Akiba Blue? Really? She's been released more than 2 months already now but you just do her review now? Err... Yeah, add how 'fast' shipment to Indonesia, my current condition which can only do photo session on weekend, and my laziness to write, you can consider 2 months fast XD So if you haven't read any Akiba Blue reviews out there for whatever reason, or just want to see more pictures of her, here's my photo review of Akiba Blue~!
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| SHFiguarts Akiba Blue July 28th 2012 release | 3360 yen | Bandai |
Character History
Under the suit of Akiba Blue is Aoyagi Mitsuki, 18-year old high school girl who also a martial artist and a serious person. But she's also a closet otaku, she really enjoys show-within-show Z-Cune Aoi anime. Mitsuki is the first member to be scouted by Hiroyo Hakase to become Akibaranger, and she joins because she wants to become stronger and improve her fighting skill. Unlike the other 2 members, Mitsuki have next-to-nothing knowledge of Super Sentai, until she did a marathon of GoGo Sentai Boukenger and impressed by the series. In the beginning she is uncomfortable with most of Super Sentai tropes Akagi, the Red, told her, but eventually Mitsuki begins to bond well with her teammates and even do silly stuffs outside the tropes together. She began to do her "real" role call pose after she got a lesson from acting director and famous suit actor Kazuo Niibori.
Packaging
The packaging is pretty much the same format as most SHFs and same design as Akiba Red, with adjustments like now Akibaranger logo on the sides are colored blue. If Akiba Red comes with first release bonus of a special Akibaranger Tamashii Stage set, Blue doesn't come with any bonus.
Set Content
Since Akibaranger special weapons that manifested from other Super Sentai's Daisoreta no Chikara (Penultimate Power) included on other SHF and Akiba Blue doesn't have other weapon, basically the accessories she comes with are the same with Akiba Red. Here is the list:- Akiba Blue figure
- MMZ-01 Moe Moe Zukyuun gun mode
- 3 interchangeable scarfs
- 5 pairs of extra interchangeable hand parts
Aaaand, yeah, that's it. She doesn't come with MMZ-01 on figure mode or Akiba Rod (well, it's only a normal pole, so yeah XD), but she comes with 1 additional scarf Akiba Red didn't come with and more hand parts.
Sculpt
I. LOVE. AKIBA BLUE SUIT DESIGN!! I freaking love it. It's really stunning. The white 'skin' inner suit, the short skirt with side cleavages to show her delicious fat thighs, yum yum. *cough* Pardon my great delusion, proceed to the review.
So yeah, in my eyes the SHF does Blue far better on proportion department than Red who looks too skinny. Blue has slim female figure, her arms are thin and her thighs are big but I think it looks good for her. Good attention to detail on her face with the nose and mouth as well as motifs on her armor and boots. The clear chest armor looks great too and her skirt is made from flexible soft plastic so you can still move her leg freely.
One thing you have to consider is the ponytail part (A-A Ao wa ponytail) because you can't move it but when you try to put the scarf there's the chance the ponytail is pushed too with your finger. Mine was half broken, it still hang in there but you can move it downwards, because I was too rough when wearing the scarf, though it easily fixed with strong glue. There's something wrong on my normal scarf, it's very very hard to be worn and when it finally worn, it comes off easily after some times. Really frustrating. Another disappointment is the neck part is easily popped off. It's annoying sometimes but the good thing is, it makes you easier to adjust the direction of the neck when posing it.
Painting is quite well-done. The clear parts on the chest looks stunning and the other parts also painted well. Sure there are some rough paint on the edge of some parts like on my Blue's right arm and upper chest armor, but it doesn't really stand out and overall it still looks good. And of course, the special feature of Blue suit is still there even on SHF form, the Mr. Bear on her panty! XD
Articulation
This is where Blue lose to Red and most recent SHFs. The articulation is really inferior. For one, on the shoulder part Blue doesn't have those.... what is the technical term? I don't know... Err, those sliding joints, so it's only a normal peg-hinge joint like Figma. And not only that, she also loses all swivel joints on the bicep and thigh! Furthermore, the ankle joints used are the same inferior joint used on Red. On the bright side, the other joints are still provides the same wide range of movement SHFs best at, and the soft plastic on her skirt like I said before doesn't hinder the leg movement though the shoulder armor does limit her arm movement so she can raise her arm straight upwards.
Gimmick
Just like Red, Blue doesn't really have any special gimmick. There's only the scarf part that you can put on a ball connector behind her neck. Since Bandai gives 3 scarf, you can choose which scarf you want to use for a pose you want to do, and the scarf direction is also adjustable so it will gives the pose more dynamic feel.Pose
And finally here you go, more photos of Akiba Blue!
Sexy shoots =3
With Urataros and Kenshiro O//O
Other shoots with parts from another figures :3
And because I ship Akagi x Mitsuki <3
End Verdict
Again with my bias, I scored Blue higher than Red. Red looks too thin but he's still packed with great articulations while Blue is the reverse, she looks gorgeous and pretty accurate but her articulation is weaker than recent SHFs. I don't know if this is Bandai being sexist like Toei, because Nadeshiko is actually have great articulation even though she's a female tokusatsu character. I don't know about those Shinken and Gokai girls though since I don't own any of them, but it's kinda piss me off with lack of swivel biceps and thighs. But in the end of the day, Blue (and Yellow) is a regular release and that's awesome for female Sentai member and awesome for collectors outside Japan too.
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