FiguREviews

In my reviewing plans I wanted to review the Nendo I have following the chronological order in which I got them but as I’m rather behind my plans and I really want to support this Nendo I decided to make an exception and review her now that I’ve just got her, without waiting for me to catch up with the other reviews so, let’s start.

Also, I own Asirpa too and I’ve reviewed her as well.

Since they’re Nendo from the same series, she’ll get mentioned for comparison more than once.

Ogata’s package is the new model of Nendoroid standard package, which is smaller in height and lenght but bigger in width (remember it so you’ll avoid buying bootlegs!).

Also, if you’re the sort that care about this kind of things, it’s of the same size as Asirpa’s package so you can place them near and you won’t be displeased noticing a difference in size.

The blister pack this time is rather filled so let’s give it a good look.

See? Plenty of stuff and it’s not all because, below what you can see, there’s another blister pack which contains the base and some extra accessories so the full content of Ogata’s box is actually this:

So yes, it’s quite a bit of content, especially if you compare it to poor Asirpa’s.

We have REALLY A LOT of arms and hands, 6 arms versus the normal 4, and 9 hands which can hold all the extra accessories and they even included a sitting piece so Ogata can make citatap.

The base, as you can see, is the standard square base.

It has two pegs though, one that’s the usual standard size for a Nendo, another, much longer because Ogata comes with a cape and therefore, to attach him well to the brace, the peg has to go through his coat and reach him.

Differently from Asirpa the cartoon behind Ogata isn’t a background sheet but merely a yellow coloured cartoon. Pity.

Of course we’ve instructions in English and Japanese and I’ve to say this time they’re amazing as they explain in details where all the pieces need to go.

And now let’s look at all of Ogata’s disassembled parts!

Actually as usual I didn’t detatch the hands from the arms and there’s another bit I didn’t detatch but we’ll see it immediately.

In fact we’ll start with the legs (for practical purpose I’ll include also the lower part of Ogata’s jacket).

Please admire the care in the details. They even made the little buttons on the gaiters and his front pouches (the back pouch is missing but okay, this isn’t a big deal).

The sitting part doesn’t wear gaiters of shoes because it’s planned for making citatap indoor. If we look at it closely we can see it can be divided in two parts.

I’ll catch this chance to praise who made Ogata so that his middle could be parted and he could have a sitting piece. The same thing should have been done for Asirpa as making citatap is also an important part of Asirpa’s character so it’s a real shame who sculpted her didn’t add this possibility.

Anyway I love the care Ogata’s lower half had been sculpted, with the possibility to remove the lower part of the jacket even in his sitting part instead of making it all a single piece. Really a good choice.

Okay, so there aren’t bend legs but Ogata’s more recurring poses see him standing still and aiming, not running so it’s not a big deal if he’s not dynamic.

Oh, and can I mention Ogata’s little feet in socks are REALLY ADOURABLE?

I love them!

On another side, while Asirpa due to her big boots could stand on her own, Ogata, as many Nendos, can’t... but he can stand sit on hiw own though.

The balance is not as perfect as if you were to secure his position with a brace plugged in his back and in his stand but... it works.

Something else that’s good is the little hole on the side.

It’s done so that you can insert the bayonet in it so that Ogata can wear it when he’s standing but also when he’s sitting.

It’s a nice detail and make me apprecciate the bayonet is detachable which is something I didn’t apprecciate when they did the same for Asirpa’s Menokomakiri (short knife for women) and the Tasiro (hunting knife) as there was no reason to detatch them since they didn’t need to be attached elsewhere (so them being a single piece with Asirpa’s clothes would have done no difference) and it only put them at risk of being lost.

Arms now and there are plenty of them.

For start, differently from Asirpa both the bent arms could be disassembled in two parts, which allows for more mobility. The upper part can be used for the straight arms. So we’ve 2 straight arms and 2 bent arms.

Then there’s 2 more arms for holding the rifle... and then there’s plenty of hands.

The 2 standard open hands. 2 hands for holding the knives. 1 hand to hold the support for the butterfly. 2 hands for holding the rifle when Ogata is aiming/shooting. 2 hands for holding the rifle when Ogata is holding it only with one hand as he carries it around or on his shoulder (as you can see in the picture below the right hand attached to the rifle can be detatched and replaced with a left one or Ogata can just hold the rifle differently).

It’s a total of 9 hands which allow him to do a lot of things.

It’s great and REALLY, they should have given some of those options to Asirpa as well. She needed the hands to hold the knives, and for both bent arms it should have been possible to disassemble them.

It’s a shame they didn’t give her such possibilities.

On another note no chopsticks or bowl for the food for Ogata. But whatever we can’t have all.

