Mirei-san
- Please write down what I say. Uh-huh…
Dear Yamashita-san,
All the works you have made till now in game and character design always had major impacts on my choices and decisions.
And I can say now that I’m glad to have had trust in you and your co-workers from Kotobukiya Inc. Your latest creation arrived with delay, but its quality and perfect eliability made me forget about this.In expectation of the next marvellous creature from your studio, I address you my best thanks and regards.
- Ok. Mirei-san? is this alright? Let me see for signing, then send it to Mr. Yamashita.
- Yes sir~ It’ll be done before noon sir~
Haaaaaa… sweet dreams…
Mirei-san is maybe the most popular figure this year, I guess. The funniest is that I wasn’t that charmed by the first WIP / promotional pictures of this master piece. And she was not easy to find when she was first released in Japan. So I didn’t try to have one, or I should say I didn’t want to try having one. Among Shunya Yamashita‘s characters, I’m more interested in Shii in fact, or other girls with big weapons from his Sweet Dreams art book, and now Needa from Shuraki.
Edit : I alway forget to mention the sculptor without who this gorgeous Mirei-san would never have become a great 3D figure. So, thanks Kamugin to remind me that Otsuyama Houjun deserves as care as Yamashita!
Then… more and more pictures came out from fellow otakus’ blogs, and I started to like her little by little. Damn you guys! ^^
So, now that the European batch of Mirei-san is available, I finally have mine. *happy*
Mirei-san has been seen a lot of time, but still, here some pictures of mine. It was a real pleasure to photograph this beautiful figure, and I wish I can share this happiness through these photos instead of bothering you.
Product Information
- Manufactured by Kotobukiya
- 1/7 scale completed pvc/abs figure
- First released in April 2007 in Japan, August 2007 in Europe
- it seems that Kotobukiya Shop limited version is 7,350 JPY (with no internationnal shipping), but I think there is an other version at 4,000 JPY. Anyway, the figure is sold in France at 35 EUR
To the question “which haircut and arm-position do you prefer?”, here what I would answer.
First try for HDRI
Well, don’t really know what I had to expect, but I’m quite satisfied with that first try. I did another one with green background but it is total crap.
And I don’t mention all the misses because I moved haha. For the picture above, I ‘ve merged three photos with exposure -0.7, 0 and +0.7.
Anyway, thank you valho and shinohai for initiate me to that funny way of taking picture!
Full reviews and other pictures
For those you have been sleeping in a cave during months because it’s too hot out there, here a reminder about what you must look at is you love Mirei-san :
@ Danny Choo
@ Heisei Democracy
@ Obsessive Plastic Lurv
And mixed pictures with the hot Shii
@ Spare Change Anyone?
Please accept my apologies if I’ve forgotten someone among my comrades ^^;
Completely off-topic pictures
Before the Mirei-san photo session, I wanted to close the shutters, as usual, to be in a dark room, and I saw through the window a beautiful sky. So I tried to take few pictures before go back in, since Mirei-san was waiting, and everybody know that it’s not polite to let ladies wait ;)
Not as wonderful as it really was, but I did my best.
version Française
it’s always nice to Mirei photos ^^, I have yet to take proper photos of her but it’ll happen soon, I hope hehe :). I like her with her hair up as well, she just looks sexier that way, not that she’s isn’t sexy enough already ^^
Mirei-san should be considered figure of the year, along with MaxFact Haruhi. About Shii…….. well you may get disappointed but I heard people complaining that she’s already leaning :( so you may want to think about it. Probably one more week and I get both Mirei and Haruhi ^^
Ah, nice treat! Nuff said^^
Mirei is definitely cute and sexy at the same time, though I prefer her with her hair up. Why can’t all office workers look like that lol. Nice pics as always.
Thats a super lovely skyline you took. But thats not the main focus of this post isn’t it? Hair up is really better for Mirei, and thats some cool tiny props that you used for this shoot that injects freshness out of many photos that Mirei already has (not that anyone’s complaining, everyone seems to love her).
Shunya designs aren’t exactly for me since I prefer more cartoony/cutesy stuff though I understand a bit better why people love her so much after I did my shoot. You’ve got great pics done definitely ^^
Nice shot with the HDR, it was valho who started it for me as well and I wasn’t really interested in it since I don’t have a tripod until I discovered that stacks of books kind of work as well. Hope you’ll be having more fun with HDR in the future ^^
valho : Hehe yep she’s still sexy, no matter the haircut. And I’ve just realised that I didn’t take much pictures of her with hair-up… ;_;
Belela-san : hoo thank you for the warn about Shii. I’ll try to take care of her from the very begining when I’ll receive the figure :)
Glad to read that you’ll have those two legendary figures soon hehe.
