or

Acrostic the Bookshelves, if you wanna twist a pun in half to make it.












































Aya runs roughshod over everything/everyone. And yes, that is one of her faces she's directing Hotori/Mayoi to pick up.
Y'know what this shoot needs. More me.

Not just a day for a silly promo event thing, the peanuts get a whole month?


Monthy Megapixel: Hence the Name



Mayoi: You know, there's not actually any butter in peanut butter? You're basically eating a lot of peanuts.


Mayoi: And you're eating so many. If you eat too many, you turn into a monkey.


Caro: munch munch
Mayoi: That's why they're called monkey nuts.


Caro: That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!


END


Black Gold Saw has found her calling - sandwich maker.

Seven Coloured Puppeteer Alice Margatroid, by Ques Q.
She's bright, colourful and has a lot going on. But this is the basic version, 'Alice only'. Much as I like Alice having her big troupe of dolls, I couldn't stomach the cost of the DX version where she has six of her toys with her.


This is just the start of things. And although there's parts left to add, this Alice still has plenty going on.
Scalloped detailing on the underskirt, duly noticed and appreciated.


Briefly looking like the Alice that tumbles down a rabbit hole.

...and if I fall all the way, will I come out on the other side of the Earth, where people walk upside down and don't have tea parties with the people they've just defeated...?


The grimoire pages are so nice, continuing all the billowing movement in the figure. Their miniature printing is even legible.


Nothing but bright colours. Her hair is a shaded with bold yolky yellows, ranging to an orange that's almost neon. Obligatory touhou headgear does stellar work hiding the hair seam. The volume of hair getting pushed back and out takes the camouflage another step further.


Alice plugs onto some angled pegs on the base. No problems with alignment and the hold is sturdy and tight enough that I had to knock them in with the heel of my hand.
The boots themselves are nicely detailed, with depth given to the long columns of lacing and soles. These details are all neatly and crisply done. The paint touches on the grommets are just as neat and even. Only problem I had was well, a big white smear all over one of her heels. And then I rubbed at it as my disappointment was just welling up and it went away. Just some powdery residue that disappears easily. My Alice had some on the edges of her skirt too, and she'd picked up a couple of fingerprints from the last people to touch her. But those come away dead easy, so no problem.


The holes in the skirt will have one of Alice's dolls in each one. The sculpting on the two is simplified, but goes far enough to give them bloomers and some delineation between the fingers.

Alice doesn't come with a crib sheet for assembling her, so you use a combination of guesswork and peering at the photos on the back of the box. The sockets on each doll are obstructed by the frill of the skirt though, so out of the box, nothing fits together. Once some of the plastic had been scraped back I got the two of them jammed on an arm, and then the arms persuaded into the skirt sockets. They didn't seem to wanna go in too far so right now, it's not the securest fit.


Alice can be pulled apart in the middle and her skirt removed. I don't know if that choice was to make attaching the dolls easier or to offer this alternate display option. I have a Sanae figure by Ques Q who doesn't have any familiars that need attaching but you can still take her skirt off and display her in her stripey knickers. Maybe it's just a thing Ques Q does when characters have got fuller skirts.

Seeing her with her skirt off makes the pose clearer. She's stumbled, mid-incantation.


That giant seam? The bloomers cast off. Underneath are some plain white pants, a size or two too small. That makes three display options, if you can deal with the extra space at the join and the long waist being more obvious now.


Even if Alice is about to faceplant spectacularly, the dolls are locked on target, ready to stab/beamspam.
The spear is inserted through holes in the doll's hands and bow and is a wicked looking thing. That doll is easily looking more dangerous than Alice and her moe-ish 'oh noes!' face.


Flaws happen with some blip on the sculpt/mould on Shanghai's headdress. The two dolls are simplified in sculpt and paintjob. Shading is basic, sweeping briefly over the two of them.
Edges on the outfit trimmings aren't perfect, wandering from lines or blurring at the edge in places. And this particular Alice has a muted line of white on her belt, 2/3mm long.


Painted details that went right are the rings on both hands. They encircle her fingers, are delicate and consistant, no wobbliness.
The shape of Alice's hands and fingers are lovely, still pretty whilst looking natural enough in the pose or grasp. Every fingernail's painted in a peachy shade.
And I like everything about the grimoire, from the miniscule but still readable print to the straps and buckles flying free.




Extended as she is (about to stumble clean off the base), she's kinda wobbly. But although those doll arms didn't feel secure going in, they're holding up all right.

