After you get the bra and panties off-you get the anatomically correct details.

Ryofu Housen is one of the elite cadre of popular characters from Ikki Tousen (aka Battle Vixens in the United States), an anime that features ancient Chinese generals reincarnated as students at rival schools who all happen to be experts in martial arts. Ikki Tousen is best known for its gratuitous fan-service, women who kick ass and themes about destiny and choosing your path in life.

In the series, Ryofu is the archetypical bad girl. She has been heavily marketed in a variety of styles. Sometimes in her distinctive brown leather jacket-but also as a goth maid and here, we see her as “Underwear Ver.(sion)”.

The statue is PVC in 1/7 scale and is produced by Taki Corporation as part of their TFC line, which stands for “Taki; Female, Figure, Favorite; Collection”.

The figure comes in a clear display box with a fairly typical plastic packaging. The figure is about 8 inches long, comes with two cast-off pieces and a large reflective base.

Right off the bat, you can tell that the figure has some real heft to it. It’s a solid piece of PVC. I normally prefer my statues standing (this takes up less room) but for various reasons this pose works well with this figure. The overall sculpt is pretty simple, she’s posed and there’s plenty of close detail..her eyes, her hair, her back, and the detail on the bra, panties, etc.

The bra and the panties are cast-off and come off pretty easily. The straps allow re-fastening but they are pretty flimsy and you have to be a little careful not to break them when you first try to get them off.

After you get the bra and panties off-you get the anatomically correct details. The breasts are nice. Simple but good sculpt with a nice shape.

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I don’t know if this will be a continuing new feature-but this Ryofu statue is FULLY anatomically correct with labia and everything. The reflective base is there to give you immediate gratification to see the details in the reflection.

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The pose gives her an effective personality-and the other details together make this an awesome statue for the general collector or for the specific Ikki Tousen enthusiast.

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Villetta Nu is a “British” pilot who operates one of the Knightmare Frame robots from Code Geass. This version is from the Lelouch of the Rebellion series.

Villetta Nu is a “British” pilot who operates one of the Knightmare Frame robots from Code Geass. This version is from the Lelouch of the Rebellion series.

Villetta Nu is available at Anime-Export

The figure comes with a stand and two switchable back/upper torsos, one with and without a pink jacket with arms and detachable head. No nudity or cast-off parts. No posability. Figure is packed box with a clear window and a plastic sprong with small plastic sheets protecting the arm and other various upper torso parts.

This is a GREAT sculpt with REALLY sharp details. The statue is a great capture of the character’s look and her character. Much of Villetta’s sculpted look comes from the details - the fingers on the thong, the pose and the coy look captured from the hair as it brushes over her eye.

Looking over the statue’s details, it really shows the kind of quality that has become standard for this style of figure. The clothes are distinctly separate from the skin (as opposed to appearing as flush with the surface), one sees none of the messy spray that turns up in more poorly done work.

The fishnet stockings are a nicely done and go along with the strong colors used. The great colors include the really ruby red shoes to the really on-the-nail color of the skin and the hair against the presentation of her outfit.

Great close up details on the buttocks and the way the thong stretches across the cheeks. The figure has no nudity but does the tease, VERY well…

If I have any complaints, its that the neck has a really weird, unnaturally “doll-like” look to it, Especially from the back. This probably results from the fact that the head is detachable. Its not that evident-but the seam of the neck with the collar doesn’t close completely and at the right angle-it looks…weird.

Honestly, I’m not sure WHY the head needs to be detachable since the jacket piece/upper torso switches out pretty easily without taking the head off.

The stand looks pretty solid and has pegs that connect into complimentary holes in the feet. The legs look pretty strong which hopefully precludes the sort of eventual softening that one sees over the years in some figures.

Overall, the statue doesn’t seem nearly as overt as some of the others that I’ve seen, but it does emphasize the tease quite a bit, but pulls off the “sexy” look really well without being too explicit.
Get yours at Anime-Export

T-Elos is the mysterious android featured in Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra. She is designed as the new model of Anti-Gnosis weaponry to replace the previous unit, KOS-MOS.

