Tomopop Review: Square Enix's Bayonetta Play Arts Kai Figures

11:00 AM on 07.19.2010   |   Rio McCarthy

Square Enix has been releasing awesome figures left and right, especially as of late, and it appears they're doing it again. Bayonetta was a game that I always wanted to try, but just haven't found the time and funds to do so. I really love the character designs in the game, especially of the title's heroine herself. I mean, who doesn't love gun shoes, right?

Today, we'll take a look at Square Enix's Play Arts Kai figures for both Bayonetta and Jeanne. I may not have known much about the characters beforehand, but I sure enjoyed my day outside with them. Hit the jump to see what details lie in store for you when you open the box!

I'll be honest and straight forward: I honestly didn't know much at all about Bayonetta, but what I did learn was what my friend Psycho Soldier told me when she was playing the heck out of it. The boxes are what you come to expect with Square Enix, and feature some of my favorite packaging — window boxes. As you can see by the sneaky peek here, each figure gets two sets of weapons, along with an extra set of hands.

I love the photos that grace the back of the box, but there's only one problem — the two more dynamic poses that you see portrayed in the photos are almost impossible to recreate. "Why?" you ask. Well, that would be because neither of these two figures come with a stand. I'm sure opinions differ on this, but I am a huge fan of figures coming with stands so that you can recreate some dynamic poses of your own. I'm a bit saddened that several figures seem to have been lacking stands lately, because honestly, these were relatively tough to pose, especially outdoors, without them.

Above is a little better shot of all the accessories that come with the figures, including the instructions on how to attach the second set of hands. Granted, it doesn't take much more than careful pulling and pushing, but it does give you instruction on how to put in the weapons on the heels of the characters as well.

This is why reading is good, kids. The first time around I didn't pay any attention and it took me a bit before I realized, after looking at the instructions, that the second set of weapons was to go into the shoes. I knew they had them in game, but for some reason it never clicked with me to assume you could have them on a figure, too.

When I first saw images of the artwork for the game, I thought Bayonetta's character design was insanely neat. I mean, why not; I have to love a kick ass video game girl who has almost matching glasses to mine! Sadly though, glasses are a tough thing to pull off in figures, as I have yet to see anyone get it done perfectly in an action figure. That being said though, it's not a bad attempt at all, and I enjoy that you can still see her eyes through the glasses, which means they've already done better than a lot of glasses-wearing figures I've seen.

To my untrained Bayonetta eye, I think they pulled off the details of her outfit quite well, including the different keychains that dangle from the guns. It did seem though that Bayonetta's hands don't seem to hold on to her guns quite as well as Jeanne's do. When they do stay in there correctly though, you can make some pretty neat poses of badassery.

Such as this one! There are many details that I really enjoy in this figure, including that they even remembered to make the circle on her chest a little off-center. Sadly, though, a few of the joints really just bother me a bit. It seems I tend to get frustrated with a lot of the Play Arts Kai figures and their mid-sections. The part that covers her pelvis tends to move around a lot, and make it so that the details don't line up correctly. I love that they have so much articulation, but there are certain areas I would lose articulation in if I got to have a cleaner looking figure sometimes.

By this point, I finally realized I should have put the guns into her shoes, which makes her look that much more awesome. They do help to keep her standing a bit more steady, but sadly, it doesn't help her ability to pose too much without a stand. I am impressed with how well it's painted, and any of the white specks you might see were only due to what was flying around outside, as there were no major paint flaws that I found while on the photoshoot. With her slightly bouffant hairdo, she's taller than Jeanne and measures in around 8.5" tall.

This is where the main problem with the mid-section comes in, and if you didn't think the front looked too bad, you might think again with the back. It's a shame that it's broken up into the three sections because there's actually decent sculpting for the shoulder blades, but it gets overshadowed when it's broken into three pieces. I'll tell you what though, I don't think I've ever been jealous of a figure's calves before though, but dang, Bayonetta has calves of steel!

Well, what do you know, here are those calves of steel now! Actually I just wanted to show off how rad her shoes look with the guns attached to them. These two guns are a bit smaller than the ones she holds in her hands. These are a lot easier to get into place than Jeanne's, as these slid in quite nicely, and I had a bit of a struggle trying to get Jeanne's where they needed to be.

Speaking of Jeanne, here's Bayonetta's rival now! Jeanne was a bit of a different story for me than Bayonetta was, as I actually thought her in-game design was kind of odd, but I actually love the way she looks in figure form. I'd venture to say that I actually might like her figure a bit better than Bayonetta's.

One of the first things that threw me off though was that when you originally take her guns out of their packaging the feathery bits are completely straight a bit awkward to look at. Well, have no fear ...

... they bend! I'm not sure why this part amused me to know end, but yes you can bend the feathery bits of the hand guns so that they look far more dynamic than before. I love the tapered color that starts with lavender at the bottom and makes its way to white at the top.

I love the eye makeup on Jeanne's figure. It makes her looks more cold and serious, which makes for fun photos. Even without playing the game, I quite enjoy the snarky attitude that her character seems to give off via the figure. I really like the way her outfit comes across in figure form as well.

Although I think her outfit's suppose to be one piece, I would totally want her outfit in pants and jacket form. Those pants are the best. I have no idea why I like them; don't judge my fashion sense! Anyway, she's painted very well and looks to be flawless in my book. I even like the mid-section on her much better than Bayonetta's, as the only part that really messes up just a tad is at the knee if it's twisted a bit to make her stand easier. She stands a bit shorter than Bayonetta, measuring in around 8.25" tall.

The details on her back and at the bottom of the pants are an awesome touch to the outfit. I'm sure they were probably in the original design, but I really like how they came across in the figure. The furry cuffs on her wrists also turned out nicely. Of course, you can see this was before I remembered to put the guns in her shoes, so stay tuned to the next photo!

This being said next photo, we are here to drool over her shoes. Even before putting the guns in her heels I was totally in love with her shoes and wanted a pair, you know what — just give me her outfit and I'd be one happy camper! The feathers in the smaller guns don't bend like the larger ones, but honestly they don't really need to. These were a bit of a pain to get into the shoes, but once you get them in they tend to stay pretty well.

All in all, I really enjoyed these figures, even if there were a few things I would have changed a bit. You can get the figures for yourself over at the Square Enix Shop for US$39.99 each. If you're only able to get one, my personal pick would be Jeanne just because I ended up loving her figure way more than I thought I would, so it was a nice surprise. Either way, if you're a fan of the game I'm sure you'll end up enjoying either one of the figures, so take your pick, or go with my favorite choice and get both! I enjoyed them, that's for sure.

[Thanks to Square Enix for the review sample]