This is a review of an absolutely adorable little girl who is about to lose her toast! Well, that's what it looks like anyway.
Check past the jump to see what Kotobukiya brought with their Takamachi Nanoha Uniform Version figure, based on Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st.
Figure Name: 1/8-scale Nanoha Takamachi - Uniform Version -
Figure Maker: Kotobukyia
Retail Price: ¥5,800
Available at: AmiAmi | HobbyLink Japan | Hobby Search
This time around the box we're looking at is colorful. Vibrant! I love the design, with little star-shaped windows, and everything going along with the pictures of the figure and the design it's based on.
Once you take her out, the only assembly required is plugging in her foot (which is screwed to a "platform") into the base. The base itself is plain, a pearly white round base with a bit of elevation for the figure. She's on one foot, which is usually cause for concern for a lot of collectors, but I don't think she'll have any leaning issues. Her pose is pretty balanced, after all.
Speaking about her pose: what's going on here? She's slipping one of her shoes on while looking surprised that there is a piece of toast flying away from her mouth. She looks like she's just bounding out of her home to rush over to school.
The dress she has on is plain white with some dark blue accents and a red ribbon in the front. The top part is reminiscent of the typical navy style uniforms, but the skirt is fuller, and she's wearing long sleeves. I personally like the change, and the green frills underneath add a great touch.
Her bag is only barely held shut, and she's got a little fuzzy companion (Yuno) in there, the tail coming out of one side and the head peeking out the other. For all we know, it's just waiting to pounce on that bread once it's left the vicinity of Nanoha's mouth.
The toast itself is, well, just a piece of toast. It looks nice and toasty the way toast tends to look. There isn't much to it, and it isn't attached to her mouth and being eaten, rather it's closer to her chin area. I'm not sure why; I guess it ups the "moe" factor.
This time around, there are no panty shots to be had. I'm not upset by this considering she appears to be very young, but I am glad that regardless of the lack of pantsu there are some pretty green frills to look at. She's also wearing dorky green socks that go up halfway to her knees.
Her shoes are just plain brown loafers. Nothing special or snazzy here.
Here's the front of her top that I mentioned. We've got a little red bow in front of the navy style jacket top and a little indistinct emblem on the side. Nothing too detailed here, but nonetheless I appreciate a good clean paint job.
Moving back up at her head, the last bit of green to tie in the ensemble can be found on the ribbons in her hair. She's got her hair tied into cute pigtails and after crossing the seam we get to her lovely, surprised-looking face:
Boom. Cuteness. But you already knew that, didn't you?
I really enjoyed taking a look at this figure for review. At a glance, she looks like a boring figure with not much to offer. At least, at first, that's what it looked like to me. Just a little girl running with toast flying out of her mouth.
The more time I spent with Nanoha taking pictures and all that, though, the cuter I find her to be. I like the way the colors come together so well, I love that she's wearing a longer skirt and I like the expression on her face. She isn't doing one of those "shy" looks, or your generic smile, or sneer, or whatever else. She just looks surprised, or like she's in a hurry. There's genuine expression there, and the movement is well portrayed.
Alas, I don't know much of anything about the character since I haven't watched Nanoha or seen the illustration that this is based on before (apparently that came out in 2010). Fans of the character will likely be pleased with such a figure, given how cute she looks and everything as an elementary school girl. Those of you who don't know a thing about her will probably end up charmed as well, especially if moe is a strong factor in your figure collecting. She is a breath of fresh air.
Props go to Kotobukiya for providing Tomopop with this review sample. She's still pretty widely available and not badly priced, either. Do check out the rest of the gallery for images not included in the main review, and leave your comments and feedback below!
