Now this is one of those statues that comes with a heavy package--not necessarily physically but also other factors that makes it a bit more peculiar within my #Toy_Reviewing antics. Notice "?" with my #Kotobukiya title? Well, this figure is supposed to be from that company but... it's not? Well, let's just get right into the review and while I am working on this post, I am still conducting my own research so this might have a few revisions. Let's get right into it, shall we?
The box is HUGE. I have a somewhat good enough size reviewing station and I rarely ever expose the corners. This box forced me to. It's also a well designed box that does everything that an import box usually does: neatly designed, window box, and protects the figure inside to a certain degree. Now this is where I start questioning things in regards to the box and the legitimacy of this figure. Basically, I'm wondering if this is a 'knock-off' or the genuine thing. Something that I have yet to come across as a collector because, well, I'm usually careful on where/who I get the product from. Getting this from a kiosk, perhaps I should've known better? But I've gotten things there before and they're legit so....
Part of the reason I am questioning it so much is because of the Kotobukiya logo is missing on mine. Notice the image on the right? That one has the logo and the one on the left (mine) does not. But the aesthetics and everything else as far as the box is fine so I would've left it there. But the figure itself has some things to question.
The first issues I ran into but didn't notice that it was an issue was the stand. Olivia was supposed to be firmly attached to her stand but mine came undone. Luckily it was an easy process of just super-gluing her feet to the base so she's fine now.
Oh, this isn't a defect! One actually has to spend the nerve-wracking time of pulling her apart so she can have her belly chain/jewelry on. The painful thing is that once she was taken apart, did not want to stay on so another super glue action.
After all of that, some more super-gluing, I finally put her all together and.... the figure itself, questionable quality issues and/or color difference aside, it is gorgeous. She 'stands' proud, wings out and takes a good amount of space so one has to be ready for that. But I just want to clarify: I don't know anything about this character or the game she's from so how accurate this is to the character won't play a factor for me. From what I can tell, she's obviously an angelic figure--fallen angel of some kind, and she's most likely uber powerful. She's also got the anime-JRPG style where little armor, show off some skin, and give some fan service to make it all come together. I'm not at all complaining! Her design is right up my alley and I am digging how this statue portrayed her! Definitely a lot to take in and appreciate!
Her pose is sexy but still very powerful. calmly holding her two swords as she descends/lands, it's definitely something to marvel at! Oh, and on a side note... those swords also provided their own issues so as of right now, they are super glued to her hands. Basically, handle with care!
There's also some "motion" placed in her hair even if it's not a lot it's still something that I can appreciate.
There are no shortcuts with the way her wings and hair are sculpted. Lots of little details that make it look so organic and definitely show it's price.
The paint job is superb. Going through this statue as I was 'figuring things out' with its legitimacy, I found it to be nearly perfect! Her outfit has a lot of intricacies with colors scheme and the colors chosen, the shadings here and there, the way the wings are executed, the hair--very reminiscent of some of #Bishoujo's signature.
The face is also well done; can't complain, really. There are a few misses on the hair accessories (?) but nothing too distracting. With everything else that has ben done, I think it's a small imperfection I'm more than willing to look past.
Once again, there's plenty to admire in her costume--the fact that it's both sexy but still exudes a powerful presence (in a JRPG-Anime way, that is). The statue really does a good job capturing some of those details and I'm glad for it. But another thing to point out is that some of the videos I have seen reviewing this statue and promotional art shows her leggings and gloves are fully black and not this light shade. Honestly, I like this brown version since it looks like it has some shading involved. Also, there are multiple re-releases of the statue so that might be the reason why there are differences in some of the coloring.
Of course promotional art will always differ, but it's worth pointing out some key things that is different from my statue like the horns, the hair, etc. If I didn't make it clear, I don't think mine is bad, just has some noticeable differences. Here is Kotobukiya's post on Dark Angel Olivia (also labeled: Renewal Package Version).
So at this point, I'm not 100% sure if this is legit, a repaint/re-release, a knock-off, or a figure that is released officially but just has some quality issues. Regardless of all that, I do still believe that this is a fantastic statue. She's an awesome looking character with a presence that fits the hott sexy JRPG goddess that loves to flaunt but still kick some rumps. Despite all the mishaps, the confusion, I still adore this a lot. If I was to recommend her though, I'd have to say that the buyer REALLY has to dig deep because there are a few reissues of her, knock-offs, and the whole nine yards. Be careful, but find her and you're in for a treat!
Until Next Time!
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