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 normally don’t like Rider that much in the anime, but this figure has shown her beauty in a bikini, which caused my conscious, subconscious, and unconscious feelings to get this at all costs.

After seeing Rider on icie’s blog, I decided that I must get one for myself as well, which I did. It’s originally a mail order exclusive preorder, and since I missed that, the only way for me to get this Rider was YJA. Through the deputy service, SMJ, I won the auction about $10 US below the retail price.

Alter Rider
item price: 3980yen
handling fee: 1000yen
shipping fee: + shipping price
The price listings above are for the mail order exclusive preorder

I find it pretty funny that “the” Rider changed from her battle outfit to a bikini. On top of that, her helper Pegasus is transformed into a surfboard, with Rider’s weapon becoming a painting on the board itself.

I’ll start off with all the good points about this figure.
–> Rider looks like Rider. When a figure doesn’t look like the character, it just doesn’t feel right.
–> The twin hair bands curve outwards, and back inwards beautifully, as well as making the figure look wider overall (which is different from your usual bikini figs).
–> She’s in a bikini \o/
–> The pose is secksy. The way she holds the surfboard is just unique and is different from your usual -both arms in front of you holding something-
–> Long legs = secksy = win
–> She is sturdy, physically. It took some force to attach her to the base, but once they’re attached, it’s very hard to separate them.
–> Did I mention that’s she in a bikini? Bikini figs are special, the body shape determines the outcome of the appearance. While she bends over to the back a bit, you can see the ribcage on the side.
–> Almost a flawless paint job, except a few mistakes here and there.
–> Hair is really detailed, and sharp. Pigtails are also a plus, since it only looks good in anime.
–> Big, cute breasts \o/

Though I hope that’s all, there are also some bad points about her as well
–> She’s dirty, physically. When I received this figure, there were some black smudges on her buttocks, cleavage, and thighs. It appears as though someone played around with this figure before packaging it. I sure hope this isn’t the case though, otherwise, I’d get all emo and sulk in the corner. ;__;
–> White fingernails and toe nails?!? I’ve never seen a girl with white fingernails or toenails before. It just looks really weird on Rider, or anyone for this matter
–> Face is too skinny. She would look much more cuter and prettier if her cheeks are a bit more roundish imo.

pegasus surfboard :p

Pigtails…

White toenails? ewww

Secksy pose

More pigtails \o/

fanservice^^

Overall, with a cute and secksy (highly subjective) face and body, she easily became one of my favorite figures…. not that I have that many figures though. ^^; I’m not sure if I would recommend this to other people though, since the only place where you can get this now is YJA, which is not a pretty place.. money-wise.

I haven’t been managing this weblog for quite some time now, but starting today, I’m picking up on the activity of this weblog. ^^;

Sorry to have kept those who have been frequenting this site waiting. I sincerely apologize for that.

EDIT: Also, there will be a new merchandise section coming up.  Please look forward to it. ^^

Nothing new here, I’m just testing the new photography style. ^^; It seems that a white background can strengten the contrast and focus of the figure a lot. I’m currently using only my cell phone for all these pictures posted. I assume that using my Canon camera to take these pictures would produce better results than the current ones.

I just recently bought this Air Gear kit from my local store. This is a 1/6 resin recast kit painted by “somebody”. ^^; Apparantly, my local store has a supplier that buys the resin kits and then paint them, so this Simca kit isn’t by any means official.

Simca’s hair is actually light pink instead of the dark pink you see in this kit. I guess the builder preferred dark pink over light pink. Anyways, I assume this was the reason why I got such a big discount when I bought it. ^^; Also, believe it or not, the kit won’t fall off of the base. I thought it would definitely fall with a pose like that, but it’s pretty sturdy. Fortunately, this is a resin kit instead of a PVC kit – otherwise she will start bending/leaning very very soon. ^^;

Edit: I’ve removed the previous pictures of Simca and added the new pictures of this kit. This different photography style seems to produce much better results. ^^;

I recently went on a hunt for Asuka related merchandises on ebay, and to my surprise, I found this Santa Asuka. It was a Buy It Now for US$25 with a Best Offer option as well. At first, I was thinking that this figure is a fake since the retail price on HLJ is 6800yen, which is roughly US$68. Then I checked out the seller’s store and realized that this is the only anime figure that he’s selling, and obviously, the seller doesn’t know the exact value of this figure. So I gave him my best offer of US$20 and he accepted. ^^; So the total I paid including shipping was $27, which is roughly 1/3 of the price in HLJ. I was worried about whether this would be a fake or not, but fortunately, the box has the GAINAX sticker on it, so I’m saved. ^^;

Here are some pictures of Santa Asuka.

Edit: Took out a few pics and added more pictures of Asuka.  This photography style seems to produce better results. ^^;

Hello, welcome to my weblog.

Currently, there isn’t anything here yet, and this is only a post to test things out as well. Hopefully I will get used to this soon.