Sunday, February 26, 2012

Nendoroid Chiaki Minami Part 1

"Bakayaro!"

It has been such a long time since the last Nendoroid review (Nendoroid Petit Lucky Star x Street Fighter Set) on my blog, so in before the next long hiatus, ^^; it's coming back with this character: ^^


Chiaki Minami from "Minami-ke".

"Minami-ke", or "The Minami Family" is an anime series I watched quite some time ago. Adapted from a manga series, there are three anime titles and one OVA in total for "Minami-ke". I only managed to watch the first series actually. ^^;



As the title implies, the story is basically about the daily life of the three Minami sisters - Haruka the eldest, Kana the second and Chiaki being the youngest. Despite being siblings, all three of them have very different personalities which can be seen right from the start of the anime. Haruka is kind and gentle while Kana is mischievous and useless (XD). Chiaki on the other hand, can be a bit difficult to understand at the beginning of the show. ^^; A very clever and dependable little girl as she is, she can be very mean when she's talking to anyone, except Haruka whom she adores. ^^;






Chiaki's first kiss.
Video clip is from Youtube. Follow this link to the website if you can't see anything.


Chiaki's response to Kana's fever.
Video clip is from Youtube. Follow this link to the website if you can't see anything.

Then again, "Minami-ke" is a very lighthearted show. ^^; Even with Chiaki's constant burst of "Bakayaro!" at Kana or any of her primary school classmates, everything is very funny and enjoyable to watch. ^^ To play on that story design more, there are a lot of interactions between Kana and Chiaki, with or without Haruka around. ^^ Some of funniest scenes in the first series I watched were Kana's persistent attempts to infuriate Chiaki and her younger sister's cynical or sarcastic comments in response to that. ^^


More of Kana's impulsivity, Haruka's gentleness and Chiaki's cynicism.
Video clip is from Youtube. Follow this link to the website if you can't see anything.

It's also very interesting that Chiaki is voiced by Minori Chihara (茅原実里), the seiyuu for Nagato Yuki from "Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", while Kana is voiced by Marina Inoue (井上麻里奈) - Yoko in "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann". Their voices are unmistakable in this show. I laugh every time when Chiaki Yuki calls Kana Yoko an idiot XD



The show is not just about the sisters of course. The number of supporting characters in the show is pretty high, which is kind of surprising to me since a lot of screen time were distributed among the three sisters' daily experience, and there were only 13 episodes in the first series I watched. It's certainly great to have another two series - "Okawari" and "Okaeri" to see more of all the characters. ^^

Back to this Nendoroid figure. I actually got it before watching the show, and it was supposedly for the request of a friend. After the item arrived, my friend didn't seem to want it anymore. ^^; I actually kept it in my shelves for a very long time before finally having to admit (to myself) that I either have to keep it or pawn it off to someone else. It was during that long period of waiting that I watched the show, and after that, I thought it wasn't too bad to keep it myself. XD

An interesting point about this Nendoroid figure is the gap of release between the three sisters. Chiaki came out in January 2010 (the version I got) before it was reissued in August last year. Haruka and Kana were only announced some time last year, before finally confirmed to be released in summer this year at the recent Wonder Festival 2012 [Winter] held in Makuhari Messe International Exhibition Hall in Chiba on February 12th. Such a long delay in release almost made me thought that Chiaki is going to be all alone from her anime series in the Nendoroid series. ^^;



Images are from Akibahobby.

A look at the content of this Nendoroid release:





The figures and her "iconic" accessories can be seen clearly through the front window of the box.




Images on all sides of the box.


Pretty "accurate" description about Chiaki printed on the box XD
"毒舌小学生" - Primary school student with a poisonous tongue, "辛辣な言葉" - Harsh words. ^^;


Introduction of the figure on the back of the box.



This really evil-looking expression is just as iconic as the default sleepy type with half-closed eyes. ^^


Box open.


A pink backdrop for Chiaki.



Content








A look at the figure and all her accessories on the tray.


With the cover of the tray removed.


Plenty of plastic wrapping for Chiaki and all the accessories.


Chiaki has a clear "supporting base" between her back and hair.



Parts of the two display stands.
Apart from the common type for the figure, a smaller one for Fujioka the teddy bear is included as well.


The display stands are mandatory to display the figures standing. ^^;


The stand is actually a Nendoroid joint which allows the clamp to be adjusted to different angles to support the figure.


Copyright statement printed on the display base.


The smaller type is exactly the same as the ones in Nendoroid Petit Lucky Star x Street Fighter Set. ^^




An out-of-box display of Chiaki.


Not the best expression to look at when you're working or studying ^^;

More images of Chiaki and all the accessories included coming in the next posting. ^^

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