We first brought news of Cocona when she appeared at Hobby Stock on August 10th, and in the remarkably short turnaround time of two and a half months from announcement to release she was here on the doorstep at the end of October. I wasn’t interested in Movic’s first Shunya-designed figure Rosanna, but Cocona’s design really appealed to me so I decided to take the plunge; despite the lack of castoff or other gimmicks she’s a decent item, though not in the top rank of stuff we’ve seen from Yamashita in the past.
Original Design: Yamashita Shunya
Sculptor: Ishida Eiichi (Amiami search)
Source: Original
Scale: 1/7 (25 cm tall)
Materials: PVC, ABS
Release Date: October 26th, 2007
Production: Movic
Price: 6,090 JPY (tax included)
Current Availability: [KNC] [HLJ] [HS] [TL] [AAA]
Support HD!: [PA] [JLIST] [YA]

Other than the illustration we see gracing the cover of the product box no official art has shown up online to help determine how faithful this sculpt is to the original Yamashita design, but Ishida Eiichi is a competent craftsman (despite some of the questionable material on his personal site) and I feel like his interpretation here is generally solid and sufficiently Yamashita-esque.
Elements of the sculpt that I found particularly enjoyable include the detached skirt which allows for an amazing view down her stomach, and her stocky, plump thighs and calves. The single least appealing point was probably the groove up the small of her back; last I checked there’s no line dug out like a furrow where a human spine should be. That’s one of the areas I most anticipate on kits that leave that part of the anatomy bare, so it was a bit of a disappointment for me.
The pose and facial expression do the job just fine as far as I’m concerned, with her spread stance and outstretched hand grasping the hilt of the sword adding a bit of dynamism to an otherwise static pose. The sword is another nice bit of work; it feels very solid and weighty, and you could hurt someone if you hit them hard enough with it (not that I speak from personal experience in this).
In terms of production value we’re looking at pretty typical Movic. Much like Tsukiumi Cocona is competently cast, with the most obvious mold line on the top of her head (rather painfully obvious, alas) and one at her waist that is artfully hidden by the skirt. The coloring job is sober with a focus on matte finish over most of the kit, though the armor is made of a stiffer glossy plastic that provides some nice textural contrast.
Other than some subtle work on the hair virtually no shading is present, and I think the skin could really have benefited from that along with a slightly more glossy finish in contrast to the matte clothing. Like Tsukiumi the trim work here is quite good, but there’s not enough of it in any complexity to stand out from the ordinary.
Overall Movic’s Cocona is a nice piece of work, but “nice” in the way that you sincerely compliment a girl you don’t intend to go on a second date with. Recommended for Yamashita completionists and those who otherwise like the look of her design, but if you’re saving your figure budget with an eye to maximum bang for your buck you might want to pass this one over.
Overall Score: 7/10
+ fun, funky Yamashita design and color scheme
+ decent sculpt with some very nice lines in the thighs and torso
o coloring job could use more texture variation and shading
o seam in the hair sculpt is rather blatant
– the trough dug out of her lower back is disappointing
For those interested in picking her up, she’s currently available… just about everywhere. Play Asia and J-List both have her if you’re interested in supporting HD, otherwise Hobby Search may be the best bet for the budget conscious.
Shingo, you missed-out on some finner points, her boobs area is a separate rubber cast… that allow more flex, seam hidden by the thin connecting armor above.. Armor and sword has a metalic shean that is only obvious at certain angles.. seem like a semi trasparent metalic paint app airbrushed over matted grey/silver base.
I’m not sure what you’re referring to in terms of a “separate rubber cast” that allows more flex, in examining the kit again here I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.
I should note that in my reviews I don’t typically touch on everything that is immediately visible from the photos, just the things that leave the biggest impression on me or might not be immediately obvious.
