Hi people spring is around the corner and today I will present you a new figure review.
I want to apologize for the lack of updates the last few days, some things came up and I could not motivate myself to make a filler post at all. Another demotivating factor was the not fast enough delivery of my highly awaited package with Alleyne and Sallya, it really hurt to see them reviewed before I even had the package at the door, haha I can’t deny the sin of Envy.
The figure today is Kara no Kyoukai’s tough magus Aozaki Touko, it is ALTER’s version from 2009, back in the days she was sold for around 6800 Yen, nowadays the prices for her are quite high on the aftermarket 30000 Yen and more are no exception. I coincidentially found a nice person from France who sold her for a fair price and in flawless condition.
This Aozaki Touko is scaled 1/8 and has a height of 15 cm, she comes with a detailed office chair, a cigarette and two heads. The most interesting part about her, next to the cool accesories, is that each of her two faces was sculpted by a different artists, Numakura Toshiaki and Takahashi Tsuyoshi worked on the figure.
looks like an educated mom with spectacles and a cigarette
You will probably notice that this figure is different from what I usually buy, she is not cute in particular and also not skin revealing or busty, for me she is the archetype of a cool girl, without relying on cheap tricks Touko makes an attractive appearance nevertheless.
Well, she actually has a respectable chest, she is an attractive lady in her mid twenties. Touko is charming in a natural way with her simple business dress that consists of a white shirt and grey trousers, the most feminine part are actually the shoes and her necklace. What I found good about this figure is that she smokes, in real life I hate smoking and the taste of nicotine, but it looks cool in anime when someone smokes like a veteran Chinese police detective.
I liked Kara no Kyoukai quite a lot, the anime movies were really good, I think there is still one that I haven’t watched. Touko is a relatively skilled magus who makes a living with investigative tasks, building life sized puppets or fighting vicious creatures or villains.
Touko is not the nicest anime women out there and she is not naive enough to play the hero of justice, but she often offers a helping hand to her acquaintances or the people that pick her interest. Her character is of hardboiled nature, a tough independent woman. It is said that she has a dual personality that she can switch to adapt according to the situation.
With glasses she is kind of friendly, maybe even a bit motherly, but always calculating, without glasses Touko is up for serious business, it is said that she’s more emotional in this state.
Both of her faces are very well done and are close to the appearance of her in the Kara no Kyoukai movies. In 2009 interchangeable heads were a real rarity, so it’s a great feature for this figure. At first I was only interested in her glasses face with the rounder face and large eyes this woman is somewhat cute, while taking some pictures for this review the other one also grow on me. The slanted eyes and the lips give Touko a real distinctive appearance.
As simple as it might look, I like the details on her busines wardrobe, especially her shirt is something I like, the stiff collar, the tucked up sleeves- Also the tight fit is pleasing to the eye, how the clothes follow her upper body from the narrow waist and expands at her chest.
Toukao has some office fanservice to offer with her exposed neck and the shirt one button open, it reveals some subtle cleavage. Overall her body is in very good shape.
It looks rather playful when Touko is nonchalantly hanging around in her office chair, while taking a little break. The chair is a die cast replica of the Eames Aluminum Group Executive Chair designed by Herman Miller, it is very detailed and realistic with turnable wheels.
Final Words
Aozaki Touko is a somewhat unique figure, her outfit is somewhat plain, but she is a damn cool lady. She is not the hottest secretary out there, but she has a certain attitude that makes her appealing and attractive in my eyes. This figure has nice features like exchangeable heads with very different expressions, a detailed chair and a cigarette, Im actually a little concerned about loosing her tiny cigarette one day, maybe I should put it away. Anyway Touko is a very good figure from ALTER quality wise you wouldn’t think she’s from 5 years ago.
Maybe I can clos the chapter of old figures I should have bought with this, there is still this Sonsaku Hakufu from New Line, but I can also pick the new Hakufu from Dragon Toy, it appears to be much better.
Luth
Great review as always Fab! Love the office setting with the carpet and the desk. I really need to watch Kara no Kyoukai someday and the upcoming Mahou Tsukai no Yoru anime, the characters and background seem so interesting. She looks good for such an old figure and man, I LOVE that Eames Executive chair. Wish I could afford one in real life but alas, I had to settle for a cheaper Herman Miller chair.
Also, cigarette smoking, YES. Hate in real life, but it looks so badass in anime.
wieselhead
Thank you, it’s still fun, even after nearly 100 ;D
As I checked back on her office in the movie, I noticed that my office looked a bit more different.
Haha she had a real pitiful desk there, so I gave her a far better desk. Kara no Kyoukai is really worth watching,
the mood is similar to FSN or Fate Zero. Oh they plan to adapt Mahou Tsukai no Yoru, I actually wanted to play the game, the translated demo was fun,
but the full translation seems to be on hold. These designer furniture is rarely in affordable regions. I once saw a desk made of iron which looked similar to what I build for Touko, but I can’t afford it 🙁
Indeed^^
frasbob
Nice review & photos! I like how you created the desk + office setting where she fits really nicely. I love the pose and facial expressions she has, makes for a really cool looking image.
wieselhead
Thx =)
I thought it would be fitting to invest a little time for building and gathering props.
She is quite interesting, I can’t say which face is my favorite.
Miette-chan
Oh man, talk about a nostalgic figure! I remember wanting to buy here but I didn’t because she was too expensive… ha!
I do remember finding her unique at the time as she was a sitting figure. Back then most figures I noticed where kinda just standing there. I really like Touko, I got to admit I had completely forgotten about her up until your review. Still I’m so happy to see a nice close look specially when not a lot of people did when she was released.
Great job with props, now I feel like I need to step it up with my photo shoots.
Touko is so gonna beat you up for calling her a mom.
wieselhead
You thought her retail price was expensive?
I was a bit bored and looked at ALTER’s new Touko, I thought about what bothered me and than I looked at this one on mfc and felt amused by the high prices she was offered there.
One ad looked surprisingly cheap, since I had the impression no one had noticed it so far, I used my chance.
It’s still unique, the market doesn’t have many heavy smoker bishoujo’s *lol*
I found an elaborate older review, but then I was super sad as I noticed that the blog already died years ago, what sadness (≧Д≦)
Thank You, sometimes I feel like putting my energy in too elaborate props.
Touko should just put on more attractive outfits XD
Aeduque
Maaan, this figure came out before I bought my own scaled figure. Kinda regretting that I didnt get into figures as early as 2009 because as you said, these things cost a mile high.
Did you make the diorama again? Love the interchanging purple and white light happening there. If given a choice between Touko with glasses and without glasses what would you prefer her to be in? :)))
wieselhead
I bought my first figure in 2007, the second one 2008. Back then my sources for learning about new figures were super limited so I overlooked this Touko and others.
Haha good to know to own some popular items from the good “old” times ;p Yes, some parts were bought, for example the desk is selfmade, kinda crazy I think ;D
Thank you ^^ Im in general quite crazy about girls with glasses and Touko is pretty cute with them, but I guess the other face has more soul.
Aya
Nice Office setting 😀 This Touko really interesting, Older figures somehow are unique from one to another, and now I seems to think that new release have the same “charm” between them
wieselhead
Thanks, but when thinking about it, I think I went overboard with the details XD
There are a number of amazing “old” figures that still look up to date.
Tier
I remember thinking about getting this figure, but I decided not to because of the cigarette. I hate cigarettes, I’m one of the few people on the planet who has never smoked anything in his or her life (both my parents were big-time smokers until just recently, when health problems forced them to quit). That’s too bad because I really like her modern look; it’s kinda weird to think, since she’s wearing a pretty typical outfit for a middle-class young woman, but it’s so rare to see in anime. Another thing about this figure is I kinda have this thing against Type-Moon products, just because there are so many people out there who memorize every miniscule piece of detail about the series and love regurgitating it whenever they can. It’s why I kinda dread doing reviews of Fate/stay night figures, there always seems to be someone who pops up who is desperate to show off his Ph.D in Type-Moon studies. (I kinda have the same attitude about Evangelion, too; everyone talks about how deep the story is and how complex the characterization is. Me, I thought it was a pretty standard monster-of-the-week show with big giant robots.)
wieselhead
When your parents were polluting the air in the house, I can understand that attitude. I don’t even like alcohol, but I love drunken women in anime with all of it’s funny situations.
I also think that she still looks fresh and modern in her simple business clothes. Anime is so much focused on middle and highschool, Im young at heart and can enjoy such shows but some shows are so dumb that I don’t want them.
Actually I don’t think age is important to enjoy this media, it’s the quality of the content. I like that Type Moon puts so much thought in their works and puts them in some connection. These so called experts can be really annoying XD
Well, I will always love NGE, I would not say that I comprehend everything the “crazy” author had in mind, but it’s an epic story with some good depht. Engaging myself in discussions about it is not my thing, I rather enjoy the content and think about it on my own. That said I disliked the latest movie quite a bit.
Kai
15cm. For a 1/8 size figure, that’s pretty short, but then again, I see she’s sitting, lol. And those accessories probably mean she’s going to need a lot of space. I can indeed see that this figure isn’t the typical female figure you usually buy xD Incidentally, a few of my favorite figures in my collection aren’t skin revealing nor busty at all either, not relying on any cheap tricks for appeal. Then again, my collection is so small I don’t know if my statement has any impact.. xD
wieselhead
Haha you have to take into account how the figure is posed, otherwise 15 cm would be somewhat small.
Without the selfmade desk she requires a little more than an A6 paper sheet.
Indeed XD but well she is quite busty for an office lady, don’t you think?
I also like figures that are not half nude ^^ but well you know I like my ecchy, sexy figures.
Don’t feel bad about it, sometimes I wish that I still had smaller collection 😀
kixkillradio
Your attention to detail is superb in this set. (´∀｀)♡ I love it when 1/8 scale figs got a diorama and background. When I first saw this photo, I knew it was yours. I guess, every figure photographers I follow has their own signature way in photographing and showcasing their figures. I was actually waiting in the post if the blouse can be removed because in your collection, I rarely see girls not baring skin haha. 😛
I love the pose and expressions. I like the serious look of her, it’s a bit more sexy. 🙂
I haven’t watched Kara no Kyoukai and I feel I should really watch it soon as my brother also keeps telling me to.
wieselhead
I went a bit crazy with Touko I guess, but it was definitely fun to shoot her in this office like setting.
I’m glad that you like it, hearing that from you, the props master makes me happy =)
*lol* What!? They are all modest ladys XD Well, no you can’t strip Touko and I doubt she would let me ＼（＾▽＾）／
Touko is really cool, I love her attitude.
It is a great series of movies, but be prepared for some gruesome and mentally disturbing scenes. I have yet to watch the last movie.
feal87
Touko was interesting, but I still prefer her cheerful and crazy sister. Where is a nice figure of Aoko? *cries*
wieselhead
Oh she is her sister? I played the Mahou Tsukai no Yoru demo, but I didn’t know that *lol*
Isn’t Aoko the bad sister? she appeared so friendly there.