Volume four in the wildly popular series of Shuraki multimedia figures is in some respects a return to more familiar territory, as design duty for Nida was entrusted to the ubiquitous Yamashita Shunya. His designs have been adapted in figure form by just about every major PVC manufacturer in the past few years, but as the first Yamashita offering from Goodsmile there was curiosity regarding how the maker would handle the adaptation compared to those with longer track records. As we’ve come to expect with this series the result is very favorable indeed:
Original Design: Yamashita Shunya (山下しゅんや)
Sculptor: Hagii Shunji (萩井俊士) (Studio Saru Bunshitsu)
Source: Shuraki (multimedia figure series)
Scale: 1/8 (21 cm tall)
Option Parts: gun, knife, damage version shirt, skirt
Materials: PVC
Extras: Illustration Book, Drama CD (70 minutes)
Release Date: May 13th, 2008
Production: Goodsmile, Red Entertainment
Price: 6,800 JPY (tax included)
Current Availability: [HS] [HLJ] [TL]
Support HD!: [JLIST] [YA]
Related: Shuraki vol. 1 Mishiro, Shuraki vol. 2 Meifeng, Shuraki vol. 5 Rize

Character Description
Translated from her official Shuraki page:
“A German Shuraki. 19 years old, 169 cm tall. A member of the mysterious Europe-based secret society “White Raven”. Her personality is cool and intelligent but she is overly serious and stubborn as a result. She is constantly bloodthirsty and has a standoffish aura that prevents others from coming close to her. She accomplishes her missions with ruthless efficiency and is fiercely loyal to the organization.
Raised as part of the White Raven group from her earliest moment of consciousness, she has no doubts about risking her life in the cursed struggle of the Shuraki. The only place she sees for herself is as part of the organization, and her life as a warrior is everything.
In combat she employs a bayonet (combination gun and sword) that can be converted between “rifle” and “long distance sniper” modes. She is also skilled with explosives and throwing knives, which she keeps hidden about her at all times.”
Drama CD Description
Shuraki Drama CD Vol. 4: Zero and the Akashic Records Constellation Aspect
Starring: Chiba Saeko as Nida SchuetlichTranslated from her official CD page:
“It had been one month since the deadly dance of the Shuraki began in Kagura. The season is spring. As if informing of the end of the long winter at last, the school grounds covered with cherry trees suddenly burst into pale pink bloom. As the gentle rays of the sun beckoned the students to speak of the season, an even more radiant figure appeared – Nida.
A memory from many years ago slept within her deep, dark gaze. An ancient book sat open in a dark, gloomy room, on a dusty desk surrounded by dusty bookshelves. Lost with her emotions trapped deep and secret in her breast, her cold glance was matched with the iron form of the muzzle of her gun!”
Package Contents
Nida boasts the most elaborate Shuraki accessories list to date, coming with a rifle in five pieces (two exchangeable barrels, two exchangeable stocks/magazines, and the main body part) as well as a military knife, the knife handle (to place in the sheath of her undamaged uniform belt) and the standard “damage version” costume parts. I haven’t had the chance to listen to the drama CD yet, but based on the quality of the previous episodes I’m sure this one is great as well.
There was a printing miss in the mini-artbook that came with the set this time: see the black smear in the center, top and bottom, of both pages here. This is the first such error I’ve seen in the series so far, and while it isn’t a deal-breaker it’s something of a disappointment for the collector in me.
For further information on Shuraki (the product) as well as Shuraki (the cosmology and storyline), see our reviews of the earlier entries in the series:
- Shuraki vol. 1 – Mishiro Akatsuki
- Shuraki vol. 2 – Riu (Liu) Meifeng
- Shuraki vol. 3 – Char (Shall) Rhousemann
Sculpt
Sculpting duty for Nida was handed off to Shunji Hagii of Studio Saru Bunshitsu, and in my opinion he’s done a great job with the adaptation. There is a distinct departure from some of the nuance of the Shunya original; Shunji has a penchant for faces that are a bit pinched, but I think it works well to give her a more refined, delicate look than the standard Shunya voluptuousness.
