One of the highly anticipated figures of the latter half of 2007, Daiki Kougyou’s Toushirou-sculpted Mai finally arrived on store shelves in late December. Fans of large scale figures had a lot to look forward here, but questions remained regarding production quality and precise specifications – the castoff issue was resolved awhile ago, but today we take a more intimate look at what Mai has to offer.
Original Design: Shiroi Eiji
Sculptor: Toushirou (Cobra-Kai) (Amiami search)
Source: Garou Densetsu 2 (Fatal Fury 2)
Scale: 1/5 (33 cm tall)
Materials: PVC
Release Date: December 20th, 2007
Production: Daiki Kougyou
Price: 14,700 JPY (tax included)
Current Availability: [KNC] [HLJ] [HS] [TL]
Support HD!: [PA] (black version)
This is my first figure review in a couple of months (has it been that long?) so please bear with me if there are any bumps along the way.
Shiranui Mai, as most readers will know, is one of the playable characters in the long running fighting game franchise King of Fighters (and Fatal Fury before that). She’s been a perennial favorite of doujin artists and figure sculptors for years, and last year alone found herself incarnated in three major figure releases (this one, Max Factory‘s, and one from Aizu Project).
Sculpt
Fidelity
Mai’s multiple official incarnations through the years from various character designers means that fidelity to her design is less a matter of strict adherence to details of her facial features and proportions, simply requiring the sculptor to observe general rules of costuming, props and hairstyle. Toushirou’s voluptuous rendition of the heroine is as accurate as they come in this regard, and matches the spirit of the character as well as the form. His signature heavy-lidded look to the eyes works well to give Mai a more sultry expression than usual, which might seem out of place to some but I quite enjoy.
Craftsmanship
I had to state the kit’s biggest weakness up front I’d say it’s the pose, which I find both rather stationary and boring in addition to some slight anatomical inaccuracies (the alignment of her legs and feet relative to the way her hip is cocked just feels a bit off to me). The overall balance of the kit suffers as a result. A second minor gripe is the hair – a limp strand by comparison to the swirling vortex that is Aizu’s offering. That said, overall Toushirou’s craftsmanship is fully up to the task – though perhaps not his best endeavor to make it to PVC.
Production
Cast
Daiki’s casting job is largely unproblematic, with most details rendered smoothly without visible mold lines or seams. The sole marring factor is the hair, which is rendered rather dully with blunted edges and ends both on her ponytail and bangs. Typical Daiki quality in this regard, and a point at which their production could still use some improvement.
Paint
The paint job on Mai’s costume is quite nice, with ample shading on her kimono, sash and footwear. The skin doesn’t receive much love, by contrast, which is unfortunate – I was hoping they’d learned a lesson from Sanae, and it makes me wonder whether they used a different project supervisor for her versus their standard lineup. The trim and detail work is crisp, but simple; not much of a feat at this large scale. Overall the production and paint job here are quite similar to their earlier work on Toushirou’s Kousaka Tamaki.
Two final production notes: first, her fans are made of paper and wood and actually collapse and unfold like real folding fans, which is a really cool touch, though they should be treated with care to avoid breakage. Also, while clearly not intended for castoff it’s easy enough to pry the front of her costume away from her breasts and peel the front back over her shoulders – though that’s as far as it goes. Some major surgery would be required to actually remove her top entirely, and I don’t have the balls to try; if you’d like to do what I did and sling her front beneath the loops of the rope behind her back, I’d recommend the blunt side of a butter knife or something similar to help pry it free from the slots in her arm.
Conclusion
Daiki Kougyou’s Toushirou-sculpted Shiranui Mai is overall a very nice item, and one I’m happy to recommend to fans of the character, fans of large scale figures (she’s a big girl indeed) and fans of sexy bishoujo figures in general; if you’re looking for the best, most sexy Toushirou sculpt on the market today, though, I’d recommend his Kanu by a fair margin. Mai is nice and solid, but a few structural flaws and Daiki’s occasionally iffy production quality means she’s not epic; I hope they’ll return with some of his newer work in the near future, under the same supervision team that brought Sanae to life.
