After several release delays, Orchid Seed’s Mogudan-inspired Comic Unreal cover girl Onna Kenshi Feane is finally here! Unlike most kits this is one that proved to be in almost every respect better than the production shots available in the past – if Orchid delays mean more figures of this quality, I’m all for them. Read on for a detailed look at the first figure that can truly lay claim to embody the spirit – and the monumental bosoms – of Mogudan’s art.

Original Design: Mogudan
Sculptor: Ishiyama Satoshi
Source: Comic Unreal vol. 6 (monthly eromanga serial)
Scale: 1/6, 25 cm tall (advertised) 1/7, 24+ cm tall (actual)
Option Parts: replaceable “suke-suke” chest part, sword, scabbard
Materials: PVC
Release Date: March 29th, 2008
Production: Orchid Seed
Price: 6,800 JPY (tax included)
Current Availability: [HS] [TL]
Support HD!: [PA]

Feane is an original character created by doujin artist, professional illustrator and character designer Mogudan to grace the cover of volume 6 of the monthly eromanga serial magazine Comic Unreal. The issue came out in March of 2007, and a scant few months later we saw her brought to life as a garage kit at Wonder Festival 2007 Summer, and announced for PVC production shortly thereafter. She was originally scheduled for release in December of 2007, but in what has become the standard routine for Orchid Seed her release was subsequently delayed to this month (March ’08).

Comic Unreal vol. 6 cover

Sculpt

Ishiyama Satoshi has time and again proven his prowess at sculpting the pleasant masses of characters created by the likes of Inoue Takuya, and Mogudan fits into that repertoire like a missing puzzle piece. Ishiyama’s usual sculpting weakness lies in the face, mouthes and jaw lines in particular, but in this case I was happy to find the trademark “slit mouth” not nearly as pronounced. From some angles the face looks more Mogudan than any of the sample images of the kit I’d seen before, which was a nice surprise.

In all other respects the kit is essentially close to a perfect conversion of Mogudan’s illustration. The only thing I could wish for would be that it was a bit larger; a true 1/6 scale (this is advertised as such but is much closer to 1/7) or even a 1/5 would be awesome, and really lend the character the feeling of mass she deserves. Here’s hoping we see a maker rise to that challenge soon.

Production

Cast

This is a very nice casting job with generally solid detail work and few obvious mold lines or seams. The most evident imperfection is the mold line around her right shoulder, armpit, and breast, and the seam where her replaceable top meets the skin, but these aren’t visible from most vantage points. Even the usually telltale seam between the bangs and the bulk of the hair is skillfully hidden by a slight overhang on the bang piece – testament to both the quality sculpt and faithful replication in casting.

The only other potential casting issue is the left hand, which looks somewhat ungainly up close, but that’s par for the course for a figure of this size. And hey, the sword is removable! They could’ve cast it as one piece with the scabbard quite easily but decided to go beyond the call of duty – high five to the Orchid folks for that.

Paint

The paint job on Feane ranges from decent to outstanding. The gloss lacquer-style finish on her boots and top is industry-leading quality, given lavish attention in shading, and the contrast with the matte finish on her tights combined with the shading to give them contour is the single most effective element of the kit, in my opinion. Detail work is universally solid, rising to the demands of duplicating the original illustration admirably. The elements of the paint job that fail to rise above adequate for me are the skin and the hair, both of which seem a bit too solid matte for Mogudan’s style – especially in this illustration, where if you look closely you can see that she’s sweating a bit. A bit more shading and a more creative finish on the skin and hair would’ve made her one of the best colored kits in a long time.

Conclusion

Orchid Seed’s Comic Unreal cover girl Onna Kenshi Feane is a great kit, no question. A few minor blemishes in the sculpt, casting and paint job are hardly demerits in the face of everything done so completely right in Feane’s production; if you’re a Mogudan fan I can’t imagine not picking this up, and if you’re not a Mogudan fan there’s something wrong with you that means there’s more left over for us. :3 The few areas of improvement left here I see as an opportunity for Orchid or another enterprising maker (Daiki, perhaps?) to step in with an even more stupendous Mogudan-inspired sculpt. Here’s hoping!

Overall Score: 9/10

+ dynamite original Mogudan design
+ Ishiyama delivers one of his best, most faithful sculpts ever
+ amazing coloring on the boots, tights, and top

– Mogudan hasn’t updated his site in almost two months :(
– likelihood of figure based on his other Unreal vol. 6 Feane illustration is virtually zero

If you’d like to support HD with your purchase, Feane is currently available at Play-Asia!