Toy Review: figma #264 Asuna ALO ver. (Sword Art Online II)

Review:  #316
Name:  Asuna ALO ver.
Brand:  figma (Sword Art Online II)
Year of Release:  2015 (#264)
Variations:  none as of this date

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:

As per usual, Asuna comes in the standard clean looking figma box, the primary color being blue now.

Asuna is number 264 in the figma line and the back shows off some really nice poses within the stock photos.

Taking her out of packaging, she has some accessories.  Not as much as expected but all of the iconic items are there.

First up is the cardboard stand that you can stamp out to make, a bit redundant.

She comes with two alternate faces, a confident smiling face and an angry shouting face.

There are various pairs of hands, although she has more right hands than left ones, which was an interesting choice.

The standard figma plastic bag is included to store all your accessories when not in use.

The articulated two-piece figma stand for your posing requirements.

Unfortunately, Asuna only comes with one melee weapon and that is her rapier.  She has one sheathed, it's molded solid, you can't actually pull out her rapier from this.  However, the handle does detach for certain poses.

Her actual rapier is silver and looks nice.

Of course, there's her tree wand to cast magic.

And finally, her pair of wings, which come separately.

FIGURE:

As with all figures in the figma line, Asuna looks as if she stepped right out of the anime.  She's very faithful and there has been no cost cutting in terms of the details.

This is Asuna in her ALFheim Online avatar from the anime Sword Art Online II, therefore sporting the elf ears and blue hair.

The head manages to capture the character perfectly, with the correct proportions so it doesn't look odd or anything.  Her head has the articulation to look around and upwards.

The detailing on the figure is intricate.  Her clothing is made of various separate pieces and soft plastic is used in order to not hinder movement.

An improvement over the Sword Art Online version is that the rapier sheath is now a slot, making it easy for the piece to go in.  Unlike the original where it was just a hole that you have to tear apart which always felt like you were going to tear it too much and break the figure.

Needless to say, Asuna has excellent articulation.  The smiling face is perfect for peace poses.

It's impressive how well the photographer manages to pose the figures for the stock photos because it is always really hard to replicate.  In this case, it's hard to get Asuna's wrist just right to hold her sheath naturally.

Annoyingly, in order to attach her wings, you have to use the stand.  This is because the slot to attach Asuna to the stand is also the piece that threads through the wings and holds it into place.  This is disappointing that you cannot keep her wings on without the aid of the stand.

The other weapon she has is the wand which looks like a twig that you pick up from the ground, complete with a long leaf.  It is surprisingly well painted to be fair, and it's made of a softer plastic so less chance of snapping.

Her hair is adjustable to a certain degree, it can be lifted to get out of the way or look like the wind is blowing against it.

She is slightly taller and with slimmer proportions compared to the Sword Art Online version.

Swapping her face is really easy, you just take the front hair piece off in order to pull her face off and attach another one.  Her determined face looks good.

The figma stand does a good job of keeping her in place, although if you have a really dynamic pose, it gets in the way.

She has the standard figma articulation, that is to say, she has every natural jointing you'd expect, from knees and ankles to wrists and shoulders.

That said, her shoulders are annoying to pose, due to how they are assembled, they don't always sit upwards and it takes some fiddling in order to make them look natural.

If you're using the wings too, be prepared to be annoyed since this means her hair gets in the way of the wings and stand, and moving her limbs will probably cause the stand to detach and the wings to collapse.

Swapping hands are easy since you don't need to pull the wrist joints out.  Attention to detail is evident here because all her left hands have the silver ring painted!

Getting her to balance naturally without the stand can be difficult as her footprint is small.  You need to keep experimenting and adjusting her feet in order to keep her standing.

It just seems that Asuna's jointing doesn't work as well as you would expect since her arms is another area where it takes some fiddling to look natural.

The last face for Asuna is her angry battle face, perfect for striking poses.

Her wings are adjustable, either dropped down when on the ground or angled upwards for when she's in flight, or just want to provoke.

While her skirts are made of softer plastic and also have joints, they are limiting, which means really dynamic poses are out of the question.

The color matching between painted plastic and colored plastic is really good.  Asuna also has an upper waist joint which likes to dislodge when posing her, so you have to keep readjusting.

Getting the weapons into Asuna's hands is quite easy, while her grip is tight enough so it doesn't droop.

A fantastic representation of the character, but some of her flaws are annoying and frustrating.

OVERALL:

If you're a fan of the character or her design, then figma Asuna ALO ver. is a no question, you're definitely going to get her.  For anyone else who is just mildly intrigued, the figure is worthwhile, moreso if you can get her during a sale.  She has some minor annoyances such as the jointing and pieces blocking articulation.  Overall, the attention to detail that figma is known for is continued on in this figure and this is most likely the best representation of her.

