By
TReina -
Sunday, May 28, 2017
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One of the most beautiful figures in human history has to be this Natsume Takashi figure. He was graced with a scale from Alter previously and now one by Kotobukiya. The Alter one features Nyanko-sensei in his cat form and the focus of the figure is mainly on Natsume and the base whereas here, Nyanko-sensei is in his true form (Madara) and Madara is the main focus of the figure as well as the base and Natsume is sculpted less well yet still detailed enough on a Kotobukiya level.
Packaging
Looking at the box in several angles you see that it is quite sturdy and captures the figure in several views as well as showing a focus on Madara and also on Natsume. There are a few windows on this box which doesn't really show anything but you can see that Natsume is in the front and Madara is at the back. In addition, you can see the size of Madara and by comparison to many other scale figures out there, you know that the shipping costs will probably be phenomena.
However, it didn't feel that much higher than usual scale figures. But that might be because I tend to get more dynamic figures.
Two huge problems with the box is firstly the circular tape (in the image above) peeled away when it arrived and for those of you who sells figures, you'll know that that means it will be considered opened and thus the value of the figure will drop by a whole grade. Though I don't intend to sell this off, it still sucks that it looks opened and takes away the fun of being the first to get that tape off.
Second problem is a little crease at a corner of the box. It isn't a big issue but hey, who doesn't want a perfect box? There was no damage to the exterior cardboard box so this might be due to the paper Amiami packed or perhaps Amiami or Kotobukiya dropped the figure when packing it... though, this means that the blister is working perfectly so yay for that.
The front and the back of the blister package and we see how they are packed in the blister as well as how large Natsume actually is.
Base
There is an instruction sheet to show how Natsume should be joined to Madara (the base) and it is with 2 little pegs. Though Natsume is quite light and his red haori directs most of his weight backwards so he should not lean forward and break the peg off but it's always better to check it once in a while.
A slow 360 of Madara and you can see that he is super white and detailed. All furry and fluffy but also looking quite intimidating. For this part, I'll split it up to two parts -- the clouds (or smoke) and fluffy Madara himself.
The clouds part look like something out from a book about mythical beasts... which is almost something similar to what Madara is. And you also see some paper parts, probably from the book of friends, at the left part of the image. Sadly, there's no markings there to show that it has a name but well, Natsume might have returned the name already ^^
I love how the shadows fall on the right spots and accentuate the dimensions and depth to the fur even more. In addition, all the red markings are really clean and the sculpting of the nostrils and the fur around his cheeks are so different from that on his body that it creates many different level of depth.
The bottom of the base is quite sad to look at as it just looks so plain and horrible compared to the other parts of the figure. This is probably due to Madara being hollow inside to help reduce the weight a little.
Posing and Assembly
Here's a close up on the pegs which Natsume connect to the base with. Another sad fact is that there is no detailing for the bottom of the soles which is just smooth white plastic.
Next let's look at a 360 of the figure itself with Natsume attached.
Natsume is mostly covered by Madara and the pose which Natsume has is a little more rigid than expected, which is a stark difference from how elegant and gentle the name-returning process is in the anime. Fortunately the focus of this figure is Madara, and Natsume actually doesn't look that stiff when viewed from the front.
Here's a close up on Natsume's face. You see that the sculpting is quite sub-par due to the chunky hair but the decals for the eyes are applied perfectly. There is a lot of detailing involved with the buttons too such as the white ones on his white button down as well as the golden ones.
There is a lot of pretty creases around his torso as well as the cuffs of pants. The haori has a lot of well-placed creases at the front but the back looks even more amazing!
His shoes are pretty nice with a lot of details on the laces and you can see exactly what goes where. The red and white paint are cleanly applied too, and there's no spillover whatsoever on my copy.
The haori viewed from the back is amazing. There is just so much motion to it and the way it billows out behind him adds to how dynamic Natsume looks and face it because Natsume will look much more boring otherwise.
The back of Natsume's hair is lovely and has a lot of individual strands in his tousled hair. You actually can't see his hair seam which makes having scale figures, especially this one, so much more lovely.
Now we'll see how this figure looks with Madara facing the camera straight on!
Enjoyment
This is a beautiful figure and I love it! I'll definitely buy it again at pre-order price if I get a second chance to decide if I should get a copy. The currently price on Amiami is no longer discounted so unless you are a hardcore Natsume fan, I wouldn't suggest purchasing this due to the price and high(er) shipping costs.
~ Reina-rin
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