Figma Inuyasha: The Final Act Kagome Higurashi review

Have you ever questioned when a toy line would not feature a specific character despite being fairly prominent in whatever series they're from? Many examples for me would include when the original MMPR line did not feature a Reta Repulsa to go with your Evil Space Aliens or Rangers despite her being the main villain of Season 1 and having a prototype of her toy in catalog images. It hurts even more when a titular character like Inuyasha has no figure in the Figma line yet his love interest, Kagome, does. Despite Japan's tendency to simp over 2D cartoons from anime of varying quality nowadays, Kagome Higurashi was at least from an era where characters felt like they had layers to them instead of being cum buckets or quirky and that's it. I know some people aren't big fans of her, but at least we can agree that she looks like Rayei Hino. Anyways, let's review this hard-to-obtain Figma.

Here we have Kagome Higurashi in-hand. Straight away, we have to talk about the sculptwork on the school uniform and hair; they're rendered as if they were flowing in the air, which works fine for a pre-posed display piece yet looks a bit weird in a vanilla pose. If you remember the Figuarts of the Sailor Scouts that likely came out years after Kagome's Figma, they rendered their skirts in a more "neutral" look to the fabric, and characters with a similar hair cut like Mars and Venus at least had some parts of their hair on ball joints. Even the tie on the chest is sculpted to be flowing in the wind, though forgive the paint chipping that the previous owner experienced. This is a 15 year old figure after all. The paint used for the rest of the figure is holding up well, and the shade of green better matches the manga's more faded motif than the anime's saturation.

Her head sculpt also goes for the manga route with the shape of the eyes, down to her irises not being brown. Is it me, or do toymakers not have permission to use the Rumic World characters in their anime styles? Not much to say with DBZ since the anime and manga are pretty close in general, while most Sailor Moon merch tends to go the anime route more than Naoko's artstyle. Also, the smile does look a bit strange with the way it's etched and colored, right? Her articulation is standard for the Figma series, with two points of rotation on the neck (for tilting and turning) and a hinge for moving up and down, shoulders that appear to be ball-shaped yet work similarly to the Ranma Figuarts of rotation front and back and hinges in and out. There is a bit of rotation at the biceps, a disk hinge at the elbows, and wrists that rotate yet only hinge in and out like on most Western action figures. She has a diaphragm joint hidden by her shirt, hips that are on ball joints, thigh rotation, disk knees, and ankles that hinge yet only pivot like the old ToyBiz Marvel Legends.

The quiver meant to hold the arrows she comes with not only allows a certain amount to be inserted, but I believe they don't go all the way in. Only the back pieces that the fingers hold whenever she shoots an arrow should be visible, right? Either that or her quiver is oversized. She also comes with her signature bow, though she should come with a slightly curvier one that actually gets used for firing the arrows since the one she's holding is used to whack demons. Idk why the previous seller lost this either AND the display stand. Maybe I should get a more MISB copy.

For a size comparison, here she is with Inuyasha, and if you know how oversized I mentioned Inuyasha was next to the other main faces of the Rumic World, then the height chart between both characters should better illustrate how wrong this scale is! She looks like a kid next to him, even though they should both be at a comparable age range! Either Dasin Model should have made their Inuyasha a head shorter OR make a Kagome part of their line if they intend to make more characters from the series. I know there are people who'd want Sesshomaru and Sango among others in their series, but with how strict Japanese copyright laws are unless there's NSFW fan fiction, combined with their preference over statues, options are limited for these characters. At least like with the Ranma cast, we can have the OTP in action figure form; Lum has no Ataru to go with her unless you count Figuart Mini...kind of like how Goku has no Adult Chi-Chi to go with him unless you count her kid version (which I have no plans to get because look at it). Back to Kagome, I want to recommend her Figma since it's based on a character I have high regard towards, especially in current times where outside of the legacy ones or a few newcomers, most weebs prefer anime girls with one-note personalities or purely for their degenerate fanservice; yet, the prices this goes for combined with the scarcity makes things discouraging. The scale itself is hardly her fault if put next to a third party offering, but Good Smile should have made an Inuyasha to begin with.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

