GOLDEN KAMUY PUCHIRAMA DX STENKA

 Once upon a time anime was unlike anything we ever seen with a visual quality hard to belive as well as characters and storys imposible not to love and care as well as a quirky humor and no shame on show violence or even sexuality. Somehow only that last part remain and anime turned into a lolicon slop with repeated themes and formulas (called isekai). Tough theres still some corners where anime is reminiscent of old gloris like City Hunter or Fist of the North Star, and one of those gems is Golden Kamuy.

Golden Kamuy not only have crazy expresive characters (again, reminiscent of XX century anime with an almost "Fleischer" or "Tex Avery" style) but also manages to be extremelly serious and dramatic while being ridiculous and fesity all by teaching a history lesson of Japan most darker corners and sheed light into the Ainu in a way no other work has it done. Plus its just as violent and wild like Saint Seiya or Ashita no Joe and is just as manly as well, avoiding completelly the sexualization of little girls like most anime do.

I cant really recomend enough Golden Kamuy - specially the manga - to those who wants wants to be entertained as well as get knowledge by doing it. It really a very special series to lok up but somehow it dosnt have too much merch in the figures department aside of a couple of very expensive statues and a bunch of overpriced Nendroids.

Soo yhea, i love this anime but i dont really have a collection for it until now, that Megahouse released theyr "Puchirama DX" based on Golden Kamuy. Waths a Puchirama DX you can ask? I have no idea but it seems they are a collection of small busts focused on shonen and seinen animes, like Naruto, DragonBall or One Piece. They have a very spectacular design but in small scale and more cheaper than Nendroids soo when they shown a Golden Kamuy one i was sure to pre-order it last year.

Soo this is a statue, a static sculture with no articulations or accesorys and give it size is a little heavy since its not a really big piece. The characters are in scale with standar action figures like NECA or Storm but given they are only from the waist up, this figure is half size of all those action figures.

I really wish it was bigger but i guess the low price and size are the selling points in here. 

The scene have not only one character but four, another of the selling point of this thing: Sugimoto Saichi in the front with Koito Otonashi on his rigth, Tsukishima Hajime on his left and Tanigaki Genjurou on the back, all together in a wodden structure and the logo in the front.

The wodden structure is totally broken in the back and have some bandages hanging around tough while the texture is very good, theres not much paint here soo the wodden looks pretty clean and very "anime". The Golden Kamuy logo in the front is painted in golden paint on top of a black sculpt soo it stands out pretty nicelly.

Sugimoto is launching a frontal punch and sporting his jacket hanging from hisshoulders and his military hat. The sculpt on his is terrific!! The musculature structure as well as the twist on his hips are very realstic and the scars of cuts and bullets are all sculpted. While the jacket is plain dark blue with no other paint added, his skin have a lot of shading for each of his muscles to stand out. The scars are also painted in darker brown but the bullets holes are not painted.

His face expression is really fierce with each of Sugimoto´s scars sculpted tough it is shadowed by his hat a little bit. The yellow details and silver star on his hat are perfectly painted just like the inside of  his mouth and scars but more specially, his eyes. The eyes looks amazing specially for th small scale.

Tsukishima on the rigth is shirtless and in a battle stance more comtempted thatn Sugimoto with his serius expression of always. Hes skin color is more pale than Sugimoto tough the scars of bullets and cuts are pretty similar to Sugimoto´s, sculpted and painted in a dark tone, he also have the same darker brush aplied to his muscles to give them shadows. 

His buzz cut hair is painted in a dark brown while the stubble and lines under his eyes as well as the mouth are painted with a black line in a very anime fashion, his eyes are allso magnifically painted tough theyr shape and looks are very different to thsoe of Sugimoto´s.

Koito is at the other side in the most restrained pose of them all, with the arms crossed in front of his chest in a very manly way and his jacket hangingfrom his shoulders. The military green jacket is pretty clean and have no details painted beyond the red lines and silver stars and Koito skin colr is the darker of them all tough i dont think he have the ssame brush of shadows the other two guys have since his skin color looks pretty clean.

The pectorals and abs are very good looking and his face expression is very stoic. While his body is the most clean of them all, his eyes are also very good painted and looks different to the rest of the men in here. His hair is in the same dark blue as his pants or Sugimoto´s jacket and for me this is the character i like less in this sculpture. I really would liked more to have Ogata.

And finally in the back is Tanigaki Genjorou, my favorite character and the one that stands out more since he is sculpted to the knees to stand taller than the rest and have the most powerfull pose of them all with the open arms and his chest puffed out. 