David : Nuff Said? what do you mean? is there a joke hidden? the only thing that came into my mind is Nina Simone album… sorry -_-;
AS : I guess that if all office workers were like that, they should only be women in those places… men wouldn’t work anymore and may become crazy haha ^^
shinohai : I have exaclty the same tastes. I prefer character with more “anime” design. Yamashita drawings are, obviously, more “manga”, and very close to “comics”. But as you, I’ve started to understand this enthusiasm for Mirei-san, Sera-chan & cie, and finally I felt in love with Yamashita’s works.
Thank for the HDR comment, I’ll try to make other pics like that time to time, this is really interresting.
Yamashita’s work is completely different from any sort of manga or anime, hes work is more based in realistic body proportions and a mix of heavy metal and anime and is particularly known for the beautiful expressions and entrancing eyes of his subjects.
Usually his artworks ranges from classic fantasy to post apocalyptic futures, always binded together with the stylized beauty of his women. He’s definitely my favorite artist so far. If any more books like Sweet Dreams come out I’ll definitely get them
I think the fact that they don’t have that anime feel to them makes them a breath of fresh air. I love my cute anime girls as much as the next otaku, but it’s nice to have some variety…sexy variety at that ^^;
About Shii, mine leans horribly. She started leaning towards her sword hand. It maybe the summer heat that got to her (my room does get hot) or maybe mine is defective as I’ve heard other people having no problems with her. Either way she’s back in her box, at least for the summer.
Oh, and lovely pics. Mirei does seem to be the ‘it’ figure so far this year ^^
Fantastic pics, cool props and lighting that makes her eyes look yummy.
Hehe, it means “enough said”^^ and no joke intended. I was just saying that it doesn’t need lots of words to describe how great she looks =)
Hmm~
While I like his work, I’m not a huge fan of his figures ^^;
Great photos again tho~
When praising this figure, almost everybody only mention Shunya Yamashita character design and forgets the superb work of the sculptor Otsuyama Houjun who realized her into 3D. I think Mirei-san figure is that gorgeous mostly because of his hands than Yamashita’s. Think of it: all that doesn’t appear in the artwork, was him who create… the optional hair tied up, that the major of us prefer the most, the panty shots (this is the only figure I’ve ever seen with two!), the optional arm, that insinuating pen instead of the glasses… he totally reinterpreted Yamashitas design.
The figures are good, I’ll admit, but I’m just not a fan of Shunya Yamashita’s designs. As for the sculptor, I haven’t seen any of his other work (because I have no idea who does what), so I can’t judge his work. Tsumezuka Hiroyuki’s works are awesome though.
nice picture, I always love your red background
same like aya, not fan of yamashita figurines also ^^;
Belela-san : there is a fantasy game guide book, Depth Fantasia, where Yamashita did the character design. It’s wonderful, but I have no idea where you can find it now, sorry ;_;
aka_ugly : thanks dude! I’ll definitely pay huge attention to Shii figure then. Maybe I’ll wait for winter to display her… but I would be a pity not to expose her ^^;
Danny Choo : I think they should make a pillow of Mirei-san like the one you’ve just introduce us :D
David : hahaha I think too much -_-; nuff = enough, ok got it ^^;
Aya Kyunik : I’m not fan of all his figure. For instance, I’m not interrested in Shion at all (moreover it’s a bust). Be careful though, you may become fan of Mirei-san on day like I did haha ^^;
Kamugin : Thanks for the information! I read that Otsuyama Houjun is a very experimented artist working for Kotobukiya (correct me if I’m wrong hehe), and he has also made Philias (Shining Wind) model.
I’m glad you’ve mentionned him. I to often forgot the talk about the guys who realized the 3D models when they deserve it. Sorry ^^; I’ll edit hehe.
Zeroblade : is that the guy who sculpted the unbelievable mecha-musume Excelia? His works are awesome, for sure :)
ron~ : thanks! I kindda like it as well, and would like to use it more often but it could become boring ^^;
hey there ^^
thanks to you i need to buy the mirei figure now >.
Just a couple weeks ago, I was lucky enough to meet with Shunya Yamashita in person when he visited SDCC. He is a pretty nice guy, somewhat quiet though. Too bad my Japanese speaking skill is so weak, hard for me to communicate with him other than saying hi and bye :)
I hear you on the red background. I find I have to stop myself from using it too often.
I’ve never tried the HDR process. It seems to have cut down on the glare a little and softened up the texture on her bra, which is good, but seems to have removed that glow that makes these shots so nice. Then, it is still a first attempt, so you could probably solve that as well after a couple more tries.
Anyway, these are fantastic. It almost makes me want to get Mirei.
A very sexy figure, though I don’t have her in my collection. Perhaps if I see it in front of me I’ll buy it. I’ve tried HDR photos before but most of them didn’t have the effect I was looking for so I haven’t tried since. But then I do my photos outside which give it a nice enough effect.