After being absent for nearly five months, Gundam gashapon is making a comeback on this blog with this old figurine set. ^^
Released in mid May 2005, this is MS Gundam Seed Heroines 5. Unlike Lacus Clyne from Vol. 9 reviewed in December last year, it's the complete set of five figurines. Following the "pattern" of similar reviews established by previous sets from the MS Gundam Seed Heroines series, including Vol. 3, 4, and 7, reviews for the five figurines in this set are going to be spread out, since each figurine has the quality to be featured in its own review in my opinion. More importantly, I think it's better to have random appearances of cuties every now and then in future reviews, instead of pushing them out all at once. ^^
Apart from Stella who is shown on the box art, the other four figurines included in this set are Cagalli, Lunamaria, Meyrin, and Lacus. All of them are important characters in either "MS Gundam SEED" or its sequel I would say, as they serve as the main characters' love interest, to a certain extend. Interestingly, the characters included for this set are not only exactly the same as Vol. 3, Stella seems to be the most significant figurine in each respective set. ^^ In Vol. 3, she comes with two body parts that allows her to be displayed in full OMNI uniform, or without the jacket. In this set, she is featured in her civilian dress with a dancing pose that made her the most hefty in terms of volume among the five figurines. The emphasis on her is obvious as she's shown as the box art figurine of this particular series. ^^
Then again, the other four figurines have their own interest design points. Cagalli is designed to be in her full Orb military suit, for the first time in the entire MS Gundam Seed Heroines line (and the only one if the special Destiny Best set is not counted), Lunamaria and Meyrin come with option parts for them to be displayed with different poses/emotion, while Lacus features a more anime-accurate face detailing than her Vol. 9 self. ^^ Personally, just by looking at the images on the box, Cagalli and Stella are my picks as the more significant figures in this particular set, for reasons already stated above, but each figure is going to be reviewed in details nonetheless. ^^
All five types are shown on the sides and back of the box.
Top and bottom views of the box.
(Left) Box open.
(Right) No knife is needed to open up the boxes since all of them have easy-to-tear edges.
For storage purpose, the top and bottom sides, and the ears of the boxes are cut away. The boxes, or what's remains of them, can now be stored as five cards. ^^
Simple pictorial instruction on the assembly of Stella can be seen behind the box cover.
Interestingly, the instruction can be seen behind all five covers, not just that of Stella's own box.
A product questionnaire behind the front cover.
A collective view of all the five figurines still in their packages, unopened and yet to be assembled. ^^
That's all about the entire set, moving on to introducing Cagalli as the figurine to kick off this review series. ^^
The package containing parts for Cagalli.
A little bit of assembly is required, as the figurine is being separated into a few parts.
As her legs are slightly bent after staying in the box for too long, the figurine must depend on the display base for her to stand up straight. ^^;
More images of this gashapon figurine: ^^
Closeups on the details:: ^^
[Head]
The head can be turned to the sides to adjust Cagalli's viewpoints for a little bit of change in angle of display.
[Body]
[Left arm]
Unmistakably, a ring can be seen sculptured on the ring finger of her left hand. ^^
Cagalli did indeed wear a ring in "MS Gundam SEED Destiny", which was given to her by Athrun in Episode 8. ^^
[Right arm]
[Legs]
A very nicely sculptured and painted figurine of Cagalli this is. ^^ The clear color differentiation of all the different sections on her military uniform is a testament of the figurine's overall quality in my opinion. As with most other MS Gundam SEED Heroines figurines reviewed in the past, the designer certainly got the color tones of all the details right with Cagalli, so you get a figurine of the character that is really close to the actual design as seen in the show. There are a few inconsistent details, for example the yellow patches in front of the collars and the Orb emblems on the left sleeve are not painted, and the number of colored rows on her ribbons is not the same as the actual design, but I still feel that overall details are very well treated, and are very accurate to the uniform's design in the anime. ^^
Cagalli in her military uniform from Episode 45 of the anime series.
I like the face sculpt for this version of Cagalli. It's certainly nice to see a more confident, and happier-looking Cagalli. ^^ The only complain I have about the face sculpt is the unexplained gap between her fringe and forehead. ^^; The gap is so huge the fringe is casting shadow on her forehead! XD Is that even humanly possible? I'm not sure. XD
Besides the face sculpt, there are a couple of very nice details that stood out a lot on the figurine, at least to me. ^^ Despite missing a couple of details listed earlier on, other minute details like the two red triangular spots on the collars are accurately realized, and so is the sculptured details of the aiguillette. The ring mentioned earlier on is one of them. Even though it's unpainted, its sculptured shape accurately reveals the protruding jewel in the middle of the ring. It's actually a bit too big in my opinion, ^^; perhaps deliberately so to give that detail extra emphasis. ^^ The wrinkles around the knee and ankle areas are also very well done in my opinion. Given it's a very formal military uniform, such details are not exactly necessary in my opinion, and how well the uniform was prepared for the highest ranking leader of Orb is perhaps a good enough reason for those wrinkles to not exist at all, XD but they are there on this figurines. Not one or two lines forced onto said areas, but very nicely sculptured ones that are very natural-looking, and most certainly add a sense of realism to the overall look. ^^
A slightly different display pose for Cagalli, with her head tilted to her right.
A collection of all the different gashapon versions of Cagalli in my collection thus far:
The long dress type from Vol. 7, the smaller, pilot suit type from HGIF Gundam Character 3 Vol. Gundam SEED Destiny, and the lying type from Vol. 3.
The face sculpt of the lying type from Vol. 3 is still my favorite of all the Cagallis I have at the moment. ^^
With Captain Ramius from Vol. 7 who has a very similar Orb uniform design as Cagalli.
Their uniform design similarity certainly makes the two figurines quite suitable to be displayed next to one another, but they do show very contrasting expressions. A worried Captain Ramius and a very happy Cagalli, what's going on here? XD
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