Happy New Year! If you're reading it, you made it to 2024.
Right before the year ended, or at least on the last delivery day, a package came that I actually wasn't expecting, as it had only released in the second week or so of December, so I guess Giantoy must have connections or something, or maybe the proprietor likes me more than the other customers. I have no idea.
This package was the Tunshi Studios 1/6 King of Fighters '97 Yuri Sakazaki.
At least I was surprised she arrived so fast, as opposed to completely forgetting I had ordered her at all.
There's a very good chance your first question is "who the hell is this chick?".. It's a fair question, though kind of disappointing, in a way. So back in the 90's, when it came to fighting games there were generally two companies - Capcom, and every Gen Xers wet dream, SNK. I mean, yeah, there were others of course, but in the arcades (back when that meant something) quarters were being pumped in games made by these two companies, the latter of which sadly is no longer as prevalent as it used to be.
SNK games basically ran on their proprietary hardware, the Neo Geo. which was significantly advanced compared to any home system at the time, and if you owned one of these, you were probably not poor. I, to this day, haven't actually played a Neo Geo game on actual Neo Geo home system hardware.
Anyway, getting off topic. SNK created a whole slew of 2D fighting games with zany characters that would eventually all be rolled up into the package we know today as the King of Fighters games. One such game was Art of Fighting, which was the first fighting game which would scale the size of the fighters to correspond to the distance between them.
Yuri, the sister of one of the main protagonists, was the captured damsel in distress in the first game, and became a usable character in every other subsequent release. She shares a fighting style with her brother and father, and has a personality that is generally compared to Sakura in Street Fighter.
If the company sounds familiar, it's because I own their Mai Shiranui release, which I basically called "competent, but lazy and overpriced". Well, the good news is that Yuri here was $180 USD shipped, and is at least $40 USD less than Mai was. Of course, there are some trade offs - things aren't generally cheaper without some sort of sacrifice.
As the photo shows, Yuri doesn't come with a lot of anything. A quick check of notes shows that the extra $40 with Mai got me a paper fan, a fan with flame effects, and an umbrella. Otherwise, the kit is the same:
1x Main Figure
2 x Headsculpt (Neutral, Shouting)
6 x Posing Hands
! x Base/Stand
Lets just say I'm getting warm and fuzzy feelings for King at this moment.
Now, you might be thinking to yourself that the number of accessories isn't as important as having the right ones. I would agree with that statement, which is why I'm already irritated at this point. You see, one of Yuri's more... adorable personality traits is the fact she generally behaves like a brat. This includes taunts where she winks at her opponent while mooning them, flashing peace signs are the most inopportune times... you know, high school stuff.
There are no parts in this kit that would allow you to recreate ANY OF THAT, and to me that is a huge disservice to the character.
The Base is functional, and looks just like the Base that Mai has, so I guess the entire series will have this.
So out of the box, Yuri is generally presentable. She TECHNIALLY has a more complicated outfit than Mai did, consisting of Purple leggings and sports top, a White Gi top, Orange belt, socks, and sneakers. Being from KoF '97, Yuri is rocking her classic hairdo of long ponytail with a Red ribbon.
Like with Mai, and from what I can tell with King, the body utilized is a Phicen/TB League seamless Silicone body - one day I will unearth my Mai and do a side by side phototo comparison. So that should give you an idea of what to expect from Articulation. Like with Mai, while the body doesn't look bad per se, it doesn't look accurate either, in this case its the lack of musculature and definition in the arms and the legs, rather than the Bust size.
Sculpting work on the sneakers is quite nice and replicates the look of a fabric shoe nicely. This includes detailing on the soles and the various ringlets on the body itself. Sizing is believable looking like something that would actually be bigger than her actual foot (as all shoes are). Having said that, the sole should be thicker and, while it would screw with stability, the front of the sole should angle upward slightly.
Neither of the faces truly matches the artwork for KoF '97, but none are so bad that you wouldn't think of the character. This is further impressed upon by the nicely sculpted hair which actually DOES capture the source material. The heads themselves are a touch undersized.
Speaking of hair, like her belt, the Ponytail has a wire inside of it which allows for posing of the area. This is fine in theory but there are concerns with wearing out the wire inside or the actual soft plastic itself, either resulting in a crack or worse, complete disconnect of the braid. The other issue is that only the braid is articulated and not the hair near the base of the head, so you can't really move the hair out of the way to allow for full use of range of motion.
Given the hands you get (closed fists, Kouken palms, pointing hands) you can appreciate that while the Articulation on the body is pretty good, the nature of poses you can accomplish are pretty limited... unless you don't care if it looks unnatural. That's not to say you don't have a lot to work with, but they're gonna be mostly of the serious nature.
The underlying body is of course, very pliable due to the Silicone and steel construction. You can pull off anything a jointed body can but with a bit more control over the minute position of the body and limbs. Then there's things only this type of body can do, generally having to do with articulation in the chest and abdomen sections. Posing with the elbows and knees bent still looks kind of weird, but I suspect that's never going away unless they redevelop this type of body accordingly.
Lack of true ankle joints limits posing options with the feet and affects stability of the body, so you might need to break the Stand out. Furthermore, as mentioned above despite their best efforts, the sculpted hair does in fact get in the way of posing the head. Having articulated eyeballs would have also helped with the posing options.
Paint Applications aren't bad. It's not Hot Toys quality, but nothing is that complicated here either. Colour matching of the flesh tones with the Silicone itself is pretty close, as is the matching of the Purple of her outfit and the wrist wraps. Paint work overall is certainly a lot cleaner than on Mai Shiranui, most notable on the face where Mai had some slight defects in the paint and decal work. Paint on the shoes is nicely applied.
Build Quality is generally good. There's only so many parts on this figure that can go wrong. The body and all its joints appear to be sturdily built. and the hands appear to fit on the pegs nicely. Ankles are a bit on the loose side but tolerable. The head though.. I have no idea what happened there, but the socket on the head only ever so slightly grips the neck post, loosely hanging there. I don't feel this handicaps the articulation in any way, but it does feel really odd when you're expecting a certain amount of resistance to posing and instead its spins freely like a loose faucet.
So overall, what do I think? I bring you back to "competent, but lazy and overpriced". I mean, they had a solid product to start with, and with a bit more work it could have been so much better. Sure, maybe the Projectile effects might not be practical, but how about giving me the parts I need to actually taunt with her? I suppose despite all this , this is still a step in the right direction from the ZERO figures of her that have existed up until this point.
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