Maakie! There is a wall of text in the beginning! If you want to see the figure + pictures and not the background information, you can scroll down a bit. ;) !
! This is a review of a figure in an outfit that can be considered NSFW !
Keep in mind the following before reading this review:
- This is a review of a very old (you can even call it retro) figure. The scores are keeping in mind her age, she is from 1997.
- This review uses pictures I have been storing on my computer for a while and are lower quality than you are used to nowadays from me.
- I don't own this figure anymore, so I can't retake any pictures or answer questions that require me to look at the figure some more.
Welcome to my review! Today I will be talking about a figure of Shiranui Mai ENCYCLOPEDIA #4555 from The King of Fighters '97 ENCYCLOPEDIA #12790 ! This figure ITEM #17662 is made by Kotobukiya ENCYCLOPEDIA #7621 .
I will start off with telling some more about her background.
Background
The King of Fighters '97 is the fourth King of Fighters game and was originally released as an arcade-game, but was also available for the Neo-Geo, Saga Saturn and PlayStation. Personally I have only played this game a bit at a friends house and once in an arcade. To me it was quite a regular 2D-fighting game. I enjoyed it nevertheless and the character designs were all very interesting! (Which explains the high amount of figures this game-series has!)
Shiranui Mai is a female ninja that appears in a lot of fighting games from publisher SNK (Playmore), with her debut being in Fatal Fury 2. She is mainly known for her voluptuous body and it is said that the reason she wears sexy clothing is to distract her enemies. In the games Mai features in, you mainly see this with her famous "boob jiggle" View spoiler
. Because of her (sex)appeal and very recognizable outfit, Mai has become a very popular and famous fighting-game-character.
The reason why and how I got her
I was buying some trading figures from someone on a local forum, when he showed me this figure to add to the deal, offering it for a very good price if I bought her together with the figures I was already getting. Being tempted by a good deal and being interested in this figure because of it's age, I decided to buy her. After receiving her I had her on display for a while, but she felt out of place with my other figures, so I ended up selling her to another MFC member for the same price I originally bought her for. I don't regret it at all, since I was really interested in seeing this figure from up-close. She now is also in a happier home I think!
Original art
Shiranui Mai has a lot of different appereances. Cover-art, promotional art, (animated) sprites, 3D renders, you name it. She also changed her looks quite a lot of times over the years, small differences in her outfit and haircut are to be seen. The following artwork is what I think comes most close to this figure when it comes to posing and outfit.
In general compared to her in-game appereance and official art, this figure of Mai is quite "tame". This can also be seen when she is compared to other figures from herself, for example: ITEM #320 and ITEM #128858 . In general, looking at designs from Mai her other figures, this Mai seems to have bigger eyes (making her look younger) and a longer face. She still is very recognizable, but this is mainly because of her outfit.
The Box
Mai's box is quite simple. It has 2 small side-windows and one big front window. There are some nice patterns to be seen on the box.
Full view, click here: lh3.googleuserc... BBCode is not working for me right now. -.-'
The part on the box which I like the most is above text. During the period of time in which this figure was released, prepainted PVC figures were something quite new. Before, Garage kits were the most common way to get figures, but these all needed assembly and came without a base. So that's why this box advertises so happily that she "inludes a base and is ready to display right outside of the box!". Nowadays it's completely normal for a figure to come prepainted and with a base, so text like this is something you won't find anymore!
First Look
Interesting to mention is that this figure is "lying" a bit inside the blisters, instead of the standing upright which we normally see. The blisters themselves give enough protection to the figure, so she's very safe.
The Figure
This figure consists of two parts: the main figure and the base.
The base itself is simple and black. It takes up just enough space to hold the figure. Interesting here are the pegs. They are quite big and Mai has very large holes in her feet so these pegs can fit in. They make the overall figure standing very sturdy on her base!
My first impression is that she looks very good for her age! Her paint and quality looks better than a lot of (recent) prize figures that I own!
Looking at all the details!