And now let’s observe Ogata’s body... well, the upper part of it.

It’s a tiny detail but I love how well they sculpted his chest, so that it immediately gives the look of a strong one... and the tiny golden buttons as well as the red collar and shoulder boards are details I love.

Ogata also wears a cape.

Sadly they made it in plastic, which is common (not mandatory, Nendo had and can have pieces not made in plastic but cloth or other materials) but in Ogata’s case bad for various reasons.

Ogata’s cape sadly is, differently from Asirpa’s, made in such a way it seriously limits Ogata’s mobility (Asirpa’s limited it only a little but not in a manner it was a big deal).

To compensate, Goodsmile raised its right side, so as to allow Ogata to raise, at least, his right arm, but, if you put the cape on him, the left arm need to be kept lowered, meaning Ogata can’t shoot with his cape on... and, at the same time, if you want to keep his right arm lowered, the cape feels oddly raised.

Anyway, although the cape is a fundamental part of Ogata’s clothes, his Nendo cape feels rather unsatisfing.

There’s also no hood included (I didn’t really expect it to be honest, even if having it would have been nice) so the hood can’t be pulled up.

Faceplates now!

Ogata has 3, the standard number, a standard serious faceplate, a smirking one and the one that’s perfect for when he does citatap.

It’s a good deal or better, it would be if it wasn’t for a detail.

The real problem of those faceplate is that they’re peculiar because they’ve Ogata’s hair painted on them.

In fact let’s look at the hair.

They decided the frontal part would only have the long hair on it, and not the short ones, meaning they had to paint them on Ogata’s faceplate.

This becomes a big deal if one tries to use another faceplate for Ogata.

Sure, Ogata’s hair are short, so this makes them more ‘realistic’... but this also hamper the usage of faceplates that aren’t Ogata’s on him, which is a pity.

It’s also worth to mention that it wasn’t impossible to give Ogata hair on the side of his face instead than just paint his face, other people who made custom made Nendo Ogatas more realistic than what I did (usually using Nendoroid 964 Otabek Altin’s hair), managed to do just so for the same reason I mentioned, it avoids troubles when swapping faces by not requiring to paint them black.

Accessories now.

We’ve the butterly with the cute detail they coloured the black parts.

It’s really tiny as butterflies are tiny but I love it!

Then there are the citatap accessories... and I’ve also included Ogata’s bayonet.

As you can see none of the knives he uses for citatap is his bayonet. They aren’t even Asirpa’s. No idea where he got them but it’s not a big deal. The trunk with the meat on the top is oddly cute as tiny as it is.

Now… poses.

This one pose is pretty easy to obtain and if you give Ogata his grinning face it gave him a confident feeling.

This one... is a desperate attempt at trying to have Ogata caress his hair. It’s impossible, of course, as Nendo simply have too short arms... but honestly the arm still remain so low the gesture gets lost. Kudos for the attempt, but the result isn’t great. It’s worth to mention I had to mirror the original picture in which Ogata was holding the rifle with his right hand. As I already said, the cape would have made impossible for Ogata to raise his left arm to caress his hair so they reversed it. All the more reason to give him a cloth cape.

This pose never appeared in the anime but it’s a popular one from the manga also used for a keychain.

It’s easy to obtain but as Ogata’s rifle can’t be placed on his shoulder it’s kind of not perfectly mirroring the image above... and I really don’t know why they placed the grinning expression on him as in this one he really had a serious face.

Whatever, no big deal, it’s still very cute and beloved.

The citatap pose is a good one. Of course the cape won’t fit as well as it would in the image since it’s made for a standing Ogata (and the image basically recommend you not to put it on him) but whatever. It’s still a lovely pose.

My main displeasure comes with the shooting pose.

That’s because OGATA DOESN’T HOLD HIS RIFLE LIKE THAT!

His right hand doesn’t just press the trigger but also is meant to grip the stock of the rifle.

It’s not that Nendo can’t do it, Nendoroid Tanya Degurechaff holds the rifle exactly like Ogata does in the manga/anime and, in fact, I used her body to make my custom-made Ogata Nendo.

You might better notice it if you look first at one and then at the other.

First the official with his right hand basically not holding the rifle.

Then the one I made using Tanya’s body.

Although its painting is a lot sloppier than the original you can see his hand hold the rifle.

I tried swapping them around. Tanya’s arm and hand (you need to replace both for him to manage to hold the rifle) aren’t perfect for the original but, I guess they work and would have worked even better if they had been done for him.

Mine can hold Ogata’s rifle just fine, even though the rifle is bigger than the one of Tanya’s.

