If it seems like just last week that I was checking out one of Koto’s Bishoujo statues, that’s because it was just last week. But every time I get a new one of these, it puts me on the hunt for more and shortly after opening Kitty Pryde, I was quick to hunt down one that’s been on my want list for a long while. Yes, Storm! I’m not quite the X-Men fan that I was a decade and a half ago, but this piece has had my attention for a while now, and the time was right to add her to my collection.

The packaging offers Bishoujo collectors no surprises. It’s the typical white window box adorned with some beautiful character art and some shots of the statue itself. It’s a pretty tall box for what we’ll see is a pretty tall statue. As usual, you can get a little taste of what’s inside from the windows, but thanks to some protective plastic wrap, you’ll need to open her up to get a good look.

Storm comes between two plastic trays and already attached to her base. You do, however, get some effects parts, including two swappable hands and some lightning effects. This is the first Bishoujo statue in my collection with this feature, so I’m rather excited to try it out. But first, let’s see how Ororo looks out of the box.

Wow! That’s my first reaction to getting her set up. I’ll take this moment to reinforce the fact that I am not particularly a Storm fanboy, so most of the wow factor here lies solely in Koto’s work on this piece rather than blind affinity for the character. For starters, she is really big. She’s the same 1/7 scale as her fellow sisters in the line, but thanks to the elevated base, the soles of her boots start right about at knee level with other statues in standing poses. Furthermore, the way she’s posed with her arms up and outward and her hair spread out around her, just adds to this statue’s perceived size. It’s a powerful and majestic pose, conveying action in a statue isn’t always an easy thing to do, but Storm’s pose and sculpt does it brilliantly.

The skimpy black two-piece costume and thigh high boots are painted in high gloss black and contrast nicely with her matte mocha colored skin. The sculpted bellowing effect on her cape is particularly well done with the ends attached to her bracers, spreading it out like a set of wings. Koto could have gone in a lot of directions with Storm’s outfit, as she’s had a lot of different looks, but I’m mighty glad they went with this one. It just looks fantastic and it suits the titilating theme of the line.

The portrait is pretty standard bishoujo fare. Storm’s head is angled downward with her shimmering blue eyes looking up. She has a bit more of a stern expression than many of her fellow statues, but she’s still adorable and it complements the pose rather well. The pearlescent hair flies up and around her head from the electrified atmosphere around her. Again, I’m impressed by the level of energy conveyed in this static piece.

The base is clear blue plastic with a small circular disc and a sculpted tornado rising up for Storm to stand on. I’m not usually a fan of the translucent bases, but in this case the effect works pretty well for water. As simple as it is, I think this is one of the coolest looking bases in my Bishoujo collection so far.

As mentioned, you get some effect pieces which include two swappable hands and a set of electric halos that fit on her wrists. The pieces are blue translucent plastic. Popping out the standard hands is easy enough.  I appreciate the effort here, but I don’t plan on using them. The pose exudes enough energy without the needing the extra help.

Yup, Storm is an amazing statue, and she is currently one of my favorite pieces on my Bishoujo shelves. In fact, I’d probably put her right in line with Wonder Woman and Power Girl as my current top three Bishoujos. She commands a lot of attention on the shelf, not only due to her size and majestic pose, but also a superb sculpt. I picked her up on Amazon for only $40, which is a pretty amazing price for a statue that should be appreciating on the basis of its merit alone. I love this piece so much, I may actually hunt down the white costumed variant.