T-Elos is the mysterious android featured in Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra. She is designed as the new model of Anti-Gnosis weaponry to replace the previous unit, KOS-MOS.

T-Elos is a 1/8 scale figure from Alter, who also did a 1/8 scale figure of KOS-MOS V.4 that matches T-Elos.

T-Elos is the opposite of KOS-MOS aesthetically speaking. KOS-MOS has red eyes, and T-Elos has blue. Where KOS-MOS is pale-skinned and mostly wearing white and blue shades, T-Elos has dark skin and purple armor with deep maroon highlights.

T-Elos actually bears a closer resemblance to the original version of KOS-MOS, with the one-piece swim-suit style armor along with the large jeweled head crest as well. T-Elos is inscribed into the headpiece with gold paint details nicely.

While KOS-MOS V.4 has a much more dynamic and striking pose, T-Elos remains much more calm and stoic. It's suiting for her character though, who often is very brooding and enigmatic.

Although this pose really does help hammer in the fact that T-Elos very is long on legs.

T-Elos' hair is done in an unusual translucent yet opaque plastic. Light can pass through it fairly easily but you can't actually see through it. It looks very nice and has a wispy feel to it, as if it's flowing gently through the wind.

However, this hair's also probably the biggest flaw of the figure. There's just so much of it that you really can't get a good look at all of the detail put into the back. It also feels rather heavy and makes me worry that if a packaging mishap were to happen, maybe the head would just break off.

T-Elos doesn't have an really accessories aside from the L-BLADE weapon on her arm. The blade is done in a purple translucent plastic that nicely gets across the look and feel of a beam-weapon.

T-Elos' stand is done in the same hexagonal pattern that KOS-MOS's stand was done. She pegs in nice and securely. However because of T-Elos' simple pose, it's actually possible to have her stand without it and easily stay in place, so long as you're not shaking the table violent or anything mind you.

I think that between KOS-MOS and T-Elos, KOS-MOS is the figure that received more attention in terms of sculpt, detail, paint, and in terms of sales as well. I don't think that they're producing these pieces anymore and the price has sky-rocketed. While they were originally about 6000 to 7000 yen each, T-Elos averages for about $150, while KOS-MOS goes for $200. I think that you'd have to be a very big fan of Xenosaga or these character designs to pick them up at that price. T-Elos isn't a bad figure though, and if you can get it may be used at a lower price point, I'd recommend her. She's definitely the highlight of my personal figure collection.

So here we have a new figure in the Revoltech line, a female figure, sculpted by Yamaguchi. Between this and the queens blade line, I guess the Fraulein experiment is done.

Reycal Orichalcum is the main character in the Manga "Orichalcum Reycal" The manga has to do with a college kit named Sakugi Mitsuaki, who is into building models and sculpting garage kits.

Sample provided by our good friends at HobbyLink Japan!

One day he gets special modeling clay, and sculpts this figure, which then comes to life as "Reycal Orichalcum"

And that's about all I know about that.

So here we have a new figure in the Revoltech line, a female figure, sculpted by Yamaguchi. Between this and the queens blade line, I guess the Fraulein experiment is done.

The good news is that its a pretty good figure, much better that those early Fraulein releases. These now have Revoltech joints in the knees, as opposed to the swivel joints.

There's nothing bad to say about the core figure - it's tight, the sculpt is good, and paint detail is nice. The design of the figure helps hide some of the flaws of the female Revoltech design, such as the skirt design hiding where the hips meet the legs.

The hair is articulated, largely to make way for the armor.

The armor included comes in a animal form, dubbed Knight Eagle. This eagle is Reycal Orichalcum's Armor Haul Partner. One cant help but notice the similarity to Bandai's Saint Cloth Myth figures. The Knight Eagle is flimsy, and barely holds together. You can attach it to the stand when not in use.

To be added to the figure, the Knight Eagle must be completely disassembled, and not all parts are used on the figure.

Once the armor is on, as Knight Reycal, the figure looks great, and the armor is stable on the figure. I was surprised at the sharpness of the wings, and the dual fold-out action. A variant hair piece is included for the armored form. The only weakness was the chest V, which had a tendency to fall off if bumped.

