DSC_9347
I was introduced to the world of Vanillaware relatively late, playing Muramasa: Rebirth on the Vita, a remaster of an older Wii title. They've made a variety of genres, though all of them have an action theme to them and feature gorgeous hand animated characters with a very unique aesthetic and the ability to overwhelm their intended hardware. They've been around for a while though, since at least the PS2 days with games like Odin Sphere (which is the one most people know them for).
Back in 2013 or so, George Kamitani, the mad genius behind Vanillaware, was able to get a dream project of his published - Dragon's Crown, a four play co-op side scrolling beat'em up with a fantasy theme. Offering five classes, my persona melee favourite is the Amazon, a very much in-your-face Glass Canon.
The game was popular enough to receive a HD remake on PS4 in 2018, at which time FINALLY someone made an action figure from the series, namely a Parfom of the Amazon (much to my delight). To my utter horror, it's now 2020 and there has been no other entries into the series, which is a bit disappointing considering that Odin Sphere got two entries in Parfom and two Figma.
So what I'm trying to say is yes, in 2020, this figure was a colossal pain in the ass to find.
Luckily, hours of scanning random sites resulted in one that came through at MSRP - Toyjapan based out of Portugal, an authorized Good Smile Company dealer.
She comes with the figure, three additional hands (two for posing, one for holding her apple), an apple, and two different axes with interchangeable parts (one has a bent handle to simulate the force of being wielded by her) as well as two different bases, a dead enemy skeleton thing, and of course, the Parfom base, in this case with a claw attachment in addition to the the standard connector.
Overall, it seems that Phat traded faces for admittedly large and substantial weaponry and a skeleton thingie... I think I would have liked an angry face as opposed to that skeleton.
Back on track, being a Parfom, you can see the general oversized head aesthetic that the entire line goes for. The figure bears the characteristics of the Amazon - long flowing Blonde hair with a feather and headband, basically not there armour, and of course, her Thicc-ness. Sorceress may win the Boobs game, but Amazon is the Queen of Junk-In-The-Trunk.
In fact, it's one of her signature moves - the Hip Splash.
Also common to Parfom is the artists emphasis on the head and general facial features. I feel that the character select screen Amazon face has been captured quite well, and while you can argue the expression is kind of general, it's the eyes I can see it in. Definitely different from the Saber's on my desk, which even between themselves are different. What's really great is the amount of detailing put into the hair (and feather) and I suppose the lack of swappable face plates kind of helps prevent possibly screwing it up with seamlines.
Moving into my usual areas of critique, articulation. You get ankles, single jointed knees with some lower leg rotation, thigh twist, hips, mid tors, shoulders with lateral movement and bicep swivel, single jointed elbows with forearm rotation capabilities, wrists, and ball jointed head - almost the same as the Sabers, but missing the waist for aesthetic purposes.
Thigh twist is typical type, but well executed in that the seam isn't too obvious. Hips are a bit wonky to pose due to their very usual contours, but I found I was able to get the legs where I wanted, though admittedly I didn't do anything super extreme. Overall though, it's nice finally having a Parfom that isn't restricted by a dress. Otherwise, the upper torso will pretty much get what you're looking for done.
Paint wise is an interesting story. 99 percent of the paint on her is great. Flesh tones are nice and even, as in the hair and all other large applications such as her axes. Decal work is great for both her eyes and thigh tattoos. Even the gold and silver bits on her outfit are fantastic. The red on the other hand...
There's red trim for her bikini and her wrist. For whatever reason, there were blob of red paint all along lower torso along the bikini bottom line, both back and front. Well, it was either wet paint or a combination of paint and mould oils... either way, she looked like it was that time of the month.
Luckily, I guess, it seems that they put plastic on top of it pretty much as soon as painting was completed, which somehow preserved the wetness of the paint so I was able to clean it up to the best of my ability with my finger. It looks alright, but not quite as crisp as I'd like along her back.
From a build perspective, pretty much the only issue I had was that for reasons, the wrist peg on my right arm split apart, though fortunately I'm able to get it back in place. Otherwise, Amazon is a solid figure with the usual expected levels of materials, finish, joint strength, and QC.
That, friends, was the Parfom Amazon. If you're a Dragon's Crown fan, this is a no brainer.. it's not like they made any other action figures from the line, and I guess the Parfom is easier to display (both in size and overall look) than any of the scale statues. I'm quite happy how she turned out (though a bit annoyed with the nagging quality items I experienced) and can only hope that one day the line expands so the set can be completed.
