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 ^^

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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, …

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 …

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

(picture from July, 3 2007 figure review)

Well, as the title suggests it, this poor girl had some trouble escaping from that jungle.

As you may have already heard about it, this figure is well know for her challenging-gravity pose, and for what guys from ALTER did to prevent the figure to lean. Detailed pictures of the implementation at Happy Soda, in the review chapter.

Back when I wrote about this figure, I said this :

ALTER did a very good job with the leg and the base binding, reinforcing them with a metal pipe.

I do not know what was the general feeling about this, but I was blindly convinced nothing bad could happen to her. Certainly because of the ALTER logo… I guess.

But not even one year later, gravitiy once again dictated her inevitable rules, and took it out on the poor Kaze.

Actually, the figure does not lean. So, basically, the extra metal-pipe did its job well. What did not resist is the plastic base. And I swear Kaze never fell and never received any impact ^^

With much attention, you can notice it is the plastic support which is leaning. I assume it was perfectly vertical when I took it off the box.

Now I am just too afraid of removing the little fragment stuck in the foot, because, in fact, the figure still stands well. Dangerously bending, but put against a wall or another figure, it looks ok. And if I remove it, I may screw up trying to fix it with glue, and I fear making the things even worse ^^;

I just hope now that other ALTER figures like Kuro no Franco, who also has an anti-gravitational pose, will be spared by mother earth attraction.

To tell the truth, it has been about three month since this happened. I just decided to write something about it and share my misfortune now, after having learnt something similar on the same figure occured to a comrade from figuremaniax.com, a French speaking forum about figures. And things seem to have been more violent for him, unfortunately.

So, this brings me to put the following question to those who have this figure as well : any alike damage? ^^

Based on what I have read among comments on dannychoo.com when this figure was introduced, this girl is named after the main character of a famous spagetti western titled “Django”. Django is also the heros name, while Franco Nero is the actor real name. Funny reference, since Nitro+ game seems to be a pastiche/parody of the original work. It is amusing to learn that.
By the way, the only western stories I enjoyed were from the Franco-Belgian comics featuring Lucky Luke, the cowboy known to « shoot faster than his shadow ». I grew up reading his adventures. Ever heard about him in your region?
But well, westerns can become much more interresting with beautiful 2D girls with guns and lovely yet fatal smile ^^

Yeah I confess, the first thing I checked was what is the most visible: that white pantsu. And I am bit sorry to see slight black stains. No big deal however, since it could have been worse, like bigger sculpt marks…

I really like Franco long blue/gray hair. ALTER seems good at making long thin hair locks.

Her black suit with orange lines looks like lava, which I think is awesome. But this is too bad the pose hides most of this damn short suit. But this pose is obviously amazing, so does the damage stone wall serving as a base.

The pistol barrel is also a bit bent, and I do not want to try to center it on more since I thought I would break it. However, there are nice ornamentations graved on it.

Love the lines drawn by the sculpt. Not just a great dynamic pose, but the way all is flowing in harmonious direction is definitely the best element of this figure. Sculptor Tanaka Senu, who already did a great job with Donne Anonime, expressed once again his talent here with Franco. Cannot wait to enjoy his work on Lily now!

My copy has a huge pink paint stain on the top of her left boot. But I assume this is the mass-production risk. Somehow, it is fortunately not visible at first glance. Let us just say it is some blood from her male enemies who died from nose bleeds and have left some on her boot ^^;

The way she is supported by this small piece of plastic seems cheap. The whole tremble when I move it. Maybe I did not drive in enough… but it seems I cannot go any further.

I am fond of what mate D_Blade said about this figure, which sums up very well its spirit I think :

« Enjoy looking at my pantsu for the first and last time… Because you will die now. »

Followed by this cute wink and lovely smile-with-a-fang, it suits the situation perfectly.
The pink heart under her white boots confirm that she might be a nice yet provocative girl, and very dangerous at the same time. Exciting! ^^

Once again ALTER released a high-quality figure, despite some mass-prod-related imperfection I was not used to see anymore, and an unsteady support. Hard to say if this will survive through gravity over time…
But I am not saying that Franco is a failure though. Quite the contrary. She is an excellent figure by her sculpt and paint job. It is just it could have deserve more care such as Donne Anonime. Maybe I was expecting too much, since I really love the design of this striking, ardent and playful ace gunner.
Anyway, with Miss Nobody, those two ladies make an awesome duet, soon completed with Lily.

