Hunting the Elusive

As many have noted before, Keuma's latest generation of doujin figure works have been released, most notably on Toranoana and then during Comiket 73. There are two types of two colours each, but personally I was not too interested in the "Violet" figures, preferring instead the Axia one -- specifically, the red one because of the headphones. Please note that this post is not too safe for work, although there is no "nudity" as such.

I had missed the Toranona orders (due to the figures being sold there being only the black one) and sellers were making wholesale killings on Yahoo auctions with figures being bidded up way too high (I thought), so I just went with a sale of only the figure, without a doujin. So I don't have the doujin, which is a pity, because the cover looked nice. But from what I have seen of Keuma's doujins that he bundles with figures, I don't think I am missing out on much (usually its just some chibi stuff about how he made the figures).

At this point, I should direct readers who haven't already to read my previous review of Keuma's last doujin figure release. This is important, because it illustrates the full extent of my disappointment with the way Keuma's latest effort has developed.

The first thing we notice is that Keuma has chosen to go with a shiny plastic option. Words cannot express my wish to shake him and scream "WHY??!!!" The previous figure had a really nice powdery matte finish, but this one is SHINY. It's so shiny it's like BARBIE DOLL SKIN.

At least it's not like commercial cheap-shots who have an irregular finish. This figure's actually pretty open about being shiny. And aside from the inherent problems that such a finish brings to photography/making a figure look nice, I must say that the sculpting and shading especially on the legs are pretty outstanding.

Conclusion for this issue: SHINY = BAD. But it's not a "cheap" kind of shiny, if it in any way redeems this figure a little.

The face is actually really nice: this is the main drawing point of this figure for me, actually. It's almost CLAMP-like in terms of the eyes and the composition of the face.

You know what? She might even look like Wang Riu Ming...just a little...?

(Non-Gundam 00 watchers might need to Google)

Of course, another focus for this figure are the headphones, which are unfortunately attached to the hat. Would have been a nice gimmick if they were detachable as a separate item. The hat doesn't stay on the figure nicely (the same issue as the previous figure) and has to be blu-tac'd on. The headphones also do not exactly fit on the ears, as you can see from the bottom left shot. Still, they're pretty sweet cans.

The metal cross accessory seems to be the same part as the one which came with the previous figure. There is a flaw in the plastic which you can see in the photo. The cross can cover that up but I chose not to.

There is a metal band here constricting the thigh of the figure. Note that the painting detail around the abdominal area seems to be rather lacking in quality this time round.

Here, I have taken that little plastic-y piece which looks like a light-saber holder, and stuck the metal gun accessory on it as a holster. You can also stick a whip thing in it to complete the dominatrix look.

The holster (which is what I will call it) is actually pretty weak, and it bends when you put stuff in it. So don't play around too much.

Also, if you note the original promotional pictures on Keuma's site, the holster was meant to be mounted parallel to the metal band. Indeed, that is how the holster was designed (it fits onto the corresponding nub on the band), but the figure's documentation actually required buyers to mod the holster so it fits in the configuration you see above. Not sure why he changed his mind. It's not a hard mod if you have a reasonably sharp knife, but you do need to use superglue to get the thing to hold.

Nice heels.

It's the usual metal cuff chain, which I have configured to extend around the back of the figure. It actually gets in the way of the figure leaning on the "stand" so I have suspended it upwards a little.

Note the crease sculpting on the back of the corset, and the fact that the painting on the back of the figure is superior to the painting on the front.

The arms and hands are removable, as is the chain, obviously.

This is the stand. I should note that it's not really a stand. It's actually pretty useless as a stand, because it's far too light. When the figure leans on it, it invariably slides backwards.

There were problems assembling this stand, because one of the little nubs at the bottom which snap into the base piece was split, presumably so as to lock the stand in once it's pushed into the holes in the base piece. Thing is, there is so much tension in that little nub that the assembly bounces back out. I had to shave some material off the split nub in order to make it stay.

Like the previous "stand", this one has the mechanical and biological look, which seems like it's been inspired by H.R. Giger's stuff.

Comes with a skull which is attached to the end of the stand. Theoretically, the skull fits on the headless skeleton of the previous figure's stand, but I have not tested that. It's a pity that the wicked large curved metal saber that came with this kit has to be fitted on the skull -- it does not fit in the figure's hand, or rather, even if you forced it to fit, it'd snap the hands off. It's heavy, and sharp.