A spear handle is included that attaches to the tail of the Knight Eagle, making a weapon. The handle on the spear has a peg in it that can fit into the weapon holding hand.

Also included is the default Revoltech stand, but this one comes with a little something extra. This one comes with a small female to female pipe that connects to a smaller dual Revoltech joint. This really extends the range of poses available to the figure.

Finally, you get a 10 point Revoltech coin, and the small revoltech container.

All of this can be yours, if you go right now to HobbyLink Japan

PS - there's a bonus sad face.

Rin Natusume is another character from "Little Busters" and is also the second release from Aoshima's Mobip line.

Rin Natusume is another character from "Little Busters" and is also the second release from Aoshima's Mobip line.

This figure arrives courtesy of Hobby World Japan

Little Busters is a popular Japanese "Visual Novel" which is just a fancy way of saying "video game you don't have to do much in". Rin is the lead character of the series. She's an ace baseball pitcher, and she is often seen with her little white cat Lennon.

The Mobip line is an obvious competitor to Figma, and they did a pretty good job. The quality is close, but not quite as good as Figma. Figma seems to have sharper details in areas like the hair, and they do a better job in matching the color of the joints with the rest of the body.

Rin Natsume comes with a bunch of accessories, including:

• spare face
• nekomimi hairpiece
• interchangeable fisted hands
• left hand with a baseball glove
• right hand holding a baseball
• Lennon the cat

So it looks like if you are a Little Busters fan, they got all the bases covered (no pun intended).

This figure also comes with a nice clear articulated stand for posing.

If you want your own Rin Natsume, get yours at Hobby World Japan

I have to admit, posing this made me feel funny.

Little Busters is another one of those Japanese franchises that spans a variety of media. Most popular as a visual novel, Little Busters has also had Manga adaptations and even a radio play. In fact, it's had pretty much everything BUT an anime.

Komari is a childish character, and that comes across well in this figure. She embodies the Moe character in almost every way.

Komari Kamikita is available at Hobby Supermarket HW Japan

This is the first release in Aoshima's Mobip line, and once can't help but draw comparisons to Figma figures. The joints, articulation and construction are eerily similar. Articulated figures are all the rage, and I couldn't be happier. The heightened competition makes for more characters licensed, making the assortment of characters on the market virtually unlimited.

The good news is that the Mobip figure is just about as good as a Figma. The price point is a bit lower, and you will of course only find these characters as Mobip toys.

The figure consists of a central core body with rubber clothing over the torso. Each joint is a swivel joint similar to Figma and the like. The joints are tight and hold well, but the color of the joints don't always match up to the skin tone, especially in the knees.

Komari comes with a bunch of accessories, some odd, some downright pervy. As my name may suggest, one of the best is the removable panties. The panties that come with the figure are pink and rubber, and it also comes with a spare set of white panties.

To remove them, you have to remove the legs, but they re-attach easily. And in case you were wondering, she's not anatomically correct, I checked.

Oh, did I mention there was a Little Busters H-Game?

So yeah, other accessories include two donuts (MMM donuts), a few variant hands (one including a lollipop), and a book. The book is keyed to fit into the grasping hand.

The figure features a variant face to go from her normal doe-eyed look to a starry-eyed look.

One standout feature of the Moebip line is the stand. Each stand is clear with the logo printed on it, and a sturdy clear articulated arm plugs into it. The arm then plugs into the figure's back and can support almost any pose.

I have to admit, posing this made me feel funny.

So yeah, it's a noble first effort for Aoshima in the poseable figure market, but nothing groundbreaking.

Komari Kamikita is available at Hobby Supermarket HW Japan

The sculpt on Juliona is REALLY amazing. I have reviewed previous Masamune Shirow figures and is really one of the better sculpted Shirow characters. There is wonderful detail on everything from the leather chaps to the fine seal on the phallic cigar in Juliona’s mouth.

Juliona Trans is a character from Masamune Shirow’s “Wild Wet West” collection from his hardcore cheesecake portfolio Galgrease 001.

Juliona is a PVC statue in 1/6 scale, height is about 9 inches tall (if standing) made by Artstorm/Lilacs, sculpted by G.O.(Cerebus project). Comes in full 4-color box plus color card.