The Shuraki series developers didn’t give either artist a very dynamic pose to work with in designing her, but I think Shunya and especially Shunji Hagii worked quite well with the hand they were dealt. They obviously wanted her to come across in a firm martial pose, and despite (or because of) the strength of the pose, Hagii was able to incorporate some really nice lines and curves into the figure.
The gun serves as a significant visual counterweight that lends dynamic balance, and while the overall look isn’t quite on par with the action poses of her predecessors, Nida holds her own just fine among them.
Production
Ahh, Goodsmile. Must you force me to trot out the same string of superlative adjectives and adulatory phrases time and time again?
Essentially everything is spot-on in the production of this kit. The casting job is high-fidelity with only a few visible blemishes, the paint job uses a wide variety of tones and finishes that remain subtle and appropriate, and the costume looks great whether on or off. If I had to pick nits, there are two points I can see for possible improvement:
First, unless there’s a trick to it that I missed, it’s really tough to get the gun into her hand. Even after removing the hand and wrestling with the pieces it took me a few minutes of careful and nervous bending to get the grip in her palm. That was more stress than it probably should have been.
Second, while for what they are they’re done quite well, the seams around her detachable arms and midsection are still a bit awkward. The midsection seam is especially visible from the front, and the arm seams look rather awkward and gappy from some angles. A bit more precision work there wouldn’t have hurt.
Conclusion
Goodsmile’s Shuraki vol. 4 – Nida is yet another in the maker’s string of unqualified successes in the Shuraki lineup. High quality production paired with high quality bonus material easily justifies the retail price, and while the printing error in the artbook this time was a bit of a downer I’m sure my copy was the exception rather than the rule. Nida’s character is by design not quite as dynamic as the others in the series, but with an equally fetching design she still looks great from many angles. All in all a figure I’m happy to recommend to any collector.
Overall Score: 10/10
If you’d like to support HD with your purchase, Nida is currently available at YesAsia. Other retail options are listed at the top of this post. Other figures in the Shuraki series are also available:
As per your review Shingo, a very, very nice piece. Glad to have picked her up in person when she was released. The only weird thing is that my sister’s name is spelt the same way as hers :S
Another Shuraki super-success! Now to pray the figure Gods let my preorder actually net me a copy. I got my preorder in early so, here’s hoping that helps.
I apologize in advance as this is off-topic to say the least. I am a musician, along with being an HD regular, and my new compilation album DIGI-COMP.1 is now available from Amazon MP3 and Rhapsody. Check it out if you like electronic music at all.
Amazon
Rhapsody
And Shingo, I apologize yet again, if you feel inclined to blast this post for this shameless attempt at garnering a little attention on a site I’m familiar with, I totally understand. Though I would hope to avoid being banned altogether as I really enjoy HD and commenting on it.
OMG The erotic detail on this piece is superb! The Shuraki girls sure have impeccable taste in lingerie! Good Smile have really pulled out the stops on quality finishes for this series – I can’t wait to get mine and perhaps one day they will make an elaborate kit that isn’t heart wrenchingly fiddly to assemble. Thanks for the illustrious beauty parade of the latest review!
“Even after removing the hand and wrestling with the pieces it took me a few minutes of careful and nervous bending to get the grip in her palm.”
Ehhh, you can separate the gun’s main body in several pieces, and that way you just insert the hand in the trigger, without bending the fingers. Although I didnt notice it at first glance also.
Now Im only waiting for the Shall reissue hohoho
I love girls and guns figures, and no exception with this sexy Needa, she’s in her way to my home from HLJ, I should receive her soon ^^
I can’t believe myself!! I just managed to snatch the last unit in stock at Hobby Search, I guess I am really lucky today!
Just after buying her (she was in stock) I refreshed her detail page and… “Sold out”. Now I feel like in paradise!
I missed the “preorder window” for this excellent figure.
>>Shingo
Totally agree with a 10/10. Very detailed review and the number of photos is huge, thanks for that Shingo.
Nice, glad I’m getting her (should be here by tommorrow x)~). I had a choice between Char or Nida, I like Char’s VA a lot, but in the end I picked Nida because it’s the figure itself that counts more then the bonus or rarity I think :P.
