Monday, December 17, 2012

Kotobukiya's Marvel Bishoujo Collection Rogue

Shunya Yamashita's Rogue

Cutie of the month. ^^


This is Marvel Bishoujo Collection Rogue from Kotobukiya. First released in June 2009, she was the second release in the entire series, after Black Widow who came out a month earlier. So, you could say that she's quite a "veteran". XD

This is definitely one of the most sought-after items on my list of missed purchases from the past. ^^ I was hoping to get her the moment she was announced three years back, but due to budget constraint, I had to give her up at that time. As usual with all the things you desire but didn't buy it straight away when they first come out, I ended up chasing after the figurine for years until recently when I managed to get a very rare unopened version of her from a local online forum member. It was a happy ending to a very long search, and I'm definitely glad to be able to finally cross out this item on that dreadful list. ^^




(Left) Arrangement by Shunya Yamashita.
(Right) Kotobukiya's and Marvel Universe's logo printed on the box.


Side views of the box.


Top and bottom views of the box.




Introduction of the figurine on the back of the box.


Black Widow from the same figurine line is also shown.

The box's front window provides a very clear view of Rogue:














The scale of Rogue is 1/8, which is just normal for a fixed pose figurine I think. To my relief, she came in an average-sized box which didn't cause me too much trouble in locating a space for her in my collection. ^^ Given her scale and pose, I was expected a box as big as that of Excellent Model 1/8 Sheryl Nome from Megahouse. Luckily that wasn't the case. ^^

Comparison with Figuarts Zero Boa Hancock & Salome's box.




Boa Hancock's box is a bit deeper as compared to Rogue's.

Comparison with Yamato's Hattori Kiriko Ninja Ver's box.


While their poses seem to be very similar to one another, their scales are of two different worlds. ^^ It's noteworthy that Shunya Yamashita did the character design for the figurine of Hattori Kiriko Ninja Ver. as well. ^^

Like what I did with RAH DX Lunamaria and Lunamaria Ver. 2, the unsealed bottoms flaps allow me to pull the container out from the bottom of the box. ^^


It's a backdoor to get a better view of the content. ^^


The backdrop for the figurine cannot be removed from the box.

More images of Marvel Bishoujo Collection Rogue behind her container: ^^









Closeups on the details:













Rear view:








Granted that all of them are designed by Shunya Yamashita, character-wise, I always like Rogue's "bishoujo" feel the most out of the entire Bishoujo Collection series. There's a mixed sense of beauty, cuteness and even carefree on the figurine, which kept me searching for her all these years after missing the initial chance to make the purchase. I think the figurine designer deliberately added a higher dosage of cuteness to her expression design, as compared to Shunya Yamashita's character illustration as shown on the box. The latter shows a more matured and intense look on Rogue, which is very good nonetheless, but I like the "altered" treatment given to the figurine more. ^^

The third release in the series, Scarlet Witch has an expression that is pretty similar to Rogue's, and I like it very much as well. ^^ Then again, I'm not too fond of her headgear and figurine pose. ^^

Apart from the expression design, the overall figurine is very appealing to me. Her skin-tight outfit and its high color contrast really shows off Rogue's sexy body line. ^o^ It's a very beautiful figurine in that regards, and I really appreciate that beauty. ^^

It's interesting to see that the Marvel Bishoujo Collection series eventually expanded beyond the Marvel universe to include other series. The title Marvel was of course taken off to reflect the inclusion of other comic and non-comic series, including DC Comics Bishoujo with the first release been Batgirl in 2010 and the more recent Movie Bishoujo with Lucy from "Ghostbusters" in 2011 and Games Bishoujo Liara T'Soni from "Mass Effect 3" who was released just this year. I believe the overall series has great potential. It seems like any female characters from any series can make it into this figurine line when character illustrator Shunya Yamashita gives them his touch of "Bishoujo-lization". (XD) The potential is endless. ^^

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Kotobukiya's Marvel Bishoujo Collection Rogue

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