----------------------------------------

For other (select) figma reviews, have a look at this page.

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice is a fantasy comedy, where it sees a husband and wife die a tragic death, leaving their house to be sold to a new family.  Naturally, they are very attached to their house and end up stuck in their in the afterlife, they want to get rid of the new family who is changing everything in the house from what they had worked so hard for.  They tried to scare the new family to no avail, and through the process, we learn the system within the afterlife, how it works and the rules that they are bounded.  They call for a freelance bio-exorcist to help them called Betelgeuse, who create a lot more trouble than originally bargained for.  That's about the whole of the plot but the actual movie itself is a lot more convoluted and strange.  Often, there will be scenes where you have no idea why it is happening or sometimes what even is happening.  Betelgeuse is an unlikable character, he lacks any sort of charm or charisma, and you don't know whether he should be completely evil or not.  While there were some moments where it is a little bit funny and great visual effects/props, Beetlejuice is a very strange movie.

Book Review: The Golem's Eye

Review:  #574
Title:  The Golem's Eye
Series:  The Bartimaeus Trilogy - 2nd book
Author:  Jonathan Stroud
Read Before:  yes
Comments:  A fantastic follow-up to The Amulet of Samarkand.  The Golem's Eye excels in its storyline, weaving an amazing tale of conspiracy, nobility and wittiness.  A few years has passed since the events of the first book and John Mandrake has risen up in ranks in the council of magicians among an alternate history London.  Trouble ensues and Mandrake can't resist but call back Bartimaeus, once he is summoned, things get much more interesting, especially with his sarcastic nature and valuable insights.  The story swaps between three different perspectives and while it loves to end one perspective on a cliffhanger, it works extremely well.  You will be hooked onto it unwittingly.  It weaves several plot threads together beautiful and it works so well.  While the plot can be called complex, it is still easy to understand and the ending, where the traitor was revealed, gives you a sense of satisfaction.  The Golem's Eye dives more into the workings of magic and summoning, as well as trying to communicate that history repeats itself, empires rise and fall.  There was a particular memorable scene that would send chills down your spine.  This is an amazing story and should not be missed with laughs, sadness and cleverness.

Rating:  8.5/10

Toy Review: Transformers ROTF Jolt (Legends)

Review:  #315
Name:  Jolt
Brand:  Transformers
Allegiance:  Autobot
Line:  Revenge of the Fallen
Year of Release:  2009
Size Class:  Legends (Wave 6)
Mold Status:  new

VEHICLE MODE:

Jolt transforms into a blue Chevrolet Volt which is a nice and smooth look car.

The back is a bit disappointing with the noticeable grey piece which breaks up the blue.  This piece forms part of the robot and breaks the rear windshield too.

Jolt is the normal size for a figure in this size class, above is him compared to ROTF Legends Bumblebee.

His only play value is rolling him on top of a table.  A good looking car from most angles.

TRANSFORMATION:

Jolt has an intriguing transformation that doesn't quite work, but it is somewhat ambitious.  The legs are formed from the back of the car, and they unfold, splitting the rear into half for each leg, and half again to make the legs.

ROBOT MODE:

Jolt's robot mode looks decent from the front and frankly, it is hard to say whether this toy is show-accurate as the movie never gave us a decently clear look at him.

The most disappointing aspect of the figure is the vehicle's hood sits awkwardly behind his back as a huge chunk of kibble.  That is the way it actually sits in robot mode, it doesn't even fold down so that it doesn't stick out as much.

The headsculpt is okay, Jolt's head always has that shrimpy look to it.

Jolt is fairly tall in this mode but he's also lanky.

If you look clearly, Jolt has his electro whips molded on each arm.  They're small and easy to miss, but a nice gesture nonetheless.

The articulation is okay, Jolt has shoulders and hips.

The biggest weakness of the toy are the legs.  Due to transformation and how the hinge works inwards, Jolt is prone to collapsing forward.  You need to lean him on the back of his almost non-existent heels in order to keep him standing.  His hip articulation is also very restricted since the balljoint is situated on the back of the plastic, with the faux wheels getting in the way.

The robot mode looks nice but practically, not that fun to play with.

OVERALL:

Jolt appears to have a decent robot design but this Legends toy doesn't quite capture it.  The vehicle is good but the robot mode is unstable, pulling down the whole figure.  At least at this size class, Jolt is not too expensive and it's nice to get a figure of this character who had limited screentime.

-----------------------------------------

For other Transformers reviews, have a look at this page.

