Tuesday 24 June 2008

Kuonji Shinra

The noble art of seduction is skilfully enacted by the first lady of erogaming spinoffs, Kounji Shinra, as she slips into something a little more comfortable for our personal pleasure. Her debut in PVC is as a 1/8 scale figure, fashioned by the Good Smile Company to ensnare the hearts of her admirers.
Here follows the account of my own dances in figure mania, the movements choreographed to a softly rising serenade. It is not a tale of love at first site but of the rising tempo in my beating heart, of Shinra-sama’s image flirting brazenly on the outskirts of my mind.

At the preorder stage, figures appear like debutantes, their manufacturers escorting them to pose for promotion to cordially invite the attentions of eligible suitors.

Enter the mysterious figure of Kuonji Shinra, a form that cast a subtle but indeterminable mood in the cut of a majestic pose. The lady, whilst stirring and comely was lacking the essential rhythm to draw me devotedly to her side. My hand was stayed, her invitations denied.

The arrival of the televised anime series riding on the coattails of the gaming franchise served as the Shira’s haphazard entourage, opening the doors to a glimpse of her origins. What lay before me was intense erotica restricted to harem hijinks. I viewed the pretence of an elegant life with distaste, unmoved even by the most deadly of my moe mores MAIDS.
It was not until I retired from the animated throng of giddying capers that I happened across my lady’s bed chamber. The lure of Shinra’s siren song was cast the moment I encountered her noble image in repose, lying dishevelled across her bed sheets with arms outstretched to ready to receive me. This dreamlike encounter was no mere illusion but yet another of hobby culture’s sweetest secrets ~ of printed bed linen emblazoned with the images of bishōjo goddesses. After this forbidden twilight interlude, the original restriction of my snobbery readily became a fine network to bind me to my desires, like a lattice of silk rope concealed beneath the haughty vestments of good taste.
When I found that Good Smile were to be marrying their production to an alliance with the legendary masters of figure finishing excellence Alter, I was sold the graces of good breeding.
Good Smile’s Shinra may not be called exquisite and yet I find myself held rapt by the rubies of her eyes that burn with the power to possess and command. The bejewelled costume is a conductor’s robe, the one she wears when moving the heart of the orchestra. Her hands play along the gilded edges of her gown to simulate the movement of a sweeping courtesy.

Ultimately what compromises the quality of the figure is attributable to the restrictions of Shinra’s character. Without the inspirational flair that is sculptor’s initiative to take she remains aloof, her reception too reserved to welcome our complete enchantment. The fault may indeed lie within in the limits of her original design, something that to my aesthetic temperament calls for more luxury and elegance. The satiny darkness of the pantyhose she favours would seriously benefit from a nice pair of stilettos to elongate her smoky stems.

My personal affections for the figure are celebrated in the forbidden recesses of my imagination and on the glossy lustre of nylon luxury linen.