Let's start with looking at her face! Her painting was done here very nicely. The details are minimal, but all looking very good. The only downside for me here is the shape of her face, I think it's too long for Mai and it gives her a bit of a "manly" face.
The hair that is in a fixed position on Mai's head has a lot of shading.
Mai's ponytail looks very dynamic and nicely sculpted! There are a few "missed spots" when it comes to painting, but overall it looks very good!
Mai's outfit has a small painting error of the white border not being completely on it's place, but except for that part the paint here is very even. A nice detail to point out here is the fact that Mai's breasts aren't completely symmetrically placed in her outfit. On the right you can see a bit of her breast "falling" out of her outfit. A nice sculpting detail, if you ask me!
On both her left- and rightside you can see a small "cut" in her clothing. I think this is because they made the clothing a seperate piece. This gives more depth to Mai's outfit and also made the detail of her breast at the front possible, unfortunately a downside is a very visible cut inbetween the parts.
There is also a bit of sideboob to be seen on both the left- and rightside, but it doesn't have a lot of detail.
The back of Mai's outfit is also simple, but looking good! A small painting error is quickly forgiven if you look at the rest of her back!
Sorry for this out of focus picture.
Mai's fan is a simple detail that is also done very well. From the sides you can side that it has multiple folds to add some more detail in it!
Mai holds her right hand on her right hip and it's...very small. Her fingers especially look just way too short. It all looks very unnatural to me...
Mai's left hand has the same size, but here the small size is less visible, because of the posing of the hand.
The front cover of Mai's clothing has a small amount of painting errors. Her panty however, looks very good!
And here the part that probably some of you have been waiting for! View spoiler
Mai's behind is very nicely shaped. It's very curvy, without looking unnatural or too big! Unfortunately with my copy of this figure there are some small painting errors on there, some darker spots that I couldn't get off...
Mai's legs look very good in combination with her behind. Those are some nice shapes, what can I say more?
A characteristic part of Mai's outfit are the pieces of cloth she wears on her waist with big beads on the end. The cloth is very intricately detailed. The beads are simple, but that's how they are meant to be!
Mai's tabi (traditional Japanese socks) are simple, but nicely detailed. A downside are some scratches on the paint. I'm not sure if this is a factory-mistake or that it happened when the figure was with it's last owner (I only noticed these when I was writing this review).
Summary or tl;dr
Positive
- Simple, but nicely done box design, gives enough protection to the figure.
- Looks very good for the age of this figure!
- Sculpting is done very nicely. There are not much details, but the ones on there look good!
- Painting is, except for some small mistakes, done very well.
- View spoiler
Neutral
- She doesn't look a lot like her original design or other figures. Depends on personal taste if you like this version of Mai or not.
Negative
- She has a very long (and a bit manly) face.
- Some quite obvious "cuts" in the sculpt (especially on her outfit).
- She has very small hands.
The Scores
Sculpting 8/10
I was just impressed by this sculpt a lot! I have to admit that there are some downsides, with my biggest annoyence her hand being so small, but overall the sculpting is quite good!
Painting 8/10
Also done very nicely! There are some small mistakes which you can especially see with small details like borders, but overall it looks very acceptable!
Posing 7/10
Her posing gives you a nice view on her behind (and a bit of her breast at the front), but except for that it's all very simple and not something you would really expect with Mai.
Base 7/10
Very simple and boring base with an okay size. I give pluspoints for it having very big pegs. It holds the figure better in place than the small pegs we see nowadays with a lot of figures...
Packaging 8/10
Simple design, but works very well! Blisters give good protection too.
Enjoyment 6/10
Because of Mai not really fitting my collection, I put her up for sale quite quickly after receiving her. That's why my enjoyment is a bit lower than usual.
Conclusion
If you are interested in owning a "retro" figure, this one could be a good choice because of her overall quality! I don't think you will find more prepainted figures that were made in 1997 having such a high quality! However, if you are only interested in Mai, then I think there are better options to get a good Mai figure. She has other figures with a lot more detail and also very important: more interesting posing.
