Griffon’s epic Uesugi Kenshin kit from Sengoku Rance that got me all hot and bothered when she was first revealed at WHF Ariake 18 is as of Amiami’s evening update today available for preorder! She’s scheduled for release from Griffon’s ecchi R-Line brand in August, at 1/7 scale (31 cm tall), castoffable, in completed PVC form, with a sculpt from Ikeda Ryouichi. Along with the August release date the big news in tonight’s listing is the price: 10,290 yen retail. This is about what I was expecting, and well worth paying for the glorious bounty at hand: Update: color images now online and reproduced below:
Images from our WHF Ariake 18 coverage
Amiami’s listing is currently not accompanied by pictures, but we’ll watch for color images of the prototype to appear in coming days.
If you’re wondering what’s so amazing about this kit (aside from the sculpt, which is friggin’ phenomenal): for one thing, it’s a huge poke in the eye of Volks, who has been the only one putting out decent Sengoku Rance kits. It’s an opportunity for fans to support a maker without draconian isolationist practices.
More importantly though, Uesugi Kenshin is an adorable heroine. She’s a kickass swordswoman who goes around Ranceworld’s equivalent of Japan propping up weaker armies in the face of stronger foes, but when she finally comes face to face with Rance she’s smitten by his fangy good looks, and if you’re skillful you can woo her to your side as you gradually take over the country. Seriously, how can you say no to this:
It’s a personal crusade of mine to see this game translated into English before I die. It’s that damn good.
May 23rd Update: Images of a color prototype of the kit have surfaced at the official R-Line site, and are reproduced below:
and from Hobby Stock‘s listing:
Thanks to tCi and Toonleap for the heads up on these!
WHOA! The pre-order is sooner than expected but I ain’t complaining! Booyah!!!
Damn, its a bit pricey, but it certainly looks worth it.
I’m not so sure about the scultp of the face yet. Anticipating color photos to decide whether to assassinate my wallet or not.
it is fantastic, but I’m not sure I can spend that much for her. That 31cm must include her hat and her footing both of which are a few centimeters each, so she may actually seem like a 1/8 scale if you knock it down to just the figure herself (as Griffon’s tend to be small, good but small). I’m very conflicted… looks like Ikeda’s masterwork (thus far at least), but that is a lot of scratch. I guess I’ll have to wait and see what kinda prices I can find from my sources.
I’ll need a painted prototype to better gauge if I should pre-order this figure. I really hope it’ll be a great paintjob, as she is my favorite heroine in Sengoku Rance as well.
For a such complete figure, I don’t find her pricey :p Can’t wait to see the paint job !
phenomenal is the way to describe it… that is a very well done sculpt. XD
YES! IT IS! Hahaha, god I love Uesugi Kenshin and her battle lines every time she charges into battle. For me, Kenshin route was the best route in Sengoku Rance, as I just loved it from start to end!
QFT.
As for the sculpt: take that Volks! Now I’m just crossing my fingers and hoping against hope that Alter comes out with their own Uesugi Kenshin figure…along with a figure for Shihoudo Narika.
Very tempted to get this version of Uesugi Kenshin, even though I’ve already bought a of the Volks version
*Gurgles with happiness while his wallet screams in terror*
It’s too late to even attempt to rein in my spending… why bother?
PRE-ORDERED. 8)
Yeah, TAKE THAT VOLKS!
Yes, Shingo, please try to get this game translated into English (text only; keep the original Japanese voices)
While I love to get this game now, I’ve tried playing strategy games in a foreign language before (Super Robot Wars/Langrisser games in PS1 and PS2), and it never work well. 75% of the time, I’ve no idea what the plot’s about. And 75% of the time, I lose…
p.s. She’s definitely 1 of the cuter heroines; I have a certain weakness for waist length hair women.
>>blacklotus
There’s nothing I can do right now to get the game translated short of sitting down and hacking through it all by my lonesome, but I’m hoping some company some day can make Alice Soft the right pitch and get the rights to produce their Rance series in English. It would be nice to be involved with that effort, but who knows.
Sengoku Rance is unvoiced, actually; like the original release of Fate/stay night and similar unvoiced games it’s so huge and complex that providing voices would be financially and logistically prohibitive.
Saw more pics of her at
Now, I feel very tempted!
>>Toonleap
Thanks for the heads up on those! I’ve added them to the post as well.
For some reason I liked the unpainted version a whole lot more than the painted prototype.
Now, I’m sure I want her :D
>>>Buemba
Yeah I agree with you there. I actually prefer the unpainted version more as well (Leaves more to the imagination).
Hmm I was definitely going to get this but now that I see the painted there’s something that bothers me about it. Maybe the face? I can’t put my finger on it. Not sure if I’ll be getting this after all.
>> Nyx
I think the problem is with Griffon’s usual flat painting style. It doesn’t photograph all that well.
I’ve cast my fate to the winds and put in a preorder. I’m gambling that she’ll look better a) under different photographic conditions and b) after a refining pass or two for the PVC version. It would be nice if they could do a bit of trimming on the jaw to make it look consistent at all angles like it does in the lower right here…
>> Shingo
Thanks for the info about the game. Guess another way to play the game in the near future instead of waiting indefinitely for a translation is to take a part time course in Japanese. Guess that’s the best way out. 8)
I do like the colored version. Nothing wrong in my eyes. Maybe I’m just biased there’s a Rance figure released for an overseas customer like me that I overlooked any slight defects.
Still, with the recent delays (my Griffon Nanael is still in production even though the initial release date is March 2008, my Griffon Reina won’t make its May schedule either), I think we won’t see Uesugi until next year.
Hm yeah better photography conditions would help and you’re also right about the jaw, Shingo. I think that’s what was bothering me. Also, I think she looks a lot better cast off and I don’t know if I’ll be able to display her that way without getting complaints.. sigh.
I don’t know anything about Rance so please forgive the question,but…
Is there a way to remove that idiot stovepipe she’s sporting? or is it integrated into the sculpt’s hair?
>>rishidan
I’m pretty sure the hat will be removable, yeah.
>>Shingo
I’m pretty sure the hat will be removable, yeah.
I hope so too. Proof of that is that in the game, she does not wear that ridiculous hat in the hentai scenes…
I preorder this figure as well, having high hopes for it. I noticed that in the painted version, the only thing I didnt like was the eyes. Seemed “empty” to me…Hope they fix that in the final version.
Thanks Shingo for crediting my nick…:)
>>Shingo
I’m pretty sure the hat will be removable, yeah.
I hope so too. Proof of that is that in the game, she does not wear that weird hat in the hentai scenes…
I preorder this figure as well, having high hopes for it. I noticed that in the painted version, the only thing I didnt like was the eyes. Seemed “empty” to me…Hope they fix that in the final version.
Thanks Shingo for crediting my nick…:)