Figure Name: GCC DX Konohanasakuya from Persona 4
Figure Maker: MegaHouse
Retail/List Price: ¥8,500
Available at: HobbyLink Japan

Starting off with the box, as always, we have quite the colorful place to begin. The box is very Persona-esque, as it should be, and is emblazoned with images of Konohanasakuya herself, as well as the different tarot cards used within the game (or show, since this is based off Persona 4: The Animation).

There are a few small circle windows on the side so you can peek in and see if she'd doing alright in there, which ... I'll actually suggest you do. You'll see why quickly in the review. Also, I was kind of bummed that the box itself didn't seem to be put together very well, as I hadn't even gotten it all the way open before it just started to fall apart. Could this be a sign?

Well, as you can see she lays there in what I usually dub her "plastic prison," but this time I'd be more apt to call it her "plastic maybe we'll kind of protect the figure ... sort of ... prison." This is one of the first times I've been flat out disappointed by this type of packaging, and not just because of the paint it can sometimes rub off.

No, instead of paint being rubbed off, there are a few broken pieces. The piece shown here is the top cherry blossom-style part of her fan-like weapon. It should be glued/fixed to the top part, but instead it's raw and clearly has popped off from it's original location. Since that's the case you can see another raw place where it was originally attached to a different part of that same piece, which you'll see more of later.

Before we deal with that mess, let's take a look at what Konohanasakuya looks like without her weapon/shield/fan-like piece, shall we? In fact, we actually got up early and enjoyed the sunrise during her photoshoot. Who knew she'd be ready to pose so early! The pose of the figure itself is actually quite nice and has quite the dancer feel to it.

Her outfit is quite classic, and I like that it has a sense of movement (especially in the skirt) that goes along with the pose. Everything seems to be in proportion, which is good, but now it's time to move onto what I'll just call the weapon part of the figure.

When I told you you'd see more of those broken pieces I wasn't just kidding. Here you can get a good view of the pieces that should be attached to each other. There shouldn't be an issue with having to balance these, as they're supposed to be together. However in the one I received they're not, so you'll see where we'll have issues before long. If everything were perfect, as it should be, then you'd just place those black circles onto the black wristlets that she has on.

Though I will admit there's something else bugging me other than the fact that she's broken. That would be the huge seams around her arms. They even go down along the side of her breasts too, which is just kind of awkward.

The paint looks alright for the most part, but the gold bits on her abdomen look a little sloppy to me. I haven't gotten to see too many of MegaHouse's products in person, but this really seems to be one that could use some quality control if there are more out there with as many issues as this one. The shipping to me was quite good, and I can say the package was very secure when I received it, but it was definitely something that happened in transit to the stores, or in packaging I would say.

I managed to get her to stand holding the fan-like weapon as she should have normally looked, for the most part. Granted I'm sure it would look a little better if those pieces were actually attached to each other instead of just leaning against each other.

I do really like the base for the figure. It's to look like the back of the tarot cards in the game, and it seems that she's securely attached to it. She comes attached to it, and you can't really take her off since she's screwed in.

I really do like the colors used on the cherry blossom fan, especially how the underside is darker. Though they don't really seem to be the best quality, as the different "petals" feel like pretty cheap plastic in comparison to the rest of the figure.

She stands approximately 12 inches tall with the fan-style weapon attached, but it's just a shame that this part feels like it could just snap if you use even just a little force. It's not a big surprise to me that it was already broken in the package with this type of material being used sadly.

I was wondering how long it would take for the parts to fall off again, and the answer was not long. You barely touch it when it's in this broken state and everything just falls apart.

It's a shame that I had so many issues with my figure, because I really feel like the cherry blossoms are beautiful and would have loved to have given this a wonderful review. Sadly, for the price of ¥8,500, that is just way too much for me to tell you to buy it, without being able to see it in person for you to know that you won't end up with the same broken pieces I did.

If she had come to me in perfect condition I would lean more towards telling you to pick her up, but right now, all I can say is I hope you can see what you're getting ahead of time. As a figure, she's quite nice, but if you end up with a broken one like I did, I couldn't tell you just to go throw down your hard earned money on her. I feel like there has to be a better option out there that wouldn't have so many quality issues. If you would like to take a chance however, you can still get your order in for one at HobbyLink Japan.

[A huge thank you to HobbyLink Japan for sending us this review sample!]