Characters

Aria Company
 Alicia (left) Akari (middle) President Aria (right)

These two are the most carefree, and seem to enjoy themselves the most. Alicia is very polite and composed. Akari often makes silly faces in surprise/excitment but is fairly observant. Akari moved to Aqua because something seemed empty about the inconvenience-free way life is lived back on Manhome. Plus it’s her dream to become an Undine. Aria Company only has these two employees and Alicia is Akari’s mentor. Alicia is one of the 3 top Undines on the planet.

Himeya Company
President Hime (top) Aika (middle) Akira (bottom)

These two are the ones with a temper and have considerable pride. Aika is befriended by Akari when she finds her hanging around Aria Company. Aika admires Alicia more than any other Undine in the world. Akira is Aika’s mentor and she is also one of the top 3 Undines. The two of them are a part of Himeya Company that is over 100 years old and has many employees.

Orange Planet
Alice (left) Athena (right) President Maa (Athena’s shoulder)

This duo are soft spoken and shy in comparison to the rest of the Undines listed above. Alice is a genuis newbie Undine and Athena is her mentor (and roommate). Akari and Aika were impressed with Alice’s skills and insisted on having lunch with her. Athena is known for her beautiful singing and is also one of the top 3 Undines in the world.  Orange Planet is a newer company but it’s large and already well respected.

I’ve found yet another love, Aria is a great series. I love the beauty of the world, and the beauty (inside and out) of all the characters. If I had to compare this series to another one it would be Yotsuba. Yotsuba’s message is to ”Enjoy Everything”, and Aria shares this same message. Yotsuba creates realistic joyful events that make you fully embrace the message. Now Aria’s events aren’t realistic since they’re world is science fiction, but I’d say that this message/theme is also the one that is most dominant in Aria. I enjoy all of Akari’s adventures, they often include mythological creatures and myths.

Art
This series has some INSANELY gorgeous illustrations. So much care is put into the scenery that illustration is worthy of being framed and hung on a wall. As for the characters themselves you can’t help but want to approach them and step into their world. If there was ever a series/world I wanted to be a part of, it would be the world of Aqua in Aria. I’ve noticed that Dancing Queen’s Room seems to have a lot of beautiful Aria illustrations displayed. Also Wolf Hurricane has posts on all 3 of the art books released from this series (Alpha, Stella, Cielo ) 

Read the ANN article here

I’ve been purposely avoiding reading this series for a while now. Why? Well look at who owns the rights to it…Tokyopop. They already put Aria on “indefinite delay” status once, luckily that was retracted and volume 5 was released November 2009. The series is currently complete at 12 volumes in Japan, and we’re at only 5 released with no prospective date for a release on Volume 6. I was worried about the heart break of having an unfinished series that is owned by a company that stops scanlations from being available. So that was the main reason I took so long to try it out. Aria first belonged to ADV, and then Tokyopop rescued it from them, but will someone have to rescue it from Tokyopop? Well Aria is such an amazing series I have great hope that if Tokyopop goes under someone will save it.

In the meantime I’ll start the anime and pray that I get to see the end of this series in manga form someday.

Out of about 500 figures in my collection (that includes trading figures) 56 are male specimens and 21 of those men are One Piece figures.

This might be a trend more-so for the under served female fans of figures, but when debating which figures are worth what dollar amount to me, a good male figure gets more points. Now that isn’t to say that any figure of a male character will do. But the ones that are serious contenders for my money get extra points. Especially if it’s at the pre-order stage, it seems like all the male figures I’ve gone after became scarce pretty soon after they’re released. So I can’t imagine I’m alone in the desire for more male figures. Although I will admit I’ve seen more male figures recently than when I first started collecting.