I’m still kinda wondering why they added the nipple bulge in the final production version…
>>>>>Dan
I, as well, did not notice the gun separating at first either; and after bending the hand around for like 5 minutes decided that there had to be a better way to do this, and eventually got the gun split in half.
And my mini art book does not have the black ink smear that Shingo’s does.
>>Dan
I was wondering if that was the case, but I didn’t want to risk breaking the part by pulling it apart too hard. That does make sense… I probably should have read the assembly manual before attempting to put her together. ;;
“Your apology is accepted, Captain Needa.” – Darth Vader answered as Capt Needa collapsed onto the bridge floor of the SSD Executor.
Yeah, I can’t get that line out of my head every time I hear the name Needa… 8)
And this is probably the best Shuraki imo. I just love girls with BIG guns/weapons. I may even pick up #5, seeing that Rize is packing some huge weapons as well.
Wow! She looks amazing!! Absolutely amazing!
Thanx Shingo!
Exelent Shingo¡¡
excellent pics and review as always shingo!
by the way, any news on toywork’s miyamoto rei of High School of the Dead? are you going to aquire the figure and review it?
>>Gandolf
News of Toy’sworks’ Miyamoto Rei came in yesterday’s mainichi update; my copy is in the mail and should arrive tonight. I’ll try to have a review out over the weekend at the latest, things are going to be pretty busy around here for the next few days. ;;
Very sweet indeed. I’d liek to get the re-release if it comes along.
As for Miyamoto Rei, I saw Hobby Search’s copy, and it’s not very good, I thought..
Mine doesnt come with the printing error also, maybe the defective one will get more value in time??
Regarding Shuraki, does anyone has news about the Shall reissue? and as well as if the other ones illustrated in the books are gonna be produced (Monica Olivie and one green-haired priestess)?
>>CDan
We haven’t heard about plans for a Shall reissue yet, but she’ll be going up at J-List (first production lot) either at the end of this week or early next week. I’ll post when she’s in stock there.
Goodsmile has confirmed that there will be a second Shuraki series, but there is no concrete information on it yet. We’ll be keeping a sharp lookout over the next week or so following Rize’s release for any news on that front.
You know, if there’s anything I can’t stomach, it’s Shunya’s typical heavy-makeup-like face he has on all his girls. They always looked… I don’t know what’s the word to say it… weird? Whorish? I can appreciate his style, but when it comes to the face… ugh.
By the way,
http://heiseidemocracy.com/wp-content/uploads/shuraki4/159.jpg <-
Did Shunya also drew the pictures on the left? I find them looking much, much better than the picture to the right. Though I must lol at the undergarment-only frontal shot on the lower left. Her body’s made of oil barrels
dammit. I missed this figure. damn it. now I have to pay a shitload more… screw you cruel world.
>>desudesu
All of the art in the book (including those designs) is by Yamashita Shunya, as far as I know.
>dammit. I missed this figure. damn it. now I have to pay a shitload more… screw you cruel world.
wut, don’t GoodSmile always does re-runs of their popular products? I recall Akatsuki being re-run’d twice already
Hi All, anyone here knows if Good Smile Co. will be re-packaging all these 5 boxes from Akatsuki to Rize (for Shuraki trinity series 1) and sell them off together at a much lower price or so? Any chances to get them all at a much lower price? I didn’t really want to collect these series at 1st due to budget & not enough space to keep them (saw the box is huge for each box), but after seeing Shingo’s review, it tempted me to buy them all since all the Overall Score Shingo had given them are just too high too good. Thanks.
>>Kent
There are no plans currently announced to reissue the first batch of five Shuraki figures as a set. It seems likely that each figure will be reissued at least once, and a set release seems possible in the future, though I doubt the price will be lowered significantly; they’re already really good deals given the extras included, and the only way I could see them reducing the price would be if they sold the figures standalone at some point (which doesn’t seem likely).
If you’re set on tracking them down I think it would be a safe bet to start now and pick them up individually, with the assumption that the ones you’re missing will eventually be reissued.
[…] I havent open the box yet, but there is two extra freebies that comes together with it, a small book and a cd. You can see the complete review for Needa at Heisei Democracy […]
My needa is on the way ^^