample boobs like this Her shirt cuffs and black gloves add a lot of elegance.

Of course a lady needs a bag, it resembles the smokestack and bridge of the real Takao ship. The outfit is overall very detailed with her stockings and garter belt she resembles a Pin up girl. On each of her stockings is a cute green planes. Her shiny red shoes are nice painted and the pointy fins look really cool.

This figure actually portrays Takao a bit too petite, she should have wider shoulders and a less narrow waist and more thighs volume. Oh I’m so demanding, but nevertheless the slender Takao with big boobs is also very attractive. She wears a tight and very short skirt, a good quarter of lower buttocks is exposed, a quite nice view if you ask me. Apparently Kantai Collection is a fanservice heavy game and all outfits are tight, except for the smaller destroyer girls.

Final Words

Even though, I had mixed feelings about this figure, during the photo session Takao showed what she is made of. I had a lot of fun with the post processing. It’s a nicely made figure with amazing details and a very dynamic pose. Her outfit together with the stunning body creates a cool and sexy combination. I don’t miss the guns of the heavy armament version, the light armament version is as good as the other one, the guns are just an distract from the pretty figure.

My next figure will be Kashima from Amakuni who will be released by tomorrow 

Check out my other Kantai Collection figure reviews

Yuudachi Kai Ni – Good Smile Company

Shigure Kai Ni – Good Smile Company

I – 168 – chuuha version – Max Factory

Kongo – chuuha version – Max Factory

Yamato – mizugi mode – Banpresto

Anyway, I ordered two nice Kancolle figures, one Hatsune Miku and another Love Live! School Idol Festival figure.

Since I ordered a number of rather fanservice centered and expensive figures this year, I planned to focus more on the casual figures that are offered. This post slowly shows that change.

ordered figures

Kantai Collection ~Kan Colle~ – Kashima

Kashima is of course a very pretty character in the Kancolle game, having a training cruiser as her base. I was really impressed by the elaborate look of the prototype, the figure looks amazingly pretty with her sweet face, the especially nice curves and fashionable uniform. The skirt is of ridicoulusly short length, but reveals Kashima’s wonderful legs.

Kashima is a sad example for the exploitation of fictional pop culture characters, a friend once showed me a four panel manga about that featuring Kashima, after realizing the bigger picure behind it, it made me feel quite sad and guilty.
I will talk about this in detail when I will review this  figure. To protect her dignity a little, I ordered this figure.

release date: ~ February 2018

GOOD SMILE Racing – Hatsune Miku – Racing 2016 Version

I’m not really a fan of Miku, but I also don’t dislike her, I liked a few of her figures in the past. The best aspect of the Miku 2016 racing version for me is the cute and colorful concept. Her outfit looks less futuristic compared to other “racing versions” here she is dressed as nearly normal grid girl sitting on a pile of tyres. The addition of red, orange and yelllow colors make this figure look very happy. Also her face looks very adorable and portrays Miku in a happy mood.

release date: ~ December 2017

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Kantai Collection ~Kan Colle~ – Shigure – Casual Ver.

The guns on the Kancolle figures never were of much interest for me, I always was more interested in the character design, I actually thought that it would be nice to have the lovely characters dressed as normal girls. You probably can imagine how happy I was when GSC announced this figure. On top of that Shigure is one of my favorite characters from Kancolle. This is an amazingly pretty figure dressed in an outfit suited for autumm. The red glasses are a nice addition, as well as the vintage camera. The figure is nicely articulated, being placed on a fence with a leaf covered base.

release date: ~ June 2018

release date: ~ March 2018

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Nendoroid – Little Witch Academia: Sucy Manbavaran

Yes, a Nendoroid. Of course I would like to have scale figures from Little Witch Academia, since I really liked this hilariously crazy anime. The unnecesary final arc aside, ït has been a while that I liked an anime that much. I chose the character of Sucy because I like her the most, her sarcastic remarks and Schadenfreude about Akko’s adversities.

release date: ~ April 2018

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Interesting figures

SHOW BY ROCK!! – Cyan – Limited Edition

I recently noticed this nice figure of a charming cat girl playing the guitar. Cyan already was released. Since a few delays occured I have available budget o get another figure this or next month, Cyan would be something I’d like to have.

release date: ~ October 2017

Date A Live – Kurumi Tokisaki

I never watched Date A Live to be honest, but this concept of Kurumi as an attractive girl posing on a big cat tree.

release date: ~ March 2018

Granblue Fantasy – Narmaya

Manufacturer Broccoli decided to make an extremely complex figure adaption of Narmaya, a quite awesome figure with an awesome base. As to be expected it also is a really expensive figure. Could someone please make a figure of Lyria?

release date: ~ May 2018

Eromanga Sensei – Sagiri Izumi

Awww I really like this figure of Izumi with the Super Soaker gun, it might not be state of the art quality, but even with a few cutbacks this figure would be really lively and adorable.

release date: ~ November 2017

Koakuma Kanojo – Akuno Mika

Haha, earlier I’ve mentioned that I planned to buy less ecchi figures and then they show me something like this beautiful purple haired girl in a bikini XD Well, she should be released next month, one more sexy figure in 2017 won’t hurt anymore anyway lol. Mika looks really cute with her short, curvy body and the extremely adorable expression. Furthermore she is scaled 1/5 which is pretty big.

