Another "Gundam Seed Destiny" related review after RAH DX Lunamaria Hawke Ver. 2 a couple of days ago, and there's not going to be just one, but five figurines to form a review series this time. ^^
Back to gashapon after the review of MS Gundam Seed Destiny EF Collection 5: Lunamaria Hawke in late June, this is MS Gundam Seed Destiny Heroines 3. ^^
As the name and volume number suggest, this particular gashapon series directly tied to MS Gundam Seed Destiny Heroines 7 I reviewed in November last year, as well as Gundam Heroine History Special Relena Peacecraft way back when. ^^; So the high level of quality on the figurines from the two mentioned series is to be expected I guess. ^^ I suppose we'll find out about that through this review.
Released in 2004, there are five figurines featuring Cagalli Yula Athha, Lacus Clyne, Flay Allster, Lunamaria Hawke and Stella Loussier in this set, as compared to six in MS Gundam Seed Destiny Heroines 7. Since they are shown on the box cover, I suppose the main "attractions" of this particular set are these two characters:
Cagalli and Lacus. ^^
Like Captain Ramius and Captain Gladys in MS Gundam Seed Destiny Heroines 7 with their special chair-type display bases, Cagalli and Lacus are designed to be different from the other three figurines in this set by being in unconventional lying positions. ^^ Meer Campbell from HGIF Gundam Character 3 Vol Gundam SEED Destiny is designed to be in this pose as well. ^^
Between the two, Cagalli would have to be the more outstanding on in my opinion because of her costume. ^^ I can't really remember much of "Gundam Seed Destiny" now, but I seriously can't remember her in that costume before. ^^ It's certainly a very unique and sexy image of Cagalli she's not commonly portrayed in. But I'll keep myself from commenting about that figurine until its dedicated posting. ^^
Stella is quite special as well in my opinion, as she's the only one who feature extra parts that allow her to be displayed in military uniform or under dress only. But I'll save more details until her dedicated posting too. ^^
All five types are shown on the sides and back of the box.
Top and bottom views of the box.
Box open.
The serial numbers inside the boxes are all the same except for one, for some unknown reason. ^^;
No knife is needed to open up the boxes since all of them have easy-to-tear edges.
A questionnaire/order form (?) printed inside the box.
All the boxes with their top and bottom sides cut off for easier storage. ^^
A gathering of all five figurines, still in their individual packages. ^^
That's about the entire set, moving on to introducing one of the figurines in this posting: Flay Allster ^^
A little bit of assembly required, as the figurine is being separated into a few parts.
In order to push Flay's skirt through her legs, her boots must be removed first.
Since the two boots look just the same, labels of "L" and "R" molded on the soles are mighty helpful to the final assembly. ^^
Even though a display base is included, the figurine can stand very well on flat surfaces without it. ^^
Two small clear parts for the display stand to be clipped onto the figurine's calves.
Flay with display base. ^^
More images of this gashapon figurine: ^^
Closeups on the details: ^^
The head can be turned to the sides to adjust Flay's viewpoints for a little bit of change in angle of display.
Technically a character who was only in "Gundam Seed", I suppose Flay counts as part of the "Gundam Seed Destiny" cast thanks to the endless flashback scenes of the Battle of Yakin Due. Kira Yamato was the only character alive in "Gundam Seed Destiny" to remember Flay, but with all the random flashbacks here and there now and then, maybe Shin got a flashback of Flay in one of the episodes as well I'm not sure XD
All jokes aside, this is a very nice gashapon figurine, and its quality is indeed on par with the others from the same overall series (to address the expectation mentioned at the beginning of this posting). All the colors are very show-accurate, and even though that ZAFT military uniform she's wearing is rather plain-looking, details like various wrinkles on the back and sleeves are taken care of nicely. ^^
The expression and pose are just normal I guess. ^^; It's a figurine of an expressionless standing Flay. I'm not too sure what to feel about her at all. ^^; Flay was an annoying but tragic character in "Gundam Seed", but she wasn't the first one of that character arc in the Gundam universe. Even though I don't like her at all, Flay created a lot of obstacles that helped to develop some of the other characters. Then again, as many ill-natured deeds as she did in the show, she met her demise at the end of the show, in a pretty nasty way I should add. I'm just glad that she didn't get to be featured in the subsequent show. ^^; But then again, almost all the characters are very poor written in "Gundam Seed Destiny", so it's very hard to imagine what Flay's role will be in that show if she did survive.
It's also interesting to note that Flay was voiced by Houko Kuwashima (桑島法子), who also performed the role of Captain Natarle Badgiruel in the same show. ^^ A high-pitched annoying voice for Flay and a low authoritative voice for Captain Natarle, but she did the two roles very nicely. ^^ There was one scene towards the end of the series when Captain Natarle talked to Flay when she returned from Rau Le Creuset. That must have been quite a challenge for Houko Kuwashima to voice two different characters in one shot. ^^;
While there's no option part included for this figurine, Flay's skirt is made as a separate piece (on purpose by the designer no doubt XD), so she can be displayed without it for a "different" view. ^o^
Since she's part of a complete gashapon series that I have, there'll be no individual gallery for Flay like MS Gundam Seed Destiny EF Collection 5: Lunamaria Hawke or MS Gundam Seed Destiny EF Collection 3: Meer Campbell. Like what I did with MS Gundam Seed Destiny Heroines 7, the reviews for the other four figurines will be spread out in separate postings in the future. ^^
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment