Figure Friday Archives

Akko Kagari Nendoroid

By DoubleSama | May 3, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

Introduction

There’s no episode of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind today, and so #FigureFriday is back! I’ve actually had today’s figure since March, and I got another figure in April, so there’s a bit of a #FigureFriday backlog.

Sure, I could have just done this post on another day of the week, but then it wouldn’t be #FigureFriday, so why even bother? I also could have moved one of my JoJo’s Part 5 episode reviews, but I like to keep to my schedule as much as possible.

So, the next #FigureFriday should come after JoJo’s Part 5 concludes. If you want to see a sneak peek of the figure which will be featured in that post, you can check it out over on Instagram, but only if you promise to follow me while you’re there.

For now, let’s jump into this look at the Akko Kagari Nendoroid from the Little Witch Academia anime series.

Packaging

Akko, like many of the more recent Nendoroids I’ve acquired, has a fairly standard package design. The base color is the same purple as her outfit, and it has pink and yellow highlights to reflect the colors of her belt and buckle. There’s also some white, but I think this is mainly for balance and not specifically to reflect her bunny ears.

The sides of the box each have a circular window, again, like many of the more recent figures. Inside the box, the “background” is simply a bright yellow with no designs featured on it other than her product number, 747. However, this color really makes the rest of her outfit pop out as we’ll see later.

Akko Kagari Nendoroid front packaging (from the anime series Little Witch Academia) — Akko Kagari Nendoroid front packaging

I also found it interesting that her full name, Atsuko Kagari, was listed on the box rather than her nickname, Akko Kagari. From what I remember she isn’t actually called Atsuko all that often, so it feels a bit strange to have that as the name on her box.

This is somewhat similar to how Mordred’s packaging referred to her as Saber of “Red” rather than by her actual name. Sure, in her case that is what she’s often referred to in Fate/Apocrypha, but it still felt a bit strange considering her actual name is much more unique than her title.

Akko Kagari Nendoroid back packaging (from the anime series Little Witch Academia) — Akko Kagari Nendoroid back packaging

On the back of the box we’re shown three possible ways to assemble the Akko Nendoroid, with additional options pictured on either side. Again, this particular figure doesn’t really have anything that sets its packaging apart from the other Nendoroids I have.

Pieces

The pieces that come with the Akko Nendoroid are what really make her stand out from the competition. She has a lot of optional pieces, and that means there are a lot of different ways she can be customized, which is something to consider when looking at the price of a particular Nendoroid.

On the other hand there’s the Sakura Haruno Nendoroid I have, which came with a very limited selection of optional pieces. Compared to her, Akko is a much better deal, especially since they’re both roughly the same price.

Akko Kagari Nendoroid pieces (from the anime series Little Witch Academia) — Akko Kagari Nendoroid pieces

So, what are all these pieces Akko comes with? The additional pieces include two faces, two legs, five arms, bunny ears, a hat, a broomstick, a wand, and the Shiny Rod. That’s a lot of pieces, especially since there are two different pieces of headgear and three different handheld props.

Assembly

Despite all of the assembly possibilities, I knew exactly how I wanted to set up my Akko Nendoroid as soon as I got it. For the truly iconic look, I needed Akko to be wearing her hat, riding her broom, and holding the Shiny Rod. Luckily, this is all possible at once, as pictured below.

I id also do a more standard pose with her holding her regular wand (a picture of which can be found over on Instagram), but I basically just did that for the picture. I mean, just look at how nice the dynamic pose I chose instead is; it’s clearly the superior choice.

Akko Kagari Nendoroid assembled (from the anime series Little Witch Academia) — Akko Kagari Nendoroid assembled

Interestingly, even in this dynamic pose Akko fits pretty nicely in my display case. The reason this matters is because Megumin doesn’t exactly fit due to the size of her hat, so I figured I was going to have the same issue with Akko.

So, here’s a piece of advice for anyone looking to get a display case for their figures: I recommend getting one that’s at least 4in. deep if you you’re using it for Nendoroids and plan to close the glass. Mine is 3.5in. deep, and it’s a tight fit for a few of my figures.