SH Figuarts Ranma 1/2 Shampoo review

We previously took a look at the Ranma duo. If you thought I'd immediately go to the love/hate interest Akane Tendo or the other male character of the series named Ryoga Hibiki, you're unfortunately wrong. As of this moment, both figures are much harder to obtain than either Ranma or Shampoo, the latter of which will be the focus. Like most characters, she is given a curse where she changes form when she gets drenched in water, but she turns into a cat with a fur pattern that looks like her hair from the front rather than becoming a male version of her. Shampoo loves male Ranma and thinks female Ranma is an enemy, and she is also a cook of some sort. We'll see if she can be more valuable than the hair treatment products she is named after!

Here we have Shampoo in-hand, depicting her in a Chinese dress with leggings that are rolled up for her exposed ankles while an apron is put over her body. Shampoo's anatomy remains close to the anime she appeared in, and I also like the way the fleshtone looks consistent on the ankles, forearms, and face. It is an overall successful recreation of the character's appearance in the anime (and by extension, the manga that spawned the anime), though I'm sure some will mention how the characters tend to have bigger or smaller eyes depending on the main animator, though the figure suffers from having a larger set of hair that will undoubtedly weigh her back somewhat. There is a fix to this, though I find that better tolerances could save from stumbling over if she is standing upright.

Her head sculpt has the eyes shaped to somewhat have that Chinese ethnicity to her, which is a trait that makes her distinct from the other characters in the series who, despite hailing from Japan, do not bear Japanese characteristics to their faces. The purple hair has a lovely brush to almost make it appear black as it fades to the bangs and the bottom of the strands on the back. I also love the red and gold on the ribbons and hairbands that go on the sides. Her accessories include a bowl of ramen, a delivery box that reads "okamochi", a relaxed face, a happy face, a side-eye face, her cat form, six pairs of hands, a set of hands cupped together, a neck support piece, and the parts necessary for his stand.

The articulation is about the same as the other Ranma figures, though the skirt does limit her leg movement (not to the same extent as Akane's). While she can grip the box without issue on the handle, her bowl can only rest in place, so be sure not to let it stumble over! That and the food itself being a separate peace from the bowl means you better not lose either piece! Thankfully, getting any of her hands in place is nowhere near as annoying as with Ryoga, even the option with both hands cupped together. As for the neck support, what it basically does is remove the additional hinge joint for moving up and down to make her head flop around less due to the weight of her hair. It still flops around a bit, though now at the neck. Come to think of it, with most Figuarts having this engineering for the neck joints, it makes one wonder how easy it is to remove them for swapping onto other bodies.

Taking a closer look at the box, ramen bowl, and Shampoo's cat form, and the paint work is great to see on all 3 accessories. I appreciate that the handle is painted in a flat deco to contrast the metal box. The ramen bowl looks rich in detail to distinguish each of the ingredients used to make ramen (which is ironic since I never tried ramen before). As for the cat form, I'd argue it's done better than the P-Chan accessory, from the fade of pink to a very faint lavender. She is pre-posed but there is rotation at the neck.

Here she is next to the Black Series Bossk figure I reviewed along with Dengar. With her being of average Asian height, this scale makes sense if you wanted to do any wacky crossovers with Star Wars and Ranma characters. Should you? Who knows. But I do recommend Shampoo overall. While I wish she was as affordable as the prices she used to go for, she makes for a cuter contrast to the more comedic characters we previously covered. She doesn't have any expressions showing anger nor dismay; in a way, she could pass for a generic Chinese restaurant waitress if you have no interest in Ranma 1/2 but want this figure to make a restaurant display involving her. But good luck with the aftermarket prices!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

S.H. Figuarts Dragon Ball Z Frieza Final Form review

Frieza's had numerous forms in Dragon Ball Z, which made sense when he was a frequent threat up until his demise. I always felt the final form was his best look, and it's a trait I find similar to Perfect Cell compared to the other designs. The stark white and purple accents are also fitting for an evil color scheme, especially given how it just adds to his unusual character design overall. I just find his final form to truly embody the character better than the others, not to mention how he radiates his genocidal hatred towards the Saiyans and Namekians better than with his previous forms. Off topic, but I always found it amusing when Nitro Rad reviewed the guilty pleasure I call Frogger: The Great Quest, the floating animation Frogger makes looks as if "Frieza's coming to take your toes". I'd be afraid if he went "this little piggy" on my feet, so let's review him and keep him happy. Frieza, that is, not Frogger.

