figma Akemi Homura Review
I was actually quite surprised when Homura won the poll for the next figma review; for a while, it looked like Cheerful Japan Miku was victorious and then Homura got a last few votes that bumped her up to be the winner. So, by popular demand, here's figma Homura's review!
Please note that due to the nature of Homura's character, this review will contain some pretty unavoidable spoilers for Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I'll do my best to avoid spoilers where I can, but at times I will have to discuss plot points from the series. If you're new to Madoka and don't want it spoiled for you, proceed with caution!
Also, Homu's box is currently stored away with the rest of my figma boxes, so I can't get any snaps of it. The photos of Homura's box and accessories in this review are from my unboxing so they might look kinda bad. Sorry!
figma #115, regular release: AKEMI HOMURA
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Homura was actually one of the first ever figures I pre-ordered; I'd already ordered Madoka from AmiAmi but when I saw Homura up for grabs, I whined and pleaded and begged my mother to let me pre-order another one. However, the Homura I have right now isn't actually the one I pre-ordered, as she got snared by customs and sent back to AmiAmi. A wonderfully generous MyFigureCollection.net member sent me his extra Homura, along with two other figmas; you can see the unboxing of all three here.
Design-wise, Homura is my absolute favorite of the Puella Magi girls. She perfectly captures the essence of a dark magical girl without actually relying on that much, well, darkness. Hell, the larger part of her outfit is white, after all.
figma Homura is amazingly accurate. She looks like she's just stepped out of the anime; her eyes are incredibly detailed and manage to convey the same gorgeous liquid depth that I love about the eyes in Puella Magi. She also comes with a metric fuckton of weapons and they all look great when posed with her, even when in Moemura mode. I also laughed when I saw she comes with her trusty.... golf club. XD It's just a shame that they didn't include the cute HomuHomu Handkerchief with either this or School Uniform; it was included with the Nendo, however, so I guess if you really wanted to re-create the scene, you could use that.
BOXING AND PACKAGING
Homura's box design follows on from Madoka's. It incorperates the same swirly patterns and stars, this time, in Homura's signature colour, purple. It looks good and the colours all blend together very well. Since it's essentially just a recolour of Madoka's box, there's nothing I can say here that I'll say about Madoka's box so I think I'll save all that for figma Madoka's review.
To my surprise, rather than Homura herself, Moemura is the character that graces the top of Homura's box. I kind of raised my eyebrow when I saw this as it's pretty spoilery for anyone casually viewing the box (remember, figmas are sold in stores in Japan, not just online). It's not immediately obvious who Moemura is, but her existence is in itself a spoiler and I'm a little confused as why she's slapped on the top of the box like that.
Of course, since she's included with Homura (or at least her head is insert mami joke here) it's probably a little silly of me to be shrieking SPOILERS!!!! but going into Puella Magi Madoka Magica completely unspoiled and finding out each plot twist along with the characters is a viewing experience that shouldn't be ruined for anyone.
Incidentally, the box insert is blue, as opposed to purple; I was a little confused at first as to why, then I remembered that Homura's little time travel vortex is the exact same shade of blue. Very clever on GSC's part, I think.
Regardless of my SPOILER PARANOIA, it's a great looking box and does everything it needs to. It looks great and suits Homura perfect.
Score: 8/10
SCULPTING AND ARTICULATION
As I said in my Append Miku review BRS2035 holds the title of my favorite sculpting on a figma. Until I got Stella (I--IT'S HER CANON NAME OK, IT'S NOT LIKE I NAMED HER) Homura was the figma I held up as the best sculpted. Everything about her is fantastic. Her clothes have wrinkles, her hair flows and her face is just amazing. I had to snag a picture off Google to show you guys, since my camera isn't good enough to get the details but seriously, look at her faces!;
Homura's a very action oriented girl, so it makes sense that she'll need to run around, right? As you can see in the picture above, her skirt doesn't actually impede her movement that much. While you might find it hard to get her sitting down or something, any kind of running or action pose should be relatively easy to pull off. Huzzah!
People have complained about the way her hair is jointed at the back. It doesn't look great, but it avoids the problem that usually comes with long-haired figmas being unable to move their heads properly because of their hair getting in the way. figmas are primarily action figures after all so I definitely prefer this over a solid chunk of plastic.
Score: 10/10
ACCESSORIES AND FINAL REMARKS
Out of all my figmas, Homura has some of my favorite accessories. They are the most notable weapons that she uses in the series; her bazooka (of which she uses thousands in her battle against Walpurgisnacht), the pipe bomb that she uses in the second and third timelines, her hand gun and.... a golf club. XD I currently have her in Moemura mode with her golf club~
As well as her weapons, she comes with a swappable head to put her braids on, a pair of glasses and two extra faces; a yelling/angry expression and her happy, smiling expression. Both are very cute!
She also comes with an extra forearm that you can use to have her wear her shield. Unfortunately, she only comes with her shield in its inactive form. It's kind of weird, because you can easily pop her shield off her arm. I think that it was planned to give her two shields but at the last minute, for whatever reason, they decided not to.
Score: 8 out of 10
Homura is one of my favorite figmas. She's accurate, looks great and is just awesome. She's a little let down by the fact that some of her most distinctive accessories (her ribbon and badass bow) come with a separate figma but even on her own, Homura's awesome. If you're a Homuhomu lover, she's a must have.