(if you’re curious here are the two rifles)

So really, I don’t get why Goodsmile messed up with the way Ogata holds his rifle.

But okay, I know everyone is wondering it Nendo Ogata can be posed in a pose that’s actually not included among the visuals but it’s particularly dear to “Golden Kamuy” viewers.

So here’s my attempt at checking it out, first with the arms given to us for shooting.

As you can see he can sit and shoot but the pose doesn’t look at all like the original and he can’t wear his cape.

So I tried to see if we can get something closer by using the bent arm.

Well, it improves things a little since he can now wear his cape and the pose is more similar to Ogata’s but the arm is too short to manage to reach the other one and just can’t work as a support for the rifle. Still... it’s closer than before so keep it in mind... even if it’s even more obvious how Goodsmile messed up the way Ogata holds his rifle with his right hand... -_-

Differently from Asirpa, no bonus if you preorder him from the GOODSMILE ONLINE SHOP.

Last but not least, Ogata is only slightly taller than Asirpa but you’ll probably notice it only if you place them one next to the other, so don’t expect a huge height gap between the two.

Still, since Ogata’s body is more slim, he might feel even taller than what he actually is.

In the end... Ogata is a good Nendo, much better than Asirpa’s (which saddens me as I love her), but they made a completely avoidable mistake in the way he holds his rifle and really, a cape in cloth would have worked much better... but okay, this is really no big.

In the end still I think they did put a lot more care in him than with Asirpa and that it shows.

They made him due to a high number of requests so it’s clear they tried to make him as good as possible.

This is a clear proof of how it’s important to support “Golden Kamuy” Nendo if you want more of them or want them of better quality so I hope all the people who were grumbling about the lack of a Sugimoto Nendo will either support Asirpa and Ogata Nendo or start requesting for Sugimoto instead of just passively waiting as it would be great to have him as well.

(Also if more characters were to be released I hope they would also include extra pieces for Asirpa as sometimes it happens...)

Would anyone who’s not fan of the series, want to buy him?

The hairstyle might definitely be something in which people are interested, the sitting part is a huge bonus and the high amount of arms and hands are also a great thing so yeah, it would be a good buy even if you don’t like “Golden Kamuy”.

Now... I’ve always loved “The Little Mermaid” and also Ariel’s look which were, in themselves, already strong motivators to get her Nendoroid.

However another motive was the Nendo body itself. I mean... turning Nendo in marine creatures... wouldn’t this be cool?

Sadly... not so much, but let’s go with order.

Ariel, same as Asirpa of which I previously talked about, comes in the new package, that’s smaller in height and lenght but bigger in width.

As when talking about Asirpa I didn’t visually show the difference in size, here you are, this is Ariel’s box next to Shiro’s who has the old box:

As you can see Ariel’s rather small... but they increased the width of the package quite a bit so not everything is lost.

The blister pack is also MUCH BETTER than before as it’s easier to open and doesn’t cause all the pieces to jump out when you do it with the extra width allowing for things to be put below it, in this case Ariel’s base and brace and her additional arms...

... which however were just wrapped in plastic and not included in a blister pack. Not really a big deal for the base and the brace but a nuisance for the arms as they could slip out of it when you open it to swap them and then place back in the box the ones you aren’t using but whatever, it’s not that terrible.

Now let’s give a look at the base and the brace which, for once, are actually interesting.

As you can see base and brace for Ariel are a nice pale blue colour, which well fit with the marine theme as Ariel is a sea creature. The problem is they didn’t do the same for Sebastian and Flounder braces... and they didn’t include bases for them. Either you attach them on Ariel’s base or they’ve to be rested on a surface... which might work for Sebastian as he’s a crab but Flounder is a fish and doesn’t really lay on the floor... unless he ended out of water and he’s dying... which is really not the best option to display him.

Now, despite the colouring the base is of the standard size... but the same can’t be said for the braces.

They’re all much longer to allow Ariel and her companions to swim ABOVE the base and not lying flat on it.

Ariel’s brace also as a special peg to better slide under her hair and raise her.

It’s also worth to mention the cartoon inserted behind Ariel in the box thankfully is a background sheet representing the view under the sea.

It’s good to see that in the background sheets included in the new package the don’t just colour the sides but also the base and the top (in the previous package they were of the colour assigned to the Nendo and reporting the Nendo number).

Of course we’ve instructions in English and Japanese. 

And now let’s look at all of Ariel’s disassembled parts!

I’ve mixed feelings about the number of parts. Per se it’s not a bad number but... we’ll dig in it deeper later on.

There are no legs for Ariel, just 2 tails with fins one for her to sit on and one for her to swim on.