release date: ~ November 2017

THE IDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls – Anastasia Story of Revolving Stars Ver

Seeing ALTER going crazy with their prices for the Cinderella Girls, GSC shows us with this beautiful Anastasia, that they can make a gorgeous figure also for an affordble price. The figures costume looks beautiful and Anastasia is also posed in a dynamic way.

release date: ~ August 2018

Is the order a rabbit?? – Cocoa

Manufacturer PLUM is focusing on figures of loli characters and apparently does a good job with it. I recently saw this super cute Cocoa san, she was my favorite character in the fluffy anime “Is the order a rabbit??”. They made her so adorable, I really consider to get her. I would like a to have an extremely cute figure again after a while.

release date: ~ October 2017

Original Character – Kaguya

The Raita proportions are quite a challenge for the idol outfit, the boobs are too big and the skirt is too short. Nevertheless what I like about it, is the nicely designed and creative idol outfit and the characters pretty face.

 release date: ~ May 2018

THE IDOLM@STER – Haruka Amami

In the IDOLM@STER anime (2011) Haruka really was my favorite, unlike this terrible Miki XD Ok first I think that is a great figure, I’ve heard a few people complain about the figures eyes being too far apart, nevertheless the figure is already sold out on AmiAmi. I think she is cute, I only feel a little sad about the fact that every figure of Haruka has a wide open mouth.

release date: ~ April 2018

White Elf – yapo Original Figure

I really like the Elf archetype, pointy ears are pretty. Unfortunately in terms of figures Elves are rarely seen. Magic Bullets recently announced their “White Elf” based on an illustration of yapo. I like the pose and figures design a lot.

release date: ~ February 2018

Hitori no Shita THE OUTCAST – Fu Houhou

This certainly very pretty figure has a quite different look and atmosphere than the happy, colorful or ecchi figures we see all the time. One of the reason could be that it’s adapted from an anime produced by an chinese studio.

release date: May 2018

Kantai Collection ~Kan Colle~ – Ooyodo

I like Ooyodo for being a modest ship girl from Kancolle, she has a cute uniform and just shows a minimum of her apparently nice legs. Amakuni really makes all the beautiful Kancolle figures and Ooyodo is no exception.

release date: August 2018

And so my personal overview about the current preorder situation comes to an end, unfortunately it’s difficult to decide to preorder anything, since many figures are appealing and pretty. Haha and most of all I have limited space and budget. How do you actually cope with the pretty figure avalanche?

In late summer I got myself a wonderful Ichiban Kuji prize figure based on Kancolle, it was manufactured by Banpresto. It’s called Yamato – mizugi mode. It is a premium A prize figure.

In general prize figures are affordable compared to regular figures, though somehow this figure appeared for a heavy prize in several big stores. I got mine for around 13.000 Yen.

…Yeah I know, but when I saw these lovely product pictures I could not resist.

The origin of the figure is the always popular browser game Kantai Collection aka ~Kan Colle~.
In the game, Yamato represents the famous Japanese battleship from the WWII era. The Yamato was an ambitious project, in order to build the biggest and technically advanced battleship. It was mainly a prestige Symbol, before the end of the war, the Yamato didn’t take an active role that would risk the ship. She was often just docked in harbors and used as living quarters and the ship had more luxury interior compared to other ships, the ship received a funny nickname because of that. Yamato also had it’s own Ramune (ラムネ) factory inside.

The Yamato is very special thing for many Japanese citizens, even considering that the ship did not take part part in any big battle, aside from her last mission, which was simply an useless attempt. Still Yamato remained a symbol of hope and readiness to make sacrifices, also in modern media as “uchuu senkan yamato”, where the ship was the last hope of mankind.

When playing Kancolle I randomly get upset to know what really happened to these “shipgirls” in reality. Of course since Japan had a questionable role during WWII, the strangely positive glorification of the ships feels slightly awkward, because the reasoning behind Japan’s expansionary policy was wrong and the japanese navy wasn’t all that smart. Coming to terms with the past is not easy for any country, be it the victors nation or the losing nation. I often have the feeling that Japan feels honest remorse for their deeds during WWII, but on the other hand with shrines that are used for glorification of the military regime and war museums that don’t portray any atrocities, leaves a bitter aftertaste to Japan’s coming to terms with the past.

Since we talked a whole lot about WWII in school, I was thinking Germany did an exemplary good job in coming to terms with the past, but when I see the News recently, I have the feeling that all the efforts made by the state still don’t reach everyone.

Kancolle is not amoral, it mainly is a cheerful game with cute girls that are intentionally based on old ships. But the attitude of trivializing historical events is always a questionable thing.

Her dedicated anime episode in Kancolle did a good job with portraying her character in a fitting way, Yamato is a tall girl with dignified elegance in terms of appearance and attitude, she is also portrayed as a really sweet girl with a friendly personality. The anime staff made a bit of fun of her, with showing her serving first class food and calling her a hotel.

