With the final season of Zero no Tsukaima set to air next season, I thought it fitting to review a figure of my favourite pink-haired tsundere. Before the re-release of this Louise figure by Alter was announced, I bought a pre-owned one from MFC, making this my fourth Louise figure. She was originally released in May of 2009 for a retail price of 6800 yen. The pose is based on an illustration of Louise that was used in a cardboard cut-out included in Megami Magazine’s Zero no Tsukaima artbook (I will also be reviewing this before the season starts).

Overall Pose and Sculpt

There are a few slight changes between the illustration and the figure. The most obvious is that Louise’s undies are not visible in the figure version unless you go really low. Alter also decided to give Louise a more generic facial expression rather than an embarrassed look. Her hands are also in a more lady-like position on the figure, which I thought was a nice touch.

Besides those few changes, Alter has stayed true to the original design, as you can see from the shots below.

The overall look and feel of the figure is cute and attractive. The sculpting is perfect, with slim arms and legs like how Louise should be, and her long flowing hair does not suffer from the problem that most figures have of looking like a big blob. The base is nothing special, just pink and flat with a magic circle on it.

Face

Going back to the face, while I would’ve preferred the one in the illustration, she still looks decent and recognizable as Louise. Thinking about it though, the face on this goth punk version is almost identical to Alter’s bustier version of Louise. The only difference between the two is that they’re facing opposite directions.

Paint Job

The paint job on Louise is nearly perfect. I did not see any obvious overlap or paint splatter anywhere. Two types of finishes were used on different parts. The dress and Louise’s hair had a more matte finish whereas her stockings and boots had a glossy finish. I actually found that decision to draw my attention to her legs and the ever popular zettai ryouiki, one of the big selling points of the figure.

There was one paint mishap though. On the back of Louise’s hair, I found what I believe is a small glob of paint, probably left by a brush. Normally this wouldn’t even be worth mentioning, but I was desperate to find something. That just goes to show what a high level of quality Alter put into this figure.

Fine Details

This is where I was most impressed with this figure. It’s the small things that often distinguish a good figure from an awesome figure. Bows often look disfigured because of their small size and relatively complex shape, but Louise has perfect bows with no sharp corners or squares. You can even see all of the folds in each one.

The cat skull on Louise’s boot is also very detailed, just look at the stitches on its mouth.

This is a combination of fine details and good painting, but you’ll also see that the painted laces on Louise’s boots never go past the outline, and the ring is almost of equal quality.

I think the hands are the most well-done detail on the figure. The fingers are individually sculpted so they are not stuck together, and they look like actual fingers with joints and bones, not sticks or nubs.

Overall

While I did pay more than the retail price for this figure, I’m still glad I got it. Alter did an exceptional job in everything from the sculpting to painting and the fine details. I was hard-pressed to find anything wrong with it and definitely recommend it to any ZnT or Louise fans. She’s available for preorder again and will be re-released in April so make sure you have your wallet handy :)

After getting the Hayate figure from Alter and seeing how big it was, I was expecting something about the same size for Fate, but it still amazes me how much space she takes up. This 1/7 scale figure of Fate T-Harlaown (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS) by Alter is by far the largest figure that I own. Once again, I’m blown away by the amazing detail and shear awesomeness of Alter’s latest Nanoha StrikerS figure.

I’ve never had any problems with Alter figures having faces that don’t look right, and this is no exception.

Fate’s barrier jacket is pretty detailed as you can see. I especially like how they were able to paint her belt without having any of the paint cover up the holes. That’s pretty impressive considering how small the holes are. The only downside I could find with her clothes is that there’s a white spot on her left breast. It looks like some of the paint chipped off or something and the quality checkers at the factory missed it :(

The backside isn’t as impressive as the front, but at least they’ve managed to get Fate’s proportions right.

I was also impressed with how detailed Fate’s gloves are. The paint is completely smooth (there are no chunks anywhere), and the little grooves in the fingers are all the same depth. There are also no seamlines or anything left over from casting the pieces.

The boots, like the gloves are also very well done. I should probably have wiped off the dust before I took this picture though, it makes it look like there’s some clumps of paint.

The hair is probably one of the more noticeable things about this figure. Considering how long it is and how much space it takes up, it was made with a harder plastic so it wouldn’t deform over time. I really like how you can see lots of strands of hair rather than just a big lump like some figures. I can only imagine how hard it’d be to sculpt the hair like this.