Overall Score: 8.5/10
+ Toushirou’s rendition of Mai is incredibly sexy
+ large scale brings her to life, allows real folding fans
+ generally competent execution
o semi-castoff status begs for completion
o production work comes across as merely adequate given the large scale
– some minor anatomical issues make her feel visually off balance
– fix your hair production, Daiki!
If you’re interested in supporting HD with your purchase, the alternate color black and gold version is currently available for preorder at Play-Asia. Otherwise, Hobby Search seems to have her for the most competitive price.
What happened to the color on her nipples? That just confuses me, because if I were going to drop that much money on a figure, it should have the nipples colored.
Nice review shingo, good to see you’re back at reviewing figurines! Looking forward to more reviews! Yeah, I have to agree with you in regards to the pose, its not really “eye-pleasing” for me, at least. And, what’s with the easy top cast off with unfinished colours? If its purposely castoff-able, they should complete the paint job, if you know what I mean ;). I would buy it if they fix my complains :P
You can’t actually remove any of the parts that come attached to the figure (without breaking them), so she’s not technically “castoffable” (assuming that means complete removal of a given part). You can peel back the front of her shirt, but the ugly holes left behind are another indication that she’s not really supposed to be that way – I think if they had painted the nipples it would’ve been a clue that they had intended her to be handled that way, and that’s something the licensor wouldn’t allow, I’m guessing.
Looks like yet another job for the airbrush… one of these days I’m going to sit down and spend an afternoon just “finishing” bishoujo figures, I swear.
Wanted to waited for your review 1 and 1/2 months ago before buying it…bought it mid Jan. She is in scale.. wth Toushirou’s Kanu… which is both more towards the 1/5.5 scale..she stands at 29cm to the top of her head.. stretched she is at most stands at 31cm.. The 3 Toushirou’s 1/4 figures that I have are also 0.5 scale smaller..
[…] Mai Review [Heisei Democracy] […]
Another wonderful Toushirou sculpt makes it to PVC. Can’t wait for mine.
I rather like the pose, as I find it very classic pin-up art. Any girl as ‘every man’s dream’ as Mai really has no reason to pose in a too overtly sexual manner. Something about the pose reminds me of some classic piece of Shinkiro art from forever ago that I can’t quite put my finger on… could be my imagination, oh well. I’m sure I’ll be giving her a higher score in my records that Shingo, but I look at these things differently and also am an admitted Toushirou superfan and total Mai Shiranui worshiper. I’m thinkin’ it’s possible the Black Ver. may actually end up the better version too… but I’ll reserve judgment until I’ve actual got both of them in.
Oh and anyone that actually though SNK would let Daiki make her really castoff and painted in just silly. Seen a lot of top castoff Chun-Li PVC figures? Yeah, didn’t think so. Be realistic people, you should all thank your lucky stars that Daiki didn’t glue the damn top on her, this way you still get the change to airbrush her if you must.
Daiki just released the Light Skin Ver. of Toushirou’s Mina the other day, BTW. Moeyo has a nice pic of her next to the regular and with both versions of Mai, great for comparison. I’m really pleased with how it turned out, I really prefer the lighter skin color and other small differences.
Lastly, Shingo I think if I was a chick with her rack, I probably would have balance issues, so what’s wrong with the figure looking that way? :)
http://www2.moeyo.com/img/08/02/13/5/527.html
link to that picture of the Toushirou Mina & Mai versions I mentioned in previous post.
…that would be ‘IS just silly’, not ‘in just silly’… god I hate when I miss a typo… oh well.
‘than Shingo’, not ‘that Shingo’ as well… arggh… I’m just gonna not look at my big post anymore and hope there weren’t more typos.
Yeah, the pose looks really awkward. That’s the reason I got the Max Factory Mai, as well as the playful expression on her face.
[…] is all. Anyway, full NSFW pics and review (complete with review score) can be found at the Heisei Democracy website. […]
>>oopai power
I’m sorry this review was so long in the making. My goal is to get back on track and get reviews out promptly once again, though the backlog is indeed daunting… frigid temperatures in my photography room don’t help either. Must persevere!
