Kanu is a charismatic girl in this universe. First because of how she fights, with that legendary and invincible Blue Dragon Crescent Blade. And the way she appeared in the first season lets the spectator knows immediately she is a tough lady, and even with her status of minor opponent, she became very popular.

I am not going to chatter about the origine, but I recommend to read the tones of information on wikipedia about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and famous names who inspired IKKI TOUSEN story and characters, starting from Kanu's, Guan Yu.

Then she takes the lead in Dragon Destiny, wich is focused on Seito Gakuen and the rise of Ryuubi. And consequently, there were more fantastic scenes featuring Kanu. Remember, during the fight in the river, when she get up again like a mermaid with a wonderful hair flow… ahhh~ love ♥
And with those intense moments, it is always possible to have a peek at her most significant trait: the reverse-cleavage.

That's why Kanu is great ^^
Can't wait to see her in “action” in Great Guardians, as much as Ryofu who is back from nowhere - wasn't she dead!? - for more ecchi scene. I won't complain about that, love Ryofu too ^^
*uh-huh* well, shall I stop fantasizing? ^^;

Kanu figurine, from ALTER

Mirano has sculpted one of the first Kanu figurine based on Dragon Destiny's character design, easy to recognised thanks to the typical crossed-hair-fringe. The shapes of the face and the eyes are also widely different, but one thing is sure, the modelling is quasi perfect!
The main attraction is definitely the flow of her exaggeratedly long hair, rolling arround herself. This is somehow magic, isn't it?
And at last, a very short skirt blown up enough to reveal everything under. That is the Kanu I saw in the anime show, the Kanu I like, and I am completely seduced by the result.
So I have high expectations about Chou’un Shiryuu figurine I have also ordered. See you next month for that ^^

I just have one reproach regarding her spear, the Blue Dragon Crescent Blade. It does not look as impressive as it could have and a bigger blade would have been perfect I think. But that is just a detail.

Mmmhh in fact I have a second reproach, easy to find by looking at the pictures. Or rather by looking at what is not on the pictures : the base. Yeah, one more time, that damn base. It is large. It takes a lot of place for nothing. And it is ugly. Just a plain transparent light blue disc. No inscriptions excepted copyrights and where it was made… *sigh*
A good thing Kanu can stand without it though. Hope I won't be blamed for not showing it ^^
End of complaining, end of blablabla.

Above, just a off-centered picture to show the spear's guard.
Below, Kanu's legendary reverse-cleavage. No very marked on this figure though ^^;

Product Information

• Manufactured by ALTER
• 1/8 scale completed pvc/abs figure
• First released in May 2008 in Japan
• List Price of 6,800 JPY

IKKI TOUSEN fans must consider getting this figurine. However, there is dangerous challenger coming from Max Factory Figma series. Anyway, fellow readers who follow my latest fancies can expect to see her on day ^^

Related Article(s)

Cute Little Dragon

Ok. First of all, those who can’t stand IKKI TOUSEN anymore should not read, for “Hakufu Sonsaku inside” reasons. And one second thing, some pictures are “not really” SFW. So, go further at your own risks ;)You’re still with me? Well.So, in order to …

Down by the Riverside

It has been about one year now I have start ordering figures directly from Japan, mainly from HLJ. At this time, one of the first figure which attracted me a lot was a Ryofu Housen cold cast. Ryofu is the IKKI TOUSEN girl I love the most, physically, …

Continuation of the Figma Fantasy started few days ago.

To be continued…

Haaa! once again, Haruhi comes out when it becomes interresting. Too sad…
*uh-huh* In fact I am happy she arrived, so I have some additional time to prepare the rest. And if you think I will over-use her as an excuse, well, you are right! ^^;

Playing with Figma figures reminds me when I was a kid, when I was all the time arguing with friends to tell who would win between « super hero A » and « super hero B ».
And now, instead of making fictive stories with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys (yeah, I grew up with those green pizza eaters, love them), it is time for a « Saber versus Nanoha » fantasy!

Annex

Still the same background pictures used. References are listed in previous episode. And here the original Figma pictures below.

And a last bonus, with something I had a lot of fun playing with ^^
I could title it « Suzumiya Haruhi no Fantasy ».

Somehow Haruhi looks great this way I think. Not as much as Saber, but this suits her, doesn’t it? ^^
The original background picture is from CatDancing Flickr photostream.

Products Information

• Figma No:001 - Nagato Yuki
• non scaled, completed pvc/abs action figure
• about 135 mm height
• First released in February 2008 in Japan
• List Price of JPY 2,500

All Figma figures are manufactured by Max Factory.