Conclusion

Overall, I’m really happy with my Akko Kagari Nendoroid. There’s a wide variety of pieces which all look great, and she can be put into some pretty dynamic poses.

It’s also important to mention that her pieces fit together pretty well. I can’t say that this will always be the case, since each individual figure may have minor differences, but she was much easier to put together than some of the others I have for which the pieces are either stuck together too well or are too loose.

If you’re looking for a new Nendoroid to add to your collection, I highly recommend Akko. She may not be my favorite character ever, but her Nendoroid is definitely my favorite one that I own.

And, if you enjoyed this #FigureFriday “reboot” then be sure to click the like button ❤ down below. You should also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content or updates.

Finally, I’d like to thank HeavyROMAN for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about becoming a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Mordred Nendoroid

By DoubleSama | January 4, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

#FigureFriday

It’s been a while since my last #FigureFriday, but I’ve acquired a new anime figure so I’m bringing it back this week while there’s no JoJo’s Part 5 episode in the way. For those of you who may not be familiar, Figure Fridays are when I showcase one of my figures, historically Nendoroids, and briefly discuss them.

As the name implies, they’re also always on Fridays, because otherwise I couldn’t use that fancy alliteration.

Today I have the Saber of “Red” Nendoroid from the anime Fate/Apocrypha. Now, I haven’t seen Fate/Apocrypha yet, mainly because I’ve heard it isn’t good so it’s not really a high priority, but I do know this character from Fate/Grand Order.

Saber of “Red” is also known as Mordred, and (s)he’s the bastard son(daughter) of King Arthur(Artoria/Altria). As her title implies, she’s a part of the saber class and is the five-star saber I use in FGO.

While she may not be my favorite servant to use in FGO, she definitely has one of my favorite character designs. I’ve actually been eyeing some other Mordred figures, and even have one pre-ordered already, which I’ll talk about a bit more later on.

Packaging

The first thing you’ll notice when looking at the packaging for this Nendoroid is that it’s pretty plain. This is what I like to refer to as the standard Nendoroid box. Other figures in my collection with similar boxes are Aqua, Megumin, and Mayoi Hachikuji.

On the other hand, Kyouko Sakura, Sayaka Miki, and Sakura Haruno all have boxes with a bit more decoration, which I think makes them look much nicer. I’m not quite sure how it’s decided which Nendoroids get fancier boxes, but if you’re the kind of person who leaves them in the box, this may be more important to you.

Mordred, Saber of "Red," Nendoroid Packaging (front) from the Fate anime series — Mordred, Saber of “Red,” Nendoroid Packaging (front)

The box for Mordred is also the same size as that for Sakura Haruno, which is to say that it’s thinner, shorter, and deeper than the boxes for the others I have. Considering these two are the newest Nendoroids in my collection, at least from a release date standpoint, both being numbered in the 800’s, this may just be the new style of box.

However, Mordred, like Sakura Haruno, doesn’t actually come with all that much, and so this too could be part of the reason their boxes are smaller than the rest. For example, Megumin has the largest box, and this is likely due to her hat being just as big as the rest of her.

Mordred, Saber of "Red," Nendoroid Packaging (back) from the Fate anime series — Mordred, Saber of “Red,” Nendoroid Packaging (back)

As for the back of the box, again, it’s just as standard as the front. The only real distinction here from other generic Nendoroid boxes is that in the background of the large image of Mordred there’s a command seal design.

I also have to say that I’m not really a fan of that greenish-blue color used for the background behind the picture of Mordred on the front and the outline of the main image background on the back. It doesn’t have anything to do with her character design and makes the box feel even more generic.

Mordred

Taking a look inside the box, we find that Mordred comes with a second face plate, two versions of her sword Clarent (one being her Noble Phantasm, Clarent Blood Arthur), other arms, hands, and legs, her helmet (Secret of Pedigree) and another shoulder piece with crossed arms.

Despite these surprisingly few pieces, she can actually be manipulated into a wide variety of different poses. With Nendoroids that have a lot of pieces, only a relatively small amount of them can ever be used at one time, and so they don’t really have any advantage over Mordred.