Product Information

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

Even if Lulu does not look as well-made as on the promotional pictures, this Figma is still a figure which has surprised me, in a good way. Easy to manipulate. No trouble when changing hands or faces. I say that considering what I have already experimented with revoltech EVAs. With Kaiyodo articulated figures, changing the hands is a true pain. Though, they allow much more possibilities. I am a bit disapointed about Lelouch hands, since the gun cannot be removed and it is not possible to give him other weapons. I wish I could play a bit more in that way… too sad.

Sculpt and paint jobs ok. Nothing impressing, but nothing to reproach either. Just a little stain on the noze of the second neutral face, the one without the geass-eye, so no big deal since I prefer the two other faces.
I am sure some have recognised that base, which belong to the Kotobukiya Katsuragi Misato figure. I show her when I wrote about my first figure booth, but perhaps, she will be featured in a future article.

Love this mischievous smile.

It is pretty fun to play with a Figma actually. I was a bit worried about the fact it could be not easy to have Lulu to stand without the support arm, but in fact it is rather simple.
However, I was so lazy I took very fiew pictures. Photo sessions with Figma requires much more time and patience ^^;

Product Information

• Manufactured by Max Factory · Masaki APSY · Banpresto
• non scale completed pvc/abs articulated figure
• First released in March 2008 in Japan
• List Price of 2,500 JPY

Why Figma?

Till now, among articulated figures, I was only interrested in mechas, such as the whole crew of revoltech EVAs, and I swore I would never be involved with non-robot articulated figures, since the joints are too visible, makes the character odd, unreal and ugly, blah-blah-blah…

Put aside the Nendoroids. They do are articulated figures, but that does not count. Super-deformed character figures are in my opinion in another category, completely different ^^;

It is just that for faithful and “serious” representation of the characters I like, I was resolute to only choose those lovely full pvc figures we all enjoy.

But… bloody BUT! Max Factory lanched the Figma serie :cry:

Actually, the first model, the Haruhi coming only with the playstation game, convinced me even more in my idea. I do not really like that armor-like outfits based on her school uniform.

Then, I guess it was Lelouch and Yuki who were annonced. I was : « woah, they seem to be pretty well done. But no, still articulated figures. Do not touch. »

So? why am I now playing with Lelouch and, and why do I keep Yuki in her box, on my pile of treasures? If you think it is because the whole SOS brigade was annonced, well, that was a good idea, but not the main reason. However, I will try to grab them all.

The only Figma figure who had me crossing the line is Saber. She has not been released yet - expected for the end of the month, right? - but I am charmed by how she has been designed. Full armor, with both Avalon and another ornate sheath for Excalibur, that is the way I like Saber ^^

Thus, the articulated joints are not as visible as for Yuki or Haruhi. Moreover, the available faces looks awesome. And knowing that Rin will also be “figmatised“, I could not have resist anymore.

And once one was oredered, I was trapped in the chain. That Lelouch and Yuki who looked nice to me ended in my cart, followed soon by Haruhi, Kyon and Nanoha… for now. More and more to come, and I am sure I will want to purchase them.

As for Ayu, I have the feeling the sculpt describes exactly the character’s spirit. With that friendly smile on her face and this cute pose, hands resting on her knees, it is easy to perceive Makoto’s playful behaviour. And I guess even if not familiar with Kanon and its heroines.

So, it easy to guess that I completely love this figure. However, I am conscious that this is mainly because I know the character and I am a Kanon fan. None Kanon fan can miss those Max Factory figure, cannot they? ^^
And about the product quality, I have only noticed a little scratch on the “inner” part of her hair. As expected from mister Max.

The funny thing is that this figure makes me appreciate a little bit more Makoto herself. Though Ayu does not need to worry, she remains and will remain my favorite, for ever.