 

Oh, here we are, at the last feet photos of the figure. I'll just sum it up generally then.

NOT.

Not sure why I left this till last, but this is one of the heaviest points of criticisms I have for this figure, even surpassing the shiny skin issue.

This figure is designed in a manner which is retarded, careless, and with a lack of knowledge about the physics of figure design. Which is surprising. Wasn't the whole point of making doujin figures, to show the industry that you could do better? Then why the hell do we have this farce?

Does this leg look DISJOINTED to you? It does, and it is, actually. I'll just state right now that it looked like this when it arrived, regardless of what I did to it.

There are so many issues here that I'm at a loss: how do I start?

OK.

1) This figure as you can see from earlier pictures, is supported ENTIRELY on this leg. As previously mentioned, it's supposed to lean on the stand for some kind of support, but that support is actually pretty weak. Making a figure supported on one point is not something to be taken lightly. Most manufacturers do crazy reinforcing things do make it work -- case in point, the Shuraki 2 figure.

2) The bottom of the shoe has a little hole, into which the nub of the little grey block you see here in these photos is supposed to fit.

So far so good, except for the fact that the little blocks are not only retarded, they were born STUNTED. They're far too small, and far too light to have any kind of serious supporting role.

In fact, Keuma was aware of this and included an extra block. Apparently you stack them up, because there was a height problem too. Superglue, you are my friend.

So I just superglued them blocks onto a figure base I had lying around. More area = more support and weight, right?

Right. Except for another fact.

3) The hole and the nub are too small. This figure, frankly, has the balance of a whale on a monopod. It loves leaning over backwards. So what we get is a kind of levering effect on the heels which pulls the figure off the nub, and over.

During the course of setting up this figure, it fell over around 5 times.

4) Also, the leg in its default configuration results in the figure being bent to one side. I had to use a hairdryer to head up the leg and bend it so the figure would actually stand (or lean) straight.

5) Now, that part with the ankle. It's crazy. The plastic is regular shiny type, fairly hard material until the ankle part, where it disappears into the metal-looking ring. At that point, it shifts to become that soft disgusting plastic that you see in gashapon figures.

Yeah.

What. The. Hell.

At the critical supporting part of the figure, the material changes into an easily-deformed type? In fact, one could twist the shoe part around easily due to the inferior quality of the material therein. It was even STRETCHABLE.

I did what I had to. I stretched the thing, and then used a knife and CUT it between the shoe and the metal-looking ring. Soft plastic yielded easily.

Then I cut away at that weak material to get it out of the way of re-assembly, and once again brought out my trusted friend the super glue. I superglued the metal-looking ring back onto the leg. And then I superglued the shoe directly onto the metal-looking ring, bypassing the soft crap.

It looks the same as it did before, but is now more sturdy. When it comes time to anchor the figure in a more stable and permanent manner, I will be using a Dremel to drill upwards from the cleft of the heel, into the leg, and then I will insert a bronze rod.

Conclusion

The figure looks good. I love how it looks, and for the most part, I have no problems with it, aesthetically.

Except for the shiny skin. Keuma needs to go back to using that wonderful matte material. Cutting costs is fine, but making a decision which impacts so entirely on the appearance of the figure is unwise.

Then there are the practical problems. Making the buyer modify the figure is unusual, but because this is a doujin figure, we'll forgive that holster debacle. To call the problem with the holster "the big failure with this figure" (as it does in the documentation) is an understatement though.

The big failure with this figure is the fact that it's badly designed. I have not a lot of confidence that this figure will not lean on the one supporting leg. In fact, the figure came in a leaning configuration.

The support provided for keeping the figure upright is insufficient. The weight distribution and locking points of this figure were not calculated properly, and the cheap material found at the main support point of the ankle was a disgrace.

Like I said, I love the look of this figure, but technically and practically, this figure was an immense disappointment. I guess it's part and parcel of what we have to deal with for a doujin figure production, but the gains made with the previous figure seem to have been demolished in the name of cost cutting.

I'll still be buying the next generation of figures that Keuma releases. Hopefully these issues won't be present there.

 

PS: This post might have been vitriolic, but it reflects on the truth of my experience. I love the work by Keuma, and actually feel pretty bad having to post such a negative review at this time, since Keuma was involved in some sort of car accident this week. I wish him the best of luck.

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