Yamato never got a lot of love from figure collectors. Most of their products aren’t particularly well-remembered and nobody seemed to mourn their demise; indeed, I don’t think many people even noticed, nor was it really acknowledged when they briefly came back as Arcadia. I’ve always liked Yamato, however; I have quite a few of their figures and I also own a number of their 50-centimeter dolls and Macross variable fighter toys. In fact, one of the first figures I reviewed for this site – nearly nine years ago – was Yamato’s Shunya Yamashita-designed Rei Ayanami. It’s a figure that I still like a lot, and when a spiritual successor to it was announced, I was quite pleased. Flare’s catalog comprises a continuation of series and themes that Yamato used to feature in their own products, though I’m not certain if the two companies are actually connected in a business sense (I’ve heard that Flare actually has some affiliation with Alter, though I’ve never seen that corroborated anywhere). Regardless of who they are, I’m glad they’re around, for while Yamato may not have been amongst the most respected of figure makers, I missed them.

There’s a bit of a parallel between the entity formerly known as Yamato and Rei Ayanami in that both have sort of fallen out of memory amongst their respective fanbases. The comparison isn’t that great, admittedly – Rei was one of the most recognizable anime characters of the early 1990s, but it’s surprising to me just how little love she’s gotten over the last few years, particularly compared to her mercurial castmate Asuka, who now seems more popular than ever. Even Mari appears to have surpassed Rei as far as fan appreciation goes. In fact, I can’t remember the last time we got a scale-size Rei figure; it might have been that one ridiculously expensive figure that came with an entire Eva cockpit.

Nonetheless, here we have a figure of Rei and we are all the better for it. As mentioned, this figure is brought to us by Flare and in keeping with Yamato’s peculiar tendencies, no official scale size is listed for this figure but like its stylistic forebear from Yamato, it’s about 24 centimeters in height, making this figure roughly 1/7 scale. This figure was sold in two versions, a standard model sold at the normal retail shops and an exclusive version, which is what we have here. This exclusive version merely has an additional head with a cheerful expression, versus the regular one, which features a seductive pout. Otherwise, the figure features no accessories and is ready to display once she is fixed to her base.

This figure is based on an illustration done by Shunya Yamashita. A few liberties have been taken with the design; notably, Rei is standing upright instead of leaning forward and her legs are set wider apart. Her sculpt tends more towards a realistic design rather than Yamashita’s pinup style; the noticeable facial flush is gone as well, giving Rei a more enigmatic look that seems better in line with her typically inscrutable disposition.

Rei’s pose is one of the most appealing aspects of this figure. Her stance is sleek and sexy, complemented by her strongly arched back and torso twist towards the viewer. Her attire is equally striking: she’s wearing a scandalously short, black butt-twitcher of a dress, as Salinger would describe it. The way her hands frame her buttocks draws attention to her femininity, and the contrast between her lithe body and the futuristic design of her outfit makes for an attractive juxtaposition. The color scheme is also startling, at least for anyone familiar with Rei from the television series, as she’s normally associated with a white and blue color scheme rather than the black and red shown here. The overall effect is to make her seem much more provocative than her anodyne personality would suggest.

That said, her outfit does highlight one aspect that could be improved, which is the size of her ass. Yoshizawa Mitsumasa – better known by the handle REFLECT – has always preferred flat backsides for some reason, which is a little strange to me; while there are proponents of all sorts of different body shapes, breast sizes, hair colors, skin tones, and levels of muscularity, I have never heard of anyone who preferred a flat rear versus a curved one. Nonetheless, this is what it is and it is what we have to live with.

As mentioned, the exclusive version of Rei gets the smiling head that we’ve been looking at, along with the normal head, which is this one here. Rei looks a good deal more sultry in this version, with her lips slightly parted and pursed. Both heads look fantastic, though I prefer the smiling one a bit more, partially because I paid extra cash for the extra head, but also because we seldom see a figure of Rei smiling and she’s pretty when she does so.

A close-up examination of her outfit shows that her dress does feature a sort of thong part, rather than being open on the bottom. I suppose this makes it more of a unitard than a dress. A neat detail is the contrast between the glossy black parts and the brownish panels, which I imagine are supposed to be see-through mesh cutouts. The palms of her gloves are colored aqua, which is an interesting touch. The way her thighhighs constrict the flesh of her legs is nearly unnoticeable but it’s a really nice aspect of the figure; it’s one of those things that helps present Rei in a sexy way.

Her base is a bit odd in that it’s colored pink, which really clashes with the rest of the figure. I suppose most people – including myself – don’t pay a lot of attention to bases, though. Yamashita’s artwork is printed on the disc, though I notice she’s smiling here; I haven’t looked around but I wonder if the standard version of this figure uses the alternate head style for the base’s illustration.

Of course, Rei is wearing high heels, which are a common theme with Yamashita’s designs.

And since I’m sure someone will ask, here’s Rei with the older figure. They’re about the same size, though I think the newer Rei is a bit more slender, with more of a wasp waist. The difference isn’t all that conspicuous though, these pictures notwithstanding, as the newer Rei is turned at an angle here and thus looks quite a bit slimmer than the new one.

The effect is less pronounced from the rear.

This is a figure that I am thrilled to own. I liked the previous version but this one is quite a bit better in my view. Aside from its obvious appeal, this figure reminds me of my earlier collecting days, when Yamato was still around and Shunya Yamashita’s figures weren’t limited to Kotobukiya Bishoujo products. It’s a very nostalgic figure, one that brings back warm feelings, which I find helpful and comforting at a time when I’m really wondering how long I can keep up with this hobby. It’s a great figure all around, and I’m quite looking forward to their accompanying Asuka figure, which I expect to turn out just as well.

Native has been so prolific that there are days where I get one of their figures in the mail and am not immediately sure what it is. This inundation of porno figures is of course due to them being not just a producer but also a distributor for a number of relatively new manufacturers, such as Rocket Boy – who are the minds behind the figure we’re looking at here, named Dva. This Dva unsurprisingly has no relation to the likely more-famous Dorito-gobbling teenaged mech jockey from Overwatch but is instead based off of an illustration done by Ban!. He’s a talented artist with an easily identifiable (and sometimes well-imitated) style – and a pronounced predilection for penises. That proclivity carries over to the figure, which indeed comes with not one, but two penises, both modestly and agreeably packaged in an opaque black baggy, which is where they will stay, at least in my collection. I try to provide a comprehensive overview of the figures I photograph but in this case – and in any other case where actual schlongs are depicted – we ain’t having that, and those interested in that sort of thing will need to go elsewhere to satisfy their curiosity.

This figure does not have much of a backstory insofar as I am aware so we’ll just jump into the usual litany of specs. This figure is nominally sculpted in 1/6 scale, though she is rather large for the size in my estimation. She comes with a large plastic base sculpted to mimic beach sand, as a fair number of bikini figures do, though she obviously doesn’t require it to keep her sitting upright (though I’d still use it just to minimize the chance of her bottom getting stained by whatever other surface one might seat her on).

As mentioned Ban! has a fairly distinctive style, particularly in regard to the shape of the eyes – generally tsurime in nature, in anime parlance – as well as providing for a defined lower lip. This style carries over well to three dimensions, as the figure’s face is easily recognizable as being from his work. Dva has a very seductive look that fits well with both his style and with the theme of this figure. In my mind, there’s quite a bit of similarity between Dva and Nyotengu from Tecmo’s Dead or Alive, which I would guess is not entirely an coincidence as Nyotengu is something of a temptress and femme fatale herself.

The pose is obviously a major highlight of the figure, set as it is to highlight Dva’s, uhh, manhood, which we won’t be going over here. She still looks pretty good with both her bikini and without, though. The bikini part is simply a little patch that covers her crotch and can be popped out after prying it up. The pasties over her nipples are magnetic and so they stay in place quite well, and are very easily removed for those who prefer a more risque presentation, which I’d imagine is everyone who bought this figure.

That said, the pose generally only works from the front view; from any other angle you notice that her limbs and hair aren’t entirely flush on the surface of the base. It’s a problem a lot of sitting, reclining, and lying figures have. It’s one reason why I much prefer figures that are standing.

This is an obvious point but Dva has some absolutely gigantic breasts. Chest fans will find much to be happy about her (doubly so if such fans also happen to be penis fans).

The obligatory close-up shot of her vagina, which is reasonably anatomically accurate as far as this scale size can allow for. No anus is depicted for those who might be wondering. As one can see her thong doesn’t actually extend all the way between her legs, which is a little unfortunate, though you likely won’t ever notice in normal viewing. In all other respects her bikini is very well-painted, though; bikini straps this thin often provide a good deal of opportunity to go wrong in painting but that is not the case here.

There’s one other accessory that I did not photograph, though this was more out of laziness than anything; she’s got some large bangles that you can hang off of her ankles. Her left leg detaches below the purple strap above her foot, which is actually a bit annoying on mine as the fit is a little loose.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good figure though to be honest, it’s one I think I could have skipped. I mainly bought it because I like Ban!’s work, but SkyTube and Native have more figures based on his illustrations in the works, and I think I like them better. I’ve become less fond of figures that are sitting down, partly because of the issue mentioned above but primarily because I don’t really enjoy photographing them as much, and photography is a big reason why I collect figures. But it’s still a good figure, hermaphrodite or not.

Mai Shiranui has been a favorite muse for figure manufacturers for well over a decade now, and for good reason; she is one of the earliest female fighting game heroines and stars in one of the most long-running game franchises, with The King of Fighters celebrating its fourteenth core game release in 2016. Her exuberant personality and agreeable appearance are also obvious explanations for her enduring popularity. Curiously, she’s scheduled to get at least three – and perhaps four – figure releases this year; quite a respectable quantity for any character. One is a large 1/4 scale figure from Chinese maker Infinity Studio; it’s of rather unconventional design being that she appears far more realistic than the anime-style designs that have represented her since her Fatal Fury days. Another is an exorbitantly-priced 1/6 scale figure from Gantaku, which looks to be very much in the same style as Alphamax’s polystone figures, before they switched gears and become a purveyor of high-quality pornographic PVC figures. The third – which hasn’t been shown off yet – is one that will supposedly be done by Kinetiquettes based off of an illustration drawn by Stanley Lau. But of the ones that have been sculpted, this one – by Amakuni – is in my view the best of the group.

The King of Fighters isn’t quite the sexy fighting game franchise that it used to be, so here’s a quick run-down of Mai Shiranui: she’s a Japanese ninja who is madly in love with American martial artist Andy Bogard. Although she’s generally portrayed as an elegant and refined woman, she is also effervescently cheerful, flirty, and bouncy in more ways than one.

