[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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Anime North 2011

Between May 27 and 29, 2011, Anime North 2011 was hosted at the Toronto Congress Centre, which had been the location for atleast 4 years now. I don't really know what I can say about Anime North at this point, it feels just like every other year. Though this year, unlike the last, I went with a different bunch of people so we saw different things. Read on for a comprehensive summary of my life on May 28, 2011.

We arrived there at about 11:00am. And we were greeted with this line.

BAM ! The line is to the left and it is an oval around the area where cosplayers were being photographed (around the right side and center)

We waited in line for about an hour before finally getting into the convention centre. Inside was another line but much shorter and took maybe 10 minutes.

The inside line. Registration desk is to the right.

Once we registered, our first sight was the artist corner. There were a fair amount of good artists in my opinion who created professional looking artwork.

A sample artist booth at the artist corner. Many of the booths were swarmed with customers and spectators when we were there. I hope I won't get in trouble with these pictures...

We bumped into a friend of a friend of ours who had her own vender table. We chatted for a bit and moved on. Throughout this day, we bumped into a handful of acquaintances. From vendors, to cosplayers, to normal attendees.

The next area we looked at was the dealer's room where all the vendors who weren't artists were selling merchandise. This included everything from DVDs, to mangas, to posters, to figurines, to gundam models, to even erotic pillow covers. The atmosphere is like the artist corner except artwork is replaced with merchandise. Also the vender tables are larger for their inventory and they usually have their store name somewhere in the back.

The atmosphere of the dealer's room area. Just like the artist corner but with more people (and less room).

Because I recently started buying Yugioh cards, I bought a few packs from a vendor here. It was from a vendor who also has a card shop called Card Masters.

Both of those areas were pretty cramped as seen in the photos. Cosplay photos taken in there were a bit of a pain for both the photographer, cosplayer, and other people. As everyone had to adjust slightly to provide a free space for the photoshoot. Therefore, I would advise to take cosplay pictures outside. Preferably infront of the main Toronto Congress Centre entrance right by the intersection between the convention centre and the Double Tree Hotel. That area has a huge traffic of people going between the two buildings.

After shopping, we proceeded to get food. Since based on previous experience at Anime North, the Harvey's at the intersection would be extremely full, so we went to the Double Tree Hotel to eat food. There we saw many people playing card games with one another. Mainly Yugioh cards. However as I didn't bring my cards, I couldn't join them. Also, I would feel bad if other people had to watch me play and do nothing.

Where we ate. I brought my own food, my friends bought food from there.

For the remainder of the time at Anime North, we checked out panels, video show rooms, and other events. The panels and video rooms were dull and uninteresting as either someone would talk about the topic of the panel or a video would play for the anime in question. Neither of which interested me much to write about. I will say this however, if you were thinking of going to a panel. Don't. And I have a reason, if you don't know anything about the topic of that panel, you're probably not interested in it. If you were, you would have looked into it already. If it was about an anime, you probably would have watched it, and therefore, you will already know what the speaker will be talking about. Of course, to be fair, you should go once just in case. Maybe you'll find some hidden enjoyment from me. If you do, please post in the comments below.

An unique, interesting event at Anime North 2011 for me was the Idol competition, since I went with another group of friends previously, there were different tastes and I hadn't seen this before. The idol competition was like a singing competition. Each contestant would sing a Japanese song. Also there were 3 judges who would give constructive criticism. And at the end of the presentations, there would be the awarding ceremony for the winner.

The idol performance stage. The masquerade which I wanted to watch but didn't have time would also be held here.

We left at about 6:00pm because our driver had other plans later that night and had to get ready. It was all in all a great day. Bought some stuff, took some photos for memories, and even saw something new. Would definitely be up to go again next year if other friends are going.

I even considered cosplaying, except I'm terrible with a sewing machine and buying cosplay clothes easily cost $100+. Perhaps I will reconsider when I get a job.

Please visit the gallery below for many more pictures.

Anime North 2011, May 28

Hope you enjoyed reading this article. Any comments of questions, please post them below.

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Happy New Year!

Akimashite omedatou gozaimasu!

With that, marks the end of another wonderful year of 2010. Hope we continue to have a good and enlightening new experiences in the time to come. My present to you is after the jump.

I have finally recorded a piano piece from the visual novel "Clannad". The song is called "汐" in its native Japanese name, and when translated to romaji through google translate, it gave "Shiodome". When I used google to define that word, it says that its a place in Tokyo, Japan.