Website: http://artstorm.co.jp/lilics_wildwetwest.htm

Juliona is a statue that comes shipped in 3 pieces, the statue, the base, and the big horseshoe-moneybag thing Juliona sits on. There is no posability. There are no cast-off pieces (but see below) but the hat is removable. There are no other adjustable pieces.

The sculpt on Juliona is REALLY amazing. I have reviewed previous Masamune Shirow figures and is really one of the better sculpted Shirow characters. There is wonderful detail on everything from the leather chaps to the fine seal on the phallic cigar in Juliona’s mouth.

The guns seem to be pretty solidly placed in Juliona’s hands and you can see the fine detail in the nails as she holds onto the handle on each one. The rear-view of the panties is also nice.

Colors and paint are on the dull-side but consistent with the character’s western look as seen in the original painting.

There is PARTIAL nudity with just the nipples and breasts clearly visible through her shirt.

I would warn that the chaps are loosely attached and at first appear to be cast-off but they aren’t. One of the chaps came off pretty easily and you can get a good look at the legs and not both. This isn’t intentional and although the single chap goes back in place, it doesn’t go back after being taken off.

By far, this is my most favorite Ame-Comi statue. It comes with wings detached, stand, and detached mace piece. This is actually a good thing since, its been my experience that if wings come shipped attached they usually break during shipping.

One of the newest additions to the Ame-Comi heroine series, Hawkgirl. This statue captures the likeness of the newest incarnation of Hawkgirl aka Kendra Saunders. Kendra/Hawkgirl was introduced in the early 1990's in the Geoff Johns/David Goyer Justice Society of America reboot and is the reincarnated wife of DC hero Hawkman. Both Hawkman and Hawkgirl are reincarnated Egyptian royalty-and trust me, it’s a LONG story.

Hawkgirl is a PVC statue in the 1/7 scale and is about 8 inches tall, Distributed and sold by DC Direct. Designed by Udon Studios and sculpted by Andy Bergholtz. This was released alongside the Ame-Comi Donna Troy and Zatanna in early 2009.

Review & Details. Hawkgirl is a statue with no cast off pieces and no posability. Comes in a 4-color box with clear front.

By far, this is my most favorite Ame-Comi statue. It comes with wings detached, stand, and detached mace piece. This is actually a good thing since, its been my experience that if wings come shipped attached they usually break during shipping.

Hawkgirl is suspended by a stand that fits into the back and so, she doesn’t have any support on her own two feet. So, ya’ gotta make sure it doesn’t break. But it's great for presentation of the statue and it looks great on display. Don’t know how that will last in the long term though.

I liked the sculpt and paint job a lot. Overall good presentation. Really eye-catching. It captures the character look well “re-imaigined” in an anime style. There’s lots of good in the little sculpt and color details, from the hair, the gloves, the rope around the wrist bracelets, the mace, the ornamentation on the arms and legs. All great. The wings are great also.

Unfortunately, a lot of these non-Japanese statues just don’t have the same level of detail. For example, the criss-crossing straps across her abdomen and her belt are pretty much flush with the flesh and look like plastic pieces. Some of the Japanese statues I’ve seen have what looks like a genuine strap across the surface. Similarly, the loincloth is pretty firmly glued on and doesn’t have the “wink, wink, unofficial castoff” feature that some statues do. There clearly seems to be some red shorts underneath though.

The breasts are good sized and an attractive feature, but lack any nipples or costume detail (clothing wrinkle, etc.) that would bring out more of the sexy in the statue. Still, for a mass-market statue that is “For Ages 14 & up” its understandable that these are going to be a bit toned down.

Overall.. A good effort and so far, my favorite of the Ame-comi series.

Saeko Busujima is the token “bad girl” from the 2006 manga Gakuen Mokushiroku, which translates as Highschool of the Dead. Saeko is “extremely skilled with a bokken and close combat” and describes herself as “…a sadist who enjoys inflicting pain on those weaker than her.” As a result, Saeko gets a lot out of killing zombies. Go figure.

