I guess it’s time to do a full review of my favorite figure in my collection (I only have about 10 figures or so). ^^; This review features Iroha from Samurai Spirits. For some reason, sculptors were really fond of Iroha recently, with so many Iroha figures being released lately and some on preorders this year as well. This Iroha version however, has caught my attention with her attractive and dynamic pose, which could only be appreciated in a Resin kit. She is also released in PVC as well, but would most likely start to lean really fast. With this said, click “continue reading” to view the rest of the review.
Also, this post will also introduce a new style of photography for me, but is still not good enough compared to some of the pictures I’ve seen on the other blogs.
There will also be new photos of Rider from the Rider review. You can see the difference of the photos by using the light box method and adding 2 more light sources.
This Iroha is 1/6 scaled, but it’s not as big as the other 1/6 figures probably due to her size in the game. She is more closely a 1/7 scale instead. This dynamic and unbalanced pose requires only one pin on her feet for her to be able to stand firmly without falling. The PVC counterpart does the same as well, but I don’t know how much she would last without an external support of some kind or putting back into her box. If someone is going to choose to buy a resin kit, it would have to be this one. This Iroha would never bend under normal circumstances, which makes her safe to display. Also to note is that this Iroha is painted from a recast kit, but the painter has put so much effort (3 months time) into building this kit, that it looks almost exactly the same as the orginal kit. The only difference which can be seen is that the hair on Iroha isn’t as pointy as the original kit. Everything else is just as detailed.
A few differences can be seen between Iroha and her PVC counterpart. The PVC version has a smaller mouth, which I think looks better. Also, her 2 white ribbons on the PVC version is lying on the base instead of holding up in mid-air. The PVC version is also more of a standing position than the resin version, most likely to somewhat help prevent the leaning.
Comparison of Resin and PVC version. Resin version is on the left, while PVC version is on the right. The PVC photo is taken from Happy Soda
Iroha looks really sexy in that maid outfit, but her breasts size kinda ruined it for me. They’re too big for my personal tastes. But then, those are attractive boobies. ^^; I don’t know the history or the story to the game, but in this figure, Iroha is depicted as a carefree and happy fighter, which sort of gives me the image of her being a klutz. A klutz with big breasts….. it’s kinda cute. :3
As far as I know, the shirt is supposed to stay on, and not strippable.
The thing about her outfit is really amusing. Overall, she wears a maid outfit, which includes a maid suit and a maid hair garment. But then, her sleeves, arm garments, stockings, leg wrappings, and her shoes are all from the tradition samurai outfits. It’s really amusing to combine a western and japanese outfits together.
This version of Iroha just captures the fighting essence really well. This pose gives her life, which is different from the usual figs of girls smiling and staring off into space. The arms are pulled back, and the sleeves are moving forward. This gives her the sense of movement. A pose like this can be interpretted as either she’s running, or that she has just made a stop after running. A lively posture indeed.
Here I will start listing all the good points about this Iroha:
- Despite being a fighter, she has a really cute and peaceful face
- maid outfit always win
- a dynamic pose
- resin kit, so she would not lean under any normal cicumstances
- sexy body with a little baby fat
- the weapon’s are rotatable, and not fixed.
- flawless paintjob. Everything is detailed and painted without any mistakes. It was worth every penny I paid for.
The bad points:
- Her mouth is too big. I had no problems with her mouth before, but after seeing the mouth of the PVC version, the PVC version won in the mouth department.
- Her breasts are too big. I think being a traditional girl with traditional clothing, her breasts should be smaller. I also personally like them smaller as well. But then, other people might prefer this breasts size since it’s really subjective.
- That part under her neck where it just lumps in looks really unnatural. It’s supposed to be the area between the bones, but it looks weird in this figure.
Now, onto the outfit. All of the white parts of the outfit, including the hair band, have been blue-toned, meaning, the shadows and stuff which were supposed to be black are blue instead. IMO, this looks much better, which contrasts with the black parts of her outfit. The shoulder and back parts of her outfit are really gorgeous as well. They resemble a bit like wings, and I have a huge fetish for girls with wings. :3
The weapons are pretty impressive as well. The gradient of paint spreads gradually through the blades and looks really realistic, where the sharp parts have a lighter shade of gray than the blunt parts.
The painting is very detailed
You can see how detailed the arm garments and the other parts are
Some fanservice \o/ You can also see a part of the areola on her right (our left) breast I think
Overall, this figure was worth the purchase for me. Right now, she stands brilliantly at the center of the display cabinet. If people are interested in this figure, I would definitely recommend the resin kit instead of the PVC version. The resin kit’s painting is better, with no seam lines or injection holes. The most important reason is that she won’t lean over time.
