Figure Name: Chibi-Arts One Piece Princess Shirahoshi
Figure Maker: Bandai
Retail: ¥3,800
Available at: HobbyLink Japan

Let's just get this box and tray business out of the way. Shirahoshi's box is a little bigger than the standard Chibi-Arts because her hair and scarf thing take up a lot of space. Her box is decorated in this under water and pink combination, and it has little bubble-shaped windows on the side and top.

The tray isn't especially loaded. You've got her, an extra face, her shark, one extra arm for each side, and the usual base, stand, and expressions behind it.

Once you take her out, her standard expression is worried/crocodile tears with one arm propping her up and the other touching her face. She doesn't actually need her base for posing, given that she can balance just fine with her arm down and her hair, so for this review you won't see the base at all except cut off in that tray picture and again with the expression bubbles.

While the side pictures don't look all that interesting, I should note that while her fin is not poseable, she can swivel her head a little to give you some better angles when you want to have this figure interacting with others on your shelf. Her hair blocks the movement somewhat, but you've got some leeway since her body is totally separated from it (see above image).

The back of her hair. There's some nice shading going on here, and she's got that golden fish clip at the top to put it all together. There's a hole at the back of her head for the stand. While the hair at the back doesn't end in semi-transparent PVC, the hair at the front and her fin do. It's a nice touch.

Here's a look at her body detail without the hair in the way. She's got her gold/yellow bikini top thing, and a few beaded loops around her waist and hips. It looks nice overall and I'm glad to see her back isn't botched despite being covered by hair most of the time.

Here she is with her other arm accessories, shark and happy face. While I normally pose any super-deformed figures in my collection with sad or tormented expressions, I have to admit I like the happy face on Shirahoshi best. It's adorable, really, and I like the way her optional arms are posed. The shark (he is called Megalo) fits snugly under her other arm without the need for the base, too.

Shirahoshi is a shy character, which is why both of her expressions have blush marks on them. She's easily scared and quick to cry, despite the fact that she's absolutely huge. If there were one complaint, and really it isn't a valid complaint on my part, about this figure, it would be that it isn't to scale. But then again, what chibi figure is? She'd have to be as big as that huge Miku Nendoroid that's being made to be remotely to scale, and that's just silly. Who would have room for it on their chibi figure shelf? You know what, just forget I said any of that.

Megalo has this star tee on. The details are nice here as with Shirahoshi - no complaints. There's just a little weirdness there in the bottom picture, but seeing as how that part is usually going to be downwards, it isn't a major issue.

Shirahoshi is a lovely addition to the Chibi-Arts line and I'm glad I had a chance to handle her for a little while! This figure is listed as a prize for our September Megapixel contest, so be sure to enter if you'd like a chance to own it. Otherwise, I'd recommend the purchase if you're a fan of the super-deformed type of poseable figures and/or a One Piece fan. Her big eyes are full of expression and I'm sure Megalo would make for some fabulous figure photography shenanigans.

Thanks again to HobbyLink Japan for sponsoring this review and this month's contest!