While I generally have no hesitation erring on the sluttier side of things when it comes to my figures, I generally don't get explicitly 18+ items (18+ in Japan, not the weak sauce 18+ we often get here). There's just really no way to spin things, and furthermore, things are often even more expensive than the regular stuff.
Having said that, I occasionally run into something that for various reasons has my interest, though I won't lie generally it's price first.
Let's take a quick look at the Beat 1/7 Keumaya Akumako Yagi - Black Goat Daughter 2.0.
So back in '08 or so, I remember seeing a classified for statue that ended up being a Bootleg. I returned it, but I did do a bit of research on the subject matter.
In Japan, many people who would go on to become industry names in the Character Goods world often get their start as independents. One such party was Keumaya, who came up with concept of some pretty radical looking cast off figures. I have some familiarity with two of the lines - the Akumako Yagi line and the Hyper Nurse line. Both featured some very intense designs, with the Akumako Yagi line featuring Animal/Human hybrids, and Hyper Nurse featuring... slutty nurses, both lines having characters inexplicably armed with melee and projectile weapons. The original kits were solid like prize figures - they come in pieces and you have to assemble them.
Having said all that, based on the insane premise of the characters, you can probably see how I was amused to find out a full fledged manufacturer licensed these lines to produce mass manufactured scale statues. This is why I ended up buying this one for $40 CAD.
Out the box and armed. You can probably tell by now that this isn't your run of the mill cutesy anime statue, or even a statue from a mature mainline title. As I mentioned, a very distinct look for the character on the whole, and for whatever reason, weaponry. Overall sculpting/detailing isn't bad - a bit light on the hair/head but that seems to be hit and miss anywhere you go, but what really stands out is the musculature At this point, it's really most noticeable on the back. It's always nice to see attention paid to this sort of thing, even if the purpose of piece isn't Fine Art.
Detailing on the fabric is also competent, though admittedly it's not meant to look super dynamic. Another typical area of weakness, fingertips and nails, are also very competent.
Detailing on the Katana is competent, but it looks like they didn't even try with the pistol.
Alternate parts in the set are extra arms as well as a second face. The face is equally intense as the first one. The hands basically eliminate the pistol toting hand and allow for a different grip on the Katana. The hands can, of course, be mixed and matched, giving a few combination options. One good thing about this secondary Katana grip is that it takes up much less table space. The head can also slightly turn for a bit of variety.
Paint Applications are surprisingly good. I say that as I generally wouldn't expect the A Team working on a line like this. Most of the paint is pretty straight forward - just don't over spray and have competent masking, and you'll be fine. Some areas of weakness observed on the neckerchief. The "see through" paint application is very subtle and the shade of orange used created a very believable illusion that her crop top is wet and clinging to her chest, with a small Pink paint spot to represent the nipples.
There's actually a bit more to Build Quality here than your typical statue due to the interchangeable parts and of course, the cast off function. Limbs and the face use your typical slot and tab methodology. Removable clothing also uses the same methods, but due to the softer material and generally loser tolerances on this type of material. The bottom actually doesn't like to stay together that well.
Speaking of the bottom, I think a dual set of tabs would have worked out better, because the way it is in order to take it off I need to stretch the side that doesn't open up and slip it down the leg, which could either affect material durability
The only other thing I can think of in terms of Build Quality is that it would have been nice if the pegs were metal. By the time this statue was released, it was 2015, and movement to improve the overall durability of these statues was in full swing. I'm actually kind of surprised it isn't a metal peg, but hey, budget constraints will be budget constraints.
Otherwise, the moulding and sanding on the body is actually quite good, better than the Megahouse stuff of yesteryear. As mentioned earlier, the musculature is quite nice, and the lack of obvious seams and poor finishes really helps the work stand out. For those wondering, yes, she's anatomically correct, though it's nothing as wild as with the TBLeague pieces.
So overall, a surprisingly good piece, especially when one considers its source material and the fact that I've never even heard of Beat up until today - I see their catalogue is a lot of smaller things, but I'm not sure how much exposure they get in the Scale world. This is clearly not a piece I can actually recommend to anyone because, well, it's a very strange subject matter that has an incredibly niche target audience. Even among Cast Off pieces the aesthetic is very distinct.
For Full Gallery, please visit:
Comments