Preview: Oshino Shinobu 1/8 PVC Figure

Disclaimer: Photos of the figure are taken from HobbyStock (http://blog.hobbystock.jp/report/2011/10/tp0775.html).

Oshino Shinobu from Bakemonogatari rarely speaks. She just sits in a corner like a social outcast for the majority of the show, yet it's impossible to ignore her. Senjyogahara took notice of this so-called "remains of a vampire" right after she walked into the run-down school building Oshino Meme used to live in. To me, a loli who doesn't speak but comes to save your ass when you're in danger is a good loli. A drastic contrast to some other kid who intends on biting off your fingers if you attempted to "harass" her by surprise.

It was hinted quite a few times during the anime that Shinobu loves donuts. If she's not hiding in the corner, she's most likely inside that donuts shop in the middle of no where buying her favorite ration. In order to keep their design unique and stylish, Good Smile Company decided to put Shinobu on top of a pile of donuts for their upcoming 1/8 PVC figure... or is it?

If you look closely, you'll find items that belong to various Bakemonogatari characters in the pile of donuts mess Shinobu sits on. But the most noticeable of them all is probably the antenna-like hairs of Araragi.... It's kind of sad that Araragi has no other distinctive traits that make him stand out, such is expected from someone who still hasn't lost his virginity.

Biting onto Araragi's hairs is Senjyogahara's stapler, perhaps a symbol that represents her devotion and dedication to him, a "I won't let go of you no matter what"-type of feeling.

From the back-side, Kanbaru's Rainy Devil and Meme's geta are sticking out like sore thumbs.

From the left-side, Mayoi's gigantic bag is clearly visible. While not as large and packed as her figure to be released in the next few days, most of its shape and details are retained.

And from the right, we can see nekomimi and glasses, two trademarks of Hanekawa. In front of Araragi's hairs is the orange-white cap that belongs to Sengoku Nadeko.

Anyway, I might have gone off a tangent just now, but let's return to Earth and look at the star of this figure, Shinobu herself, starting with her face:

For the most part, her face looks perfect. It's cute to see a girl trying to hang onto sweets with her teeth, especially when her trademark vampire fangs are exposed. Her helmet and goggle are nicely detailed, with signs of wear and tear on the lens. My main problem with her face is the pink highlights on her cheeks. These are supposed to be painted on, but instead they seemed to be attached as extra pieces during assembly. The highlights look as if Shinobu was having hay fever, with hashes and bumps appearing on her face rather than blushes...

Not much to say about her hairs, they're rather bulky, and lack details... although that's how they look in the anime. Her dress on the other hand, is nicely done. The frills fit perfectly and bend naturally with the rest of the fabric.

Shinobu's gorgeous pale skins are exposed, best of all, she's bare-footed, an extra special treat for foot fetish lolicons.

Those glazed donuts are REALLY making me hungry....

Overall, a nicely done figure, reflective of what a top tier figurine manufacturer is capable of. As the sixth installment in the Bakemonogatari figurine series, Shinobu is well worth your money. She may be small in comparison to say, Hanekawa or Senjyogahara, but the amount of details in the base make up for her height, not to mention all the trademark accessories from all the protagonists in this series embedded around the base (...although Araragi's head makes me wonder if she actually dismembered him to keep it as a collectable.... let's not go there...).

If you already collected the first five figures, there's little reason to skip out on this. I don't know if GSC has any other characters in the pipeline at the moment, perhaps Tsukihi and Karen are up next?

Preview: Marine Admiral Kizaru (Borsalino) 1/8 PVC Figure

Disclaimer: Photos of the figure are taken from AmiAmi (http://www.amiami.jp/shop/?set=english&vgForm=ProductInfo&sku=FIG-IPN-2604&template=default/product/e_display.html)

Here's a stupid question: try and name a character that immediately comes to your mind when you see the word "troll" (no, not the one from Warcraft). I thought of Kizaru from One Piece, his face, he style of speech, his Devil Fruit ability and his outfit make him the king of trolls. Don't believe me? Watch the video:

Do you think he's a badass? I think not. Kizaru never seems to be serious when he's fighting, even when somebody points a gun at his head, his sarcastic tone makes everything sounds like a joke. As one of the three Admirals in the Marines, Kizaru adds quite the flavor into an otherwise dead serious top brass level of middle- to late-aged men (well, except for Aokiji).

So why do I even bother previewing him? Two reasons:

1. He's a troll, and you need a troll in your figure collection to make everything complete... or, you need him to complete your Admiral collection from Mega House.
2. His face and height make him the perfect molester for all kinds of messed up postures with other bishoujos in your collection for some nice, creative photos.

As always, the best One Piece PVC figures come from Mega House. This one is no exception. There are usually very few differences between the preview shots and the actual merchandise (unlike Kotobukiya)... Kizaru's troll face is faithfully reproduced here, with nice detailing on his striped yellow suit (who would want to wear this shit!?). The folds and crevices on his clothes look fairly realistic.