What brought this up? Well I had been aware of the existence of Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler) for a while now, but I hadn’t taken the time to experience it yet. I had a false understanding of the type of character Sebastian was, and the type of series it is. Now that I’ve started reading the manga I’ve realized that I REALLY like it, and it’s NOTHING like I imagined it would be…I want a figure of Sebastian! Now I was going to get the nendoroid at first, but when I realized I was having difficulty gatting a real one at a good price I switched my goals. I decided I may as well just spend a chunk more to get the Static Arts figure of Sebastian. Currently that (to me) is the ultimate representation of Sebastian.

When I go after something as limited as the Square-Enix Static Arts Sebastian I wrestle with the thought for a day or so. To make sure I won’t have any regrets. For example what if I spend $130 + shipping on the Square-Enix Sebastian and he is announced as the 5th male figure from the GEM line? Will I be regretful? Even if the pose is similar, I don’t think I’ll regret spending what I did to get this Sebastian. Even if the exact same figure is re-released (which is probably pretty unlikely) I’ll have to pay for shipping from Japan and the proxy fee. After that point I probably would only save ABOUT $30 on what I’m spending today for him. There is a little guesswork involved, but $30 seems about right based on past experiences. I see it as a $30 gamble that he will never be re-released, and that’s a gamble I’m willing to take in this case. Not to mention its been my experience that when a scaled figure gets a re-release…it’s sometimes at a price higher then what it was on the first release. If that’s the case the savings become pretty small. Plus a quality figure of a MALE CHARACTER that I like? That’s what sealed the deal. Although all this blabber and reasoning might just be me trying to encourage myself to accept the pricetag.

On a side note I noticed that Hobbyfan had the Sephiroth (FFVII) Static Arts figure for pre-order at almost half the Retail Price ($85 pre-order). I liked this figure, but not enough to spend $150 on him, now that I see him at that price I can’t say no. I’m determined to purchase his Cloud counterpart as well, I believe I’ve found one for $114 but it’s a shame I can’t seem to get as good of a deal on him as Sephiroth. Final Fantasy VII is an unforgetable series for me, I won’t say it’s my all time favorite game, but it’s definitely up there. So that (and the male figure thing) are why I’m ok with dropping most of my figure budget for this month on these two. Sephiroth and Cloud have very little presence in my collection currently and with these additions they’ll get the honor they deserve.

This paragraph is a bit of an update, I had mentioned to my favorite proxy that I was looking for a Sebastian Nendoroid, and he offered his last one to me at $50 (EMS Shipping included). I couldn’t say no! It was an extremely reasonable offer considering that shipping was included. Not to mention I was getting it from someone I trusted. The nendo was unplanned and I used skipping it to justify buying the Sebastian figure…but OH WELL. I look forward to the Ciel nendo! How can I resist Sebastian and that face while holding a cat! The cat lover in me can’t resist that aspect of his character.

Men I Want a Quality Figure Of!
Ren (Skip Beat!)
Sho (Skip Beat!)
Shannon (Scrapped Princess)
Touya (Cardcaptor Sakura)
Guts (Berserk)
Shigure (Fruits Basket)
Sousuke (Full Metal Panic)
Tasuki (Fushigi Yugi)
Ginko (Mushishi)
Kakashi (Naruto)
Mugen (Samurai Champloo)
Jin (Samurai Champloo)
Kurogane (Tsubasa)
Fai (Tsubasa)
Black Star (Soul Eater)
Death the Kid (Soul Eater)
Adult Simon (TTGL)
Zero (Vampire Knight)
Larva (Vampire Princess Miyu)
Yusuke (Yu Yu Hakusho)
Suzaku (Code Geass)
Eclipse (Demon Diary)
Rock (Black Lagoon)
Chrno (Chrno Crusade)
Adult Raki (Claymore)
Sanzo (Saiyuki)

Some quality figures of these characters may exist…but I just don’t own them. For example there are some good ones of Guts, and the recent cold cast ones of Mugen and Jin aren’t bad. But money/timing reasons have kept me from being able to own them.

