Welcome back to another scale figure review! This time we have with us...
A1/7 scale of Celestia Ludenberck from Danganronpa, and she is manufactured by Emontoys/Myethos. I love the figures by Myethos, and I have actually reviewed one before which is Nia Teppelin (Wedding dress version). However, Nia isn't the main focus of today's review so let's quickly get back to unboxing Celestia!
Packaging
I have to say that Myethos rarely disappoints me with their packaging, especially their boxes as they can almost always accurately bring out the essence of the character with their boxes alone. This time, they have also pulled off the job well.
The whole box is dark with golden accents that adds to the mysterious and gothic atmosphere of both the figure and the character, as a Super High School Level Gambler. The crest of Hope's Peak Academy is featured in gold at the top of the box, alongside the series title.
The front, back and sides of the box also have unique designs on them and the entirety of the box is actually made out of thicker cardboard than those usually used by some Japanese companies such as Freeing and Aquamarine.
This is the background sheet that comes in the box itself. While it isn't rare to see background sheets that fit the color of the figure, which is black in this case, it is lovely to see that this sheet sports a design that ties in with the character.
I do wish that they used a matte black for this sheet instead of the usual reflective material, so it would be more suitable for using in a glass display with lights installed. Nevertheless, you could reinforce this sheet with either cardboard or foam and display it together with Celestia (or other figures) if you'd like.
The blister packaging for Celestia is quite unlike the normal blister as well. She comes with two main layers: the figure and the base, and a third blister (leftmost) is used to secure the whole package. By doing this, one, it keeps the middle layer (Celestia) in place as well as provide a groove deep enough to place the base behind her, and two, it helps move Celestia forward in the blister packaging and allow buyers to view her better in the dark interior of her box.
Assembly
This is rather simple as the whole figure itself comes without any need for assembly. As with the instructions below, you would simply have to fit the roulette base together and attach Celestia on top of it.
This figure comes with a strong magnet that is able to hold this 1/7 figure rather stably on the base. Other than the usual instructions about not using devices near the magnet, or putting the magnet in areas with high temperatures, it is also mentioned that the magnet may de-colorize Celestia in the future.
To counteract this, a plastic piece is given to attach to the area where Celestia comes in contact with, so you should definitely use it. I will go more into detail about this in the next section :)
Base
The base for this figure comes in two pieces (image above) which you have to assemble together (image below). The assembly process is simply fitting one onto the other and I don't think there needs to be much instruction for this.
The circle plastic sheet that I mentioned in the previous "assembly" section comes together with the golden stand on the base.
While the concept of leaving a plastic piece on an assembled figure is rather new (we usually have a fun and hard time trying to remove all the plastic pieces during assembly!), make sure that you leave this particular plastic piece as it is.
Taking a closer look at the base itself, we see that the wooden parts are really nicely shaded with lighter and darker areas for a beautiful feeling of depth to it. The golden pointers are also sculpted with a nice symmetry and attached onto the figure with no glue leakage at all.
The red, black and green colors are all vibrant and there are no paint spillage issues with my copy.
The only downside about the base to me would be the extremely plain and unassuming bottom of the base. As Celestia is best viewed at either eye-level or slightly above eye-level, most collectors would put her at a height which may make the bottom of this base visible.
To make up for this, I have actually adjusted my detolf and rearranged my figures so the bottom of her base would be relatively hidden from sight.
The Figure
First, we'll begin with a 360 of the figure as usual so you can get a feel of how the figure and all the details look from varying angles. Do note that not all of these angles are supposed to be her "posing angle", and due to the nature of her pose, she may look awkward in some of them.
Such a simple looking figure but there are so many small details to enjoy! Let's take a look at some of them in greater detail~
From a general angle, I can say that I love the white parts contrasting against her all-black attire. White, black, red and gold are the few colors that Celestia is usually paired with and I just enjoy how all four colors are sufficiently represented in this figure.
Putting her on the base brings more attention to that single green part on her base, which contrasts against the red on the roulette and her red shoes so beautifully. It's definitely a great addition to pull the attention back to the base itself!
Celestial's voluminous hair is sculpted perfectly, hanging down on either side of her with intricate sculpting and light shading to accentuate all the different layers of her hair.
The white headdress on her head has well-defined ruffles and ribbons matches her clothes well. However, it could do with a little more shading to add more dimension to the pristine white piece.
However, the details aren't only present on the ruffles and frills of this figure though. The lace and ribbons holds a great deal of care and precise sculpting as well. This is especially so for the criss-cross strings going up her sleeve and the patterns all around lace on the hem of the uppermost layer of her skirt.
Other than the attention to small details, Emontoys also managed to keep the figure's sculpt flow as a whole. Although her skirts are creasing in different directions, it fits her pose and help to give you an idea of how soft each layer is and how they would splay out when she sits in this position.
Although the base color of her outfit is black, I love how they didn't keep her as a flat matte black, or attempt to shade with a darker black. Instead, Emontoys tried to bring out the dimension on the outfit with a clever idea of using brown to highlight the thinner layers!
The slight peek at the ruffles lining Celestia's blouse between her blazer and skirt also helps to tie the whole ensemble together. Not only does it give us a good idea of her fashion sense, it also helps her to stay appropriately dressed while in a shorter, stylish blazer. Still, it seems that they do not like to shade their ruffled fabrics at all, which is an area that I do feel that they could have done better.
Before we move on to her glorious red shoes, let's take a look at her other accessories first. She has black nail polish on, which is painted with a glossy finish to replicate realism. Her polished silver ring is another accessory that I am glad that they did not forget to add in, however, it appears rather clunky and matte, which does not bring across the sleek elegance that the ring had in canon.
One of the accessories that I really like would be the playing cards. It has a stylish black and red checkered pattern on the back and a Joker card on the top of the stack, featuring Monokuma. I just love how Danganronpa figures typically feature Monokuma in them, reminding us that the antagonist will never die!
And last but not the least, we are at the last part of this figure to review: her stockings and shoes.
As with most people who like girls in these types of clothes, isn't it nice how her stockings are only thigh-high and allows for a slight peek at her zettai ryouiki in this sitting position, as it would be covered by her long skirt otherwise?
The painting on her stockings employs the same effect as her skirt, where the slight tint of beige peeking through the stretched material adds dimension to the area as it essentially creates an impression of highlighting and shading.
Besides, her shoes are just like a fashion statement! They are bright red, a color that stands out so well against her monochrome colored attire, and the design of the shoes are just so classy that you'll never go wrong with them!
I have always had a weak spot for shoes with zips and buckles so this pair of shoes are just right up my alley.
Besides, who could ever resist this beautiful glossy finish?
Base ★★★★☆
Posing ★★★☆☆
Sculpting ★★★★☆
Painting ★★★★☆
Worth-it ★★★★☆
Overall ★★★★☆