This figure was manufactured by Amakuni; as is typical for their products, it wasn’t sold at the usual stores and required overseas customers to use a proxy service to buy (although a few US stores, like Bigbadtoystore, are apparently carrying it). This is a 1/6 scale figure, standing an impressive 26.5 centimeters in height; in terms of size she’s not that dissimilar from Max Factory’s old figure from a decade back.

When this figure went up for preorder, I wasn’t entirely certain whether I liked it. In particular, her face looked odd; Mai Shiranui has never had a consistent appearance over the years but this was a look I hadn’t seen before. After pondering it a little more, I decided that she didn’t look that bad; while the design of her face was different, it reminded me a bit of Ooyari Ashito’s style, and I didn’t think that was a bad thing. Seeing her in person, though, I think her face is very beautiful. The slight part of her lips adds a slight yet palpable element of sexiness to her look, which provides an unexpected bit of contrast; while Mai has always been sexy, subtlety is not something one would typically ascribe to her character.

She’s posed in her normal fighting stance, which highlights the best parts of her body: the majestic length of her legs, her out-thrust ass, and of course, her voluminous breasts, which have always been a hallmark of her look.

Speaking of her ass, I know what brings in the pageviews, so here it is. Mai of course wears this lovely thong, as she has for nearly a quarter of a century now. It’s nice to see that SNK, Capcom (with Cammy White), and Bandai Namco (with Ivy Valentine) have no problem dressing their female characters in this sort of outfit, no matter what ESPN might think. (It is amusing to imagine staffers at the worldwide leader in sports sitting around a conference table discussing the attire of female fighting characters.)

True to the character, her ninja dress is loose while still hugging her figure in all the right places. Note that her dress is not removable without inflicting major damage to the figure.

Her clothing is remarkably detailed; the flower print on her dress is very intricate and realistic.

The big tail protruding from the back of her costume is thoughtfully parted to the side, and in pointing this out, I get another opportunity to show off her magnificent backside. Aside from the obvious highlight of this view, her hair is very nicely sculpted; she’s got a big ponytail that sweeps out to the side without being too ostentatious.

The attention to detail includes the thick rope that wraps around her shoulders and ends in a big knot behind her back. I wonder who ties it?

The one accessory provided with this figure is a folding fan which can be slid into her right hand. I suppose it’s not as detailed – one might not know that it’s a folding fan if one weren’t familiar with Mai – but it gives a bit more visual interest to her lower body, which is otherwise bare skin – not that that’s uninteresting to look at. Note, however, the simulated braided rope hanging off of its end; they could have just formed it from an untextured piece of plastic wire and nobody would have really cared, but they took the extra step to make it look even better.

And just pointing out a couple more interesting spots: this is the print on the big bow on her back …

And here is the print on the ball at the end of her tail.

Mai has gotten a number of figures over the years but in my view, this is the best one of them all. She looks absolutely beautiful, with her sexiness modeled to the fullest effect here. Her design is faithful to her look while putting just enough of an original touch to the design of her face. The manufacturing quality is impeccable, and the size of this figure – always a major consideration for me – is perfect. In my mind, no other figure of Mai exceeds this one in quality, look, and appeal.

We have for our examination today the latest and greatest from those inscrutable minds at Rocket Boy and Native. Unfortunately this lady has no name, being that she is simply given the title OSHITSUKE; doubtless lowbrow observers will snicker at the phonology but true collectors are certainly possessed of more refined sensibilities. Her sobriquet is perhaps more properly rendered as Oshitsuke Musume, which means something like Pressing Girl, which of course is basically what she is doing, at least in one of her poses. We will just call her Oshitsuke today, which doesn’t really make much sense but it’s not our fault that Rocket Boy did not give her the dignity of a name.

I don’t think that this character has any background to speak of; I’m not even certain if the illustration preceded the conception of this figure. The supplied postcard has a monochrome sketch rather than a finished image, which is the first time I’ve seen such a thing. The artist is, of course, Ishikei, very well known for his highly detailed doujinshi. This is not the first figure that Native has based off of his work; the first was Chie, which came out so many years ago.

This figure is manufactured by Rocket Boy and distributed by Native. It’s sculpted in 1/6 scale and stands about 25.5 centimeters in height; note that the base is about two centimeters high itself so overall height is around 27.5 centimeters. This figure comes with two torsos allowing for two very different display configurations.

The first display mode is this one, which is obviously what gives Oshitsuke her name. She is depicted smashing her breasts up into this pane of transparent plastic, which is an amusing concept and will no doubt entice many collectors.

I doubt many people will notice this, but the way her little finger on her right hand is bent looks sort of painful. I don’t think that finger is supposed to be that flexible.

The view through the looking glass is actually fairly realistic, though perhaps not as appealing. Or maybe it is, I dunno.

The lewdness doesn’t stop there, though; a couple of plastic pieces representing dripping semen are provided. One fits snugly and inconspicuously into the cleft of her buttocks, being supported by both friction and her underwear. The other piece is meant to represent liquid dripping below her panties and I am not actually certain how it is affixed, which is why it’s not seen here.

But wait, there’s more! The other display option dispenses with the plastic window and frame – which aren’t all that visually compelling – and assigns the viewer’s focus solely to the figure. In this mode, Oshitsuke is posed leaning forward with her hands spreading herself wide. It’s obviously quite a captivating pose. Kudos to Rocket Box for sculpting both torsos with arms, rather than supplying removable arms with arm bands along the biceps to conceal the detachment points, as many manufacturers do.

Her back is strongly arched, maybe unrealistically so, as her leg and her neck and head are perpendicular to the ground in two different planes. Not that that is really an issue, though; the more salient critique is that her pose looks spectacular.

Indeed, the whole point of her pose is to enable a view of this, which really speaks for itself in terms of appeal. The detail is superlative for this sort of thing, as is plain to see. Note that the whole figure has a glossy finish – which is meant to mimic Ishikei’s style – and it may be that the gloss has pooled up a bit here, which results in a rather shiny anus.

Aside from the orifices themselves, the way that her hands are spreading herself are quite interesting.

Oshitsuke has a very attractive face, with the rounded eye shape and slightly puffed-out cheeks that are indicative of Ishikei’s style. I like how her expression doesn’t really convey a distinct emotion; there are a number of moods that a viewer could impute to her.

The sculpting is, of course, top notch. There’s little to complain about in this respect. Rocket Boy hasn’t been around for all that long but they’ve already proven themselves to be amongst the best figure makers in the business.

This is obviously a fantastic figure, one of the best I’ve purchased this year and one of the best that Native has ever been involved with. Indeed, it may be the best figure that Native has ever been involved with, though that is obviously entirely a matter of personal taste, and I haven’t actually reviewed their Gamer Girl figure from years back (further, I’ve never actually taken it out of its box). Everything about this figure is marvelous, as is readily observable. That Native and SkyTube continually attempt to out-do each other in terms of both quality and perversity is a godsend to figure collectors everywhere.

Archeyle isn’t the first, nor the second or third, Vertex figure I’ve purchased but somehow it’s the first one to be reviewed here. Oddly, it’s also one of two half-naked blonde elf girl figures to be released at the end of July. You really can’t go wrong with happy, thong-wearing blonde elf archer girls … can you?

First, introductions: this figure is an entirely original creation, with concept artwork having been done by Takahiro Tsurusaki, an artist whose work can be seen in the light novel Isekai Mao to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu, or How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, which is getting an anime adaptation that, serendipitously, debuts today. Like a large fraction of anime artists, he’s also drawn a bunch of Kantai Collection doujinshi, and he’s also done a fair amount of bondage-themed pornography, which is nice. As an original figure, Archeyle doesn’t actually come from an existing property but both the box and her base say “Figure series ELF VILLAGE,” so that’s what I am listing here as her series of origin. As there is no more about the character to speak of, we’ll go right into the usual height measurement: she’s a fraction over 25 centimeters in height, being sculpted in 1/6 scale.

We’ll start our observations with the high points. If you like scantily-clad blonde, pale-skinned female elf archers, you will probably be favorably disposed towards this figure, at least on initial examination. Archeyle’s body has a lovely form, with wide hips, a narrow waist, long legs, and big breasts – pretty much everything one might ask for, unless, for some odd reason, one doesn’t appreciate a big rack. Her outfit is elaborate yet scandalously skimpy, comprising a multicolored bustier and some very tiny white panties. The asymmetry of her clothing, with her right leg sheathed in one thigh-high and her other leg mostly bare, is both eye-catching and pleasing.

So those are some obvious good things. Then there are the bad things, and there’s at least a few of them. First, her face: the low positioning of her nose and her mouth give her face an odd set of proportions, ultimately resulting in an unfortunate equine appearance, which is further exacerbated by the sideways protrusion of her ears. Further, the shape of her face gives the impression of being flattened out, as if she had run a hundred yard dash in a ninety yard gym. And perhaps the most glaring issue is that her mouth only has one lip; for some odd reason, her upper lip wasn’t sculpted, with the effect being that her smile looks bizarrely unbalanced. It’s a very strange omission that I don’t think I have ever seen before in a figure. They would have been better off sticking with the source art and forgoing lips altogether.

Amid all this complaining I should note that there was a more premium version of this figure that included an alternate unhappy face which doesn’t have this problem with her mouth. I like that face quite a bit more than this one but I was lazy about preordering and missed out. Oops.

While her clothing is quite lovely, the sculpting also makes it look particularly thick, which is a bit off-putting. In particular, the belt overlapping the waistband of her panties and her single thigh-high are conspicuously bulky rather than sleek and close-fitting, which I think is the effect that I think they were trying to go for.

Some might notice that none of the pictures here show her wearing her green dress, and that’s a deliberate decision on my part, as after a few minutes of trying to figure it out I decided not to bother with it. It doesn’t look that great and I didn’t buy this figure to cover her up, anyway.

Speaking of covering her up, the cups that go over her breasts are just that, individual cups that aren’t actually supported by anything. I think they actually come with some two-sided mounting tape to keep them in place but I didn’t bother with that; I used some removable sticky putty to keep them in place for these photos, which was just as inelegant a solution but at least it worked temporarily.

Her breasts are agreeably large but her nipples have an odd shape and size.

She does have quite a nice ass, though, and her thong panties are quite sexy.

It’s also interesting how her panties aren’t quite large enough to cover her vulva.

The arrows in her quiver actually have nocks at their ends, which is a nice touch; it’s not something that you’ll likely ever notice from a normal viewing distance.

