review: higashikata josuke (banpresto, prize figure)

today, i'll be doing a review on higashikata josuke (mfc entry is here), from banpresto's jojo figure dx collection! (this is my first review for my first jojo figure, and i'm really excited to be writing this!!)

about josuke: higashikata josuke is the main protagonist (the "jojo") of the manga jojo's bizarre adventure part 4: diamond is unbreakable, by araki hirohiko. he's just a regular high school student who has been living a pretty peaceful life in the small town of morioh-cho, but that all changes when some bizarre (heh) events start going down. if you haven't read the manga, i would highly recommend it! (start from part one of jojo, though!)

i'd say that physically, his greatest defining features are his (perfectly styled) pompadour hair, and his slick get up (a "modified japanese school uniform," as the jojo wiki puts it). he has a sweet ass and a beautiful face and is actually just perfect in general, but i might be a little biased. also he's a complete sweetheart (he cares a lot about his friends and family, and i'd say that he's super dependable), but the thing i really treasure about part 4 are the chapters dedicated to the hilarious shenanigans he and his friends would get up to.

purchase: i bought this gem (a prize figure, if you couldn't tell already) from jungle: entertainment hobby shop. this was my first time purchasing from this store, and from this experience, i would definitely buy from them again. josuke was "A" grade, which means that the item was new and that only the outer box had been opened, and the condition of the figure i received reflected that.

jungle packaged the figure in an appropriately sized box (sorry i don't have any photos!), and used bubble wrap and newspaper as padding. they also shipped him out the day after i paid for him! (shipping costs were the usual, i used registered sal.) the only thing that might have been a potential detractor is that they charge a 5% international handling fee, which personally i didn't find to be a big deal, since i got josuke for a really great price. all in all, i will be buying from jungle again, and would highly recommend them!

figure box: i'd say that the box is pretty nice for a prize figure! i really appreciate all the illustrations that it incorporated, with (almost) all the jojos on the front, and different drawings of josuke on the two sides. the back showcases all the jojos that banpresto has made for this line. (i like the ゴゴゴゴゴ detail behind josuke and giorno at the top, too! ^__^) the box has an overall greenish tint, which i don't particularly care for, but it doesn't really bother me either. personally, i would have preferred it if it had been brighter and flashier. (like josuke.)

that last photo up there is just something i thought was cute. the top of the box had a little handle and a string, which i suppose was used to hang him up in game machines...?

figure base: the base is simple, and i think it works very well with the figure. it has a hexagonal shape and is a demure purple (maybe lavender) color, with a diamond (did they do this on purpose?) pattern. as you'll see in later photos, the size of the base is perfect for the figure, and people with crowded shelves will definitely appreciate this.

the pegs fit the figure perfectly as well, which is always a plus in my books! there was no need to force his feet in at all; he went in nicely and is very stable. in conclusion, i'd say that i'm a fan of this base. it doesn't detract from the figure, but i think it's charming in its own right.

the figure: (i saved the best for last!!) this josuke figure is gorgeous, and i'm 100% in love with it. at first, i was torn between this one and a variant where he's wearing a black uniform, but i have absolutely no regrets. the colors of this variant are very vibrant, although i wish his shoes were green like in the above photo... (i'm a sucker for tacky colors that work!!)

the posing of this figure is beyond perfect! it's completely faithful to josuke's jojo pose, and the flare and wrinkle patterns of his clothing give it a lot of movement. his face was also very well done. they definitely got his strong eyebrows, and i adore the sculpt of his lips. ^__^ the figure is around 7 inches tall, which makes this a very approximate 1/10th scale of josuke. (he's 185 cm tall according to the jojo wiki.) and now, i'll stop talking and give y'all a general tour of the figure:

see? he looks gorgeous from all sides!! i won't say much more about him, since the photos speak for themselves, but he truly is a beautiful figure. i love how all the colors compliment each other (even the pink jojo design on his back, i love it so much omg) and just how fun the whole piece is. a very high quality prize figure!! now for a more detailed look:

(side story: i took out josuke's legs first, and i was completely mortified. i was like "where is his ass?????" and i felt very, very disappointed... then i took out his upper half and everything was wonderful again. ^__^)

josuke's pompadour is very pretty and has a nice texture. the details in this figure are great; just take a look at the painting of those gold wristbands, and the sculpt on the back of his hand. i found that this figure had virtually no stray splotches of paint anywhere (minus one exception, which i will touch on later). note the ugly seam line behind his ear in the second photo. (i would say the other seam lines are quite pronounced, but for some reason they don't bother me as much?)

more of josuke's face and the surrounding area. i'm very happy with how his signature accessories turned out!

