Without a doubt, this fun-looking Kirino prize figure, meant to be paired with a similarly dressed Kuroneko (who I didn't buy), is one of my more anticipated releases from 2011. She just looks so cute! I love the idea of the two main girls of OreImo dressing up like the duo that sings the OP (Irony by ClariS), especially since the results are so visually pleasing.
Follow me down to check her out from head to toe; find out whether she's worth the scratch!
Figure Name: Kousaka Kirino Irony ver.
Figure Maker: Sega
Retail Value: ¥1,500
Available at: Play-Asia
The box isn't anything special, so let's just get it out of the way. You'll notice Kirino isn't in there - it's because I couldn't resist pulling her out the second I got her in at home. The box also came a little damaged, but I'm alright with that. The sides each have the same graphic on it, the front a big window, and the back our usual information. Moving on!
Here she is from the front. Now, the first thing I noticed when I pulled her out of the tray is, dang what an ugly base! It's just a big, round, pastel pink plastic base. What gives?
After putting all this together and building a background that matched, it turned out to be just right. The base went perfectly with my setup here!
Now, just looking at the two above images, you've already got lots of features to take in. She's got this sheer sort of skirt over her white and gray striped one, socks and heels (which are one piece and share the same coat of paint), some jewelry, hair clips and a microphone with an octopus hanging from it.
For a prize figure, there is plenty of detail to take in. Some of them have their molding or paint flaws to be sure, but as is usually the case, you only see them when you're focusing on the scuff marks and blotches.
If anything, the only truly distracting issue I had was this particular smudge: A hair-colored goof on her pastel pink hat! I'm not going to be looking at her from behind most of the time, though, so it didn't upset me too much. I haven't tried cleaning up the figure yet either, so who knows, this blotch may even be removable.
Another issue I had, and to some folks this might seem like more of a big deal, is her right foot didn't go flush on the base (this is more apparent in the full-body images than just above this text). On top of that, it looks like the peg is breaking. When it didn't set on the base properly, I took her off it and tried again, etc. Now it looks like the peg hole just wasn't the right shape, which is unfortunate and hopefully just my personal issue. Aside from this, you'll see above what I meant about the socks and shoes being one painted piece. Not a deal-breaker.
Going back to better points, here's another look at her skirt and waist. She's got some blue beads around her waist and her chemise has some nice molding to it. The skirt itself is, as I mentioned this white and gray striped thing with some frills under and a sheer layer over it. The sheer layer looks different depending on how I look at it. Sometimes it looks nice and liquid-y, other times like a fogged up sheet of plastic or even wax that was molded over the skirt. I think the better lit she is, the better it looks.
This particular image is supposed to be more about the hair than anything else, but since she's all in focus, you could also see some of the detail on her glove, there. She's got a bracelet, or watch, or something on, and a little smudging in the paint.
The hair itself is great. I really like the flow, though the shading is a bit off. On one side of the seam her hair is much lighter than the other side. Like I said, though... the hair is great. I forgive the shading issue since I got nice molding.
Here we go. See? Nice and clean and even. I love this hair!
Her face is pretty sweet, too. Now that I've mentioned all the other stuff, it's about time I got to the main feature, right? Her bangs have some smudges on them I'll try and clean off later, but her face was perfectly clean. She's got those moe blush-y marks and a big smile. Her eyes are nice and clean, which is a relief.
Scuff marks and stuff (like the hair shading issue I mentioned, which is much more apparent in the above picture) come with the territory when it comes to these prize figures, but most of the time the price is (still) right. I love that a bunch are coming out for Kirino since I like the character so much; and to be honest, despite being a "schoolgirl" type my Kirino collection contains more figures of her without the school uniform than with.
Photographing Kirino was a fun time. I haven't done any sort of creative set ups for my figure reviews in a while, so it was nice to combine my love for outdoor shooting with some better backgrounds for a change. Huzzah for great weather!
I didn't buy the Kuroneko counterpart figure because I've simply not been interested in any of the ones I've seen. Now that I've received and thoroughly fallen in love with this figure though, I'm actually tempted to get the pair so they can sing a duet on my shelf! If that ever happens, I'll be sure to do another shoot featuring the both of them together. While Kirino is mostly sold out where I've looked around for her, Kuroneko is thankfully still available at some places.
Until then, be sure you check the gallery for other images of Kirino or details I mentioned which didn't make it to the body of this post!
For you folks who did purchase this figure, I'm definitely interested in knowing whether you had any similar scuffing or painting issues, and especially if you had any problems with her foot pegs! Be sure to leave a comment below.
