Nice work, Private!

He always refers to Good Smile Company as ‘Good-san’ even though most of us rather shorten to it ‘Good Smile’. It reminded me of how some people call McDonalds, ‘McDs’ and others call it ‘Macs’ here in Japan.

Does anyone else refer to Good Smile as Good-san… or anything else?

But anyway… today we’ll be looking at…

Max Factory’s…

1/7 Scale Xiao-Mei!

She is the fickle owner of the antique shop from the popular PSP game ‘Shining Hearts’. The pose is based on a key visual from the game where Xiao-Mei has a beautiful smile across her face and a slightly tilted face.

If you include all the figures from Shining Tears and Shining Wind…. this is the 11th figure to join Max Factory’s ‘Shining’ figure series!

This is how she looks from the back!

Those legs are the legs that all girls want!!
Plus they’re the legs that all guys want to see on girls!! 😛

The tilted head just makes her cuter!

Tony-san’s beautiful illustration has been transformed into a figure without losing any charm! Look at those beautiful eyes! She is just so adorable…

Even her outfit is adorable!!

It kind of looks like a ‘naked apron’ from this angle… I really like how it looks! It taunts you into thinking you can see underneath but you just can’t!

Now you can see a little better!

“N-No panties…!?”

…of course she’s wearing some… but if you wanna get a closer look than that you’ll have to take a look with your your own eyes!!

Her bosom is impressive too!

The skin looks so smooth and the clothes give a very ‘tight fit’ feeling… it really lets Xiao-Mei boast her body!!

By the way… this figure is actually sculpted by a girl!

Her thighs are stunning, but also take note of the sash!

Plus I’m sure you’ve noticed the little ribbon by her thighs…! At first I thought it was part of her Chinese outfit… but it’s actually just sticking out the side…

…which means…?

Everyone loves armpits!

You can peek from below to get a good look at them like this! It’s areas like this that you could never see in the the illustration… and now not only can you see it but you can touch it too!!

Max Factory’s…

1/7th Scale Xiao-Mei!

She’ll be on the GSC site by mid-March!

For preordering details or questions check out our partner shops.

That’s all for today!
I hope to see you all again tomorrow! (・∀・)ノ゛
 
 
 
 
(C)SEGA

* Please note that this blog’s contents is originally written for a Japanese audience and is then translated for our foreign customers. All pre-order and release dates are the Japanese dates. Also note that not all products can be sold in certain areas

Yesterday I took a look at Max Factory’s Big O model and learned just how it was to make non-cute things look cute…

Today’s product is also from Max Factory!

In fact I have yet another Max Factory figure to look at, but that will be for tomorrow… and it’s not a figma by the way! figma are normally all introduced on the figma blog instead of here so I only look at them on rare occasions.

But anyway, today we’ll be taking a look at:

1/7 Scale Yui Hirasawa!
 
 
Yui is the clumsy guitarist from the ever-popular anime K-ON!… which also has a movie version coming up!

This is the Santa outfit she worse in episode 7 of season 1!

This is how she looks from the back!

The line from her thighs up to her knees is absolutely beautiful!! It’s like she is wearing a one-piece dress with bare feet… not something you see very often.

A huge smile beaming across her face!

A smile like this really suits Yui the best! Great work Max Factory – that expression is perfect!!

The nice baggy Santa outfit!

While most of the outfit and the sleeves are baggy, the area from the waist to the hips fits just right. Plus look at those delicious soft thighs!!

She shoulders also stick out the top!

You can also see Yui-chan has a really sexy collar bone!!  :O

This Santa outfit is so amazing… I almost feel like I should get down on my knees and bow down to it!! It has such a unique balance as to what skin it shows and what it doesn’t!

But there is more to this figure… my true love for it…

The Santa outfit casts-off into a school swimsuit!

This is truly a breakthrough! A single figure of Yui-chan with two completely different looks that are both absolutely stunning! You could even display her in the swimsuit during Summer and the Santa outfit for Winter – match her to the seasons! 😛

This is how she looks from the back!

You might think that the balance of the figure would be thrown off by taking off her Santa outfit… but as you can see that’s not the case at all!

Obviously the Santa hat can also be removed!

The hair beneath the hat has a nice light and airy feeling and gives a nice dynamic feeling to her – I particularly like the way the hair looks at the back near her neck!

Healthy looking shoulder blades!

[Discussing]

The glossy look of the swimsuit is beautiful!

Pay attention to the smaller details – you can just see the outline of her belly button… and the creases around her thighs are beautifully detailed.

She looks great in both the Santa suit and the swimsuit!

It’s Max Factory’s…

1/7 Scale Yui Hirasawa!