Related Article(s)

FigmAction 01

After becoming a complete « Nendoroid-addict », the new figure serie catching my attention is the Figma.I tried to play a bit with those I already have, and I must admit it is quite inspirating. So, let me introduce my latest fantasy ^^ …

But let me explain.

Last year, ALTER released a wonderful figure representing Megachu! (Megamisama Chuuihou) eroge game heroine : Fauna.
Unlike most of characters from this kind of games, I already knew who she was, and have already seen her in action thanks to great CG websites and the first OAV ^^;
So, it could have been a good reason to order this cute figurine and add it to my collection. But I made up my mind, deciding not to grab any Megachu! figures. Maybe because I had already too much figures ordered, or something like that. Haa~ nevermind. That was one year ago.

• Then Fauna figure was finally released.
• And then almost everybody arround exhibited their new treasure, with more and more amazing pictures showing how wonderful the figure was.
• So I finally had a second thought about it.
• But it was already too late ^^;

ALTER also revealed their plan of releasing Leukothea and Jordh, so finally, I was somehow relieved for not having ordered Fauna, since I would have wanted to get Jordh too. I really like her… « style » ^^;

All could have ended like this… if it had not been decided to re-release Fauna ¬_¬
And since I am a weak-against-bishoujo-figure-otaku, I lanched my favorite internet brower, went on my regular figure dealer website, and add both Fauna and Jordh to my cart. Damn!

I guess I have been trapped this time. Though I was quite proud for having resisted to ALTER (once again) Fate Testarossa reissue. This is a huge conspiracy…

So! In pawn of my displeasure** I will not provide other pictures until I have received this bloody Fauna, next month maybe. Na!

**Just to make it clear, I am definitely NOT displeased! This article was just a stupid way to write a self-criticism. Don't interpret it to the letter ^^;

Too sad I can't read it ^^;
Also pictures of my Saint Seiya figures have also been published in May issue, in a more standard layout. See the scan here.

And this made me think about this: do anime-related magazines in your region write articles about goodies like figures? I can't remember any one here reviewing them… and well, there are already not much of them.

Like the subtitle “my figurine collection” suggests it, you can through Tsuki-Board :

• List your anime character figurines from an always growing database, compting more than 1000 entries for now
• Meet new anime figurine collectors and/or meet again old pals with the same passion by exchanging comments and/or private messages
• Upload and share pictures of your figurines

That is the core of the site. There are certainly a lot of features that can be improved, and new ones quite willing to be developped, but that is already a good beginning.

So, if you like sharing your stuff, make other jealous, or browse people collections and become even more jealous, come and visit Tsuki-Board to start completing your figurine collection. Mine is almost full referenced ^^

To be continued…

Damn Haruhi… already interrupting the story. Now we will have to wait until Yuki is back, supposing you want to see the contination. Let's hope it won't be too long ^^

A bit short, I admit, but let's say it is for introduction. And even if it is very fun to manipulating pictures this way, it takes sooooo much time since I am huge newbie.

Anyway, Figmas are great, and allows to make a lot of great things, especially when you have accesories like scum2k1 showed us at dannychoo.com’s members items here and here. I am sure we will se more and more great pictures with the same spirit.

Annex

Background pictures for the one with Yuki and Haruhi have been borrowed here and here, from Flickr Manchester Library photostream. The rest are pictures of a cave, somewhere, but can't remember which one… =_=

Original Figma pictures below.

Products Information

• Figma No:001 - Nagato Yuki
• non scaled, completed pvc/abs action figure
• about 135 mm height
• First released in February 2008 in Japan
• List Price of JPY 2,500

All Figma figures are manufactured by Max Factory.

As it has grown into a habit, this figure is part of a (limited?) bundle which main item is the « Nanatsuiro Drops: Touch de Hajimaru Hatsukoi Monogatari » Nintendo Dual Screen (DS) game. *sigh* That makes another game I will not be able to play to ^^;
But well, I have already enough to do.

There are some other goodies in this package, like stikers, postcard, small posters… but I did not take the time to take pictures of them. So Check out Aiko's blog for all details.

Now with those three figures, I can admire almost all Sumomo's outfits : Stellar Spinner costum, school uniform and pajamas. Just bikini and casual clothes remaining.

And it is also interresting to see through these figures of the same character and from the same manufacturer - Good Smile Company - how things have evolved regarding product quality.

