FREEing Suzumiya Haruhi

And so to the centre work of the FREEing lineup, the pièce de résistance, the lady Suzumiya Haruhi herself.
Conspicuous in her eccentricity, her volatility and hyperactive spirit has made her the international idol of otaku everywhere.
Multi-talented and ferociously ambitious, the tenacious heroine has penchant for the extraordinary and devotes herself to the pursuit of ethereal beings in constant struggle against the mundane.
The potency of personality is embodied to perfection in the FREEing sculpt. Unbridled confidence and sex appeal, the tour de force that is larger than life Haruhi makes maximum impact in 1/4. As iconic as the sensational SOS heroine herself this is the definitive image of HaruhISM.
I could endlessly serenade this beauty and exalt each heavenly aspect of her form and composition but as every shot of this model ever taken seems to speak for itself I shall, for once, refrain from doing so.

FREEing Kyon no Imouto

I make little secret or excuse for my habitual Lolicon leanings, as a female figure maniac my intentions couldn’t possibly be untoward right?... Right? In any event, I have no qualms about acquisitioning beauty wherever it appears. Be it woman, man, girl, boy or bling, I am ever a slave to the beautiful things.
The little girl known by no other name than Kyon no Imouto (little sister of the show’s hapless male protagonist) appears as cherry coloured candy pink baby bunny girl. Her depiction in the Megami illustration can no doubt be cited as the reason for her inclusion in the collection due to the fact that the sugar sweet pose in her tiny pompom ensemble is JUST TO CUTE. The illustrators and FREEing naturally had the sense and good taste not to dress the 11yearold in fishnet stockings (she is not Kokonoe after all) and her petite form is most becoming at 1/4. Propriety be damned, she is utterly charming and flawlessly finished, the quintessence of adorable and a joy to behold.
Her pose, whilst similar to the illustration makes a daring diversion as Kyon no Imouto stretches her tiny hand out with exuberance, revealing more of her tiny body in the miniature costume. The piece is pure Loli-moe material, uncompromisingly gorgeous from every angle and as delicate as the finest bone china. Highly recommended for the intrepid and advocates imouto-moe!

FREEing Asahina Mikuru

Constantly stripped and coerced into performance, the unwilling cosplay idol Asahina Mikuru always harbours an air of anxiety, which is compounded by Haruhi’s ravenous dedication to the random provision of fanservice.
And so to my first acquisition in the FREEing line, the bashful red bunny herself. To be frank, Mikuru looks damn uncomfortable, like she has just toppled over backwards and landed on her behind. Her face is a portrait of worry, her pose almost ungainly with her legs splayed out in front of her. It is by the ingenuity of Haruhi’s styling choices that Mikuru’s natural talent shines out. As a bunny girl Mikuru’s curvy body is poured into the tiny garment, her form melting into a slick red bodice with *real* fishnet stockings.
This is where the scale of these models works so well in their favour as the detailing, materials and production values give the set such an air of indulgence and excellence. The moulding is cast in such a way as to give the illusion of a pliable PVC garment, the paint finished to glossy lustre that stands apart from the smooth china finish of her skin. The natural reflections that dance across the bodice reverberate across the composition of the piece, bringing out the twinkling sparkle painted into her startled eyes.
With the 1/4 sculpt FREEing takes the method of PVC production a whole new level, one that operates on a whole new plane of compositional aesthetics and balance. In smaller sculpts, fine detail, delicacy and finishing tend to be paramount to their overall success and appeal, yet at 1/4 the modeller must convey the beauty of the character using . The FREEing girls are surprisingly weighty, their size leaves little option for flowing tendrils of hair or long, fragile fingers and yet, the Bunnies possess surprising delicacy. Working with anime character designs coupled with a simple one piece outfit, FREEing’s Haruhi works are a triumph, which celebrate both the appeal of the characters and the erotic couture of the bunny girl.
They are on the controversial outskirts of miniatures, approaching a proximity to life size dolls with the addition of cloth apparel and articulated heads. This may be too close for comfort for some but it is, I assure you, very much their loss.

Introduction to FREEing Haruhi Series

It takes a whirlwind success of a series to engender such frantic figure manufacture as to have the peripheral characters incarnated in 1/4 PVC.
Suzumiya Haruhi, is just such a show and to the credit of its unrelenting merchandising machine, the seeds it has sown have been cultivated into some of the finest blooms to ever to grace the PVC figure market.
Blossoming onto the scene in 2007, newcomers FREEing made an illustrious debut with their take on the Haruhi cast in a series of highly sought after 1/4 sculpts. Based on a heavenly harem illustration featured in eye candy mag Megami, the Haruhi girls have been masterfully crafted in fine detail at an ambitious scale. 1/4 sculpts are rare and often grotesque, poorly detailed, creepy or imposing. The FREEing series are none of these things. They are, simply put, signature pieces, icons of the epoch, of Haruhi-sama’s glorious rein atop the otaku popularity throne and of what may become to be regarded as the golden age of figure mania.
And so began my quest to acquire these fabulous femmes. As I write this entry I have 1 in the air and 3 in the lair, with but one that I have yet to make mine, I shall not rest until the quintette is complete. As sure as moe burns within my soul!

Bome Collection Bunny Girl

Kaiyodo’s Bome Collection Vol. 7 – the incognito Bunny Girl (chaperoning this weekend’s baking extravaganza the Ultimate Carrot Cake)!
I got into Bome way back when I was following the first flight of Takashi Murakami’s otaku pop art project - the Superflat movement. Bome’s contribution was a Miss KO2 so named as her presence - a 7ft scale maid - packed one hell of a punch.
And then, thick and fast the Bome collection was on the shelves, hugely popular with random and variable releases clunking out like some giant gashapon machine.
I enjoy the old school aspect of his work, the intense otaku glaze that guilds his projects. I do not regard him to be a great sculptor as such, for me it is a combination of cultural interest as opposed to pure design lust that energises my figure mania. He can be very hit and miss but is capable from time to time of realising some utterly charming stuff.
I have a fondness for bunnies, as a great many otaku do I believe. Historically their iconic presence has permeated the great works of Gainax and returned in full glory in Suzumiya Haruhi. Bome’s Bunny Girl (circa October 2005) is nicely composed and makes a sweet embellishment to any otaku estate (or culinary delight, if that is your preference).

The cake, btw, was pretty damn good, if pushing the borders of syruped moistness too much for my taste. The combination of toasted pecan nuts and carrot cake spell gourmet goodness... but I don't think I'd be hired at the Antique Bakery ;_; ... Ara, what was this blog about again???

Asahina Mikuru Bunny 1/6

Released at the end of 2006 Mikuru was the first of a series of 1/6 scale Suzumiya Haruhi no Yutsuu figures from Atelier-Sai, I bought this girl fresh from finishing the show while the embers of her longsuffering moe still glowed. I just had to get myself a bit of bunny.
This figure delivers what it should - a combination of shyness and irrepressible sexiness.
I don’t often buy pieces at this scale, for simple reasons of availability and the potential for fine detail but she’s pretty charming nonetheless.
Her support and base are somewhat inelegant but the robust body wrapped in shiny red helps to lovingly conceal this fact.
Though she may be nothing outstanding in the Haruhi saturated figure market, she’s certainly a kawaii classic worth keeping.