Figure Unboxing and Review: Nendoroid Minami Kotori Stage Version (Good Smile Company)
To All,
If you do recall, not too long ago, I've posted a review on Nendoroid Minami Kotori Training Outfit Version, which is Kotori's Nendoroid from the second Love Live! Nendoroid line (you can find the review article here). And so I thought it'll be nice to have a review about her Nendoroid from the very first line, of which I would be referring to as her Stage Outfit Version -- just for collectors to compare between the two and decide if they want to get either, or both!
For starters, I found Kotori's sculpt very cute in both, but Ill have to say that I'll choose the Training Outfit Version as the cuter one as I'm biased towards Shichibee (a sculptor who helped out with sculpting the Training Outfit Version). I have this belief that if Shichibee is involved, the Nendoroids would automatically become cuter!
Box and Packaging 7/10
I like how Love Live! Nendoroid boxes are smaller than the usual, since they come with less accessories and logically should have smaller blisters and thus boxes. Not to mention that this would help to cut down on shipping costs and space. Unfortunately, I have a habit of displaying Nendoroid boxes, and the difference in height is a pain to balance out. I have yet to find a good way to display any of them so if anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.
Getting back to the box, it works on Kotori's color scheme of olive and accents it with the main color palette of this outfit (red) to add a splash of color. I'm not complaining because I always considered Kotori to have the color olive (albeit bland at times) and green is better suited for Hanayo. At least that's what the fandom got me to believe.
Here's a photograph of her blister, and you can see how snug she is... as well as how little accessories she comes with, if they can even be called accessories. There's a few (or more than usual) number of changes of limbs.
Base 4/10
There's nothing too special about Kotori's base, except maybe how short her stand that goes into her back is. I'd have preferred if they split her long hair into 2 parts for a longer stand instead. Having a whole mass of hair sculpt to attempt to hold the stand part that goes into her back flush against her body isn't the best solution in my opinion.
Posing and Assembly 5/10
Posing is compromised because she comes with so little parts but I'm sure there must be numerous articles regarding it already so I'll focus on assembly instead.
I'm not a fan of how Kotori's base came out because it was incredibly difficult for me to get my copy to stand firmly on her base. It was loose, the part that goes into her back was short and would slip out all the time. It would even drop out easily after I get her to stand firmly on it. Perhaps it's because they were rushing on the re-release (I got the re-release version) that it's possible my copy got compromised on quality control.
But once you get her to fit well enough, it's just like any other Nendoroid out there. Thank God.
Sculpting and Painting 7/10
I'm not joking when I say my Kotori came with bad quality control because she had many issues.
For starters, there was a paint splotch on her ponytail and her ribbon came very loose and wouldn't keep in place at all. Her right stocking didn't come with a clean paint job either (though I can overlook that due to Nendoroids being small and painting is grossly difficult).
But the ends of the joints in her body, I don't even know how they managed to get black paint transfer onto them when they are supposed to be in contact with flesh-colored parts instead. And I don't think I really want to know either...
Back to Kotori herself. Other than the bad quality control on the above-mentioned parts, the rest were near perfect. The only other issue I had was how short her skirt was, making it difficult for me to get shots of her without unintentionally up-skirting her.
I offer my apologies, my dearest Waifu.
And here is the sketchbook and hand parts from her Training Outfit Version to create a small crossover. As Nendoroids always have removable hands or arms at the sleeve or glove area, I always thought it would be a good idea to have removable hand even if the arms are bare on a Nendoroid.
I never knew it would look this weird! Or maybe it's because I'm used to seeing this Kotori Nendoroid with her trademark red gloves,
Enjoyment 7/10
I would definitely recommend her to any Kotori or Love Live! fan, but I'll recommend for anyone who wishes to purchase their very own copy of her to get her first release version instead of her re-release.
From Your Fellow Collector,
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