DSC_9347
I was introduced to the world of Vanillaware relatively late, playing Muramasa: Rebirth on the Vita, a remaster of an older Wii title. They've made a variety of genres, though all of them have an action theme to them and feature gorgeous hand animated characters with a very unique aesthetic and the ability to overwhelm their intended hardware. They've been around for a while though, since at least the PS2 days with games like Odin Sphere (which is the one most people know them for).
Back in 2013 or so, George Kamitani, the mad genius behind Vanillaware, was able to get a dream project of his published - Dragon's Crown, a four play co-op side scrolling beat'em up with a fantasy theme. Offering five classes, my persona melee favourite is the Amazon, a very much in-your-face Glass Canon.
The game was popular enough to receive a HD remake on PS4 in 2018, at which time FINALLY someone made an action figure from the series, namely a Parfom of the Amazon (much to my delight). To my utter horror, it's now 2020 and there has been no other entries into the series, which is a bit disappointing considering that Odin Sphere got two entries in Parfom and two Figma.
So what I'm trying to say is yes, in 2020, this figure was a colossal pain in the ass to find.
Luckily, hours of scanning random sites resulted in one that came through at MSRP - Toyjapan based out of Portugal, an authorized Good Smile Company dealer.
She comes with the figure, three additional hands (two for posing, one for holding her apple), an apple, and two different axes with interchangeable parts (one has a bent handle to simulate the force of being wielded by her) as well as two different bases, a dead enemy skeleton thing, and of course, the Parfom base, in this case with a claw attachment in addition to the the standard connector.
Overall, it seems that Phat traded faces for admittedly large and substantial weaponry and a skeleton thingie... I think I would have liked an angry face as opposed to that skeleton.
Back on track, being a Parfom, you can see the general oversized head aesthetic that the entire line goes for. The figure bears the characteristics of the Amazon - long flowing Blonde hair with a feather and headband, basically not there armour, and of course, her Thicc-ness. Sorceress may win the Boobs game, but Amazon is the Queen of Junk-In-The-Trunk.
In fact, it's one of her signature moves - the Hip Splash.
Also common to Parfom is the artists emphasis on the head and general facial features. I feel that the character select screen Amazon face has been captured quite well, and while you can argue the expression is kind of general, it's the eyes I can see it in. Definitely different from the Saber's on my desk, which even between themselves are different. What's really great is the amount of detailing put into the hair (and feather) and I suppose the lack of swappable face plates kind of helps prevent possibly screwing it up with seamlines.
Moving into my usual areas of critique, articulation. You get ankles, single jointed knees with some lower leg rotation, thigh twist, hips, mid tors, shoulders with lateral movement and bicep swivel, single jointed elbows with forearm rotation capabilities, wrists, and ball jointed head - almost the same as the Sabers, but missing the waist for aesthetic purposes.
Thigh twist is typical type, but well executed in that the seam isn't too obvious. Hips are a bit wonky to pose due to their very usual contours, but I found I was able to get the legs where I wanted, though admittedly I didn't do anything super extreme. Overall though, it's nice finally having a Parfom that isn't restricted by a dress. Otherwise, the upper torso will pretty much get what you're looking for done.
Paint wise is an interesting story. 99 percent of the paint on her is great. Flesh tones are nice and even, as in the hair and all other large applications such as her axes. Decal work is great for both her eyes and thigh tattoos. Even the gold and silver bits on her outfit are fantastic. The red on the other hand...
There's red trim for her bikini and her wrist. For whatever reason, there were blob of red paint all along lower torso along the bikini bottom line, both back and front. Well, it was either wet paint or a combination of paint and mould oils... either way, she looked like it was that time of the month.
Luckily, I guess, it seems that they put plastic on top of it pretty much as soon as painting was completed, which somehow preserved the wetness of the paint so I was able to clean it up to the best of my ability with my finger. It looks alright, but not quite as crisp as I'd like along her back.
From a build perspective, pretty much the only issue I had was that for reasons, the wrist peg on my right arm split apart, though fortunately I'm able to get it back in place. Otherwise, Amazon is a solid figure with the usual expected levels of materials, finish, joint strength, and QC.
That, friends, was the Parfom Amazon. If you're a Dragon's Crown fan, this is a no brainer.. it's not like they made any other action figures from the line, and I guess the Parfom is easier to display (both in size and overall look) than any of the scale statues. I'm quite happy how she turned out (though a bit annoyed with the nagging quality items I experienced) and can only hope that one day the line expands so the set can be completed.