FINAL SCORE: 26 OUT OF 30
Please note that due to the nature of Homura's character, this review will contain some pretty unavoidable spoilers for Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I'll do my best to avoid spoilers where I can, but at times I will have to discuss plot points from the series. If you're new to Madoka and don't want it spoiled for you, proceed with caution!
Also, Homu's box is currently stored away with the rest of my figma boxes, so I can't get any snaps of it. The photos of Homura's box and accessories in this review are from my unboxing so they might look kinda bad. Sorry!
figma #115, regular release: AKEMI HOMURA
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Homura was actually one of the first ever figures I pre-ordered; I'd already ordered Madoka from AmiAmi but when I saw Homura up for grabs, I whined and pleaded and begged my mother to let me pre-order another one. However, the Homura I have right now isn't actually the one I pre-ordered, as she got snared by customs and sent back to AmiAmi. A wonderfully generous MyFigureCollection.net member sent me his extra Homura, along with two other figmas; you can see the unboxing of all three here.
Design-wise, Homura is my absolute favorite of the Puella Magi girls. She perfectly captures the essence of a dark magical girl without actually relying on that much, well, darkness. Hell, the larger part of her outfit is white, after all.
figma Homura is amazingly accurate. She looks like she's just stepped out of the anime; her eyes are incredibly detailed and manage to convey the same gorgeous liquid depth that I love about the eyes in Puella Magi. She also comes with a metric fuckton of weapons and they all look great when posed with her, even when in Moemura mode. I also laughed when I saw she comes with her trusty.... golf club. XD It's just a shame that they didn't include the cute HomuHomu Handkerchief with either this or School Uniform; it was included with the Nendo, however, so I guess if you really wanted to re-create the scene, you could use that.
BOXING AND PACKAGING
Homura's box design follows on from Madoka's. It incorperates the same swirly patterns and stars, this time, in Homura's signature colour, purple. It looks good and the colours all blend together very well. Since it's essentially just a recolour of Madoka's box, there's nothing I can say here that I'll say about Madoka's box so I think I'll save all that for figma Madoka's review.
To my surprise, rather than Homura herself, Moemura is the character that graces the top of Homura's box. I kind of raised my eyebrow when I saw this as it's pretty spoilery for anyone casually viewing the box (remember, figmas are sold in stores in Japan, not just online). It's not immediately obvious who Moemura is, but her existence is in itself a spoiler and I'm a little confused as why she's slapped on the top of the box like that.
Of course, since she's included with Homura (or at least her head is insert mami joke here) it's probably a little silly of me to be shrieking SPOILERS!!!! but going into Puella Magi Madoka Magica completely unspoiled and finding out each plot twist along with the characters is a viewing experience that shouldn't be ruined for anyone.
Incidentally, the box insert is blue, as opposed to purple; I was a little confused at first as to why, then I remembered that Homura's little time travel vortex is the exact same shade of blue. Very clever on GSC's part, I think.
Regardless of my SPOILER PARANOIA, it's a great looking box and does everything it needs to. It looks great and suits Homura perfect.
Score: 8/10
SCULPTING AND ARTICULATION
As I said in my Append Miku review BRS2035 holds the title of my favorite sculpting on a figma. Until I got Stella (I--IT'S HER CANON NAME OK, IT'S NOT LIKE I NAMED HER) Homura was the figma I held up as the best sculpted. Everything about her is fantastic. Her clothes have wrinkles, her hair flows and her face is just amazing. I had to snag a picture off Google to show you guys, since my camera isn't good enough to get the details but seriously, look at her faces!;
Homura's a very action oriented girl, so it makes sense that she'll need to run around, right? As you can see in the picture above, her skirt doesn't actually impede her movement that much. While you might find it hard to get her sitting down or something, any kind of running or action pose should be relatively easy to pull off. Huzzah!
People have complained about the way her hair is jointed at the back. It doesn't look great, but it avoids the problem that usually comes with long-haired figmas being unable to move their heads properly because of their hair getting in the way. figmas are primarily action figures after all so I definitely prefer this over a solid chunk of plastic.
Score: 10/10
ACCESSORIES AND FINAL REMARKS
Out of all my figmas, Homura has some of my favorite accessories. They are the most notable weapons that she uses in the series; her bazooka (of which she uses thousands in her battle against Walpurgisnacht), the pipe bomb that she uses in the second and third timelines, her hand gun and.... a golf club. XD I currently have her in Moemura mode with her golf club~
As well as her weapons, she comes with a swappable head to put her braids on, a pair of glasses and two extra faces; a yelling/angry expression and her happy, smiling expression. Both are very cute!
She also comes with an extra forearm that you can use to have her wear her shield. Unfortunately, she only comes with her shield in its inactive form. It's kind of weird, because you can easily pop her shield off her arm. I think that it was planned to give her two shields but at the last minute, for whatever reason, they decided not to.
Score: 8 out of 10
Homura is one of my favorite figmas. She's accurate, looks great and is just awesome. She's a little let down by the fact that some of her most distinctive accessories (her ribbon and badass bow) come with a separate figma but even on her own, Homura's awesome. If you're a Homuhomu lover, she's a must have.
FINAL SCORE: 26 OUT OF 30