Arsene by Good Smile Company
Time to catch up with some figures I think. So for my first review of 2012 I present to you Arsene by Good Smile Company.
Arsene is the sort of antagonist from the anime series Milky Holmes. I don’t know much about the series if I’m truly honest. From the fragmented approach I took to watching the series I believe the main group of brightly pastel coloured protagonists are descendants of famous detectives. The whole first season of Milky Holmes appeared to be about them loosing their special powers, becoming incompetent, and trying to regain their once former glory – all while trying to apprehend the infamous leader of the Gentlemen Thieves – Arsene. Oddly enough this is all done with the aid of Arsene and her motley crew. In the series Arsene can be found as seen here in her scrumptious exhibitionist outfit, or as her undercover personality of school president – Henriette Mystere.
I wouldn’t recommend it but if you want to check out Milky Holmes you can watch it over at crunchyroll. Episode 7 has swimsuits, skip the rest. I believe a second season is also in the works – might be next anime season actually. I checked he lied.
Anyway enough of my loathing of Milky Holmes. We’re here for Arsene, the only saving grace of the series. If you’re willing to dress up in a skimpy leather outfit, don a cape and source a masquerade mask to go burgling you’re a pretty bad ass character in my book. Heck she even has grey hair. Optional trench coat and darker skin tone would be perfection, but we’re fairly close.
My immediate thought upon opening her box was ‘she’s quite small, even at 1/8 scale’. She’s about 18cm in fact from foot to the tip of her crown. Compared with the rest of my collection she’s certainly one of the smaller standing figures – smaller than Alters Buddy who previously held that position. It’s also not helped by her compact vertical profile. The flapping cape gives the illusion of volume to her build and adds an element of asymmetry, but the main attraction is her pose and outfit.
There’s many things I enjoy about Arsenes’ character design. The shiney black leathery outfit is dead sexy. GSC love their glossy paint, and so do I 
. The way her cape is flapping in the wind looks dynamic with realistic creases, as does the black skirt-like-bit of her suit (that’s it’s official name, honest). Her left hand looks as though she’s trying to hold it down. That or she’s posing alluringly. I can picture her atop a rooftop looking down upon her next heist, classic batman style.
The masquerade mask is something I’m really digging. I used to (and still do on and off) play Guild Wars where my character was a Mesmer. So the whole outfit and style reminds me very much of that class from the game. Since we’re veering off-topic I might as well throw it out there that I can’t wait for Guild Wars 2. It’s going to be awesome. A large chunk of my annual leave may be allocated to the beta and release weeks.
If a mask isn’t your thing GSC have given you the option to remove it. Simply remove the front of her hair as if she were a figma/nendoroid and unclip the mask. Done.
I still prefer the mask. It adds a little mystery I find. Plus the black colouring of the mask draws attention to her eyes. I find without the mask on I’m drawn more towards her outfit.
Her hair style is quite interesting. You’ve got a pony tail, hair-band, asymmetrical fringe, and a court judges wig all rolled into one. See that ahoge? it’s a little fragile. Plus it’s on the removable part of her hair so it’s more likely to be accidentally broken. The crown isn’t removable.
Those belts, wardrobe malfunction or win?
And of course, long leathery black boots.
I think Arsene looks great, however she’s not without fault. She’s certainly not one of GSC highest quality figures. The most noticeable oddity I find is the paint application of her skin, particularly around the breasts. Her skin on the whole lacks shading but there’s something not right about the breast area. The paint looks flat and dull round that area, even her leathery outfit seems to have shifted in texture to a more matte finish. It makes her look odd as if something changed midway through manufacture/painting. Maybe it’s a different plastic and the paint failed to adhere the same? It’s a shame since you’ve got this figure with gorgeous looking clothing, pose and face; but then there’s this glaringly obvious area of uncertainty around the breasts. And I mean it’s not like they’re hidden or anything. Her bum is also quite disappointing with a sharp transition from skin to clothing. Luckily that’s mostly hidden by her cape and I wasn’t able to angle her to photograph it accurately.
The red part of her cape could also have been a little better. Don’t get me wrong it looks bloody awesome, it’s just up close there are paint imperfections that somewhat ruin the appeal. The white lines are also uneven and look hastily finished. Of course you have to be up close to notice this so I don’t find it too distracting. It’s quite odd though. Some of the details of her outfit look perfect such as her belt buckles and strings – yet the obvious stuff seems to have been slightly botched somewhere.
Arsene is one of those figures I knew I’d like from the moment I saw her preview shots. And that is still the case after finally getting her. I love her outfit, her colour scheme, her pose, everything. The aforementioned paint issue is a little disappointing, but it doesn’t impact on my enjoyment of her. Compared to other manufacturers and their defects the ones here are fairly minor indeed. So yeah, Arsene has more than lived up to my expectations and will probably remain one of my favourites for a long time.
