Reviewing figma Append Miku
Much to my delight, my two Mandarake orders arrived two days ago; figma BRS2015 and Cheerful Japan (which I only just realized is a pun of 'Cheer for Japan' GO ME) Miku. I was planning to do an unboxing like I usually do, except the batteries for my camera died and I can't find any new ones. So, a review it is!
You'll have to make do with old photos, I'm afraid, my camera still doesn't have any batteries. |D;
figma #100, regular release: APPEND MIKU
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I already mentioned this in my unboxing of Append Miku but it really does bear repeating; Append Miku looks fantastic. She's sleek, perfectly captures the charm of the original Append Miku design and well, she's kind of sexy. No, really, she actually has curves and everything. I hate to think what the die hard Miku otakus in Japan do to this thing... *shudder*
She also looks kind of like an iPod. Or a Mac. It's not just me, right? She's all white and sleek and shiny and all those things put together just kind of make my brain go "APPLLEEEEEE! *shakes fist*"
No offence, Applejack.
BOXING AND PACKAGING
I must confess, I made a bit of a mistake in my unboxing. I said that Append Miku was the first regular release figma to have the larger, square box. In actual fact, there have been a few! The Evangelion and Touhou figmas all have square boxes, and were released prior to Append Miku. BRS2035 also has this kind of box, despite being a regular release. That's what I get for not looking stuff up. *sigh*
Anyway, a square box usually signifies a larger than average amount of accessories (SP releases) or an especially large accessory that wouldn't fit in the regular box (the Evangelion girls). Append Miku is a bit of a mix of both. Because of her huge hair sculpt, where the twintails seem to float away from the body, without a square box, there was no way that she and all her accessories could fit in a tiny regular box.
It also gives them more room to show her off. XD
Append Miku's box looks really good. The black, silver, cyan and pink are a lot more harmonious than I would have expected. They don't clash and the swirly designs on the box keep it from looking plain without cluttering it up too much. Then again, GSC did have Append's boxart to base this off, so I don't think they get too many points for this.
It does look good though, and the figma sits very snugly inside. All the accessories were secure and none of them were difficult to get out of the plastic. None of Append Miku's plastic wrapping (to prevent scratches during shipping/displaying in box) were hard to remove and I had her out of the box very quickly.
All in all, very good; ties in well with the character's origins and it all looks good together. I'm tempted to knock off a point just for cribbing off Append's boxart but why mess with perfection, right?
Score: 8 out of 10
SCULPTING AND ARTICULATION
Append Miku's sculpting is absolutely stellar. All of her joints blend in very well with her clothing (no mean feat, considering how little she's wearing). She really gives off the feel of a futuristic diva. Her hair is particularly impressive. It starts off a solid colour then gradually fades to shiny and transluscent. The effect is fantastic; it really looks like Append's hair is glowing, which is how it looks on the original box art.
The sculpting, hands down, is some of the best I've seen. I'd say she's only narrowly beaten by BRS2025 as my favourite sculpting on a figma.
Because Append doesn't have any clothes to impede her range of movement, you can pretty much pose her any way you want. The only thing hindering you is the stand -- and by God, is it a fucking hinderence. The waist peg can't properly support Append Miku's weight and she will flop from side to side in it. It's completely useless; if you want her floating, she'll lean sideways in a worrying manner. If you want her standing, she'll stubborn;y face slightly away from the direction you want her in.
Come on, GSC. I know You didn't want a whopping great hole in her back to ruin the sculpt but my god, figmas are supposed to be POSABLE action figures. I don't care if she has a hole in her back as long as the stand can actually support her! I can't say I was dissapointed when it broke the other day. =___=; Right now, I'm using the jointed clip that came with BRS2035. It's intended for her Rock Cannon, so you can pose her with it but really, Append's need is greater than hers.
All together; great sculpting and great articulation, let down only by the crappy stand.
Score: 7 out of 10
ACCESSORIES AND FINAL REMARKS
There isn't really much to say about Append's accessories. She comes with the rack of hands, two extra faces (a closed eye, calm face and her Awakened Mode face) and the parts to put her into Awakened Mode (the floating tie, the cable, ect). Honestly, I'm a little... disappointed. I got Append Miku before I got Cheerful Japan Miku so I didn't have any music-y accessories to use with her. It felt like a bit of a cop-out on GSC's behalf. Just because the program is an add-on, doesn't mean the figma has to be, too!
There are some positives, though; Append can share faces with any other Miku figma, which looks great on both of them. Append's default face looks brilliant though the direction her eyes are looking makes her look like she's not paying attention XD I've henceforth dubbed it the 'Giving the Audience an Aside Glance' face.
Score: 7 out of ten
As for my final remarks, I don't really have anything else to add. Other than the issues with her accessories and stand, which I've already mentioned, Append Miku is a great figma. It would have been easy for GSC to fuck this up, but they didn't. She's a memorable figma, looks great and is very photogenic. The few complaints I have don't really bother me enough to make me dislike the figma and if you're a figma collector or a Miku fan (or both, like me!), Append Miku is definitely a must have.
FINAL SCORE: 22 OUT OF 30
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