She is already up for preorders!

Check out our partner stores for more details or questions regarding preorders.
 
 
 
That’s all for today!
I hope to see you all again tomorrow!  (・∀・)ノ゛
 
 
 

* Please note that this blog’s contents is originally written for a Japanese audience and is then translated for our foreign customers. All pre-order and release dates are the Japanese dates. Also note that not all products can be sold in certain areas
 
 
(C)かきふらい・芳文社／桜高軽音部

Up on the GSC site tomorrow!

The third figure in the 1/8th Scale Bakemonogatari series:

Suruga Kanbaru!

Kanbaru is the third to join this set of figures, and she is just as incredible as both the previous two figures in the series. Yesterday I went over the actual figure of Kanbaru, which you can read about here:

1/8th Scale Suruga Kanbaru

But today we’ll be taking a look at this part:

The base!

The piles of books that surround Kanbaru are made to look identical to how they did on the DVD jacket!

These books actually caused a lot of trouble for the sculptors…

They really did moan about it quite a lot… it must have been quite a nuisance to work with. ^^;

If you’re not sure what mask painting is, you can take a look at this article:
1/8th Scale Senjougahara (Part 3) – Stationary Painting

But simply put, it’s a method of separating the parts that need red painting from the parts that need white painting.

Close-up on the books!

You can even see all the bookmarks are there!

Also, it might be hard to tell from this photo but…
Both the white pages and red covers use gradient painting!

It’s almost a waste to have so much detail on the base of a figure!

Here’s the base from a different angle!

You can really see she is surrounded by books!

I wonder how these are going to be made… I’m pretty sure the production team is going to have just as much trouble as the sculptors…

We’ll just have to leave it to them!

Here is the base by itself!

At the moment the base and Kanbaru don’t actually connect in anyway, you simply place her onto the base! (That might change during production, however.)

That means you can do things like this as well:

Kanbaru can sit on the edge of the desk!

You could seat her on all sorts of things~

The elbow floating in the air looks a little strange, but you could easily put some real BL books there instead, or ever have her supported by another figure!

The Valhalla Combo!

This particular set of figures isn’t really designed to all be displayed together, but they still look good when displayed next to each other!

Unfortunately Nadeko is on a trip in China at the moment so I couldn’t display her with them this time… maybe next time!

The third figure in the 1/8th Scale Bakemonogatari series:

Suruga Kanbaru!

She’ll be on the GSC site from tomorrow!

Check out our partner shops if you have any questions regarding ordering yours. (Japanese only)

But that’s not all for today!

Let’s go back to the first figure in the series:

Hitagi Senjougahara!

We got a review from a certain someone to celebrate the figure’s release!

It’s Bakemonogatari’s character designer and animation director…

Akio Watanabe!

Oooh! This is amazing!! I can’t believe it!!

Let’s get going with his very own figure review!

As a big fan, so it makes me really glad to read this!
It makes me glad that I keep running this blog!

The 1/8 Scale Senjougahara
– Even praised by Watanabe-san!

Check out our partner shops if you have any questions regarding ordering yours. (Japanese only)

That’s all for today!
I hope to see you all again tomorrow!!  (・∀・)ノ゛

* Please note that this blog’s contents is originally written for a Japanese audience and is then translated for our foreign customers. All pre-order and release dates are the Japanese dates. Also note that not all products can be sold in certain areas

Today we’ll start off with a quiz!

Who do you think this is…?

It’s the 3rd figure in the 1/8th scale Bakemonogatari series:

Suruga Kanbaru!

Following on from the figures of Senjougahara and Nadeko from the same series.

Of all the different stories in Bakemonogatari I enjoyed the ‘Suruga Monkey’ story the most. Whilst I love Senjougahara’s personality, Kanbaru’s story really brought tears to my eyes… plus the battle scenes were also really impressive. If you haven’t seen it you should definitely try to find the time!

This is how she looks from the back!

That base is huge!!

The Bakemonogatari figure series is becoming very will known for it’s very detailed extras and bases. They’re just getting better and better with every release…

The production quality on this one really makes me want to shed a tear…. ^^;

She looks so entranced by her book…

She has been sculpted with a downward gaze… definitely not something easy to sculpt, but it looks great!

But just what is she reading…?

Barazoku!

Kanbaru really loves her BL titles…!

Those who have seen the anime will remember the famous scene where Kanbaru is with Ararararagi-san in the sea of red books.

Even the posing and details of how she holds her book is incredible… those long fingers have a kind of erotic feeling to them.

By the way… for those of you who don’t know what BL is… good for you! 😛

Another extra that just has to come with any figure of Kanbaru…

A basketball!