The figures outfit is based on the Seasonal Summer 2016 event from Kancolle.

Yamato wears a bikini in white and red colors with black stripes, that doesn’t reveal too much. It is a decent beach outfit. The top supports her main artillery in a gentle way. At the hips she has a pareo wrapped around her. It has one red and a transparent layer and underneath she wears a white bikini bottom. It is closed with a little anchor, it’s a nice little detail as well as the small garter around her left leg with a small life belt attached to it. The paintjob on her bikini top is a bit rough, the other areas are passable.

Final words

I really like this Yamato – mizugi mode figure, this adaption turned out very cute.
Her rather big  size and the standing pose give her a beautiful and graceful atmosphere.
The pretty and long hair looks quite nice on her also with a little roughness at the edges.

The umbrella is a cool accessory, I like how it increases Yamato’s ladylike presentation. Her cute face, articulation and the sculpting of Yamato’s body are really great. On first look she doesn’t give me the impression of a prize figure, but nevertheless, a few minor things that could be slightly better are there, it mainly concerns the open mouth which could have been sculpted a little sharper and the base, on my copy is a bit uneven underneath, one side is 2 – 3 mm higher and therefore it shakes a bit.

Hi everyone, after some time passed since the last New Preorder post, now it’s part 33. In the meantime I placed 3 more figure orders. I remember the times where I always had like 5 new preorders in every preorder post, but with my stronger focus on Dollfie Dream, the rising costs for figures and limited room I can’t preorder so many figures at once anymore.
 

Ordered Items

Kantai Collection -Kan Colle- Takao Light Armament Ver.

I’m a big Takao fan, she is so alluring and has a friendly voice. Max Factory made a 1/8 scaled figure, she is wearing her beautiful uniform and her lovely curves were nicely adapted, too. I always wished for really bold figures of the Kancolle characters, you can partially blame all the Pixiv artists for all the great ecchi fanart, but the figures are mainly modest. I ordered the light version, since the ship part is not really as important for me, as the character herself.

manufacturer: Max Factory – scale: 1/8 – release: July 2017

Love Live! School Idol Festival – Umi Sonoda

At the risk of repeating myself, I don’t count Umi as my favorite among the Love Live! girls, but fortunately she is not Maki ahahaha. I adore most of ALTER’s “School Idol Festival” figures, they are all so precious and elaborately made. Especially this Umi is a wonderful example of the lineup, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw her for the first time, Umi is so cute in that outfit, also her sweet pose and expression make her extremely adorable for me.

manufacturer: ALTER – scale: 1/7 – release: April 2017

Original Character – Succubus-san 

Like my previously reviewed Chitose, Succubus-san also combines a sweet and romantic style with ero figure qualities. The attractive figure has strong colors and a sexy body with a strong level of chubbyness. Her face is so cute and enchanting ♡. In stark contrast her outfit is a “dream” of latex and leather, the figure is completely castoffable.

manufacturer: Native/Rocket Boy – scale: 1/6 – release: January 2017

Interesting figures

 
Now we take a look at the figures that were recently listed in the shops. I’ve sorted them by release date, among the listed items are a few things I totally would like to have, it’s really unfortunate when more than one nice figure is scheduled to be released in the same month.
 

Shining Wind – Touka

I have the impression that Orchid Seed is slowly getting behind the times, while other manufacturers increase their quality steadily, Orchid Seed’s figures stay on the same level, of course that does not mean that they make bad figures. This Touka for example has a very interesting atmosphere with her thoughtful pose and the diorama like base she sits on.

manufacturer: Orchid Seed – scale: 1/8 – release: December 2016

Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena – Labrys Naked Ver.

This Labrys figure looks really pretty and cool, detailed mechanical parts and a huge weapon are part of her interesting design. Somehow the robot hips actually bother me a little. ques Q also announced another similar looking cyborg girl scheduled for January 2017.

manufacturer: ques Q – scale: 1/8 – release: December 2016

Ribbon Doll Collection – Shin Ikkitousen: Unchou Kanu

Here is a surprisingly artistic and creative adaption of the Kanu character, the unique and detailed pose combined with the womanly body and her really beautiful face make her quite appealing. Unfortunately she apparently will also be released in January .·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.
 

manufacturer: Union Creative – scale: 1/6 – release: January 2017

Persona 4 The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena – Unit 024

Unit 024 is a cuter version than Labrys, at least I prefer it ;D The sea green hair with ponytail and a more gentle facial expression give her completely different atmosphere. I also prefer the black top. Oh, a January release too, damn that’s quite annoying for me *meh*

manufacturer: ques Q – scale: 1/8 – release: January 2017

Girls und Panzer the Movie – Alice Shimada

Despite her short her appearance in the Girls und Panzer movie, Alice gets a pretty figure, she looks nicely made, with a cute face and the sweet loli dress and she even has a teddy.

manufacturer: Kotobukiya – scale: 1/7 – release: March 2017

CHUNITHM – Haruna Mishima

I don’t know her origin, but everything about her shouts adorable. Her mainly white uniform like outfit is very pretty and fancy and there is also this extremely cute face of Haruna.