Mordred, Saber of "Red," Nendoroid Pieces from the Fate anime series — Mordred, Saber of “Red,” Nendoroid Pieces

What I found most interesting about these pieces were the extra shoulders piece and the detachable spiked pieces on her original set of shoulders. As for the extra shoulders which feature crossed arms, this would normally just be extra arm pieces, but I like how it’s one whole section of her body rather than multiple.

Because the arms are already crossed and attached to the shoulders, you might think this is bad because they aren’t as posable as you may at first want. However, crossing individual arms on your own would be a real challenge, so I like that it was made easier in this way.

As for the detachable shoulder spikes (which unfortunately you can’t see in any of these pictures), I believe you’re supposed to take them off when equipping her helmet so they don’t get in the way. That said, I tested it, and the helmet doesn’t seem to have any issues regardless.

Mordred, Saber of "Red," Nendoroid Assembled from the Fate anime series — Mordred, Saber of “Red,” Nendoroid Assembled

Pictured above is the setup I opted for in the end. I prefer Clarent over Clarent Blood Arther simply because it’s coloration makes it more recognizable as a sword, and I prefer helmetless Mordred as far as the Nendoroid version of her is concerned.

While the helmet is an entirely separate head and so doesn’t actually fit over the head you see in use in the picture above, it’s still extremely large. It seems as though they made it large enough to fit her head inside of instead of simply making it the same size, and I think that makes it a bit too big compared to the rest of her body.

That said, the other Mordred figure I have pre-ordered is a Figma, not Nendoroid, and I do plan to have the Secret of Pedigree helmet equipped on that figure. So, in the end I’ll have versions of Mordred both with and without her helmet on.

The final thing I want to say about the Mordred Nendoroid is probably my favorite part of it overall, even though it’s nothing exciting. Mordred’s hand actually wraps entirely around the hilt of her sword!

I’m not sure if any of you have had this issue, but most of my Nendoroids which hold props can’t actually do so reliably. For example, Megumin and Sayaka Miki drop their staff and swords respectively any time there’s a small bump, despite Sayaka Miki’s sword supposedly sticking into her hand (it doesn’t).

When I saw that Mordred actually had a closed fist that the hilt of her sword fit into, I was amazed at the advances of Nendoroid technology. Hopefully all future Nendoroids which hold props will have hands that grip like this instead of the old model.

Conclusion

Overall, I’d have to say that Mordred is probably the most well-made Nendoroid I have in my collection, which should be the case since she’s also the newest. All of her pieces fit together well and she was extremely easy to assemble, which isn’t something I can say about all of the others.

If you enjoyed this “episode” of Figure Friday, then be sure to let me know by clicking the like button ❤ down below. I’ll leave links to the other Figure Fridays at the end of this post in case you want to go back and check out some of the other figures in my collection.

As always, you should also follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama because it’s the best way to stay up to date with all the new content I put out. And, if you’d like to help support DoubleSama.com, then consider checking out Patreon.com/DoubleSama for more details.

Sayaka Miki Nendoroid

By DoubleSama | July 20, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

Sayaka Miki from Madoka Magica is my sixth, and most recently acquired Nendoroid figure. While Sayaka isn’t my favorite character from the series, I do think she’s a well written one. However, the real reason I wanted her was to go with the Kyouko Sakura Nendoroid I already owned.

Sayaka appears to have had a difficult time arriving in the U.S. from Japan as she was multiple weeks late, and the left side of her packaging was significantly damaged upon arrival, but arrive she did.

From the pictures above and below, we can see that the design of her packaging is the same as that of Kyouko Sakura. These Madoka Magica Nendoroids have the most decorative boxes of all the Nendoroids I have. We also see that she’s number 209, making her the oldest figure I own.

Sayaka Miki Nendoroid packaging (back) from the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica — Sayaka Miki Nendoroid Packaging (back)

Unlike some of the later Nendoroid boxes, Sayaka’s does not come with any side windows or a logo/number printed onto the backdrop within the box. However, the back and sides feature images of the figure assembled in various ways as usual.