The tails and fins are of a lovely green with a glossy quality that makes them shine. The fin is articulated so it can move. However, and this is a big deal for me, the top part in which the peg is, is round instead than flat like in all the Nendo.

Simply put it means the only upper part that will fit in it is Aril’s top part, otherwise you’ll notice the two parts won’t become a smoothsurface but Ariel’s tail will start to part from whatever you used for Ariel’s upper body at the peg.

Maybe someone at Good Smile realized it because Jashin-chan doesn’t come with the same problem, allowing the use of both the upper and lower parts on other bodies.

Anyway in Ariel’s case it’s a real waste.

You can’t use the tail to create mermen matching it with male upper halves, nor dress her differently. The tail has large hips so it might not fit well below long dresses that would cover the joint and how it’s not fully attached.

This is, if possible, the worst part of Ariel’s Nendo, that her body is made of unswappable pieces.

So for once, instead than looking at the arms, let’s go look at the top part of Ariel.

As you can see the upper body as a concavity to insert the tail and... that fin like thing around which Ariel’s tail was attached.

So this part too can’t be swapped around to have a Nendo wear Aril’s shell swimsuit.

It seems such a waste I wonder if it wasn’t done on purpose, because Disney didn’t want other Nendo to enjoy parts of Ariel’s body.

It still seems a poor choice.

And so let’s go to the arms...

...and sorry, I took this picture while they were still in their plastic wrapping.

Now... 4 right arms and 3 left arms for a total of 7 arms isn’t a bad amount.

Conan Edogawa came with 6 for example, Asirpa with only 4.

Sure, there are no extra hands and the arms have no joints but I’ll say it’s still a good number.

So let’s move to faceplates.

Hum... it’s not that Ariel’s expressions are bad, they’re cute and I love her cheerful one but... well, original Ariel seemed much more expressive.

So for a Nendo they might be good... but compared to ther Original they seem... a bit empty. I get Ariel is a troublesome character, Disney gave her red lips that didn’t carry out in her Nendo form and when doing an open mouthed smile you would also see Ariel’s teeth, also not shown in her standard expression smile (and I don’t get why they aren’t as some Nendo show their teeth in their smiles as well... for example Rapunzel who’s also a Disney character Nendo). Her determined expression in the movie also seemed to hold much more determination... but maybe it was also thanks to the animation never staying still.

Hair now.

Ariel’s hair are beautiful red hairs, fluttering behind her. Sure, they aren’t shaded but I still think they’re a noteworthy and beautiful feature.

We continue with her accessories.

She comes with the fork she found, which Scuttle called a Dinglehopper used to brush hair.

Along with her, as said before, come Sebastian and Flounder.

It’s worth to mention Sebastian’s pinchers can be moved a little and, as you can see, the holes in whcih insert the pegs are below them.

Personally I find them cute but nothing over the top.

Now... poses.

Clearly none of them is difficult. Maybe the one that might be the most troublesome as have Ariel hug Flounder as it might slip from her grasp but that’s all.

By the way, Good Smile didn’t include a stone or anything else to sit her on, so you’ve to find something for her to sit if you want to use the sitting position.

I’ve mixed feelings for Ariel. She is by no means a bad Nendo, she comes with an extra tail for a sitting position and many arms and HEY, it’s a mermaid! but overall I feel she could have been SO MUCH BETTER.

I mean... Arial is backed up by Disney, she could have as many extra as a Kancolle Nendo instead... it’s as if she had been planned to be as simple as possible so that kids could use her but she’s not meant to be much more than this.

Not for Nendo collectors who would be interested in swapping parts, just for kids who want to play with her (if that’s the case Good Smile that Dinglehopper is a bad choice as it’s too small and Ariel can’t really move it into her hair. It would have been much better to give Ariel a stone to sit on... or a dress for when she’s human).

Would anyone who’s not fan of the movie want to buy her?

I’ll be frank, I was a little hesitant in getting this little guy because I love the manga but I wasn’t sure a Nendo version of Conan would work well since Conan is... well, already chibified so I feared it would simply feel like having a copy of him more than a cute Nendo.

Well... copy or not I’ll admit his Nendo version is still adourable so I’m happy he came home!

His package is... of the old standard size but with a larger window showing him compared to the old standard model. It not only has the Good Smile logo but also the made at GSC's 'Lucky Factory' in Tottori, Japan logo. I guess they were afraid if they were to make it in China there would be too many bootleg of such a popular chara. Try to avoid them as well, the original is so much better.

If you’re not familiar with the old package here there’s a comparative image.

