Category Archives: Nendoroid

Sakura Miku: Bloomed in Japan Nendoroid Pre-Orders Reopen

When I first saw images of an updated Sakura Miku Nendoroid on my Twitter feed, I took a look, thought, “Wow, that’s cute!” and promptly forgot about it. I completely missed the fact that in addition to being the 500th Nendoroid release, she’ll be the first Nendoroid to be made in Good Smile Company’s new Japanese factory. Imagine my surprise when I found out that preorders had opened on the day of the announcement, only to sell out a few minutes later!


Luckily, Good Smile Company has reopened preorders for those who missed out on the initial batch, but it will likely still be very limited, so order yours while you can! Preorders close on December 24th, or when preorder allocation numbers have been reached. Like many limited releases, Sakura Miku: Bloomed in Japan is only available from Good Smile Company’s official online store and limited to one per customer, meaning you won’t want to miss out on this one!

Since the second batch of preorders is listed as shipping out starting in April 2015, rather than March 2015 like the initial batch, it seems likely that GSC did not initially account for such a high demand. That, or they wanted a lucky number of fans to get their Sakura Miku: Bloomed in Japan Nendoroids before everyone else!

While GSC has already done a Sakura Miku Nendoroid before, at number 274, it’s a little outdated in terms of the quality of the sculpt and paint job when compared to more recent Nendoroids. While her outfit and overall design is generally very similar, such as the cherry blossom pattern on her hair and pink uniform, the Bloomed in Japan version has a lot of new extras in addition to some general improvements. I particularly love the tricolored dango, because I’m a food nut. 

This expression is too cute to resist! I love the closed eyes and triangle mouth, which is much smaller than the original version. Keeping in mind that these photos will vary somewhat from what the figure will look like in person, it seems like the Bloomed in Japan version has a more pastel pink color scheme and more impressive transparent hair than the original. Of course, you can’t miss the brand new braided hair piece she gets this time around!

Well, the moral of the story is that once I found out how limited the initial preorder allotments were, I couldn’t stand the thought of missing out on this adorable Nendoroid, so I promptly secured myself one as soon as preorders were open again. Do you like the new design, or prefer the old version? Let me know in the comments!

Japan Envy: Pokémon Trainer Red Nendoroid

There’s nothing like an out-of-blue announcement to really get the blood pumping, eh? I’d say that’s exactly what happened when Nintendo put up the shocking reveal trailer for the Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire remakes, Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire for the 3DS just the other day. Following that Pokémon announcement, a Japanese Twitter user tweeted a photo of a Pokémon Center poster that is sure to delight all the Nendoroid fans out there: 

That’s right, the original Pokémon trainer Red has been Nendoroid-ified! His design is based on the Pokemon Origins TV special that aired last year, and will be limited to Pokémon Centers and Amazon.jp’s Pokémon Center store, meaning it will sadly be rather tough for anyone outside of Japan to purchase him. 
While these are the only pictures of Red released so far, we do know from the poster that he will come with the three facial expressions shown, four different arm parts, five hand parts, and three leg parts. Three is a rather odd number of legs, but I assume that means one might be bent? 
Even more exciting, however, is the fact that he comes with all three original starter Pokémon, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander, along with a Pokéball, Master Ball, Pokédex, and his backpack. Think of all the posing possibilities! 
Preorders open on May 24th and will be available until June 29th, and he will retail for ¥4,500. He releases on September 27th, but only those with preorders will be able to get their hands on one at retail price, and you can bet resellers will attempt to gouge unlucky potential buyers soon after. Overseas fans looking to order him will have to rely on a friend to go to a physical Pokémon Center or using a proxy service to order him from Amazon.jp, as they unfortunately will not ship figures outside of Japan. If you’re at a loss of where to look for a proxy service, White Rabbit Japan is a great option. 
So, how about it? Are you a big enough Pokémon fan to pick this one up, or would you prefer a different trainer? I’m not particularly interested in Red himself, but those starter Pokémon are very tempting…

UPDATE: Good Smile Company has put up a listing for the Red Nendoroid on their website, which includes images of his accessories and the three starters:

Cardcaptor Sakura is Back with Anime Collection and Nendoroid Releases

2014 is turning out to be an amazing year for fans of 90’s magical girl anime! While the new Sailor Moon anime debuting worldwide July 5th is already more than we asked for, NIS America had a surprise announcement that they will be releasing none other than a complete collection of the Cardcaptor Sakura anime on August 5th. The anime has been out of print in North America since 2006, making it especially great news for fans who haven’t been able to get hold of the DVDs.