Availability
I actually have never seen this figure for sale before on Mandarake or any other site until I came across her myself on a second hand forum. I was once told that she had been on AmiAmi pre-owned before with prizes of around 3000-4000 yen depending on the state the figure is in. Probably your best bet is looking trough Yahoo Japan! auctions to see if she pops up. That being said, this figure is not overly expensive, but can be hard to find.
And to finish it!
Here is how she stood in my collection when I owned her!
For those who read all this way, thank you! My next review will be about the Ichiban Kuji Kyun-Chara World Fate/Zero Part 1 set! ENCYCLOPEDIA #35331 I hope to finish it up in a few weeks!
I hope you enjoyed this review, you could also check my other reviews when interested! Here are a few of my recent ones:
Strike Witches - Francesca Lucchini - Nendoroid - 108 (Good Smile Company): BLOG #13391
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters - Jounouchi Katsuya - ARTFX J (Kotobukiya): BLOG #13201
Dead or Alive - Hitomi - HGIF Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball Capsule Toy Vol. 1 (Bandai): BLOG #13037
Nurse Witch Komugi - Nakahara Komugi - School Swimming Suit Ver. (Griffon Enterprises): BLOG #12931
Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! G.O. - Saimyouji Miko - Girl Student Type: BLOG #12368
Ikki Tousen - Sonsaku Hakufu - SIF EX (Yamato): BLOG #12275
Tales of the Abyss - Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear (Kotobukiya): BLOG #12236
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - Uiharu Kazari - EX Figure (SEGA): BLOG #12077
Shuukan Watashi no Oniichan - Ujikintoki Sonome (Kaiyodo): BLOG #11949
Last Exile - Dio Eraclea and Lucciola - Bust (Alter): BLOG #11788
All pictures in high resolution and some extra pictures not used in the review will be uploaded here later today: profile/Maakie/...
Thank you for reading this review!
And if you like my reviews and would like to receive e-mail updates when I have a new one, you can subscribe to my blog on MFC! --> profile/Maakie/...
! This is a review of a figure in an outfit that can be considered NSFW !
Keep in mind the following before reading this review:
- This is a review of a very old (you can even call it retro) figure. The scores are keeping in mind her age, she is from 1997.
- This review uses pictures I have been storing on my computer for a while and are lower quality than you are used to nowadays from me.
- I don't own this figure anymore, so I can't retake any pictures or answer questions that require me to look at the figure some more.
Welcome to my review! Today I will be talking about a figure of Shiranui Mai ENCYCLOPEDIA #4555 from The King of Fighters '97 ENCYCLOPEDIA #12790 ! This figure ITEM #17662 is made by Kotobukiya ENCYCLOPEDIA #7621 .
I will start off with telling some more about her background.
Background
The King of Fighters '97 is the fourth King of Fighters game and was originally released as an arcade-game, but was also available for the Neo-Geo, Saga Saturn and PlayStation. Personally I have only played this game a bit at a friends house and once in an arcade. To me it was quite a regular 2D-fighting game. I enjoyed it nevertheless and the character designs were all very interesting! (Which explains the high amount of figures this game-series has!)
Shiranui Mai is a female ninja that appears in a lot of fighting games from publisher SNK (Playmore), with her debut being in Fatal Fury 2. She is mainly known for her voluptuous body and it is said that the reason she wears sexy clothing is to distract her enemies. In the games Mai features in, you mainly see this with her famous "boob jiggle" View spoiler
. Because of her (sex)appeal and very recognizable outfit, Mai has become a very popular and famous fighting-game-character.The reason why and how I got her
I was buying some trading figures from someone on a local forum, when he showed me this figure to add to the deal, offering it for a very good price if I bought her together with the figures I was already getting. Being tempted by a good deal and being interested in this figure because of it's age, I decided to buy her. After receiving her I had her on display for a while, but she felt out of place with my other figures, so I ended up selling her to another MFC member for the same price I originally bought her for. I don't regret it at all, since I was really interested in seeing this figure from up-close. She now is also in a happier home I think!
