Figure Review: Tomoyo with Apron (Ohtsuka Kikaku)

Cipher — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 17:34:36 +0000

The whole anime blogosphere knows about CLANNAD. Even if it was written in the stars since the beginning of CLANNAD that Nagisa would eventually be the ‘chosen one’ for Tomoya, that did not stop any of us from siding with the likeable other personalities of the supporting cast. While initially a Kotomi fan, Tomoyo grew on me with each episode featuring her, and the promise of an after story devoted to Tomoyo sealed the transition. Also, it just so happened that around the same time, I stumbled upon HappySoda while trying to see some figurine reviews, and if you see the quality of reviews and pictures on that blog, you might understand why I was pushed over the edge of indecision and decided to purchase a figurine.

Of course, purchasing one at local stores is not only limited, but also risky for me due to my inexperience in telling apart bootlegs from originals. And as a lack of luck would have it, I am not about to be able to get Kotobukiya’s Tomoyo Sakagami anytime soon. But as unlucky as I am, I had my stroke of luck in meeting a local figure collector who is very well known and even runs a website for selling figures to local collectors. And the result?

Ohsuka Kikaku isn’t exactly very famous for figurines, but seeing the initial preview shots, I couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps the gamble might be worth it. And well, with the final product in my hands, I can honestly say that I don’t regret the decision to do so. Considering the alternative of waiting on end for a rerelease from Kotobukiya, this figurine satiates the Tomoyo fanboy within me very much, especially considering how I prefer the Tomoyo After artwork style as opposed to Clannad’s. Obviously a very much more adult version of the Tomoyo from Clannad, with observed growth in all the *right* places.

As you can see, the main highlight of this Tomoyo figurine would be the maid apron, and the lack of any other outer clothing apart from it. The details on the ribbon at the back are very well done and would be flawless save for the mould lines, a somewhat recurring problem throughout the figurine. The sheen of the material is not something you see in any normal maid outfit, which is appreciated considering the original art from which this figure drew its concept from, depicting Tomoyo in the same getup and pose, with the apron being transluscent. Perversion or appreciation of beauty? Saa ne…

Another thing I like about the figure is the hair. The hair around the head is not painted in opaque, rather it is semi-translucent, giving a nice reflective touch to the highlight areas of her head. The lower area of her hair is swept to her right slightly, which gives a dynamic feel to the figurine. From the front, you don’t really see the main length of hair, so it looks like she’s static, but from behind, it really gives the impression of her in mid-walk, and at a slightly more adjusted angle, she almost seems to turn to face you.

Her knees are quite subtly defined; Ohtsuka Kikaku apparently chose to let the light play on the slight depressions around her knees, and I am definitely impressed by the results. And also, I think it is quite a statement to the boot design when my sister walks in on me during my photo-shoot, and after a quizzical glance at me, proceeds to note “I love her boots.” I may not be a shoe appreciator myself, but after her comment, I think I’ve come to take to heart the detailed work put into Tomoyo’s boots.

The base is a two-part peg setup. One of it is for direct attaching to Tomoyo’s heels, and the other is for the initial base to be pegged into. This allows for a rotating base, which can be quite handy. The design is simple, no frills or decorations.

So after all that I’ve said and done, how do I feel about the figure? Well, obviously I’ve been happy so far to have her as a first figurine, but it also comes with a painful lesson; when figure collectors treat their collection with utmost care, they really do mean with UTMOST care. It borders on heartbreaking levels to see the scratches on the drinks tray (visible in the apron and gloves shot), due to my negligence of handling the detachable disk. Another major issue is leaning. Being a figure on both legs, I initially expected her not to lean, but after seeing her out of the box, I feared that leaning forward would be a major issue for her, which I was soon proven to be right. Luckily, rectification measures from HappySoda prevented the issue from wrecking my first purchase. Tomoyo now stands on her base which is tilted up to compensate for the leaning, and so far, so good.

As a parting shot, a few more omake shots of Tomoyo:

Last picture has a hint about a feature of the figurine I didn’t review

Well, this is my first photoshoot for figurines, and I have to admit, the quality is quite sub-par, but I’m working with what I have right now, and that means using a ceiling lamp for hairlight, so… Kinda meh. I hope that I can get around to a better photoshoot. Especially disappointed with the shadows on the background. *Sigh*

Starting Off…

Cipher — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:52:30 +0000

Yokoso, Animentality! Random welcome pic is random.

Welcome to the starting point of Animentality, one of the many anime blogs on the Internet. I’m not so sure on what should be a proper beginning for such a blog, but I imagine that it should have something (more or less) on how this blog is going to be, as well as some coverage on the new season of Spring 08 anime. Unfortunately, at point of writing, I can’t say a lot of the new shows are grabbing my attention (currently upkeeping Kanokon and Da Capo II SS), but a few shows have piqued my interest enough, so that lonely list of two is far from set. I may decide to do episodic blog entries as it at least makes me write entries on time, or at least makes me try to anyway. I have a higher tendency to post random musings for serious animes, resulting in possible tl;dr ramblings, so just take this as a word of caution.

That being said, there is much more to anime and otakuism than just the TV (or computer) screen; for me, I take interest in artbooks, anime magazines (MEGAMI woot), conventions, games and even figurines. It’s with that in mind that I will try to post about these such things as well. I’m not exactly very active in any of the fields above (especially conventions), but I will certainly try to keep up with as many as I can. I am a fan of the arcade game Sangokushi Taisen, a hugely popular arcade game in Japan, so you *will* see me go berserk on my post about this game. To be fair, it’s very much anime based, and I’ve always been a fan of the Three Kingdoms story, even if I had to be dragged around by Koei’s reincarnations of it. As an attempt to try and promote the game (or maybe try to justify me rambling about a game no one may understand), I may put up a rough explanation of how the game works.

Hm, ok so let’s review: Possible episodic blogging, ramblings and rantings on random animes, shamelessly showing off acquired anime goods, raving about a game no one outside of Japan may know about and giving personal coverage on any local anime event I attend to? The exit door’s a ‘back’ click away.

But otherwise, welcome to Animentality, and stick around for more.