The collection will be available in three 4-disc DVD sets priced at $59.99 each, but the real highlight is the Premium Edition Blu-ray set pictured above. The set not only comes with the complete 70 episode anime, but a 76-page full color artbook, as well. The set will be available at most retailers, with the cheapest preorder option right now being Right Stuf at $178.99. NIS America is also offering the set on their online store for $199.99 and the standard bundle for $133.97. Both include this exclusive tear-resistant poster:

Both versions of the anime will also include Japanese and English audio, which is always good for those who like to have the option. I don’t buy much anime these days, but I’m a little surprised that the Blu-ray set isn’t available without the artbook, as $200+ is rather steep, even for hardcore fans. I also hate to admit it, but I’m really not a fan of the box art on this set – I much prefer the design on the Madman release here in Australia:

And yes, this means that Cardcaptor Sakura is already readily available on DVD here in Australia! The series was broken into two sets and released in 2012, but unfortunately there’s no sign of us getting the Blu-rays anytime soon. But though I definitely have an appreciation for Cardcaptor Sakura, I didn’t watch it religiously as a child like I did Sailor Moon, so I’m not chafing at the bit to own the complete series, especially not at $200. Rather, I look upon it fondly as yet another amazing magical girl series.

In related Cardcaptor Sakura anime news, Discotek Media will be re-releasing the first anime film on September 30th, followed by a Blu-ray release later in the year.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a topical Chic Pixel post without a reference to a figure of some kind, right? (It’s a coincidence, I swear!) While not quite as recent news, the Sakura Nendoroid was finally fully revealed a few days ago, and you bet I registered my preorder as soon as they were available! While I may not be a hardcore Cardcaptor Sakura fan, there’s no way I’d pass up something this adorable.

All of a sudden, 2014 is just a big a year for Cardcaptor Sakura as it is for Sailor Moon! I’m not complaining, but it’s very surprising to see the resurgence of my childhood shojo anime icons. I hope this means that the Sailor Moon anime and films see a Blu-ray release sometime in the near future, as well!

Swooning Over Video Game Nendoroids

Good Smile Company sure knows how to hook me. Since I’ve sworn not to buy figures for series I’m not a fan of, they just went ahead and announced a bunch of figures for series I’m really into! Not just any series, too – GSC is bringing out a surprising number of video game-related Nendoroids over the next few months, and I’m going to have to be extra careful with my wallet if I want to make it past August with any change left over…

If the general internet’s reaction is anything to go by, Nendoroid Link: Wind Waker version is probably the most wanted of all the recent announcements. I’m going to break a few hearts by admitting that though he’s adorable, I probably won’t be purchasing him since I’m not a huge Zelda fan, and none of his posing options really grab me (let’s face it, I’m just making excuses for the sake of my wallet). I love the heart piece accessory, though!

Link’s currently available to preorder on Good Smile Company’s website, Play Asia, Jlist, and Ami Ami and will be releasing this August. Nintendo fans might also want to check out the Luigi Nendoroid coming out in June, too!

Unfortunately, Rin Ozawa Nendoroid is going to be a little harder to resist! The Touch Detective star comes with her very own Funghi companion, of course, and her design translates really well into Nendoroid form! She looks like she came straight out of the game! Just look at all these posing options:

Rin will be getting an official preview on the Good Smile Company blog on April 30th, where we’ll hopefully be seeing more accessories aside from the Funghi. Preorders for the Nendoroid open on May 1st, coinciding with the release of Touch Detective 3 for the 3DS! In the meantime, there are many more photos of Rin, along with a fun promotional video, over at the official Japanese Funghi site.

Now here’s the figure that really has me swooning – Aoba from the 18+ BL visual novel Dramatical Murder! His sculpt was first shown at Wonder Festival earlier this year, but they’ve finally unveiled the color version, and I have to say, he looks amazing! Between him and Gilgamesh, it’s really great to see more varied male Nendoroids.

Is it hot in here or is it just me? I can’t believe they included a shirtless torso part! If you compare the two photos, you can see that he also has the option to have his headphones on his head or around his neck. What a nice touch! I love the blushing face, too – it’ll make him really fun to pose with other Dramatical Murder Nendoroids, if Good Smile Company ever does more. With an anime adaptation coming soon, it’s a distinct possibility that they will!

By the way, today is also Aoba’s birthday! What better way to celebrate than by preordering the Nendoroid from Ami Ami or Good Smile Company’s store? Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait until August/September for him to come out, though. I think the fact that most stores don’t require payment until the items are in stock is a cruel ploy to get us all to spend more money than we should be on adorable figures!