I do try to be as thorough as possible however, so I’m happy to hear you point out anything I may have missed. I agree that the metallic sheen on the armor and sword is a nice touch! :3
What I meant was her exposed cleavage is made of more rubbry material, softer than the rest of the skin areas .. like her abdomen .. found that out when cleaning it.. as the rubber like material is more prone to smudging/stick to dirt
Among all pictures of her taken during last summer WHF, there was a variation of this figure with twin tails… have you ever heard about it Shingo?
‘nyway, a nice one, but as you mentioned it, not really fond of her lower back T_T
>>oopai power
Wow, you’re right. Great call on that one, I never would’ve thought to push there on this particular figure… that’ll teach me to add a thorough probing as a routine part of subsequent reviews.
I think you describe it well as a “rubbery material”, it’s not really like the soft-chested figures we’ve seen in the past (Wave’s Mikuru, Alter’s Masane, a couple of Eva prize figures etc.), it’s harder than those and not very yielding. Still, definitely a different plastic from the rest of her skin. Interesting.
>>luk
The only Cocona I saw at Wonder Festival was this one – and there’s her mysterious twintail twin in the background. Hmm. I have no idea whether she was ever planned to go on sale or not, but I’ll keep an eye out.
>> luk and Shingo
Wow! Thanks for mentioning the twin tail version. I never noticed that.
I passed up this figure as my toy budget for the 2007 is breached. Hope I don’t regret it later. Too many Shunya creations to buy…
Ordered the other shunya versions of popular anime instead (ino, rei, poison, cream cor-ne(castoffable) :o)
Luckily, I stopped being a completist after my star wars craze ended. :)
Just waiting for my my pre-order to arrive…That seam line on the hair is disappointing indeed but not enough to drop my pre-order… ^_^
blacklotus, cream cor-ne figure is not based on Shunya’s illustrations but I believe is design and sculpted by Modeller T.
As a big fan of both the artist and the sculptor, I must say that I am quite pleased, and glad that I preordered her. Also as a note, I have in fact seen people who have that “channel” down their back. Not at all common, but I have actually scene it. After viewing some of the pictures in the review I really think she deserves a higher score. Then again I tend to disagree with near all of your review scores, but art is subjective and this is your site so as Digital Underground would say – dowhatchalike. Gotta admit there are some great lines/curves in the lower torso especially.
I don’t have the money, but I may get this if it stays in stock somewhere long enough.
I also can’ty purchase it from HLJ since they’re moving to their new place come friday/saturday…
>> Shingo
About that mysterious twintail version, that’s exactly this picture I saw haha, from HD I guess so ^^;
I assume there haven’t been a lot of informations about it… well, thanks for staying alert.
>>black lotus, oopai power
Just to clarify, as we reported back in August Aoshima’s Cream Corone kit is is based off a Modeler T resin that was designed by MAX Yasuhiro, not Yamashita Shunya.
>>the_pseudokings
I gave her the score I did based primarily on execution (average movic quality and a sculpt I found to be quite decent, but not exceptional), but also on the purely subjective basis that she doesn’t quite make me go, in the Pythonesque sense. I’ll be the first to admit that my taste in this sort of thing is bizarre (or perhaps quite incomprehensible). Pity she wasn’t a cast off…
>>lu-k
I’d forgotten about the twintail version entirely until you mentioned it, thanks for bringing it up. I’m guessing if it does show up eventually it’ll be some sort of event-limited item, but I’ll keep looking.
This is by far my favorite standing Shunya Yamashita figure (although I’m sure Arisa will trump that when she arrives). I think the sculpt of her face is closer to his artwork style than any of the others.
Finally got mine and I think it is way better than a 7. What’s really worth noting is that this is a really big figure! She’s probably bigger than many of the 1/6 Scale figures in my collection, and I don’t just mean that she’s tall. If I walked up on this at a show or in a store and didn’t see the scale listed I would instantly guess 1/6. Considering her size for her price point, this one is a no-brainer in my eyes to anyone that found it interesting in the first place and definitely to any Shunya or Ishida fans.
I am so glad that I read the comments in this article, because there are a lot of sites (including resellers) that seem to think Cream Corone is Yamashita based.