The multimedia figure series that earlier this year redefined the scope of the figure otaku feeding frenzy is back in its second installment! Shuraki vol. 2 brings the incredibly cute Riu (Liu) Meifeng to the fore, in yet another dynamite combination of character design, sculpting and voice acting talent. How does she compare to the series’ first installment, Akatsuki Mishiro? I’d say incredibly well, but pictures speak louder than words:
Original Design: Kiba Satoshi (木場智士)
Sculptor: Kawara Takayuki (Amiami search)
Source: Shuraki (multimedia figure series)
Scale: 1/8 (23 cm tall)
Materials: PVC
Extras: Illustration Book, Drama CD (73 minutes)
Release Date: November 20th, 2007
Production: Goodsmile, Red Entertainment
Price: 6,800 JPY (tax included)
Current Availability: [KNC] [HS] [TL]
Support HD!: [YA]
Character Description
Translated from her official Shuraki page:
“A Shuraki of Chinese extraction. 17 years old, 160 cm tall. She has a bright, airheaded personality and is quite quite gregarious, with an unquenchable smile. When she awoke as a Shuraki and learned the circumstances of their endless struggle and the curse she was under she was determined to continue with life as usual, but due to pressure to live up to the ancient traditions of her family lineage, Meifeng fled to Japan.
She found refuge with the Mizuchi house, another family descended of Shuraki lineage, where she is currently relying on their kindness. Her childhood friend and also Shuraki Mizuchi Towako lives there as well.
Meifeng’s innocent face and lighthearted conversation hide a keen intellect and sharp wit. She acts to guide Akatsuki and other newly awoken Shuraki, cooperating to help them avoid disaster.
Her Chinese-accented speech, occasional changes of tone and expression are all actually calculated moves on her part. She fights with a pair of “engetsurin” (moon-curved wheels), using a combination of Chinese martial arts to lure opponents in close and hit them with a succession of rapid precise strikes.”
Drama CD Description
Shuraki Drama CD Vol. 2: The Legend of Schwarzschild
Starring: Iizuka Mayumi as Riu MeifengTranslated from her official CD page:
“On a night when countless falling stars rained on a town enveloped in snow, a tragedy occurred.
On the outskirts of Kagura-shi, at the Kouryuu Shrine hidden in the mountains, Shuraki Riu Meifeng and Mizuchi Towako were told of this occurrence.
The two devised a countermeasure… but into their midst snuck a girl changed completely into a Shuraki. And the mysterious organization “White Raven” also drew near.
Deep within the forest, the legend handed down from time immemorial, the Shuraki’s dance of flames had begun!”
Package Contents
The first thing to note in a review of Meifeng is the bare numerical fact that she costs more than Mishiro, her predecessor. It’s clear that Mishiro was designed with an introductory price in mind, and that the makers very much intend to use her as a hook into following along with the series. Meifeng’s higher price brings her a bit more in line with reality, but she is still a very good deal for what is included; if we break the price down to 4,600 yen for the figure and 2,200 yen for the drama CD that’s a very reasonable price for both, and the booklet gets thrown in for free.
I got a chance to listen to more of the drama CD while preparing this review than I did for Mishiro’s, and found myself being drawn into the story – it’s really well done. This is another part of the series’ gimmick, to be sure; a continuing story that makes you want to continue buying to find out how things develop. I really like Meifeng’s character as portrayed by Iizuka Mayumi and hope she doesn’t die by the end… ;_; The contents of the booklet make more sense if you listen to the drama CDs as well, because the illustrations depict scenes from the story as enacted on disc. If there is interest I can summarize what’s going on in the story; feel free to post to comments if you’d like to hear more.
Sculpt
After reading her character description and listening to a bit of the drama CD I came away with the impression that both the original design and the sculpt do a perfect job of portraying Meifeng’s character. The cute, determined look on her face really captures her spirit of “I’m not going to lose”, and the China-themed lines of the costume and combat-inspired pose flow incredibly well together. Her hair design is a work of art – nay architecture, that in my opinion is the best in the series (with the possible exception of Shall). I have no complaints about the kit sculpturally; it’s quite simply great.
