New Release Roundup, Feb. 2010 Edition

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Alter - 1/8 Nakano Azusa

  • Character: Nakano Azusa
  • Series: K-ON!
  • Scale: 1/8
  • Height: 200 mm
  • Material: PVC
  • Company: Alter
  • Price: 6,800 yen
  • Date: Jun. 2010
  • Link 1: Official Site
  • Link 2: Hobby Search
  • Link 3: AmiAmi

Alter showed off their upcoming Azusa figure at WF2010 and online shops started taking reservations for her a few days later. Azusa is probably my favorite K-ON! character design after Mio, mostly owing to her hairstyle. I would probably display her in Azu-nyan mode, but I’m always a bit leery of customizable bits on my fixed-pose figures these days after seeing too many unsightly gaps or loose parts on figures I’ve purchased in the past.

Griffon Enterprises - Tomoe

  • Character: Tomoe
  • Series: Queen’s Blade
  • Scale: Non
  • Height: 170 mm
  • Material: PVC
  • Company: Griffon Enterprises
  • Price: 6,400 yen
  • Date: Apr. 2010
  • Link 1: Hobby Search
  • Link 2: AmiAmi

When I first saw Griffon’s new Queen’s Blade figure on the Hobby Search page in a modest outfit and pose with no mention or images to suggest a cast-off ability, I was impressed. Figures from the Queen’s Blade series so often fall into the generic ecchi/cast-off/crap category that seeing something more normal is refreshing. Or at least it was… until I poked around further and found that the figure is does indeed feature a cast-off ability. Ugh.

Alter - 1/8 Senhime

  • Character: Senhime
  • Series: Hyakka Ryoran
  • Scale: 1/8
  • Height: 205 mm
  • Material: PVC
  • Company: Alter
  • Price: 7,800 yen
  • Date: Jun. 2010
  • Link 1: Official Site
  • Link 2: Hobby Search
  • Link 3: AmiAmi

Senhime is Alter’s latest entry in their line of Hyakka Ryoran figures. I have to admit that I really like the character designs for this series. They’re definitely fan service-oriented, but it’s not generic fan service.

I’m liking Senhime’s outfit.  The neatly pleated skirt seems to be the visual centerpiece and the purple/red/black color combo works very well here. The one thing that I’m not so sure that I like is Senhime’s expression here. I’m guessing it’s part of her character, but the frown she’s wearing seems to suggest she’d rather be doing other things. -_-

Alter - 1/8 Sanya V. Litvyak

  • Character: Sanya V. Litvyak
  • Series: Strike Witches
  • Scale: 1/8
  • Height: 220 mm
  • Material: PVC
  • Company: Alter
  • Price: 7,800 yen
  • Date: Jun. 2010
  • Link 1: Official Site
  • Link 2: Hobby Search
  • Link 3: AmiAmi

February seems to be the month for Strike Witches figures; two from Alter and one from Kotobukiya. I haven’t personally seen the series–though I do have the DVD set on order–but I have noticed that the series has been thoroughly vilified in the West for reasons I can understand, but don’t necessarily agree with. Regardless of how you feel about Strike Witches, you have to admit that it is at least unique from a character design standpoint. The moefication of girls as WWII fighter planes isn’t something you see every day, even in anime.

Sanya isn’t my favorite design among the Strike Witches characters–that distinction probably belongs to Lucchini–so I can’t say I was exactly looking for a Sanya figure, but I can see some appeal here. For one, I find the dark colors of Sanya’s outfit and her Striker Unit appealing. I also think there could be some value in the fact that this Sanya is probably going to be one of the tamer figures from the Strike Witches series, for someone who’s conscious about their figure collection.

Alter - 1/8 Miyafuji Yoshika

  • Character: Miyafuji Yoshika
  • Series: Strike Witches
  • Scale: 1/8
  • Height: 255 mm
  • Material: PVC
  • Company: Alter
  • Price: 7,800 yen
  • Date: Jul. 2010
  • Link 1: Official Site
  • Link 2: Hobby Search
  • Link 3: AmiAmi

Alter’s other Strike Witches figure for this month is a re-release of main character Miyafuji Yoshika. Sometimes I wonder how and why manufacturers decide to re-release certain figures and not others. I considered Alter’s Yoshika briefly the first time around, but ultimately decided to pass. Among the motley assortment of character in Strike Witches, I actually find Yoshika kind of plain. Sad but true.

Kotobukiya - 1/8 Erica Hartmann

  • Character: Erica Hartmann
  • Series: Strike Witches
  • Scale: 1/8
  • Height: 220 mm
  • Material: PVC
  • Company: Kotobukiya
  • Price: 6,800 yen
  • Date: May 2010
  • Link 1: Hobby Search
  • Link 2: AmiAmi

As mentioned in the Sanya comments, Kotobukiya also got in on this month’s Strike Witches action with their own Erica figure. Like the others, Erica isn’t my favorite character design from the series so this figure doesn’t win any brownie points there. It also looks like stand Koto is using for Erica would be more visually intrusive than the minimalist metal pins that Alter is using. I’m not a fan of bases that have visible supports in the first place, so the less I see, the better.

Gift - 1/4 Minamoto Chizuru

  • Character: Minamoto Chizuru
  • Series: Kanokon
  • Scale: 1/4
  • Height: 400 mm
  • Material: PVC
  • Company: Gift
  • Price: 12,000 yen
  • Date: Jul. 2010
  • Link 1: Official Site
  • Link 2: Hobby Search
  • Link 3: AmiAmi

You’ve got love a figure that’s gratuitous in more ways than one. Outrageous outfit. Enormous size. Massive price tag. Gift’s latest is a 1/4 scale bunny girl who does all things in large proportions. ^_^

Kotobukiya - 1/6 Kousaka Tamaki ~Panic~

  • Character: Kousaka Tamaki
  • Series: To Heart 2
  • Scale: 1/6
  • Height: 210 mm
  • Material: PVC
  • Company: Kotobukiya
  • Price: 8,000 yen
  • Date: Jun. 2010
  • Link 1: Hobby Search
  • Link 2: AmiAmi

It seems that Kotobukiya isn’t quite done milking To Heart 2’s Tamaki for their 4-Leaves series. Here we have the third 1/6 scale Tamaki figure in a similar crouching pose. This one features a slightly different sculpt with Tamaki in the middle of a wardrobe malfunction rather than supporting her bra using her mouth as in the previous 4-Leaves figures. Of the three, I think I like the look of this version the least.

FREEing - 1/8 Akiyama Mio

  • Character: Akiyama Mio
  • Series: K-ON!
  • Scale: 1/8
  • Height: 200 mm
  • Material: PVC
  • Company: FREEing
  • Price: 7,429 yen
  • Date: Jul. 2010
  • Link 1: Official Site
  • Link 2: Hobby Search
  • Link 3: AmiAmi

Yay! It’s another Mio figure!

Boo! She’s not wearing her ending sequence outfit! -_-

FREEing’s new Mio was one of the handful of upcoming Mio figures shown off at WF2010W. It’s hard not to compare her to Alter’s maid Mio, which I probably liked more between the two. I’m missing the musical references from the series here–Alter’s maid Mio is shown holding her guitar–which I think leaves Mio looking a little too generic. I’m also not particularly fond of the troubled expression she’s wearing here. Oh well, the wait continues…