She's a cute, lively figure and worth it for me. I've wanted an Alice figure for a while, but before this one I only really fancied the petit nendoroid, so it made me smile wide to see this one, with dolls, the extra element of the grimoire spilling it's pages and the flying ribbons on her outfit. (even if it was kinda tricky with the supporting arms for the dolls and getting Shanghai in place, at a decent angle and inbetween streamers and book pages)

Colour was consistant with what I was expecting, unlike Sanae and Meiling, who were a slightly different shade. She doesn't have PCB Sakuya's stern presence but quality is smoother, better. I look forward to Griffon releases with cautious optimism and crossed fingers. Ques Q releases are optimism straight up, for me.

Alice is getting a re-release in june. Weirdly, on amiami I can only find the deluxe version (this Alice and another four dolls) or the doll expansion pack (those four extra dolls). 'Alice only' is sold out.

Or, Perfect and Elegant Servant Sakuya Izayoi, Youyoumu ver. Sort of how she appears in Perfect Cherry Blossom, in that they've given her a scarf.
Being a touhou character that's been given enough figures to have different versions, this must be a Griffon figure. This version of Sakuya is sterner and more serious looking than their previous one.

This was going to be a double review with Ques Q's Alice Margatroid but neither of the two are especially simple figures so here goes, part one of a Touhou Two-Parter.


I wonder if Griffon even feel like they can change base styles. It's been so long with the gigantic black discs and metal nameplates. This time the figure takes up more space so it's not as ridiculous as Satori was. And looking more confident - this Sakuya has much more presence than some characters.


The pose isn't as sure-looking as from the front but her maid frills and things keep the view kinda interesting if for some reason you wanna display her from that angle.


Facial features (other than EYES) are subtle as ever, with just a light blush.
The seaming of her dress and the small pulls and creases were what drew me to this figure. It's an attention to detail that I appreciate. Sakuya isn't a massively eye-catching figure with her darker, subdued colour palette and simple pose but the attitude and clothes that look like they're being worn sealed it for me. Posing and body language is something Griffon are gradually improving at. I won't say it's complete and overrall improvement 'cause there are issues and well, I own Kogasa.




The break in her collar bow is 'cause parts are gonna get swapped. The first option, without the scarf is the worse one. There's too much space in there and the head is loose. You can tilt it back to get either the front or back of her collar looking smooth and neat, pick one.


Pop off her head and swap out the shirt collar for a much more dramatic scarf. Much better.


Pretty left hand and all the knives hold in there securely. The right hand's not so good. Her index finger is too long, bent like it's rubbery. Happily that's the hand out the way behind a fold of skirt and apron and with a mop to distract from it. If you're gonna flub part of the sculpt, flub it in an out of the way place. There are some rough seamy edges, more easily spotted on light areas like her apron frills or her hair. And when I say hair, it's the locks in the back and down the braids right next to her face.

Painting on the shoes is neat, over the crossing straps, and the buckles are nice and tiny, though one of mine smudged down her shoe, just a tiny bit.
What is nice is the colour of her dress. The shading gives it interest and depth but keeps it an overrall rich blue.



The darker shading on the shoes brings them down to fit with the rest of the outfit. It's a dark pinkish tone of red, not glaring or pillar box-y. This image is the truer one for colour.
Another small paint smudge, this time some of the pinkish-red on her calf. Small enough though that it can go relatively unnoticed, even in a colour so bold.

Some puzzling shading choice on the braids, they're much lighter than the hair next to them. Her right braid looks white next to the rest of her fringe there.


I wish Griffon would soften the eyes on their figures. They're so sharply defined that the rest of the figure looks poorer in comparison. The hair looking heavier, the lack of crispness made more obvious.


She wields knives and a mop. Stains or supernatural incidents, Sakuya's ready for both.

A decent figure, but not a brilliant one. Better to look at it from far away as the roughness of those seams on the edges are noticeable things and in plenty of places - hair, lacy underskirt, cuffs, bows and frills on the apron. But the eyes are sharp enough that you're never gonna miss them.

She should be easy enough to find. Amiami have stock coming in for june (7k yen) and Griffon will probably release an exclusive in an awkward/inferior colourway sometime.

'K, Ques Q's Alice next.

Earlier this month, the 14th in fact...


Aya: Thanks for the presents Mana! That little cat is so cute!


Mana: Cat? But I...


Mana: Hm, those are a lot like what I got.


Mayoi: Kinda like mine too.


Obviously the literal handsome devil has an admirer.


Scanty: Sending Valentines to absolutely everyone is against the rules!


Panty: So everyone has the same admirer?


And it was everyone.


...you assume it's a single admirer...


instead of many, many...


INVADERS


Mana: Hold me.


END



Starring!

Nichijou charms
Loads of blu tack

Ahh, each scrap of news of Nichijou stuff showing up at WonFes had me anticipating these charms all the harder. At that time they were still at the Parcelforce depot, waiting for the nominated day of delivery.

Those tiny props got fiddly. This happened plenty of times. Sakamoto just didn't want to stop in the mug and on the table. Turns out, Mayoi's folded umbrella is a decent tool for prodding at props and pushing blu tack into place.

