Marvelous: Saber

The company is called "Marvelous"... yeah, I know. But it's not Marvel. At any rate, the second figure I received from the land of the Rising Sun: Saber, in a rather unique 'costume'. It's a wedding dress, I believe! Looks like Saber's Halloween costume this year is a bride.

She came in a box that was allowed to be transported through luggage. It's a decent box, but there really isn't much to gawk at, so we will be moving on.

So Saber comes with a unique wedding dress that is an amalgam of a jumpsuit and wedding skirts and veils. I'm not sure if this is canon or just another AU outfit made for the plastic realm. The only version of a wedding I saw Saber wear was her 'Break Saber into submission' dress and it certainly wasn't this.

The color scheme is obviously dominantly white but the hints of stronger colors peppering certain parts of her dress makes it an amazing combination. The mix of her own skin tone and golden (more yellow in this case) hair is a strikingly graceful amalgamation with the brown/red highlights on the end of her skirt as well as with the grey zipper/belt that is on her dress. The veil on the back of her head is a translucent white that ends with a graze of yellow as if to tie back in with her hair; a nice little touch. Then there are hints of blue that pays homage to her original ensemble.

The sword, however, or should I say her saber.... ahem, her Excalibur is nothing I have seen before in the episode/s I have seen Saber hold her blade. But then again, there is something really obvious that I missed as I was in the process of her photo shoot(I'll go in detail in a bit).

Her stance is quite elegant and has a slight hint of sexuality. Saber walking with one leg over the other is very much not like Arturia Pendragon that we know. While she is far from overly masculine, Saber is a warrior and shows very little hint of even acknowledging her feminine sexuality. So this is a bit of a far cry pose... but then again, as I mentioned, there is something implied with this design of her dress that I missed.

The stand is just black except for the "Fate" logo. This must be a saga I don't know about or a logo version I don't recognize. Clean enough and definitely juxtaposes the black mundane stand.

Now here's the ringer that I caught as I wrote this  (terrible toy reviewer, huh?): this must be an interpretation after Caster broke Saber. How do I come to that conclusion? Well, if one looks at the chains and locks on her wrists and ankles, then the eerily stoic look on her face, and that chain and collar around her neck, well, there goes that.

Saber is stern but she has emotions beyond what she is supposed to show for someone engaged in a Holy Grail War so with that said, a doll-like expression, almost like she will have no qualms cutting someone's brains off is rather non-Saber. Then again, there are other interpretations of Saber out there so this might be something; doubtful, though. I honestly just think that this is an AU Saber made for a figure form and for collectors like me.

So in conclusion, this is another great addition to my collection. Saber, while not my favorite character from the Fate series, I do think she has some redeeming qualities and amazing moments in her screen time. So to have an adaptation of her that isn't canon, that is even better. Japanese imports surely are some of the best highlights in my collection; obviously. 

Random, Saber's costume for Halloween is her submissive outfit. 

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.