My friend translated it to Shio, meaning wave, current, or opportunity. Not sure what it is anymore. =x

Second friend translated to Ushio, which would make sense, so lets go with that. Spoiler alert. (highlight to see)
Ushio is the name of Nagisa's and Tomoya's baby girl.

This video was completely recorded from my iPhone3GS, if that means anything.



The source for the music sheet is here. The site is called Picoscores. Japanese person. Great music. I love it for its simplicity because I haven't played piano in a long time so I can't do complicated songs anymore.

My previous song, Kotoko - Allegretoo music sheet was also from there.



Happy new year!

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Tokyo Anime/Manga Ban Passes!

Uh oh. Is this a bad omen? Quote from Sankakucomplex (NSFW),

"The revised law now demands a restriction on sales of anime, manga or games which “improperly glorify or emphasise” illegal sexual acts, such as rape, groping, BDSM, voyeurism, exhibitionism, etc., by extension including underage sexual activity as well."

So that basically means animes with suggestive themes that air normally or similar mangas that sell without an adult only restriction now either has to stop completely, go over series revisions, or be attached with an adult only sticker and be sold accordingly.

According to sources, this will have a huge impact on the Japanese anime and manga industry (As one would expect). Good thing is the law doesn't kick in until July of 2011.

To read the full news on sankakucomplex, follow links here, here, and here.
To think, this all started with amazon.com posting Rapelay. Forgot how many years ago that was though. Anyway...

Thats the end of the news.
Read below if you want to hear my monologue about my opinion.

I may be an otaku to some degree, but I'm still human. Although I am against the idea of "banning" all together as I already know it solves nothing. The idea behind it is justified. One big problem is the low birthrates in Japan. This maybe because alot of japanese people like to stay indoors (hikikomori). Why do you think they stay inside? Because they find better things indoors than outdoors. As a person of similar nature myself (meaning I stay inside alot), there are always regrets that come with it. I first noticed it when I was working.

As you know, working isn't just about working. You make connections with your immediate supervisors and coworkers. That way, promotions and other benefits are easier to obtain. However, when I've locked myself indoors most of my life, how do I start a conversation with those people? "Hey the weather is nice today?" Not going to work. Trust me, here in Canada, you won't get very far by talking about anime and games either. Especially in the adult stages, its mostly about sports, music, and movies, and anything between them (including actors, etc). No, japanese pop doesn't work either. ESPECIALLY if you don't even understand japanese yourself.

So the baseline for this ban is. GO OUTSIDE. Totally agreeable. How the ban works is limiting the joy you get indoors so the incentive to go out is greater. Great! Except that shouldn't be how it works. You should work on increasing the incentive to go outside. Not decreasing the amount of indoors. But I don't write laws. Lets end it at that.

About the anime industry. Although in my anime history of shows watched. They aren't great with high score animes from good producers like Ghibli Studio. My kind of shows has always been comedy/romance. I do watch others from time to time but I get bored of them fast. But even in the specific genre I've been watching. Anime seem to be going downhill. There is an increasing number of sexual suggestions. If you look and compare Kanon to Clannad and now to Ore Imouto. Kanon had nearly none. Clannad had very few. And Ore Imouto has lots of them. Sure, none of them had actually any sexual content. But thats what they are banning. Anime do not have to have those to be funny or enjoyable. Yet, of the late, thats all the creators were able to think of. And yes, I know the sources for those 3 animes are different. But they still have a plot in common. And no matter which source its from (eroge, visual novel, manga), a plot is still a plot. Animes have become filled with "fan service". I especially hate when animes I watch now have been just exposed pantsu every few minutes or tripping over and falling on girls at every intersection. There is a limit to how many we can see in a lifetime. I am well past it. Not impressed.

Its time animes turned back into the glory they used to be.

Lastly, this is something to say why I am against the ban. It all started when the Western people (Americans) saw Rapelay on amazon.com. Thats when the whole eroge conflict came about. It later developed into child pornography. Now its become a broad anime and manga ban. It all happened because people feared children were being compromised. But I personally do not think that is the case. It is true that when you see something you want to do it. Most people have probably already felt this one in their lives. However, what matters is not what they see. It is the mindset and the knowledge their parents and guardians taught them. I loved my upbringing. I can't remember it. But I am sure I loved it. And whats better? I can identify what is right and what is wrong. Isn't that what parenting is all about? You don't just stop your child from seeing those things. You tell them after they see those things. That they are bad. You should not do it. Over long periods of time. You will automatically know its bad (kind of like propaganda, hahaha...). If you just don't let them be exposed to it, when they finally do at a greater age, they will go to their best source of information (their friends). And thats when things go hare-wire. You know peer pressure? Im sure you've been there. Killing, robbery, that kind of stuff happen BECAUSE of peer pressure.