This is the first Vertex figure I’ve reviewed and after hearing of some issues with their earlier products (their Mitsuru Kirijou figure, most frequently), my expectations were tempered and I suppose I’d say that the quality of this figure is less than I had hoped for but about what I guessed it would be, realistically. On one hand, she has a litany of issues; on the other hand, I like the idea of what they were going for, even if the execution doesn’t quite match up with the ambition. Overall, I suppose there are two lessons to be learned here: don’t expect the world of Vertex and preorder early.

Fads come and go. Over ten years of collecting girly anime figures, I’ve seen series like K-On!, Black Rock Shooter, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and Ikkitousen have their day before fading off into memory. However, there is one series that has never seen its star dim and that, of course, is Fate/stay night, and all its myriad slash-random word spinoffs. The coterie of sexualized heroines have always found an appreciative audience, regardless of the ludicrous interpretations of their historical backgrounds. A Saber figure was one of the earliest figures that I owned, there is a veritable (and assuredly metaphorical) boatload of Fate-series figures in my review queue right now, and their ranks will only grow in the years to come. I have little doubt that should the universe someday collapse back into an infinitesimal singularity, the last atom to go will be the injection molded tip of Saber’s ahoge.

The lady depicted here is Scathach, a relative newcomer to the Fate milieu. This isn’t the first figure of her we’ve looked at; we went over Plum’s figure a year and a half ago. Somehow it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long since that figure was released. Scathach is some sort of fighting teacher – something like a Marine Corps drill instructor without the cool hat, I imagine – but she’s presented in a relatively more domestic manner here.

This figures is manufactured by Alter in 1/7 scale, which appears to be the de facto standard scale size for Fate figures regardless of manufacturer. It is about 22.5 centimeters in height and comes with no accessories at all, making display setup absolutely elementary.

As one can readily discern, this is not a particularly complicated figure, so we’ll just go over the obvious things. Scathach is depicted in a highly abbreviated outfit, wearing no more than a figure-hugging turtleneck and an enchanting smile. Despite completely covering her torso her sweater is still quite sexy, showing her chest as it does. The modeling of the sweater is, as expected, first rate; the complexity of the garment provides for a nice contrast against the simplicity of the rest of the figure.

The design of Scathach’s face is one of the most obviously appealing aspects of the figure. She’s sculpted with a whimsical look and a knowing smile, and there are a number of ways of interpret her expression. It’s a bit rare for a figure to make the source artwork look clownish, but in this case, I think it does.

There are a few subtle touches that make this figure stand out. The tilt of her head and the arch of her back seem tantalizingly inviting, particularly in concert with her smile. Also, her slightly messy hair adds a suggestive undertone to her look. This is a figure that does a fine job of conveying body language.

It’s surprisingly difficult to get a decent look at her panties, being that she’s not wearing pants. I’d be remiss not to make an attempt, though, and they are definitely there, and they’re black, for anyone who might be curious.

This may not be the most intricate or visually convoluted figure, but it’s an exceptionally nice adaptation of Scathach in a less violent mode than she’s typically presented. The contrast between her clothed – but still undeniably feminine – upper body and bare legs is striking, whereas the subtleties of her expression are rather more nuanced. Her look is enigmatic in all the right ways, and of course, the technical quality is impeccable, as one expects from Alter. This is a superb figure that stands out amongst the multitudes of Fate-series figures.

Mangagamer released the English-language – and uncensored – version of Purple Software’s Hapymaher last week and being that this figure of Yayoi was released ten months ago, now seems as good a time as any to take a look at it. Another justification for doing this review is that Native recently released their own take on a heroine from another Purple Software game and though I skipped over that figure, it’s interesting to compare how these two characters turned out. And well, the quirky characteristics of this figure are reason enough to do this review now. I’d imagine we might not see another figure like this again.

Yayoi Barnard Lutwidge is one of the heroines from Purple Software’s visual novel Hapymaher. Purple Software’s games are usually illustrated by two artists, Koku and Hiro Tsukimori; this figure is based off of artwork done by the former, which can be seen here.

Having not played the game yet, I’ll just go with what the advertising material says about Yayoi; she’s a half-Japanese girl and senpai to the game’s protagonist, whom she enjoys teasing. I thought that if anyone were to make a figure of the characters from Hapymaher, it would have been of the lead girl or principal antagonist rather than Yayoi, but I suppose someone at Alphamax really likes this character, or thought that adapting the source artwork was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

This figure is manufactured by SkyTube and is sculpted in 1/6 scale. It is about 16.5 centimeters in height, not including the base. Yayoi comes with two hip sections, one with a normally-sized vagina and one distended to accommodate a carrot (you can’t make this stuff up). She also comes with a set of thong panties which provides a modicum of modesty but nothing is provided to cover up her breasts, and so Yayoi cannot be displayed in a family-friendly manner unless one is inclined to improvise.

The circumstances in which Yayoi finds herself in are certainly the main attraction here. She’s perched in a kimchi squat, as we called it back in Korea, with her voluminous breasts held out as they cradle a carrot. Another carrot is obviously thrust deep into her vagina. The whole setup is bizarre and yet incongruously well-executed.

Further, one might not actually notice the vegetable-cum-sex toy at first look since there is a lot of other stuff going on here. While not the lewdest aspect of the figure, Yayoi’s rack is perhaps the most eye-grabbing, at least from a quick glance. Her breasts are gigantic and balloon outwards as she lifts them up for inspection. Usage of the carrot is mandatory as her cleavage has a big gaping hole where it slots in – though given the proliferation of dildos, vibrators, and other sex toys in contemporary anime figure accessory sets, I suppose you could use one of those to plug the gap instead.

Yayoi’s face is very obviously indicative of Koku’s style; anyone familiar with the artwork of Hapymaher will instantly know who this character is.

This is technically a bunny figure, though the bunny ears may not be noticed at first, especially given how she has a pair of oversized hair ribbons and a pair of oversized locks of hair framing her face. Curiously, one of the ears has a spike-like protrusion coming from it and I’m not sure why it’s there.

Here is the alternate hip and upper leg unit; while it’s technically less perverse than the main one, it’s still quite explicit.

She does come with a pair of panties, though it’s meant to be pulled to the side so the view is still just as explicit.

And here’s the view from the back. The junction where the panties are secured can be seen; being that the upper and lower parts comprise a couple of flexible plastic strips barely over a millimeter wide that need to fit into each other, it is highly aggravating to secure them together. I would certainly recommend not bothering.

Sometimes people are curious as to how the birth canal is sculpted, and so here’s Yayoi’s. This feature is becoming a hallmark of some of SkyTube’s best figures. The faint whorl of her anus can also be discerned; as always an important component of anime figures.

I mentioned earlier that Native recently released a figure of Hotaru Minazuki from the game Amatsutsumi. I passed over it, mostly because I don’t care as much for figures that are lying down as they’re more difficult to display than figures that are standing, and they generally take up more shelf space as well, which is a resource that I am rapidly running out of. Having looked at photographs of the released figure, I was disappointed to see that Hotaru’s genitalia exhibits only minimal detail, which would seem to defeat the purpose of sculpting the figure in the pose that they chose. Contrast that to what SkyTube has done here and I would say that Alphamax wins this round handily.

This is just a superb figure all around; the sculpting is first-rate, the design is impressive, and the effect will force casual onlookers to look twice. SkyTube has perfected the art of making a figure so perverted and yet sculpted so well that collectors who normally wouldn’t buy this sort of thing might give thought to it. For those that did buy Yayoi, this figure is a spectacular addition to anyone’s collection.

Apparently I haven’t reviewed a Tony Taka-designed figure since Freesia, which is confounding since I think I have at least a dozen Tony figures in hand and in the review queue. Clearly there is much work to do; we’ll start by taking a look at Ping Yi, a figure from SkyTube’s ostensible premium line.

I’m not sure what Ping Yi’s provenance is; there is a source illustration though I’m not sure whether it actually predates the introduction of the figure. Regardless, Ping Yi is, as mentioned, a member of SkyTube’s premium lineup, which is unimaginatively named STP. I think she was the first such figure in this series, having been released in December of 2017, and the second – Jin-Lian, the blonde girl with the pipa and hilariously incongruous golden dildo and butt plug – being released just a few days ago. Frankly, the premium tag seems like a bit of a misnomer to me, though not due to any deficiency of quality or workmanship; this figure’s artistry is impeccable. Rather, virtually all of SkyTube’s stuff is fantastic, even those not specifically marked as being “premium.” For my purposes, the STP label just means I have to buy the figure from a proxy service, which is a tad annoying, and that there will be more parts to fiddle around with, which can be considerably annoying.

This figure measures about 15.5 centimeters in overall height, not counting the base. It includes a bevy of accessories and optional parts, resulting in a wide variety of possible display options. This versatility is both impressive and at times confounding, as we’ll talk about in a bit.

Ping Yi is not just the first (to my recollection) STP figure, she’s also the first of what will be at least a trio of figures centered around a theme of Tony-designed girls wearing cheongsam dresses, accompanied by musical instruments, and being penetrated by dildos. The designs are reminiscent of the Kotobukiya fairy girls Daisy, Annabel, and Freesia in that they comprise a mild-mannered black-haired girl, a more mature-looking blonde girl, and a perky, younger brunette. I have Jin-Lian on order – she’s on the airplane from Japan to freedomland as I write this – but I don’t know if I will order Chun-Mei, the third figure in the lineup. I don’t think she looks as good as the first two and I don’t really care for both her hair buns and her pubic hair. Technically the preorder period closed a couple of weeks ago so there isn’t much time for me to change my mind.

The face is typical Tony Taka, though she’s quite attractive despite the homogeneity of his designs. She does come with an optional face, which I suppose is part of what makes this a premium-label figure.

And here is that face. I don’t like this face as much, though its expression does better reflect what this figure is all about.

If anyone needs a clue as to what that means, this end right here shows what is arguably the main attraction of this figure.

Some might say that the elegant elements of this figure take pride of place over its more salacious aspects, and that’s fair. Certainly her dress is quite lovely, with its glossy white color, black trim, and its varied hues of blue providing a wonderfully subtle color scheme that perfectly complements the mood conveyed by this figure. Her instrument – a zither called a guqin, from what my Wikipedia research tells me – is similarly exquisite, though the one flaw on my copy is that I’ve done something to knock the strings askew and I’m not quite certain how to reset them. Otherwise, it’s executed very well.

The incongruity of this figure’s elegance and palpable perversity is perhaps its most interesting quality. We’ve seen this before with Matsuri Tougetsu and it worked very well for SkyTube, and so it’s not surprising that they’ve gone back to this theme. The guqin adds an extra layer of curiosity, as there seems little reason for the subject to penetrate herself while cradling her instrument. Why she is doing so will undoubtedly be the first question that a casual viewer asks when first glimpsing this figure. (The second might be either, “How much did this cost?” or “Why did you buy this?”)

