Saika, a young woman with blue hair, blue accented clothes, and a giant sword, finds herself alone one morning in her own blue world submerged in a sad feeling, a sadness not from loss, nor deep sorrow, nor depression, but more like a dull unexplained heaviness, a kind of blue feeling. It was too bad the sword in hand was not a saxaphone, because the ache would hollow halls and sound beautiful. She looked at the sword and sighed at its uselessness.
“I need a change,” said Saika S. Farnese. “I shall pawn this giant sword for something better.”
“For what I don’t know, but almost anything would increase happiness by at least 8%, even a pastel chime,” she continued. And with that proclaimation, Saika S. Farnese left her little blue world on a quest to transform her sword into a plowshare.
As she trudged through the snowy plane outside her little blue world, Saika thought about the sword attached to her hand, remembering the first time she weilded it. A sword weighs heavier than it looks and requires more effort than many imagine. Swords reward patient weilders.
Saika has been a patient weilder, devoted to it, learning how to move her body to better control the weapon. She enjoyed her time with the sword, but how long should one remain devoted if there appears no reason for that devotion? Is the art enough? Some would say that the simple yearning for something else is sign enough to find something new, while some others would say the yearning for something else is just a manifestation of doubt or even a fear of a full realization of the art itself.
Is it even art, she thought. It takes skill and training, a sacrifice of sweat and precious time that could have been spent enjoying the company of friends she neglected at times in favor of honing that skill. In the end, that sacrifice produced what exactly? She knew her youth was running out.
When she reached the end of the dead forest, Saika found a field of sunflowers stretching out as far as she could see. There was no end in sight. How much longer did she need to carry the sword? The journey was longer than she expected and would take her from the blues where she started into the land of the mean reds.
The Review
Saika S. Farnese is a major character from an eroge called Pastel Chime Continue. This figure is a 1/8 scale pvc sculpted by Nishimura Naoki and produced by the Alter Company.
Saika has a far less girly image than the norm. With her longer face and long figure, she gives a slightly more mature vibe than is typical for a high school age character. The entire figure has an elegant sadness about it.
The only piece to attach is the blade of her sword. Be careful as it is somewhat brittle at the connection point. Otherwise, excellent paint and build quality. The detail level is a little on the low side for an Alter figure, but that’s more on the sculptor than the manufacture.
Overall, a decent pickup for fans of swordmaidens.
Wonderful, WONDERFUL pics, befitting of Saika’s beauty. Still keeping my fingers crossed on my pre-order coming through for her. XD
[...] of his ratness, check out his Saika review. Very artful. Classy stuff. Hit the jump for a far-too-few four pictures of Mai in all her glory. [...]
It’s a nice figure. One of the details I really like about it is the way her garment slightly trails behind her as she walks.
I don’t think there’s a huge demand for this figure, which is too bad. HobbySearch still has stock after filling pre-orders, so wherever you have your order it will probably be filled.
She looks really peaceful, which is great
Awesome photos as usual. I like how you did a bit of monologuing at the start. Also what’s with the outer glow on the white background pictures? It’s not an effect you can get from the camera surely?
I don’t know what you mean by weird outer glow. Which picture, specifically? Is it around the figure or is it part of the background? I might need to adjust my monitor to see what you’re seeing, so let me know and I can tell you, if I know.
I just replaced the two pics with sunflowers on a white background because there was some weird artifacts…was that what your were talking about?
WTF! The changes in scenery were awesome. I didn’t get this figure… actually I almost havent gotten any for a month. My wallet’s heavy now.
I’m getting the GSC Shinku and EB craft Saber now.
top quality and good diorama. best combination
the thing that amuse me is that your diorama scale is perfectly fit with the figurine, mini himawari
nice background change as well, all look very perfect (except the one with white background, it has a lil bit outer glow, like what adun said)
I like the last picture and the one with head turn right side (white background)
good job
At least for my tastes, the figure market is in a lull until May. Too bad I’m not an Ikkitousen figure fan. At least I’d have new stuff every week.
Your pictures make me more and more impatient. Can’t wait to have her closed to Rina
But have to wait a a little more, ’cause she’s still between Japan and my home hehe
Anyway, I love your background compositions, as usual
same for me, can’t wait till May and beyond
O-H M-Y F-U-C-K-I-N-G G-O-D.
The flower effect = fantastic.
I considered getting this since it first came out for pre-order buy dropped it some time in late Feburary. The reasons being: 1) I never played the game 2) I dislike how the ribbon on her chest is flat 3) Needed to save money for the Azone Saber (which is on it’s way here)
About that less girly description, I think she’s a woman… I need more adult figures.
lu-k, the Saika and Rina figures have this great similarity and great contrast going on that’s kind of cool.
Thanks, Tsubaki.
Everlasting, I might have passed on this if I wasn’t such a chicks with swords fan. The other big draw was the less girly appearance. I hear you though on having to sometimes decide on not getting something because this stiff isn’t cheap. The wiki says she is a student, but she does look more like a woman.
Ohhhhh pretty dark gray. Looks nice, though. Honest.
I’ve been wanting to go dark gray for a while, because it makes the pictures look better, but gray isn’t exactly a happy color and dark backgrounds are a little harder on the eyes when reading text.
[...] views Super Rats took awesome pictures of both Saika and Rina, so I’m inviting you to (re)visit his [...]
[...] views Super Rats took awesome pictures of both Saika and Rina, so I’m inviting you to (re)visit his [...]