Tomopop Review: Kotobukiya's Marvel Bishoujo Psylocke

6:00 PM on 06.02.2010   |   Call Niero

Psylocke is a woman with such an odd backstory that nothing I write could possibly top it. She started out as an English woman with psychic powers named Elizabeth Braddock, and was later placed in the body of a sexy ninja assassin. That's right, comic book stories are crazy, implausible, and incredibly awesome.

Shunya Yamashita illustrated Psylocke for Kotobukiya's Marvel Bishoujo line, which has so far included Rouge, Black Widow, and Scarlet Witch. All of the figures so far have been pretty fantastic. Hit the jump to see if Psylocke lives up to the rest of the Marvel Bishoujo cast!

Psylocke's box is in the same style as the rest of this Bishoujo series. They are very small, compact boxes, which is always a plus. They also have the original artwork on the side, which is very handy if you want to compare it to the finished product. There is also a little box on the back with a sneak peak of the next character. This time it is Phoenix, who actually comes in 3 different colors! We already know that after Phoenix, Emma Frost will be released. I wonder who is coming after that? Maybe Kitty Pryde?

Her swords are packaged separately in the plastic shell, and slide into her hands with relative ease-- unless you are like me and slide the blade in first instead of, you know, the handle. Don't worry, thankfully I fixed it! I mean really, what kind of psychic assassin holds her katanas by the blade?

Psylocke is one of those figures who really grew on me. When I first got her, I thought she was nice, but mostly wanted her to go with my other Bishoujo figures. What can I say, I am a completionist! But after owning her for about a week, I began to like her more and more. Her color scheme is very vibrant, and the pose is simple but obviously action oriented. Like most of the other Bishoujo figures, she is a graceful warrior.

I was slightly worried about her face, because the promo shots looked odd. However, she turned out much better in the completed figure. She is still not 100% like the original art, though. The eyelashes are a bit more exaggerated on the figure. I know some people have complained about her bottom lip being to big, but it is actually smaller than the illustration! I have grown quite fond of her face, and I feel that she really goes with the other Bishoujo girls.

In order to see Psylocke from the "front" you have to display her sideways. This is an actual "front" shot, if you are going by her torso and the angle of her base. But she is definitely best displayed from the side so you can see both her face and the swords. 

Psylocke is a rather small figure. I believe she is listed as 1/8, but next to other 1/8 figures she seems a bit tiny. Only by an inch or so, but I would put her more around 1/9 or /9.5. She is definitely bigger than 1/10 figures though! Oddly enough, when next to the other Bishoujo girls, Psylocke is a tiny bit taller. It might be because of her base, but Black Widow has a rather high base as well.

Psylocke's color scheme reminds me very much of Ayane. Purple hair, blue outfit, red sash. But Psylocke is much more vibrant. The blue is deep and intense, the purple is richer, the red is darker. The blue in particular is quite stunning in person, as it is an incredible shade and the glossy finish really works well. 

The handles of the swords are very well detailed. The crisscrossing material looks almost like real fabric, and the red underneath is perfectly applied. The gold at the top is not overly metallic, and it gives them a nice worn look. Her hands close around them quite snugly, but surprisingly, no paint residue is left when you take them out. 

You can really get a sense for how intense that blue is when you look at her outfit head on. For a smaller figure, she really does stand out on a shelf because of her coloring. Her skin tones are also nice and warm, almost a bit too warm at some places (like between her armbands), but they are quite nicely done overall. 

Psylocke's bow is one of my favorite parts of the sculpt, but sadly it is hidden from view most of the time. It flows around her body perfectly, and gives off the impression that she is in the middle of turning around. There is not much shading, as it is a pretty solid red, but it contrasts very nicely with the blue of her outfit and the folds are sculpted well.

Psylocke's hair is a lovely and impossible shade of purple. I wish to god people actually had hair that color, but sadly we have to live with boring blonde, brunette and red for the time being. The sculpting on her hair is nicely done, though there is not a whole lot of detail on the top of her head. This is easily forgivable though, as it is a part of her you rarely see. The shading is done with a lighter shade of purple instead of dark purple, something I am not that used to seeing. 

Psylocke has some damn nice legs! In true Shunya Yamahita style, she is not a willowy girl, but one with real curves. I suppose his popularity as an illustrator really speaks to the fact that people prefer their women at least a bit more realistic looking. Those boots are also damn hot-- if I could actually get them and not be wildly uncomfortable wearing them, I would rock 'em all day long.

The paint on her leg and arm bands is perfectly applied, no overlap with her skin at all. The boots themselves are nicely sculpted, with some small wrinkles around her ankle. They look like they are made of latex or a similar material, so having wrinkles all over the place would be a bit unrealistic. There is also a lot of nice shading on her boots, again with a lighter color like on her hair. I feel that it works much better on the boots, giving them an almost stretched look.

Psylocke has a very interesting base. The clear pink looks very good with her, and it is in the shape of a huge X. You know, in case you were not sure what her origins were. It is a pretty thick base though, maybe half an inch, so it adds a bit of extra height. It is also not much wider than the actual figure, so it is not a space hog. I know this is always something I am on the lookout for, as I already have 3 detolfs and a bookshelf filled with figures! I do not have room for an extra few inches of base width.

For fans of comic book characters, Shunya Yamashita, or pretty girls in general, Psylocke is a nice figure to add to your collection. She is still available from HobbyLink Japan for 6200 yen, or you can get her directly from Kotobukiya for a bit cheaper at $59.99, but she won't be available until August. Psylocke is a great addition to the Marvel Bishoujo line, and I cannot wait to see what character will be added next!

Thanks as always to Stephen Donaldson for taking these pictures, especially because it took three tries to get them right! It is a long, sad story that involves cloudy weather and sunlight reflecting off the water, but in the end we finally got them! 

Thanks to Kotobukiya for the review sample.