Figure Unboxing and Review: Nendoroid Shimamura Uzuki (Good Smile Company)
To All,Finally we are proceeding back to some Nendoroid reviews. I don't have that many Nendoroids, so you might notice an overwhelming number of scales and prize figures posted by me in comparison. Anyway, now that I have cleared enough space to display more Nendoroids, it's time to review!
With us today, we have the ever-sweet Shimamu from the popular series IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls with her charming smile! The series follows the various girls from their amateur stages until they become full-fledged idols! This is definitely not a series to miss, but more about how awesome this series is would be a story for another day.
Packaging
Packaging has 2 parts for me, the box (and the design) as well as the blister.
First, let's examine Shimamu's box. It's a standard Nendoroid box, sturdy enough to hold the Nendoroid's weight. Likewise, it is well-taped at both ends, which reduces the chance of her parts dropping out of the box even if her blister opens during transport.
Design-wise, Shimamu's box is filled with shades of pink, which I'm glad for because that's the color which represents her the best. Other than her personally which matches this sweet pink, Shimamu is also a "cute" idol (I'm making reference to Deresute, a smartphone game for Cinderella girls).
Here's a shot of Shimamu in her blister, featuring all her parts. As seen, she comes with little accessories -- just a school bag and a flower to clutch in her hand. Furthermore, the flower is combined with the hand as well so you that reduces her pose-abilty. Shimamu comes with a bunch of arms, a total of three face-plates, two straight legs and one leg that's bent at approximately 90 degrees.
Base
As a standard Nendoroid base, there's no issue or anything with her base itself. On it's own, with Shimamu's head off, the stand is quite easy to get into the hole in her back. Unfortunately, unlike most long-haired Nendoroids, Shimamu's hair doesn't part at the back to allow the stand to go in between, making things a bit difficult at times to put her stand in while her head is still intact.
Posing and Assembly
This is Shimamu, straight out of the box. There is nothing special about her default faceplate as it's just a normal cheerful expression we find on numerous other Nendoroids. If anything, I do adore the crossed arms behind her back. This is a part that's missing on most other Nendoroids!
Next up, I tried posing her in her peace pose with her signature large smile that's been said to melt even the coldest of hearts. Matched with her bent leg, this pose makes it seem like Shimamu has just jumped out from, your computer screen, all prepared to cheer you up and on for today!
Here's Shimamu again, now equipped with her fearful expression. The squiggly lines in her eyes and the tears at the corners are really cute and bring this expression to life so easily! When I use this expression together with her bag and flower accessories, it make her look like she was caught plucking a flower on her way to school! It makes me want to pat her and tell her it's alright ^^;
Do note that Shimamu's side-ponytail has a joint where you can change it for different nuances.
Sculpting and Painting
Let's use this chance to look at this face-plate and her uniform! The blush lines are really subtle here and don't overwhelm her expression. In fact, they enhance it and makes Shimamu looks much miore genuine. A happy Shimamu is a good Shimamu.
Next, the uniform. The stark contrast between her blue vest with both her ribbon and the brown blazer makes her look much more detailed.As it is a small portion of the figure, the blue isn't too attention-grabbing as well. However, I'm not impressed by the color choice for the blazer's buttons. Green, especially this shade, on a brown blazer just doesn't look appealing to me. Not to mention that the buttons are a little too big as well, although I understand to make them any smaller would be difficult (but Good Smile Company has been doing many much smaller buttons in recent years, so they don't have the excuse that they can't do it).
From this picture, I'll like to point out three things: the flower, her hair seam and her bag. The flower has crisp painting and lines -- there's no paint leakage of yellow to white. That's quite impressive, seeing how small the details on the flower can be. Her hair seam is obvious, but also well hidden. What I mean by this contradictory phrase is that though the seam is perfectly visible, it does not appear out of place. Lastly, the small red cartoonish ribbon on her school bag really adds a nice touch to it.
A zoom-in on the bag shows that it's rather detailed. All the zipper lines and compartments are realistic and individually sculpted out. I especially appreciate the zipper lines on the top as they are visible when you have it displayed.
Her shoes are not just a flat brown either. Small ribbon-like structures are actually sculpted onto them, though it seems like my camera has failed its mission in this context.
Shimamu's hair is carefully sculpted. Each bunch of hair fits in with the rest and no single strand looks out of place. The flow of hair to her ponytail is amazing. The creases make it look like the hair is tightly tied, which makes the way it holds itself up at the side of her head more realistic.
Enjoyment
Shimamu is one of the characters in Cinderella Girls which had the most character development. She had fears to face, ran away from them, then finally faced and conquered them. This Nendoroid doesn't have any parts to depict her relentless internal struggle, but they bring out her idol side -- filled with all her cute cheery goodness that makes her an appealing idol that all would strive to become.
From Your Fellow Collector,
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