Figure Unboxing and Review: Minami Kotori (Alter)

By TReina - Thursday, March 10, 2016 - No Comments

To All,

I got this figure secondhand from a kind seller on Carousell quite some time after her release. It was really a snatch to be able to get her at SGD$120 when her original price with EMS went up to SGD$170 (she was around 10,000yen initially then she went up to over 14,000yen after release)!

I was quite worried that she might be laden with defects, hence the price, but she came in perfectly mint condition! It was so good that I wouldn't have even guessed that she had been displayed before!

Box and Packaging 9/10

Her box is really simple yet pretty. The clear window displays Kotori in all her glamorous beauty before you actually remove her from her box. The mint green color gives her figure a refreshing feel that is neither overwhelming or underwhelming the white.

The other sides of the box doesn't show her in more views, which is a minus point. However, it does make me want to open and display her even more! Moreover, taking her out of her box also doesn't reduce her beauty!

She is securely encased in her blister, and Alter as well the seller also took the time and effort to tape up the sides of the blister to hold her in place better. Also, there is absolutely no paint transfer on the figure at all!

It's so amazing to get one in such a pristine condition after those endless months of getting figures with scuffed up painting!

Base 7/10

I won't deny that her base could have been more elaborate, and should have been better with that price. However, it does its job well enough and as far as simple white circle bases go, I think Alter has done enough for it.

Posing and Assembly 8/10

Assembly is as simple as placing her onto the base, nothing too elaborate there. However, when it comes to the pose, there's room for more discussion.

Her pose is based on an Ultra Rare card, which Alter has tried to adapt faithfully from a 2D universe to a 3D one. I wouldn't call it a 100% success as much of the glee and cuteness the card had was not transferred over to the figure itself. But really, both have their own strengths and shortcomings so it's difficult to say which one I prefer over the other!

Sculpting and Painting 9/10

Her hair sculpt was the very first thing that drew me in. Each strand is sculpted individually and have a sense of movement to it. There is no part of her hair that comes across to me as flat, be it the sculpt or the shading. Her hair also makes the figure look very glamorous to view from the back!

Her bloomers have been the center of post and rage-spamming on myfigurecollection quite some time back. Users were arguing if the bloomers needed to be there because it didn't look good and they didn't felt like it complemented the figure. Another group of users insisted that it was there to prevent panty-flashing as Kotori is not that kind of girl. A user even went on to say that Kotori should have shimapan (striped panties) instead of the bloomers, to which another user than told him that he should buy figures with longer skirts if he intended to upskirt them that way.

My take to that would be that I do like the addition of the bloomers. It was even in the official card so not adding it in would just mean Alter was not faithful to the illustration. As for the up-skirting, I would think that Kotori isn't one who would flash on purpose, so I guess the bloomers make up for the shorter skirt she has on.

And before you ask, yeah, I do think that figure companies wouldn't make such outright lewd figures for Love Live! especially on one with such a short skirt, so yes, if you'll like to see underwear on figures, you'll have to get one with a longer skirt so figure companies would be more inclined to stick to the norms and not include safety shorts, or in this case, bloomers.

I find myself liking her mismatched stockings more than expected as they give her more variation. However, they are plenty of people who like the idea, as well as dislike it. If I had to nitpick, I'll do it based on the angle of her legs which make it seem like she's going to fall.

And then I'll save the day by mentioning the beautiful sculpt of her tummy and the bellybutton, and I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

Her staff, or wand, is really cute and easy to put in place. The blue gold-trimmed ribbons are flexible and should withstand damage. You'll need to move them around to get her to hold the staff. Be careful that you don't break anything then, though it should be fine! Also, the staff comes with actual glitter so take precaution against getting it into your eyes!

The bird itself is very cute too, with a matching crown that adds on even more to her cuteness factor!

Enjoyment 9/10

I do enjoy the look of this more than that of the Birthday Project so I got this one instead. There might be a day when I get the Birthday Project Kotori figure too, but that day would probably not come soon.

Standing proud and tall at 1/7 scale, my Waifu is now also part of my physical 3D laifu and I'm glad to have her by my side. So, if you're a Kotori fan and want a physical representation of your love for her or for the series, I do highly recommend getting her now before she rises in price any further.

Besides, how can you say no to the best figure out in the Love Live Alter line so far?

Buy it!