First sampled some time ago, a full color and near-finalized variant of “Another” anime figure has become available for discerning judgement – the adorable yet morbid Misaki Mei, cutest of eyepatch equipped girls.
Now unfortunately, although not too unexpectedly, this figure fails entirely in making a respectable replica of the enchanting bishoujo with an otherworldly charm – as rather than capture her stiffness as an aesthetic facet of personality, it has encompassed it as a distasteful wane in design. The rounded edges of the sculpt appear absent of consideration towards naturalism – they look as if simply sculpted round based on an idea of the human body, versus an actual study, as otherwise the curvature would be more intricate.
Make notice of the waist for instance – her blazer, which wraps the waist, seems as if manufactured to a default roundness. It doesn’t respond to her physique whatsoever – and simply surrounds her in a circle of plastic attempting to pass off as cloth nonchalant to its contents.
On that note, considering she’s neither wearing a mizugi, nor a birthday suit, the clothing is of course at fault for how rough her overall form appears. While one can forgive that there’s no fine texture present on the blazer to make it more precisely correspond to the cloth it is themed after, even the basics of simulating fabric are either missing or presented shamefully here. The upper body is visibly much more cared for than the lower – although even then, it’s no better.
The fact that one can see the seams of the blazer and blouse to be so so flawlessly straight, with bow perfectly in place, as if Misaki checks them with a laser leveling before heading out to school, already goes to show that these were sculpted quite brainlessly – had they been done with deep contemplation employed, or any inkling of common sense for that matter, they would at least swivel a bit to account for imperfection.
Imperfections and asymmetry are both attractive and inevitable, artists are aware of this and have come to take advantage of it to benefit their works – yet the notable lack of such here implies either an unskilled sculptor, or insufficient resources to manufacture such a detailed figure. Sculpting minute gestures into 3-D forms requires more advanced tools, greater time, and more effort – something which sadly, the sculptor may not have had.
Whatever the case, it’s also worth mentioning the colors are weak when it comes to saturation and contrast – giving off a highly synthetic look, and essentially adding to that this piece of painted PVC plastic looks like no more than just that, a piece of plastic. If it were merely a sculpt of Misaki looking less than ideal, one wouldn’t be so harsh – yet one can’t even commend the effort in the case of this figure.
Oct 12, 2012 @ 7:58 CDT
Another “Another” pun.
I think I’ve yet to see you make another article without using the word Another in quotation marks when referencing “Another”……
Oct 12, 2012 @ 9:00 CDT
Interesting observation…
Oct 12, 2012 @ 18:28 CDT
Mei looks spot on but the doll doesn’t give any justice.
Oct 30, 2012 @ 7:59 CDT
Shiiit ! i want this :))