If you compare the ball to the one on the original DVD jacket, you’ll notice even the logo is placed in the exact same place… it has a stunningly realistic design!

Her beautiful long legs!

Those calves… just look at those sexy calves!!  You can also see that even her basket ball shoes’ soles are finely detailed!

Summer clothes!

Those little gaps where you hope to see something really add something extra to the figure! (even if you can’t actually seen anything)

On that note… it’s amazing how much you can actually see in between the gaps between buttons on blouses. Watch out for that girls!

The best shot!(in my opinion)

The 3rd figure in the 1/8th scale Bakemonogatari series:

Suruga Kanbaru!

She will be on the GSC site from the 20th!

Check out our partner shops if you have any questions regarding ordering yours. (Japanese only)

Tomorrow I’ll take a look at the base in more detail!

What?! Really?!

But that’s all for today…

I hope to see you all again tomorrow!! (・∀・)ノ゛

* Please note that this blog’s contents is originally written for a Japanese audience and is then translated for our foreign customers. All pre-order and release dates are the Japanese dates. Also note that not all products can be sold in certain areas

(C)西尾維新／講談社・アニプレックス・シャフト

She is on sale as of today!

Hitagi Senjougahara!

If you head down to the stores right now you should find her lined up for you to buy… if you’re in Japan of course!

Check out our partner shops for more details on getting hold of her. If you’re not in Japan take a look at your favorite  online store as well!

Today I’ll be continuing with the third part in my Senjougahara Special!

“What?! There’s still more?!”… and if you’re thinking that… then yes, there is still much more! ^^;

1/8th Scale Hitagi Senjougahara (Part 2)

1/8th Scale Hitagi Senjougahara (Part 1)

While I was on my trip to China back in December, I managed to get a look at some of the painting of this figure. It really was incredible to watch it in action…

Today I’ll be showing you some of that incredible action!

By the way….

If you haven’t read the previous articles on my factory tour some of the lingo might be lost on you, so take a look if you have the time:

Mikatan’s Factory Field Trip! – Part 1
Mikatan’s Factory Field Trip! – Part 2
Mikatan’s Factory Field Trip! – Part 3

Some more photos from the December factory trip!
All these pieces are freshly molded parts that have been painted white.

They are in fact Senjougahara’s torso!

If you take a look here….

This is the painted product!

There is actually a ton of drama involved in the painting of the torso as well, but if I were to get into that it would take me about a month to get through… so I’m just going to hold myself back for now…

As you can see, even the inside red bit of the uniform is carefully painted!

Let’s move onto today’s main event!

The famous stationary parts!

For size comparison, the left corner shows the size of the ruler, scissors and pen in comparison to Senjougahara’s thigh.

As you can see, each of the pieces are made separately!

The reason they are made from clear plastic is because the ruler is going to stay that way anyway!

But this is where the painting starts!!

1) First the parts are painted with a green air brush.



(2) This completes the base painting of the pen!



(3) Then the handle of the scissors is painted…



(4) Just the tip of the scissors are then painted.

The blade of the scissors crosses over with the pen, so a mask is used to make sure the painting is separated completely.

This was one of the people in charge of painting the scissors’ tips. who paints the tips of the scissors.

(5) The base of the scissors are then painted.

The part of the scissors’ blade above the pen is painted with an airbrush. The mask above is used to paint both sides at the same time, it takes just a few seconds!

(6) The finer details are fixed by hand painting!

The masks sometimes have a little leak that causes the painting to come out a little bit wrong, so here is where they fix all the little errors that might come from that.

She holds two paint brushes at once!!

That’s what you call a true craftsman!

7) Work Complete!

This tiny little part actually uses an incredible 4 masks alone!

It’s hard enough to get one of these to come out so nicely… but they are able to make thousands all with the same good quality!

The complete parts are stored away in this container.

The container is actually made specially just to hold these specific parts! It is made both to store the parts safely, and to make them easy to count at the end of the day.

The outer part of the stapler! (The plastic part)
In a previous article I mentioned that some of the color was lost, and that’s because the two parts of the stapler (the outer and inner parts) are painted seperately!

The inside of the staplers are painted, and yet you’ll never see that painting – but it’s still a much more efficient way of painting them.

The inner part of the stapler! (The metal part)
The two parts are stuck together with a glue, but I’ll be getting into more detail about that in a future article.

Remember how tiny these staplers are! I believe these are the staplers that are used right by Senjougahara’s skirt!

It looks like they are each held together using two clips while they are painted. Isn’t it beautiful!!?