Although I currently have her set up in a different pose (which you’ll see below) I’m likely to change her to the one featured on the far left of the back (pictured above). With this pose, she appears much more dynamic, and will pose better with the Kyouko Sakura Nendoroid.

This may be in part because of the age of this figure, but Sayaka doesn’t appear to have as many unique ways to position her as my other Nendoroids do. Even Sakura Haruno, who has no accessories, is a much more poseable figure.

Sayaka Miki Nendoroid pieces from the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica — Sayaka Miki Nendoroid Pieces

Sayaka comes with two additional faces, two additional arms, an additional arm piece, and an additional hand. Her accessories are her cape, and eight swords which each come with their own stand to position around Sayaka. There is only one ergonomic arm to hold her figure upright, and it’s specially designed to fit under her cape.

While all those swords gives the impression that you can do a lot of things with this figure, as I mentioned previously, the poses are rather limited. This is because she relies on the swords to make her poses interesting. Also, if I didn’t use the swords, I felt like they were going to waste.

Because of that last point, I settled on the pose pictured below, but as I mentioned, I plan to change this so she can pair better with Kyouko Sakura.

Sayaka Miki Nendoroid assembled from the anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica — Sayaka Miki Nendoroid Assembled

I attempted to use all eight swords in this pose, but quickly realized that I wasn’t going to be able to fit them all, at least not while having her base at an angle like I tend to do (Mayoi Hachikuji is the only exception). Her cape simply got in the way of the swords I attempted to put behind her.

Due to this, I decided to use just five of the eight swords. Speaking of her swords, I think she should have only come with one, two at the most. That would have made room for more accessories such as her soul gem or CD player. It also would have been cool to have Sayaka’s witch form as a backdrop piece.

Kyouko came with her spear which could be assembled in either the rigid or chain forms, and a taiyaki. Those accessories alone give Kyouko a wider variety of poses than Sayaka has.

Mayoi Hachikuji Nendoroid

By DoubleSama | June 22, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

It’s once again Figure Friday and today we have the Mayoi Hachikuji Nendoroid from the Monogatari series! Maybe one day there will be a full size Yotsugi Ononoki Nendoroid from this series too, but for now she only comes in petit form.

As you can see from the image above, Mayoi is Nendoroid #368 which puts her between Kyōko Sakura and Aqua. Her box is primarily white on the front, top, and bottom, with orange on the back and sides. Both blue and pink are used as highlight colors.

Like the boxes for the Aqua and Megumin Nendoroids, Mayoi has circular windows on either side of the box. While I originally assumed these side windows were specific to the KonoSuba Nendoroids, this may instead just be a style of packaging adopted some time after Kyōko, which was then stopped before Sakura.

As usual, the back of the box shows a variety of assembly options for the figure, with more being shown on the sides. Mayoi is unique among the Nendoroids I have in that she’s possible to assemble in a seated position as well as the standard standing positions.

To achieve this sitting position, Mayoi comes with an entirely different lower half rather than just some interchangeable legs (pictured below).

Aside from the separate sitting position lower half, Mayoi comes with two other faces, seven other arms, two other hands, another leg, and, of course, her signature oversized backpack. Due to the nature of her sitting and standing poses as well as her backpack, Mayoi’s stand is also somewhat unique.

She has the typical ergonomic stand arm that the rest of my Nendoroids have, but this can only be used if she doesn’t have her backpack equipped. When the backpack is equipped, she has three different stands which can be used depending on if she’s sitting or standing.

I originally set her up in a sitting position because I wanted to try it out, but there was always only going to be one position I was going to ultimately leave her in (pictured above). Since this is a standing position with her backpack equipped, I had to use one of the rigid stands, not the ergonomic one.

These rigid stands, however, aren’t exactly the most user-friendly pieces. There’s one for the sitting position which I originally missed in the box and almost threw out (it’s a small clear disc in a clear plastic bag with some other small clear pieces). That stand is easy enough to use, though.

The two other rigid stands are the issue. There’s a short one and a long one. I used the short one, but it’s still at an awkward angle even though I have Mayoi standing. It’s unclear to me in what situation you’d ever use the long stand unless Mayoi is hovering for some reason.

