After a few weeks of silence since my first post, I think it's time to get my lazy ass in front of the computer and start updating this blog. The weather in western Canada hasn't been exactly kind as of late, so my original plans of outdoor shooting of some of the figures from my own collection had to be postponed. Instead of leaving the blog with a dry and boring introduction post without much juice, I think it's reasonable to kick start things with a preview on the upcoming Kurenko figure from Kotobukiya: Kuroneko -memories(Natsu Komi)- version.
In case you aren't familiar with Kuroneko, she's a character from a popular light novel series called Ore no Imoto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, literally translated as My Sister Can't Be This Cute. Due to its ridiculously long name, most people just address the series as "OreImo". The novel was eventually adapted into anime and aired during the last four months of 2010. The show quickly became many fans' favorite and received quite the praise from different anime communities around the world.
Kuroneko's real name is Gokou Ruri, and is an otaku just like the protagonist's younger sister. Throughout the show, she's seen wearing a Gothic lolita outfit, sometimes with additional accessories such as cat ears and tails. Considering that Kuroneko means Black Cat in English, it's not hard to see why Ruri's dressed up the way she is.
Because Ruri rarely wears anything other than her school uniform and the gothic lolita dress that she made herself, the summer outfit seen in this figure produced by Kotobukiya can be said as a real eye canady Kuroneko fans.
Ruri's pose isn't exactly interesting, but out of all the OreImo figures out there, this is probably the first one which features a character in a sitting position. Her beautiful, silky smooth pale skin is probably a result of the constant protection against sunlight by her gothic lolita dress. Hopefully she doesn't get easily tanned like Azunyan from K-ON!
Ruri is a tsundere, and her cute but "tsun" expression is accurately captured by Fio (the sculptor of this figure).
However, I'm sure you have probably spotted by now, the paint job on her eyes is downright horrible (especially on her right eye). I don't know if it's an artifact when the photos were being taken, but the white scuff mark near the top right corner of her right eye really sticks out like a thorn thumb. In addition, the outline and color transitioning/gradient still require quite a bit of improvement.
If you're a nekomimi-con like me, this figure will surely satisfy your fetish. Her cat ear hairband blends in perfectly with her elegant dark black hair. It's a shame that there is hardly any details in the ears, I was hoping for a slightly more furry appearance with white patches of furs inside the ears. The nekomimi hairband doesn't seem like a removable accessory, so it's basically stuck there.
Her purse, however, does look like it's removable. Although with her arms crossed underneath her legs, the exact removal mechanism (if there is any) remains a mystery.
While we're on the topic of purse, I just have to bring up the sloppy paint job here again. That diamond shaped accessory looks so bad I was almost convinced that it was done by some amateur who just started learning how to paint. Kotobukiya isn't exactly a top-tier figure company like Alter, but this kind of messy detailing on smaller areas is not even acceptable for a third- manufacturer.
Well, at least Ruri's summer outfit looks clean and refreshing.
The wavy folds around her collar and the edge of the dress show off the sculptor's skill and his attention to detail.
And that's about all the things I can comment on at the moment. Thanks to HobbyStock's photos, I was able to take a closer look at some of the details on this figure. It's certainly too early to jump to conclusions on how the figure will turn out, as it's designated release date is sometime near the end of December/early January. However, the jarring flaws on the prototype so far should definitely be adjusted and fixed before the figure is sent to mass production. Kotobukiya is known to screw up fans with a mass produced figure that looks quite off from the prototype, I just hope such things won't happen to my beloved Kuroneko.
So should you preorder/buy this figure? Well, for $60, it's a decent 1/8 PVC figure. The overall quality isn't bad, and it's the first Kuroneko in a normal outfit. At the moment, the only companies making OreImo scaled PVC figures are Kotobukiya, FREEing and Wave. I have yet to see Alter making a move on this series, and since GSC is kind of the distributor for FREEing figures, I don't think we'll see scaled OreImo figures coming straight from GSC anytime soon. Even if the top tiers decide to jump in, the chance of us seeing another Kuroneko wearing normal outfits is pretty slim.
If you think you're going to be short on money in January, I suggest waiting it out. It's unlikely that this particular version of Kuroneko will be sold out the day it's released. By then, there should be tons of reviews around the net to give you a clear look at the final mass produced version. If the aforementioned problems have been alleviated, I wouldn't hesitate to buy. If, however, the problems haven't been fixed or have actually worsened, unless you're a hardcore fan of Kuroneko, I wouldn't recommend spending your dollars on her.