Here we have Frieza in-hand. Don't be alarmed, his tail comes detached out of the box. I love the pearlescent white plastic used on the figure, which thankfully is accompanies with some blue shading to simulate his skin in the series. And that's nothing to say about the sexy metallic purple on his head, shoulders, torso, and limbs. While he may come off as petite despite this being part of his design, he has a decently muscular build which would help him greatly during his battle against the Z-Fighters. The feet are appropriately alien, though I have to criticize either the design of the character or the way the figure was made because he has a hard time standing upright due to the lack of any people heels. Likely in an attempt to keep the aesthetics of his feet intact while also retaining any ankle pivot the pegs of the feet are inserted horizontally rather than diagonally. The lack of a heal spur doesn't help much either, especially in some poses. That and it'll cause some issues if the tail isn't posed to make him a tri-pod. That's the only flaw on this figure so far, so it's amusingly referred to as an Achilles' Heel. 

His head sculpt captures that irredeemable nature of the character, from the sinister grin to the shape of the eyes as if they're permanently stuck like that given his personality. When it comes to the Z era, there's no doubt the villain designs always nail that look of never turning a new leaf apart from examples like Buu and Piccolo Jr. His accessory tray includes a halo ring, two alternate heads, two splayed open hands, two relaxed hands, two right hands meant for pointing or gesturing, crosses arms for him to swap with, his tail, a pair of feet with toes curled in, and a 5-star Namekian Dragon Ball.

The articulation on this figure consists of a double ball jointed neck, shoulder movement on rotator joints, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double jointed elbows, wrist balls that can rotate at two points and hinge in the middle, two ball joints in the torso, ball jointed hips with a drop down system, thigh rotation, double jointed knees, and ankles that swivel, hinge, and pivot. The tail itself can swivel and hinge at the base, though it is at least sculpted in a not-so-neutral curl.

Of note the tail is either helpful for him to stand upright or can have him fall back given it adds some extra weight. Also his neutral head is the only one allowed to use the halo ring since it includes the slit meant for the neutral head.

As far as his prior designs are concerned, I love how they use a bit of pink to them as if they simulate exposed skin, though apart from the white and purple motif, some could easily confuse these as separate characters instead of parts of Frieza's evolution, kind of like what Cell went through. Form 1 has a pod no doubt similar to the one Eggman rides on, Form 2 is appropriately muscular and almost comes across as impenetrable, and Form 3 has that Xenomorph look to him. Almost like Form 2 and the Alien Queen had a bastard child.

For a size comparison, who else but Goku to be the figure I use? Their stare down is possible, but they can't pull off the exact posture due to the limited range their torso joints have. That, and Frieza is hard to keep on his feet at times. With that said, Frieza's an otherwise strong figure to get in the Dragon Ball Z line. He sucks at standing at times but excels in everything else. He has been around for a while but I recommend you get him for less than $40, which was what he cost at the time IIRC. Hopefully, those other forms and Future Frieza don't suck at standing. 

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Dasin Model Inuyasha review

Remember when I talked about how Good Smile didn't make an Inuyasha Figma but Kagome did? Yes, they did not make a poseable action figure for the titular character. I know Japanese merch always favors female characters, but what kept them from making a figure of Ol Mutt Face himself? Was the outfit going to be hard to do despite it being comparable to Goku, whose numerous figures had baggy clothes that can still retain their look in spite of added articulation? Anyways, 13 years after Inuyasha: The Final Act came out, Dasin Model remembered the iconic anime protagonist and made a seemingly legit yet surprisingly unofficial figure of Inuyasha. So sit, boy; we're going to review what we should have had back in 2010.