Nendoroid bases/supports

A big progress has been made for the stands. Since the Zoid Genesis duet, I guess, it is really easy to have your nendoroid figure set correctly, thanks to this seat-like support. And I am happy Sumomo has it too, like Al Azif and Miku.
It is such a pain each time I have to move my Death Note or Suzumiya Haruhi no Yutsu nendoroids who have the old ring-like stands…

Yuki-chan is here too, always by Sumomo's side. But the funnier accessory is that cushion with nendoroid logo printed on it.
And it feels like those padded pouffe.

Seems like Sumomo-chan likes it a lot, and I understand her ^^

mmhhh~ comfortable!

お休みなさい~ Oyasuminasai~ zzz… zzz… zzz…

Product Information

• Manufactured by GoodSmile company
• non scaled, completed pvc/abs figure
• First released in May 2008 in Japan
• List Price of US$ 79.90
• Comes with the Nintendo DS Nanatsuiro Drops: Touch de Hajimaru Hatsukoi Monogatari game

For now, the bundle is still available at Play-Asia. Sumomo-chan fans might be interrested ^^;

Related Article(s)

Akihime Sumomo

Nanatsuiro Drops anime ended lately, and even if it was not very transcendent, I really enjoyed the show. Lovely graphics, good casting and a story line I kindda appreciate. It was a serie I was looking forward since I saw the eroge CGs, beautiful ma …

Oh~ and by the way, talking about nendoroids, I have some more awaiting for being reviewed. If I am not too lazy, this may come one day ^^;

When I watched the OAV, first Ar Tonelico game was only available for Japanese PlayStation 2, and I was quite sure it would never be adapted for European market.
Fortunately, I was wrong.
Ar Tonelico arrived in May 2007 in France, and they even kept the original seiyuu casting! So I could enjoy this lovely story AND Sakura Nogawa’s voice. Consequently, I am a Misha fanboy ^^ (follow the link for Misha illustrations at moe.imouto.org)
And that explains why I blindly purchased this figure of Luca. Physically, she reminds me of Misha a lot. Moreover, I do not remind having seen figurines of girls from the first game. So, even if its price is quite high, I did not have to think much to take a decision.
Now I just hope things will be similar for this second Ar Tonelico game, to be able to enjoy it on my local PS2, especially when I see Ami Koshimizu is voicing this lovely Luca.

Spelling note

I write Luca, but I am not sure how to spell her name. According to what it is written in wikipedia, she is Luca Truelywaath. But I often see Ruka as well, since it is how her Japanese name ルカ is commonly translated into the latin alphabet.
Ahh nevermind, I will call her Luca, since it is very closed to my real name which has an extra « s » at the end. Even though it gives me an odd feeling… I am not a girl, I guess haha ^^;

I definitely recommend this figure to collectors looking for eccentric - in a good way - clothes.

The mini skirt Luca wears is very seductive, so does the little piece of clothes arround her bosom. And I love how this light dress and those large sleeves come to cover a bit more her skin, but not too much at the same time. Those lovely curves let us an opening on her cute back, while the flowing low part of her dress unveil this charming belly.
Added to this a perfect zettai ryouiki, I am sure it is easy to understand how much I love this figure… and by extension this character. Kuroda Masanori sure knows how to sculpt lovely anime girls!

Something I like a lot as well is her bracelets, combined with a ring and a piece of clothes. Does this kind of glove have a name? I love those accessories hehe.

Her shoes have funny extra height. How do you call this, since it is not under the heel but the sole? It may not be easy to run with that ^^;

Argument about Luca’s face

Throught various comments about this figure, I know lot of people have been very disappointed about the face. That is true from some angle of view, Luca’s mouth looks very odd and her nose quite sharp and long. Some of the pictures below do not advocate for her. And I would even say pictures accentuates this effect.
Like most of us, I was a bit affraid and was about to cancel my order.
Nevertheless, now I have this gorgeous figure between my hands, I am fulfilled. Good for me!

She is now proudly standing next to the Shuraki girls, and her intense gaze catches me each time I give a look at my display case. I am already under her charm spell, that is certain ^^

A little stain can be easily seen on the picture above, since it is situated on a place we, males, like to stare at ^^;

Damn lace nodes blocking the view… ^^;

Other review

Shino has more detailed pictures, and if you are curious about how the hell she stands with that metal pole, you should visit his blog.
In fact, I am so much thrilled that I have completely forgot about her support and the risks coming with. But I want to be confident about that, since the whole seems robust.
Luca is displayed next to Liu Mei Feng - who? check out valho and shino reviews. I put her out of her box just recently, so I will see which one will fall first… but I just hope none will, actually ^^;

Product Information

• Manufactured by Max Factory
• 1/8 scale completed pvc/abs figure
• First released in April 2008 in Japan
• List Price of 7,200 JPY

Photography note

Pure white background : 2 | 0 : Lu-k
I definitely need at least one extra lamp next time I will try to have white background. Though it looked rather ok on the little digital screen of the camera haha ^^;
I guess having also different colors of light does not help at all for the white balance.
*sigh* Once again I failed, using only two lamps for the background and one for the figure. But one day, I will win!