This version of KOS-MOS has been on my wishlist since I first started collecting figures 3 years ago. I had played with the idea on buying her on eBay many times. But every time I looked, she was at a price I couldn’t bring myself to pay. BUT THEN a miracle! Alter re-released their 2nd version of KOS-MOS! although Alter’s 2nd KOS-MOS release is called version 4? No idea why, maybe it’s her 4th look in the games? I made myself very content with that figure and pushed thoughts of the first version out of my mind. On a whim one day I looked for her on eBay and was THRILLED to see her for sale at a reasonable price. Well I admit the auction had her at more then what I paid, but when a seller has the “Make an Offer” option active, I can’t help but try and get a detter deal!

I used to stubbornly grumble and whine at the rising prices of figures today. For example, I grumbled that later MF releases of Haruhi figures cost me $80+ when the first Haruhi from this line cost me a mere $35 new from HLJ. Others have rightfully mentioned to me that it’s because the quality is getting better that prices are risisng, and I agreed that it’s true, but I was still grumpy. But I truly see the differences in quality over time when I was taking pictures of my newest figure, KOS-MOS. This was released in 2005 for a retail at approximately $50, and it’s a lovely figure. But if you put her next to some of Alter’s more recent releases, she can’t hold a candle to them in terms of quality and detail.

But recommend this KOS-MOS figure! I know, I just said her quality doesn’t compare to the Alter figures of today, but I don’t regret this purchase. She cost me $58 new, and I bought her understanding that there would be a difference in quality compared to the figures today that cost twice as much. If you understand that, and get her for a good price, I recommend you get her. I think the pose of this figure is striking, it’s simple, but it really grabs my eye. I love that she is twisting to look back at you, not many figures have an angle like this one. I also kind of like that the gun is in the hand that is on the other side of the figure. Seems like she is dangerously conceling her weapon! I’m a sucker for female figures wielding guns, so this figure appeals to at least one of my weaknesses/fetishes already.

I’m not always fond of hair that is a bit translucent, but on KOS-MOS it works. I wouldn’t have her hair any other way. I’m also a big fan of her single garter, and the coloring/shape of her outfit across her stomach. My only complaint is probably that they could have made the base a little more interesting, but it’s certainly not a deal breaker in this case. The best aspect of her is the flow created by her hair and her left arm stretching back.

I own the Xenosaga games but I haven’t played them yet, my Backloggery of video games is admittedly getting a bit out of hand. But regardless I’m fascinated by KOS-MOS, I really like her character designs throughout the games. She really is a well designed character, at least in terms of her looks. Since I haven’t played the games yet, I’d say I’m a casual fan of KOS-MOS (as a character) at the moment.

Of the two KOS-MOS figures I own, I prefer Version 2 in the end, but they both have their merits that I admire and I’m happy to have them both. Now if only I could own the 1/4th scale Volks KOS-MOS just kidding, that one is beyond my budget.

My love of Candy Boy is something COMPLETELY unexpected for me. I found their relationship wonderful and wholehearted. In any relationships in manga/anime I need to feel a certain something about the interaction between the two characters in order to accept it. But this duo won me over completely during their short anime series, I would love it if there was a Candy Boy 2.

EDIT: Brain fart, these were made by Good Smile Company. Not Max Factory.

Although honestly…I don’t need to know anything about the characters or the anime to love these figures. The poses are wonderful. The character designs are lovely, and they manage to look unique in school uniform. In fact I had them pre-ordered before I even knew who they were! They were some of my most looked forward to figures this year. My excitement for them was on the same level as my excitement for Distant Avalon Saber.

Ok…so this review could be considered a bit incomplete. Why? Well the moment I saw the duo in their poses with interlocking fingers there was NO QUESTION about how I would display them. I opened them as soon as I got them, and stored the boxes in bins in the basement. If I had planned things right then I would have taken images of the boxes unopened followed by individual photos of each girl with her alternate arms. I promise to be more thorough in the future

I put this pair in the center of my shelf at eye level (my favorite spot for figures). I probably won’t buy any more figures from this series though. Why? Because I feel that these figures perfectly suit my desires, I won’t buy another figure of Yukino or Kanade if it’s inferior to these ones. It’s rare that the best figure from a series I love, is the first figure that is available for me to order. But often when I see a figure of an unknown character that I find irresistible, I order the figure and THEN watch the anime.