They’re not terribly different but still you can see how the window showing Conan is larger. I wonder if this is the standard package for Nendo made in Tottori as Chris Redfield which I previously reviewed, also made in Tottori had it as well and the same goes for Tanya Degurechaff and Sakura Miku Bloomed in Japan which I’ll review in future and which are also made in Tottori.

Anyway, going on, let’s give a look at Conan’s blister pack.

As you can see the plastic wrapping is the same of the other blister pack, here, look at him without all that wrapping for a better view.

As you can see already he comes with a good amount of spare parts. Nothing over the top but it’s clear they gave him many options for posing.

The stand and the brace (let’s get over with the boring part immediately) are the standard ones.

Of course we’ve instructions in English and Japanese.

And now let’s move to more juicy stuffs, let’s look at all of Conan’s disassembled parts!

Quite a difference in amount compared to Okanehira, isn’t that right? Really, if I compare him and Conan I feel sorry for him.

So, going with order we’ve:

Legs first.

Conan comes with a total of 5 legs, which are meant to be 3 right legs and 2 left legs.

Although you can see bent legs they aren’t actually for sitting, just for kneeling. They don’t really work that well on sitting due to Conan’s short which hint at how his legs are in a straight position. In fact the only slightly bent leg is the one on the left (which Conan uses to go on the skateboard) which, to work, has on its top an extra part that hints at how the fold of the pants get bent.

As I was pretty curious about the working of that leg I couldn’t help but immediately try it out.

Uhum... up close you might notice how the folding of the pants on the leg doesn’t perfectly match with the pants (unless I had a defective leg?) but it’s still something that can work.

Anyway 5 legs are a good selection which gives him mobility options.

Arms and hands now.

6 harms, 3 right and 3 left but with an addition of 2 extra right hands and 1 left hand for definitely A LOT of posing.

It’s also worth to note that you can detatch the bowtie from the hand holding it so you can use that hand for other posing.

As it happens often with chibified figures, proportions of objects change according to the characters holding them or wearing them. While hats or helmets become much smaller when a Nendo hold them opposed to when he wears them, in the bowtie case, the bowtie Conan hold is much bigger than the ones he wear... in fact this Nendo comes with two different bowties, one for wearing and one for holding.

In fact if you look at the upper part of his body...

...you can notice the bowtie can be easily detatched so that Conan won’t look like wearing his bowtie while holding his bowtie.

As the position for speaking in the bowtie still covers the part where the bowtie is, it succesfully hids the slot in which the bowtie would need to be inserted.

The photo don’t really do justice to the colour of Conan’s clothes but they’re bright and ‘television-like’. Sure, they’re very simple and essential but I still love how they come out.

Faceplates now!

They’re the standard amount, 3. The interesting part is that, apart from the serious version, they’ve a sideway look, a hint that Conan is normally better when displayed not straight but slightly turned.

And, of course, Conan has his eyeglasses.

The shape of Conan’s hair allows the glasses to remain firmly on Conan as the tips of the frame can attach to the frontal part of the hair, while the frontal part of the eyeglasses is further insured in it’s stillness by both by standing on top of Conan’s nose (they don’t quite rest on it but if they come slightly lose it would stop them from sliding down) and also by having the hair covering them slightly. Mind you, it isn’t pressing them down, it’s just stopping them from getting distant from the face.

So let’s look at the hair.

If you want the hair isn’t really shaded, they’re mostly a single colour but it’s also a faithful and good reprodution of Conan’s hair. And yes, if you need to, you can detatch the strand of hair at the top of the back part of the head.

Oh, I forgot to mention, Conan also comes with his skateboard which is really faithfully reproduced.

In case you’re curious this is the original.

And with the skateboard we’ve finished Conan’s accessories.

If I’ve to be fully honest I wish they had given him a soccer ball and a pose for him to kick it as not only Conan often uses a soccer ball to knock down escaping culprits...

...but playing with it is also is favourite method to relax himself.

An alternate pair of glasses with the radar included would also be nice.

... while I think it would have been difficult to use the pose for when he’s using his watch (in his small Nendo size the watch is not even visible)....

but well, although I’m saying so, I still think Conan has enough parts that allow him to make enough poses. So while extra would have been welcomed, he’s already a fully furnished Nendo.

So let’s look in deep to those poses. Conan has many poses that are recurring in the series... but in many variations. Due to this I couldn’t quite find the perfectly matching pictures.

For example the first pose Good Smile proposes is a mix of this two poses.

The bowtie pose is performed actually in various way during the series which include kneeling but also standing or sitting.

As for the skateboard pose... both the manga and the anime presents us with some HIGHLY dynamic skateboard poses so the pose Good Smile suggests feels rather tame but it still works.

The “Only one truth prevails!” pose also comes in many variations.

