In anime and anime culture, it occasionally happens that some unusual aspect or theme suddenly becomes popular, seemingly all at once. For instance, a couple of anime series centered on futuristic depictions of Oda Nobunaga appeared earlier this year. More broadly, incest has became a strangely persistent and ubiquitous feature of contemporary anime, and I’m at a loss to explain why. Figures are no less immune to this confluence of peculiar themes, and with this particular example, we may observe a tangible specimen of the phenomenon: namely, the toilet bowl seen here. Strangely, girls on toilets have become weirdly visible in figure collecting as of late, with Kaitendoh having released such a figure a few months ago and with Native set to release their own a few months from now. Why is the commode a thing amongst figure makers? Damned if I know. I do know it isn’t the first weird fad we’ve seen, though, and it certainly won’t be the last.
Ringo Hanamaru is a character from the eroge Ane to Boin. The game was adapted into an anime, localized in the United States as “It’s a Family Affair,” which is an indication of how old it is, as the US hentai anime industry has been dead for years. The game’s protagonist is Keisuke Hanamaru and his ten sisters all lust for his semen. It’s not at all an original premise but I’m told that it is handled reasonably well.
The game’s artwork was drawn by Toshihide Sano, a well-known artist whose style is easily recognizable. Thus, it is very easy to discern that this figure maintains little of his touch; rather, it takes its cues entirely from the sculptor’s style instead. The sculptor is Katsuhiro Katagiri of the circle Vispo, and his personal hallmarks are just as perceptible. He has sculpted figures for a very long time; his Shiratori Amane figure was one of the earliest figures I bought and one of the earliest reviews I did. He’s also sculpted the two Keumaya Hyper Nurse figures that I’ve reviewed here. It’s a little surprising that his work hasn’t been picked up for mass production by any of the bigger manufacturers; it seems like his figures of Evangelion’s Asuka would be warmly received (of which he showed off a new one just recently).
As it is, most of his work has been adapted into PVC form by Questioners and Daiki Kougyou, and the latter is responsible for releasing this figure, which they did late last year. It’s actually based on a very old garage kit and it’s a little surprising that they tagged this figure for PVC production, five or six years after the debut of the original model. But then, Daiki Kougyou has always done things their own way and many of the things they’ve done have left me scratching my head in puzzlement (particularly with gangsta lean Saber; we’ll look at her sometime in the future).
This figure is sculpted in 1/6 scale and stands – or sits – at about 18.5 centimeters in height, including the toilet but not including the big black base that it is bundled with. Ringo comes with removable clothing, the toilet, and a little plastic apple – Ringo means “apple” in Japanese and I’m assuming that’s the main reason it is provided, aside from potentially providing a modicum of discreetness by obscuring her genitals.
Vispo’s sculpting style is particularly evident in the face, and that’s certainly true here, where Ringo’s sharply sloped eyes and wedge-shaped chin make it obvious who designed this figure. Toshihide Sano’s style is entirely masked; compare Ringo’s design with Orchid Seed’s upcoming Princess Milk figure, which is also based off of Sano’s work and is much more faithful, and the stylistic differences are apparent.
Looking through the images from the game, Ringo seems to effect an earnest and enthusiastic persona. I’m not sure those are the terms one would use to describe this figure, though; her narrowed eyes are almost certainly meant to give her a seductive aura but they also make her look rather sleepy. Her protruding tongue is likely intended to enhance the effect but personally, I think it looks hilarious.
This figure gives Ringo a most impressive rack, as does her original game design. However, while Sano seems to like drawing very large breasts, his work often provides them with a sense of weight. The figure gives them a perkier look, with the nipples pointed slightly upwards. It’s reminiscent of Vispo’s work with Hyper Nurse Yuno, who was sculpted after Ringo.
Ringo’s clothing comprises a vest and a pair of panties. Removing them entails disassembling the figure, and though no instruction sheet is provided, the method is fairly typical; her head comes off and her arms detach below the bicep bands. Pulling her head off was rather difficult, requiring an inordinate amount of force, but it does come off. I found that it was difficult to get her right arm pushed in all the way, which doesn’t bug me too much when observing the figure but is bothersome when taking photographs.
More annoying is the fact that both her clothing and hair can transfer paint to her body – a substantial amount of paint, in fact. I removed much of it with rubbing alcohol but it was very much a pain to do so and the usage of alcohol always threatens to damage the figure. Fortunately her hair conceals much of the problem but if this were otherwise one of my favorite figures, I’d be livid. As it is, I am considerably annoyed. I’d recommend getting this figure into the display configuration that one wants and never disassembling her again.
Ringo’s pose is obviously highly sexual, happily showing off everything. It’s similar to Rika Shiraki’s pose except Ringo has some indentations in her thighs which considerably reduce her attractiveness when displayed without the toilet.
The toilet is made of plastic and features a hinged lid, but the seat does not lift up. Unsurprisingly, the toilet doesn’t feature a drain so I guess it’s technically more of a chamber pot. It also looks very small, too small for a woman of Ringo’s size.
It fits a 1/8 scale figure reasonably well, though.
The throne is not a seat where one can rest at ease and if Ringo isn’t placed correctly, she tends to look rather odd. She sits a little better with the base in place but it’s so large that I don’t plan to use it.
Another odd thing is that while the promo photos of this figure showed her with greenish-black hair, the actual figure has more of a greenish-blue color of hair. This also happened with Kaitendoh’s ER Nurse Miyuu figure from a while back, which had lighter-colored hair than was originally shown.
Of course, everyone wants to see the details.
Though if one looks too close, her crotch looks, well, a little rough. She looks fine from the front, though.
I bought this figure in large part because I thought it is hilarious, and I still think that way. The toilet is such a weird thing to see, especially with a figure like this, which is blatantly sexualized. One doesn’t typically think of the commode as being all that sexy but I think that makes this figure (and Native’s upcoming figure) all the more funny. While I’m a big fan of Vispo’s style, Ringo’s sleepy and slutty expression is, in my view, less salacious and more uproarious, but I like it all the same. What I don’t like is all the scraped paint, which is inexcusable. Overall, this is a pretty neat figure, though one that I imagine would appeal only to a limited subset of figure collectors.