The only thing I might have liked more is if they had included the pair of earrings that Yukino and Kanade bought. Although I could also see how it might look a little weird for them each to have a dangly earring on one ear.

I’m particularly fond of Kanade’s design. I like how she wears her hair up with one lovely curl coming down. But I especially like how she wears some shorts under her skirt. Because when I watch high school anime…I often think about if I were a young girl with a skirt uniform how I would probably wear shorts under my skirt. Not (just) because of pervs, but because it would allow me more freedom of movement without worrying about panty shots.

As a fan of Candy Boy and figures, these figures have my highest recommendation.

Remember how I was talking about how I had a REAL light tent on the way? Well it’s still on the way. I recently realized that the seller sent the item to Tacoma, WA (very far from me). And whatever address they sent it to, signed it, and kept it. So they just sent another one to me, can’t wait. It’ll be nice to have a light tent that is actually collapsible. Hopefully this will help me do better white backgrounds too. I enjoyed this yellow poster for photos, but it easily scratched from the figure bases. I’m going to go back to cloth backgrounds and see how that works out.

If there is an art book I want, but it hasn’t been released in English, I have no problems buying the Japanese version. Not being able to read the “extras” at the end of the book do make me a bit sad. But the main reason I want these books is for the full page illustrations. I’m a big fan of CLAMP illustrations and love their art books. Unfortunately not ALL RG Veda illustrations are in this art book, but a good chunk are. There is another RG Veda art book out there, but the pricetag is too high for my blood. How much did this one cost? The seller’s requested “Buy It Now” price was $48.99, but my offer of $26.00 was accepted and I also got free shipping because I bought several other art books. So don’t hesitate to ever use the “Make an Offer” feature on eBay when it’s available, you may be surprised at the luck of your results.

So this set comes with two books, the top image is of the sleeve that holds the two books together. The book on the left is the one that was my goal, this one contains illustrations from the series RG Veda. The 2nd book is an extra story that is sort of a prequel (not that I can read it). RG Veda was when I was first introduced to the frustration that are OVAs, the episodes gave me a piece of the story, but nothing more. Eventually (many years later) I was able to buy the manga and get the complete story. This series is CLAMP’s debut series and their art style is drastically different today.

This character (Karura-ō) is what drew me into RG Veda, I watched the OVAs on a whim one night. At that time the main way I watched anime was renting from the local video store, and I was running out of series appropriate for my age (at the time). But the image that sticks in my head is of this character and her lovely bird, so when I got a chance to own the manga I jumped at it because 1) I like CLAMP and 2) I wanted to know more about that character.

Also another gorgeous illustration. The illustration is even better when you know more details about these two and their relationship, and their outcome. This is probably my favorite illustration in the entire series.

This is one of the best pictures of the protagonist Ashura. But I think my favorite image of Ashura is the illustration from the Tsubasa Art Book. Ashura was a hard protagonist for me to swallow at first, why? Because CLAMP drew this character so that it could really be a male or female, although I think officially he is male? I’m not 100% sure if Ashura is a male, or if the English translation just made him male to take out the ambiguity of this character’s gender.

There should have been more illustrations of Kujaku! Ok there are actually quite a few of him, he was a great character. I think the illustration that does him the most justice is this one (despite being just Black and White). It’s lovely. Although when you compare his face to Ashura’s it’s every bit as pretty as his, but for some reason his appearance didn’t confuse me as much. Maybe him being bare chested took out any questions my head may have had. The icons below are a mix of some of the black and white images from the first book and some of the images from the side story.

I can understand that it’s a bit hard to enjoy this art style, it’s extremely outdated (early 90’s). But I love illustrations from this time period a lot. Perhaps it’s because that’s when I first began to love anime?