Given the thematic duality of this figure, it is only appropriate that the dildo that Ping-Yi is pleasuring herself with a run-of-the-mill phallus with a clitoris stimulator. Its modern design and startlingly bright pink color clash mightily with the classical motif effected by the rest of the figure, and this contrast works very well to emphasize the dichotomy of tone presented here.

I can’t believe it slipped my mind to take a photo of Ping-Yi’s distended vagina sans inserted dildo, but it did, to my enduring shame. This will be rectified this whenever I photograph Jin-Lian.

Amid all this talk about naughty bits and sex toys and awkward masturbation, it should be noted that Ping-Yi can actually be displayed in a non-explicit manner; it’s just a colossal pain in the ass to do so. She does come with panties, which are actually just a plastic piece that fits (and that’s being optimistic) over her crotch and rear. Her bust can be swapped out to display her either covered up or bare-breasted. And if displaying her impaled by a dildo is a bridge too far, she can be displayed with an unstretched vagina. There’s something for everyone here, though it’s far easier to display her less clothed.

And one last quirk regarding this figure; most figures that are sculpted kneeling don’t actually need bases, but Ping-Yi does. She’s very front-heavy and so will tip over if left unsecured. The base has a small transparent plastic pylon that hooks over her right ankle and keeps her in place.

This is an exceptionally lovely figure. The concept is interesting in itself, assuming one displays Ping-Yi in R-18 mode, which I’d imagine most people who own this figure will. The manufacturing quality is, as expected, second to none. There is little to criticize – assuming one isn’t trying to cover her up, which was a source of some consternation while I was preparing the figure for photography – and a whole lot to like here. Perhaps the only deficiency that one might lament is that she doesn’t feature anal penetration like Jin-Lian. Truly, what a time to be a figure collector.

One of the more pleasing developments in figure collecting is that a number of manufacturers are now producing figures derived from the artwork of well-known illustrators, especially those of ero publications. Misaki Kurehito’s artwork has received a number of figure adaptations, Cle Masahiro Murakami Suigun recently got one each, Oda Non’s work is getting a bundle of figures from a variety of companies, and so on – all good stuff. Here we have a figure based off of an illustration by Homare, an artist who has been released image packs on DLSite and similar sites under the circle name FOOL’S ART GALLERY. This is the first figure to be released that is sourced from his work, which is curious as he’s been in the business for years, even designing a Queen’s Blade character, though it never was turned into a figure. A real disappointment, that. I kind of think this costume would have made for a fine figure, even a mainstream one. But although it’s a tad belated, we finally have a Homare-designed figure, so let’s take a look.

This figure is based off of a cover illustration done for a monthly hentai comic anthology. It’s sculpted in 1/5 scale, which is a bit of an oddball scale size; 1/6 is as large as most figure manufacturers go, while 1/4 is a popular size for Western polystone statues and FREEing’s bunnygirl figures, but 1/5 is rather rare. Regardless, the larger size gives her impressive presence compared to 1/7 and 1/8 scale figures. The figure is about 20 centimeters in height, even on her knees in a relaxed pose. It comes with a large circular base topped with some soft gray faux fur material, which should protect her knees and feet from any paint and grime that might be on one’s shelf.

Although anime art characteristics tend towards the generic, Homare’s style is singularly distinctive and more recognizable than most. His style typically includes noses and lips (often painted with lipstick, which is a bit unusual as it is principally used in other artwork to characterize older women) and very full body forms, often with narrow waists and particularly thick thighs. Ayane shows off most of these traits and the art style is very identifiable as Homare’s.

The body sculpting is superb – surprisingly so, as I haven’t seen Kaitendoh or Lechery produce anything close to this caliber before. The muscle detailing is excellent; perhaps most obviously on her abdomen, but also on her legs, where her quadriceps and hamstring muscles are both represented, most obviously on her left leg. Other welcome details include the roll of flesh on her side as she flexes her torso and the way her bikini straps press into her skin, adding a conspicuous element of realism. This aspect reminds me of Rocket Boy’s Slingshot Babe, which featured a physique with an equally impressive level of detail.

It may not be immediately obvious but her bikini can be removed. I didn’t know that was the case until I saw the cast-off pictures on Moeyo, as the bikini fits tightly enough that it looks like it’s sculpted as part of the figure. However, it does indeed come off and the process is easier than I expected it to be. Her arms come off at the armbands encircling her biceps and her head detaches as well; from there her top slides right off. Her bikini bottom attaches to her body via those little silver circles on each side of her crotch; you can use your thumbnail to pry them out and then the bottom comes off. The waistband stays in place, which looks a little strange, but four additional silver rings are provided to plug up the empty sockets.

One note; paint transfer is a huge problem while removing her head, as the brown paint of her hair will leave unsightly streaks if it scratches against her skin. I would recommend placing a sheet of plastic film, paper tissue, aluminum foil, or something else under her hair while detaching her head to minimize the chance of this problem occurring.

With the swimsuit removed we can see her body in all its glory, though that waistband really does look misplaced. For those interested in this sort of thing, she is fully anatomically detailed.

That includes a realistically-sculpted anus. Not that you’d get to see it during normal viewing.

Her breasts show this odd dark dot in the center of each nipple. Without her swimsuit, her right hand is offset from her breast, which looks a bit odd.

I prefer to display this figure with the swimsuit on, even though the level of detailing while nude is laudable. The swimsuit doesn’t actually cover up very much but I think the composition of the figure comes together better while she is (ostensibly) dressed.

The back side of her bikini also looks very appealing. The thong is another common element of Homare’s artwork and it adds to the sexiness of the statue while preserving the least amount of modesty. It doesn’t actually go all the way between her legs, which isn’t all that surprising. That does technically mean that her anus is always exposed.

The level of detail extends to her hair, which is intricately sculpted rather than presenting a smooth spherical surface of helmet hair.

This is a fantastic figure, one that I didn’t think would turn out this nicely given Lechery’s level of quality. That is not to say that they’ve been bad, just that they’ve never been this good before. Akane is a superb figure, one that faithfully translates Homare’s style into three dimensions while displaying impeccable production values. It appears that they have at least one more figure based off of his art in the pipeline, and after receiving Akane I’m very much looking forward to it.

I’m also looking forward to Native’s Mikoto Kisaragi figure, which I have to admit I didn’t actually recognize as being from Homare’s artwork at first. However, I have no doubt it’s going to be great.

My interest was piqued when Bikini Warriors was announced, being that I have a thing for scantily-clad female battlers. My enthusiasm was dampened when I learned that each episode would be less than five minutes in duration; I anticipated that viewing the show would be both pointless and disappointing. However, having watched the series, it actually works out okay. The truncated run time actually works in its favor as it excises most of the inconsequential filler that constitutes most contemporary anime. Each episode of Bikini Warriors generally comprises a brief action sequence – typically lewd in content – a silly joke that lubricates the progression of the encounter, and then a quick wrap-up, with none of the tedious exposition and anesthetizing monologues that pervade so many anime series. More shows ought to follow this model. The Fate/stay night anime adaptations, for example.

The purpose of Bikini Warriors is, of course, to move merchandise, and that’s why we’re looking at this figure here. This is the Cleric, who didn’t actually appear in the television commercial-cum-anime, but that’s okay since she still looks good and really, that’s what counts here.

The Cleric makes her first appearance in one of the OVA shorts that was released with the home video version of Bikini Warriors’ first season. She’s presented as a friendly, pious young girl who wields a gigantic hammer. She’s also a lousy healer who would much rather brawl than aid her comrades. She joins up with the Valkyrie and Hunter (and presumably the Kunoichi as well), although their adventures aren’t really part of the series.

This figure is sculpted by Amakuni in 1/7 scale. The figure is about 24 centimeters in total height, with the Cleric herself standing at about 19.5 centimeters tall.

Amakuni originally scheduled this figure for release in September but then halted shipments after a few units had made it to distributors. I’m not entirely certain why, though my guess would be quality control issues. I bought this figure from a US retailer (RightStuf, which still has it in stock if anyone was interested in picking it up) but am not sure if this figure is part of the initial batch or part of the second shipment. At any rate, I did not notice any outstanding flaws on the figure.

All of the previous Bikini Warriors figures – aside from the ones in bikinis; or that is, the ones in actual bikinis rather than bikini armor – were closely based on the concept art featured on the official site. Cleric’s figure, however, is not adapted from Kazuhiro Takamura’s original character design; rather, this is an all-new pose. It’s a more interesting pose for a certainty, with her hammer planted into the ground with her back arched and dress flying to the side, giving the world a solid look at her rear. Her lifted leg kind of resembles that of a dog relieving itself, which has its own sort of appeal, I suppose.

Her character design reminds me a bit of Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls’s Naoe Kanetsugu, with the big hammer and long twintails. She also has a slight resemblance to Airi from Queen’s Blade, which isn’t coincidental as Takamura was responsible for her design as well. (He is also multiply talented; aside from character design, he’s directed the Strike Witches and Brave Witches anime series.)

One highlight of this figure is Cleric’s big shit-eating grin. It’s not obvious exactly what she’s supposed to be doing but it’s evident that she’s enjoying herself.

Bikini Warriors is technically not a hentai series and from what I remember, there isn’t any explicit nudity. That said, Cleric’s labia are essentially on display here.

Cleric’s top is a front-tie string bikini that shows off a bit of underboob.

She can also be displayed topless; her entire torso swaps out rather than her clothing being removable, which is the way I prefer it as it simplifies the swapout process, reduces the risk of scratching and paint transfer, and facilitates a cleaner sculpt.

Cleric’s eyes are a pleasing shade of blue. They provide one of the few splashes of bold color in her design. Not that her monochromatic color scheme is displeasing; I think her white outfit and gray hair look quite nice. I even like the way her hair fades to transparency at her tips; I usually don’t care for that sort of thing but it works well here.

Although her garb is decidedly minimalistic, there are quite a few details in evidence. This stylized fleur-de-lis shows up several times.

I have to admit that for some reason, the first thing I thought of when I saw the symbol on her hammer was a crab.

And of course, here’s the sort of detailing that many prospective buyers will be most interested in.

As a merchandising franchise, Bikini Warriors holds a lot of appeal to me. Somehow this is the first Bikini Warriors figure I’ve reviewed and I’m quite impressed; Cleric turned out great, despite the peculiarities that clouded her initial release. Her pose is sexy and distinctive and her cheshire grin is hilarious. Overall, this is yet another fantastic figure of a character from a Hobby Japan property.

