Articulated figures have definitely improved over the years, allowing you to lovingly gaze at and pose your favourite characters. Statues haven't remained static either, with their ability to recreate artwork as visualized by the artist through a combination of better artisans and improved tech. While posing is indeed fun, sometimes you want someone else to take the wheel, recreating one pose so you can just take in the wonderful details that are in that moment.
Such is the case with the Max Factory CAPCOM X Momochihama Chozai Pharmacy Chun Li statue, borne of artwork created for some sort of booklets used by the latter. The blurb keeps hyping up someone by the name of Akiman, so I can only presume that they were the original artist and was involved in the creation of this final production piece.
One of the few Japanese statues I've purchased that didn't come with a window box, this Chun Li is pretty big, coming in a 1/6. Generally speaking, 1/7 to 1/10 is where most of the action is these days, and going outside of this means you start asking for trouble price wise. I suspect the production run isn't as big as with the smaller scales, but I have any hard evidence.
Not much is gonna surprise you with the contents of a statue box and it's basically just the statue. I did find this booklet inside, and if I had to take an educated guess, I'd say this is either a reproduction or it is stock of the booklet that was the result of partnership. I'm sure somewhere there's an explanation as to why this event occurred, but for my purposes I just want to draw your attention to the photo of the back of the booklet, which has the reference art for this statue.
Not sure if the concrete she's sitting on was something the sculptor came up with or it was part of the original work, but here she is in her full glory. The only separate pieces are the Water Bottle and the Base, which is a basic Black disc as lets face it, the chunk of concrete does all the work in making it interesting.
Reference artwork portrays Chun Li taking a break, and reminds me very much of a Garage Kit that was available in the early 2000s which had Chun Li taking a break in at the gym, eating a bun. Other than the face being a tad wide, I'd say they nailed the recreation of the artwork itself.
Aesthetically, this statue is much better than the previous attempt at a 1/6 Chun Li from the Capcom Figure Builders line, which I believed featured artwork from Kinu Nishimura of Chun Li doing the standing splits. The face on that statue is really, really weird and she has abnormally large hands, which is unfortunate as that statue has some excellent leg muscles on the standing leg.
Back to this statue, one of the first things you notice is that her skin tone and overall glow is very warm and hazy, which is a contrast to most Chun Li statues that present her in a dynamic and energetic light. That's not White Balance, lighting, or any tricks like that. The statue is painted in a way that this is the energy it gives off, and if I'm being honest it's kind of nice. Detailing on the face also doesn't seem as harsh as with other pieces, adding to the relaxed vibe.
here's no shortage of fabric folds and dynamic fabric position features that make the statue seem less static.
The overall paint job is gorgeous, and while you can see that from this distance, moving closer just allows you to appreciate things even more.
Close up of the head shows that facial features were recreated nicely, though the eyes aren't quite perfect. You can see that money was spent not only getting the paint on properly, but the preparation of the surface itself for the painting. Darker wash is used to bring out the texture of the hair better. You'll also notice that like on the hair, Blue is used as a highlight colour of sorts which makes for an interesting look under the right lighting.
The sash features the Dragon motiff that I'd say only makes it to a figure maybe a quarter of the time? Certainly wasn't on the other 1/6 statue and as an added bonus, there's no paint overspray on the sash itself. That last one was made by Capcom directly, and their relative level of inexperience shows.
You'll also notice below the sash, Chun Li has her ass cheeks moulded directly into the rear flap of her Qi Pao.
While Chun Li has not shortage of musculature or curves, due to her pose the main visual element would be the legs. There's an adequate amount of muscle there (though not as epic as the veiny leg on the Capcom statue) and the paint work on them, particularly the shading, bring outs this muscle tone nicely. Despite sitting down, I'm pretty confident they sculpted a whole ass for Chun Li and didn't just half ass it when things were hidden from sight, though it looks like her right thigh is strong enough to cut through concrete. Detailing on the boots is also nicely done, very refined and elegant with some nice fabric related detailing.
In case you were wondering, no, they didn't half ass the back of the concrete piece either.
A beautiful statue that shows Chun Li in a seldom seen light. Great production values and a pose that should appease even the most faint hearted of collectors. Unlike the Capcom statue, I don't think I'll be seeing fire sales on this one, which happened fairly soon after its release. So if this one interests you, I'd get on it while stock is generally available around MSRP.
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