Clalaclan Noir
Clalaclan Philias doesn’t wear clothes; clothes wear her.
It is an odd statement, but the feeling I got from looking at this kit for an hour was that somehow, there’s all this pretty and frilly things that’s around her yet she’s exposing all this flesh. From a character design perspective it was actually not very notable, but it seemed the sculptor (Houjun Otoyama) and the designer/illustrator was in cahoots. In cahoots for very tasteful fanservice, that is.
To be honest she isn’t really exposing all this flesh. To borrow a saying in statistics, it’s as if she’s showing us the right numbers, the vital digits, but at the same time concealing everything else.
Coming into all of this, I have not played Shining Wind, but I have heard of it, seen the promotion art, and more importantly joined the consensus, signed up to the “Tony Taka Does Anime Porn Right” party. And even among the large number of buyers for this Clalanclan sculpt who have never played the game, I’m late to the party. This is a re-issue of a white-color version of the same figure back in late 2007. This particular Clalaclan is a re-paint, re-release, and a domestic-to-US port. Say that three times fast. Thanks, Kotobukiya. If you want a review of the original, white-themed figure, you can see it here (or just hit up the dozens of sites that reviewed it). Shingo makes a good sales pitch, but why let words convince you when you can just look at the figure and realize that she’s inexpensive? (Thanks again, Kotobukiya.)
Having seen the pictures of the original white version, I think there is a case to make that it was the better choice out of the two. Some of the details on her outfit just shows up better with a white contrast, such as the floral patterns on her stocking. And how the shield contrasts with her elaborate dress. At the same time, the black version shows off her flesh areas better (it really makes the cleavege stand out…) and I think the color suits her better. The tiara thing also looks much better in black.
But actually having the black figure also makes me notice, like usual, defects. Plus, specs of unclean shows up much more clearly on a black figure than a white one. Oh well, I’m not complaining. The worksmanship on Kotobukiya’s figures are generally very, very good. I think my Misato figure (another mostly-black figure) came out better, but this was fairly close quality-wise. Which is to say, I’m definitely happy about it.
Besides making jokes about cows and milk, I think I’ll let the photographs do the talking.
I wonder why they had a handle on the shield…
One thing about the base–it didn’t fit very well. At least for this particular kit. Figure lean is unlikely but is definitely possible. Just a tidbit–there’s a little nick on the base to fit the bottom point of the shield so it stays relatively (but gingerly) in place.
If there’s one thing I like a lot about this figure, is that it is a symmetric character design but a totally, totally asymmetric sculpt. Think of an average-looking idol with one good side; she looks really good on one side on film. This Clanclan is like an average-looking idol but with a dozen good sides. It’s as if there are just more viewing angles to this kit that shows it off than most others. The cumulative effect is hard to capture on camera, I think. Then again, it isn’t I’m any good at this.
The packaging is along the lines of other pre-assempled PVC kits–a lot of transparency that you can see the goods from the outside of the box. In fact the way they posed her inside the box is clever…and require the use of like 6 different pieces of static clear plastic covers to prevent the cast-off parts from rubbing against each other. Just for the skirt/upper body parts alone. Most kits I’ve had the opportunity to open has only maybe 3-4 pieces, tops.
Anyways, I thought it was cute how they put the shield there.
Finally, you can find most of these on Picasa @ 1600×1200.
God this is so beautiful … I’d love to display this on my coffee table. Or anywhere. *drool*