Character Background: Saeko Busujima is the token “bad girl” from the 2006 manga Gakuen Mokushiroku, which translates as Highschool of the Dead. Highschool of the Dead is about a bunch of Japanese high school kids who are caught in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. According to Wikipedia, Saeko is “extremely skilled with a bokken and close combat” and describes herself as “…a sadist who enjoys inflicting pain on those weaker than her.” As a result, Saeko gets a lot out of killing zombies. Go figure.

Saeko is a 1/8 PVC statue made from Chara Ani and is about 9 inches tall.

Review/Features: The statue has no posability and comes in a full window box.  Saeko comes with cast-off clothing and two alternate aprons as well as two sets of arms that allow for different poses. The statue comes with a full packaging plus brief set of instructions to show how the castoff pieces switch out. Accessories include a sword, the scabbard and bokken.

Sculpt is good. Not perfect-but the pose captures the attitude of the character and has definite personality. A lot of good features-the full apron, for example, has some nice detail to allow detail from the breasts to show through and the face has just the right attitude in the eyes.

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Minor quibbles include the bikini bottom, which seems flush with the statue (although the knot isn’t bad) with some minor imperfections around the buttocks and on the arms. But these are barely noticeable.  Some minor imperfections with the paint job as well with minor discoloration anywhere there is a black band. This includes the arms and the thong around the abdomen.

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Two alternate cast-off aprons result in two different poses. Aprons fit on over the removable head and around the arms, which are also removable. The arms switch out right at the armbands where the small knives are attached.  The arm connections aren’t as snug as I would like and I wonder about how they’ll hold up over time.

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Full apron pose- This is the default. Arms are straight to hold weapons. Apron covers front but allows for breast outlines to be seen.

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Sexy apron pose- This is the alternate. Arms are bent and posed so that Saeko is lifting the apron, which is uplifted. The apron shows Saeko’s breasts through the front.

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Full nude. Either of the aprons can be completely removed with any mix of the arms. The straight weapon arms make the best sense with the full straight nude mode, since the bent arms mode goes along with the uplifted half-naked apron.

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The accessories (bokken, sword, scabbard) fit well into the arms but even new, aren’t perfectly tight. This is always a difficult feature to work in-but the plastic on these is soft, so in the long term probably not going to be one of the more enduring features.    

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The stand is actually bolted to the foot of the statue itself, which suggests its not intended to come off.  This makes it quite stable.

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I have a great fondness for the ‘bad girl’ statues-the attitude, the swords, and the switchable castoffs were all pluses for me. Although no socks to complete the whole outfit-Saeko really has a great pose and works well among my other statues.

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This is one of Yamato’s excellent Tandem Twin line of statues. This one is the Leopard Girl statue line, with the red/pink color and is named Momo.

This is one of Yamato’s excellent Tandem Twin line of statues. These include few archetype statues with different color variants that have different names. As far as I know these aren’t based on known characters in the media. This one is the Leopard Girl statue line, with the red/pink color and is named Momo.

The statues are essentially not poseable except for the right hand that can be moved up and down.

You get one set of head+arms+legs but two alternate abdomens. The statue has two switchable abdomens, one with a sexy but closed bustier (non-naked) and one that is open with breasts exposed (naked) and a base.

The head/arms/legs come off pretty cleanly and allow you to display the character with exposed breasts or not.

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The paint jobs and sculpts on these statues are amazing. Just comparing these against the Ame-Comi statues, there is a huge difference in quality. There are no sloppy paint lines or problematic seams between parts. You can see fine detail on the hair, the bustier strings are clearly defined, the colors are solid. The tail is nice.

Overall composition is solid. The proportions are good. The neck is well-proportioned to the rest of the body (as opposed to other statues with the long-doll like necks). The seams between the parts are good-but if you switch out the pieces too many times the tightness between the parts begins to suffer and you start to see some loosening.

The stand is solid.

People will undoubtedly have their favorite Leopard Girl and, based on availability, I can already see that some are more popular then others. The color schemes are good-but some obviously work a little better than others.

If the statue has any faults, its that the pink doesn’t lend any warmth to Momo’s look. But there’s two others - Shell and Sharon that have richer paint jobs.

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