Coincidentially, the figure of todays review is also in posession of an traditional japanese umbrealla. It’s a figure of Senran Kagura‘s timid, rebelish, prodigy ninja student Yagyuu.

This figure was manufactured by Vertex, a relatively new company in the figure business.
Two sculptors, Hogary and M.I.C.  worked together to create this figure, which was released by the end of January 2014. Yagyuu is scaled 1/8 and a litttle taller than 20 cm without umbrella.

Senran Kagura is well known for it’s skin revaling games, but there already was an animes and 2 or more manga’s, readinng  Shoujotachi no Shinei was really nice unfortunately it’s translation appears to be on hold, like it happens with many mangas I do enjoy once in a while.

Yagyuu is a 15 years old and often shows a timid somewhat distant delinquent attitude, but she is a trustworthy companion and would never harm her friends. She is quite attached to Hibari on a personal level, cause sh reminds her of her passed away litttle sister, but she also likes her on a physical level, both are close friends and you will see them together most of the day. Yagyuu acts very protective towards Hibari, who isn’t the best ninja candidate around .

This is my first figure from Vertex so I didn’t know what to expect, the prototype looked really good and so placed my preorder. To honest my first impression after unpacking her was not that great. There were no damages or screaming flaws, my expectations were just too high.

After I took first pictures I’ve literally seen her in a better light and began to appreciate her more, still not the level of an Maeda Keiji, but that would have been a more than optimistic demand.

Hair & Face 

The long, bushy ultra twintails of Yagyuu are actually nice, the sculpting is not that crisp, but nevertheless it shows a certain kind of clean detailism and obviously it’s fluffy wildly flowing look is really cute. Seperated by shuriken’s the twintailes have quite a number of strands, that are accentuated by shading of a lighter tone above the  basic purple color.

Yagyuu greets the viewer with a somehow  gloomy expression on her pretty face, the overall style is different from the Senran Kagura figures sculpted by Ringo Renmei, like Hibari or Katsuragi, a bit less cartoonish. With one eyepatched eye Yagyuu has a strong expression.
The skincolor is pale and is quite different compared to the prototype.

I got really picky about the opacity level of the figures skin and I can’t shake it off anymore.

Body & Outfit 

Yagyuu ‘s body looks great, her curvy body and the detailed belly in particular, overall the body sculpting is really well done and makes an appealing figure of her. Oh these muscular thighs are not bad either and I shouldn’t forget to mention her really pretty backside.

Yagyuu has not much of an outfit, most of her clothes torn to shreds, the skirt with the good looking pattern shows most damage, her scarf and even her socks suffered a bit. The scarf is very long and consists of three parts, the two single bands slide in slots positioned in the main piece. The main outfit is ashiny black bikini, the tight fit is really attractive. On the prototype the straps of the bikini were  shown with distance to her body, in the end it was included in the body mold, which is no the best way to do it nowadays. The straps above her boobs are only painted on the top, on close look it’s rather irritating. The only major flaw are these bikiini straps.

You can play around with the different castoff stages, it’s up to you if you would like to display her with scarf and skirt, just the skirt or without these parts, in all her black bikini glory.

The umbrella is Yagyuu’s main weapon and one of her figures major appeal points. This umbrella turned out really good, it is very detailed with accurate lines and realistic weathered shading effects. The supporting bar framework inside is quite elaborate. The grip slides in both hands and guarantees a solid fit.

The base is red for whatever reason, it’s not what I would call displeasing for the eye, but it is a bit uncommon, also the writing on it is a litttle strange, it looks more like a dripping brush than japanese letters.

Final Words

Is Yagyuu a good figure? Yes, in all honesty she is. This figure from Vertex has an eye catching design with her voluminous twintails, the torn clothes and of course the nicely sculpted and articulated body, On the bottomline  it’s a very attractive figure with a few  minor flaws, like the bikini straps. On a more positive note, things like overpainting or seam lines from the molding process, are a rarity on Yagyuu from Vertex. The difference between the prototype’s skintone and the final product is obvious, but actually something to get over easily, not as hideous as on a certain Kobato figure. I was a bit sceptical as I unpacked this figure, but Yagyuu turned out to be a nice figure, fully assembled with her pretty umbrella she looks pretty good.

It’s been quite some time since my last Preorder post, let’s say I didn’t order as fast as before.
Since last post I ordered 4 more great figures and as rare happenng 1 girly figma.

In case you are wondering how I can buy new figures all the time, at the moment Im playing “old figure out – new figure in” it’s a bad way of maintaining your collection hobby and I feel really bad for selling them, but I don’t have so much space availabe to keep them all forever.

At least keeping my very favorite figures remains top priority, it’s not like I’m going to sell these.

Next to the usual ecchi happyness I ordered some iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls related stuff.

Figma – Jougasaki Mika – Max Factory

Hey a figma! This young lady was sold as limited exclusive item through the GSC store, I guess you could have bought her on last Wonfes, as well. It’s a flashy figma with a cool outfit, what appears to be a school uniform, but with a very casual touch, overall a very feminine design. I mainly got her for her vulnerable blush face and the pretty hair, the grin is rather scary

release date will be in November 2013 – price 3500 Yen

Shibuya Rin – New Generation version – GSC

I was sure to get this figure since I’ve seen her as grey prototype on Wonfes. As I’ve seen her painted, I was quite impressed by this fabulous songstress, a lot of frill and shiny dark colors, the fine details on her dress look great. Rin herself is also a petite and pretty girl with a cute singing face, I love how she is swinging her microphone stand, these boots look great.