>>the_pseudokings
I’m the last person you’ll see maligning a figure for an unbalanced chest, let me assure you. :3 The balance issues I see with Mai lie primarily in the subtly conflicting angles of her feet, legs, hips, and torso – if I try to stand in the position she’s in it doesn’t quite work right. I can’t explain it better than that.
I was never seriously thinking SNK would sanction a full-blown Mai castoff rendered down to the minutest detail (there’s absolutely no precedent for that, as you say), but given the sample photos leading up to release it seemed that her top was crafted from a separate piece not grafted to the skin, and I think it was natural to be curious regarding how and to what extent her costume was attached to her body.
I’ve seen Daiki’s Mina floating around at a decent discount, and if I have the cash at an opportune moment I’ll probably pick her up, but the budget is rather tight right now… She does look nice, especially the ligher-skinned version – it makes the original bronze look like a sickly yellow in that photo you linked. :(
This is my favorite figure now. My only problem is how fragile the fans are. I told myself I wouldn’t use them to keep them safe, then I broke down and took them out only to put a crack in one opening it. Dang! I’d pay quite a bit of money for some replacement fans if I find a way.
I think this figure is amazing.
I was pleasantly surprised by the clean paint job, but I have to agree the hair is one of the most disappointing things about this sculpt. That said I love her sultry expression, if I didn’t already have the Max Fac Mai I’d have gone for this.
Nothing to add that hasn’t already been said by the rest of the regulars above.
Just glad Daiki actually molded the nipples for Mai, unlike Mina. Guess a 2 minute paint will do the trick. Only question is – pink or brown?
Thanks again, Shingo for the lovely photos.
>>Shingo
This may seem strange, but I like that Toushirou goes for style over anatomical accuracy. It seems to me he’s always trying to make a unique piece, and not another cookie cutter ‘series figure’ and I really appreciate that. It’s not like his work ever looks ‘strange’ it just looks ‘stylized’ instead of ‘realistic’. I know you are also a Toushirou fan, and are not dissing the man’s work, I’m just saying that some of what you have at times noted in reviews of his sculpts to be oddities or negatives, from a different POV (mine) are sometimes positives.
I wanted to note that I think Toushirou’s faces deserve more credit. Faces are tough, and even some of the best sculptors out there often don’t really get a sense of emotion into their face sculpts. Toushirou always seems to nail it (in my opinion). The 1/5 Kanu actually looks like she’s distressed/fearful, Mai and Tamaki have that ‘I know you want me’ sexy, Mina has a real sense of whimsy. All of these are more difficult to render than just smirk, smile and mad, which you get most of the time.
Speaking of Mina, I told y’all the Lighter Skin version would end up as the best version in some long since forgotten post, nice to see someone (and the ‘sitemaster’ no less) finally agree with me.
Also, as a note about the Max Factory Mai by Takeshi Hamasaki, I have it, and I really like it, but this notion that it’s better, or more accurate or perfect or whatever that is in some of these posts is quite daft in my opinion. Her hair is just one odd chunk in the back/bottom and she is completely devoid of the subtleties of the Kinu art she is based off of. Now don’t get me wrong, those are maybe the only negatives, but still a little perspective was lacking from the conversation.
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Great review Shingo- thanx!!
The pose is the biggest killer for me with this figure…..I don’t “get it”. It looks clumsy and akward, which goes in the face of Mai. I might pick this up- dunno yet.
Thanx again for the great review.
This is one time I have agreed completely with your review, Shingo. I like this, and am a fan, but for the price, she needs to be better.
I still like the Max Factory one, and may still try for her, especially since HS still have her available..
This is a really nice figure but, the Takeshi Hamasaki Max Factory version does it for me all the way.
Finally got mine in, and to me it’s a 10. It looks way better in person (to me) than Shingo’s pictures (or any others I’ve seen online) would lead you to believe. Brilliant sculpt and excellent shading. Awesome.
I want one but being that im only 15 i cant get one do you think they will still be out when im old enough?