flaws: the above two photos showcase really the only major flaws i could find. the photo on the left depicts a rather subtle seam line that ends in this strange ellipse shape. on the right, you can see the painting flaws that i mentioned earlier. underneath the peace sign and his hand are two blotches of white paint, which are kind of annoying, but in real life they aren't as obvious as they are in the photo, which is a relief. also, you can see that there is some sort of white substance stuck to the bottom of josuke's uniform. i'm not sure what it is (hardened dust?) but it won't come off with water, so i guess i'll just have to live with it.

final thoughts: i don't know how many times i've said it throughout this (biased) review, but i am so happy with this rendition of josuke, and so glad that i bought him! i would highly recommend this figure to any jojo/josuke fan, but i guess you can decide for yourself based on the photos. i adore banpresto prize figures, and this one is no exception.

anyways, thanks for reading my review! or at least, thanks for browsing my pictures. ^__^v this was really fun to write and work on, and hopefully i'll be able to do some more reviews soon!!

winter break start!

i've been feeling kind of dead lately, but i'm getting off my ass and posting about something!! (my definition of being productive…) i feel like talking about quite a few things today (tonight?) so keep reading to find out !!

source: kotobukiya blog

i am so so so SO excited. she's being released in less than a week!! and a few weeks after that she will be mine!! i think they did a great job with the box is it so adorable… it's just like EXTRA icing on the cake!! ^__^ i don't remember the pink of the base being that bright, but nevertheless i'm still happy about her, and in love with the figure!! ruri-chan is gonna be my first standing-upright scale figure (mayoi and nia are both like… lying around) and i'm actually so excited about it omfg you have no idea…!!

lately, kantai collection (kancolle) has perked my interest. all i know about it is that it's some sort of game where there are cute girls that are like the personifications of various warships or something… i guess i should look into trying to play it, but i bet there aren't any translations or english patches out wahhh!! i THINK i read somewhere that they're getting an anime adaptation soon, so i'm gonna be looking out for that too!! anyways, shimakaze (i'm pretty sure that's her name) has been getting a lot of exposure lately, and she's soooo adorable i'm pretty sure if i played the game i would love her!! she already has a nendo out for preorder (some places are even sold out of her wtf…) and a figma coming up and even a scale!!!

source: good smile company

source: max factory figma blog

shimakaze-chan is so adorable it's unfair!! the scale is being done by amakuni (i'm not familiar with the company at all) but i'll be looking forward to it! i'm still waiting on the nagisa momoe scale, and for alter to release their shinobu prototype… but who knows when that will happen…

i've been overdosing on anime a little bit the past two days. (excuse: "i'm recharging!!") i finished sword art online, and i'm almost done chihayafuru season 2 (gonna watch the last episode when i wake up tomorrow). chihayafuru is SUCH a gem!! from just the synopsis/description of the anime you might not be expecting much… honestly i don't remember why i picked it up, but i love it to pieces, and i think everyone should give it a try! it's such a heartwarming anime with some really great characters, and i wanna get more people to appreciate it. ^__^ anyways, sword art was pretty good… i didn't even think the second arc was that bad. i don't want to say anything because of spoilers but yeah… i think the whole show was worth the watch. but every time i watch a new anime, it gets me kind of attached to the characters, and then i start to look up merch/figures of them… you see why i'm hesitant to get into new series ugh…

!!! YUI IS MY DAUGHTER!!! i think she was my favorite character to be honest, just because of how fucking CUTE she was!! well, i guess i kind of want the kirito figma (maybe even the nendo…) and i want an asuna figure (even though none of them really speak out to me. asuna was gorgeous as titania and badass af in her blood knight uniform but i'm not 100% satisfied with any of her figures) but check out this piece of work by griffon:

source: griffon enterprises

i know right?!?! a 1/1 scale yui… she looks sooo precious and perfect here, but of course i feel a bit wary because i mean… griffon… i'm waiting for more people to post user photos, but there don't seem to be that many up at all on mfc. i guess i'll just put her on my (massive) wishlist and wait for a better time. she would look perfect with the rest of my display though…

lastly, i just wanna talk about something that's kind of exciting!!

i know!! i know right!! medicom (the company that makes the real action heroes series) is coming out with a 1/8th maka scale for their "perfect posing products" line!! wow, i don't think i've ever seen a high quality soul eater figure and this just makes me so happy since it was such a great serious. (not to mention that soul is included in this figure too, but i mean of course he would be!!)

