We’ve been following the development of Nitro+’s Zoku: Satsuriku no Jango from its bizarre English language announcement back in March, through its official site opening, its July release, the announcement of Alter’s Donne Anonime in June and subsequent announcement of Kuro no Franco, and now Donne Anonime’s release. What does the first figure incarnation from the latest Nitro+ tour de force have to offer? Read on for the nitty gritty spit-in-your-eye sci fi spaghetti Western straight shootin’ truth!

Original Design: Niθ
Sculptor: Tanaka Senu (Amiami search)
Source: Zoku: Satsuriku no Jango (eroge)
Scale: 1/8 (24.5 cm tall)
Materials: PVC
Release Date: December 12th, 2007
Production: Alter
Price: 7,140 JPY (tax included)
Current Availability: [KNC] [HLJ] [HS] [TL]
Support HD!: [PA] [JLIST] [YA]

Character Description

Donne Anonime is one of the three central protagonists of Nitro+’s Zoku: Satsuriku no Jango (“Jango of the Slaughter: THE SEQUEL”). Inspired by the spaghetti Western tradition (known in Japan as the “macaroni Western”), Satsuriku no Jango ends up as the aesthetic and conceptual bastard child of Cowboy Bebop, Firefly, and Star Wars. In fine spaghetti Western tradition the game is not a sequel, and the character Jango never appears; the story instead focuses on the escapades of notorious outlaw and freedom fighter Kuro no Franco and a pair of bounty hunters lured by the promise of her sky-high reward.

original Donne Anonime illustration and game package

Donne Anonime is one of these, a woman whose true identity is unknown but goes by various aliases (Namae no Nai Onna translates as “the woman with no name”; she also goes by “Blondie”, “Jane Doe”, “Miss Nobody”, and HLJ’s loltastic “Woman Nought Nothing” – I have no idea where they got that one). She is cool, calm and collected, and a deadly shot with her replica Remington New Model Army revolver.

I played through the first part of the game back when it was released in July (initial impressions here), so if there’s some interest I can provide additional information regarding the characters and setting that are tangential to this review. If you’re shopping around for the game it seems a proxy purchase from Getchu might be your best bet as the special edition is currently on sale for 50% off.

Sculpt

Sculptor Tanaka Senu appears to be a newcomer to the scene with no prior PVC credits to his name. His skill is immediately evident here however, in a tremendously dynamic sculpt that accurately and meticulously reproduces Donne Anonime’s Niθ design. On the macro level I don’t think there’s anything to seriously criticize in terms of the sculpt – she feels like she’s almost been extruded from the original CG. In terms of detail some minor quibbles could be raised over the face, but this is a kit meant to make an impression as a whole and in that respect it definitely succeeds.

One oddity worth noting is the choice of base for the kit; it seems she’s standing on the head of one of of Kuro no Franco’s outlaw henchmen. To my knowledge that’s not not the case in the game (there certainly seems to be no indication of it in the original CG); I’d be a bit more put off by it if it were more obvious, but as-is I think it accomplishes the useful purpose of elevating her to show off her lines a bit better. It certainly drives home the weird mixed-genre vibe of the game.

Production

We’ve come to expect nothing but quality from Alter and they don’t let us down here, presenting a generally high standard of production across the board. The sculpt has no significant casting deficiencies and minimal visible seams or mold lines; the paint job is a bit spottier in areas with some trim work on the cloak that could be improved, but other detail (on the guns, etc.) is quite satisfactory. A wide variety of finishes from matte to gloss are employed to pleasing effect.

The most unexpected element of the kit in terms of production was the inclusion of a built-in soft chest part. It feels similar to that used on Alter’s plainclothes Masane and Wave’s Mikuru (review pending), made of a spongy type of PVC rather than the hard rubber of Orchid’s Chichinoe+2 or the hollow balloons of Daiki’s Sanae. The execution here is decent, but I’m left a bit puzzled as to why it’s included; her chest isn’t particularly convenient or amenable to manipulation in the way that others have been, and her (non-removable) costume doesn’t help with accessibility either.

Conclusion

Alter’s Donne Anonime is a dynamite kit in just about every way, an adjective that that works to describe not only the sculpt and production but also her character and the original source material. Like a stick of trinitrotoluene she’s loud, proud, and will disintegrate your genitals if you get too close when she’s angry; while she’s not the coarsest member of the Jango cast she doesn’t take crap from anybody. This over-the-top vibe is recreated here pretty well, but I can’t help wishing it were somehow a bit more; I’m not sure if the fault lies in the face or the slightly less than vibrant color scheme or somewhere else, but for some reason she strikes just a bit off mark. Regardless, this is a kit that I think a lot of people will enjoy and one that I can unhesitatingly recommend if you find her calling you in that brazenly seductive way.

Overall Score: 8.5/10

+ much love for the original Niθ design
+ accurate sculpt preserves dynamic quality
+ typically high Alter production values

– the kit inexplicably feels like less than the sum of its parts

If you’re interested in procuring her and you’d like to support HD, she’s still in stock at J-List; Hobby Search seems to have the best price otherwise.