So what I'm saying is, if this ban was for the sake of the children? I say, f*ck it. You're digging your graves.

Oops, forgot one last thing. Its about the creativity in animes. Or maybe the content. This is what I find interesting in animes. The ability to watch things that I cannot perform myself. I watch animes because I cannot write one myself which can look anywhere as good as what they air in Japan. I play games because I cannot write a better game than the ones available. I view art because I cannot draw one as competent. I listen to music because I cannot compose. And the list goes on. Think deep down, isn't that also a reason because you do something?

Sure, my expectation for anime/games/art/music/etc can never be fulfilled, that is why you continue to do those things until this very day. And when it does become fulfilled, you stop playing games, or whichever. But you do those things because it makes you in awe (and maybe because you enjoy it, but how can you describe the act of enjoying? You can't.).

Isn't that what animes are all about? If you ban certain aspects of animes, some people are going to lose their favourite genres, themes, aspects, and so forth. The anime industry is going to suffer (from people, they say it is already suffering). Because you couldn't do those things in your current life, you want to read or view about it. And thats what mangas and animes are for. (Sorry for the sudden use of this inappropriate example but I feel it is neccessary). Take a look at the number of rape mangas and animes there are. There are ALOT. Why I know this? Don't ask. It is because Japanese people don't want to commit this crime (makes sense, I don't either). But there is the desire to be relieved. So what to do? They draw ero-mangas for it. Or ero-animes for them. Although the relevance isn't completely there before I don't have any data on me. Japan has the lowest number of reported rape incidents in the world. Before you go totally believing what I say, it is also true that Japanese girls are more shy and therefore they may not report all the cases. Which leads to a decreased number of reported incidents. But I strongly stand by what I said.

Because of the time it took me to write this, I've already forgotten what I wrote in its entirety. Therefore there won't be a summary. Lol. Sorry.

Thank you for reading through to the end. If you have any comments or questions. Feel free to ask them below. I am heavily affected by this ban and feel deeply connected to it. I may be still an otaku so I am hurt deeply by this ban. But at the same time, I am human so I want the best for my Japanese friends who I have not met and is currently indoors and wasting their life away. Do take an opportunity to learn about the world. Outdoors is not as secure as your 2D life (expect depressions and despair) but it is the only thing that is real. So although it sucks. You have to bear with it. You were born a human afterall. This ban is going to hurt the creativity in the anime industry and people's appreciation of it. Causing it to go severely downhill from this point. I don't think this ban will serve much good. As banning something is never a solution to begin with. Education is the key. Ultimately, we may just see backdoors. As with pirating. As with illegal drug/firearm imports. Trying to stop something just makes more criminals. Sorry Japan. Do try again.

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Anime North 2010

Unfortunately, I was not at Anime North 2010 which took place during May 28-30, 2010. However, my friends went and took pictures in my place. I will post a link to the picasa gallery.
Updated August 19, 2010.

From what I could tell from asking them, it was pretty much the same as the previous years. Perhaps not as good. During Anime North 2008 and 2009, those same friends and I would go on all 3 days, but this time, they only went on Friday and Saturday. But they claimed to have been "sick" (flu-kind or bored-kind, I don't know). But its fine.

I personally don't know whats there to do at anime conventions anymore. As you all have already realized, I do my shopping online at one or more of the links on the side of the blog. Those sites provide much more recent figures with a good state of mind that you don't get fake products unlike here. Also, the prices are not that different after considering shipping and other fees. Though, at places like Anime North, there are a bunch of vendors (alot more than G-Anime), so the chances of discounts are higher (competition). And also, because you can bargain for lower prices. But generally, the prices don't vary say more then $20 CDN. Some stuff you can get dirt cheap at anime conventions though (like wallscrolls, wallpapers, and old figurines).

Mainly because I heard that most wallscrolls you buy which are cheap, are not "real". Or in otherwords, someone had a printer and took a high quality picture and printed it out. How I know this? I asked some vendors, also, I've been to danbooru often, I have a good idea on whether the wallscroll picture is real or not.