manufacturer: Alphamax – scale: 1/7 – release: March 2017

Infinite Stratos – Laura & Charles Nekomimi Pajama

Yes, this is a great two figure combination, they do both looks enchanting in their cat pajamas. The flustered Laura and the sweet Charles together on a fluffy base. I prefer Charles, but it’s sold as set. The base is bent to have a better perspective when they are displayed.

manufacturer: ALTER – scale: 1/7 – release: March 2017

Peach Girl Selfie – Miho Kunagisa

At least we need one bikini figure in this post. Miho is a dynamic figure with a bubbly expression and bold pink hair. She is scaled 1/5.5 and rather huge figure.

manufacturer: Daiki Kogyo – scale: 1/5,5 – release: March 2017

VOCALOID4 Library Stardust

This is a marvelously nice looking figure, I love her expressive face with the orange eyes, she has a slightly evil and mysterious aura, she is sitting on a nice base in a quite charming pose.
I find her extremely enchanting actually. Maybe I will be able to add her sometime.

manufacturer: Myethos – scale: 1/8 – release: April 2017

Yuki Yuuna is a Hero – Mimori Togo

The announcement of this figure was really surprising, I mean I remembered that great anime, but never thought figure manufacturers still gave attention to it. So after Yuuna ALTER will also make a figure of the beautiful Togo. The black hair and her sweet face with the green eyes and also tightly hugging bodysuit with her toes exposed are making the figure gorgeous.

manufacturer: ALTER – scale: 1/8 – release: April 2017

Shinwa Taisen Gilgamesh Knight – Deena Challenger

This cheerful, young, blonde girl is Deena Challenger, I’ve used a close up picture for startes on purpose, she is actually sitting on an elaborately designed bike, but her official pics were far away from good, HobbyJapan should really provide bigger product pictures for their expensive figures. Deena is dressed in a eccentric slutty outfit, but with such a cute face she comes away with it. The figure is sexy and her bike is stunning.

She is an exclusive figure and with 20.000 Yen she is the most expensive figure of this post.

manufacturer: Amakuni/Hobby Japan – scale: 1/8 – release: April 2017

Hyakka Ryouran – Yagyu Jubei – Final Bride Ver.

After seeing the 2 Hyakka Ryouran – Samurai After OVA, I was reminded that I will always think of Hyakka Ryouran affectionately, not that story was very compelling, but it was the chemistry between the funny and sympathic characters that made it special for me.
ALTER announced a figure of the cute Jubel in the Samurai Bride outfit, it’s a truly stunning design, I like it a lot, unfortunately it’s sold as exclusive figure. On the good side she will be released in a unbusy months considering figure orders. I could still strike.

manufacturer: ALTER/Hobby Japan – scale: 1/8 – release: Mai 2017

Soukou Akki Muramasa – Ashikaga Chachamaru – Wedding ver.

Chachamaru has always been overshadowed, by the more popular Sansei Muramasa, but she is also a heroine in that ridiculously violent game. Here Chachamaru is adapted as quite pretty bride with nice blonde hair and wow who gave her that amazingly attractive butt?! (⁄ ⁄^⁄ᗨ⁄^⁄ ⁄).

manufacturer: Amakuni/Hobby Japan – scale: 1/7 – release: June 2017

I normally write these posts, that focus on the recently available figures on the market like every 3 months. After part 31 in early June, the figure manufacturers decide to launch an impressive number of quite desireable preorder items near the end of this month.

Ordered Items

Shortly before my remaining preorder number was close to drop below 4 I could not resist anymore. For starters I placed my order for the new Sora and ALTER’s Nozomi.

Yosuga no Sora – Kasugano Sora – Bunny Style

I preordered this one, because she looks amazing, I already was sure that bunny style Sora would look nice with some paint on her as her notice her during the previous Wonderfestival, but ordering the figure wasn’t really planned. Her face is beautiful and the seductive direction is a nice extra, too. I also like the overall presentation, the attracive and nicely dressed figure sitting on this high stool while her extra long twintails are hanging down. I’m not really interested in these kinds o bunny costumes, but Sora looks so nice in one. Good that it is a December release, so it might become a christmas present I might not need to pay by myself.

manufacturer: ALTER – scale: 1/7 – release: December 2016

Love Live! School Idol Festival – Toujou Nozomi

It took a little longer for me to finally order this fabulous Idol. At first I was a little upset that Nozomi only had one open eye, she looked awesome for sure, but it slightly bothered me. Nevertheless I never lost interest, her release was initionally sheduled for June and my June was already a nightmare, I had to pass. “fortunately” Nozomi’s release was changed to July, my birthday month and fortunately she was still available. While ALTER’s Love Live! School Idol Festival cost a fortune, all girls have amazingly detailed outfits and look wonderful.

manufacturer: ALTER – scale: 1/7 – release: July 2016

Original Character – Magic Bullets – Pin-Up Girl

It’s no secret that I love curvy swimsuit figures, I like to buy those and having them around. The figure named Pin-Up Girl is art based on an illustration by Sasaoka Gungu, this explains the unique but beautiful style of her facial features. She also is what I would call a dynamic bikini figure, she has this elaborately articulated pose. I admit she also is of course sexy with the detailed buxom body and attractive tan lining. Unfortunately, the “bikini figure of my dreams” is sheduled for the busy month October. After some calculations I ordered her now.