Production
Starting from the basic premise that Goodsmile’s production quality is all around awesome, let’s get down to the nitty gritty (and sadly there is nit to grit with this kit… damn, did I really just write that?).
Essentially all of the production issues surrounding Meifeng have to do with her castoff. The first difficulty encountered was with the white straps that are affixed to loop over her shoulders – once you’ve removed them to get her top off, good luck putting them back in place. It’s an effort to even get them remotely close to where they were. Next, her top. While it’s kindly split in the back to allow for some wiggle room, it’s very, very snugly in place – you’re going to have to do some serious yanking to coax it off, and you’ll have to forcibly pull the dress off too.
The castoff wouldn’t be a serious issue overall though if it weren’t for what was revealed underneath. Sad to say her bum and thighs did not escape the process unscathed, but those aren’t even scuff marks from the paint of the dress; plastic sheeting was in place to protect from that. It’s some kind of factory residue or something, and I’m surprised to see it given Goodsmile’s generally solid track record in this area. Definitely the kit’s single biggest drawback.
Conclusion
Goodsmile’s Shuraki Meifeng is a truly wonderful kit. Her design is lovely, and the great sculpt benefits from typically solid Goodsmile execution. Some irritation through the castoff process is forgivable, though the marks on her posterior are less so; not enough to seriously damage the quality of the item overall, though, and I can happily recommend her as a fine addition to the collection of any PVC figure fan.
Overall Score: 9.5/10
+ Meifeng is a great original character, both in terms of design and execution
+ very high quality drama CD
+ excellent sculpt captures the character flawlessly
+ typical Goodsmile production largely pulls through
o castoff process is inconvenient
o higher price than the first volume lowers value from outrageous to merely good
– shoulder straps need better engineering to be easily replaceable
– scuff marks on her hind end show an unfortunate factory oversight
If you’re interested in acquiring her and didn’t manage to get your preorder in you’re largely out of luck, as this first lot is sold out in most places; as of writing Yes Asia still has her if you’re willing to fork out the cash. Otherwise odds are good that like Mishiro, Meifeng will also see a second round of production; We’ll keep our eyes open for any news on that front.
“If there is interest I can summarize what’s going on in the story; feel free to post to comments if you’d like to hear more.”
definitely, yes ;)
An excelent review,and an excelent figure.
Curiously all Shuraki figures (except the first one) look better with their full clothes on than with the ragged set,at least for me.
Been looking everywhere and seem to over looked YesAsia, just got my pre-order in, hope i’m not too late as I desperately want this.
Very good review Shingo, pictures have me salivating.
I’m hoping they do a second production run like they are with Mishiro, since I was a little sluggish getting around to placing an order.
wow, it look good! thx for the the review, it awesome. I waiting my 1 to arrive so not so soon to see the real thing.
Drama CD summary please :)
I third the request for a summary of the story.
It’s too bad I had to cancel my pre-order of Meifeng last month. She’s by far my favorite of the Shuraki figures revealed so far, mostly because of her awesome hair.
Shingo, you reckon Yes-asia would secure your pre-ordered made throught them? I know their price is way double from the rest of the retailers just the matter of question of their reliability of them securing one, even at this stage, they are still accepting orders, which doubts me the slightest bit.
Anyway, nice review!
Roger that, I’ll get on a drama CD summary a bit later today.
>>NegativeZero
Word is in that a second run is in fact planned, so it looks like you didn’t miss out. :D
>>Cloudkun
I’ve never purchased from Yes Asia myself so I’m not sure to what extent their preorders are secure. If anyone else has experience shopping with them perhaps they could provide input.
Great review as always! I wasn’t able to pre-order mine from HS or HLJ so mine will most likely arrive in mid Dec or so. I’m definitely looking forward to getting her though. Fantastic sculpt and paint job (besides cast off flaws) look exceptional.