Here is something to help you with that (although not 100% correct, nothing ever is).
- Generally real wallscrolls would only use official art from a series. If the picture looks like a fan art, its most likely printed by someone else other than official manufacturer.

- The feel for scroll texture feels more paper-like for the fake wallscroll as opposed to fabric-like

However, that is not to say the least my friends didn't have fun. They went on a shopping spree, one of them spent around $150 CDN. They also took alot of pictures.

I heard there were Touhou goods (not just the games) at Anime North. Whether its true or not, when I asked my friends about the details, they couldn't give me much details about it. But thats fine, I already found a vendor for my Touhou needs.

Gallery: Here

Updated: Second Gallery: Here (Thanks Jonathan)
Ooooh, Remilia!! (wikia)

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[Osu] Few More Videos of Mastery Progress

Hello again, I don't plan to upload every and any song I play on Osu! But here are a few more good songs which really stood out.

The first one above was the Portal credit roll song from the makers Valve. The song was sang by Jonathan Coulton & GLaDOS. I had never finished Portal nor did I search for the song previously. But after I heard it, I was addicted nearly right away. It'll probably be another few weeks until I get off it.

Below is the original version.


Another osu map I decided to upload was the following song, Omae no XXX de Ten wo Tsuke by Iwasaki Tarou. It was a BGM from the anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.


One of the best BGMs I've ever heard. If not THE best.

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[Bandai] Gundam Exia MG Model Review

As previously mentioned, this Gundam Exia MG Model didn't belong to me, it was my brother's so this post had a fair share of his contribution to the construction and photographing process. The full review is below (For atleast as much as I could).

I did participate in part of the construction process even though most of it (head, torso, both arms, and 1 leg) was done by him. From what I could pick up from the construction, it seemed relatively complex and worthy of the title MG. I've always had a worry about the 1/100 models that didn't use the standard MG box. Though, I never built those Strike Freedoms and Destiny in their Full Burst Mode or what not.

Glad that wasn't the case. (Though it was kind of obvious as those didn't have MG on the box, but hey)

The blade was most likely the most appealing feature on the whole Exia suit. And the kit didn't slack in that department, it, along with the 2 swords attached to the waist (detachable, of course) had metallic coating as blades should.

Love the blades *_* !

Aside from the high level of detail in the suit, such as complicated knee joints and such, the joints were relatively strong, as the arms had to hold up that heavy blade. The joints I found were weaker than the joints on the Shinaju but stronger than the Unicorn. Which was acceptable. The leg joints were relatively weaker than the arms, surprisingly.

Some frustration went when posing the Gundam. One of the fold up beam saber/dagger holders on the shoulders was loose and difficult to keep it in the "up" state. Second, that large sword was difficult to put on. The hand's "stuck up part" was difficult to get to fit into the weapon handle's "slot". Although this is generally the case for most models since they don't want the "stuck up part" to take up too much space on the hand so its made rather short, so contact isn't deep. And the ones which can retract and frustrating in its own way.

I found Exia to be one of the best looking suits from 00, if not THE BEST from 00. I personally don't like how 00 Gundam looks. I know I might receive alot of flaming if word gets out. But this is afterall a personal blog. I see no reason why I can't state personal opinion.

The model kit was relatively expensive because of shipping, otherwise it was quite cheap, around 50 bucks, then like 30 for shipping. Boo.

Generally, the kit had no problems as far as I had experienced it. I didn't try to apply decals and my brother said that stickers were no problem.

The gallery was split into 2 because one of them was taken by my brother and the other was by me. Atleast he took most of the pictures from the Canon EOS 7D camera with some Tamron lens (I'm not a photographer, so don't ask photography questions). I was using some older Lumix DMC-FZ30 camera (his old camera that he discarded when he got the 7D).

You can probably tell for sure the 7D is much better at low light with much less noisy pictures. But other than that I think they're similar. Was it worth 1.6k (after discount) for camera and another 500 for the lens? I don't know.

Gallery: From Lumix / Canon.

Lastly, while taking pictures, I put together a fun photo clip of how Exia beat 00 ! YEAH !

Special thanks goes to Kev and King for their wonderful 00 Gundam HG. And yes, I know I'm using a Char Aznable Red Zaku base instead of the actual base from the 00 series. But there are some stuff I don't have with me.

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[Osu] Addicting song on youtube.

