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.
Aya
She reminds me that I haven’t got any Submarine XD , she looks gorgeous ahaha the damaged sukumizu reminds me with usual damaged tight/battle suit lol and of course absolutely love the tentacles and the fish tank 😀
wieselhead
What! You should grind world 1-5 then.
Yeah, I also love how she turned out, vivid colors and very nice sculpting ≧(´▽｀)≦.
Haha it shows nice damage, not really ecchi actually lol, would be hilarious if the butt would be partially revealed.
Thx, should have bought a bigger fishtank, the perspective is so warped.
feal87
I-169 was my first and only submarine for like 2 months before getting I-19, Maruyu and I-58.
So lovely! *hugs her*
wieselhead
Ah, I see. You were lucky, it took me probably a year until I got I-19 XD
I have 5 submarines now ^^ Yeah she likes some hugs from Admiral Wieselhead ♡
Hoshiko
She’s cute, but desperately in need of a better swimsuit! Haha.
Wait. Did you place her inside the fish bowl or something? Is that like her permanent display place in your house?
wieselhead
I love how cute she is ^^
Well, thats probably a good idea, lol
Yeah I did consider it, but the bowl is so small that it warps the perspective so much, so I dropped the idea.
Tier
She’s a very cute character, like most of the Kantai Collection characters; I think she has my favorite design of the submarine girls. I’m a little surprised she didn’t show up in the anime since she seems pretty popular – though I guess Tenryu and a few other fan-favorites didn’t really make an appearance, either. I guess there’s always the second season, though, and in keeping with my interest in military history, I’m hoping that they faithfully depict the course of events and that everyone dies a horrible death! Also, I don’t know what’s up with Max Factory’s pricing but regardless of how appealing their figures are, I’m kinda thinking I should just wait for them to hit the bargain bin, since they often do.
wieselhead
I-168 is the best submarine girl, I’m really happy that this figure has been made ( ＾∇＾).
The choice of characters in this anime is still a mystery to me, but well it was ok somehow,
actually I never expected them to give Mutsuki this major role, in the Game I like her so much ^^
You know that this a rather unrealistic outcome and I actually don’t want such an end.
The general glorification of war vehicles in anime is a bit odd, I don’t think Kancolle was created by nationalistic idiots,
I see it just as fiction that is more or less based on historical events and ships, sure the enemy ships have western specifications, I nevertheless don’t think that they did that as hidden payback. Certain animes recently have a much clearer nationalistic undertones like Terraformars or Gate. The kicks against China are highly questionable in this media especially when seen in connection to Japans latest politic engagement.
Kai
What’s up with that tentacle, lol. Anyway, nice figure. Loving the expressions too :p
wieselhead
It can happen in the ocean o(^▽^)o
Yeah her expression is gold I love it (´∀｀)♡