Figure Review: Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny CHOUN SHIRYU 1/8 PVC Figure

Like many figure from Alter this Choun Shiryu is not about boobs or explicitness, like the Griffon Ikki Tousen figures, it’s more about the characters personality and strengths making this Ikki Tousen figure one of the most serious and original so far.

The idea of having the characters eyes closed seems like an odd idea. You would think it would make the figure look plain faced and boring, as the eyes are  often one of the main features of anime characters. However, Choun’s face is perhaps the best feature of this figure. Alter have done an excellent job of capturing the focus, concentration and energy on Choun’s face. The quality of the sculpting of the face is far better than the vast majority of figures I’ve ever seem, her face really does look alive and you can almost imagine her opening her eye’s at any moment, energized with some mystical power. I think perhaps an optional face or head with open eyes might have gone down a treat with this figure. The photo’s really don’t do her justice.

Alter have always excelled at highlighting and shading and this shows most on the hair. Choun’s hair is fantastic, very well highlighted, as grey can often look very flat on these figures. And the join in her hair is hardly noticeable either.

Choun’s school uniform does a good job of complimenting her contours. The colours seem darker than on other versions of her, but they do seem more natural because of this. The pleats in her skirt are very well done and capture the movement nicely. The skirt is also removable should you wish to expose her a little more, but this is not recommended as it also exposes one of the few bad points of this figure, the seems at the tops of her legs are very visible, this isn’t a problem so long as you keep her dressed.

The socks and shoes are very well sculpted, however, there is almost no highlighting at all. There is some shading on the sides of her shoes but not much. The stripes on her socks seem unnaturally shiny too.

Choun comes in nice sturdy packaging featuring the Dragon Destiny logo and windows on all sides except the bottom. Infact the packaging is identical to the Kanu figure previously released by Alter only green instead of blue. You also get an instruction sheet showing how to correctly put the sword and sheath in her hands. The display base is the usual clear blue plastic that neither compliments nor detracts from the figure.

If your the kind of person who doesn’t like figures of scantily clad ladies, or are too embarrassed of people seeing them in your bedroom then this is the figure for you. Or if you collect Ikki Tousen figures then this is something different to add to you collection.

Eye on Asia SCORE: 4.5/5

link: Ikki Tousen Dragon Destiny CHOUN SHIRYU 1/8 PVC Figure