The song name is 美也と天国と地獄 in Japanese and Miya to Tengoku to Jigoku in romanji. The music for the melody is from an old song called Can Can. The voices are probably all based off of the character Tachibana Miya from the anime Amagami SS.

I found this song after seeing this song on osu! After which I searched for the youtube video and found that. It was originally posted on nicovideo but converted to youtube.

Below are some osu videos of the songs. All which I played. As you will be able to see, I've been playing that game for a while now. Still not especially good. But not too bad either.

Hardest Difficult (Relax mode makes it easier than it is, despite 90% accuracy and B, when I tried with failoff, I had 65% and D.


Second Hardest Difficulty. Normal Play.


Third Hardest Difficulty, Hard Rock, Double Time, Hidden Mods Used.


osu song link: Here.

PS. Don't ask me why the mapper of that song decided to put a picture of Byakuren Hijiri there.

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NSFW: [Orchid Seed] Kawai Ameri PVC Figure Review

Here we have the review for Orchid Seed's 1/8 scale Kawai Ameri from the eroge/anime Tayutama. This is the second PVC figure I've bought from Orchid Seed, the first one being Suku-Mizu Mecha Nurse Girl Nana which I bought over in Japan. I quite like my previous figure from Orchid Seed, minus the difficult part of having her equip her syringe gun. The wing construction also added some more involvement.

So lets see what we have here today.

First of all, lets start with the box... its small... REALLY SMALL! What gives!? I thought this was 1/8 scale? Not 1/10 !

The parcel box compared to a MG Exia Ignition Mode retail box.

The retail box inside parcel along with paper packaging and a thin sheet of bubble wrap.

I was gravely disappointed by the size. I'll post the picture comparing this figure's size against other 1/8 at the end.

But whats done is done. So lets move on.

There were nothing worth noting on the retail box. Except, it really does say 1/8 scale.

See? 1/8 !

As for the figure itself, I found it for the majority of the product to be the same as what I saw online. It looks like a finished product. The paint job is nice. Theres only the water gun which came separate from the figure when I took it out from the box. Theres no instruction booklet unlike some of the castoffable figures I've owned. So its most likely one piece. I didn't apply much force in forcing things apart as I don't want to be left with broken pieces.

What is inside the box.

Much of the figure is bendable, be it good or not (its based on the material which is PVC, some sort of inert polymer, like rubber, thus bends). Basically what you would expect could bend, did; arm, hair, tail, ribbon, shirt.

I bought it for the pose, for that, I didn't regret buying it. I watched the anime that this character was made from, Tayutama. I thought she didn't deserve enough love from the main character. Its been like this for the past little while. I never seem to like the main heroine which is selected for the anime ending.

When I first saw the figure, the smile and the face was what had me sold. I didn't really care for the fact that shes not wearing any pants or that her shirt was half open. For me, the smile was the most radiant aspect from this figure.

Smile! ("Egao" in japanese)

Of course thats not to say that the figure is perfect. The first thing is the same with all other manufacturing processes. Some parts just aren't made perfectly. But in no respect should you expect it to be... or should you...? I don't know =/

There is a gap between the ribbon and the hair.

But on a positive note, that was the only area which seem to have an impurity. The other thing that bothered me was a small crack along the mouth. Its pretty faint, I didn't notice it until I got a really good look. Certain lighting helps to expose it also.

Do you see it? Above the mouth on the left side.

Since I only own one, I can't say if its a factory defect or not. Or maybe something scratched it somewhere along the route from Japan to me. Just be mindful if you happen to buy this or own it and comparing.

The base is not attached to the figure in anyway, it just sits on the base in that groove provided. So its not securely attached, unlike the Touhou figures I own.

Theres no pin or anything sticking out from the base or figure to attach to the figure or base.

The base is also pretty detailed, including very fine words written into the title.

It says "Kiss of my Deity"
(Sorry if you can't see, you'll have to trust me on it because I can't upload the 5186x3456pixel version on picasa, or that'll kill my space)

Summary:
- Too small, not 1/8
- Cute face/lively pose
- Watch out for imperfections
- NSFW

On a closing note, if you look from the sides, you are able to see the nipple on the breasts. I didn't post those pictures on picasa because I don't want google being on my a*s. But I'll say what I saw. Should that be a deciding factor for you.

Size comparison. Both the Shakugan no Shana and To Heart2 figures are also 1/8 scale.

Gallery: Here

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