I’ve got 2 more figures in the review queue, Arsene actually skipped one of them. The next figure I plan to review is made by a procession of tuxedo wearing aves. Hopefully I can get round to that sooner rather than later.
Where’s waldo-papers?
Posted on 02/02/2012, in Figures and tagged Arsene, figure, figures, Good Smile Company, GSC, Milky Holmes. Bookmark the permalink. 12 Comments.
Arsene was one of the figures I was tempted to grab in January alongside Max Factory’s Catherine but in the end decided not to. I’m glad you picked her up and that you’re happy with the figure, it’s certainly a neat one to behold. She does look great with her mask on rather than not, I’m guessing this is because they tailored the eyes and mask together. While no fan of glossy stuff the outfit makes her look sexy without giving you the impression she’s roaming the streets in Vegas. She rests her chest on the arm admirably.
The flow of figures seems a tad limited in the beginning of each year and 2012 is off to a rather slow start as well. I’m hoping Wonder Festival will pick up the pace by unveiling more goodies for the second and third quarter this year.
I’m glad I picked her up as well and she turned out well. Sure there’s some areas for improvement but I don’t find them to be a problem. Catherine looks quite nice, although I wouldn’t have picked her up myself. Maybe if I’d played the game and liked her character it’d be different. It does look as though Arsene was designed with the mask in mind as opposed to without. Without it her head looks a little square I find. I would say the gloss effect suits Arsenes’ outfit – unlike say Rin Tohsaka where her top is clearly not meant to be glossy. Arsene is certainly a seductress
.
Yeah I know what you mean about the start of each year, it’s the same with video games. It feels like you’re only waiting on orders from the previous year to come through (which I’ve got a few of admittedly). Hopefully WonFes turns up some goodies. The January Hobby Japan scans had some Shining Hearts swimsuit girls, Queen’s Blade and Samurai Girls that I’m very much curious to see.
thx a lot for the review of her, your picture on mfc was so nice <3
Milky Holmes is a weirdo show, but actually Im watching the 2nd season.
The figure of Arsene looks so cool and sexy, normally GSC themself don't produce figures which are that sexy, correct me if Im wrong ^^. I like the latex like supervillain dress of her, the cape adds some more elegance. Also the pose is great, lovely how she self confidently pushes up her boobs. With the mask she looks a lot better, without she looks a bit like an eagle.
I somehow expected that she wouldn't be the tallest figure, but 18cm in 2cm shorter than in the description. Well, I already have a shelf for small end 1/8 figures and I think Arsene would look good next to my Melissa Seraphy there.
I can't really notice the flaw of her cleavage skin color, but it would be a letdown for me now since Im close to order her. hopefully it isn't too bothersome.I'll give this some more thought.
I like the good play of light and shadows in your pictures, it makes this Arsene figure very appealing.
Thanks! I’ve been dragging my feet lately with figure reviews. Well I say dragging my feet – more like doing other stuff.
I found out earlier today the second season is airing this anime season. It’s coming to niconico USA instead of crunchyroll so I can’t watch it yet. I’ll maybe watch the odd episode once it’s finished airing.
I find quite a lot of GSC figures appealing, although maybe not all of them are as explicit as Arsene here. She emanates confidence despite being in a very revealing outfit which adds to her sexiness I think. Yeah without her mask you see the shape of her eyes and face clearer. The edges look quite sharp which I think gives that eagle-like appearance, whereas the mask somewhat softens it.
For some reason I was expecting her to be a little bigger. Maybe it’s just her cape and the rest of my collection warping my perception. I’m going to display mine at the fore-front of my shelf. Since she’s quite small I can then see anything behind her which is neat.
Between her two breasts I find it most obvious. It looks like a build up of excess paint, which from there you begin to notice how flat everything around that region looks. With some colour shading she probably would have looked better. I don’t find it a problem unless up close. At most viewing angles and lighting conditions it’s almost unnoticeable.
Thanks. It’s a new lighting set-up I’ve been playing with so I’m having to learn how to control the larger light output than I’ve ever had available previously.
I’m surprised that she’s so small, I would’ve expected her to be at least 20 cm tall. I have to admit that she looks very sexy in that outfit. The belt buckles are my favourite part, they look relatively detailed and help draw attention to Arsene’s thighs and hips. It’s a shame that the paint on the red side of her cape looks so bad, I known I wouldn’t be happy if one of my figures came like that. I had to zoom in on the paint job on her boobs to see what you were talking about though, so I think she looks fine there as long as you’re not examining her up close.
Overall she looks like a great figure.
It’s quite hard to judge figure scale from promo shots I find, so I too expected her to be a little bigger. The way her cape flows to one side leaving her narrow body in the centre I think somewhat warps my perception of her size as well.
