Tomopop Review: (NSFW) Max Factory's 1/6 Tamaki Kousaka

12:00 PM on 06.07.2010   |   Call Niero

The dishes landed on the floor with a loud crash, food and tea spilling everywhere. Tamaki's breakfast was strewn across the ground, bacon and eggs slowly sinking into the lush carpet. The liquids had landed on his feet, hot tea and ice-cold milk creating shifting sensations across his skin. He was barely aware of the dull burn as he blinked in surprise at Tamaki. "T-tama-nee, I'm so sorry, I-I thought you were up already and... I was bringing you breakfast..." He tried hard to look away from her, but she was far too alluring for him to drag his eyes to the ground.

"I've been waiting for you." She said coyly, nonplussed by the food littering her room. "You took a while!"  Tamaki smiled, and titled her head in confusion. She was acting as if he was supposed to have been up earlier, but all she had said last night was "come up early and surprise me!" He thought she meant with food. A blush spread across his cheeks as he realized what she had expected from him. "Well?" She said expectantly, "Aren't you going to come over here? I have something to show you..."

I waited for this figure for a very, very long time. Or at least it seemed that way. I admittedly only placed my preorder for her around the middle of March, but she was supposed to come out in April and got delayed to late May. That means that I ordered her thinking that she qualified for AmiAmi's free shipping, and then had to pay full price. And because of her unnecessarily large box, Tamaki had to be shipped EMS. You really don't want to know how much shipping was on my May order! 

Tamaki's box is quite large and impressive, but this is definitely not a good thing. There is far too much empty space, and they could have cut down on the size quite a bit and made it so she could ship SAL. I feel like companies do not really think about the customer when making boxes, as many figures have boxes that are just too big. Not only do we have to pay increased shipping, but we have to find a place to store them. Thankfully I have an entire section of my attic dedicated to figure boxes!

See how much extra space there is? It would have been easy to put her base behind her instead of underneath and cut down on a whole ton of extra space. Funny enough, it is her base that takes up so much room, and since Tamaki is a kneeling figure she does not even need a base to stand on her own. 

Well now that we have the evil packaging out of the way, let's take a look at the actual figure! My first thoughts upon removing her from her packaging were, "Dear lord she is gorgeous!" And indeed, this is a simply stunning representation of Tamaki. I have never watched/played ToHeart 2, so I admittedly know nothing about her character. Of course, this has not stopped me from buying 8 figures of her! I have heard complaints that this pose is a bit too "tame" for Tamaki, but she looks so lovely and I am not overly familiar with her character, so it does not bother me at all.

Max Factory has without a doubt given us the best face on a Tamaki figure so far. Her expression is nothing short of gorgeous. I especially love how they did her eyes. Sure, it is just a decal, but the expression they give off is just so calm and peaceful. And that almost cat-like smile is adorable! This is definitely a more subdued Tamaki, but I actually prefer this expression to her usual seductive look.

Tamaki's back view is certainly not as interesting as her front view, mostly because the face is really the strongest part of this figure. Most of her back is covered by her long hair, which Max Factory did a very nice job of shading and sculpting. It is slightly different shade of red than the rest of my Tamaki figures' hair, but then again I think every figure of her has slightly different coloring in this area. In any case, I think Max Factory's shade is my favorite for her. It's just the right blend of red and pink.

The sculpt of Tamaki's hair is superb. So many strands are sculpted individually, especially where it is pulled back into her twintails. On the subject of Tamaki's twintails, they have always vaguely reminded me of cat ears from the front, which equals awesome in my book. Sadly, there is a bit of a gap between her bangs and the rest of her hair. The seamline is a bit messy, especially on the other side where there is glue residue. I would have honestly waited one more month for a delay if it meant fixing this issue.

That being said, the hair seamline is really the only flaw on this figure! Everything else is pretty much perfect. A good example of this is her hands. In the original shots, her hands kind of melted together and were pretty unsightly. For the finished product, Max Factory went back and redid the hands, and now each finger is sculpted and then woven together. The result is fantastic, and her hands look a million times better now. 

Tamaki does not have much clothing on, but the little she is wearing is very well done. The folds in her shirt are very realistic, and are nicely shaded. It is a very pale shade of pink, and the shading is done in a slightly darker pink. All of Tamaki's hues are very soft and gentle, and aside from her eyes (which are golden) pretty much all of Tamaki is pink or red. Even her white thigh-highs have pink shading. 

Here you can see the pink shading on her tights. It is very subtle, so they definitely look white and not pink, but it creates a nice soft atmosphere. The folds on them are nicely done, but a little sparse. I wish there was a little more detail around her feet and ankles, but then again they might be pretty thick stockings, which would explain why you cannot see her toes or the details on the soles of her feet.  

I remember seeing a color sample review of her and being amazed at how realistic looking she was, but I was honestly not expecting the finished product to retain the same level of detail. Man, was I surprised when I got her out of the box! I mean look at that, she has a tummy! It is not played down at all; the sculptor actually made sure that it was in full view, which I think is rather amazing and spectacular. Yes, her breasts are a bit too big to be realistic, but the amazing work that went in to making the rest of her body "real" totally makes up for that in my eyes. 

This realism extends to every part of her body. Sure, Amanda had a nice tush, but it was certainly not as real looking as Tamaki's. Tamaki also has some really great skin tones, nice and warm. The shading seems a bit heavy in some areas, like near her thigh-highs, but I think this is more so because other figures tend to not have a lot of skin shading. When compared to an actual person, the shading really does not seem that heavy. 

Here is a better shot of her thighs. First, let me say that her stockings actually squish her legs a bit even though she is slim, which means that this sculptor has actually met some real-life women! You can also see that the shading here is pretty heavy. It does not bother me at all; in fact I think it adds some nice depth and shadows. Also, I love the color of her panties. I have enough figures with dull, boring white underpants! 

Here is a better shot of her base. It is covered in a really soft, fluffy material. I wish I could get a pillow made out of this stuff, as it is quite luxurious! Tamaki stands up quite fine without her base, but I do appreciate the time they spent making it all fancy. The faux-wood finish is nicely done, and I really had to exert a lot of self control to keep myself from rubbing that soft material all over my face. 

Well, I saved my one giant complaint with this figure for last! Tamaki is advertised as 1/6-scale, but she is simply not. This is her with the 1/6 Kotobukiya version (which is true to scale) and as you can see, the Max Factory one is significantly smaller. She is 1/7-scale, if not a teeny bit smaller. I find this incredibly annoying, as I would have bought her anyway if they had been honest about her scale. However, her price is simply too steep for a 1/7 figure at 8800 yen, or around $95. Thankfully I got her at AmiAmi's discount price, but people who paid full retail must be annoyed. 8800 yen is fine for a 1/6, but not for a figure that is barely 1/7. 

Even with the scale issues, I still really love this figure. She is my favorite Tamaki out of my collection, and I think she will be damn hard to top. In fact, I like her so much that I introduced her to my cat! He seemed a bit confused, but overall I think they hit it off well. Tamaki and Samkin, friends forever!  

If you would like to add this amazing Tamaki to your collection (and I highly recommend her!) she is still up at HobbySearch for 7123 yen. She is really a great addition to almost any collection, unless you are not a fan of Miss Tamaki! Or, you know, partially clothed ladies. 

Thanks to Stephen Donaldson for taking pictures for me once again, although it was not very difficult this time, as the photoshoot involved lying around on my bed with the AC on full blast. As always, more pics in the gallery, including some scrumptious underboob!