The muscles are amazing and perfect and i am not talking just about the front since his back side is perfectly visible and as detailed as the front. He also have an amazing ass even covered by his pants and the planks. His skin color is darker than Sugimoto´s and Tsukishima´s but is ligther than Koito and while he dosnt  have the same brush to give shadow to his muscles as the first two, he have each hair of his hary torso painted.

His expression is fierce. The buzz cut hair is black and they also painted the scar onunder his eye. I love his stubble and his bushy eye brows and his eyes. I really cant lie, this guy was my main reason to buy this statue.

Again, my only complaing here is the size. This figure is really small but i guess thats also a plus for storage space. It dosnt have too much of a presence with other figures but all alone, in the shelf and with the Golden Kamuy mangas it looks as a fantastic display. Even soo, i am still waiting for more Golden Kamuy collectibles to have since i would like this series to have a bigger presence in my collection.

VON LYCAON

 Now this is a first time for me and this place...a review of a figure thats not part of my collection at all!! A friend of mine wasnt able to recive this figure thanks to his job, soo this guy arrved to my home first and, given how rare and unique this is, i dont want to miss the chance to put info about this figure in here because this kind of figures fade in obscurity extremelly fast.

This is no ordinary figure, this is an adult NSFW figure, extremelly limited and expensiv and once this figures comes out, theyr existance on the internet disolve completelly - i know, i been searchign info about this kind of figures and is very rare to find anything - , plus this are too good to keep them hidden in the shadows and they deserve to be shown by as many people as posible but of course, i will keep the dirty bits out of this place but i will write another review in another place for that part of the figure, read and pictures are completelly safe here.

Last year the studio behind Genshin Impact (i wont write its name!!) launched Zenless Zone Zero, also called ZZZ, an urban fantasy action RPG free to play. I usually try to avoid this kind of games but this one in particular build an incrediblly atractive world mixed with pretty good hack and slash combat system as well as pretty interesting and likeable characters. Its a kind of difficult to explain game but the art direction is really fantastic, specially on the character design department and one of the favorite characters is Von Lycaon, an elegant werewolf part of the Victoria Housekeeping faction.

Is imposible not to ike this guy, from his looks to his story and voice and personality soo adult figure studios didnt doubt a second and started working on a NSFW figure of him incrediblly fast and this is one of the many results of him, from Lingze Studio.

This guy is HUGE, like an entire ehad taller than a Sideshow/Hot Toys figure but he is also extremell heavy since is made of resin. The material is hard and fresh and very soft to the touch, classy but i am afraid is also very delicate in the pointy parts. He cant stand on his own without the base tough but the peg that conects him to the base is a metal rod soo i think he wont have any balance issues (i mean, i am sure the rod goes pretty deep on his legs soo unless the entire leg broke he will be fine).

The sculpt here is really really good, worthy of the high price. The many layers of the hair in the front as well as the spiky hair on the back and coming out from his hears are really good looking. The canine snout is a little bit shorter than in the game but is kind of difficult to see and the rest of the shapes are perfect match of the game: the broad shoulders, the waist, the really long legs. Of course theres not much texture here because this is basically an anime character soo his fur is completelly clean of textures.

I do love the fur coming out from under his sleeves, gloves and neck, as well as his long claws, but his suit is really the stellar part here since it have a very nice fabric texture and both looks and feels to the touch pretty good. The vest and the shirt hug his body shape pretty nicelly and every button, detail and strap are perfectly sculpted.

Another impresive part are his prostethic legs, The sculpt replicate perfectly the intrincate design that remidns of Raiden´s body from Metal Gear Solid. The front side looks very slick and dynamic while in the back side you can see all the mechanics and engines that give power to his icy kicks. Very cool deffinetly but this is the section that must use extra care since the legs are soo long and easy to brake.

The mechanical legs are painted in gunmetal black mixed with some silver and golden details and everything have is aligned to have a metalic look while the metalic sectionson his hips have a ix of black and grey that gives them the look of old and used metal. The suit is clean dark purple with some white details in the best and metalic buttons and back pads mixed with grey to look natural and the shirt is extremelly white clean with very soft purples to give shadows to the very few wrinkles on it.

All the black straps on his neck, face and hands are perfectly painted while the fur parts are completelly white - again to mimick an animated design - tough with some soft grey shade on the point of the ears and the hairs of the front. His mouth is painted as a black anime line and his eye also have a pretty anime decign witha red pupil. This red pupil along side the crimson handkerchief on his chest are stand out perfectly.

Both arms and head can be removed to store him but they have a pretty strong magnet that keeps them in place. In fact, is actually quiet challenguing to remove them without braking the tiny hairs since the magnetism is extremelly strong.