manufacturer: Kalmia Project – scale: 1/6 – release: October 2016

Interesting figures

I haven’t ordered these figures, but at least I find them overly interesting and like to list them. Tell me which one you like or which not, or which figure you would like to see in a review

Kantai Collection ~Kan Colle~ – Kouwan Seiki – Wonderful Hobby Selection

Kouwan Seiki or Harbour Princess is one of the cuter Abyssal characters in Kancolle, she is not evil, she just wants a hug :D. Max Factory created a nice figure based on her design, I really think she is adorable and the body is dynamit. The figure has the WHS tag, figures tagged with WHS (Wonderful Hobby Selection) are always very expensive, not really because they are much nicer than normal figures. I bought a WHS figure recently, I was very exited since I really liked the concept, mine unfortunately arrived slightly damaged, fortunately the GSC support was very understanding and helped me very fast. But after that experience I’m not willing to spend 20,000 Yen + for a figure again, maybe if I would buy figures less regulary.

manufacturer: Max Factory – scale: 1/8 – release: April 2017

Kantai Collection ~Kan Colle~ – Prinz Eugen

“einen schönen Tag” Ahh the Germans! Haha, all right a cheaper but not less attractive Kancolle figures is Prinz Eugen, the petite and sporty looking heavy cruiser girl. Prinz Eugen is a very cute character, I really like her hair and the pretty face. Her machine parts are nicely compact and create a slender appearance. But I hope there is no swastika somewhere.

manufacturer: GSC – scale: 1/8 – release: January 2017

Oshiete! Galko-chan – Galko-chan

It’s Galko! I hope you are all familiar with the short anime, big girl Galko might dress like a broad, but she is a good girl and has a heart of gold. Of course I like her buxom appearance and additional volume. Max Factory even went the extra mile and made her 1/6 scale size. In the casual school uniform Galko looks very nice, well her skirt is short and fickle, you might see something while the figure climbs the stairs of her base.

manufacturer: Max Factory – scale: 1/6 – release: January 2017

Kyonyuu Fantasy Gaiden – Isis Petrovna Elenskaya

One first glimpse you’ll that this pretty woman named Isis is based on a hentai game, long hair, big boobs and a nice big butt XD The boobs might be bit much, but I like her face and the detailed front hair and won’t deny a purchase by default.

That might be too much info for my innocent readers ^^ The breast armor can be taken off seperately and also the top part of the suit can be removed to expose her nude balcony. She will have inverted nipples underneath, which often looks very pretty in “anime related media” I will have to see additional pictures before making a fix decision about ordering or not.

manufacturer: Lechery – scale: 1/6 – release: September 2016

Upcoming figures I’m interested in

Love Live! School Idol Festival – Sonoda Umi

I will repeat myself ALTER’s Love Live! School Idol Festival are extremely alluring, just look at this amazing Yukata outfit, even Umi turns into a moeblob Lv 9000 in this announced figure prototype. The “drill instructor” Umi  was turned into a beautifuly, cuddly cute Idol, she’s just perfect in my eyes. With her, Nozomi and Nico I would have three of these cuties, yay!

manufacturer: ALTER – scale: 1/7 – release: …

This sums up the “emergency” New Preorder Post. Lets wait for the next pretty figure Avalanche. Was there anything interesting for you in the last few weeks? Or is there something you are looking forward to? Let me know in the comments, see you ^^.

Today I have I – 168 on review a figure based on the Kancolle browser game, the figure was made by Max Factory and released in early June 2015. I – 168 is my second Kancolle figure this year, the first one was Kongou, also a nice figure made by Max Factory.

The figure was sculpted by MimiShiki, a fresh sculptor. Like all Kancolle figures from Max Factory the scale is 1/8. I – 168 comes with a hexagon base, a swimring and two torpedos.

Many of the first Kancolle figure anouncements and releases followed the pattern of girls with massive guns. The weapons are essential aspects of the character design, but also the unique artstyle of the characters is something very appealing for me, I also like many of the Destroyer based girls. The recently announced Tatsuta and Tenryuu from QuesQ caught my interest.

I still play Kancolle, although not as dilligent as before, I have fun with it. I’m also still happy to see new figures of it announced from time to time. The anime which aired recently, did not affect the characters chosen by figure manufacturers. Well, who wants a plain Fubuki ;D

The manufacturers are quite eager to make a Shimakaze figure, this certain character already has around 6 scale figures. I would rather see figures of other cute Destroyer girls, actually.

I love the submarine girls in Kancolle a whole lot, they appear like Highschool first years, cheerful, bubbly and determined to their task. Sometimes they also are a little childish, but that is what makes them so irresistable cute. These characters also have bright, vivid colors.

I could say this about at least 5 more characters, but I – 168 (Imuya) is my waifu (｡’▽’｡)♡

Expressive faces always have been very important for me since I’ve started collecting figures, it’s something that makes figures stand out and what make them look lively. Imuya has such an adorable face with nicely printed eyes, it’s full with her surprised and flustered emotion.