Related Article(s)

Ar Tonelico

It has been a long time since I last turned on my PlayStation 2 to play some good “old school” RPG. I must say that with all those figures to take care of, and all those animes to watch, there isn’t much time left hehe.But lately, I bought Ar Tonelic …

And now I am more and more looking for other mugs featuring the series I like. However, those items run quickly out of stock, so I guess mugs are quite popular.

So. You may have recognised the classic laughing man, some Noizi Ito Shana and some Vocaloid.
I am thinking of bringing them at work to decorate my office. Very convenient to put pencils, since I always lose them. And well, I also need something for coffee-break ^^;
Anyway, it is a good way to express your otakuness discreetly, isn’t it?

Oh and yes, the absolutely cute nendoroid Miku is now the queen of my collection. She is adorable!

Now the only kind of goodies I miss is the ultimate accessory which allow anyone to reach the highest otaku level : dakimakuras. Should I cross this line? :|

Product Information

• Manufactured by COSPA
• List Price of 800 JPY each
• I ordered all of them at Hobby Link Japan, where I also grab my COSPA anime t-shirts

chuuu~

Do you remember when this figure was first annonced? I assume it was last summer in july, and she was first expected in november. Feeeew… never seen a figure being delayed so many times ^^
Anyway, she finally arrived, and add a lovely cute pink touch to my collection.

Personal Choice

When nowadays, figures tend to be designed with tumbling pose, flowing hair, staggering clothes, ero cast-off etc… there are still few kits not especially impressive I am interrested in, like this Lovedol Mizuki Sakaki. How can I explain such a choice? Let’s see.

Lovedol ~Lovely Idol~ anime serie, which I appreciate, comes at the end of a long chain. It was first created as short illustrated stories, then adapted into radio shows, drama CDs, visual novel game and finally TV anime show. That is for the little story.
Copyright for Lovely Idol are shared by Enterbrain and Omegavision, which is the parent company of… tadam! Navel. Get the link? not yet?
New clue then: Nishimata Aoi is a great visual novel character designer and illustrator who works for Navel. And she was in charge of the character design on Lovedol, but also Final Approach and… SHUFFLE! of course! one of my favorite harem anime ^^

Actually, Madoka Hirayama is the character designer for the anime version, and signed the illustration which inspired this figure. But all is based on Nishimata Aoi original design.

I really like Nishimata works. Not as much as Noizi Ito, but I count her among my favorite illustrators. So, since I am still waiting for a decent figure of Primula (nendoroid does not count), Asa or Kaede, but don’t see anything coming on the horizon, I just could not let this adorable Mizuki go away.

Personal thoughts

Hironori Tokunaga, who sculpted this kit, properly turned into 3D Madoka’s illustration. Though, I have the feeling things could have been better, especially when you see what Hironori did on the Pachira kit.
The face looks a bit too rounded in the mouth area when you look at her front-side, but in profile she is really cute.
Few scratchs can be seen on her hair, and on red ribbons. Nothing dramatic though.

What is the most shocking is the color of the base (cf. pictures below). What an ugly yellow… I know it’s a matter of taste, but there are some limits, don’t you think? Sometimes they really should keep those simple round transparent bases they always show in promotional pictures…

Straight stand, with however this original pose, targetting her fans to strike right in their heart, and coming with that obligatory yet cute wink. Just like in the anime ending. This is also what got me.

We have there an acceptable figure of Mizuki Sakaki, but definitely not a hit. Max Factory uses to release much accomplished product. So, I only recommend this figure to folk having a fetishism for purple hair, pink dresses or ribbons, or to die hard fans of Nishimata Aoi style ^^

End of blabla, pictures time!

This time, I did not forget about taking overall pictures, including the feet and the base. So here we go! guru guru mawaru~

Fiiouuu I am not sure that turning around was a good idea, now I feel dizzy… *BLAM*

Oups, I have just fallen again ^^;

chuuu~

Other pictures

Shino has a lovely set of pictures, with as always great decoration. Have a look at his review if not visited yet.

Product Information

• Manufactured by Max Factory
• 1/8 scale completed pvc/abs figure
• First released in April 2008 in Japan
• List Price of 5,800 JPY