Honestly, I had this kind of picture in mind since the first minute I saw pictures of this figure. And… I am a bit proud of what I manage to take actually ^^;

Contrary to Ayu who has got some changeable parts, Makoto comes ready-to-display: just take her out of the box, plug the base, and tadam! I like when it is that easy. No plastic sheets rolled up around her clothes/hair etc… which would strain you to make some crazy manipulations, like with Shuraki girls. Not that I donnot appreciate cast-off abilities, but sometimes it can be really painful. So “simple” figures like this one of Makoto become very pleasant.

Well… that was my « thought of the day » lines ^^;

Oups… the camera accidently fell under the reasonable limit ^^

Ahh I cannot help talking about Ayu at the same time, so at last, her the too young ladies together.

I played a little with shades, and “put” that tree trunk in the background. I cannot think about a better scene for Ayu-chan. Oh, in fact yes… but no snow this year over here, so had to leave this over.

And as a final shot, an voluntarily overexposed picture as a try to have this special atmosphere really specific to Kanon. Well, a terrible photography, but I like it, ’cause its Kanon ^^;

Now, I must say this batch only contains pictures taken with random angles of view, so if you are looking for a full detailed review, check the one at foo-bar-baz.
And for more thoughts and shots about this lovely figure, do not forget to visit HappySoda, Useless Thoughts and shino’s place with always amazing dioramas.

EDIT : aaahh what a shame. I give my sincere apologies to friend Dancing Queen, who did a while ago, when the Makoto figure was released, beautiful pictures in a lovely yellow-flower-field. How can I missed his works… I am so confused =_=

Product Information

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

About ~uguu~ and ~auu~

I did not mention it, but for those you do not know, the ~auu~ in the title is because Makoto uses to say this catch phrase every time, so does Ayu and her ~uguu~. No need to specify I definitely prefer Ayu’s ^^
And well, I guess this is the same for most of us, since in the previous poll about Kanon characters’ catch phrases, Ayu easily won.

Related Article(s)

Tsukimiya ~uguu~ Ayu

Among Kanon main female characters, Ayu Tsukimiya is maybe the most outstanding girl thanks to her famous catch phrase うぐう (uguu). If you don’t understand what I’m talking about, then go watch Kanon and/or grab the special uguu voice cd at MoeM …

First of all, I have to thank sir valho and sir e-jump who inspired me a lot and who gave me the idea to do the same things they are doing in their region. Everything started from there, so thank you guys! ^^

Then, a big thank to JC, Tiamat and ga8tan who went there with me, helped me to settle this and took their most beautiful figures to complete the stand.
Because yes, all we exposed was part of our personal collection, so it was very stressful to pack them all cautiously to avoid damages ^^;

Anyway, here the result once set-up!

We were situated in a corridor, so to maximize the place, the stand was from the wall. Being in a corridor was very good for the traffic. Indeed, this corridor led to the video game area, so almost everybody had to walk in front of us. The only inconvenience was that we had a very bad light. And as every photographer knows, bad light is our worst enemy ^^;
Consequently, I failed a lot of pictures… ahh nevermind.

The first two pictures is what our booth looked like on sunday, and the one below shows what it looked like on saturaday. Can you find the differences? ^^

Since the four of us are regular members of a French speaking forum about anime character figures, figuremaniax.com, we made some promotion for it with ads and leaflets.
And we used this Horo picture (moe.imouto.org rocks!) for the “Do not touch plz” papers.

Most popular figures

Among the 75 figures we displayed, some were very popular and became the main attraction of the booth.

Death Note is very famous. And those Medicom figures of Yagami Light and Amane Misa gathered a lot of attention. We heard a lot of “kkyyaaaa Misa-Misa!” from young ladies. I must say Medicom did fantastic articulated figures, and I am glad JC brought his, since they are quite fragile and expensive.

And the other kind of figure that was very popular with girls were the nendoroids. So nendoroids + Death Note = big hit. I love nendoroids too, but damn! Those one from first nendoroid series have such bad supports. Making Misa and Light standing was such a pain… please GoodSmile, try to find a better way to make the nendoroids stand!! and stop fooling us with promotional pitures… uh-huh, sorry about that personal moan.

Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu bunny girls were admired, but did not see any bunny girl cosplay though.

Nao, Rimu-chan, Kotona and Re Mie dancing, and my latest nendoroid Al Azif. Miku should join the band soon by the way g^^

And a little overview of the nendoroid line which was reduced on sunday.

The Kotobukiya Dokuro-chan was also very popular. Too bad I did not manage to take a proper picture of her. I am also sad for not having it in my collection ^^;

Some detailed pictures

For this figure showing, we chose to give priority to series well known by French public, and also characters coming in group. And fortunately, we had some nice stuff to display together. Though it was hard to make the selection, and I had to leave a lot of my favorite figures at home, such as the ALTER Peace@Pieces group, Nadie, Louise, or Max Factory Ayu, Eukanaria, Pachira, Chitose and GSC Sumomo-chan. Well, this will be for next time, I hope ^^

Fate/Zero pair from Max Factory. Saber was quite popular too. But a lot told me they prefer her in her casual clothes : blue dress, white shirt, blue ribbon. Exacly like in the poll result I post in this pair review.

The four girls from Bakuretsu Tenshi (Burst Angel). Jo is my favorite, but love Sei for her eyes and Amy is sooooo loli ^^

The Shuraki girls. I wasnt surprised few people paid attention to them. Unknown characters catch very hardly the attention. Though, I was pleased to hear a mother showing to her daughter how beautiful Chars hair was. Char is definitely my favorite.

Kureha, Shenhua and « Two Hands » Revy.

IKKI TOUSEN girls. I am sure every boys knew about them, but did not want to admit it ^^;

One Piece Portrait of Pirates figures, from MegaHouse. Nami is the old version, while Zoro and Luffy are v2. Very popular characters over here too.

Fuka, Yostuba and Danbo. Those figures belong to JC. I have not been seduced yet by Kaiyodo Yotsuba&! figures. But I guess next ones will got me ^^;

On sunday, Yotsuba became more aggressive against Danbo ^^
Shes ridding MegaHouse Tachikoma. Next to it is ALTER Kusanagi Motoko, and ga8tan brought his huge Tachikoma from Fewture. An impressive mechanic, but expensive too.

Evangelion girls. Asuka is 1/5 and from ALTER, Rei and Misato 1/6 and from Kotobukiya. They look great together. I was happy to receive Misato just the day before we leave for the conv. ^^

Kaiyodo EVA Revoltechs. We tryed to recreate the scene in Evangelion movie.

Still Revotechs, with this time rebuilt units-00 and-01, and old unit-00 bue. Alway fun to play with. No problem with their pose, and they never fell.

ga8tan brought as well his VF-1S Roy Focker (Macross) from Yamato, and a gundam (sorry, cannot remind which one it is… GAT-X 105 Aile Strike maybe?). The Macross was set in this middle pose first, which I prefer, and was then set in full mecha mode later.

Blazing Shana. So in love with this figure ^^;
Fewture Tachikoma had his red leds lighted on.

Ignis the White from Orchid Seed, who was place in the top center of the booth. Visitors were amazed by her dress, like all of us, but it was a bit hard to answer the question « What anime is she from? » ^^;
MegaHouse Clare in the background, had her share of success too. Lot of people are Claymore fans.

A bit of Saint Seiya. I was very anxious about Shiryu dragon “diadem” (can I call this a diadem?) during the transit, since is it easy to break.

Another completely-unkonwn-character for visitors, but Melissa was an awesome eye-catch ^^;
Pumpkin + devil lolita = mega combo. Love Melissa.

