A New Passion

Senjougahara Hitagi

Mikuru Asahina

Yuki Morikawa

Mio Akiyama

I recently discovered a new passion while vacationing in Taiwan this past winter. And, that new passion is anime figurines. I've been a fan of anime styled characters for a few years now, as can sometimes be seen in some of my own computer 3d artworks. But, I had never really gotten into the thousands of different characters and their respective graphic novels. There are just too many of them to follow and, as I cannot read any Asian language well enough to understand it, I just never followed any of them. Even though some have made it to North American TV, I still never followed them. I don't have the time, nor, till recently, a TV (which I don't use as I've put it away in my closet).

So, while walking the malls in Taipei, I discovered that they actually make PVC plastic figurines of most, if not all, the anime characters past, present, and, no doubt, future. I was hooked! These little things are just SOOOOOOOOOO CUTE! They look just like their drawings and, no doubt, their animations in their respective TV serials. Well, as if I don't have enough passions to waste my money on already, I just acquired a new one. The good thing is that the best stores for finding and buying these figurines are in Tokyo and I don't live there. The bad thing is that I found two stores in Seoul that sell them, albeit with a much limited variety and mostly limited to older figures. But, it's a start. They are NOT cheap as they have great collector appeal; prices hover around a slight bit under the US$100 mark for current figurines here in Asia and much, much, more elsewhere.

The figurines are made in various scales and by many, many, different manufacturers in Japan. Although, most are actually "Made in China" which is fine with me as the skill set in China for these types of works are pretty well second to none. Porcelain figurines, which my mother used to collect when I was very, very, young require the same skill set for hand painting the faces and other body parts. They are exquisite in craftsmanship.

Obviously, models come in various scales. I found the best scale, and the most popular from my readings, seems to be the 1/8 scale models; they seem to strike that perfect balance between realistic detail and realism vs size. The bigger 1/4, 1/6, and 1/7 scale models do not appear as well detailed and look more unreal (read: fake). Smaller scaled models are just too small to see the fine details and the painting is not as exact from what I have seen so far, too.

I started a modest little collection and plan to keep them sealed in their unopened original boxes until I finally find a permanent home one day to display them. This also retains their collector value just in case I need to sell them in the future. They should sell for more than what I paid for them in the years to come if it ever comes to that.

I also have no opportunity to purchase specific characters in specific series as they come out based on manufacturer whim. Although, they are introduced with some logic to the process. But, not being in Japan makes collecting very difficult as one has to get what is available at the time. I'm hoping some future introductions make it here to the stores I found. So, I buy the cutest ones I can find and research who they are after I get them home. Meh!

Anyways, just looking at their cute adorable little faces warms my heart and brings a smile to my face. Anyone who does not feel similarly after looking at them is really a much bigger grouch than I certainly am!

Note:

Sorry about the lack of detail in the pix. Shooting through many layers of plastic just kills the details. You can google the names (below each pic-North American name order) of the respective figures to see better pix of them.