Of course, since this is a figure of Fate in her “Shin Sonic Form” from the end of Nanoha StrikerS, you can’t forget about her awesome weapons. My favourite is the Riot Zanber, where Fate splits Bardiche into two small swords connected by this glowy yellow string. I have a couple more shots from different angles below:

If you don’t like the yellow string thing, you can also remove it and just have the swords by themselves:

Of course, you can’t forget about Bardiche’s strongest form, the Riot Blade.

This huge-ass sword is about the same height as the figure itself. Being so long, it’s impossible for the figure to hold by itself, so the sword has its own little stand to hold it up at the end. The huge sword is kind of a downer if you don’t have much space because the figure itself already takes up so much room, and the sword just adds to the problem.

The base is a plain white plastic rectangle with a description of Fate and Bardiche. Personally, I think a plain base like this is nice for a really detailed figure because it doesn’t distract you from the figure itself.

As you can probably tell, I really liked this figure. The only downsides were that spot on Fate’s barrier jacket and the fact that she takes up so much room. Besides that, I was very impressed with all the little details in sculpting and the paint job of this figure. It’s no wonder this was worth over $100, but it was worth it.

As you can see, I got both the Good Smile Company goth-loli and the Alter maid version of super-rich and crazed otaku girl Sakura Nankyoku (aka Penguin-chan). Sakura is from the comedy anime Penguin Musume Heart, which means Penguin Girl Heart (where penguin is Sakura’s nickname, not an actual penguin). Up till now I’ve tried to avoid getting more than one figure of a character (excluding nendoroids), but these two figures came out at the same time and they both looked so nice from the promo pics that I couldn’t decide on which one to get so I got both.

First up is Good Smile Company’s goth-loli version with Sakura wearing a really pretty yukata.

Foot fetish anyone? j/k

I’ve seen some figures where the hands and feet (more so feet) don’t look that great, but I thought every part of this figure was sculpted really well. You can tell when a lot of thought and effort has been put into a figure when the little nit-picky things like the feet and toes turn out well. I also like the stand, so shiny ^.^

The red flower is a nice touch.

The designs on the yukata look really simple, but somhow it also looks really detailed. Maybe it’s the wavy white parts.

I didn’t notice this at first, but like many other Good Smile Company figures you can remove the skirt to reveal the figure’s panties.

I don’t think they actually showed Sakura’s panties in the episode where she wears this yukata (correct me if I’m wrong), but here she has pink panties with a bow in front.

There are also some frilly things in the back. I wonder if that makes sitting uncomfortable.

Overall I thought this was a wonderful figure. The simple yet detailed design gives Sakura a rather elegant look and I can’t find any flaws in it.

Up next is Alter’s maid version of Sakura with nekomimi ears and tail included.

When I opened up this figure, one of the things I started worrying about was whether it’ll lean in the future. As you can see, Sakura is only standing on one leg, which isn’t even straight and most of her weight is shifted a bit to the side.

Sakura’s left leg bulges out a bit above where the stocking ends.

Here you can see above how the leg doesn’t go straight up, but rather goes to the side. The stand is really cute though.

Sakura’s maid dress is the typical black with a white apron. The nipples pointing out make me wonder how big they’d have to be to show through two layers of clothing…

Here’s a panty shot for you all since the skirt isn’t removable like the previous picture :P

At first I thought the tail and cat ears might be removeable, but they’re permanently stuck on as you can see here.

It’s difficult to show this with pictures, but it looks like the part of Sakura’s hair just in front of her face was accidently pushed up against her face during the sculpting phase. Of course, the sculptor could’ve just decided that there shouldn’t be so much space between the hair and the face. Overall I thought this figure had a lot more detail put in, but the quality is a bit lower than the goth-loli one. It’s still a nice figure to look at.

Out of the two, I’d have to say that the goth-loli Sakura by Good Smile Company is the better figure. There weren’t any ribbons or cat ears/tails, but the overall appearance and slightly better quality made it more appealing to me.

It came in a really huge box, which is probably why shipping cost so much. The weight and size of the box is probably why it got here so fast. It would make more sense to get rid of light parcels that take up lots of room first so that you can fit more things on the plane/truck for all the christmas presents being mailed everywhere this month. From the looks of it, someone took a peek at my invoice while it was being shipped here; is that even legal?

The actual packaging for the picture was huge itself and just barely fit inside the box it was shipped in.

There’s a big window infront to show everything inside :)

The back of the box just has some info on the figure and on Hayate.