Based on the photos below, it looks like you can switch him with different hands: a pair that gets ready for a beam attack, a pair holding the light sabre he pulls out of thin air, and another pair in the same position except with more transparent colors indicating the activation of his Devil Fruit ability.

His Marine uniform is an additional accessory that can be removed if desired. Taking it off would make him look more like some producer in the Japanese AV industry, wouldn't you agree?

"It's time to start getting her undressed"

"Look you idiot, follow my gestures and pinch her sensitive parts like this..."

Kizaru measures up to around 260 mm, making him a pretty big figure, but he's likely shippable through SAL since Aokiji, who is around the same height as him, can be shipped via SAL. It's currently unclear whether or not his sunglasses can be taken off, but other than that, the number of accessories included looks decent: four pairs of hands, one light saber, and one uniform.

If you're a One Piece fan, there's no need for me to convince you to preorder him. For those who aren't interested in One Piece but are thinking of doing creative photo scoops with their existing collection, I would personally recommend getting him because of the intrinsic troll nature he carries.

Preview: Aigis ART WORKS Ver. 1/6 PVC Figure

Disclaimer: Photos of the figure are taken from HobbyStock and Cospa's official website (http://blog.hobbystock.jp/report/2011/09/tp0754.html & http://www.cospa.com/detail/id/00000033770)

I never understood the hype behind Aigis, the android designed to combat Shadows in Persona 3, but there seems to be an awful lot of figures released in the past dedicated specifically to her. Where's the love for Metis?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Persona series, it's kind of a spin-off from the Megami Tensei franchise of RPGs, featuring a bunch of highschool kids with special abilities to summon their psyches into various familiars to help them in combat. Persona 3 is the third game in the series. It was highly regarded by critics due to the many improvements made over its predecessors, one of which is the stat-building/dating-simulation feature where you, the protagonist, do things to improve your stats (eg. academics, charisma, etc.) to better communicate with girls. Depending on the choices you make during the dating segments (which increase their affection points), you could eventually turn one of them your lover, take her home and do all sorts of things to her:

Warning: the following video contains spoilers, watch it at your own risk.

After watching this video, I was suddenly reminded of Ar Tonelico (you'll understand what I mean if you've played both series, hint: revealing the most "delicate and precious" part to you)... speaking of which, I haven't seen a single figure from this series. Ar Tonelico is famous for suggestive themes and cute/sexy girls, it's got a big enough fan base, so what's holding manufacturers back?

Back to topic. The current Aigis figure from Alter is based on Shigenori Soejima Artworks SC, which you can order off Amazon for around $28.

For the most part, the figure is very faithful to the artwork, although the coloration in the figure is a lot warmer and saturated.

The mechanical components in her shoulders, wrists, thighs and feet are extremely detailed, and the paint jobs are meticulously done. I'm most impressed with Aigis' hairs, you can clearly see the amount of effort put into depicting individual hair bundles/sections.

The difference is night and day when you compare the current figure with that from Cospa released in 2010.

The difference is further demonstrated when you compare the decals found on Aigis' arm band, shoulder joints, wrist sections and hairband, which seemed to be absent in the Cospa version. You might be thinking, they're just decals, what's the big deal? You stick them on and that's that. You're right, but my point is the attention to detail. Alter could very well leave them out to save time and give those poor Chinese workers a break.

The inner-workings of her forearm and the machine guns at her fingertips are instant reminders that she ain't just a bishoujo, but rather, a badass android specially designed to take on Shadows. The job isn't easy, and can leave Persona users wounded or scarred, as reflected by the damages done on Aigis' thighs.

The base that comes with this figure has a pretty simple design. The checkered pattern is a reproduction of the floor tiles found on the first few levels of Tartarus. The brownish splash is probably a Shadow that was either trashed by Aigis, or is trying to molester her leg because it has leg/foot fetish.

It seems to me that the Shadow is the only support that keeps Aigis in the air. Frankly, I'm a little concerned about the figure's balance. Aigis was designed to lean to her left, which probably already shifted her center of gravity. While Alter's quality is superb on pretty much all levels, there is no guarantee that the current figure is bent-resistant. I personally don't think it's a good idea to leave her out over extended periods of time, which is a real shame.

If you can overlook the balance concern I raised, this is the definitive Aigis figure to get for Persona 3 and Aigis fans. The level of detail is unmatched, which is expected from a figure in the $90-$100 range. Furthermore, keep in mind that this is a 1/6 scale figure, which will surely bring out the prowess and beauty absent in the lot of 1/8 scale figures most people own. Of course, this also means that she's unlikely to be shipped via SAL due to size/weight restrictions, so prepare to be stung by the ridiculous shipping fee from EMS.