Original art
Shiranui Mai has a lot of different appereances. Cover-art, promotional art, (animated) sprites, 3D renders, you name it. She also changed her looks quite a lot of times over the years, small differences in her outfit and haircut are to be seen. The following artwork is what I think comes most close to this figure when it comes to posing and outfit.
In general compared to her in-game appereance and official art, this figure of Mai is quite "tame". This can also be seen when she is compared to other figures from herself, for example: ITEM #320 and ITEM #128858 . In general, looking at designs from Mai her other figures, this Mai seems to have bigger eyes (making her look younger) and a longer face. She still is very recognizable, but this is mainly because of her outfit.
The Box
Mai's box is quite simple. It has 2 small side-windows and one big front window. There are some nice patterns to be seen on the box.
Full view, click here: lh3.googleuserc... BBCode is not working for me right now. -.-'The part on the box which I like the most is above text. During the period of time in which this figure was released, prepainted PVC figures were something quite new. Before, Garage kits were the most common way to get figures, but these all needed assembly and came without a base. So that's why this box advertises so happily that she "inludes a base and is ready to display right outside of the box!". Nowadays it's completely normal for a figure to come prepainted and with a base, so text like this is something you won't find anymore!
First Look
Interesting to mention is that this figure is "lying" a bit inside the blisters, instead of the standing upright which we normally see. The blisters themselves give enough protection to the figure, so she's very safe.
The Figure
This figure consists of two parts: the main figure and the base.
The base itself is simple and black. It takes up just enough space to hold the figure. Interesting here are the pegs. They are quite big and Mai has very large holes in her feet so these pegs can fit in. They make the overall figure standing very sturdy on her base!
My first impression is that she looks very good for her age! Her paint and quality looks better than a lot of (recent) prize figures that I own!
Looking at all the details!
Let's start with looking at her face! Her painting was done here very nicely. The details are minimal, but all looking very good. The only downside for me here is the shape of her face, I think it's too long for Mai and it gives her a bit of a "manly" face.
The hair that is in a fixed position on Mai's head has a lot of shading.
Mai's ponytail looks very dynamic and nicely sculpted! There are a few "missed spots" when it comes to painting, but overall it looks very good!
Mai's outfit has a small painting error of the white border not being completely on it's place, but except for that part the paint here is very even. A nice detail to point out here is the fact that Mai's breasts aren't completely symmetrically placed in her outfit. On the right you can see a bit of her breast "falling" out of her outfit. A nice sculpting detail, if you ask me!
On both her left- and rightside you can see a small "cut" in her clothing. I think this is because they made the clothing a seperate piece. This gives more depth to Mai's outfit and also made the detail of her breast at the front possible, unfortunately a downside is a very visible cut inbetween the parts.
There is also a bit of sideboob to be seen on both the left- and rightside, but it doesn't have a lot of detail.
The back of Mai's outfit is also simple, but looking good! A small painting error is quickly forgiven if you look at the rest of her back!
Sorry for this out of focus picture.
Mai's fan is a simple detail that is also done very well. From the sides you can side that it has multiple folds to add some more detail in it!
Mai holds her right hand on her right hip and it's...very small. Her fingers especially look just way too short. It all looks very unnatural to me...
Mai's left hand has the same size, but here the small size is less visible, because of the posing of the hand.
The front cover of Mai's clothing has a small amount of painting errors. Her panty however, looks very good!
And here the part that probably some of you have been waiting for! View spoiler
Mai's behind is very nicely shaped. It's very curvy, without looking unnatural or too big! Unfortunately with my copy of this figure there are some small painting errors on there, some darker spots that I couldn't get off...
Mai's legs look very good in combination with her behind. Those are some nice shapes, what can I say more?
A characteristic part of Mai's outfit are the pieces of cloth she wears on her waist with big beads on the end. The cloth is very intricately detailed. The beads are simple, but that's how they are meant to be!