These two longer rigid stands also didn’t go into the allotted hole in the bottom of the backpack very easily, but that’s probably something that’s slightly different from Nendoroid to Nendoroid. Overall, I’d rather have pieces which are a tight fit than pieces which are too loose and fall apart like what I got with some of Megumin‘s.

Finally, the inner cardboard layer of Mayoi’s box has her Nendoroid number printed on it unlike how Sakura had the Hidden Leaf symbol. As I said I would last week, I checked the other three boxes, and none of them have graphics printed onto their inner cardboard layers.

Sakura Haruno Nendoroid

By DoubleSama | June 15, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

Sakura Haruno from Naruto: Shippūden is my fourth Nendoroid. If you want to check out my others, they’re Kyouko Sakura from Madoka Magica, and both Aqua and Megumin from KonoSuba. My fifth Nendoroid, Mayoi Hachikuji from the Monogatari series, is en route.

This Nendoroid released in April 2018 so if you’re looking to get her for yourself, I’d suggest doing so before the price increases (although I don’t think the price of Sakura will actually increase much).

From the front of the box we see the the number of the figure in the Nendoroid collection as usual, which is 833 for Sakura. The front of the box also features a pink and white marble-like pattern which is unique to this side of the packaging.

Sakura Haruno Nendoroid back packaging (from the anime Naruto: Shippuden) — Sakura Haruno Nendoroid Packaging (back)

The back, sides, top, and bottom of the box are all in a matte crimson, which is different from the other boxes I have (those are all glossy). This box also doesn’t feature any circular windows on the sides like those for the KonoSuba Nendoroids did.

This box was also smaller than those for my previous three Nendoroids, most likely due to Sakura not coming with as many large accessories. It’s shorter than all the others, but just as wide and deep as they are.

The box also features a couple images of different assembly options (confident, shy, and angry/action), as well as an image of the Katsuyu (Sakura’s slug summon) backdrop piece.

Sakura Haruno Nendoroid Pieces (from the anime Naruto: Shippuden) — Sakura Haruno Nendoroid Pieces

Speaking of the Katsuyu backdrop piece, it can be found behind the cardboard liner and the back of the box, much like the explosion graphic which came with Megumin. I actually prefer the Katsuyu, because it doesn’t necessarily cover a portion of the figure in the same way Megumin‘s explosion does.

The interchangeable parts that come with Sakura are two extra faces, three extra arms, and two extra legs. Unlike the other figures I have, she doesn’t come with any handheld accessories (I still wish Megumin came with a Chomusuke).

Sakura Haruno Nendoroid assembled with Katsuyu (from the anime Naruto: Shippuden) — Sakura Haruno Nendoroid Assembled with Katsuyu

It was extremely tempting to set Sakura up in the mid-air action pose (and I may still do that at some point), but for now I decided on the more standard pose since it matched the rest of my figures better. Katsuyu was only set up for the sake of taking a picture, and then placed back in the box.

The only reason I feel anyone should choose the shy setup of Sakura is if they’re pairing it with the Sasuke Uchiha Nendoroid, but that one’s pretty expensive and Sasuke isn’t a girl so why even bother getting him?

My only real complaint about this Nendoroid is that it didn’t come with a face with Sakura’s Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead and an extra arm/hand which is using some kind of medical jutsu. Other than those two things, I don’t really see anything more that should have been added.

Finally, I can’t remember if the box liners for my other Nendoroids had a graphic printed onto them, but I thought the Hidden Leaf emblem on the back was a nice touch.

Tag: Figure Friday

Akko Kagari Nendoroid

By DoubleSama | May 3, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

Introduction

Packaging

Pieces

Assembly

Conclusion

Mordred Nendoroid

By DoubleSama | January 4, 2019 | Comments 0 Comment

#FigureFriday

Packaging

Mordred

Conclusion

Sayaka Miki Nendoroid

By DoubleSama | July 20, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

Mayoi Hachikuji Nendoroid

By DoubleSama | June 22, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

Sakura Haruno Nendoroid

By DoubleSama | June 15, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

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