It’s quite amazing to see how many of them there are here…! Even from this photo you can see the gradient painting  if you look carefully.

Good Smile Company’s 1/8th Scale

Hitagi Senjougahara!

Visit one of our partner shops and grab her today!

Check out our partner shops for ordering details or questions. (Japanese only)

Tomorrow we’ll have the finale of this blog series!

Plus I’ll be introducing some other Bakemonogatari figures!!

That’s all for today!
Hope to see you all again tomorrow!! (・∀・)ノ

*Please note that this blog’s contents is originally written for a Japanese audience and is then translated for our foreign customers. All pre-order and release dates are the Japanese dates. Also note that not all products can be sold in certain areas.

(C)西尾維新／講談社・アニプレックス・シャフト

She’s on sale from tomorrow!

Good Smile Company’s 1/8th scale…

Hitagi Senjougahara!

Everyone who has been waiting will finally be able to grab the beautiful Senjougahara for their own!

Today’s blog is a second part feature on this beautiful figure!

　　　　　　　＿＿＿_
　 　 　 　 ／　　　　　＼
　　　　 ／:::::::─三三─＼　　　　　”Eeeh? There’s more?!”
　　　／::::::::: （ ○）三（○）＼
　 　 |　 　､”　ﾞ)（__人__）ﾙ ﾟ｡ ﾟ　　　　　_＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿_
　　　＼　 　 　 ゝ’ﾟ　　　 　 ≦　三　ﾟ　　| |　　　　　　　　　　　　　　|
＿＿／ 　 　 ｡≧　　　　　　　三　＝　　| |　　　　　　　　　　　　　　|
| |　/ 　　 ,　　　-ｧ,　　　　　　　≧=　 .| |　　　　　　　　　　　　　　|
| | /　　 /　　 　.ｲﾚ,､　　　　 　　＞　　 | |　　　　　　　　　　　　　　|
| | |　⌒ ーnｎｎ ,≦｀Vヾ　　ヾ　≧　 　|_|_＿＿＿＿_＿＿＿＿_|
￣ ＼＿_､(“二）｡ﾟ　/｡･ｲﾊ ､＼､ｌ二二ｌ二二　 ＿|_|＿_|＿

That’s right… there is still so much to cover!

I won’t deny that it’s partly because I’m personally a huge fan of Senjougahara… but I also do want to show as many people as possible the beauty behind this figure!

For anyone who has not seen the first blog about this figure, you can find it right here:

1/8th Scale Hitagi Senjougahara (Part 1)

Today we’re going to have a more detailed look…

At all the stationary!

I’ve been writing this blog for four years now…  but this is the first time I’ve done an article on just some extra parts that come with a figure… but the stationary really is so incredible…

It all comes apart into the six pieces you see here.

The yellow craft knife and red scissors on the left don’t connect to the others – they come just like that. You can place them anywhere on the stand that you like.

Alright, let’s try putting the pieces together.

First up the part with two staplers connects to the eraser part!

You’ll find a piece on the end of the pink stapler to insert into the eraser.

Next, the scissors part connects with the drawing triangle part.

You’ll find that that the drawing triangles on each part connect together.

Be sure to hold the parts at the bases!

If you hold them at the edges you’ll find that they will come apart very easily, or you might accidentally snap some parts off!
Hold them carefully and securely when you are trying to connect them together!

Stationary all connected!

There are four small prongs made from clear plastic which allow you to connect it to the figure’s base. Put the longer one on the pink stapler in first, and do the shortest one on the scissors at the end.

Now that we’ve got them all connected up, let’s take a look at just how high quality these little pieces of stationary are!

Even the ruler’s measurements are correct!

　　　　　 　　　＿＿＿_
　　　　 　／::::::─三三─＼
　　　　／:::::::: （ ○）三（○）＼　　　　　 “S-Seriously…!?”
　　|:::::::::::（__人__）:::　|
　 　　 ＼:::::::::　 　|r┬-| 　 ,／
　　　　ノ::::::::::::　　`ー’´　　　＼　　

Yep. it measures a total of 4cm! ^^;

Good Smile Company even takes care when making tiny 4cm extra parts for figures!

The closest shot I could get!

Just look at the detail of the sculpting and painting on that craft knife!
If you compare it’s size to the finger’s in one of the earlier photos you’ll realize just how tiny it is! For something so tiny to have so much quality is incredible!

The stapler’s use gradient painting!

They really just look like real staplers…

The color is actually lost a little bit because of the close-up photography!

There is actually a reason behind that, but I’ll get into that another time.

This is the size of the eraser!

