A girl with stars on her umbrella waits all by herself in the park across the station. Morning turns to afternoon, snow starts falling, people hurry to get out of the cold, but she continues to wait for him. Her name is Ureshiko, one of the girls from Max Factory, who in spite of being a very pretty figure escaped a lot of attention.
Ageta Yukiwo sculpted the serene looking Ureshiko for MaxFactory. She’s the lead character from Bewitching Agnes. Ureshiko looks like a full grown woman, which is always a plus, and something too uncommon for a lead. I haven’t seen the show, so I don’t know her deal or secret, but her character design is very appealing.
Ureshiko is a witch, that’s witch as in Bewitched and not witch as in ugly nasty evil. In this figure she’s anything but ugly or nasty, but rather very sweet with her pink hair and pastel sweater and umbrella.
At first, the figure appears to be a little simple, but it’s not really that plain. Rather than hard definitions, Ureshiko carries a softness in all of her details, adding to the feeling of a kind soul. The softness carries over to the rest of the figure, the way she has the umbrella cupped in her hands and how it gently rests on her shoulder, the curve of her back, her rounded shoulders. And the pastel feel of her very feminine legs.
Maybe it’s because it’s winter, I’ve been on a white on white kick as far as the pictorials go, which is why I decided to stick her in a snow scene. That and I already had the materials for it from the Iroha set, so it was convenient. Still, I like the look and the challange of lighting white on white.
White is one of the trickiest backgrounds to light. I need to expirement with it a little more and maybe write a post about it. With figure or any tabletop work, your subject tends to be very close to the reflective white surface. Basically, you have a reflector underneath your figure whether you want one or not, which has a huge impact on your overall contrast.
Anyway, as far as overall quality, this figure is MaxFactory all the way. Great paint application and color, above average on the manufacturing artifacts, and nice sturdy plastic, all of which does the sculpt great justice. The umbrella pole is metal, so it won’t warp.
Get Ureshiko
It’s a shame she was neglected in comparison to some other more recent MaxFactory figures. The mood to her is fantastic. One of things I like about her in relation to my collection is she adds a new mood it.
View of the Base
I realized that I never showed the base, leaving it covered in shredded plastic snow. You can check it out at Lu-k’s Lair.
Product Information
- Name: Asaba Ureshiko
- Manufacturer: MaxFactory
- Sculpted by Ageta Yukiwo
- Scale and Material: 1/7 scale pvc figure
- List: 5,200 JPY
- Released: Late October 2006
- US Release: Yes
- Affiliate Link: Ureshiko at RightStuf
I was rather tempted in buying this before but opted not to. It’s a really nice figure and Ureshiko gives off an elegant feel to her. Also she is quite different to a lot of figures that you get nowadays.
凄いぜ！
anything pink = no thank you
[...] Oh, an some guy with a camera and a mild bit of talent took some pictures of some girl with an umbrella. None of my business though. [...]
Have you seen the new hobby don video? This figure’s production process was briefly shown. I actually saw this figure in the store I used to work at, and played with it for a while. Its weight and quality is superb. Pity I don’t know the character nor is she attractive enough for an impulse buy.
And this is a bloody good shoot.
Nice pictures, as always !
I don’t think I’ll buy this figurine but she’s really beautiful anyway…
Adun: She does have an elegance about her.
Danny Choo: Google translated that as ‘enormous,’ I mean it is a big umbrella, but not enormous.
Thanks.
And it seems Jay would let her wait forever.
tj han: I’ll download that today and watch it. Thanks.
Ujuj: Poor Ureshiko…nobody loves her, not even Ujuj.
Gorgeous shoot, the white backdrop complements her serene feel perfectly. I must admit I had a passing interest in this figure due to the tranquil air she exudes and the sweet pastel colouring, like you said she’s just different. Might actually get her if I can get one off the shelf (I did end up getting Alter’s bikini Saber after seeing your lovely pics and am glad I did, MaxFac and the like really ought to be hiring people like you to sell their figures *laugh*).
Maybe I should hold up a sign, *will work for pvc boobies*!
My room froze after seeing this shoot. It’s really beautiful and the coldness sinks into you.
凄いぜ！means “brilliant” or “cool!”
could mean enormous I guess but “凄い” is not reallly used for that term. Google lies.
I should have known Google lies! Hehe.
I really need to get around more. Around the internet more, I mean.
You have a very nice blog and really enjoying your photo skills. BTW, your tutorial on photography figures on a budget is good. One doesn’t always need to invest a lot of money to take great photos, just be creative.
Yes, it’s a shame this figure has gotten over looked. I was quite taken with it myself, but unfortunately I passed it over for something else. ^^; I also don’t know much about this character. Although, the feel I get from the figure reminds me a lot of Madoka Ayukawa from KOR. That same projection of maturity from a young woman is there.
Nice diorama too. Adds a great deal to an already great figure.
Thanks, Edward.
And yeah, digital has cut the cost of photography quite a bit and tabletop photography really needs no special lighting equipment, so you can do a lot with just taking whatever you have and figuring out how to get it to do what you want.
I manage to get this figure when my local shop got her in stock, just one i think. I really like her, beautifully sculpted and painted. btw those snow, are they plastics ??
The snow are plastic flakes. It’s a little coarse, but it’s better than using salt for snow. Salt would look better, but I’d hate to see what it might do to the figure.
thanks super rats, yeah salt would definitely have a better effect. anyway last question, where can i buy plastic flakes coz i dun think i have seen them on store’s rack, thanks a lot
Salt does scale better than the plastic flakes, but salt is a corrosive and salt dust may get into your camera, which you really really don’t want. Sugar is also problematic.
I got those flakes in winter. I found them with the Christmas decorations. You’ll probably not find them in retail stores again until then. You might have to go online or look for alternatives. I once tried to grate styrofoam into snowflakes, but they’re so light that they cling to EVERYTHING due to static.
yes both sugar and salt looks better but they are a problem to use. I have thought of using styrofoam as well, but as u say they are so light. thanks anyway, i’ll try my luck finding those plastic flakes, if can’t find thn probably have to wait till christmas or try to figure out some alternative
[...] released by Max Factory. I actually know nothing about her when I saw the nice photos of her that super rats took, I just find that she’s very nice figure to add to my collection. So when I saw her [...]
[...] thread to every photo and contribute to sheer boredom. Don’t you want yor photos to look like this? Or like this? Oh my god, this one’s realllly [...]
Well, I’m way late but I recently picked up this figure myself. Inspired by your winter-themed shoot, I did a summer one. :]