Dream House Days (Android)

Dream House Days is Kairosoft's second foray into the freemium model, the game is free to download but features in-app purchases.  However, it strikes a good balance between pay features and in-game features, and you do not need to pay to enjoy the game.  The game is supported by advertisements which pop up when you start the game.  There is also a permanent advertisement at the bottom of the screen.  Dream House Days is a rental apartment simulator but mixed with elements of a family simulator and house-arrange simulator.

You start off with three apartments and you need to buy furniture and furnishings, create walls and doors in order to spruce up your apartment enough to get tenants interested to rent the place.  Of course, not only does putting these items into your apartment cost money, but they cost money each month as upkeep.  This is offset by the rent your tenant pays, except that depending on their job and how much they earn, they might not be able to pay the full amount of rent.  This is especially true for students who has high potential from their impressive stats, but they only earn a meager amount and as they need to spend money on recreation as well, you'll probably only recover 10% of your full rent.

Rent is determined by the quantity and quality of furniture you place in the apartment.  All this combines into a higher difficulty of earning money and expanding during the beginning of the game.  You'll more than likely encounter massive losses and need to ride it out.  Once you've expanded the number of apartments twice, it starts to become much easier to make a profit and retain that profit, with more freedom to do what you want.  As the building manager, you heavily influence your tenants' lives including their love interests, when they marry, whether they have children or pets, and the type of job that they have.

Tenants will age, and kids will move out once they are old enough.  When it is time for them to move you are given the option of renting them a spare apartment and you tend to do want to keep them as they are better than the random tenants you get when you advertise.  Aged tenants also move out eventually which means you need to find new tenants.  As tenants grow old, their income streams also decrease, meaning that while they can afford the premium rent before, they might not do so now, causing you to wanting to kick them out.

Dream House Days has a lot of furniture to discover and unlock, which requires Research Points.  These points are earned fairly easily in the game, you just have to be patient.  There is another in-game currency called Tickets, these are items you can buy with real money or earned slowly by playing the game.  You get one Ticket for every fifteen minutes you play (not including time spent in menus), capped at ten at a time.  These Tickets are used for apartment expansions, allow second chances during some events and purchasing items such as Fast Mode or a New Game+ carryover feature.  As expected, the graphics are Kairosoft's staple 8-bit sprites but are as charming as ever.  It's very fun to look at what your tenants do and how they interact with the furniture.

Once a piece of furniture is used enough times, they can be leveled up to increase rent and improve comfort.  There are in-game achievements called Trophies.  Earning them will contribute to a higher score once the game "ends" after 21 in-game years.  After the 21st year, you can play indefinitely but it just won't contribute to your high score.  Overall, Dream House Days can get very addictive and it is a great game to play in your spare time.  You might find yourself not being able to resist opening up the app and looking at what's happened, waiting for the next big unlock.  This game is highly recommended although you need to put in the effort and patience to learn the game mechanics when you first start out.

-----------------------------------------------

For other game reviews, including more of Kairosoft's games, have a look at this page.

The Terminator

One of Arnold Schwarzenegger's iconic role, he plays the Terminator in this movie, a cyborg who traveled back in time to kill Sarah Connor.  The reason?  To kill John Connor before he is even born.  In the future, machines have taken over the world and killed most humans, however, John Connor led a band of resistance and am close to victory.  This is an interesting plot although the backstory is told via flashback-type sequences from time to time.  In present day, it is effectively a big chase sequence between the Terminator and Sarah, although Sarah gets help from Kyle Reese, a future resistance member sent to protect Sarah.  How do you defeat a near invincible cyborg?  That's one of the reasons why you will be watching.  There were some great effects for its time, such as the full metal skeleton shown in the climax.  However, the type of action sequences has aged and is not as fast paced as contemporary films, although it still holds up very well to this day.

Book Review: The Amulet of Samarkand

Review:  #573
Title:  The Amulet of Samarkand
Series:  The Bartimaeus Trilogy - 1st book
Author:  Jonathan Stroud
Read Before:  yes
Comments:  An absolutely fantastic novel.  Set in an alternate version of London, with magicians in power, we follow Nathaniel, an apprentice magician with talent but ends up getting himself into trouble.  The plot is a lot more complex than you would expect, diving into politics, conscience, morality and more.  It is told through the perspective of Nathaniel and the djinni he raises, Bartimaeus, who has a wisecracking personality.  Bartimaeus is the soul of the book, his sarcasm and witty humor makes every page enjoyable.  The author has done a brilliant job of fleshing out the backstory of this world, from how the magicians use their power, to how the world is structured, it refreshingly detailed and well constructed.  The plot slowly builds up from a simple theft to Nathaniel making huge mistakes and uncovering a massive plot to plan a coup on the magician government.  The climax did not disappoint with a great turnaround in how Bartimaeus outsmarted the magicians.  Well worth reading and simply amazing.

Rating:  8.5/10