Moé Moé Rabu

With a busy schedule of working and with very little time to do anything on the weekends, I still manage to find the time to go out and do some figure photography. Now with a steady income, the figures are still marching in, so hopefully I can clear this backlog soon. This time around, I present Akira E Ferrari of Himeya, from ARIA.

Akira is one of the Three Water Fairies in the world of ARIA, and is the one who is the most strictest. But she does have her caring side and happens to be one of the coolest characters. I wouldn’t exactly say that Akira is one of my favourite characters, but just like the others, I do enjoy her unique character. But does this rendition of Akira by Solid Works do any justice? Well read on.

Just like all the previous Undine figures, Akira is wearing the summer uniform. If there’s one thing I like about the Himeya uniform, its that all the Undines wear high heels rather than boots like in ARIA Company and Orange Planet. It gives the character a more feminine touch to the overall look. And yes, Akira is all woman, despite her tomboyish behaviour back when she was little. Her pose is does show the cool attitude that Akira has, with how she holds the oar one handed and her other hand raised to her chin, with a gazing look on her face.

There aren’t really many defining features about Akira that would make her stand out to the other Undines. Except perhaps her long black hair and her sharp brown eyes. Her face however I’m a little on the fence about. It’s not exactly terrible, but it does seem a little plain. I’m not exactly sure what the sculptor was aiming for when they envisioned Akira, but I don’t think it captures Akira’s character very well. But nether the less, it’s a good effort.

As usual, each Undine comes with their respective oar and the Company’s president. This time we see Hime-shachou taking it easy. Akira is also screwed to the base but with two screws as opposed to one, which is good as it give her less chance of twisting on the base. Though I’ll see how well Akira can stand without the base when I place her in the cabinet, and I’m hoping that she is balanced enough to stand on her own.

Product: Akira E Ferrari
Anime/Game: ARIA The Natural
Produced by: Solid Works
Sculptor: Shikanaru
Scale: 1/6
Material: PVC
Release Date: May 2007
Price: ¥6,980
Available: HLJ (out of stock)

So with Akira being the 5th out of 6 Undine figures to be released, there really isn’t much to comment about. She is a plain and simple figure, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes a simple figure can be done well, however I still think that this figure doesn’t feel like Akira at all. With me being a huge ARIA fan, even I find it hard to describe Akira, and though I say it’s not like Akira, I don’t actually dislike it at all.

The quality of Akira I find remarkably done well, for a Solid Works figure of course. The previous Undine figures had a problem hiding the mold lines of the uniform but with Akira, you can’t notice them at all. The only really noticeable flaws is the edges of the sleeves and Akira’s hat, but other than that, the sculpting and paintwork are done rather well. As an overall figure, I find Akira to be a good figure, however I probably wouldn’t recommend people to buy her just on the basis that it doesn’t seem like Akira. So does that mean I regret buying her? No not at all.

So now there is only one Undine left and that is Athena. Hopefully I can clear through the backlog soon as I have an awesome location for Athena’s photoshoot. But of course there is also GSC’s Alicia to look forward to as well as Solid Works ARIA trading figures, which I’m hoping I get the entire set.

Photography Notes:

The location this time around is at a well known factory outlet shopping centre, Birkenhead Point. The idea came when I went there a few weeks ago with a friend to do some shopping, and I noticed that there was the waterfront nearby.

One thing about these photos is that they are too bright. I should really stop doing photos during broad daylight, but I can’t be bothered waiting till the afternoon. However I do notice that in some shots, I get that nice bright glow effect. Also this time I used a white reflector board, but when you are by yourself, it gets quite hard to position.