I love the quite strong blushmarks and her little open mouth, that her eyes turned to the right also helps with creating her unique and cute expression.

I-168 is wearing a slightly tattered school swimsuit that represents her after receiving damage, in undamaged state the girl would wear a school uniform shirt over her school swimsuit.

With my little setting, I wanted to recreate the ocean with Imuya in open water.

The paintjob on the shiny swimsuit looks very good with shading to accentuate certain places on it. Over her already blossomed boobs is her name tag, I like the idea that all subsubmarine girls are wearing these school swimsuits as a kind of uniform.

Imuya has burgundy red hair, she is sporting a detailed ponytail hairstyle and a few larger single strands, at the tips it changes to bright blue and some transparency is used. The white ribbon resembles a marine propeller, I-168 shows real submarine spirit in every place.

Torpedo fire!!

The torpedos are loose parts, so you can play a little with I-168

The character has the body of a girl still in development, although she looks already great.
The pose compliments her lower legs and hipline, the body sculpting turned out amazing overall. The arched back in combination with the shiny swimsuit is pure Kryptonite.

Aside from being a dangerous submarine the figure gives a feeling of the summer season, a cute girl ready to rock the beach with a cool swimring and practical flip-flops, they look somewhat crude for a sweet girl like her, but somehow it all creates a fitting appearance.

 I love how she is drifting on top of her ring, she’s so cute.

 
The tentacles are always a funny element in certain kinds of pictures, I hopefully didn’t went “over board” with that.

Final Words

Since I’ve placed my preorder I was really looking forward to see I-168 in person, now that she’s here I’m practically overjoyed. Imuya turned out so sweet and adorable, her face and expression alone make her something special, when purchasing her you also get a nicely posed figure in a tight swimsuit and a cool base. For me the figure is an amazingly nice item. Also after a closer look, there is actually nothing bad to say. With this detailed expression, the overall technical execution on this figure, there is not much more, that I could have asked for.

There also was a 1/4 scaled Imuya, but the small one has a much better face in my eyes.

I expect that Max Factory will showcase a painted figure of  I – 19, another submarine based character to appear on the Wonderfestival this month. I also would like to see a figure of I -8.

The new summer Wonder Festival figure & GK fair is close, before a new figure avalanche begins, I want to take a look at the figures that caught my interest in the last few months.

I didn’t place any figure preorder lately, not that there wasn’t any appealing stuff for me, but somehow I feel quite conservative about preorders at the moment. I can’t really put my finger on it, but it might have something to do with rising prices, 10.000 Yen have became common for regular 1/8 scaled figures. Also the sheer amount of figures make it difficult to decide for one figure out of a bunch of really pretty figures. I thought just with waiting would sort out things by itself and I could see my priorities more clear. It worked a bit actually, but not as efficient as I imagined it to be. Hey selling some things might end my misery at once.

Don’t worry this won’t end with too much text, I just put a few words under the pictures.

In the final Game of the Worldcup I made a silly announcement about buying a GSC in case Germany would win. Well, I don’t know if I should follow my lame tweet from this evening, so just for fun I let you, the readers decide which one I should choose Ciel Alencon or Wo Class.

God Eater 2 – Ciel Alencon

company: GSC scale: 1/8 release: 12/2014 price: 15.556 Y

Ciel Alencon looks great in her steam punk related clothes and I really like her scowl expression, this is such a pretty face. The figure appears to be very detailed and her weapon has two display options. I would like to get her, but the lady is unfortunately quite expensive.

Kantai Collection – Aircraft Carrier Wo-class

company: GSC scale: 1/8 release: 02/2015 price: 12.778 Y

In the Kancolle Game the enemies do not often appear in full view and the japenese ships are cuter in general, but when taking a look at this Wo Class figure which is based partially on the character art, I have to say that I’m surprised by her appealing presentation. The pale girl is actually an aircraft carrier, she comes with a big detachable, fashionable hat and three flying objects. The organic design and rough textures with a “grunge” like  shading make her stand out from other figures, also her big blue eyes give her something beautiful and appealing.

    Taimanin Asagi – Igawa Asagi

company: Milestone scale: 1/8 release: 09/2014 price: 9.000 Y

This big woman also has a strong facial expression and beautiful facial features. Her proud presentation is contrary to her “special interest” origin, but I like her more like that. The ninja outfit is really cool with the shiny colors and fishnet inlets. Yeah her curves are also something. I have not much experience with Milestone, but the prototype looks great actually.