Yamato never got a lot of love from figure collectors. Most of their products aren’t particularly well-remembered and nobody seemed to mourn their demise; indeed, I don’t think many people even noticed, nor was it really acknowledged when they briefly came back as Arcadia. I’ve always liked Yamato, however; I have quite a few of their figures and I also own a number of their 50-centimeter dolls and Macross variable fighter toys. In fact, one of the first figures I reviewed for this site – nearly nine years ago – was Yamato’s Shunya Yamashita-designed Rei Ayanami. It’s a figure that I still like a lot, and when a spiritual successor to it was announced, I was quite pleased. Flare’s catalog comprises a continuation of series and themes that Yamato used to feature in their own products, though I’m not certain if the two companies are actually connected in a business sense (I’ve heard that Flare actually has some affiliation with Alter, though I’ve never seen that corroborated anywhere). Regardless of who they are, I’m glad they’re around, for while Yamato may not have been amongst the most respected of figure makers, I missed them.

There’s a bit of a parallel between the entity formerly known as Yamato and Rei Ayanami in that both have sort of fallen out of memory amongst their respective fanbases. The comparison isn’t that great, admittedly – Rei was one of the most recognizable anime characters of the early 1990s, but it’s surprising to me just how little love she’s gotten over the last few years, particularly compared to her mercurial castmate Asuka, who now seems more popular than ever. Even Mari appears to have surpassed Rei as far as fan appreciation goes. In fact, I can’t remember the last time we got a scale-size Rei figure; it might have been that one ridiculously expensive figure that came with an entire Eva cockpit.

Nonetheless, here we have a figure of Rei and we are all the better for it. As mentioned, this figure is brought to us by Flare and in keeping with Yamato’s peculiar tendencies, no official scale size is listed for this figure but like its stylistic forebear from Yamato, it’s about 24 centimeters in height, making this figure roughly 1/7 scale. This figure was sold in two versions, a standard model sold at the normal retail shops and an exclusive version, which is what we have here. This exclusive version merely has an additional head with a cheerful expression, versus the regular one, which features a seductive pout. Otherwise, the figure features no accessories and is ready to display once she is fixed to her base.

This figure is based on an illustration done by Shunya Yamashita. A few liberties have been taken with the design; notably, Rei is standing upright instead of leaning forward and her legs are set wider apart. Her sculpt tends more towards a realistic design rather than Yamashita’s pinup style; the noticeable facial flush is gone as well, giving Rei a more enigmatic look that seems better in line with her typically inscrutable disposition.

Rei’s pose is one of the most appealing aspects of this figure. Her stance is sleek and sexy, complemented by her strongly arched back and torso twist towards the viewer. Her attire is equally striking: she’s wearing a scandalously short, black butt-twitcher of a dress, as Salinger would describe it. The way her hands frame her buttocks draws attention to her femininity, and the contrast between her lithe body and the futuristic design of her outfit makes for an attractive juxtaposition. The color scheme is also startling, at least for anyone familiar with Rei from the television series, as she’s normally associated with a white and blue color scheme rather than the black and red shown here. The overall effect is to make her seem much more provocative than her anodyne personality would suggest.

That said, her outfit does highlight one aspect that could be improved, which is the size of her ass. Yoshizawa Mitsumasa – better known by the handle REFLECT – has always preferred flat backsides for some reason, which is a little strange to me; while there are proponents of all sorts of different body shapes, breast sizes, hair colors, skin tones, and levels of muscularity, I have never heard of anyone who preferred a flat rear versus a curved one. Nonetheless, this is what it is and it is what we have to live with.

As mentioned, the exclusive version of Rei gets the smiling head that we’ve been looking at, along with the normal head, which is this one here. Rei looks a good deal more sultry in this version, with her lips slightly parted and pursed. Both heads look fantastic, though I prefer the smiling one a bit more, partially because I paid extra cash for the extra head, but also because we seldom see a figure of Rei smiling and she’s pretty when she does so.

A close-up examination of her outfit shows that her dress does feature a sort of thong part, rather than being open on the bottom. I suppose this makes it more of a unitard than a dress. A neat detail is the contrast between the glossy black parts and the brownish panels, which I imagine are supposed to be see-through mesh cutouts. The palms of her gloves are colored aqua, which is an interesting touch. The way her thighhighs constrict the flesh of her legs is nearly unnoticeable but it’s a really nice aspect of the figure; it’s one of those things that helps present Rei in a sexy way.

Her base is a bit odd in that it’s colored pink, which really clashes with the rest of the figure. I suppose most people – including myself – don’t pay a lot of attention to bases, though. Yamashita’s artwork is printed on the disc, though I notice she’s smiling here; I haven’t looked around but I wonder if the standard version of this figure uses the alternate head style for the base’s illustration.

Of course, Rei is wearing high heels, which are a common theme with Yamashita’s designs.

And since I’m sure someone will ask, here’s Rei with the older figure. They’re about the same size, though I think the newer Rei is a bit more slender, with more of a wasp waist. The difference isn’t all that conspicuous though, these pictures notwithstanding, as the newer Rei is turned at an angle here and thus looks quite a bit slimmer than the new one.

The effect is less pronounced from the rear.

This is a figure that I am thrilled to own. I liked the previous version but this one is quite a bit better in my view. Aside from its obvious appeal, this figure reminds me of my earlier collecting days, when Yamato was still around and Shunya Yamashita’s figures weren’t limited to Kotobukiya Bishoujo products. It’s a very nostalgic figure, one that brings back warm feelings, which I find helpful and comforting at a time when I’m really wondering how long I can keep up with this hobby. It’s a great figure all around, and I’m quite looking forward to their accompanying Asuka figure, which I expect to turn out just as well.

Native has been so prolific that there are days where I get one of their figures in the mail and am not immediately sure what it is. This inundation of porno figures is of course due to them being not just a producer but also a distributor for a number of relatively new manufacturers, such as Rocket Boy – who are the minds behind the figure we’re looking at here, named Dva. This Dva unsurprisingly has no relation to the likely more-famous Dorito-gobbling teenaged mech jockey from Overwatch but is instead based off of an illustration done by Ban!. He’s a talented artist with an easily identifiable (and sometimes well-imitated) style – and a pronounced predilection for penises. That proclivity carries over to the figure, which indeed comes with not one, but two penises, both modestly and agreeably packaged in an opaque black baggy, which is where they will stay, at least in my collection. I try to provide a comprehensive overview of the figures I photograph but in this case – and in any other case where actual schlongs are depicted – we ain’t having that, and those interested in that sort of thing will need to go elsewhere to satisfy their curiosity.

This figure does not have much of a backstory insofar as I am aware so we’ll just jump into the usual litany of specs. This figure is nominally sculpted in 1/6 scale, though she is rather large for the size in my estimation. She comes with a large plastic base sculpted to mimic beach sand, as a fair number of bikini figures do, though she obviously doesn’t require it to keep her sitting upright (though I’d still use it just to minimize the chance of her bottom getting stained by whatever other surface one might seat her on).

As mentioned Ban! has a fairly distinctive style, particularly in regard to the shape of the eyes – generally tsurime in nature, in anime parlance – as well as providing for a defined lower lip. This style carries over well to three dimensions, as the figure’s face is easily recognizable as being from his work. Dva has a very seductive look that fits well with both his style and with the theme of this figure. In my mind, there’s quite a bit of similarity between Dva and Nyotengu from Tecmo’s Dead or Alive, which I would guess is not entirely an coincidence as Nyotengu is something of a temptress and femme fatale herself.

The pose is obviously a major highlight of the figure, set as it is to highlight Dva’s, uhh, manhood, which we won’t be going over here. She still looks pretty good with both her bikini and without, though. The bikini part is simply a little patch that covers her crotch and can be popped out after prying it up. The pasties over her nipples are magnetic and so they stay in place quite well, and are very easily removed for those who prefer a more risque presentation, which I’d imagine is everyone who bought this figure.

That said, the pose generally only works from the front view; from any other angle you notice that her limbs and hair aren’t entirely flush on the surface of the base. It’s a problem a lot of sitting, reclining, and lying figures have. It’s one reason why I much prefer figures that are standing.

This is an obvious point but Dva has some absolutely gigantic breasts. Chest fans will find much to be happy about her (doubly so if such fans also happen to be penis fans).

The obligatory close-up shot of her vagina, which is reasonably anatomically accurate as far as this scale size can allow for. No anus is depicted for those who might be wondering. As one can see her thong doesn’t actually extend all the way between her legs, which is a little unfortunate, though you likely won’t ever notice in normal viewing. In all other respects her bikini is very well-painted, though; bikini straps this thin often provide a good deal of opportunity to go wrong in painting but that is not the case here.

There’s one other accessory that I did not photograph, though this was more out of laziness than anything; she’s got some large bangles that you can hang off of her ankles. Her left leg detaches below the purple strap above her foot, which is actually a bit annoying on mine as the fit is a little loose.

Overall, I think this is a pretty good figure though to be honest, it’s one I think I could have skipped. I mainly bought it because I like Ban!’s work, but SkyTube and Native have more figures based on his illustrations in the works, and I think I like them better. I’ve become less fond of figures that are sitting down, partly because of the issue mentioned above but primarily because I don’t really enjoy photographing them as much, and photography is a big reason why I collect figures. But it’s still a good figure, hermaphrodite or not.

Mai Shiranui has been a favorite muse for figure manufacturers for well over a decade now, and for good reason; she is one of the earliest female fighting game heroines and stars in one of the most long-running game franchises, with The King of Fighters celebrating its fourteenth core game release in 2016. Her exuberant personality and agreeable appearance are also obvious explanations for her enduring popularity. Curiously, she’s scheduled to get at least three – and perhaps four – figure releases this year; quite a respectable quantity for any character. One is a large 1/4 scale figure from Chinese maker Infinity Studio; it’s of rather unconventional design being that she appears far more realistic than the anime-style designs that have represented her since her Fatal Fury days. Another is an exorbitantly-priced 1/6 scale figure from Gantaku, which looks to be very much in the same style as Alphamax’s polystone figures, before they switched gears and become a purveyor of high-quality pornographic PVC figures. The third – which hasn’t been shown off yet – is one that will supposedly be done by Kinetiquettes based off of an illustration drawn by Stanley Lau. But of the ones that have been sculpted, this one – by Amakuni – is in my view the best of the group.

The King of Fighters isn’t quite the sexy fighting game franchise that it used to be, so here’s a quick run-down of Mai Shiranui: she’s a Japanese ninja who is madly in love with American martial artist Andy Bogard. Although she’s generally portrayed as an elegant and refined woman, she is also effervescently cheerful, flirty, and bouncy in more ways than one.