Now his tail. His tail is huge and very hairy and full of straps. The black straps have some dark grey washing while the white fur is clean but with some dark grey in the end part to make it look more dashing but the sculpt in the strands is really good and styled witha  perfect flow. The tail have a big metalic rod that goes inserted on Lycaon back side but with mo magnet, the tail feels a little wobbly and i dont like that since its quiet a heavy piece. Everytime i move him around is better to remove the tail soo it dosnt get any damage.

His only accesory is a golden watch with the lid open that fits perfectly on his hand, and while the golden paint looks good as well as the inside of the clok with the numbers, is a little tricky to fit it between Lycan claws and dont broke the lid of the tail in the process.

The base is a big and extremelly heavy resin square sculpted and painted to mimic a wood floor. The pathern is good and the wood paint looks perfect but the only section that conects it with the figure is a a tiny hole to insert Lycaon,s metal rod from the leg of the front. I would feel much better if they added a second hole to insert both legs instead of a single one.

And lastly theres a couch. A elegant and simple looking white couch with a golden structure and buttons on it, to make it looks like Lycaon is walking on the halls of a manor. This peice looks good and the paint is correct if only quiet simplistic but the problem here is that this thing is ULTRA HEAVY!!! This couch can broke bones peetty easy or even be used as a mortal weapon since this is thick thick resin. I guess this helps keep the base in place but still, the weigth of this piece really needs a strong table for siplay.

Oh and i almost forget!! It also includes a little card with metalic foil with an image of the figure and the production number, this is figure number 50 but i have no idea wath was the complete production number. A pretty nice detail for such a limited item.

Overall this figure is really amazing, high quality in both material, sculpt and paint. I wish the tail feels safer and the weigth of the base is really something to be carefull with, but i love how this can be displayed in a NSFW and a normal and safe piece, pretty handy for when theres visits. 

There is more accesorys and even an extra body in here but i will cover them in [ fight and fear ] for those interested on the adult part of this figure.

JOE HIGASHI

 And the next opponent is Joe Higashi!!

Oh boy! It has been a long journey with both Storm Collectibles and The King of Fighters, a series that the people of Storm love very much since, along side Street Fighter, they have been releasing loads of characters of this specific series, one more amazing that the last one and this year has been specially busy with them releasing a figure almots every two weeks! The reason behind that is kind of sad for me but the good thing is we didnt had to wait years between figures.

For a fighting game enthusiast, The Kinf of Fighters is one of the strongholds that build the entire genre and give it shape, from its mechanics to its character design and while the game is full of iconic characters, some of them trully shine no matter how much time comes and goes, like Kyo and Iori, Terry and of course Joe Higashi. 

Joe has always stand out as one of the most versatile and easy to use characters with a pretty cool Muay Thai move set with pretty flashy combos but while he is really serious busines in the ring, outside he is extremelly fun and comical character that always give us the best endings since its debut in Fatal Fury. And for gaymers out there he has been our crush since the begining of the 90s, one of the very first male characters in videogames that made us fall in love and made us dream to have a boyfiriend like him when we grew up. And it only took 32 years of wait to finally have him as action figure!!!

Really, i been asking Storm in theyr social media pages for this guy for...10 years already...i wasnt expect them to actually do a Joe Higashi figure soo this guy is one of my main interest in this collection. Joe is the same scale as the rest of the Storm figures, standar size with NECA and McFarlane as well and a head shorter than Yashiro, King or Demitri and can stand on his own perfectly (tough like always, a base would have been a welcome extra).

He is articulated on the head, shoulders, biceps, elbows, wrists, chest wait, legs, knees, ankles and half feet. Like always, the chest peice is made of soft plastic soo it let his head to tilt to the front, back and to the sides pretty perfectly since the short hair dosnt get in the way. The butterfly on the shoulders moves smootly and both the elbows and knees have a double articulation. Both the biceps and tigths rotate for better adjustment and...overall his simplistic design gives him total liberty of movement. 

Actually i think this is the nudest figure soo far since Joe is using less clothes than King. The 3 pieces of shorts (hips and each leg) are made with soft plastic and the bandana on the back of his head too, but it also can rotate and be removed with a peg.

I am very very happy with the sculpt here since Joe is really handsome and they catch perfectly his playfull smile as well as his steel gaze on his eyes. The face shape is based entirelly on Shinkiro art and the hair - the part that makes me more anxious - have the rigth size to looks like Joe and at the same time looks realistic, since over the years Joe hair has changued size multiple times, size and shape as well but this particular design is the most easy to recognize.