 Full Metal Daemon Muramasa – Chachamaru Ashikaga

company: Wing scale: 1/7 release: 11/2014 price: 10000 Y

This gorgeus lady went up for preorder today. I always liked the character designs by Nitro+ with strong eyelashes and expressive eyes. Overall, I like everything about Chachamura,
her pose, the samurai themed outfit and expression. She is also availabe as DX version with muramasa the mechniced spider, as normal version she is more affordable, though.

iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls – Koshimizu Sachiko

company: Phat Company scale: 1/8 release: -/2014 price: –

I’ve already written about her in my previous preorder post, but she wasn’t up for preorders so far, recently her base was shown, a quite big thing. Some people made fun about her face, but I think that she is quite cute. Also her outfit is distinctive and cool, I guess I would order her with the speed of light, this little imp is so adorable ^^

Suenaga Mirai – Smart Doll

company: Danny Choo scale: 1/3 release: now available  price: 58.000 Y

I’m fully aware that  adult men playing with dolls, must be super weird to people who know nothing about anime culture, but who cares when it is something I really enjoy. Months ago I got myself the 1/6 Nakano Azusa Doll from Azone, a small post about her adventures might follow soon. As cute as she is, she’s not really my type anymore and I thought alternatives.

I found this rather affordable Doll, coincidentially it’s the project of Danny Choo, he turned his Mirai mascot into a 1/3 scaled Doll. While I don’t consider myself as Mirai fan, I find this one quite enchanting. My problem with Volks standard Dollfies is that they often has rather stiff expressions, Mirai has a more friendly expression and more accentuated blush marks.

Mirai comes with a set of casual (the ones in the picture) and a telescope stand, other bust parts can be ordered seperately. Well, ok to afford her I would have to pass on any figure purchases for at least two months, difficult but not impossible.

IS: Infinite Stratos 2 – Laura Bodewig

company: FREEing scale: 1/4  release: 12/2014 price: 18.333 Y

From the IS figures made by FREEing I like Laaura the best, the bunny suit suits her very well and this shy expression is truly adorable. The pose of Laura also looks very well done.

Gatchaman Crowds – Utsutsu

company: Amakuni  scale: 1/8 release: 01/2015 price: 10.000 Y

This green Utsutsu came out of nowhere, her design is really interesting with her hairstyle and arrogant face expression, I find her quite attractive. She’s a bit at the anorexic border, but she shows it without concern. On full view it is a beautiful appearance with her slender body.

Kantai Collection ~Kan Colle~ – I-8

company: Taishiyoudou scale: 1/5 release: 27/07/2014 price: 60.000 Y

Haha I’m really crazy about the submarines in Kancolle, they are so lovely in their school swimsuits. The circle Taishiyoudou is selling an 1/5 scaled adaption of I-8 they did a great job with everything and also gave her a good looking base. Unfortunately,  I’m pretty sure that I won’t get this super nice figure, she can only be bought at the coming Wonder Festival and I-8 costs 60.000 Y. Well, Max Factory and FREEing also have some submarine figures planned.

So this were the figures I’m interested in at the moment it probably will be very difficult to decide which one I should get in the end. Haha the concerns of a passionate figure collector.

Hi there, I added 4 new items to my Preorder List and so it is time to take a look at the recent preorders, further below I will also show you other recently announced figures I’m partially interested  in. Under Preorder Roadmap you can see all of my preordered figures for 2014.

The prices are retail prices, without the discount most figure related shops have to offer.

Recent  Preorders

Kongou – Kantai Collection ~Kan Colle~

For gods sake I still wasn’t able to get in this stupid online game, even with all the “tricks”. Just how difficult can it be ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡ !!? Even without being able to play the game, I love the visual style of Kantei Collection. Combining a cute girl with a classic battleship from WWII makes you nearly forget about the tragedy that befall this and many other ships. Back to the admirals darling, Kongou looks simply gorgeous, considering that she is only scaled 1/8 this figure is super detailed, the few damage effects on her and the clothes give her some sexy appeal .

Max Factory also makes three of the cute submarine girls, I -19, I – 168 and I – 58

manufacturer: Max Factory release date: September 2014 scale: 1/8 price: 13.704 Y
 

 Nitro Super Sonic – Sonico – Beach Queens

As Sonico fan, I just couldn’t ignore this new Beach Queen, Wave sculpted her nicely with all of her convincing physical attributes, just look at her thighs, she’s pure dynamite. I also like the little red crab which will be included .

manufacturer: Wave release date: September 2014 scale: 1/10 price: 6.000 Y
 

Ikaros – Sora no Otoshimono Final 

Recently I have finished the manga from Sora no Otoshimono, it ended pretty unspectacular, you should expect nothing from a harem setting in the end. The authors just don’t have the guts to let the main character pick one girl. One of Sora no Otoshimono’ good part is the appealing character design and likeability of it’s characters. Kotobukiya decided to make a figure of Ikaros under their 4 Leaves lable. She looks lovely from head to toe, I just love her puppy eyes. From the backside she also convinces with her detailed braids.

manufacturer: Kotobukiya release date: August 2014 scale: 1/6 price: 12.000 Y
 

Kashiwazaki Sena – Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai NEXT

I ordered this figure as soon as she was available, sure she is huge, but I’m sure that I will like this curvy girl, the sculpting is so well done. Also her face is convincing, Gift did a very good job at recreating the face of Sena with all of it’s details, while other companies failed at it so far.

manufacturer: Gift release date: June 2014 scale: 1/4 price: 13.000 Y

Finally a release date

Kirigaya Suguha – Sword Art Online

manufacturer: ALTER release date: 1th May 2014 scale: 1/8 price: 7.800 Y

I’ve been waiting ages for Suguha to be released, at first she was scheduled for November 2013, but now the day of her release is close. The figure has a nice natural sitting pose where she is placed on a cute veranda, I guess she will be a cute companion for outdoor shootings.