Bonus shot

Because I couldn't have Tako-Luka on the desk and not involve her. Mio is quaking with fear, obvs. Tako-Luka just wants to play.

The Mikumo* line of figures are a cheaper line bringing a healthy dash of variety to the world of Vocaloid figures. Although Miku features in each one, the line isn't a deluge of teal and twin tails. There's different settings, costumes and characters, suiting the songs that each figure's based on.

*made by Hobby Stock and sculpted by Kaiyodo is what I'm finding

The line extends to six so far, and these two are the first ones released. The others look to be coming quick, with Lots of Laugh at the end of the month and Romeo & Cinderella next month.

Mikumo 1 - Love-Coloured Hospital Ward
Mikumo 2 - Get Round


Nendo-monster for scale.

If you're lucky enough to be buying these off a shelf these devilish plastic cages would let you peer in and at the details so you could get the best one on the shelf. The back of each has a shot from the video, an URL for the video itself on Nicovideo and a tiny tiny sketch. Straightaway I notice that Love-Coloured Hospital has changed in the transition, Miku's expression in particular changing for the dopier.
And there's images of the other figures coming up in the line, so you can squint at them and see which you fancy next, like you were a kid and a colourful concertina booklet was spilling out from the box of your new toy.


Twisty ties. It's almost a pleasant wash of nostalgia, unlike the slap in the face that happens when you unbox Monster High dolls.
The packaging and care in protection is thorough, sheets of plastic between limbs and sections and softer plastic sleeves on the twisty ties where they come into contact with the figures.




I'm still impressed by how complete the scene looks with the falling pills. They've been carefully positioned to look good, the amount well-balanced, whilst hiding how they're held up and without looking contrived in the placement. There's maybe two angles where pegs are visible, and those angles are dull angles for viewing the figure, so no loss there.
One pill fell out almost straightaway - the central one that pegs into mini-Miku's hair. Blu-tacked it in place for some shots here, stashed it before it bounced onto the floor any more times. It'll be a quick job to fix it up and the joint looks sturdy, substantial.




Paintwork is decent, only a little wobbly at the hem and then surprisingly fine on the pockets - even on mini-Miku.


Good texture. An especially nice contrast with the smooth and shiny pearl effects elsewhere. I'm just so bemused about the angle, considering there's text there. Not in a language I can read, but the choice is still weird to me. It wouldn't really work unless you had a really, really low viewing angle on the figure.


Another teal accent.
OK, so in places the sculpt is lacking - but in others there's a nice natural detail like the creasing of the fabric over the shoulderblades. There isn't the same lightness of touch as a bigger or pricier figure, but good all the same.


The sculpting is probably this figure's largest flaw. The face is the most obvious place where things come unstuck. Round and dopey and little else. Hands are short, somewhere between childlike and stubby and the sculpt is generally lacking crispness and finesse.

Also, seams. Nothing horrific though. The horizontal seams in the hair are about the worst of it, being hard to pass of as anything else and right there in front of you on the big honking twin tails.

Speaking of which! The pearlesence and transparency is really pretty here, and works well, stops the volume of hair looking heavy and dominating the figure. I'm not a convert to funny hair effects but this - this was nice.


How cute? Too cute. All this and Kagamines too. These three make for some perfect catblobs.


But my first reaction wasn't to drop the scissors in my squee-ing. It was 'ohhhhh :('. Still inside the plastic, I saw a pretty big paint scuff. On the front - Rin, top left. It doesn't muck up over a colour border, so once on a shelf and with your regular admiring it won't be anything like as noticeable, I tell myself.

There's some wavering with the paint but the simple shapes and lack of fiddly accessories keeps errors like that from being big disadvantages.

Seams are light, barely noticeable along the tails.


Tucked around the back is another Miku, throwing up all kinds of weird questions about those cats on the front. Are they actually zippered fur balloons being ran by teams of mini Vocaloid characters? To what end? And why roll around in the clouds?
And around the back the clouds are smoothly shaded, more so than on the front. These clouds look swollen with rain. With work on the back as nice as the front I'm wanting to get this somewhere to show off these different angles.


The figures are cheaper*, so sculpting and paint application aren't top knotch. But the themes are fun, varied and they're bringing out these neat things by going back to the songs created with Vocaloid software. Love-Coloured Hospital Ward's Miku might be kind of woozy in the face (that close up looks like it deserves a stupid caption), but there's plenty of other elements to make the figure lively and interesting. Get Round is small and made of simple shapes, but it's cheerful and with the things it has to offer I'd give as much consideration to displaying it as I would to something large and dramatic.

Oh. Of the Mikumo figures so far, I think I'm gonna be six for six and hunting them down.



*2940yen on amiami, ~£23.20 and after converting that I'm even more pleased with them