The belt buckles are nicely detailed, as are the strings at the front of her suit. It’s strange then that the other details are not so well finished, such as her cape.
I think the lighting also has a little to do with being able to see the colour difference with her breasts. Under my regular room lighting I can see the paint finish difference clearly, but in the photos the shadows and viewing angle somewhat hide what I’m seeing. Plus there’s an element of what has been seen cannot be unseen going on
. It’s also not so obvious under daylight.
But yes, overall I’m more than pleased with how she turned out, especially since I’d really been looking forward to getting her.
Nice review! Milky Holmes seems like a show I would rage at so I’ve never tried to watch it. But Arsene looks awesome and sexy and I’m almost tempted to watch it just to see her prance around in that outfit. Almost.
It’s a shame her breasts are colored so badly, the sculpting on them look quite nice. GSC’s signature ultra-shine finish works quite well for her dress as well.
Thanks ^^.
I find Milky Holmes extremely grating to watch. But when Arsene finally makes an appearance I’m more than pacified. Then she leaves ><. The ED from the first season is worth a watch since it mostly features Arsene in various outfits.
It is a shame her breasts seem to have an odd paint texture. While it’s distracting once you know it’s there I still don’t find it distracting enough to stop me enjoying arsene for what she is. GSC gloss really does work well with Arsenes’ leathery outfit. Much more appropriate than on some of their other figures.
Interesting figure, not my style (bondage look), but still pretty cool. I like how you referred her to the Mesmer class in Guild Wars, I used to play that too. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m like, “Oh yeah! She does look like a Mesmer.” LOL
I agree that the paint application is on the rough side for GSC, normally GSC is pretty good with the paint work, I wonder why that is? Kind of reminds me of GSC’s Canaan when it first released, it’s like GSC went with a sub-standard paint facility for some of these figures.
Nice pics – that red spot in the background is interesting, what is it? Lamp behind a red cloth? ^_^’
Ah that’s unfortunate. I must admit the bondage look is one that’s grown on me over time. I have about 4k hours in Guild Wars, which is kind of sad – more than half on my Mesmer. Too bad the Guild Wars capes don’t look as awesome as Arsenes’ cape. Having the raised collar makes hers look superior.
Yes you’re right, the paint quality does remind me of their release of the scale Canaan figure. Maybe their QC is demand/cost driven? Figures in low demand get pushed out with ‘minor’ defects, such as Canaan, high demand figures like Rin Tohsaka get a bit more time dedicated to ironing out issues. But yeah GSC figures can really vary in terms of quality.
Thanks ^^. The red spot a black cloth over a frosted sphere. The sphere is in my second photo. Inside the sphere I put a lamp with a red LED bulb (hence the bright spot). I tried a green and blue bulb too, but the red looked better in most cases. For these photos I was also testing out my new high power LEDs as a primary light source. They’ve turned out to be really cool so far. I’ll be sure to post about them once I’m happy with using them a bit more.
When I saw this figure, I thought that this character was the sort who worked during the night, but it didn’t cross my mind that she’s a burglar. I’m still not quite sure how that works, but I’m not going to disapprove of any cute anime girl who wears a revealing leather outfit. I really like the way her arm forms a shelf that pushes attention squarely towards her chest. I really like her gloves and kinky boots, too. More anime schoolgirls should wear kinky boots.
I had thought of getting this figure – any girly anime figure in a pseudo-bondage outfit is going to get a more comprehensive look from me – but what bugged me was her little crown. I don’t really like those silly tilted hats that seem to be in vogue these days. I blame K-On! for this trend. I wonder how easy it would be to fix the damage if one were to snap it off her head?
Not just any burglar, the descendant of Arsene Lupin the Third – Sherlock Holmes arch rival. But yeah her shameless outfit is not one to be worn during the day unless it’s cosplay time, and even then… well in my area anyway. I don’t question her outfit since she’s a character from Milky Holmes, and trying to make any sense of what’s going on there is a feat I’m not prepared to undertake. Boob size alone should have given away Arsenes’ true identity to the Milky Holmes detectives, but hey-ho where’s the fun in that. Oh yes I agree on the long gloves and boots – a very appealing combination.
You could probably break the crown off and fill any damage with modeling putty or similar. The crown sits on her white head band so you’ll probably get away with only needing white paint too. I’ll agree that the mini crown looks a tad dumb. I think part of the design, or at least most of Milky Holmes, is pandering towards as many groups as possible. Most of the publicity of the show feels very geared towards making a quick buck. It’s like they tried to take a bit of everything and mush it into 1 show. That’s just how it came across to me. Anyway, back to the crown. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be an accessory of her headband or an actual mini crown that just happens to be placed on the headband. I don’t find it too distracting though since her ponytail is positioned behind it and tends to draw my attention away and down.