Here are some more new pictures of Rider, using my new photography style.
Also, for those who are skillful with their photography skills, I would like to get some pointers with my pictures. I’ve used the light box method to take photos of this figure, yet there seems to be a lack of light shining onto her face. I already have 3 light sources, but when I put them too close to the figure, my camera can’t focus good enough. Yet, when the lights are too far, there’s not enough light. I don’t know if the problem is caused from my setup, or that my camera is not good enough. I’m using a Canon 7.0mp compact camera. Any suggestions and advices would be helpful.
This is my setup for the photoshoot
I liked this figure very much but didn’t order it due to fears of the leaning issue. At least you have the resin version so no problems with that.
With the lighting issue, one problem you have is that your lights don’t have a shade to make it point in one direction. The two bulbs at the sides are shining in all directions so you have to make them shine in one direction.
Also try removing the diffuser from the top of the box. The hair light from above might not be strong enough due to the diffuser. The key to a good photo is to adjust the white balance of your photos. I’m not sure how well your camera may do this but even with a DSLR, I still have to post-process my photos to get the desired look I want.
Yes your light source is too weak. Two of the light are using what seems to be compact fluorescent bulbs. Those are all low powered lights. You need something more powerful if you want to use the diffusers. Your diffuser are actually quiet opaque since they are papers. If you can’t use stronger light source, then try use softer diffusers like nylon stocking. All in all your
As for you mentioned that if you move the light closer, your camera takes blurry picture. Well that should be a focusing issue. So just make sure if you can select the focus point on your camera, then select the one that’s good. And make sure your try to focus on somewhere that has contrast. Don’t focus on a block of skin, focus on some edges. For some that I can’t put the focus point at a good place, I just use manual focus and sent the figure at exactly x inches away and manual focus set to x inches. That of course depend on your camera too. I’ve used Canon G2 and Canon G7 to take pictures and both of which can choose focus point and has manual focusing which serves me pretty well.
My camera is the Canon IXY 700.
@Adun: I see, I’ll try to direct the 2 lights to one direction next time. As for the white balance, I’ll give that a try as well. There is, however, a settle that lets you set the mode of the pictures, like tungsten, flourescent, etc.
@Fenix: The light on the top is a 26W cool white bulb, while the 2 on the sides are 23W cool white bulbs. I’ll also try to get some nylon stocking to use as diffusers instead of paper.
I don’t think my camera has the settles for focus point or manual focusing. My camera’s settings are really limited, and I can’t do too many manual settings for them.
Also, a part of your post seems to have been cut off. “All in all your”, is there anything that’s supposed to be after that?
Thanks for the suggestions Adun and Fenix. I’ll try to get some softer diffuser, and play around with the white balance, and see my pictures would improve.
Heh sorry I forgot to cut that part out.
You canon IXUS 700 should have a cetral focus selection rather than using the automatic AiAF 9 point. Try use that. Point the center focus at some contrasty part first, focus, then recompose. That should give slightly better result than the complete auto focus. But that’s only if your automatic focus is not working well due to the brightness of the lights. I know compact camera tends to fail when the scene starts to get really bright and doesn’t know how to focus. But for you setup, a bright scene is almost a must.
Your IXUS 700 should also have manual white balance. Although I find your photo’s white balance to be okay. A bit off but not that bad. So I think unless you going to get some much stronger light, it’s better to direct the light so that all of the light reflects in the direction that you want them to be. But if you want to use say some 100W work light as lighting or some other lights that are not as neutral, then manual white balance is a must.
Anyway keep up the good work. =).
Reika , there’s no such thing as ” too big ” when it comes to breasts ! ^^
anyway looks superior to the PVC in both pose and color scheme
very nice figure hope you give her pride of place on display .
on your light box you might want to try cuting out the other
side and back and place more lamps there surrounding
the figure in light may give you even better results
although thats only my novice observation !
I believe i’ve commented on the rider figure before so i won’t be doing that this time, however that iroha, First off, i like your idea of using this box with the sides cute & having the light, good idea ^^
Anyways, about the figure, i do like the side parts that look like wings, the eyes, i dunno something about them i don’t like as much as riders, but its not a big deal imo, also the mouth as you stated, i don’t like the mouth as much as the PVC’s version, The paint job on the weapons is good, i like that, overall i like this figure :3
Nice pics and nice studio set up too.