After two weeks, I finally cracked open the parcel I sent myself from Calgary, AB. So there wasn't so much any surprise as to what was in there (presuming it had survived my packing), but it was more a reconnection with old friends, to see how I did on my purchases. It was surprising to me that I was able to actually find so much stuff that was relatively cheap, but you know what they say - when it rains, it pours. The first three things I eagerly pulled out of the box were the companions to the Black Canary I looked at earlier - Black Widow, Wonder Woman, and Power Girl. Unlike Black Canary, however, these ones were complete with their boxes, so they were much bulkier.
I guess before we get started, just some notes on the general overall things. These statues are significantly older than modern day ones (2011 - 2013) with Wonder Woman being the oldest. All seemed to be free of leaning, and I think that's because 2011 was probably close enough to the ABS era, though to be honest I don't remember any Bishoujo ever having leaning problems. Paint and Build would generally still hold up to modern standards, and I think the Bishoujo line has consistently been the only line that Kotobukiya puts maximum effort is put into the final product.
With that said, onto the specifics!
Generally speaking, whenever given a choice to unpack something, Black Widow always goes first. Always loved the concept of the character, the femme fatale turned hero, even back to the James Bond days.
This statue was released in 2012, and is the 2.0 version, with the first Black Widow released in 2009. There have been Marvel Bishoujo since then, of course, but strangely Kotobukiya has never made Bishoujo versions of the live action ladies, which is a shame as they would have looked rather distinct. Of course, licensing may have had an issue or two with the art..
As always, there are some changes between the final statue and the art work. Some times, it's for practical reasons, but for the most part it's for reason I can never figure out. Widow is probably 90% accurate. The wall she's leaning on is changed, slightly larger, but that's not what's gonna make or break this statue. General pose is about right, though I think her back is arched more in the art, and the curves aren't too shabby. But, when it comes to the head, there's almost always something really off. Earlier pieces like this never seem to fully capture the... fullness and facial details of the Shunya faces, though this isn't terrible compared to others. But the change of head tilt and gaze honestly confound me, and really do change the entire energy of the pose itself. In the art, she's looking over her shoulder, whereas in the statue, it looks like she's looking for the $5 she dropped on the floor earlier.
Daredevil mask is alright and not really the focal point of this piece. Just.. weird that of all the things to keep, Kotobukiya kept this and even produced it as a separate piece.
Close up, you can hopefully see what I mean about the facial features being downgraded like the NES version of an arcade game. There's some loss of hair detailing such as flying strands, but that I can just check off as a practicality thing. But the nose appears to be longer than it should be, shape of eyes are off, and that mouth... shape is off and it's got that "I just slapped some white paint on to serve as teeth" finish. Also, it's hard to make out, but the front of the hair and the back of the hair are two different colours. I suspect it might have been a material change having to do with the detailing of the hair, but you'd think they would have at least painted them the same colour or something. Also not pictured is an obvious seam in the hairline.
The rest of the curves and fabric detailing are solid, probably more solid than anything I had seen from Kotobukiya up to this point. Good use of a high gloss black paint to simulate leather o whatever her jumpsuit is made from. General parts finishes are smooth with no artifacts or other visual blemishes, other than the aforementioned hair gap, something that was very common back in the day.
Her right hand can be swapped for one carrying her sniper rifle. Everything looks fine, so long as you don't look inside the palm itself. Can't really say one look is preferable to another, though I guess if you want her carrying any weapon, this is your jam.
Next up we have Wonder Woman, released in 2011. Kotobukiya would later release an Armoured version, which has a significantly different pose. As with Black Widow, Kotobukiya never released Bishoujo of the live action version, though I suspect it would have been easier to get art approval.
Like Black Widow, there's some variations on the body and its limb positioning, but the changes to the face and general direction of gaze are confusing to say the least. So again, instead of looking over her shoulder stoically, Wonder Woman is now looking for spare change on the floor.
The cooler aspects of the statue, specifically the base, seem to be intact without any issue. You still get that lovely backdrop with the shield and three javelins, and the battle helmet that I believe Wonder Woman has worn into battle.
The facial features aren't as altered as compared to Widow, but you'll still notice that the hair has been reduced (no colour difference, thank goodness), tiara size shrunken. The mouth is slightly worse that Widow as not only the teeth are messed up, but the general look of the lips are bad too. I guess at least Kotobukiya left the shape of her eyes generally intact.
Otherwise, sculpting and finishing on the rest of the body is quite nice. She's a lot less cut than I would have thought, though that's more of a source art thing, as she's not exactly ripped there either. So yeah, was expecting more of the gym girl look. She's certainly busty enough, though she's not packing much junk in the trunk. Some decent fabric detailing but it's not like she's wearing much soft fabrics, mostly in the trunks. Good texture work on the corset and belt area. Lasso of Truth a tad rough, but acceptable at the scale. Hands are well done. No production value concerns in regards to the actual body itself.
Lastly, we have Power Girl, the alternate Earth version of Super Girl. Same powers, but significantly different personality and outfit, complete with her trademark Boob Window. This statue was released in 2013 and as we go in for a closer look, you'll notice a few things.
Things are off to a good start. She's definitely less of departure from the source art, a bit too stretched out particularly in the legs. Head tilt and gaze are again off, but at least Power Girl isn't staring at the ground. Cape has been simplified somewhat, but that's understandable. Having said that, the cape unfortunately blocks the view of her back. Unlike the previous two statues, this one doesn't have any loose parts or anything for the base.
Now, if you look closely, you'll notice that Power Girl actually seems to have a full face. The Shunya artstyle didn't all of a sudden change - it's always been about curves and full faces, but it feels almost like they finally got rid of the sculptor of the previous statues,, though the smile is a bit smaller I still can't explain why the change of gaze, other than perhaps sculptor wanted the gaze to be towards the viewer, which is much better than staring at an arbitrary spot on the floor. Some of Kotobukiya typical quality, however, can be seen on the sculpting of the hair at the back, which is a bit messy and lacking crispness.
I feel by having the slimmer legs, we missed out having some epic cheeks like with Poison and R. Mika. Still, her curve aren't bad at all, even if not at full potential. Sculpting on the underboob area is a bit crude, and should have been sharper so her bulging cleavage in that area is better defined. Glossy paints to simulate leather type materials is nice, as are the sculpting details. Of course, the boob window is sufficiently large. Fabric detailing in her outfit are nicely done and sufficient in number.
So from these three pieces, you can sort of gauge the evolution of the Bishoujo products, or more accurately, you can better make out how they used to look. The concept itself is solid, always has been - it's just nice that the price to product ratio is better balanced now. It's actually weird, but the line went from overpriced to being one of the better values, by modern standards, where a true 1/7 scale will likely run you at least $150 CAD. The most annoying thing about being a Bishoujo collector, however, is how random the releases are. There's no rhyme or reason to the releases, with your favourite character just showing up out of the blue, and if you miss it, there's a very good chance by the time you realize it's existence, the aftermarket prices will be absolutely insane.
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