DSC_9785
Unchou Kanu is one of the lead characters from the series Ikkitousen, aka Battle Vixens in North America (you know it's old when they still tried to give series a North American name).. The premise is that the world is kind of based on the Chinese novel series The Three Kingdoms, which is the tale of various characters beating the crap out of each other on behalf of their nations. In Ikkitousen, replace the nations with various high school.
The characters we meet possess gems that contain the spirits of their Three Kingdoms namesakes, and compels the bearers to constantly challenge other gem bearers, resulting in hijinxs and significant fan service. I think the gems bestowed fighting abilities or enhancements, but truth be told I've never read a single piece of the source material.
I know the story of Senran Kagura better than I do Ikkitousen.
I'm pretty sure that anime adaptation made it through at least one season, as this Figma was released under the Great Guardians moniker for the second season.
Being one of the earliest Figma I ever purchased, it holds a special place in my heart.. the part that thanks the heavens for e-commerce evolution because asking my mother to pick me up stuff in Hong Kong was quite a painful exercise.
In case it wasn't obvious, I didn't get a knack for Kanu here because of the riveting narrative in the Ikkitousen books - it was because of her design. Kanu is wearing what would be your traditional Japanese High School Girl outfit, complete with little neck scarf and thigh high loose socks, though clearly her shirt is a bit on the short side, exposing her mid-drift. Basically, she's what Sailor Jupiter would look like if she decided to put on the same clothes that fit Sailor Moon.
Similar to Sailor Jupiter, Kanu is one of the physically taller and stronger characters in the series. Kanu also has what is her trademark hairstyle, consisting of long ponytail complete with twin tail ends at the back, and a rong where one eye is constantly covered and that one piece of hair that extends over her face. Weapon wise, she is armed with the same weapon as her namesake, a Naginata, which is a pole arm with long blade on the end.
Even back in the day, the contents of a standard Figma release was, well, standard. Kanu came with the figure, two additional face plates (overall three expressions - neutral, blushing, angry.. and she's usually angry), her Naginata, battle damaged chest and skirt, a variety of hands, and the traditional Figma stand.
Paint and decal work is solid, though admittedly it's a much simpler figure compared to some of the other Figma I own. There is some nice detailing work on the blade of her Naginata that is worth noting.
Being an early Figma, Kanu of course is missing some of the more standard features of modern day figures. One example of this would be lack of chest collapse, but hey at least she has a functional waist. Kneeling is somewhat functional. There is also some articulation in the ponytail which helps with display options and also to use the hair to prop up your figure, should you choose to do so. She also appears to be a bit more lanky with slender proportions compared to modern figures, which was a big part of the 2.0 upgrade.
Overall, the set allows for some decent action and static poses, though the shoulders really could have used that chest compress and additional shoulder movement to better position the weapon in her hand. Also, a bit more freedom in the hip/waist area would have allowed for more subtle movements of those areas, aiding in dynamic posing, as well as some more subtle, elegant posing. Having said that, I understand this is from back in to day, and standards were different.
So that was Unchou Kanu. Unless I'm mistaken, this is one of those series that had it's moment in the sun, and retired into the sunset, so I'm guessing pricing on this piece is probably quite reasonable. It's got top of the line display options for 2008, which aren't terrible by modern standards so much as feeling limited. If one were to hunt this figure down these days, it's probably because you want a fan servicey high school girl in your collection. Still, for me the overall design of Kanu is quite memorable, and fan servicey high school girls is your thing, then this Figma isn't a bad piece to have.
DSC_9785
Unchou Kanu is one of the lead characters from the series Ikkitousen, aka Battle Vixens in North America (you know it's old when they still tried to give series a North American name).. The premise is that the world is kind of based on the Chinese novel series The Three Kingdoms, which is the tale of various characters beating the crap out of each other on behalf of their nations. In Ikkitousen, replace the nations with various high school.
The characters we meet possess gems that contain the spirits of their Three Kingdoms namesakes, and compels the bearers to constantly challenge other gem bearers, resulting in hijinxs and significant fan service. I think the gems bestowed fighting abilities or enhancements, but truth be told I've never read a single piece of the source material.
I know the story of Senran Kagura better than I do Ikkitousen.
I'm pretty sure that anime adaptation made it through at least one season, as this Figma was released under the Great Guardians moniker for the second season.
Being one of the earliest Figma I ever purchased, it holds a special place in my heart.. the part that thanks the heavens for e-commerce evolution because asking my mother to pick me up stuff in Hong Kong was quite a painful exercise.
In case it wasn't obvious, I didn't get a knack for Kanu here because of the riveting narrative in the Ikkitousen books - it was because of her design. Kanu is wearing what would be your traditional Japanese High School Girl outfit, complete with little neck scarf and thigh high loose socks, though clearly her shirt is a bit on the short side, exposing her mid-drift. Basically, she's what Sailor Jupiter would look like if she decided to put on the same clothes that fit Sailor Moon.
Similar to Sailor Jupiter, Kanu is one of the physically taller and stronger characters in the series. Kanu also has what is her trademark hairstyle, consisting of long ponytail complete with twin tail ends at the back, and a rong where one eye is constantly covered and that one piece of hair that extends over her face. Weapon wise, she is armed with the same weapon as her namesake, a Naginata, which is a pole arm with long blade on the end.
Even back in the day, the contents of a standard Figma release was, well, standard. Kanu came with the figure, two additional face plates (overall three expressions - neutral, blushing, angry.. and she's usually angry), her Naginata, battle damaged chest and skirt, a variety of hands, and the traditional Figma stand.
Paint and decal work is solid, though admittedly it's a much simpler figure compared to some of the other Figma I own. There is some nice detailing work on the blade of her Naginata that is worth noting.
Being an early Figma, Kanu of course is missing some of the more standard features of modern day figures. One example of this would be lack of chest collapse, but hey at least she has a functional waist. Kneeling is somewhat functional. There is also some articulation in the ponytail which helps with display options and also to use the hair to prop up your figure, should you choose to do so. She also appears to be a bit more lanky with slender proportions compared to modern figures, which was a big part of the 2.0 upgrade.
Overall, the set allows for some decent action and static poses, though the shoulders really could have used that chest compress and additional shoulder movement to better position the weapon in her hand. Also, a bit more freedom in the hip/waist area would have allowed for more subtle movements of those areas, aiding in dynamic posing, as well as some more subtle, elegant posing. Having said that, I understand this is from back in to day, and standards were different.
So that was Unchou Kanu. Unless I'm mistaken, this is one of those series that had it's moment in the sun, and retired into the sunset, so I'm guessing pricing on this piece is probably quite reasonable. It's got top of the line display options for 2008, which aren't terrible by modern standards so much as feeling limited. If one were to hunt this figure down these days, it's probably because you want a fan servicey high school girl in your collection. Still, for me the overall design of Kanu is quite memorable, and fan servicey high school girls is your thing, then this Figma isn't a bad piece to have.