What!? Another preview? Yup, I'm bored from writing my thesis, and I've yet to figure out how to deal with the ridiculous weathers thanks to Hurricane Irene, so previews will take priority over reviews for now.
As I've written in my previous update, I wasn't too fond of Kuroneko's black cat ear hairband due to its lack of details. But I realized I shouldn't complain too much, after all, Kuroneko is just a highschool girl who just wants to look moe by mimicking cats.
My scouter says the video above has a moe power level of 5.
Heh... that's not even close to that legendary clip I watched a while ago, which left me unconscious with temporarily case of anemia due to large amount of blood loss from my nose. Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce Black Hanekawa, from Bakemonogatari:
Bakemonogatari, like OreImo, is a series of light novels adapted into anime in summer 2009. If you haven't watched/read it, I highly recommend that you give it a try. Anyway, without spoiling too much, let's just say the female here underwent some kind of "transformation" that turned her into the way she's seen in the video.
Anyway, since both Good Smile Company and Kotobukiya have released a few Bakemonogatari figures in the past year or two, which sold like hotcakes, Alter decided to budge in and steal a slice of the pie with not one, but two highly detailed figures to be released near the end of September this year: Black Hanekawa and Senjyogahara.
Actually, Senjyogahara, the main female protagonist of Bakemonogatari, was supposed to be released near the end of August. But Alter pushed the release a month back to September, which made it look like they're releasing two figures in the same month. Not exactly a wise decision if you ask me, especially when each costs close/over $100 after shipping, thanks to the poor exchange rates.
Since the preorder campaign's long over for Senjyogahara, I thought it'd be better to review her when my order arrives. Black Hanekawa, on the other hand, is still open to preorders on AmiAmi, HobbySearch, etc., I personally think she's worth previewing, so here goes.
The first thing I'll say is that Black Hanekawa's pose is fairly unique, it gives you an immediate impression that she has just landed on the rooftop, with her long white hairs still in the air, and one of her legs stretching over the slope to keep her in balance. The way her left elbow bends creates a typical, but more natural, cat paw/claw form.
One thing that looks kind of awkward to me is her right foot.
I don't know if anybody's toe would bend close to 90 degrees on a slanted surface, but I know mine certainly wouldn't unless I deliberately make it so, which hurts a lot, by the way. Yes, I actually tried this out, believe it or not. However, this is a half-cat, half-human female we're looking at here, she might be more flexible physically and might not experience the same strains exerted on a human.
What are some of the important characteristics of a cat? Long nails? Check. Cute canine tooth/fangs? Check. Nekomimi (cat ears)? Check. Beasty pupils? Check.
The only thing missing is a tail. BUT, it was never described in novel or shown in the anime, nothing could be done. The close-up shots of her face clearly demonstrate that Tanaka Touji was able to faithfully replicate Black Hanekawa's naughty, playful "nya~haha~" expression in his sculpture.
Like most Alter figures, the attention to detail is simply phenomenal. From the folds and patterns on her pajama, to the detailed coloring of the brick palette base (and the cute paw marks), you'd have to use a microscope to find faults on this figure.
So what's the bottom line? Other than the awkwardly positioned toe on her right foot, I think this figure is perfect. If you have extra money that you can spare for a figure in September, this is the one to get. For nekomimi and Bakemonogatari fans, this is a mandatory figure to add to your collection. It is expensive, I know, but it's well worth the money.
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