All of the pieces were wrapped in plastic and placed nicely in the package.

When I finally took the figure out, I thought it was just amazing. It’s pretty big because of the cape and wings, but there’s so much detail too. I actually didn’t notice how short her skirt was until I took this picture because I was admiring how detailed the rest of the figure is.

A low angle shot shows how much detail was put into this part of the figure ;)

Hayate looks like she’s casting a spell.

Rein is also casting a spell. She looks like she’s floating, but she’s actually attached to one of Hayate’s wings.

A closeup of Hayate and Rein.

Hayate’s hat is shaped exactly like her head and just sits on top so you can take it off if you don’t like it.

Here’s what Hayate looks like when she’s in unison with Rein.

Another angle of Hayate in unison form. I really liked the paint they chose for her clothes, it’s so shiny!

My only problem is with this white blotch on her jacket. It looks like this one got by the quality checkers at the factory.

This is what Hayate looks like from behind.

I really liked the jewel-like look at the end of Hayate’s staff and on her sleeve.

Hayate’s Book of the Night Sky is probably one of the more detailed parts of the figure. The shape of the pages matches what a really thick book would look like if it wre open, and you can also make out the individual characters on the open pages.

The placement of the wings was also pretty impressive. In the anime they don’t actually come out from the body, so the sculptor had to find a way to make it look like they’re just floating there and I think he did a very good job.

This middle wing is attached to the inside of Hayate’s jacket.

I was so focused on the figure that I almost forgot to take a shot of the staff. It’s about as long as the figure is tall, so it goes well with the figure. Sometimes items for figures are slightly too big or too small and it just ends up looking weird.

I think Hayate’s actually supposed to hold onto the white part of the staff since it fit in her hand better (it was a little bit thicker), but the white paint looks like it rubs off easily so instead I had my figure hold it further back. The only problem with holding it at the gold part though is that it doesn’t fit into her hand as well so sometimes it falls off if you touch it.

The base is just a plain white plastic base with a label printed on it. For those who haven’t watched Nanoha or don’t know german, “Meister des nachthimmels” means “Master of the Night Sky” and “Buch Der Nachthimmel” means “Book of the Night Sky.”

Rein also came with her own stand if you don’t want her floating by Hayate. I couldn’t get that plastic piece into the hole in Rein’s cape though. I was afraid I might break something since she’s so small.

I’ve got to say that this is definitely the best figure I’ve ever bought and it’s now my favourite. It was also the most expensive figure I’ve ever bought, but it was well worth it.

Unfortunately, I preordered this back when everything cost a lot (like gold and oil) so I thought that with shipping the figure would only cost me about $140. However, it looks like the price of gold and oil and other natural resources have dropped, and since the canadian dollar is largely based on the price of natural resources, its value compared to other currencies has dropped as well. That means that this figure actually cost me $190 with shipping since I wasn’t charged until now :(

I really hope its as good as the pictures.

panty shot ~.^

This figure by Alter is pretty popular, so I was lucky to get one. The store I bought it from doesn’t have it listed any more so I guess they sold out sometime after I ordered mine ^.^

I think the facial expression on this figure looks exactly like Louise and her proportions look about right. The dress is nice, but it isn’t too flashy so I don’t have to worry about it distracting me from work. The only downsides I found with this figure is the seamline on the top of her head and the cheap base. Since the seamline is in the hair, I think they could’ve tried to hide it somehow by having some of the hair overlap it or something. It would give Louise a different look, but I’m sure a good sculptor would be able to make her still look good. The other thing I thought could’ve been done better was the base. As you can see in the pictures, it’s just a thin yellow piece of plastic. To be fair, there are a lot of figure bases that are just a piece of plastic, but they could’ve at least chosen a nicer colour. Other than that seamline and the base, I think this is a nice figure to look at. The paint job was done really well and I couldn’t find any flaws. I put her on my desk beside my calendar so now I can look at her every day :)

The only thing that really bugs me about this figure is Eri’s face and hair. There’s just something about her face that doesn’t look right (the facial expression maybe?), and her hair is way too dark for a blonde. There’s also little things like mold lines on her legs, but overall I think she looks ok.

It would’ve been nice if Eri came with a beach chair or something to lay on, but all they give you is this flat plane with a couple pegs to keep Eri from sliding off.

I haven’t found a good place to put her yet, so for now she’s sitting on top of my xbox 360. I just got to remember to take her off when I turn it on or else she might melt ^.^;