[Kotobukiya] Kudryavka Noumi - Waffu Ver PVC Figure Review

A few days ago, my Little Busters PVC arrived from Japan. The character name is Kudryavka Noumi from Little Busters, a visual novel made by Key. This character was even popular enough to spawn her own visual novel where she stars as the main heroine. It was called Kud Wafter. So its no surprise that a number of manufacturers created figures using her character. From all the ones I've seen, this is probably the best version yet. Read on for a full review.

I've bought many figures in the past. So many that I can't even count. But for most of the purchases, I've had to think about whether I wanted to buy it or not. Questions like "Is the price ok?" or "Does it look great enough?" or even "Do I like this character?".

But this figure for me was an impulsive buy. I just HAD to HAVE it. Atleast that was what the prototype pictures had me sold. So I preordered it first thing. Waited a couple of months and here it is.

ITS JUST SO CUTE !! !!

While I knew who Noumi was prior to this figure's debut, that had no relation to why I bought it. It was just... *faints*

Ok, finally we can start the actual review. (I finished my prologue. *cough cough*)

Box

Starting with the box, while there is nothing surprising about the exterior, the interior plastic holding the figure in place was kind of unique. Of all the ones I have, it has always been 2 pieces of plastic held together by 4 or so buttons. But this one was a single piece of plastic which folds at two lines to conform to a 3D shape. Interesting. Does it mean anything...? Probably not.

Interior Plastic

The figure itself was as adorable as the prototype. On first impression it did appear to be more glossy than other ones that I own. While not the greatest news, it was alright. Everything else was still perfect.

The smile and pose still captures me just as it did 3 months ago. The sculptor did a great job expressing the character's cuteness naturally. The pose feels just right at home. It gives off a childish aura which breathes out happiness all over which corresponds to the type of character she is.

Smile !

I didn't notice any defects in the product upon inspection and the details on the figure is very well done. The hat especially, unlike other figures with hats I've own, this one has specific engravings on the inside of the hat so that at one specific position, the hat will fit snugly.

Hat (Those weird engravings are for the hair to interlock itself with the hat to create a great fit)

There were other details such as the ribbons on the shoes, socks, and rear side of the shirt. While those weren't factors which would be detrimental to the whole figure, the fact that they were done well and properly helps to improve the image of Kotobukiya.

The hair and her cape was also full of life as it danced in the wind. A common feature with practically all figures of characters with long hair. Here is no exception, creating compelling volume as the wind carries it about. This was anything but dull. And frankly, dull figures just aren't interesting enough to store in my cabinet.

Focus of the Hair and the Cape from behind. (Notice all the different strands of hair and the amounts of bends on the cape. Alot of work was put into this portion to create this energetic sculpture)

In terms of the paint... Nothing too spectacular but nothing disturbing either. Just like any other quality figure by big name companies. I quite like the shading though.

Lastly, the base. Its a generic base. Just a white piece of plastic with the name pasted on the top. The figure is stuck to it by a bolt (or something). So I didn't try taking it out.

Base (Nothing special about it)

I generally like characters who are more cheerful than not. So this figure was a great buy for me and will fit nicely into my cabinet of other goodies. Anyway, the gallery and Amiami link for the product is below. Thanks for reading !

Aside: I apologize for the picture if its a bit dark. On my camera when I was taking them, they were just fine... On my Samsung monitor is not too bad also. But on my NEC one, its a bit dark.

Gallery:

[Kotobukiya] Kudryavka Noumi PVC Figure

Amiami shop: Link.

...

Oh yeah.

There was a hidden surprise in the figure.

What the...

O_O?!

Slightly NSFW

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[QuesQ] Moriya Suwako Figure Review

July 6, 2011 was when my first figure from QuesQ arrived. I really had no expectation from a company who I have not yet purchased from. So I could not say how the figure would turn out. I would be delighted if it turn out like the prototype. But most figures I've preordered had been spectacular and I haven't been devastated yet. Lets hope it doesn't start now. Read on for the full review.

I first read about it on Nekomagic, my one stop place for figure news. And instantly I was sold on the face. Usually if I buy a figure its because I love the face. While the pose or other elements are important, when I look at something, its the face. Regardless or if its a person, an artwork, a photo, everything.

First thing I saw when I looked at the box was... its SMALL ! D8 Kind of the same feeling I got when I received the the Ameri figure. Then I looked at the box, and didn't find a scale ratio. Boo.

But size isn't everything, yes, it looks strange when put beside my other 1/8 Touhou figures, see below.

But adding details on small figures is much more difficult than on larger ones. Atleast thats what I believe.

In terms of the photos, I first took them using the photo shooting box my dad got me a long time ago in broad daylight. I thought it was fine, but when I got on my computer they were dark +_+. Someone must have messed with my camera setting cause when I checked it afterwards, the exposure setting was set to -1.0 (0.0 is normal). Not cool. And by then it was already evening, so I took the stuff up to my room and shot it there with a desktop light lying around.

Here was the contraption, because the nature of the lamp, the colour was tinted yellow. (Don't give me those eyes if you see spongebob, its a great show. And I happened to have won it at Seaworld on my trip to California.)

This was taken in the morning with the reduced exposure setting. But notice how the image is not tinted yellow like in the ones below. Would be perfect if the settings wasn't changed.

Anyway, moving on to the review.

Luckily, the product arrived as anticipated from images I've seen online. Not much deviation was spotted and I like it as much as I did the prototype images. Great thing considering prototypes are usually meant to be perfect copies for the product to appeal to customers.