Mai's tabi (traditional Japanese socks) are simple, but nicely detailed. A downside are some scratches on the paint. I'm not sure if this is a factory-mistake or that it happened when the figure was with it's last owner (I only noticed these when I was writing this review).
Summary or tl;dr
Positive
- Simple, but nicely done box design, gives enough protection to the figure.
- Looks very good for the age of this figure!
- Sculpting is done very nicely. There are not much details, but the ones on there look good!
- Painting is, except for some small mistakes, done very well.
- View spoiler
Neutral
- She doesn't look a lot like her original design or other figures. Depends on personal taste if you like this version of Mai or not.
Negative
- She has a very long (and a bit manly) face.
- Some quite obvious "cuts" in the sculpt (especially on her outfit).
- She has very small hands.
The Scores
Sculpting 8/10
I was just impressed by this sculpt a lot! I have to admit that there are some downsides, with my biggest annoyence her hand being so small, but overall the sculpting is quite good!
Painting 8/10
Also done very nicely! There are some small mistakes which you can especially see with small details like borders, but overall it looks very acceptable!
Posing 7/10
Her posing gives you a nice view on her behind (and a bit of her breast at the front), but except for that it's all very simple and not something you would really expect with Mai.
Base 7/10
Very simple and boring base with an okay size. I give pluspoints for it having very big pegs. It holds the figure better in place than the small pegs we see nowadays with a lot of figures...
Packaging 8/10
Simple design, but works very well! Blisters give good protection too.
Enjoyment 6/10
Because of Mai not really fitting my collection, I put her up for sale quite quickly after receiving her. That's why my enjoyment is a bit lower than usual.
Conclusion
If you are interested in owning a "retro" figure, this one could be a good choice because of her overall quality! I don't think you will find more prepainted figures that were made in 1997 having such a high quality! However, if you are only interested in Mai, then I think there are better options to get a good Mai figure. She has other figures with a lot more detail and also very important: more interesting posing.
Availability
I actually have never seen this figure for sale before on Mandarake or any other site until I came across her myself on a second hand forum. I was once told that she had been on AmiAmi pre-owned before with prizes of around 3000-4000 yen depending on the state the figure is in. Probably your best bet is looking trough Yahoo Japan! auctions to see if she pops up. That being said, this figure is not overly expensive, but can be hard to find.
And to finish it!
Here is how she stood in my collection when I owned her!
For those who read all this way, thank you! My next review will be about the Ichiban Kuji Kyun-Chara World Fate/Zero Part 1 set! ENCYCLOPEDIA #35331 I hope to finish it up in a few weeks!
I hope you enjoyed this review, you could also check my other reviews when interested! Here are a few of my recent ones:
Strike Witches - Francesca Lucchini - Nendoroid - 108 (Good Smile Company): BLOG #13391
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters - Jounouchi Katsuya - ARTFX J (Kotobukiya): BLOG #13201
Dead or Alive - Hitomi - HGIF Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball Capsule Toy Vol. 1 (Bandai): BLOG #13037
Nurse Witch Komugi - Nakahara Komugi - School Swimming Suit Ver. (Griffon Enterprises): BLOG #12931
Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! G.O. - Saimyouji Miko - Girl Student Type: BLOG #12368
Ikki Tousen - Sonsaku Hakufu - SIF EX (Yamato): BLOG #12275
Tales of the Abyss - Natalia Luzu Kimlasca-Lanvaldear (Kotobukiya): BLOG #12236
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun - Uiharu Kazari - EX Figure (SEGA): BLOG #12077
Shuukan Watashi no Oniichan - Ujikintoki Sonome (Kaiyodo): BLOG #11949
Last Exile - Dio Eraclea and Lucciola - Bust (Alter): BLOG #11788
All pictures in high resolution and some extra pictures not used in the review will be uploaded here later today: profile/Maakie/...
Thank you for reading this review!
And if you like my reviews and would like to receive e-mail updates when I have a new one, you can subscribe to my blog on MFC! --> profile/Maakie/...