This figure was manufactured by Amakuni; as is typical for their products, it wasn’t sold at the usual stores and required overseas customers to use a proxy service to buy (although a few US stores, like Bigbadtoystore, are apparently carrying it). This is a 1/6 scale figure, standing an impressive 26.5 centimeters in height; in terms of size she’s not that dissimilar from Max Factory’s old figure from a decade back.

When this figure went up for preorder, I wasn’t entirely certain whether I liked it. In particular, her face looked odd; Mai Shiranui has never had a consistent appearance over the years but this was a look I hadn’t seen before. After pondering it a little more, I decided that she didn’t look that bad; while the design of her face was different, it reminded me a bit of Ooyari Ashito’s style, and I didn’t think that was a bad thing. Seeing her in person, though, I think her face is very beautiful. The slight part of her lips adds a slight yet palpable element of sexiness to her look, which provides an unexpected bit of contrast; while Mai has always been sexy, subtlety is not something one would typically ascribe to her character.

She’s posed in her normal fighting stance, which highlights the best parts of her body: the majestic length of her legs, her out-thrust ass, and of course, her voluminous breasts, which have always been a hallmark of her look.

Speaking of her ass, I know what brings in the pageviews, so here it is. Mai of course wears this lovely thong, as she has for nearly a quarter of a century now. It’s nice to see that SNK, Capcom (with Cammy White), and Bandai Namco (with Ivy Valentine) have no problem dressing their female characters in this sort of outfit, no matter what ESPN might think. (It is amusing to imagine staffers at the worldwide leader in sports sitting around a conference table discussing the attire of female fighting characters.)

True to the character, her ninja dress is loose while still hugging her figure in all the right places. Note that her dress is not removable without inflicting major damage to the figure.

Her clothing is remarkably detailed; the flower print on her dress is very intricate and realistic.

The big tail protruding from the back of her costume is thoughtfully parted to the side, and in pointing this out, I get another opportunity to show off her magnificent backside. Aside from the obvious highlight of this view, her hair is very nicely sculpted; she’s got a big ponytail that sweeps out to the side without being too ostentatious.

The attention to detail includes the thick rope that wraps around her shoulders and ends in a big knot behind her back. I wonder who ties it?

The one accessory provided with this figure is a folding fan which can be slid into her right hand. I suppose it’s not as detailed – one might not know that it’s a folding fan if one weren’t familiar with Mai – but it gives a bit more visual interest to her lower body, which is otherwise bare skin – not that that’s uninteresting to look at. Note, however, the simulated braided rope hanging off of its end; they could have just formed it from an untextured piece of plastic wire and nobody would have really cared, but they took the extra step to make it look even better.

And just pointing out a couple more interesting spots: this is the print on the big bow on her back …

And here is the print on the ball at the end of her tail.

Mai has gotten a number of figures over the years but in my view, this is the best one of them all. She looks absolutely beautiful, with her sexiness modeled to the fullest effect here. Her design is faithful to her look while putting just enough of an original touch to the design of her face. The manufacturing quality is impeccable, and the size of this figure – always a major consideration for me – is perfect. In my mind, no other figure of Mai exceeds this one in quality, look, and appeal.

We have for our examination today the latest and greatest from those inscrutable minds at Rocket Boy and Native. Unfortunately this lady has no name, being that she is simply given the title OSHITSUKE; doubtless lowbrow observers will snicker at the phonology but true collectors are certainly possessed of more refined sensibilities. Her sobriquet is perhaps more properly rendered as Oshitsuke Musume, which means something like Pressing Girl, which of course is basically what she is doing, at least in one of her poses. We will just call her Oshitsuke today, which doesn’t really make much sense but it’s not our fault that Rocket Boy did not give her the dignity of a name.

I don’t think that this character has any background to speak of; I’m not even certain if the illustration preceded the conception of this figure. The supplied postcard has a monochrome sketch rather than a finished image, which is the first time I’ve seen such a thing. The artist is, of course, Ishikei, very well known for his highly detailed doujinshi. This is not the first figure that Native has based off of his work; the first was Chie, which came out so many years ago.

This figure is manufactured by Rocket Boy and distributed by Native. It’s sculpted in 1/6 scale and stands about 25.5 centimeters in height; note that the base is about two centimeters high itself so overall height is around 27.5 centimeters. This figure comes with two torsos allowing for two very different display configurations.

The first display mode is this one, which is obviously what gives Oshitsuke her name. She is depicted smashing her breasts up into this pane of transparent plastic, which is an amusing concept and will no doubt entice many collectors.

I doubt many people will notice this, but the way her little finger on her right hand is bent looks sort of painful. I don’t think that finger is supposed to be that flexible.

The view through the looking glass is actually fairly realistic, though perhaps not as appealing. Or maybe it is, I dunno.

The lewdness doesn’t stop there, though; a couple of plastic pieces representing dripping semen are provided. One fits snugly and inconspicuously into the cleft of her buttocks, being supported by both friction and her underwear. The other piece is meant to represent liquid dripping below her panties and I am not actually certain how it is affixed, which is why it’s not seen here.

But wait, there’s more! The other display option dispenses with the plastic window and frame – which aren’t all that visually compelling – and assigns the viewer’s focus solely to the figure. In this mode, Oshitsuke is posed leaning forward with her hands spreading herself wide. It’s obviously quite a captivating pose. Kudos to Rocket Box for sculpting both torsos with arms, rather than supplying removable arms with arm bands along the biceps to conceal the detachment points, as many manufacturers do.

Her back is strongly arched, maybe unrealistically so, as her leg and her neck and head are perpendicular to the ground in two different planes. Not that that is really an issue, though; the more salient critique is that her pose looks spectacular.

Indeed, the whole point of her pose is to enable a view of this, which really speaks for itself in terms of appeal. The detail is superlative for this sort of thing, as is plain to see. Note that the whole figure has a glossy finish – which is meant to mimic Ishikei’s style – and it may be that the gloss has pooled up a bit here, which results in a rather shiny anus.

Aside from the orifices themselves, the way that her hands are spreading herself are quite interesting.

Oshitsuke has a very attractive face, with the rounded eye shape and slightly puffed-out cheeks that are indicative of Ishikei’s style. I like how her expression doesn’t really convey a distinct emotion; there are a number of moods that a viewer could impute to her.

The sculpting is, of course, top notch. There’s little to complain about in this respect. Rocket Boy hasn’t been around for all that long but they’ve already proven themselves to be amongst the best figure makers in the business.

This is obviously a fantastic figure, one of the best I’ve purchased this year and one of the best that Native has ever been involved with. Indeed, it may be the best figure that Native has ever been involved with, though that is obviously entirely a matter of personal taste, and I haven’t actually reviewed their Gamer Girl figure from years back (further, I’ve never actually taken it out of its box). Everything about this figure is marvelous, as is readily observable. That Native and SkyTube continually attempt to out-do each other in terms of both quality and perversity is a godsend to figure collectors everywhere.

Archeyle isn’t the first, nor the second or third, Vertex figure I’ve purchased but somehow it’s the first one to be reviewed here. Oddly, it’s also one of two half-naked blonde elf girl figures to be released at the end of July. You really can’t go wrong with happy, thong-wearing blonde elf archer girls … can you?

First, introductions: this figure is an entirely original creation, with concept artwork having been done by Takahiro Tsurusaki, an artist whose work can be seen in the light novel Isekai Mao to Shoukan Shoujo no Dorei Majutsu, or How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, which is getting an anime adaptation that, serendipitously, debuts today. Like a large fraction of anime artists, he’s also drawn a bunch of Kantai Collection doujinshi, and he’s also done a fair amount of bondage-themed pornography, which is nice. As an original figure, Archeyle doesn’t actually come from an existing property but both the box and her base say “Figure series ELF VILLAGE,” so that’s what I am listing here as her series of origin. As there is no more about the character to speak of, we’ll go right into the usual height measurement: she’s a fraction over 25 centimeters in height, being sculpted in 1/6 scale.

We’ll start our observations with the high points. If you like scantily-clad blonde, pale-skinned female elf archers, you will probably be favorably disposed towards this figure, at least on initial examination. Archeyle’s body has a lovely form, with wide hips, a narrow waist, long legs, and big breasts – pretty much everything one might ask for, unless, for some odd reason, one doesn’t appreciate a big rack. Her outfit is elaborate yet scandalously skimpy, comprising a multicolored bustier and some very tiny white panties. The asymmetry of her clothing, with her right leg sheathed in one thigh-high and her other leg mostly bare, is both eye-catching and pleasing.

So those are some obvious good things. Then there are the bad things, and there’s at least a few of them. First, her face: the low positioning of her nose and her mouth give her face an odd set of proportions, ultimately resulting in an unfortunate equine appearance, which is further exacerbated by the sideways protrusion of her ears. Further, the shape of her face gives the impression of being flattened out, as if she had run a hundred yard dash in a ninety yard gym. And perhaps the most glaring issue is that her mouth only has one lip; for some odd reason, her upper lip wasn’t sculpted, with the effect being that her smile looks bizarrely unbalanced. It’s a very strange omission that I don’t think I have ever seen before in a figure. They would have been better off sticking with the source art and forgoing lips altogether.

Amid all this complaining I should note that there was a more premium version of this figure that included an alternate unhappy face which doesn’t have this problem with her mouth. I like that face quite a bit more than this one but I was lazy about preordering and missed out. Oops.

While her clothing is quite lovely, the sculpting also makes it look particularly thick, which is a bit off-putting. In particular, the belt overlapping the waistband of her panties and her single thigh-high are conspicuously bulky rather than sleek and close-fitting, which I think is the effect that I think they were trying to go for.

Some might notice that none of the pictures here show her wearing her green dress, and that’s a deliberate decision on my part, as after a few minutes of trying to figure it out I decided not to bother with it. It doesn’t look that great and I didn’t buy this figure to cover her up, anyway.

Speaking of covering her up, the cups that go over her breasts are just that, individual cups that aren’t actually supported by anything. I think they actually come with some two-sided mounting tape to keep them in place but I didn’t bother with that; I used some removable sticky putty to keep them in place for these photos, which was just as inelegant a solution but at least it worked temporarily.

Her breasts are agreeably large but her nipples have an odd shape and size.

She does have quite a nice ass, though, and her thong panties are quite sexy.

It’s also interesting how her panties aren’t quite large enough to cover her vulva.

The arrows in her quiver actually have nocks at their ends, which is a nice touch; it’s not something that you’ll likely ever notice from a normal viewing distance.