Im not as hyped about this purchase as before, but it should be fun to photograph her

release date will be in January 2014 – price 7030 Yen

Shimamura Uzuki – New Generation version – GSC

Another Idol, now it’s enough sir. While Rin is a dark raven Uzuki comes as sweet rasperry cake.
Her cheerful and energetic look and attitude is contagious. The outfit is rather playful, yet skin revealing. She has an exposed belly and a short, short skirt. I like the detailed pattern on her frilly skirt . I would have been satisfiied with the closed eyes face only, but GSC played it safe and ships Uzuki with a second face to please more collectors, it’s good to have the option.

It would be cool if the sizes of Rin and Uzuki would match in the end.

release date will be in April 2014 – price 7200 Yen

freshly ordered

Yagyuu – Senran Kagura – Vertex

I like Senran Kagura and I already have two figures from that line, Hibari and Katsuragi (review comes soon). Senran Kagura is popular for featuring characters with a bit more meat, where it matters (￣▽+￣*). Yagyuu’s complete dress is a little boring in the manga, but in this figure adaption her “uniform” is in a damaged state with parts of her scarf and a torn skirt. I was close to order her since some weeks, but delayed my decision a bit longer until I felt convinced enough. I love her pretty face, the super twintails, the super sexy curves in combination with the pose and her traditional umbrella. Why have I resisted so long after all? she’s my type of figure.

release date will be in January 2014 – price 7690 Yen

Yuki – Maid Yome – Orchid Seed

Don’t buy masturbating figures, that was something I really never wanted to do, but ok rules in collecting figures are meant to last for only a short period of time. Orchid Seed makes a lot of appealing figures, but Yuki is an exceptional pretty figure. At first I wanted  to talk Miette into ordering her, but after checking a few first reviews and pictures, I knew that I wanted this one, after all I snatched one of the last copy’s at Hobby Link Japan. Yuki’s ecchi activities aside, the character is also cute with a sweet face, vanilla colored hair, a nice skintone and perfect boobs.

release date was in October 2013 I ordered her last minute – price 7457 Yen

Upcoming figures I’m interested in – Im not sure about these, but at least I find them overly appealing and like to list the upcoming or just announced figures.

Princess Milk – Hime to Boin – Orchid Seed

Argh, crotch focused figures are so hard to display without feeling a creep, I could put a flower pot in front, wait thats a great idea XD. It’s mean to give ecchi figures such beautiful faces and the figures seems to be sculpted nicely, it seems nearly impossible to pass for me （*´▽｀*）.

release date will be in June 2014

Sonico – Santa, Swimsuit version – Alter

Sonico! Alter makes a figure of my beloved 2D girl. Wait, busty figures ? They don’t do that very often, but having a sweet Sonico from Alter has a nice ring to it. This early production sample is already enchanting enough with important blush marks and a tight bikini. The christmas hoodie is castoffable, to give Sonico an all seasons beach girl appearance. Ah yes, she’s scaled 1/7.

release date will be in 2014, hopefully Alter will overcome their vicious circle of delays next year.

Airy Ardet – Shining Blade – Kotobukiya

A simple, conservatie figure adaption of Airy, but still I find it cute how the kind and innocent looking girl is carrying her basket full of bread of happiness, maybe I’ll get her after release.

release date will be in March 2014

Sonico – Mouse version – Wing

(ﾟ∀ﾟ)☞  That’s really good stuff, not painted, but there’s already a release date, so it shouldn’t take too long until preorder will be accepted. That’s a nice Sonico figure with the usual combination of cute and sexy here she is with funny mouse ears. It looks like they transferred some fat from her boobs to her buttocks, which is a great design choice for this lovely figure.

release date will be in March 2014

Rias Gremory – Highschool DxD –  Pole Dance version – Kaitendoh

I feel offended when a character I know gets onebad figure adaptions after another, everything before Kaitendoh was a real dissapointment in my eyes. This is a chance for a promising Rias Gremory figure, the sculptor of this figure, Katsuaki Nemoto  already worked on Cat Lap Milk, so this Rias should turn out very well without much risk. She is shown from the funny, no spectacular Ending Theme of the first season of High School DxD. The face is spot on and the pole dance outfit looks good. I wouldn’t mind to own this attractive figure earlier or later.

release date will be in November 2013

Ousawa Miu – Y-shirt version – FREEing

This simple yet nice figure of  Miu, is portrayed in a self confident, nonchalant pose, but her facial expressionsays something different and  appears rather flustered, befitting her character in the anime. The long twintails look nice, but unfortunately the hair is not very detailed, same applies to her open shirt. The body nevertheless looks quite nice. On the bottomline I’m not getting this one at full price, but maybe when her prize drops.

release date will be in February 2014

Yagami Hayate – Nanoha The Movie 2nd A’s – Gift

A new sandcastle friend! I love my cute and demure big scale Fate figure, but I think Hayate is even cuter with her realistic haircolor, friendly blue eyed face and a lightly opened mouth, she warms up my heart. I think she is a very good addition to the already released happy Nanoha and calm Fate 1/4 scaled swimsuit figures from Gift. I don’t know where they buy these skimpy bikini’s, I think it’s to spice things a bit up. Hayate is  lovely like this, maybe she’ll need a hat.

release date will be in January 2014

 Fin