And the dumbfounded pose also comes in many variants.

Overall the poses are all good and you can vary them to make them more appealing as Conan, as said before, comes with many spares.

Overall I think it’s a really good and well furnished Nendo.

Would anyone who’s not fan of the series, want to buy him?

Hum... maybe.

While I think Conan is really good as a reproduction of his own character, on the whole he comes as a Nendo with the body of a child and with clothes a bit peculiar. You might want him if you plan to custom make a child... otherwises... hum... I’m not sure.

Still, I love this little one!

On an interesting addition I’ll mention Re-ment too also released a Meitantei Conan set, the small day collection.

Accessories don’t involve just Conan but also the rest of the cast... but if you want to give a better look at the Conan accessories here they are... and they include the soccer ball!

Isn’t he a cutie?

Actually, if you ask me, he’s even cuter than the original!

Anyway, after the parentesys with Snow Miku: Twinkle Snow Ver. which I reviewed previously, with Okanehira we go back to Nendo in standard package, with the mark Orange Rouge on it well visible (remember it so you’ll avoid buying bootlegs!).

And here you can see him in his blister pack (I’ve removed the protective plastic for a better view but rest assured he was plastic wrapped as the others).

Talking about him after Snow Miku feels a lot unfair because it’s even more obvious how Okanehira has very few spare parts, even less than Doudanuki Masakuni which I reviewed long ago and who’s also part of the Touken Ranbu series. But let’s look at them in details, starting as usual from the less interesting part, the stand, which actually in the Touken Ranbu series is a bit interesting.

In fact each Nendo of the Touken Ranbu series doesn’t have the square base with many holes but a round one with painted over it his sword crest.

In short it’s a stand made just for him... but well, if you’re not a collector or a fan of Touken Ranbu or swords this might not interest you much.

Of course we’ve instructions in English and Japanese.

And now let’s look at all of Okanehira’s disassembled parts... which sadly will be short because really, there isn’t a lot.

Comparing him with Doudanuki we can sadly see he has even less then him... and it sort of feel unfair, really.

But let’s go with order.

Legs first.

He has only 3 legs, versus the 4 given to Doudanuki. The result is his action pose is less dynamic than Doudanuki.

The pants are standard black ones, but they’re made more stylish by the red line at the hem.

Arms now.

Regarding the arm number he and Doudanuki are even, 4 right arms and 3 left arms. They also both have a piece of armour who needs to be attached to the arm you chose to use.

On a positive note though, Okanehira’s one is attached to the arm through a ball joint so you can move the armour piece around a bit while the same can’t be done with Doudanuki.

I like they gave him the possibility to cross his arms, as I find this pose cute. He’s however not given anything else to hold except his sword. Doudanuki had his helmet. Uguisumaru, the other Bizen sword, have a tray including tea and some Japanese-style snacks (and a bird), Yamatonokami and Kashu have Sennin Dango, Mikazuki came with an uchiko but nothing was given to poor Okanehira.

He comes just with his sword which is as beautiful as he says, all right, but it’s just this.

Okay, they’re two, the sheated and unshatead version and, by removing the hilt of the unsheated version you can just use the scabbard as if it were empty. It’s a pretty standard move for nendo with swords to give them two with the sheated one with the possibility to remove the hilt.

And now let’s give a look at his body.

The minute details of his clothes are well reproduced, really, even if he’s not very coloured goodsmile had paid great care in sculpting him well and there’s a thing I also like a lot. While some of the Touken Ranbu Nendo can only hold their swords in their hands, he belongs to the group of Touken Ranbu Nendo who have the possibility to carry it to their side.

In fact, do you see that piece of trasparent plastic in the picture?

Once you pull him out of the blister pack you remove it and place his sword, or just the scabbard at its place and voilà, he is holding the sword to his side!

This is a detail I really like and I regret not all the Touken Ranbu Nendo have this possibility.

Faceplates now!

Okanehira has three, which is common to most Nendo. 2 are smiling expressions, one is labelled as a combat one. Overall they’re nice although nothing particularly impressive.

Last but not least his hair.

Those are beautifully sculpted, really and equally beautifully painted in shades of red so they give it an even more dynamic and realistic look. Those aren’t just flat, plastic hair, they seem to move in the wind.

Sadly though, with the hair, we’ve finished with the parts he have.

We lastly give a look at his poses.

All right, they’re all pretty easy to obtain and sadly not very dynamic. He seems more prone to wait for an attack than launch one himself. But well, he’s adourable still.

Oh, last but not least who had preordered him from the GOODSMILE ONLINE SHOP also received this item as a bonus! 