If you can’t find it, it’s in the bottom right! 😛

It’s about the same size as a Petite Nendoroid’s leg… the little scissors and craft knife on the floor are also tiny! (Plus they have gradient painting as well!)

All the stationary piled on the floor!

The stationary in itself looks amazing… so no matter how you display it, it almost always looks great! You can display it using the actual stand as intended, or if you feel like a change you can display it this with the various pieces just lying on the ground… or you could come up with you very own work of art using them! It’s up to you!

Petite Senjougahara playing with the stationary!

Oooh! It’s so adorable!

There really are so many ways you can use the stationary… if any of you come up with some interesting uses, be sure to mail them through to me!

Quiz Time!

What are the parts in the above photo?

When I went to China in December, I was lucky enough to see the painting of some of the Senjougahara figure! I took a ton of photos of it as well!

In tomorrow’s blog I’ll be discussing the process that these pieces of stationary went through to get made!

Good Smile Company’s 1/8th Scale,

Hitagi Senjougakara!

She will be released at all of our partner shops as of tomorrow!

Check out our partner shops for ordering details or questions. (Japanese only)

That’s all for today!
Hope to see you all again tomorrow!! (・∀・)ノ

*Please note that this blog’s contents is originally written for a Japanese audience and is then translated for our foreign customers. All pre-order and release dates are the Japanese dates. Also note that not all products can be sold in certain areas

(C)
西尾維新／講談社・アニプレックス・シャフト

Today I’m going to start off with an apology…

Sorry for the delay!!!

Both the (´・ω・`) face and Teddy have been waiting for ages too! But I’m sure all of you have been waiting even more patiently than them… especially after seeing her displayed all over at events….

But…

She’s finally here!

Good Smile Company’s 1/8th Scale

Hitagi Senjougahara!

It’s the girl who was possessed by a crab from the popular anime Bakemonogatari! The pose is based on a famous key illustration from the series – a very unique pose which places her looking over her back with various pieces of stationary falling from her skirt.

Let me sum up my feelings in one sentence…

She is absolutely incredible!

But at the very least I can go cover the figure for everyone!

This is how she looks from the front!

The figure is actually designed to be displayed with her facing backwards… but it looks nice from the front as well! It’s a rather strange feeling to not be able to see the figure’s face when looking at her from the front, but it’s a nice change!

Her Beautiful Face!

It’s not often you see a figure with a face in profile like this!

Getting the posing of this figure right was apparently quite a challenge!

Here is the face from the front!

Oooh…. the more angles you look from the more beautiful she looks!  

Getting the figure to look right from the front and the side was apparently very difficult!

Most figures feature the face at a slight angle or directly from the front, but this one really focuses on getting the posing of the profile face down right. Of course the rest of the figure still looks great as well!

It’s also great to be able to see the front of the figure which was never visible on the original illustration… the sculptors have really outdone themselves this time!

But the face definitely isn’t the only thing to enjoy!

Look at the detail on her uniform!

Getting her into a pose like this where she is holding up her skirt is hard enough, but even the details on the pleated skirt, and the creases from being held up look so realistic! It looks just like a real skirt!

We can’t forget her stationery!

Yet another highlight of the figure!

Every single piece of stationary is very detailed!

Let’s take a look at them in a little bit more detail…

Look at those thighs!

I-I mean… look at that craft knife inside the skirt!

Can you see the craft knife behind the drawing triangle?

Even the details inside the skirt are incredible!
That’s Good Smile Company for you!!!

The stationery on the right!

This picture was enlarged quite a lot, but it still looks magnificent…

The scissors really stand out, but there are also a couple of cutters and even a finer craft knife at the very back!

The stationary on the left!

Look at the detail on those staplers!

And look at the pen on the far left! Even the tip of the cap is painted differently! It’s incredible!

Well she can!!!

This 1/8th scale Hitagi Senjougahara…

… comes with two sets of hands!

One to hold her skirt up, and another holding staplers in both hands!

Even if the pose stays the same, it’s nice to be able to give the figure a little change of atmosphere like this! You can pick whichever you prefer when you display her!

This is how the box looks!

This particular packaging is sure to make fans of the anime crack a little smile! Be sure to look all over the box!

Good Smile Company’s 1/8th Scale

Hitagi Senjougahara!

She will be at our partner shops from the 12th!

Check out our partner shops for pre-order details or questions. (Japanese only)

That’s all for today!
Hope to see you all again soon!! (・∀・)ノ

* Please note that this blog’s contents is originally written for aJapanese audience and is then translated for our foreign customers. All pre-order and release dates are the Japanese dates. Also note that not all products can be sold in certain areas.

(C)西尾維新／講談社・アニプレックス・シャフト