This is the first Vertex figure I’ve reviewed and after hearing of some issues with their earlier products (their Mitsuru Kirijou figure, most frequently), my expectations were tempered and I suppose I’d say that the quality of this figure is less than I had hoped for but about what I guessed it would be, realistically. On one hand, she has a litany of issues; on the other hand, I like the idea of what they were going for, even if the execution doesn’t quite match up with the ambition. Overall, I suppose there are two lessons to be learned here: don’t expect the world of Vertex and preorder early.

Fads come and go. Over ten years of collecting girly anime figures, I’ve seen series like K-On!, Black Rock Shooter, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, and Ikkitousen have their day before fading off into memory. However, there is one series that has never seen its star dim and that, of course, is Fate/stay night, and all its myriad slash-random word spinoffs. The coterie of sexualized heroines have always found an appreciative audience, regardless of the ludicrous interpretations of their historical backgrounds. A Saber figure was one of the earliest figures that I owned, there is a veritable (and assuredly metaphorical) boatload of Fate-series figures in my review queue right now, and their ranks will only grow in the years to come. I have little doubt that should the universe someday collapse back into an infinitesimal singularity, the last atom to go will be the injection molded tip of Saber’s ahoge.

The lady depicted here is Scathach, a relative newcomer to the Fate milieu. This isn’t the first figure of her we’ve looked at; we went over Plum’s figure a year and a half ago. Somehow it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long since that figure was released. Scathach is some sort of fighting teacher – something like a Marine Corps drill instructor without the cool hat, I imagine – but she’s presented in a relatively more domestic manner here.

This figures is manufactured by Alter in 1/7 scale, which appears to be the de facto standard scale size for Fate figures regardless of manufacturer. It is about 22.5 centimeters in height and comes with no accessories at all, making display setup absolutely elementary.

As one can readily discern, this is not a particularly complicated figure, so we’ll just go over the obvious things. Scathach is depicted in a highly abbreviated outfit, wearing no more than a figure-hugging turtleneck and an enchanting smile. Despite completely covering her torso her sweater is still quite sexy, showing her chest as it does. The modeling of the sweater is, as expected, first rate; the complexity of the garment provides for a nice contrast against the simplicity of the rest of the figure.

The design of Scathach’s face is one of the most obviously appealing aspects of the figure. She’s sculpted with a whimsical look and a knowing smile, and there are a number of ways of interpret her expression. It’s a bit rare for a figure to make the source artwork look clownish, but in this case, I think it does.

There are a few subtle touches that make this figure stand out. The tilt of her head and the arch of her back seem tantalizingly inviting, particularly in concert with her smile. Also, her slightly messy hair adds a suggestive undertone to her look. This is a figure that does a fine job of conveying body language.

It’s surprisingly difficult to get a decent look at her panties, being that she’s not wearing pants. I’d be remiss not to make an attempt, though, and they are definitely there, and they’re black, for anyone who might be curious.

This may not be the most intricate or visually convoluted figure, but it’s an exceptionally nice adaptation of Scathach in a less violent mode than she’s typically presented. The contrast between her clothed – but still undeniably feminine – upper body and bare legs is striking, whereas the subtleties of her expression are rather more nuanced. Her look is enigmatic in all the right ways, and of course, the technical quality is impeccable, as one expects from Alter. This is a superb figure that stands out amongst the multitudes of Fate-series figures.

Mangagamer released the English-language – and uncensored – version of Purple Software’s Hapymaher last week and being that this figure of Yayoi was released ten months ago, now seems as good a time as any to take a look at it. Another justification for doing this review is that Native recently released their own take on a heroine from another Purple Software game and though I skipped over that figure, it’s interesting to compare how these two characters turned out. And well, the quirky characteristics of this figure are reason enough to do this review now. I’d imagine we might not see another figure like this again.

Yayoi Barnard Lutwidge is one of the heroines from Purple Software’s visual novel Hapymaher. Purple Software’s games are usually illustrated by two artists, Koku and Hiro Tsukimori; this figure is based off of artwork done by the former, which can be seen here.

Having not played the game yet, I’ll just go with what the advertising material says about Yayoi; she’s a half-Japanese girl and senpai to the game’s protagonist, whom she enjoys teasing. I thought that if anyone were to make a figure of the characters from Hapymaher, it would have been of the lead girl or principal antagonist rather than Yayoi, but I suppose someone at Alphamax really likes this character, or thought that adapting the source artwork was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

This figure is manufactured by SkyTube and is sculpted in 1/6 scale. It is about 16.5 centimeters in height, not including the base. Yayoi comes with two hip sections, one with a normally-sized vagina and one distended to accommodate a carrot (you can’t make this stuff up). She also comes with a set of thong panties which provides a modicum of modesty but nothing is provided to cover up her breasts, and so Yayoi cannot be displayed in a family-friendly manner unless one is inclined to improvise.

The circumstances in which Yayoi finds herself in are certainly the main attraction here. She’s perched in a kimchi squat, as we called it back in Korea, with her voluminous breasts held out as they cradle a carrot. Another carrot is obviously thrust deep into her vagina. The whole setup is bizarre and yet incongruously well-executed.

Further, one might not actually notice the vegetable-cum-sex toy at first look since there is a lot of other stuff going on here. While not the lewdest aspect of the figure, Yayoi’s rack is perhaps the most eye-grabbing, at least from a quick glance. Her breasts are gigantic and balloon outwards as she lifts them up for inspection. Usage of the carrot is mandatory as her cleavage has a big gaping hole where it slots in – though given the proliferation of dildos, vibrators, and other sex toys in contemporary anime figure accessory sets, I suppose you could use one of those to plug the gap instead.

Yayoi’s face is very obviously indicative of Koku’s style; anyone familiar with the artwork of Hapymaher will instantly know who this character is.

This is technically a bunny figure, though the bunny ears may not be noticed at first, especially given how she has a pair of oversized hair ribbons and a pair of oversized locks of hair framing her face. Curiously, one of the ears has a spike-like protrusion coming from it and I’m not sure why it’s there.

Here is the alternate hip and upper leg unit; while it’s technically less perverse than the main one, it’s still quite explicit.

She does come with a pair of panties, though it’s meant to be pulled to the side so the view is still just as explicit.

And here’s the view from the back. The junction where the panties are secured can be seen; being that the upper and lower parts comprise a couple of flexible plastic strips barely over a millimeter wide that need to fit into each other, it is highly aggravating to secure them together. I would certainly recommend not bothering.

Sometimes people are curious as to how the birth canal is sculpted, and so here’s Yayoi’s. This feature is becoming a hallmark of some of SkyTube’s best figures. The faint whorl of her anus can also be discerned; as always an important component of anime figures.

I mentioned earlier that Native recently released a figure of Hotaru Minazuki from the game Amatsutsumi. I passed over it, mostly because I don’t care as much for figures that are lying down as they’re more difficult to display than figures that are standing, and they generally take up more shelf space as well, which is a resource that I am rapidly running out of. Having looked at photographs of the released figure, I was disappointed to see that Hotaru’s genitalia exhibits only minimal detail, which would seem to defeat the purpose of sculpting the figure in the pose that they chose. Contrast that to what SkyTube has done here and I would say that Alphamax wins this round handily.

This is just a superb figure all around; the sculpting is first-rate, the design is impressive, and the effect will force casual onlookers to look twice. SkyTube has perfected the art of making a figure so perverted and yet sculpted so well that collectors who normally wouldn’t buy this sort of thing might give thought to it. For those that did buy Yayoi, this figure is a spectacular addition to anyone’s collection.

Apparently I haven’t reviewed a Tony Taka-designed figure since Freesia, which is confounding since I think I have at least a dozen Tony figures in hand and in the review queue. Clearly there is much work to do; we’ll start by taking a look at Ping Yi, a figure from SkyTube’s ostensible premium line.

I’m not sure what Ping Yi’s provenance is; there is a source illustration though I’m not sure whether it actually predates the introduction of the figure. Regardless, Ping Yi is, as mentioned, a member of SkyTube’s premium lineup, which is unimaginatively named STP. I think she was the first such figure in this series, having been released in December of 2017, and the second – Jin-Lian, the blonde girl with the pipa and hilariously incongruous golden dildo and butt plug – being released just a few days ago. Frankly, the premium tag seems like a bit of a misnomer to me, though not due to any deficiency of quality or workmanship; this figure’s artistry is impeccable. Rather, virtually all of SkyTube’s stuff is fantastic, even those not specifically marked as being “premium.” For my purposes, the STP label just means I have to buy the figure from a proxy service, which is a tad annoying, and that there will be more parts to fiddle around with, which can be considerably annoying.

This figure measures about 15.5 centimeters in overall height, not counting the base. It includes a bevy of accessories and optional parts, resulting in a wide variety of possible display options. This versatility is both impressive and at times confounding, as we’ll talk about in a bit.

Ping Yi is not just the first (to my recollection) STP figure, she’s also the first of what will be at least a trio of figures centered around a theme of Tony-designed girls wearing cheongsam dresses, accompanied by musical instruments, and being penetrated by dildos. The designs are reminiscent of the Kotobukiya fairy girls Daisy, Annabel, and Freesia in that they comprise a mild-mannered black-haired girl, a more mature-looking blonde girl, and a perky, younger brunette. I have Jin-Lian on order – she’s on the airplane from Japan to freedomland as I write this – but I don’t know if I will order Chun-Mei, the third figure in the lineup. I don’t think she looks as good as the first two and I don’t really care for both her hair buns and her pubic hair. Technically the preorder period closed a couple of weeks ago so there isn’t much time for me to change my mind.

The face is typical Tony Taka, though she’s quite attractive despite the homogeneity of his designs. She does come with an optional face, which I suppose is part of what makes this a premium-label figure.

And here is that face. I don’t like this face as much, though its expression does better reflect what this figure is all about.

If anyone needs a clue as to what that means, this end right here shows what is arguably the main attraction of this figure.

Some might say that the elegant elements of this figure take pride of place over its more salacious aspects, and that’s fair. Certainly her dress is quite lovely, with its glossy white color, black trim, and its varied hues of blue providing a wonderfully subtle color scheme that perfectly complements the mood conveyed by this figure. Her instrument – a zither called a guqin, from what my Wikipedia research tells me – is similarly exquisite, though the one flaw on my copy is that I’ve done something to knock the strings askew and I’m not quite certain how to reset them. Otherwise, it’s executed very well.

The incongruity of this figure’s elegance and palpable perversity is perhaps its most interesting quality. We’ve seen this before with Matsuri Tougetsu and it worked very well for SkyTube, and so it’s not surprising that they’ve gone back to this theme. The guqin adds an extra layer of curiosity, as there seems little reason for the subject to penetrate herself while cradling her instrument. Why she is doing so will undoubtedly be the first question that a casual viewer asks when first glimpsing this figure. (The second might be either, “How much did this cost?” or “Why did you buy this?”)

