Hunting the Elusive

This is my first Touhou figure, and it’s only apt to start with a Tokiame version, since he is a major force in the Touhou illustration world, and has received a lot of attention from me. Though Kirisame Marisa is not my favourite character, she is up there amongst the more well-known ones. The manufacturer of this 1/8 Kirisame Marisa Rev. TOKIAME figure is listed as Ichijin-sha (also listed as manufacturer of the Reisen chibi figure which came with Touhou Bogetsushou vol 1 first edition), but I think practically the manufacturing was provided by Kotobukiya. Sculpting by Misono Auto/Outo (it says Auto on the box, AmiAmi lists it as Outo). Original retail price: 7500 yen, released late December 2009. [Gallery on Pixel]

From what I can tell, this 1/8 completed PVC, derived from an illustration Tokiame did for Touhou Bogetsushou, has limited availability, not being on sale from Hobby Search or the usual suspects for figure purchases. Since when I wanted to order the figure, AmiAmi had yet to launch their English service, I got my deputy to special order it through the Japanese AmiAmi shop. In any case, AmiAmi has now sold out of the figure.

Above: original illustration as seen on base of box.

The figure came with a Tokiame illustrated telephone card, a pair of stickers which may be stuck on the display base for eliteness (though I demurred), and a blow-up Hakkero for unknown purposes.

As with most figures, Marisa Rev.TOKIAME came partially disassembled. There was the main body, the ABS base, the hat, the broom and also the ribbon thing at the back.

As with most figures, the main issue here was to get the fiddly broom to fit on the figure. Given its position, it was essential to have a secure fit, or gravity would just pull it off.

As always, production inconsistencies meant a bit of knife-work was needed to get the thing to slot in properly, but eventually it all worked out. The ribbon, despite appearing to be part of the costume, actually threads onto a stake sticking out of the star base first, before we impale Marisa onto the star as well.

The hat, of course, is removable, but the point here to note is that it’s slightly magnetic. This is key, because the stalk holding the star to the base is tiltable slightly back and forth, while the star itself has a rotation of around 90 degrees, so you can adjust the trajectory that Marisa appears to be flying in. The magnetic hat remains firmly on the figure’s head throughout these manoeuvres.

Using magnets on figures is not a new concept, since resin-kit makers have been utilising it some time (and in fact, E2046 puts them into some of their recasts). It is, however, interesting to see it reach the completed PVC market.

As you can see, Maarisa is holding a Hakkero in the left hand. This is not removeable, and comes as an integral part of the figure.

What really stood out for me about this figure is the fact that the pose is quite unusual and has a lot of movement. The bloomers provides a great contrast to pantsu normally found in figures.

Production quality is very good with minimum seam line and de-moulding technical artifacts, though obviously as with any conversion of illustration into figure, the entire feel of Tokiame’s artwork cannot be captured.

The face has a very limited viewing angle. Due to the pose of the figure, it makes sense to see it from an angle to the side (that way, Marisa looks at you), but I think if you tried to look on it from a frontal angle, the face would look weird. This is yet another 2D to 3D translation problem. The face looks nice in the illustration, but the same proportions (size of mouth, flattened facial structure, nose) does not work too well on a figure.

This figure was a bit hard to photograph too, because the pose severely limits the angles from which photos can be taken. Go too far to one side, and the face is obscured. Also had some early problems with getting the lighting done properly due to intense shadowing caused by the structure of the figure.

An interesting point is the shininess of the eyes. At first I thought it was a layer of clear plastic/glass over the eye, but I think it’s just a coating. It gives an extra sense of depth and realism to the eyes, almost like doll eyes.

The rear of the figure, showing the star base and the ribbon. The star base is semi-clear with a matte silver finish. The base has a LED light built in, powered by two AA batteries. The problem is that the light is so dim that it’s pointless to turn it on in anything other than complete darkness – in that case, the figure is hardly visible. I would like to modify it and replace the LED with an ultrabright version to help enhance the effect, but it might be hard to do without damaging the base – there are no screws for scar-less dismantlement.

The clothing has a medium level of detail (apart from the frills and such at the bottom of the skirt). In Tokiame’s post after receiving his figure, he noted the flat chest of the character in English.

Various details.

And the last shots.

Technical: Shoot was done using a tripod and fairly long exposures. Again, using the 50mm 2.8 Minolta macro lens, all natural lighting from a cloudy sky coming in through a window. Used printing paper as a reflector, then later a silvered reflector (accessory for my flash diffuser). Most if not all the focusing was manual, using the manual focus check LiveView feature on an Alpha 550 DSLR to ensure accuracy.