Comments12
In early KOF (and Fatal Fury) games Mai just wasn't THAT sexualized. I know it sounds crazy since today she's missing half of her outfit, like in the recent reference artwork used in the review. Haha. Back in the day her top was always basically mostly closed like the figure's. This figure, to me, is a great representation of the early SNK years. Mai could show cleavage and legs and be sexy but she didn't have everything absolutely hanging out. It was always hint of something here or there, like her side boob. Hehe.
Here's an official piece of art from The King of Fighters '96 with Mai in a pretty similar pose. :) If her fan was in her other hand and held across her body like the figure, it would almost be exact!
Ah!!! Thank you so much for posting that artwork! I never could find artwork from the pose of this figure, but now it's here! Considering the age of this figure, that artwork must be it!
I also agree with you there, the older Mai is better than the newer Mai! Mai has always been in quite a skimpy outfit, but her pose in more recent artworks and figures makes her a lot more sexual instead of a figher.
In early KOF (and Fatal Fury) games Mai just wasn't THAT sexualized. I know it sounds crazy since today she's missing half of her outfit, like in the recent reference artwork used in the review. Haha. Back in the day her top was always basically mostly closed like the figure's. This figure, to me, is a great representation of the early SNK years. Mai could show cleavage and legs and be sexy but she didn't have everything absolutely hanging out. It was always hint of something here or there, like her side boob. Hehe.
Here's an official piece of art from The King of Fighters '96 with Mai in a pretty similar pose. :) If her fan was in her other hand and held across her body like the figure, it would almost be exact!
When it comes to posing...hrmmm yeah the third one comes close, but only a bit. The second picture looks nothing like the figure at all. xD
Then I guess the sculptor got a pile of Mai drawings and did what he liked the most! ;D
Actually, her design still retained from her appearance in KOF94 (including 97) to XI & some of her crossover games. She got a slight different clothing in XII & XIII, having no white band like. Hmm... I thought her 1st pic got a different face shape after I saw from your figure photos. But, eyes are almost close to the figure.
Hahahaha, I guess so....
This is her official KOF97 artwork & her ingame artwork but, I have to admit it's nowhere to be alike to her figure counterpart, however...
This is the closest artwork (Official KOF2000 artwork) that resembles to her figure pose but, the artwork is also nowhere to be alike to her figure itself but, she still bear her white bands on her shoulder....
Outfit/clothing/face-wise I think the first one here looks the most alike:
When it comes to posing...hrmmm yeah the third one comes close, but only a bit. The second picture looks nothing like the figure at all. xD
Then I guess the sculptor got a pile of Mai drawings and did what he liked the most! ;D
Personally, I'm still the most amazed at the quality of this figure since she is so old, but her quality is pretty close to nowadays prize figures!
Hmmm...
This is her official KOF97 artwork & her ingame artwork but, I have to admit it's nowhere to be alike to her figure counterpart, however...
This is the closest artwork (Official KOF2000 artwork) that resembles to her figure pose but, the artwork is also nowhere to be alike to her figure itself but, she still bear her white bands on her shoulder....
Yes, I couldn't find a specific artwork this figure was based on. If you know one that comes more close to the figure, I would like to hear! ^w^
Personally, I'm still the most amazed at the quality of this figure since she is so old, but her quality is pretty close to nowadays prize figures!
and its nice review
Thank you very much! ^w^
and its nice review
I think it would be a good choice if you're a fan of Mai and don't want a figure that looks too...sexy? Anyway, the posing makes her a bit out of character. ;)
DonkeyBlonkey • 9 years ago • #2082573Great Review. It is interesting to see a figure from 97 and see what big changes have been made nowadays.
I think the Alphamax figure is more closely related to the KoF: XIII Illustration you say that this figure is closely related to.
Thank you very much! ^w^ I was also very interested in this figure with as main reason the fact that she was so old, but from a very popular manufacturer!
Yes, indeed, that posing is more alike. ;) But I couldn't find any (offical) artwork from Mai coming close to this figure's design and posing. If you do have one, I would like to see and will add it to the review! ^^