Given the thematic duality of this figure, it is only appropriate that the dildo that Ping-Yi is pleasuring herself with a run-of-the-mill phallus with a clitoris stimulator. Its modern design and startlingly bright pink color clash mightily with the classical motif effected by the rest of the figure, and this contrast works very well to emphasize the dichotomy of tone presented here.

I can’t believe it slipped my mind to take a photo of Ping-Yi’s distended vagina sans inserted dildo, but it did, to my enduring shame. This will be rectified this whenever I photograph Jin-Lian.

Amid all this talk about naughty bits and sex toys and awkward masturbation, it should be noted that Ping-Yi can actually be displayed in a non-explicit manner; it’s just a colossal pain in the ass to do so. She does come with panties, which are actually just a plastic piece that fits (and that’s being optimistic) over her crotch and rear. Her bust can be swapped out to display her either covered up or bare-breasted. And if displaying her impaled by a dildo is a bridge too far, she can be displayed with an unstretched vagina. There’s something for everyone here, though it’s far easier to display her less clothed.

And one last quirk regarding this figure; most figures that are sculpted kneeling don’t actually need bases, but Ping-Yi does. She’s very front-heavy and so will tip over if left unsecured. The base has a small transparent plastic pylon that hooks over her right ankle and keeps her in place.

This is an exceptionally lovely figure. The concept is interesting in itself, assuming one displays Ping-Yi in R-18 mode, which I’d imagine most people who own this figure will. The manufacturing quality is, as expected, second to none. There is little to criticize – assuming one isn’t trying to cover her up, which was a source of some consternation while I was preparing the figure for photography – and a whole lot to like here. Perhaps the only deficiency that one might lament is that she doesn’t feature anal penetration like Jin-Lian. Truly, what a time to be a figure collector.

As good as Ping-Yi is, I felt that Jin-Lian would be the true prize of the series. With high expectations comes the possibility of bitter disappointment, but I felt that SkyTube could pull it off, seeing as how they have become one of the preeminent figure manufacturers in the hobby. And pull it off they did; after seeing Jin-Lian with my own eyes, I can confidently say that this is one of the best anime figures ever made.

First, some background: this figure is the second of SkyTube’s Premium line to be released, and the second overall in this series; the third – Chun-Mei has not yet been released, and the preorder period for her just closed. There is an alternate version of Jin-Lian available, which has her dressed in a red and gold cheongsam; I think I like this version a little bit better, but they’re close to even in my eyes. Certainly I wouldn’t be unhappy if I could only pick the red version.

Jin-Lian is sculpted in 1/6 scale and stands a bit over 25 centimeters in height. She comes with an assortment of alternate parts and accessories, which we will examine in a moment. Her base is elaborate and quite large; normally I don’t pay much attention to bases but the patterning is impressive. However, as Ping-Yi’s base is about the same size, and being that she needs her base in order not to fall over, it’s difficult to display them close together.

Also, I had some difficulty placing Jin-Lian on her base – the design is one where you have to flex the figure’s legs slightly in order to get the feet slotted over the pegs, and it’s a bit difficult to get a good grasp on her ankles due to the ribbons placed there. These ribbons are very fragile and a good deal of care is warranted to avoid inadvertently snapping them off her legs.

Let’s just start with the overall look; what a fantastic job SkyTube did with this sculpt. Her body proportions are exquisite, with long legs, a large bust and more curves and arcs than trigonometry class. The slits of her dress show the broadness of her hips and the pronounced swell of her ass.

Tony sometimes gets railed by anime fans for using a recurring style for his characters’ faces. This consistency carries over to figures, of course, and sometimes it’s difficult not to feel indifferent to his lack of adventurism. Jin-Lian, though, has a lovely face, and though the obvious hallmarks of Tony’s style are there, I’m not sure if I’ve seen another Tony figure (and there are a lot of them out there) with this sort of expression. There are a lot of different emotions that can be read into her look, and I’ll leave it up to the viewer to come up with one’s own interpretation of what she’s feeling. Her eyes are a striking light blue color; the paleness of her eyes provides for a stark contrast to the intensity of her gaze.

There is an alternate face, which offers a less equivocal expression; here, Jin-Lian shows stark embarrassment and distress. There is good reason for her to be feeling that way.

Jin-Lian can be dressed in a relatively modest manner, though the back of her dress has a cutout right over her buttocks, which means that she is not quite a family-friendly figure. A small pair of panties is provided – it’s actually just a piece of plastic that goes between her legs and is held on by friction.

It can be omitted, revealing her bare backside and vagina, though then the ribbons and waistband running along her hips don’t make a lot of sense.

Alternatively, she can be displayed in a far more sexual form. A separate lower body piece is provided with gaping orifices that allow the insertion of these two included dildos, which are connected by a short length of chain.

How gaping are those orifices? This is how gaping.

This display mode is both lewd in the extreme and hilarious given the elegance of the rest of the figure. Figures have been getting more and more pornographic over the last few years but many companies – particularly mainstream ones – have shied away from depicting penetration, yet here is a very dignified and classy figure with objects inserted into both her vagina and anus. That SkyTube would make such an exquisite figure with such obscene elements is worthy of admiration.

While we’re on this subject, it might as well be mentioned that her breasts can be swapped out for one that shows her nipples. Her arms can also be detached, and alternate left and right arms are provided. One right arm is raised over her head in a stylish pose while the other is meant to cover her mouth; one left arm is meant to support her musical instrument, while the other is bent backwards, cradling her anal dildo.

Generally speaking, her two faces and sets of arms are meant to be used with either her more modest display mode or with her pornographic display option, but there’s nothing preventing you from mixing and matching. Personally, I kind of like this configuration best, with her stern face and no musical instrument.

And of course, with her dildos.

Like Ping-Yi, Jin-Lian is apparently a musician, though unlike her compatriot, it’s not an essential element for display. While Ping-Yi’s pose would look curiously awkward if you took away her zither, Jin-Lian’s alternate arms mean that her instrument – a pipa, from what I can tell – isn’t necessary. Indeed, it can’t be displayed if one uses her left arm that’s supporting her dildo, as her lute has nothing to keep it standing; it can only be kept upright by having the hand of her other left arm rest on its headstock. Note that that is not true of her sex toys; they will happily stay in place by themselves so if one wanted to display Jin-Lian with both the lute and while being penetrated, that’s certainly an option.

Jin-Lian is wearing a beautiful black cheongsam with a gold floral pattern. The lower part actually has a gradient that transitions from solid black to a translucent magenta color. I usually don’t like this sort of gimmick – particularly with hair, I am not a big fan of figures having translucent hair – but here it’s executed with skill and surprising subtlety.

We’ll conclude by noting that Jin-Lian has an interesting hairstyle; it may not be immediately obvious but her hair is actually tied up in a very long side ponytail, which ends in a corkscrew just above her knees.

In my view, Jin-Lian is one of the best figures ever made. Even if she lacked the more salacious elements present here, this would be a superb figure. With the more sexualized display options, this figure becomes transcendent. The sculpt is astonishingly sexy, the display options are varied, and the erotic theme is sublime. I know that I’m just repeating myself, but I’m still amazed by how well this figure turned out. I own over five hundred PVC figures and Jin-Lian may be the best of them all.

We’ll take a short break from all the lewd, explicit porno figures that we’ve been looking at and instead cover something that’s maybe a half step removed from being a porno figure. This is Yukina Himeragi, the lead girl of the poorly-reviewed anime and light novel Strike the Blood. Normally I prefer to buy figures whose characters I know something about, either with respect to their personalities or the source material that they come from, but in this case I have to admit I had scarcely heard of the character or the series. In all frankness, I really bought this figure for three reasons; her lack of clothing, her distressed expression, and her thematic resemblance to this Kuroyukihime figure, which I like a lot.

After looking over what Strike the Blood is about, I think that I’m better off not having watched it. It is apparently about a guy who happens to be a vampire and a girl who is sent to watch over him, and eventually helps him out by supplying her blood (and of course, developing into his romantic interest). The general consensus seems to be that Strike the Blood lies somewhere in that unfortunate position between mediocre and totally forgettable. It’s too bad, since the premise has some promise – there have certainly been some good vampire stories in pop culture worldwide – but it seems that like so many light novels that receive anime adaptations, there is a lot of room for improvement. Oh well. Personally, I think the best televised anime to involve body fluid sucking was Seikon no Qwaser, which was pretty silly but at least tried to do something interesting with its central conceit, and the best anime to feature vampires was of course Kyuuketsuki. Aside from the second episode, that is, which was just terrible.

This figure was manufactured by Chara-Ani and distributed by Ascii Media Works, making it (I think) the first figure I own from other company. It’s sculpted in 1/7 scale and measures around 16 centimeters in height. She does come with a circular pink base but somehow I forgot to include it in the photographs.

Yukina is apparently a strong girl and a skilled combatant, but you definitely wouldn’t know that just from looking at this figure. Here, she’s on her knees with her jacket shrugged off, her panties rolled down, and a fairly unnerved expression on her face. She looks quite vulnerable here, which may not be the most accurate depiction of her, but she still looks great.

Here is a closer look at her low-rise panties. She might want to go up one or two sizes. They do look nice, though, and the stripes add a splash of color to an otherwise monochromatic design. While this figure is obviously fan service-oriented, the producers of the anime seem to have no compunction against using Yukina’s sex appeal in their promotional materials to lure viewers and move merchandise. It certainly worked on me.

Her jacket is not all that interesting by itself, but the way it is flared out adds a bit more visual interest to a figure that might otherwise look a little staid – or at least as staid as a figure of a half-naked girl can look.

Here’s Yukina with Kuroyukihime. They are of similar size and obviously, feature a similar theme of having a girl in her underwear kneeling down. They make for a telegenic pair.

There’s always a bit of trepidation when buying a figure from a manufacturer that I have no experience with, but Yukina looks pretty good to me. We’ve been looking at SkyTube and Alter and Native and Amakuni figures recently and perhaps Chara-ani is not at that level, but I don’t see many problems here. Indeed, she doesn’t really look out of place when alongside Kuroyukihime, and Max Factory is obviously one of the better manufacturers in this field.

This is a pretty good figure of a character that I didn’t really know anything about. She’s pretty sexy and would obviously have a lot of appeal for those who prefer more petite characters. Her outfit is agreeably limited and her panties are appealing. And of course, she complements Kuroyukihime well. All in all, this is quite a nice figure.