Chouun Shiryu Black Ver. Marvelous Model by Zigz Toys (Warning NSFW: +18)

Warning: This post contains +18 content, you have been warned.

Hope you had a great Christmas for those who celebrate. I’ve mostly been catching up on anime from this year that I keep saying I’ll watch but never get round to and playing super cheap games from the Steam Sale. This’ll be my last post of the year so might as well wish you all a happy new year too. Today I’m going to look at my latest figure acquisition – Chouun Shiryu Black Ver. by Zigz Toys. Chouun here is more than a simple recoloured version of Zigz Toys original Chouun Shiryu released back in October of 2009. There are also slight improvements to her sculpt, base and construction. Read on to see more of Chouun and how she compares to her original white version of 2009.

Ikkitousen fans may be a tad confused – “this isn’t Chouun, what’s going on here!?”. No, this is Chouun from Koihime Musou – a Visual Novel/ anime series set in the same Romance of the Three Kingdoms universe as Ikkitousen. I’m sure many regular readers of this blog will be aware I’m a huge fan of Koihime Musou. Chouun, or Sei as she’s known in the VN/anime, also happens to be my favourite character so having the opportunity to pick up another figure of her was a no brainer for me. In both the Visual Novel and anime series Sei is portrayed as a confident witty warrior. She’ll make the most inappropriate comments at the wrong times while remaining unphased by the reactions of others around her.

If you want to see more of Koihime Musou anime you can watch all 3 seasons of the anime over at crunchyroll. Or you can buy the translated Visual Novel over at MangaGamer (Note: 18+ link, still no voices ).

The original white coloured Chouun was Zigz Toys first ever figure release. I was impressed with her back in 2009, although I will say most of my enjoyment came more from liking the character. Since 2009 Zigz Toys have only really put out 1 other figure – Sousou also from Koihime Musou. One thing I really like about Zigz is the action poses they’ve sculpted their figures in so far. They’ve also put out previews of other characters from Koihime Musou, but for whatever reason they seem to have disappeared. I hope we’ll see more from them in 2012, although chances are it’ll only be one figure and hopefully not a recolour of Sousou.

Now onto the figure itself.

The pose seen here is the same as her original – balancing on one leg with her spear in hand. I like all the ribbons and loose clothing flapping in the air. It gives a powerful sense of motion as she flurries her way seamlessly through opposing armies. The good thing about this Black version is everything feels more rigid. There’s less chance of accidentally catching these pieces on clothing and breaking them.

The black colour scheme of her clothing is also quite soothing. I’d initially tried to take pictures using a fiery red backdrop but everything felt wrong. I switched over to this darker blue which I think suits the feels of her black outfit much better. I especially like the gold gradient seen round the edges of her dress – it’s much more interesting to look at than a solid black dress.

For the most part the fine details look great. Her butterfly mask which we’ll see soon has a little stray paint but everything else looks fine. This black versions paint job looks much cleaner and smoother than her original as well. That’s immediately noticeable in her hair.

Her weapon is still the same design. The only changes I’ve spotted so far are the handle colour and black versions blade is painted with a metallic finish. The weapon breaks into 3 pieces allowing you to easily slide the handles into her open hands making it a simple process to remove and insert with minimal damage.

One thing I dislike with this Chouun figure, both original and black, is her fingers. They look too big for her scale. Although I will say they’re somewhat more exaggerated in these pictures.

Seis’ facial expression still looks a little odd especially with the open mouth. The feeling you get from her eyes does not match up with the open mouth. Maybe if she was frowning it would have given a stronger impression of shouting. With her current eyes maybe a wry smile would have looked better or just no expression. Yeah, I think it’s her eyes that are at odds with the rest of her pose, they just seem too vacant and lacking in determination. Her facial structure has been made slightly narrower compared with her original which I think makes her look a little better. I’ll also admit she doesn’t look quite like any of her character incarnations – Koihime Musou VN, Shin Koihime Musou VN, and the anime – although she’s probably closer to the VN character designs.

You also get a silver butterfly mask option to display her with. Simply remove the front of her hair and replace with the butterfly mask variant. I found this a little trickier than with the original, I guess that’s the downside of making everything more rigid . The detail looks great, the only real paint spill is at her nose ridge where the mask and hair fringe meet. The mask also lines up better with her eyes on this black version of Chouun.

One gripe, or concern, I had with the original figure was her base. It felt too light and flimsy to hold her in place. Well this black version has a slightly wider and heavier base. She’s also easier to insert into said base since she’s at less of an awkward angle. The base also looks better with more shading and sharper structure.

The cast-off is also very simple. Unclip her dress at the right hand side and slide off. Actually mine won’t keep her clothes on, so no unclipping required. There is a piece of paper included that states to use a hair drier if you want to fix her dress and make it fit.

Probably the most immediate difference seen between this black version and her original is the skin tone. The original looked very red. I didn’t have an issue with that since paler skin in a white outfit would have looked odd. The reverse is true for a black outfit – paler skin looks better. The cast-off looks a bit odd I’ll admit. Not as odd as her original white one – her breasts actually have shape this time. I think the huge distance between her breasts and hips is what’s making her look so odd.

And that’s everything for Chouun. She’s probably one of those figures that gets passed on because of the unknown manufacturer and unknown character. If you’re a Koihime Musou fan and are looking for a Chouun for your collection I can strongly recommend this black version by Zigz as an alternative to their original white. Anyone else, if you’re not captured by her immediately I doubt this review will convince you otherwise. For me I think this black version is superior to the original white – all the small changes make receiving another Chouun figure still enjoyable. The cast-off is still iffy at best, but I’ll be displaying her fully clothed anyway. Her pose and sculpt still look great even 2 years on. Also interesting is my original doesn’t appear to have leaned so that’s good.

Just 1 wallpaper this time:

1920 x 1080

A little off-topic here:
Doing this review has reminded me, I did intend to review the Koihime Musou VN, but when it came down to writing it all I could say is “there’s lots of sex and the characters are fun”. So there you go – bonus review xD.