source: all photos from digitamin blog

honestly, i don't think i'll be preordering her (i don't know if she'll fit in with the rest of my display…) but i'll definitely be admiring her from afar… maka looks so good here. her pose is excellent, and the detail in the way her clothes are fluttering around are just so perfect, and is just so reminiscent of her fights in the anime!! her eyes are different from how they were depicted in the anime, but i think it turned out pretty well, and her expression is really fitting. i think this figure could have turned out really boring color-scheme wise (i mean her outfit is mostly neutral colors) but something about the pops of red on her skirt, and on her scythe (soul) make the whole thing work. i'm looking forward to this one!! (preorders start on december 24th so keep your eyes peeled!!)

supposed to be studying

i'm at the library in kind of a bad location (if someone walks behind me they can totally see what i'm doing, not that that's ever stopped me before) and i have two tests on wednesday... my laptop's almost dead and i forgot to bring my charger, so i figured why not write a lil something before it dies!! (mia logic ^___^)

anyways, to my surprise, someone updated kuroneko's mfc entry with a release date!! apparently she's being released on the 18th (that's just a little over a week from today!!) which i'm so so happy about. i've been trying for the last couple of minutes while to figure out where her release date was posted (i've tried navigating koto's website but i'm so confused… i wish it was like gsc's main page wah) but i'm seriously so lost and i can't find a release calendar or anything… i guess i'll try again later when my brain isn't (completely) fried.

akibahobby did a review gallery with wave's new madoka beach queen figure, and now i feel kind of bad for saying she looked super derpy in a previous post. her face actually looks pretty decent! (it's definitely an improvement over the first madoka BQ figure…)

i guess this is just the prototype though, and i've always been a little wary of beach queens because the photos of the prototypes don't really match up to photos of the actual product taken by other collectors. i've always wanted to give them a try though because some of them are soooo frickin adorable, and their prices are pretty decent. (i suppose it's due to their 1/10th scale, but still.) i'll probably consider buying a cheaper used one in the future maybe, just to see what their faces are like in real life. (i actually had a lot of BQs on my wishlist, but after seeing user photos i made myself reconsider most of them...)

source: akibahobby

i guess it isn't really that special, but i mean i love love LOVE white, frilly bikinis…!! also not to mention it happens to be MADOKA sporting it... (please refer to the koto 4-leaves misaka mikoto figure!! that figure is actually kind of perfect, and i guess i shouldn't be comparing it to a beach queen.) i kind of wish she didn't have that flower thing stuck on her bikini strap (i don't know why, but it kind of throws things off for me) and i wish she had another hair piece where her hair was tied up in a ponytail…!! and like, i guess her face doesn't look super dumb but it definitely could have been a lot more expressive. hell, it's a BQ figure though so what can we expect?

more photos of bandai's figuarts zero sailor mercury figure were released, and i'm actually so excited for her!! i was considering preordering usagi, but i wasn't completely in love with her for some reason so i held off on that. (i prefer her s.h. figuarts a hundred times more honestly.) ami's figure looks SO gorgeous though! as a kid, she was my favorite sailor scout for various reasons (my favorite color was blue, i loved how she was the smartest of the inner senshi, water was my favorite element, etc.) and this figure just brings back so many nice feelings of nostalgia. not to mention that it gets me all riled up for whatever's going on with the sailor moon reboot next season!!

source: natalie.mu

i REALLY hope that her painted prototype turns out well, because i think this has a lot of potential!! i love how simple the figure actually is, but her pose and the use of water just bring everything together so perfectly.  it's elegant but playful, and i hope her expression ends up mirroring that. i'll be keeping an eye on this one for sure, and i really hope that bandai doesn't disappoint...

one of the biggest cuties in the UNIVERSE!! ^__^

lastly, racing miku 2013 will be up for preorder starting tomorrow! kahotan did a review on her blog today, and it looks like gsc did a good job with her (as always). i don't really know how i feel about all these versions of the same miku (i mean o.k. the illustrations are all different, but they're all the same miku... plus she is literally everywhere anyways!!) but nonetheless, they are all gorgeous and assured to be extremely popular. (i don't even see why i had to state that since it's pretty much a universal law by now.)

source: kahotan's blog

i mean i am a fan of miku (i'm actually pretty sad that i don't own any miku merch yet) but honestly i'd rather have max factory's luka!! pink hair (don't care), tony taka, and the fact that she has a cast-offable dress (!!! important !!!) just make her sooo perfect to me. i'm considering getting even more because the lady whose voice sample became luka is a guest at otafest this year, and i could get her to sign the base for me if i had it!!

there are a few miku figures that have caught my eye (especially the deep sea miku that's going to be released soon... she's too perfect and gorgeous) but i'll hold off on those until later i suppose. i'm done complaining for today!! ^___^