“Roger that, I’ll get on a drama CD summary a bit later today.”
think you can do Mishiro’s too? :p
Excellent review. I was fortunate enough to get her, now Im just waiting till she arrives.. Cant wait for the cd summary
An incredibly half-assed synopsis of the Shuraki story as it is thus far:
Back in the Sengoku period of Japan there was an evil something that was killing all the men. Therefore, able bodied women were trained in combat to fight the evil force. They eventually defeated it, but it cursed them to fight each other down their bloodlines until only one remained. These were the Shuraki.
Fast forward to the present: it is a time of Shuraki reawakening when they must emerge for the predestined battle to determine who will remain the sole survivor. Shuraki are gathering in the town of Kagura-shi, first Akatsuki Mishiro who in the first volume of the drama CD is awakened as a Shuraki just as her mother is killed by Shall (who was actually after Mishiro herself).
The second drama CD shifts focus to Meifeng and her distant cousin Towako, both Shuraki. Towako’s house is a Shinto shrine up in the mountains outside Kagura-shi, and Meifeng is staying there despite the protests of some of Towako’s family (they know about the Shuraki curse and believe that eventually the two girls will be forced to turn against each other). Meifeng however will have none of it and is determined to fight the curse to the end, while simultaneously training with Towako to defend themselves.
The second drama CD sees the arrival of the mysterious European organization known as “White Raven” on the scene. It is unclear whether they are true Shuraki or not, but it seems they gained their powers by drinking the blood of Shuraki (?) and are there with motives unknown. Their numbers include Needa, Rize, and the girl with the top hat who’s name I forget. They are looking for the shrine where Towako lives.
Word arrives at the shrine that Akatsuki Mishiro has awoken as a Shuraki and that her mother was killed, and in fact Mishiro is heading there as well as apparently there is information in the shrine archives that might help lift the curse. She arrives at the shrine and immediately attacks Meifeng and Towako, but they manage to talk her down and convince her to join with them in finding a cure for the curse.
…and that’s where I stopped listening. I’ll have to listen again more closely for the details, sorry it’s so sketchy. ^^;;
>>shingo
Just wondering if the scuff marks can be washed off with mild soap and water? I agree that GSC is getting a bad batch from their chinese oem. Hopefully, the re-release will be better.
I don’t intend to start collecting another series here. but mei-fang is really a great design and has a great dynamic pose. Still thinking if i wanna pre-order her re-release. At least i can skip no.1 as the Mishiro figure doesn’t look good to me.
Already pre-ordered no.4 Needa as well and will have to wait for the re-release of no.3 Shall as I missed it the first time around. (I just love blonde fencers, probably due to the influence of my fav character Charlotte of the Samurai Spirits/Shodown fame)
All in all, another great review. 8D
thx a lot shingo! :D
KNC seems to have got more no.2 in very recently (like today) and I just ordered one form there at a better price than YesAsia.
I’ll keep both orders for now until one is sent.
The cast off are hard to talk off. It have me working for a full 10 mins. But there a trick to it. Thats is to find the pivot point thats allow you to slide the dress out at the pivot. Need some tried and error.
Guess what guys, just received email from Yesasia and told me that they can’t fulfill my order, therefore, it was canceled, guess 2nd wave is the way to go~! Waiting for HS to open up orders ^^'”
Great review and thanks for the CD summary. Like Kippei I took a loooong time yanking the top off Mei. The ribbon at the waist is not sitting very snugly either. It’s a great sculpt but the cast off invokes great fear since every forceful tug runs the risk of scratching her. I hope Shall will be easier to strip.
Nice figure and a great review Shingo!! Can’t believe I am going to say this next bit but I’m glad she doesn’t do it for me as a figure…..
I have too much stuff coming in….:( So, she gets a pass. But the quality and production looks good to great as usual from goodsmile.