Swooning Over the Monster Hunter 4 Bible and Lagombi Hunter Nendoroid

Anyone who’s following me on Twitter is probably well aware that I’ve gotten in a little, how should I put it, deep into Monster Hunter over the past couple of weeks (I blame MonMonth!). Just how deep, exactly? Well, I ordered this: 

While there are countless in-depth Wikis and guides to Monster Hunter 4 online, I couldn’t help but want a physical book that I could refer to for weapon upgrades, monster battling strategies, and, of course, sweet screenshots of all the armour and gear in the game. I was very impressed by the Animal Crossing: New Leaf guide I was gifted a while back, so I figured why not spring for another awesome, comprehensive Japanese game guide?

The full title, by the way, is the Monster Hunter 4 Official Guide Book by Famitsu. I’m told it’s the most comprehensive guide available, and it was just released in January of this year. The back cover is simple, yet they manage to pack in quite a bit of info on the obi (extra flap of paper that folds around the bottom)!

The book also comes with these two quick guides for “easy” reference when out in the field, I guess. I’ve already used the map with gathering point locations a couple of times. Inside the front jacket is a list of key quests, as well. Handy!

And when you take off the slip jacket… an adorable Felyne illustration is revealed! All of the outfits they’re wearing are armour sets you can get for your Felyne companions in the game.

The book itself is actually a whopping 1,380 pages, which makes it more than twice as big as my Animal Crossing: New Leaf book! The pages are much thinner, though, so size-wise it’s not significantly bigger.

If you buy this book looking for lots of pretty pictures, you’re probably going to be sorely disappointed. There are literally pages and pages of stats like the one above! This just shows some weapon upgrade trees and their stats, along with the items required to craft them. Page numbers are provided so it’s not hard at all to flip through and find where the items can be obtained.

The chapters, luckily, are broken up with some nice images such as the one above. It’s just too bad there aren’t more than them! Oh well, I shouldn’t have expected an art book.

Ok, I’m going to complain a little bit more (don’t worry, I really do love the book!): I wish they had better pictures of the monsters, too! But once again, I can tell they’re trying to fit as much information as they possibly can into the book. I love how they detail all of the monster’s different attack patterns and how you should fight them. Perfect for the diagram lovers out there!

Now this is a little more exciting for those who don’t just want to look at numbers and kanji: armor sets! I always have to check to see how a set looks here before I craft it, because who wants to go into battle donning an ugly set of armour?

And finally, my favourite section – the Felyne armour! I just love checking out all the different outfits! One of my Felyne sidekicks is wearing the Yian Kut-Ku fursuit on the top left corner of the right page. Cute!

I can tell I’m going to be using this book for quite a long time, especially since I’ve already clocked more than 70 hours into Monster Hunter 4! If you’d like to get your hands on one, they can be ordered for only $23 at CD Japan and other online retailers.

Another Monster Hunter-related item I received just the other day is something I preordered way back last year… the Female Hunter: Lagombi Edition! The Lagombi armour set is undoubtedly my favourite set so far, so as soon as she was announced I scrambled to place a preorder.

I forgot she actually comes with two weapons – a gunlance and a hammer! Since my main weapon is a hammer, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this revelation. She looks so much like my own character in the game!

Before I get to the real good stuff, I just wanted to note that I think it’s a very nice touch that Good Smile Company added a winter mountain scene for the background. It’s separate from the box, so you could potentially use it as a backdrop yourself.

Here’s what she looks like just out of the box. I absolutely love that they included a Felyne companion along with the two different weapons. I’m not as happy about her facial expressions… It would have been nice if she got one more, or at least something different from her blank main expression and her tearful freaked out face.

The red things are called “action parts” and are supposed to help you simulate battle scenes. I assume one is supposed to be used with the hammer and the other with the gunlance, but I can’t help but think they’re extremely similar and I could’ve probably done with just one. Oh well!

And here she is all set up on my shelf with her Felyne companion! I still think her outfit is the best thing about her, but it’s a cute Nendoroid all in all. I’ve done a full video review if you’re interested in seeing more:

You can order the Lagombi Hunter Nendoroid at Jlist, CD Japan, and Ami Ami.

Chic Pixel’s Best of Wonder Festival 2014: Good Smile Company

Forgive the double figure-related posts, but if you haven’t noticed already, I may be a little obsessed! And you know what’s the worst event for a new figure fan? Wonder Festival. Wonder Festival, or WonFes for short, is a bi-annual event for Japanese figure companies to show off their latest sculpts and announce exciting new additions to their catalogue. It’s a great chance to see what everyone is working on, but it’s not so great for your wallet!