LOL, I can see I’m not the only one who likes the crossed arms pose even though in the end to expose him I chose the 2nd pose (I wanted him to look a bit more fierce and ready to fight...)

Would anyone who’s not fan of the series, want to buy him?

Honestly... I don’t know.

He’s cute, very much so, as all the Nendos, but his clothes aren’t exactly ‘everyday clothes’ and to turn them into an uniform they would require some modding and goodsmile hadn’t given him any accessory beyond his sword.

His expressions are pretty standard too.

What’s more unique yet usable about him are his beautifully sculpted red hair which they can also be used to make a Battler from “Umineko no naku kori ni”.

Overall... I think Goodsmile wasn’t really betting on him and that they should have given him more accessories. But well, it’s just me.

Expensive... as almost all the Snow Miku, but if there’s a Snow Miku I don’t regret buying in the slightest (and I love my other Snow Miku) it’s her.

But, in case you’re not familiar with the term, why is she called a “SNOW MKU” and not just ‘Hatsune Miku’?

During "Sapporo Snow Festival 2010" a snow sculpture of 'Hatsune Miku,' was created. From that moment on "SNOW MIKU" became one of the main characters of Hokkaido winter with her own "SNOW MIKU" festival, held each year, her figure being turned into a different Nendo each year.

From 2012 the costume design for "SNOW MIKU" is selected in an online competition on different themes every year.

Nendoroid Snow Miku: Twinkle Snow Ver. is the winner of the 2017 competition whose theme was 'Stars and Constellations of the Winter Hokkaido'.

You can also see a rabbit near Miku, that’s Rabbit Yukine, her pet, a lepus timidus ainu (a kind of mountain hare), chosen as her pet among the animals in winter of Hokkaido, from among the public in 2014 (although in 2013 Snow Miku already had a snow bunny with herself).

Well, now let’s give a look to the illustration made by illustrator Nishina that inspired her.

You might notice Yukine looks different because he’s actually based on an illustration made by another illustrator LF.

I’ll let you see the official art for her as well because it’s worth it.

And now let’s dig into how this Nendo is.

Snow Miku: Twinkle Snow Ver.’s package is a special package created just for her. The package is in a pristine white (though due to poor illumination it might not seem so) with images of her behind it and on its sides. Do yourself a really HUGE favour and avoid buying bootlegs of this Nendo. She might be expensive but her beauty is worth it.

If you raise the bottom part you get this:

a beautiful pop up snow and star filled scenery just for her which can work as a stage for her to sing her songs.

If you instead open the right side of the box you are first shown the draw that inspired her...

... then you can pull her blister pack out, with Snow Miku in all her beauty wrapped in protective plastic.

And here she’s unwrapped.

As you can see she comes with many interesting accessories (and her stand is attached below the blister pack).

But let’s go with order.

The less insteresting part first, her stand and Yukine’s.

Yukine’s stand and brace are the standards for pets and companions.

In the past I talked of how Nendoroid Mami Tomoe Maiko ver. has the same stand and brace for Bebe.

The brace is not the standard one but the one used for female Nendoroids with hair floating on their backs. I talked about it, talking about Nendoroid Asirpa. I don’t know why they gave her this brace as her long hair are tied into twintails at the sides of her head and therefore don’t fall on her back.

Whatever, maybe it support better her weight as due to those twintails she IS heavier than many other Nendo.

The base is a square one but huge compared to the standard base, likely that big to host the overmentioned twintails as well.

Of course we’ve instructions in English and Japanese.

And now let’s look at all of Snow Miku’s disassembled parts!

We’ll start with the legs.

Snow Miku comes with some delicious blue ballerinas with the sole in gold, a single lovely garter wrapped in an equally lovely blue string on her left leg and adourably cute poofy underwear.

Yes, she has two set of underwears because if you use the one on the right with the bent legs you can have her sitting down.

It’s also worth to note how the peg connecting her lower body to her chest is a mobile one, allowing her more mobility in the waist area compared to many other Nendo.

I love how they carefully depicted all the folds of te gaiter and of her underwears.

Arms now.

We’ve 4 arms, 2 right ones and 2 left ones, but the upper part can be removed, allowing for even more posing.

The long sleeves in a pale blue with parts of dark blue and a white line with a lovely star attached at the end are incredibly cute and again the folds are well depicted.

The hands, 6, are covered by blue fingerless gloves. In addition to the standard open and closed hands we’ve hands to hold a beautiful snow star crystal...

and one to hold the baton to direct the orchestra as she sings.

Apparently the star crystal can’t be removed but the baton can. It’s very tiny and of a beautiful gold colour.

Another accessory she can hold is her cute star shaped pillow.

