Figuarts Zero Boa Hancock & Salome

The lady and her snake
Finally, another cutie after Nendoroid Hatsune Miku Absolute HMO Edition. ^^


This is Tamashii Nations' Figuarts Zero Boa Hancock and Salome. She is the second and presently the last fixed figurine from the Figuarts Zero in my collection after the first Boa Hancock.

So, you can say that I have no other character besides Boa Hancock from the Figuarts Zero line, despite it featuring close to 90 releases now. ^^

I really like the character of Boa Hancock. ^^ Not much I can say for the motive of getting this figurine apart from that sentiment. ^^ She is very beautiful, and intriguingly so I think. Her red dress as seen on the first version has a very South-East Asian feel to it, as its design is close to that of a Kebaya dress commonly worn by women in this region. The blue cheongsam on this version on the other hand, has a very obvious Chinese flavor in it. ^^ Such mixture of real life cultural elements which are very close in my life on an anime character always seem very interesting to me. ^^

A relatively new item in my collection this is, as she came out in February this year. Anything that is reviewed the same year it came out is considered very new to me. XD The price is 1,000 Yen more than the first version, as Boa Hancock's pet snake Salome is also part of the package.



Front view of the box.


Merchandising seal of Toei Animation, "One Piece" and Bandai's logos near the bottom of the box.



Side views of the box.



Top and bottom views of the box.


Introduction of the figurine on the back of the box.





Option right arm included to allow Boa Hancock to be shown in a different pose. A display base with the character's personalized emblem is included as well.


Shown with Luffy D. Monkey (New World Ver.) and Jinbei (New World Ver.) from the same figurine line.
Comparison with the first version:







The ginormous box size of this new version is very obvious to see. ^^ Given the two figurines of Boa Hancock are of the same size in this scale, the box size difference is all due to Salome's volume in the new version. ^^;

Comparison with the Chibi-Arts version makes the box size difference even more apparent. ^^




The box's windows provide a very clear view of Boa Hancock and Salome stored inside it. ^^




















Boa Hancock's cheongsam is a lot simpler than her dress in the first version. It's in a single color and has quite a few personalized emblems printed all over it. However, the quality of the sculpting and painting is definitely on par with the first version. The glossy paint work of the dress, little snake earrings and very nicely painted fingernails on her raised right hand are the figurine's highlights for me. ^^ Arguably, due to the dress's simplicity, the character's body line can be seen much easily, and it's very nicely sculpted. ^o^

On a more serious note, I can definitely see an improvement in terms of the face detailing on this version. Mentioned in its review that I was disappointed at how little the face design on the first version resembles the actual character or the official box image. That undesirable gap is pretty much closed on this version, ^^ as a more focused expression can be seen on the figurine this time, and it's very nice. ^^ I'm not sure if this improvement is part of the gradual progressions implemented by Tamashii Nations in this figurine line, or a direct 'correction' aimed at the first version. Either way, I'm very happy with the outcome on this version. ^^

Since Boa Hancock's costume design and paint work are simpler on this figurine, her pet snake Salome seems a lot more colorful than his master. ^^ Clearly the fangs and tongue in its mouth are nicely painted, as with all the patterned shades on its body. Then again, I don't really care about the snake at all to really appreciate its detailing. ^^; I would be perfectly fine if this release only contains the figurine of Boa Hancock and nothing else. ^^ I can definitely see the need to put in something different and special to differentiate it from the first version though. ^^ Also, when her military cape is removed, I suspect the first Figuart Zero Boa Hancock can be placed in the middle of Salome's coiled body to be displayed with it. ^^ Still, I have no intention of removing the figurines from their boxes though. ^^

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Figuarts Zero Boa Hancock & Salome