Time evaporates. Her hair streams, the cloth of her sleeves dance, and her encased sword waits on edge for the sweetness of release. Alter’s Momohime qualifies as a masterwork, a Michelangelo of Japanese cute girl figures, both in grace, and nudge/wink, the size of her large hands.
When Momohime was announced there was a pretty strong buzz, a couple of notches below Saber Lily and Black Rock Shooter buzz, but definitely at must get levels. So what makes this delicate and murderous princess more divine than the others released lately?
A little truth first, as the retail version is not the flawless gem I wish it could be called. There is a phenomena where one on the verge of “perfection” sabotages oneself before carrying the ball over the line to become the greatest forever. Something went wrong and to make matters worse, the wound was self-inflicted. Alter’s decision to include swappable parts creates a gap in the figure where none should be that visible. It’s almost hard to imagine the green light for this considering Alter tends to avoid swappable parts as a matter of habit and here we have swappable parts executed to something less than Alter’s well earned reputation for awesome. This is truly a dude, why? decision. Fortunately, this flaw is mitigated by the armor placement blocking most of the seam.
Close-ups also reveal her pupils are misaligned and are not the same shape. The misalignment causes fewer problems since her eyes are shifted to the side, where eyes tend to misalign anyway, but the incongruent shapes of the pupils is harder to waive. It is almost as if whatever painting template that was used during production was accidentally flipped for one of her pupils.
The English language side of the Japanese figure fandom, or at least those who I read, appears to be in love with her. The rush to lavish adoration on Noritaka Fukumoto’s sculpture is full-on, to which I add my name to the list (Tentacle Armada, Exelica Meteor, Tomopop, Autaku). True, I don’t get around much and have a limited, thus skewed, perspective on other bloggers, but it’s rare that 4 of the blogs I read review the same figure within days of each other. Something this pretty increases the desire to do something special with the pictorial or review, maybe try something different with photography or post-processing — or get all douche y with the text. I think the quality of the photos in the reviews above in a roundabout way testifies to the beauty of Noritaka Fukumoto‘s rendition of Momohime. Noritaka Fukumoto also sculpted Alter’s Gwendolyn, which is also a top flight figurine.
As you can probably guess from her name and the game title, Momohime is a princess of some sort, possessed by a demon. It’s a lovely character design that has something interesting to see at every angle, which is always a plus for something like a figure where every angle should look complete. It also manages to do this without a lot of clutter either. Noritaka Fukumoto took full advantage of the character and costume design for this sculpt. The flow of the elements feed or link to each other is such a way as to pull you back to her. Her exposed thighs almost act as the “whitespace” of the figure, rather than as a focal point as it is for many bishojo figures, at least from the front. On the reverse angle the exposed thighs then draw focus, which I think is a function of her left sleeve. Kind of interesting how it works to draw you to her face when it can in the front, but enough minutia.
There are so few figures which have as many appealing angles of view. Be cool to put Momohime on a turning table to appreciate all of the candy on display. Check the rivets in her armbands, the flowers in her hair, her scabbard, her leg-wraps, the bottom of her footwear, or the distress on the armor. It’s all sweet.
Even if you’re remotely inclined, buy this.
Waiting for mine to arrive hu hu hu =)
I gave in to her charm too. Truly appealing. And this short kimono is so… mmmmhh!
Love your 2nd last shot! this side view is gorgeous, and the movement given by her lines is great.
.-= lu-k´s last blog: Engaku-ji =-.
Yes, the short kimono is perfect. It’s funny how once you turn the figure around, the design drags your eyes right there.
Momohime get recenlty. The face is really original, maybe a little strange for many. But the sculpture is definitly great, for example the base nice and original (not like other “tuperware base”). I really like pictures with red/white background ^^ I need time to make my review ^^
The face, even though there is a slight misalignment in her eyes, is one of the best parts of the figure. It’s subtle how different it is from many figs. Love the base too.
Momohime really became more popular than I expected. I do wish not everyone reviewed her at the same time, it’s like Haruhi Gekisou ver. all over again for me. Kinda getting tired of seeing her everywhere.
With that said, your pictures surprised me, when I first the first one I thought it was streaks of blood. As if Momohime just finished slaying an enemy, then I noticed it was more along the lines of a wheat field, kinda like the ones you can see on the game. Pretty neat.
I get what you mean. I actually never reviewed Saber Lily, because by the time I had enough free time, I’d read so many other’s reviews that I just never did one. I actually think Saber Lily’s pose isn’t very good and could have written a review that was a little different from the others, but I know a lot of people just come for the pictures and don’t read.
The dyed dried plants I used because I had the same thought you described. Red on white is evocative and since the dried plants were very vertical it gave the running through the field impression in an abstract way. At least, that’s the attempt.
always great like ussual
i like the feel you made
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4077/4884903377_de4b22a247.jpg
especially this one >_<
That’s my favorite shot in the set. It was the first one too.
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Fantastic shots, dude! I REALLY like the red stuff that you used — what is that?
.-= Chag´s last blog: Review- 1-8 Senjougahara Hitagi =-.
They’re dyed dried plants. I don’t remember exactly what kind of plants they are, but they sort of reminded me of wheat, but on closer inspection really aren’t at all. It didn’t matter since they were going to be out of focus anyway. Red on white is evocative. I try not to use the combination that often so that when there is an appropriate use for it people aren’t like red on white again!?
Beautiful pictures, and I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. I check a few Japanese review sites and I think I’ve only seen one such site with a writeup for this figure, whereas I’ve seen several English-language reviews already and I know of at least a couple more people that are working on them. That’s a bit curious and I wonder if Momohime had better sales overseas than average.
.-= Tier´s last blog: Fate T Harlaown from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS Shin Sonic Form Version =-.
I pretty much only visit foobarbaz and click on whoever he links to, but yeah, I didn’t remember or notice much Momohime there. To the point I even wondered if the character is better known outside of Japan, though to be honest I still have very little idea who Momohime is since I don’t own a Wii.
As always, great shots superats! Like Chag, I too wonder what that red stuff is in the pictures. At times it looks familiar enough I should know what it is, but others it looks almost like streaks of blood as Miette wrote.
I hadn’t thought about it much until Tier, but have I seen any Japanese posts about Momohime? Looking back I can only find 3 such posts on Japanese blogs, as well as foo-bar-baz having purchased her. I have to say, none of them are as good as the English reviews I’ve seen either in terms of picture quality and especially creativity. Interesting.
I’m now curious why that might be. The one theory that pops into my head is perhaps her appearance overall. To a western audience she’s beautiful yet foreign in appearance, exotic because of her Japanese attire. But perhaps to the Japanese themselves she’s their own history (albeit fictional) and just maybe that’s not as appealing to them. I can’t see it but it’s the best I’ve got at the moment.
.-= Aka´s last blog: On Order- Kotobukiya Kanbaru Suruga =-.
Yeah, the non-Japan side has definitely been energetic over the figure whereas in Japan it’s more like just any other figure, perhaps even more under the radar than a typical release from a trifecta figure company. I did actually find the buzz on MyFigureCollection, Tomopop, and elsewhere when she was announced a little surprising.
On another note, I’m really pleased with how interesting the photography aspect, sharing pictures, of the figure hobby has progressed. People are really making stuff where I look at the shot and go that’s spectacular and then go how did they do that? It not just occasional flashes of brilliance. People are consistently putting out great images, which makes it fun.
really love this figure and the pictures you took.
Im using one as desktop wallpaper.
.-= phossil´s last blog: A week in Guatemala 2 =-.
Thanks! That made my day.
I really wanted to get her but my lack of funds prevented me from pre-ordering her. One of the few figures that made me really want to put an order for. Sad to hear about the flaws in her. I really like the third to the last picture, the darker tone and shadow on one side of her face is a nice touch.
.-= AS´s last blog: Addicted to Curry-Manga Review =-.
Great write up and clean photos as always! Interesting point about her pupils, I didn’t even notice it! It’s really interesting how she received so many reviews in such a short time. There are also so many great pictures of her out there, Momohime definitely has a lot of fans! =)
I was going to write out a review for her too, but since so many are popping up recently, I thought I’d write about Seena first.
.-= Visual Fanfare´s last blog: Max Factory- Seena Kanon swimsuit version =-.
good review, the picture with her face from the side is really nice.
I like this figure a lot she was an instant get as I saw her on pictures of Wonfes
her petite body, all the fine details and the color tones are looking beautiful together.
she has an unique look, like that from Alter’s Gwendolyn,the conversion of these 2d game related characters into a figure is very well done.
the seam line at her arm is a bit bothersome but I couldn’t really notice the thing you’ve mentioned about her pupils.
.-= Fabienne´s last blog: Review- Shining Wind Seena Swimsuit version by Max Factory =-.
I great figure indeed =)
definetly worth having, i really love what you did with the bg, suits very well =)
and beautiful photos.
*subcribes to your post =)
love the picture!
.-= watch anime´s last blog: Kaichou Wa Maid-sama! Episode 20 =-.
Have been seeing photos of this figure around, though these are among the best that really illustrate what a great figure it is.
What’s most striking indeed as you said is she looks great from near any angle, making her very versatile in display possibilities. Saber Lily is a great figure, but she looks her best from specific angles, Monohime looks great from most angles.
.-= Smithy´s last blog: Queen’s Blade Utsukushiki Toushi-tachi OVA 1 =-.
A truly lovely figure. I received my Momohime a few days ago so I will also be adding some photos of my own soon
I haven’t had a chance to inspect her closely but I’ll be on the look out for that eye problem you mention. From my brief scanning of her in the box, I couldn’t pick it out. Either way, I don’t think it will be enough to detract from her otherwise excellent presentation ^^.
.-= anonymous_object´s last blog: Yui Meets Moiraine Rin =-.
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Ive honestly never read this blog or other figurine review sites, but I just recieved this figure and had to comment.
I do have a Wii as well as the other two systems and I honestly dont think its inferior. Muramasa is a really fun game although pretty simple, but the art is legendary. This figure accurately portrays the style and dynamicism if Momohime and the game in general. Its really REALLY well crafted. The cutline doesnt bother me, but I only have a couple dozen figures in all and some of them have interchangeable parts. nobody notices the joints from viewing distance anyway.
As for her pupils, I honestly didnt notice and I dont think it stands out enough to make a difference. I was pretty shocked at how short her Kimono is. I mean, its not covering much of anything below her waist.
Reviews tend to be nit-picky. But, yeah, it was enamored the second I saw Momohime for pre-order and just as much whenever I sit down at my computer everyday. She’s on my desk and looks super cool.
Saw this review, and immediately hunted down whatever Momohime figure I could find. Luckily I found one after several hours. Thank you for this beautiful review, with beautiful, illustrious pictures. I am now waiting for mine to arrive.
Hope you enjoy. Still a favorite of mine.
[...] been talked about in other reviews, such as the one from Tier, Excelica Meteor, Autaku, Tomopop, HappySoda, Shadonia, and a bunch on MFC. Do a Google search and you’ll get a bunch of other [...]
Oh hello Happy Soda! Your blog has one of the best photos of my favorite figure, ever! Great photos and review of Momohime!
Mabuhay from your fan here from the Philippines!