Product: G.E.M. Series Toshiro Hijikata
Series: Gintama
Manufacturer: MegaHouse
Scale: 1/6 (250 mm, ~9.84 in)
Sculptor: Naoto Moriwaki
Retail Price: 6,600 yen

The artwork for Hijikata's box is beautifully designed featuring an interesting mix of colors from the front to the back. Since Gintama takes place in the Edo-period, the brush strokes for the writing is appropriate. The front window gives an easy view of Hijikata and his included accessories. The back features him making his Hijikata Special against a setting sun and silhouettes of buildings and bridges. I do have to question how the mayo squirting out of the bottle is defying many laws of science. But then I have to question myself for questioning something fictional.

Each side of the package has a window to see Hijikata's upper body but that is ruined by the seams of the clamshell packaging. For artwork, one side features the same style of the front with Hijikata holding the closed bottle of mayo while the other has him against the setting sun with the opened bottle. He looks great against that setting sun.

The bowl of Hijikata Special is nicely done and the bright shade of blue helps it stand out from the rest of the figure. The stream of mayo is very flimsy and had me worried of breaking on multiple occasions. But with my constant tugging and positioning, it held together perfectly fine. Of course, that doesn't mean go swinging it around like a Vegas stage singer.

The bottle of mayo is just that. A bottle of mayo. What you see is what you get. There's ... really nothing special about it. Unless ... you have a thing for mayonnaise. Well, in that case, it's the most amazing jar of mayo ever! It flawlessly captures the essence of what it means to be a jar filled with a condiment!

As both my best friend and I took our first look, we immediately could not overlook the fact that Hijikata is shiny. Very shiny. Glistening with the hotness of his manliness ... from his uniform. I'm particularly not fond of this. I was expecting something of a flat coat for paint. But if uniforms were this polished as their boots, then so be it. At least the pose is spot on. It's very casual, doing an excellent job of capturing Hijikata's character.

Hijikata is so bad ass in appearance with his piercing eyes and the cigarette in his scowling mouth. Such a shame (well, not really) that he has those quirks just like practically everyone in the cast of this series. His mop for hair is sculpted perfectly with the way it weaves and layers in many directions. It looks like a bunch of weeds are growing out of the top of his head. Absolutely love it all.

So much shine on that uniform. I have to say that I love folds in clothing on a figure. It gives it such a more natural look and Hijikata is no exception. But since it's so shiny, I keep thinking he's wearing a leather coat or something along those lines. His vest is a lot more subdued and I wish the rest of his uniform was like that. The gold trim is well done and any splotchy areas are pretty much nonexistent.

Hijikata's hand is sharp with every finger clean around the edges. Just as detailed as his hand is Hijikata's sword. The work put into manufacturing the design on his guard is excellent, as is the rest of the handle.

The waistline features many creases from his hand in his pocket lifting his pants outward to the stretching around his crotch. In the back, the tails of his uniform wave in and out, blowing in the fictional wind. I like how the right tail has that little flip from just catching a small draft. Little details but details to be appreciated.

Just as shiny as his uniform are the boots. I was taken back a bit by the gleam of Gintoki's boots, but for Hijikata, it just feels standard with the rest of his uniform. I will say that I'm so use to the petite feet of my female figures that the large boots of the guys always throws me off.

Here is Hijikata equipped with his topping of choice. Not so intimidating looking anymore with that jar in hand pouring mayo on a bowl of rice. 

The bowl of Hijikata Special does not have to hang as displayed in the photo. The figure does come with an additional mini stand for the bowl to rest on. I'm just a moron and didn't realize what it was for.

And here are the two manly men, side by side. Both bad ass in appearance until Hijikata ruins it with his jar of mayo. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Again, I'm not fond of the shiny coat of paint for his uniform but since this series is getting this kind of attention, it's something I can overlook.

Once again, this is a real treat for Gintama fans. MegaHouse continues to impress me with each and every new male figure they release. It makes me glad that the company has ventured outside of primarily doing One Piece and tackled other licenses. It fills me with joy that one of those licenses happened to be Gintama. Though in the same outfit, I look forward to Naoto's work on Okita since he did both Gintoki and Hijikata. I also look forward to what future releases MegaHouse may have up their sleeve for this amazing series.

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