If it seems like we just reviewed an Orchid Seed Ikkitousen figure last month, that’s because we did. Ishiyama Satoshi has been churning them out fast and furious, giving fans of his signature style and hot Orchid castoff kits something to celebrate; how does his gothic lolita Ryofu stack up against the others, and against her competitors? Read on to find out!

Original Design: Shiozaki Yuuji
Sculptor: Ishiyama Satoshi (WFS, Amiami)
Source: Ikkitousen (manga, anime)
Scale: 1/7 (17 cm tall)
Materials: PVC
Release Date: late October, 2007
Production: Orchid Seed
Price: 6,800 JPY (tax included)
Current Availability: [KNC] [HLJ] [TL]
Support HD!: [YA]

I’ll spare the details of Ryofu’s character here – we’ve reviewed her once already, so I’m going to cut to the chase and recommend checking out her Wikipedia entry if you’d like a refresher. Suffice to say that Ryofu’s Ikkitousen persona is aggressive, cunning, and seductively (brazenly?) sexy.

Sculpt

Ishiyama Satoshi’s trademark skill is in evidence throughout. Supple body lines and a coy pose make this a charmingly sexy sculpt, if not harking much to Ryofu’s character; probably the biggest drawback for fans of the original manga in this Ishiyama-sculpted Ikkitousen series is his penchant for rendering the characters in entirely innocuous and uncharacteristic settings.

That said, as a standalone figure she works very well indeed. The costume isn’t the most extreme gosurori fashion out there, but the dress is appropriately frilly and the bloomers (not “buruma”, real bloomers!) are a nice touch that I’ve not seen on a figure before; after castoff I especially like the subtle arch of her spine and the fact that you can just barely see the lines of her ribs. While the overall feel is definitely typical Ishiyama, that’s a good thing.

As usual my only gripe with his work is the mouth – will he ever sculpt one that is anything other than a hasty slit dug out of the surface of a figure’s face with the quick stroke of a carving knife? I certainly hope so.

Production

Once again a return to the Orchid playbook in terms of production. The high points of the kit are the subtle shading on the skin and the largely effective casting job when it comes to smooth gradations of detail like those on the breasts, back, and stomach; also appreciated is a skin-colored layer of plastic that coats the insides of the bloomers to prevent scuffing during castoff.

The more worrisome points of the kit include a right arm with a tendency to fall off and a poor paint job on the trim around the armband that masks the seam (note that the seam is rather well hidden when the arm is attached properly, some of the above photographs are misleading in that respect). Another big issue is the seam at the waist, which does not disappear satisfactorily following castoff regardless of the amount of pressure applied.

The skin here is plagued by the same yellowish waxy tone that has afflicted many Orchid kits in the past (Kanu and Ryomou are just two examples), though putting her next to Chichinoe+2 makes the latter look much better by comparison. Hopefully we’ll be seeing less of the yellow and more of a healthy pink in the future.

Aside from these issues production is otherwise unremarkable; little shading or texture variation in the paint job, decent trim work (though not outstanding), and some mold lines on the hair cast mean she’s not anything above par in the production field.

Conclusion

All in all, Orchid Seed’s gosurori Ryofu kit is a by the book example of the brand’s strengths and weaknesses. She’s a very nice sculpt, though not particularly Ryofuish, and production work is decent (with a few caveats); a figure I’d recommend to fans of Ishiyama’s work and fans of sexy gothic lolita kits (and bloomers), though perhaps less for the hardcore Ikkitousen devotee. If you’re looking for the best castoff Ryofu kit on the market right now, my money would find her here.

Overall Score: 8/10

+ Ishiyama sculpt is sexy, coy, delicious
+ easy castoff leaves her looking great both dressed and not
+ bloomers!

- left arm seeks independence from torso with alarming regularity
- seam at waist unsightly following castoff

If you’re interested in picking her up and you’d like to support HD Yes Asia has her available, though I can’t recommend their prices (though I’m told they offer free shipping, which might offset things somewhat). HLJ seems to have the lowest base price at present otherwise.