This one isn’t of solid plastic but of a soft, squishy material. I love it.

And now let’s give a look at her body.

Her dress is a mix of blue, pale blue, gold and white. It’s elegant and lovely with all those beautiful fonds and details and the colours mixing so well.

Behind there’s a ribbon and it becomes almost translucent, as if it was a cape with, again, two lovely little stars.

Really, the care for details is amazing in this one.

Here, admire it with all its parts.

Faceplates now! 

They’re three but each expression is lovely. For start they all have adourable gold star shaped earrings.

Stars are also shining in Miku’s eyes, both as light in her eyes but also in her wink.

The fist expression have a cute, almost kitty like smile, the second is filled with cheer and the third is an adourable sleepy expression with Miku yawning with tears in her eyes, fitting for the nocturnal theme of the stars and the fact she comes with a pillow.

The slight blush, the tiny white dots on her cheecks that lighten her expression, they all increase her charm.

And now something else I also adoure about her.

Her hair.

Instead than Miku’s usual green hair, Snow Miku have azure hair, fading into white, adourned with star snowflakes and tied into two beautifully long and detailed twintails, not her usual straight twintails but poofy twintails with strands fluttering away from them and the tips curling. Her frontal hair are hold in place by a gold starshaped pin, also beautiful and do we want to talk of the ribbon tying her twintails?

Long, blue but they also fading in white, adourned with a penragram, gold star and snow crystals, their tails falling so beautifully along Miku’s hair.

Ah, they’re a work of art!

(On a sidenote the tails of the ribbons are attached to the twintails, but the ribbons are actually a separate piece which is inserted with a peg in Muku’s head and therefore can’t be used on other Nendo. I was afraid to remove it in fear of breaking it so I’ve never tried doing it but I guess it can be done. I just wouldn’t recommend it as it would be a pity to break it.)

Anyway I ABSOLUTELY love her hair.

And, of course, as in many Mikus, it’s long enough to allow her to stand without a stand, supported by her hair only.

She’s such a cutie, isn’t she?

And now two words on Yukine.

Yukine is really, really cure, with that blue scarf with stars at the end and that star on his head. The winking expression makes Yukine look mischievous and a perfect pet for Miku.

Yukine’s head can be removed, she means one can also turn it in different directions... but apart for it there’s nothing else that can be moved.

In case you were wondering yes, Yukine has a tail, which in this version seems to be star shaped (Yukine’s tail changes shape according to the theme).

Accessories now as Snow Miku comes with a bunch of them.

For start there’s a lovely table with a starry tablecloth.

It’s really cute although it reminds me of a fortuneteller table.

You can rest on it this lovely tea cup with a cute snow crystal on it.

Although it’s meant to be drank Miku doesn’t come with a hand to hold it so you can just rest it on the table. Also I couldn’t remove it from the plate. Maybe it’s possible and mine just is a little hard but I didn’t want to break it.

In order to sit around the table Yukine and Miku can use two very special chairs, shaped as snow clouds!

As you can see there’s a concavity for Miku and Yukine’s bodies so as to hold them in place. The below surface is flat so you can rest them on each surface but you can’t connect them to the stand.

Miku and Yukine though can sit still on them without needing stands so maybe that’s on purpose.

We continue with this snow crystal part for Miku to walk on.

In trasparent blue plastic, it’s beautiful and gives me a Frozen feeling, making me think of when Elsa runs away from her palace on a bridge she created with snow and ice.

We continue with an icy music stand to use with her baton so she can direct her starry orchestra.

It’s really cute.

If I’ve to be honest the only thing I’m not too fond of is the ‘musical effect’.

Those two transparent plastic stripes with snow, stars and music themes are to be attached to this starry piece, each strip should slid into the space in between each star.

The ring at the bottom (in the pic placed at the right so you won’t have a too long image) is meant to be inserted in the brace that support Miku like this.

The overall effect doesn’t really impress me much...

...but of course it might be just me. Also as the stripes aren’t that soft they weren’t really happy to be bend into circles. Maybe I overworry but I was afraid they would snap the stars holding them.

Now… poses.

They’re all adourable and easy to get. Maybe the one who’s a little more of a nuisance is the one with the star and music effect above exactly due to them not being that comfortable to latch around Miku. But maybe it’s just me.

Would anyone who’s not fan of Vocaloids or of Hatsune Miku, want to buy her? 

Well, as said above I’m TOTALLY partial to her. She’s adourable, extremely cute and I just can’t resist her.

I think she’s totally worth being bought, her spare parts are also very nice, the sitting part as far as I’m involved is always a plus, she comes with cute furniture and her yawning expression is so sweet and her hair and dress are beautiful and... well I love her.