 

Here we have Inuyasha in-hand. This figure uses cloth goods rather than sculpting his outfit in plastic. I personally never felt sure if I would be a fan of this approach; I never grew up with the Mego line, and I do find the approach works much better with the Hot Toys line than I do figures in this scale. It's just the doll-like compromises that make him feel less compelling than a statue or poseable figure. Sure, he has a body underneath all those cloth goods that is more poseable than the average Mego or Barbie doll, and I could see it being inspired by the articulation that Mezco uses for their Marvel and DC characters; it's just something you'd call an acquired taste. Given how puffy Inuyasha's design sort of looks with those robes, this may have been easier to with than compromising him with articulation cuts. To his benefit, the stitching is generally good on him, and the size of it at least fits his character design better than on most figures with cloth goods. While his hands are swallowed underneath his huge sleeves, at least his feet are visible AND don't make him fall over too easily. 

His head sculpt takes a few cues from the Ranma Figuarts by adding a bit of a shadow in the tops of the eyes, and I appreciate how the hair has a bit of paint applied to make it appear less plasticky. I believe the lighting adds an effect where it fades from white to grey at the bottoms in a naturalistic look. I also dig that the ears are painted with the pink underneath to simulate the skin. His accessory trays include a yelling face, a happy face, two different demon faces, a collar-like item known as the Beads of Subjugation that Kagome uses to control him, his Tessaiga sword in sheathed, regular, and enlarged forms, and 10 pairs of alternate hands. He also comes with a display base with two necks and claws each in different sizes.

The articulation on this figure isn't as hard to calculate as much as I anticipated, even with the cloth goods. He has a ball joint at the head and one for the neck, shoulders on rotation cuffs a la McFarlane's lines, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double-jointed elbows, wrists on rotation and hinge joints reminiscent of Figuarts in general, a double diaphragm joint, hips that move front and back as well as in and out, thigh rotation, double jointed knees, and ankles that swivel, hinge, and like my concerns on this figure's cloth goods going from hesitant to relieved, pivot.

The stitching seems to hold up so far on my copy, though I still recommend being careful with this figure as you would with any action figure that uses cloth goods. Same thing for the swords; they're durable and undoubtedly non-kid friendly compared to the flexible materials most mass retail companies use for their action figures, so be sure not to snap them! I like that we got him either in a neutral stare, yelling, or laughing, though a smirking one would be neat.

As for the demon faces, they appear almost similar at first, though the one in the pic on the left is staring off at one direction with a growling mouth while the other one is a bit more neutral. They're still a neat way to let you simulate those rare moments when Inuyasha became corrupted and was saved from this transformation when Kagome's love kicks in. Certainly a way to contrast the tone of this series compared to the rest of the Rumicverse.

With the faces and both parts of the hair being removable, and the locks on ball joints, I kind of wish there was a optional human Inuyasha parts to represent when he was under the influence of the New Moon, giving him black hair at the cost of his dog demon powers. Would have been a great way to simulate that brief yet memorable look with the way the head is assembled, no?

Of note, my copy's flight stand can't work properly. The base's peg holes are so tight that it's leaving me wondering what the hell is wrong with the pegs. Meanwhile, the figure turned out to stand fine enough without any aid, so I guess it's a bonus for anyone who lucked out.

Here he is behind fellow Rumicverse characters Lum Invader and Ranma Saotome. Did you know both male Ranma and Inuyasha share a voice actor in the form of Richard Ian Cox in the US dubs as well as Kappei Yamaguchi in the Japanese originals? As for Cox, he also voiced Goku but he is not from the Rumicverse but you'll see him in another review after this! This figure is taller than both the Figma and the Figuart, what with Inuyasha being 1/10 scale and the others being 1/12 scale. Inuyasha is 5'6", male Ranma is 5'7", and Lum is 5 feet; with that logic, Ranma should be slightly taller than Inuyasha while Lum should not be that short in comparison. Honestly, this figure turned out a lot better than I anticipated. I was happy to see a fully poseable Inuyasha figure after Figma only made Kagome for some reason. Very strange when you consider who's the titular character in the series but I digress. Dasin Model's Inuyasha is an unofficial item so you'll have to find this at any site run by Chinese sellers, or at least get a legitimate eBay seller in that country to help you for any aftermarket deals. Good luck.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