The face still captures me like a rock versus paper... (ok, thats bad.)

Smile ! ^_^

The colouring was well done upon closer inspection (Unfortunately, macro shots are not possible with my camera, so you'll just have to take my word. Sorry, hope to get a macro lens later.). Also, I didn't see errors like chipped or cracks. I think for quality this is pretty well done.

The gimmicks are pretty nifty too. It comes with 2 right hands which uses a tube mount to connect to the figure. Part of the tube and the mount is squared so you wouldn't be able to rotate the hand and there is only 1 correct way to connect the hand onto the figure. This is actually nothing new but as T's System's Kochiya Sanae had it too for the head (Though, why the head was removable on that figure remains a mystery to me.)
The second thing was the hat. It sticks on magnetically, just like the Pixie Hiyori from Good Smile Company, but a bit poorer made. The hat on Hiyori didn't have grooves from inserting the magnet, but it clearly shows up here. Luckily, if you put on the hat, no one knows. They won't even see the line across the forehead thats on basically every figure.

Magnetically attached hat but you can see the groove where the PVC was cut to insert the magnet.

The left hand softly wraps around the hat when you put it in place. Very life-like !

Nice detail on the clothes, the decal (?). Those are frogs because Suwako is portrayed as a God whose a frog. However that may work.

The pose fits the character, Moriya Suwako very well as being cute and childish. While I don't exactly know her personality in the official Touhou Games by ZUN. But fan works have given her that kind of chara. She can also be portrayed as a dark character. Clearly not the case here.

I've rarely regretted buying anything and certainly I haven't regretted buying this. Though the price was somewhat expensive for something this small. Its a nice piece of addition to any Touhou Project fan or just any collector looking for a cute figure.

My display case as of July 6, 2011. The new figure is on the top level to the right.

Gallery is below, thanks for reading.

[QuesQ] Moriya Suwako PVC Figure

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[Griffon Enterprises] Flandre Scarlet PVC Figure Review

While at home for the past week, I was able to take photos and inspect this figure thoroughly (aside other things, here and here). Full review of the figure Flandre Scarlet by Griffon Enterprises below.

Lets start off with here I got this and at what cost. I paid 6560 yen which was equivalent to $74.78 CDN at the time of purchase. I had put in a preorder request at Amiami months in advance because I wanted it alot. (More about purchasing with Amiami here). I will point out in the gallery link at the end of the post, you can see the type of packaging Amiami uses.

On with the actual product.

First of all, the picture on the box, in my opinion, looks terrible, and at first I thought the figure itself was bad also. But when I opened it, that wasn't the case. The box itself and the plastic packaging in the box was no surprise to anyone. I hadn't expected it to be either.

The base looks normal also. I will point out a specific detail to the base though. I personally thought nothing of it except maybe a little smile at how neat it was. Do you know what I'm talking about?
Look harder!
HARDER !!
...
<-- Click But that is such a small thing, can't possibly use that as an excuse to say whether its good or not. So lets move on. Lets talk about the Lævateinn... if you're a Touhou fan, you should automatically know what it is (or maybe if you know a little about Flandre, you would know). To put bluntly, its her weapon. You know how shes kinda crazy and likes to kill everyone? That "double-edged trident" is PRETTY DAMN SHARP! You can seriously hurt someone! And I kid you not. Its comparable to a toothpick, and probably even sharper. I poked myself cause I wasn't careful.

Who thought owning figurines wouldn't hurt?

That hat and the rest of the figure can be blended together, since there was nothing unique about the hat which deserved its own analysis. I found the figure to be very well coloured, atleast in regards to the shading. The pose is also very dynamic and strikes you nearly instantly. (I don't really like dull figurines where they're just standing there to look pretty). There are some imperfections to be seen in the close up pictures. But those are understandable.

I should mention, the hat, like Marisa's, does not magnetically clip on like the Hiyori Pixie's pumpkin hat, but despite this, it is very easy to put on and once on it doesn't wiggle on the head.

The clothing on this figure looks top notch, just like Marisa's. The shading on the skirt successfully captures the motion that it is taking. I would even say Griffon Enterprises does the best shading jobs that I've seen in all the figures I own.

Lastly, I should mention the wings (OMG!). It was one of the main reasons why I bought it, Flandre Scarlet is cool, but everyone has their charm points. For sure, it has to be her wings (unless you're attached to her destructive aura, which is perfectly fine, whatever floats your boat). But the wings were very well done. Very clean. Best of all, it doesn't feel flimsy like it will break from simply blowing at it. I applied some force on the "jewels" to see if it was poorly built, but it held sturdy. I am going to see what happens when I shine light on it, I wonder if it'll reflect in different directions like a precious gem. (Probably not, since its PVC, polyvinyl chloride, some unreactive material). Sadly, again some imperfection can be seen, its not a big deal, but theres a droplet of red paint on the orange jewel. (>:)

I would surely recommend this to both Touhou fans and to people who likes to collect quality figures. Of course, I have never actually built one myself (I'm referring to those resin kits where it comes unpainted and unbuilt). I think it might be fun to buy one someday and attempt to build/paint it. But if I don't even paint my Gundams, how can I succeed in painting a figurine?!

Oh well, thats another story.

And there you have it, my take on what tries to be a review for a figure.

On a closing note, it was made in China.
...
...
Is it still worth buying? The quality of one does not equal the quality of all.

Gallery: Here

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