Anime Import Week is entering its final phase as I’m finishing it off with two Figmas from two anime series for which I have a lot of affection. Today’s, however, is one that inexplicably none of my anime-watching friends (OK, all three of them) have ever seen and that is the excellent Muv-Luv Alternative Total Eclipse. Previously, I’ve looked at three pieces of merch from this series in the form of Kotobukiya’s 1/8 Scale Statues of Yui Takamura, Inia Sestina, and Cryska Barchenowa. Today I’m checking out Figma’s version of Yui.
The packaging is pretty standard stuff, especially if you have a few Figmas in your collection. You get a window box that offers a good look at the figure and I love how the side panel of the box displays artwork of the figure for easy reference, because I tend to keep these lined up on a bookshelf. As far as packages go, it’s simple, attractive, functional, and collector friendly, so what more could you want?
Inside the box you get the figure, two additional portriats, two swords (one in scabbard and one out), a sprue of three additional pairs of hands, a figure stand, instruction sheet, and the ubiquitious Figma Ziploc bag for the extra parts.
Yui comes clad in her Type-00 Fortified Pilot Suit, which is recreated here in splendid detail. It’s a design that manages to preserve her shapely curves and yet adds on some more angular armor bits in strategic places, like her boots, wrists, and shoulders. Every part of the suit’s detail, including the panel lines, are part of the sculpt and the mustard, black, and purple paint is beautifully applied with just the right amount of sheen. The only quality issue I can see on my figure is a little nick to the paint on her left knee.This is easily my favorite, and arguably the most distinctive, TSF pilot suit in the series, and this figure nails the look perfectly.
Yui’s portraits include a somewhat passive face, a slightly sad face, and a shouty face, all of which include the sculpted chin and cheek guards from her suit. The hair is cast in a very soft plastic, which is very helpful since there’s a lot of it and some of it cascades down the front of her shoulders in two strands. It still makes it a little difficult to get a full range of motion out of her neck articulation, but I’d like to imagine the suit would have had some restrictive tendencies as well.
The hands include a pair of fists, a pair of relaxed hands, and two pairs designed for holding the sword, one rather tightly and another angling it.
Lastly, we have the two versions of the sword. The unsheathed version features a silver blade, although no painted hamon line, and a nicely detailed grim and tsuba. The version in the scabbard has the option to pull out the hilt piece if you want her holding both the loose sword and the scabbard, which is a great little touch. The scabbard doesn’t attach anywhere to the figure, but then I don’t remember her ever actually wearing it, so I’m going to say that’s accurate.
The figure stand is typical Figma fare. It’s functional, but I tend to find these stands to feel rather cheap, particularly in the base. I’ll also note here that the peg that secures into the back is not a good fit and I really have to twist it and apply a lot of force to get it in far enough to support the figure. In this regard, I tend to prefer the quality and design of Figuarts stands over these.
I’ve had my eye on this figure for a while now and only recently pulled the trigger because she turned up at a great price on Amazon, which put her at under $40. Yeah, I already have Koto’s superb statue of her, but she’s a great character with a great design, and ultimately I decided that I needed her in poseable figure form as well. I don’t believe that Inia ever got the Figma treatment, but Cryska did, and I’m certainly satisfied enough with this figure that I can easily see myself picking her up at some point down the line.