Japanese Import(?): Asuka Soryu Langley

I recently received some imports from a friend of mine who just came back from Japan. So that means, full on imports from the land of the Rising Sun itself! And here we have Asuka Soryu Langley looking eerily calm and so casual. Let's jump right into the review.

As I mentioned, calm and casual, something we aren't entirely used (least not me) when it comes to the fiery Evangelion pilot! Here she is sporting a red peacoat, black leggings, and some black leather riding boots. Aside from her color scheme, obviously familiar hairstyle, and the color scheme, there is no indication that Asuka is an Eva pilot.

Oddly enough, her choice of handbag isn't as fancy as one would imagine with Asuka. Then again, it looks more like a slim briefcase used for school/work rather than a fashion statement. Function versus cosmetic, I suppose.

If anyone is wondering, she did come in a box but since she was being transported via luggage, space was an issue, so she had to be taken out. Still, there is nothing much to miss; if her box storage is anything like the other one I got (yes, I have another fresh Japanese figure from Japan) then I'm not missing much. Here's a fun fact: she came from a "vending game machine". And let me tell you as a toy collector, this kind of statue, good details, vibrant and sharp paint job, and some known characters... her just coming from a regular vending machine is something!

Since there is no articulation, I'll go ahead and tangent off to the posture. While a lot of Asuka statues are there highly capitalizes on sexuality (whether heavy or light), this one is, as I mentioned earlier, casual and neutral. Sure it's feminine, but it's not posed to be overly sexualized. Just a pretty young woman in her fashion (but functional) clothing waving to someone. Oh, and I suppose her boots are mahogany, not black. With the right lighting, one can see that.

What little dynamic is given in this figure still provides us with a very lively piece. Her outfit dancing with her movements, her hair slightly waving out due to her movements, it's still a rather satisfying piece.

Speaking of lively and other Asuka's, here she is next to my other statue based Asuka's; with the sexualized Asuka(kotobukiya) being a winner for 2014 statue. While all four are imports, two are given to me directly as an import 'present'. This particular Asuka was also brought back as a present from a friend.

All in all, this Asuka is a nice little touch to my Evangelion(Asuka) collection. She's fun, casual, a bit out of character, but still follows the theme that makes Asuka recognizable. I am very happy to have her and definitely will consider her in my growing number of statue catch for this year.