Tomopop Review: GSC's Nendoroid Kaito

3:00 PM on 03.04.2009   |   Topher Cantler

Good Smile Company's new Kaito Nendoroid is special for a number of reasons. First off, he's the only unofficial Vocaloid character to be brought to life in plastic. Miku, Luca and the twins are all official Character Series Vocaloids, designed by Kei and licensed for use by Yamaha and Crypton Future Media. Kaito here is an entirely made-up character, created by the Vocaloid fan community in order to give a face to Crypton's original male version of the Vocaloid software, released in February of 2006. (Editor's note: Where the f*ck is Meiko, huh?)

There's also the fact that he's, you know ... a dude. We don't see a lot of that in the Nendoroid world, and Kaito indeed represents the first resident of my Nendo shelf to have arrived with a little plastic Y chromosome. He's certainly an interesting addition, and you can check out my full review of this tiny pimp after the jump. 

The box, while pretty standard fare, perfectly matches those of the other Vocaloid Nendos and the logo GSC has created for his name is well color-coordinated and slick looking. As a matter of personal preference, the balance of black, blue, orange and white actually makes it my favorite Nendoroid box in my whole collection.

And there he is, ready to take his place as the first and only male Nendoroid I own. 

His jacket has an awesome irridescent look to it, which is a great touch, and makes it exponentially more interesting to look at than it would be if it were just a plain white. Great color decision by Good Smile Company here. It doesn't come out too well in the photos, but in person it shines like a pearl.

Suits him well, the handsome bastard.

You can see in this pic his included alternate leg, which is bent like the one the original Miku Nendoroid comes with. While it's hard to see under that jacket of his and doesn't seem very useful, it's still a nice addition. And of course, it just wouldn't be Kaito without his trademark ice cream bar. 

He includes an extra hand and arm to hold it with, and it fits very tightly into his little fist. Let us pretend it's because of his manly grip. (Psst -- GSC ... Too tight.)

This face is presumably for use with said frozen treat. The man loves his ice cream. 

Kaito's outfit isn't quite as detailed as the rest of the Vocaloid crew's, but then, it never was. What we're seeing is true to his original character design, and the coloring is perfect, even if some of the painting isn't exactly razor-precise.

And with all that ice cream he'll be eating, he's got his scarf to keep him warm. The coloring on this is really nice, and has some gradients to it that really make it pop. 

It simply fits between his shoulders and the neck joint, and can be shared with just about any Nendoroid.

Miku especially seems to like it.

Looking good, cutie. 

The third included face, in addition to the standard smile and the "YAY ICE CREAM" face, is this one, which is many people's favorite and is pretty versatile.

Depending on the angle, it can be viewed as either angry and ready to kick your ass for taking his photo ...

Or really pumped up and stoked about something. I actually like to refer to this as his "Fuck yeah!" face.

Which is fitting for a guy who's about to spend the rest of his days on a shelf full of pretty young ladies.

Lucky you, Kaito! It's a classic harem anime waiting to happen. He'll have more than his share of fun, at least until Triggerheart Exelica shows up in a few weeks to keep him under control.

It's a good life. His only chore is to decide which cutie to put the moves on first.

And of course he'll go with the cutest of the whole bunch. Note: The pillows you see here are part of Re-Ment's Kotatsu playset, which I'll be reviewing very soon. Keep an eye out for that.

AW SNAP FIRST DATE

Thanks and hearts go out to Coffeesash for these lovely custom Nendo hats, which she knitted for me by hand.

Pimpin' ain't easy. Underneath it all, Kaito's actually pretty shy. He's also an outstandingly great Nendoroid, and a must-have for Vocaloid fans, Nendoroid fans, and general fans of things that end in -oid. If you're thinking of adding this gentleman to your collection, you won't be disappointed.