Figure Unboxing and Review: Kousaka Honoka (Alter)
Alter has finished releasing all nine of its first round of Love Live! girls, and as the release date of the White Day set is drawing close, I thought it would be apt to review a previous figure Alter made for the same series: Kousaka Honoka.
Faito dayo~
It also comes with a small window at the back so you can easily see the details of Honoka's costume before putting her on the stand.
On the sides of the box, you get a printed view of this figure of Honoka thought I wish they added the illustration of the SR card of Honoka to one of the sides for a better comparison. But putting that aside, let's look at Honoka in greater detail!
First, we'll start with Honoka still in the blister. She's in an energetic jumping pose (we often see her like that in the series!) with her trademark Faito dayo! hand pose. The majority of her outfit is in bright orange (her image color) that matches with her hair, and with different shades of yellows and gold to add variation to the colors. Her outfit also comes with several navy portions to help balance the color palette.
The theme of her fruits outfit would be citrus, and her hat as well as the two buttons on her vest helps to accentuate that particular theme.
The base for the figure is the same as the other eight Love Live! figures, which is a plain white circle with stars, the series' name and the character's name in their respective image color. I love it when the figures in the same line have similar bases with minimal variation (such as colors of words) which would help the display look more organized!
Assembly simply includes putting her onto the base. The stand is a sturdy metal rod and she appears to be a lot more stable as compared other "floating" figures as she doesn't shake as much when moved.
A simple 360 of Honoka in this view shows that there are many details in her sculpt. For instance, the flower at the top of her stocking is sculpted on and not just painted.
All the frills and ruffles on her outfit are also individually sculpted and painted with a pearl gold color at the fringe.
There are many details that show how dynamic Honoka's jumping pose is, such as the way her ponytail splays out to the side, and the ends of the bow at the small of her back have slightly different shapes, as if Honoka was caught in the peak of this motion.
Similar to the asymmetrical position of her hands, her feet are also bent at different angles, giving the figure a cutesy feel.
The sides of Honoka's hat is painted with glossy paint while the top with the citrus cross-section is matte to help it stand out better.
While Honoka's gloves could use a little more detail, I'm in awe with how the facial features and expression suits Honoka to a T. The little white buttons are also extremely cute and adds to the design while not overshadowing other aspects of the outfit.
The yellow lining on her vest and gold hem on her skirt are painted on impeccably. I also love how the creases on her outfit are extremely realistic looking! The only part I am not a fan of would be the mass of white polka dots on her skirt, and I wish they used a different pattern instead.
The slightly raised band of fruit ornaments at Honoka's hip are also a very nice touch. Can you guess what are these fruits are?
The sculpt of the bloomers are very realistic: it seems so soft and poofy! The way the stockings dig into her thighs are also replicated well, with the lace frills helping to soften out the feel.
Her boots are in three different colors: orange, gold and navy. The glossy orange comes with a lighter color (highlight) and a darker color (shading) that really helps to bring this part of the figure to life!
You can also see the other details on the front of her boots!
However, a little more detail on the soles of her boots would be nice as these parts are visible due to her pose after all...
But at least we have the pretty hair sculpt to make up for it! The strands are mostly sculpted individually and there are many indentations to show the flow of her hair. The small hair seam joining her front hair piece to the back is present but easily ignored due to her hairstyle.
Alter does not disappoint with the attention they pay to details and the effort they put in for their sculpts. This is a worthy figure if you are a fan of the series and would like to collect the girls. Otherwise, although the figure is great, it might be more apt to save for a better statement piece in the future.
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