We also displayed the Max Factory Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu quintet, with the beems and cat accessories for Mikuru and Yuki.
Popularity ranking was Haruhi > Tsuruya-san > others. *nyoro~!*

GoodSmile Saber and Alice L. Marvin were set up as if they were fighting. Donnot have closer picture though, sorry orz

Since we did not have enough space to display some labels to put character names and figure editors, we decided to constitute a file containing all information about the displayed figures. I brought my music stand to support it, and I must say this solution was awesome. Big success. A lot of people were reading it. I guess people donnot like to be only specator, but enjoy being active ^^

On the first picture, you may have noticed two ALTER Black Dress Saber a bit appart from the rest. A real one, and a bootleg. This to warn and to make sensitive people about counterfeiting, and to try to help them to recognise fake figures. This caught visitors attention a lot, and I guess it was very instructive.
I must thank ga8tan who had the misfortune to purchase the bootleg but the idea to make this presentation, and JC who had the official one.

More Cosplay

I continue the cosplay tour, since I also took pictures of great costumes in front of our booth, but did not want to published them in previous article not to spoil this one ^^;

A group was cosplaying Tsubasa Chronicle characters. Here is Kurogane, Yuko-sama my favorite character, and a very cute Sakura.

And then Syaoran and Fay. Maru and Moro were also part of the group, but I didnt manage to take a picture of them… *sigh*

Athena and Shaka were back in our area, and they kindly accept to pose with Seiya and Shiryu ^^
Picture could have been better, but lack of light forced me to alter the quality. Too sad…

To end with, a kind of “in the mood” picture, showing people passing.

And a last funny one showing guys from the organizing committee recording a video in front of the figure booth ^^

And thats all folks! I really enjoyed this two day exhibition. Met a lot of friendly people, and it was pleasant to share this passion with fans and novices. Will definitely look for another opportunity to reiterate this… awaiting next year Animasia where we are already invited ^^

Oups… by the way, be warned that the following pictures can be considered NSFW, depending on where you are ^^;

Is there anyone among otaku sphere who has never even heard about this Melissa figure? I doubt so. Then I hope you’re not getting bored buy this cute little devil with her huge orange pumpkin. I am not anyway.
Actually, this is one of my latest figure, thanks to a recent reissue. I managed to save myself from ordering her since I started collecting figures… but at last, I failed. Once again. Gosh! =_=

Melissa is so damn cute. Her curly blond hair draws easily one’s attention, and her little body seems so fragile that you want to give her a gentle hug. But those red wings, black gloves and the skull on her chest reminds us to be careful with this imp.

On an other side, these anime/eroge girls showing a fang is really something I am more and more into, like with Tsuruya-san (SHnY) or Misao (Lucky Star). I am sure AS understands me ^^

I have never noticed her swirling green eyes till I took this picture. Maybe because they are often in her hair’s shade, or just because this it not where I look at first ^^;

I tried hard not to succumb. But the announcement of Chu Chu Astram figure made me have a second thought. And as it was not enough, GSC had the great idea to reissue Melissa last december. Good job GoodSmile… nice “coup de grace”.

Even if I like that big pumpkin she uses as a skirt, I did not take picture of it entirely. But you can admire the complet figure through even more artistic works at HappySoda and Ota desho?. Oh and by the way, ron~, you can also feel guilty for having me buy this figure! That’s you who let me know there would be a reissue. And JC too! by showing it to me while I was visiting… you can be proud. Tssss…

Ala ala… ^^;

Product Information

• Manufactured by GoodSmile company
• 1/8 scale completed pvc figure
• Sculpted by Akihide Muraki
• First released in August 2006 in Japan, reissued in December 2007
• List Price of 5,500 JPY

Notes

Since Melissa cannot stay up without her pumpkin, I used an other stand to have her that exposed. This is a… ha! can you find out what it is? ;)

Answer : just a base from a LOTR goodie. A kind of ellipsoidal plate with Middle Earth map engraved on it, and the four Gimli’s axes displayed. The “Lord of the Rings” is hardly readable, so does the line “The Arms of Gimli”. Well, nevermind. This makes a great stand for Melissa, who cannot hide her lovely legs anymore ^^

And for those who do not establish the link with this article’s title, here the explanation: Wagamama (わがまま) means capricious, and Capriccio is the Italian for caprice/whim. Getting this Melissa figure was a mere caprice anyway ^^

To end with, since you now may know I am found of Nendoroids, I am impatient to play with Melissa’s version!