Interesting figures

I haven’t ordered these figures, but at least I find them overly interesting and like to list them.
Feel free to tell my which one you like or which not, or would like to see in a review

Cecilia Alcott – IS: Infinite Stratos 2 – Bunny ver.

manufacturer: Freeing release date: October 2014 scale: 1/4 price: 18.333 Y

As it was already announced at last Wonfes, FREEing is going to turn all IS girls except Houki into large scale figures. I always checked out FREEing’s big figures at Tentacle Armada and thought that they are pretty. Nevertheless, when looking at Cecilia I’m kinda impressed how faithful she is to her anime appearance with blush and a lively expression, she looks quite gorgeus. Let’s hope that there will be no cutbacks on the details in the final product.

Original Character – Kondo Yume

manufacturer: Native release date: September 2014 scale: 1/8 price: 10.185 Y

It is mean that Native mixed this adorable cute character design with so much lewdness, ok the illustration was already like that. Yume is really cute, she is petite, pretty and yeah she even has glasses. I like her type quite a bit, there are a number different ways to display her.

These battery powered things in her bag give me the creeps and actually are superfluous for me and I will let them stay in the box. Aside from that, she comes with a mattress and pillows. I’m probably going to order her, even when it takes all of my courage to do so. You can order her from the 25th April 2014 at your proxy of choice or directly from Native.

 
 Taimanin Asagi – Igawa Asagi

manufacturer: Milestone release date: September  2014 scale: 1/8 price: 9.000 Y

Oh I nearly forgot to add Asagi, this is the second figure that I’ve seen of this character. I like the design of her. Her origin is quite  hard stuff, I’m not talking about fights, I took a look in one part, it was not really my thing. Anyway I’m happy that she is made modest in a cool pose

Sonsaku Hakufu – Ikki Tousen

manufacturer: Dragon Toy release date: August  2014 scale: 1/6 price: 14.500 Y

I have a week spot for the latest Ikki Toussen figures from Daiki/Dragon Toy. The latter one made this super pretty Hakufu figure in damaged clothes, I think she would look good next to my Kan’u , both have a similar style and very good body sculpting. This hole in her shirt will be a bit difficult to cover, I assume, that I can worry about that later ;D

Souryuu Asuka Langley – Evangelion Shin Gekijouban: Q – Jersey ver.

manufacturer: ALTER release date: September 2014 scale: 1/7 price: 10.800 Y

Thats probably the most fashionable Asuka figure to date, the hat alone is awesome, ALTER included a different posing option to recreate two different, appealing poses. Overall she looks very good and has a cool expression, I would consider to add her to my collection.

Mikasa Ackerman – Shingeki no Kyojin

manufacturer: GSC release date: October 2014 scale: 1/8 price: 12778 Y

Ackermann looks really good as figure, she has cool clothes is super detailed and a without a doubt pretty face. Well, even though I like this story Mikasa comes from a lot, strangely I don’t feel much for anyone of the characters.

Kinomoto Sakura – Card Captor Sakura – Nendoroid

manufacturer: GSC release date: September 2014 scale: Nendoroid price: 4.444 Y

Better late than never a Nendoroid of Sakura appears, I just watched the whole Cardcaptor anime like two years ago, it’s the perfect example of a very nicely concluded anime. You could order her from the 25th April 2014 , I probably will.

Mankanshoku Mako – Kill la Kill – Nendoroid

manufacturer: GSC release date: August 2014 scale: Nendoroid price: 3.889 Y

This is a real comedy Nendoroid, I like her funny expressions a lot, she will also have special bendable arms. The special edition comes with a beaten up face, which is just creepy X<.
 

Urusei Yatsura – Lum Invader – ARTFX J

manufacturer: Kotobukiya release date: September 2014 scale: 1/7 price: 9.000 Y

Upcoming figures I’m interested in

Kousaka Honoka – Love Live! School Idol Project

manufacturer: GSC scale: 1/8

Love Live is such an entertaining show, there are my animes related to the Idol culture, but Love Live is special. Sparkling animations and character designs, mixed with a number of different, but likeable personalities. GSC chose Honoka as figure to be made, she looks great so far. Actually I like the “big”girl, but the one that steals my heart is the little devil, Nico.

Koshimizu Sachiko – iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls

manufacturer: Phat Company scale: 1/8

This is so good, an enchanting yandere type of Idol, I love her cute demonic expression, it’s a rarely used theme, her pose is also unique, I hope the final figure looks as shiny as this.

Tachibana Makoto – Free!  ALTAiR

manufacturer: ALTER scale: 1/8

Well, here we have a sexy boy, oh my I’m watching too many sport anime lately. I never watched Free! for it’s lack of female characters, well I have heard that the female swim coach was pretty. Makoto is not really the bishounen type, but I think he looks pretty cool in this pose and outfit. Preorders haven’t opened so far.