As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m not particularly interested in non-posable figures, so for the purposes of this post, I’m going to focus on newly-announced and upcoming posable figures from the company I’m most interested in as a new fan, Good Smile Company.

Of course, the figure I’m most excited for right now is the 2014 Snow Miku Nendoroid! The more I see of her, the more I can’t wait to get my hands on one! As you can see in the first image, she comes with her own storage book that also doubles as a display stand. Her bunny familiar, magical wand, and witch’s cap are all so adorable! I also love that she comes with a mini stack of books. Note the details in the second picture, such as the snowflakes in her pupils and the quaint design on her dress! Amazing.

Perhaps the most exciting announcement of the day was Sakura Kinomoto (Card Captor Sakura) Nendoroid! Apparently this figure has been in the works for a while, but this is our first time seeing it, and I have to say I can’t wait to see her other facial expressions and additional parts. It’s a little unfortunate that she appears to be holding that Clow Card with her middle finger, though!

Next up is Aoba Seragaki and his AllMate (familiar), Ren, of the boys’ love game DRAMAtical Murder. To my knowledge, this is the first character from a BL to get a Nendoroid, so needless to say I’m extremely excited. I think his colorful character design will translate really well to Nendoroid form, and I can’t wait to see the painted sculpt! I hope he sells well enough to encourage more male Nendoroids, perhaps even other DRAMAtical Murder characters.

Other exciting Nendoroid announcements include some more game-related figures: Solid Snake (Snaaake!!), Wind Waker Link, and Rina Ozawa (Touch Detective), who comes with her own Funghi! While they all look like they’re going to be pretty awesome, I don’t think I’ll end up getting any of them unless GSC comes out with some really stellar accessories. I imagine Snake, in particular, though, would be a lot of fun to pose!

While Nendoroids are easy for me to swoon over, I’m not as quick to jump on the more “realistic” figmas. The above Snow Miku, however, is too cute to resist. I love the gradient on her hair, and the adorable snowman statue (he’s even holding a microphone!). Other Miku-related figures that caught my eye include this year’s racing Miku design and this adorable schoolgirl Miku figma (the same design is also getting a Nendoroid).

One thing’s for sure: after seeing Good Smile Company’s offerings at the first Wonder Festival of the year, I know I’m going to need to hold on tight to my wallet if I want it to make it through 2014 in one piece! What about you? Have any of these figures caught your fancy, or do you think I’m completely nuts?

Sapporo Snow Festival and Snow Miku 2014

For the past few years, I’ve been vaguely aware of the virtual Vocaloid idol sensation Hatsune Miku, but never thought much of her or her music. After recently starting Hatsune Miku Project Diva F and buying a Nendoroid of another Vocaloid singer, Gakupoid, I can finally say that I have more than a passing interest Miku and her Vocaloid friends. 

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Since the northern hemisphere is entering winter, it’s the perfect time for the annual Snow Miku unveiling! For four years, Snow Miku has been a fixture and unofficial mascot of sorts for the Sapporo Snow Festival held in February, with her adorable face adorning everything from tram cars to snow sculptures in the city in northern Japan. After fans grew frustrated with the “recycled” designs that were the first three Snow Mikus, they decided to leave her design up to the fans themselves. 
For Snow Miku’s 5th anniversary, the theme was “magical girl,” and fans ultimately decided on the witch-like design featured above. Interestingly, the Miku and animal familiar designs were created by different artists and selected separately, but I think they look lovely together! But I’m a sucker for magical girls and rabbits, it’s true. 
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Trams with this year’s Snow Miku design will be running through Sapporo now through March in honor of the festival. The recorded announcements on the tram were even done by the Hatsune Miku voice actress, Saki Fujita, herself! 
There will also be “live” Hatsune Miku performances in February featuring the 3D design pictured above. I’m not sure I quite understand the appeal of watching a projection of an anime girl singing and dancing, but it’s interesting, none the less. 
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Of course, the big draw for me is the exclusive Snow Miku Nendoriod that Good Smile Company will be releasing in conjunction with the Snow Festival in February. Isn’t she adorable?! 
Usually Nendoroids come with a variety of facial expressions, posing options, and accessories. Here it looks like Miku is performing some kind of magical attack. I love the detail put into the base! 
Of course, it’s not all about Hatsune Miku. Her other Vocaloid friends have gotten some festive designs, as well… 
The free texting app LINE has even released some new Vocaloid stickers, though they’re not in celebration of the Sapporo Snow Festival in particular. They’re not only available for the Japanese version of the app, but the North American version, too, so if this post has made you just a little Miku crazy (like me), they may be able to satiate you!