Figure Name: Togainu no Chi's Akira
Figure Maker: Kotobukiya
Retail Value: ¥6,800/US$69.99
Available at: Koto US | Hobby Search | AmiAmi

Akira's box has a window on each side, giving you a great view of the contents. Besides this, what we see in the available box space is the illustration and some pictures of the figure. Pretty standard stuff, and thankfully the box isn't much bigger than it needs to be.

This figure doesn't come fully assembled. The base looks like this, and it just has one little peg on the bottom to wedge Akira's sneaker in and have him lean on the rocks.

The connection with the base is loose and casual like his pose. He won't easily fall over or anything, but if you're handling Akira while on the base, you'll want to hold both pieces so he doesn't fall off. The little peg is basically just there to keep his foot from sliding away.

Now, Akira is leaning on this slab of rock and dealing with some undone pants, while holding his trusty knife in his bandaged left hand. He's got a pretty serious look on his face ... I guess he's looking at Shiki and wondering if he'll devour him now or later.

Taking a look at the midriff, he's got a cut up on front where his shirt has tattered away, and there's his hand hooking the waist of his pants. The shirt is molded to look like he's much more muscular than the exposed skin suggests, but that's alright. There isn't any smudged paint between his skin and the boxers, but I think it's because that's a well-hidden seam there. Besides that, I'm seeing a small bit of scuffing on his boxers that I hope is just my sample and not a general issue (it's barely noticeable either way).

Here's the left hand with the bandage and the knife. The knife itself is detailed to look exactly like the one he uses in the game and the anime. Now that I look at it, his knife is pretty much behind him, meaning this figure emphasizes the sexiness over the power. It's kind of different, no?

Akira is just wearing some plain white sneakers. His pants are molded well enough, but there's nothing out of this world, here. What I like about it is it simply looks comfortable.

Let's check out his jacket ... after I put a shot of the butt here. Rather, two shots since I took one for the benefit of everyone with Akira on the floor, as well as one from behind the base. Rio has coined a word that applies to this figure: butt cleavage.

Ahem. On to the jacket, then ...

Akira has this black leather jacket with a fluffy hood. The fluff has its share of clear PVC on it and the rest of the jacket has a matted finish to it. It's got some nice molding and movement to it, adding to the angsty boy band look he's got going on.

Speaking of angsty, boy band look, I took a bunch of head shots that made him look like just that. His face has this broody sort of look to it, and his eyes look either focused or a million miles away depending on the angle. I'd like to believe, like I mentioned before, that he's just waiting for Shiki to sweep him off his feet.

Looking at the back of his head, there's just a small bit of botching there but it's only apparent when looking closely in pictures like this. When I look at Akira sitting on my desk next to me here, I don't notice the issues at all, so it isn't a deal breaker.

The only other botching I didn't notice until I looked at the images is here with the dog chain where it's chopped at the shirt collar. The chain has something funky going on here that doesn't bother me much since I didn't even notice it at first, but maybe now that you've seen it it'll bother you. Again, not a deal breaker overall, but it's just one of those little annoying things like a single mark on a chalkboard.

Overall, Akira is a great figure for fans of Togainu no Chi or good-looking boy figures in general. He's not just standing around looking like a bad-ass, rather he looks more like he's seducing someone after some fight has ended. The bad-ass factor is there since he's, you know, survived the fight and has enough time to think about being sexy.

The drawback is the figure isn't chock-full of detail. This isn't the fault of Kotobukiya since the character is conveyed perfectly well, though. It's just how it happened — he's wearing what he happened to have on when he was stolen away and set into this city full of fighters. What'll definitely be exciting is seeing him posed together with the upcoming figure of Shiki!

[Thanks a bunch to Kotobukiya for providing Tomopop with this review sample!]