Yoko Sniper Version (Wave)

Porcelaine Priss makes a tardy return to reviews with a gorgeous Gainax gal from Wave/Dreamtech. Adored by collectors and cosplayers alike, Rittona Yoko has been the shiny red apple of the hobby sculptor’s eye since Tenga Toppa Gurren Lagann broke through heaven & into our hearts last year. Seeing exceptional immortalisations of this busty babe from the legendary Vispo & Polgonia, I burned to possess my own lovely Yoko-tan.What hit me harder than a blast with a positron rifle during Yoko’s debut in the first episode was just how daringly divergent her design is.
The balance of a buxom body, minimal attire and an audacious arsenal of weaponry is perhaps nothing revolutionary in anime character design but Yoko brings the booty to its highest summit.
Lavishly endowed with more flesh on show and in tow than convention commands, Yoko is a flame-licked Venus that has become the otaku’s goddess of plenty. A fearless fighter and a hot-headed honey, Yoko has an irresistibly sweet heart and an innocence that belies the bawdy bikini style she favours. When the Wave Web store posted preorders for this tasty little limited piece, I had set the sweetie square in my sights for sniping! I like Wave, their works have the integrity of expressing a character’s charm and great consistency. I have always loved them for a continued connection to a pair of my enduring fangirl followings ~ Gainax and Yoshizaki Mine.
Yoko’s portrayal in this sculpt by Shima Masaru is uncommonly kawaii. The crouching pose makes her prettily puchi, her bright and shiny eyes illuminate the little face snuggled into her muffler. This genki gunner straps herself into tight for more combat ready capers.
Her rifle comes equipped with its own adjustable ribbon strap in cherry blossom pink. Like any good fashionista this sister, Yoko has her colours coordinated adding a little feminine touch to the heavy duty shooter strapped to her chest. The purin plump body in the silky pink stockings is all strawberries and cream and totally delicious.
The sculpting shines in the sinuous curves of flame red hair that whip around her inviting the eye to trace a line down her spine to the sweet little peak of her derriere.Finishing and moulding seams are little rough around the edges, nether amounting to material illusionary excellence nor intolerably shabbiness (this is in part, due to her scale that disguises more of those finicky issues). The one major design defect is the presence of a nasty seam that spans the underside of her iconic cleavage. While this is conveniently concealed by the pink strap of the sniper rifle it somewhat mars one of her most prominent points of appeal.

All in all, Yoko is cute where it really counts and if you can seek her out, she’s a sweet little hit for Lagann lovers everywhere!

Sawatari Izumi

Oh my maid! This delight in black and white seems to purr “Okaerinasaimase Go-shujin-sama!”... Yeah right, this is, after all Sawatari Izumi who would rather suffer innumerable traumas before pronouncing subservience to her lecherous master. So it seems somewhat inappropriate orchestrate a scene that creates warm welcome from the ever reluctant high school maid in her mortifyingly immodest attire. Alas poor Izumi, is the innate power of her full bodied allure that designates her as the eternal ground zero of chaos.
In He is My Master, the ridiculous saga of maid harem hijinks, Izumi is the subject of countless indiscretions at the merciless hands of her employer, her admirers and even (perhaps worst of all) her monstrously manipulative little sister Mitsuki. If this wasn’t bad enough, the icing on the cake of this veritable slice of strife is the Sawatari sisters’ pet alligator, Pochi, a lecherous beast who is a far cry from being cold blooded.
In Polygonia’s sculpt Izumi strikes a pose that allows the hapless heroine a precious moment to make a dignified display of the costume’s finer points. Standing tall, she extends the elegant legs in the silken shadows of black stockings. The curves of her body are whipped into creamy frills that deliciously dress the sumptuous servant. The tips of her gloved fingers play at the edge of an unsnapped garter. The flight of the airborne strap invokes a sense of unbalance, a reminder that wherever Izumi’s beauty shines, havoc is seldom far behind. The captured stillness of her form is a contrasting oasis of tranquillity reflected in the aquamarine hue of her eyes.
Enter Brain’s production of Sawatari Izumi is by far my favourite He is My Master model. She transcends the horror of her fate for all of a wonderful moment in which the costume she wears is, for once quite becoming. Faithful to the perverted potentials (which tend to become a certainty for Izumi) her skirt can be removed to flaunt the fine lingerie that her fans are always clamouring for.
The only criticism to make of the this heavenly maid is that her skin tone is quite alarmingly pink. This something that becomes all the more apparent when she is aligned with other members of her pvc kin, causing a slight disruption in the harmony of one’s harem. But it is a minor, trifling matter and as a piece alone she is a proud monument to the insurmountablity of maid moe.

Pinky Street Rei & Asuka

Cutie cosplay figures, these tempting little bonbons feature the sweetest Eva makeover. As always with Evangelion merchandise, there are irrepressible elements in the combination of the incongruously cute and the bizarre producing products that are kawaii and kitchy in the extreme. In place of the regular range of everyday accessories commonly sported by Pinkys are little shito Lilith and Gaghiel, skewered like candied apples on custom cutlery - a minuture prog knife and the Lance of Longinus. Pinkys are a superb variation on chibi couture, featuring a distinctive restyling of character shorthand with their heavy feet and shiny bubble headed faces. In these incarnations, Asuka is wide mouthed and mischievous whilst Rei appears typically docile and vacant. These Gainax goodies, which were produced to celebrate Eva’s 10th anniversary, make a tasty place of any fan’s crowded shelf space ^_^

Rei & Asuka Grimrock Mix Edition

2004 saw the release another popular Wonderfest spin on the Eva duo, PVCed by Kaiyodo. These yummy curiosities have pure kook appeal in their swimsuit style plugsuits, Rei is depicted as a cold-eyed kitty with embryo Adam chained in tow, encircling her ankle. Asuka is suitably cast as a monkey (which doubles as reference to the series and recalling her childhood plush toy). Her violent, arrogant nature is finished in this design with a miniature Lilith, skewered on the progressive knife that she holds at her side.
These figures have the design genius that makes me so fond of Grimrock (and makes me wish for a pair of my own Evangelion thigh-highs!)

Wonder Fest Rei & Asuka

Next up is an offering from Kaiyodo of Evangelion from the Yoshizaki Mine machine. The release was specially designed for the 2006 Wonder Festival in Japan (they turn up every now and again on eBay which was how, to my joy, I discovered them).

Far smaller than the average figure, these miniatures possess the saccharine sweetness of the finest petit fours, uncharacteristically genki with bouncy plumpness more akin to the characters of Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight than Eva.

Despite their size they are beautifully detailed and finished offering cheery respite from Anno’s drama of angst. Rei has the cutest little boobies, forming like sweet miniture manjus on her purun pose while Asuka’s hair curves charmingly up to a pair of buttons that replace her contact clips.

Minawa

This is a classic piece featuring the meek Minawa-chan of the Gainax series Mahoromatic Motto Utsukushii Mono. I have a weakness for maids and the sweetness and vulnerability of her character is perfectly accentuated in this sculpt by her pose and bare feet.
Released in 2004, the model is produced by Yamato, not a company I buy from generally but Minawa really has a lasting appeal. The casting and paintwork is simple but excellent (yes, with visible panties on her underside) and true to design, her hair features a nice suble airbrushed gradient. I happen to be very fond of the Mahoro maid uniforms and though the colour works better as a counterpart to her Onee-chan, Minawa sits by my monitor as a perfect companion to a pot of morning tea.