Each strand of hair is sculpted individually and every single one of them is made with soft plastc, including the strand that falls to the front of his bandana. The body shape is perfect, very muscly and athletic but slimer than Geese or Ryu, the body of a healty Muay Thai fighter. The muscular build is pretty impresive, with veins on the arms and other sexy details along side a velvet texture.

The bandages on the wrists are also made of soft plastic and they can be removed once the hands are gone. The shorts have the rigth amount of wrinkles since is kind of tigth and looks good but aside of that theres not much detail in here to talk about since this guy is 90% nude.

The short is painted in a mix of brigth orange and soft orange mixing together and giving it a kind of "denim" look but is very soft and imposible to see on photos. The yellow lines at the bottom are a little sloppy, but the tag in front with JOE writen on it is perfectly painited. The bandages are pain white and the protection of his feet are plain brown with more yellow finishes.

Each section of the body is cast in skin color but unlike the other Storm figures, this one have a brush of pretty soft darker skin tone to give shadows and deep to the muscles. The effect is really good since everything stand out, specially on the torso and even his nipples are painted, pretty rare with the other figures of this series except for Devil Jin.

The face is pretty clean with the mouth painted just as a thin black line and the eyes shape and eyebrows are perfect. The brown on his eyes matches that of his hair, and each strand of hair have a dark wash on the base that gets lighter on the top too each strand of hair stands out individually. The bandana is plain white and the red sun in front is perfectly painted.

On the accesorys department theres not much but he have the rigth amount of items. For starters he have seven pairs of hands, all bandaged and made with soft plastic: closed fists, hands with a pointing finger, completelly relaxed hands, half relaxed hands, claw shaped hands, totally open hands and .....other pair in between them....i dont know, to be honest its kind of difficult to see the difference in some or even find use for them because they are 90% the same. Then again, is better to ave more hands than missing ones and this variety gives Joe a lot of expresivity.

Then he have two extra heads aside of the normal one with the smile. The second head is showing his teeth in a kind fo smile expression mixed with anger, while the third head is screaming. Both looks perfect on the sculpt and paint department and the inside of the open mouth is impresive painted like always.

Then he have 3 bandanas, all made with soft plastic and painted in white and they cna be attached to the back of the heads with a peg. Why 3 of the same? I dont know...its not like you can display the 3 heads ate the same time soo only one is necesary but oh well...

The biggest part on this pack is his effect, a big tornado cast in transluscent grey plastic with a black brush. It also comes with two extra rings that fit end to end at the back of the tornado with a 4 pegs. Once the rings are in place (a smaller one at the bottom and a bigger one at the top) they looks like they are wind gust floating on the tornado. They looks really good and while basically this is pretty similar to Goenitz´s, this tornado is thicker and shorter, consturcted ona single piece.

Of course, this is the famed Hurricane Upper, Joe´s most popular special movement and while i wish they added a flame effect for his feet or knees for the Tiger Kick or Ougon no Kakato, this accesory is really huge and as tall as Joe himself, soo i cant complaign.

But i can complaign about the background....a tradition on Storm Collectible figures, a background printed on cardboard, with the scene of the Japan Temple stage from KoF 98, exactly the same as Ryo Sakazaki´s. They already give us a duplicate background with Goenitz soo this is a small clue Storm is not as carefull as it used to. The printing is good and the color palette is very dark and Joe stands out on it, but i was expecting something more colorfull and spectacular for him.

Joe Higashi is a pretty simple design but Storm did a great job adding all the needed details to make him feel high quality and give it all the charm of his original character despite his simplicity (just ike Ryu) and in more than 30 years,, this is pretty much the only figure in existance of Joe, soo i am damn happy to have him on my hands and i am double happy they did such a good job with him!

Now lets just wait the next opponent...but it seems this will be the last one. Storm has been releasing a lof of the figures on pre-order at the same time because they are opening a brand new series called Storm Arena. This figures will be...well, the same characters of fight games, but cheaper and of smaller size and given how difficult is for them to release the figures as they are, i doubt they can release two different scales soo they will most probablly stop this series to focus on the miniatures.

I am not interested in miniatures, specially after investing soo much time and money to this scale already. They will release Kim, Ralf and Andy next but i am nto very interestd on them and i dont know if i may get Andy just to complete the Fatal Fury Team. I am tempted to et Nakoruru and Eartquake just to complete the Samuria Shodown line because i doubt we see more figures of this characters someday.

They anounced Jacky from Virtua Fighter years ago and i deffinetly want him but given how logn has been, maybe they cancelled him already soo my Storm Collectibles collection is on its very last moments or maybe, it already ended, i dunno. But if this is the end, i am actually happy Joe Higashi was the one giving it a worthy ending.