There are some anime that are able to cut deep into your feelings. One of those anime is Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica from 2011 that made me cry my eyes out for hours after I finished watching it. Even now it makes me sad, when I think about tragic heroines Homura and Madoka. Now what does this series about magical girls has to do with the wildly popular light novel and anime-series Bakemonogatari?! Both are produced by studio Shaft, my favorite animation studio (last season’s 3-gatsu no Lion was amazing as well)!
Due to the studio’s 40th anniversary, Shaft made a Madogatari exhibition last year, in which they did a mash-up of both anime, which are also their commercially most successful. The figures I own are from a brand called SQ and were prizes in claw-machines in Japanese arcades. I will say it right away: Never have I ever won anything by playing one of those! I am the type that either goes to Akihabara or Nakano Broadway to purchase them directly for 10-15 bucks each. If I tried to win them, I would spend more and still had to go home empty-handed. The next problem was luggage-space and so I had to make the decision of only bringing the Bakemonogatari characters home with me. Basically because they are wearing the fancier costumes. Each figure was also available in a sepia-colored version.
The first figure I bought, was Oshino Shinobu in Tomoe Mami’s magical girl costume. In December she was already hard to find in stores and I got lucky in a tiny shop in Nakano. Shinobu also originally comes with her own stand, which is kind of useless since it does not help out at all with balancing her heavy hair. She was always falling backwards and so I decided to display her next to the other figures without it.
The figure itself is the cutest! Even though she is wearing Mami’s uniform, she is still not letting go of her favorite treat because she is obsessed with donuts. (Her counterpart Mami is wearing Shinobu’s white summer dress and drinking a cup of tea.)
The paint job and details are very well done, which could be the reason, why this figure was so sought after in midst of the many Shinobu figures on the market. She also stayed true to herself in not wearing Mami’s shoes. Shinobu prefers to stay barefoot! Mami’s perfect ensemble consists out of the colors dark brown, light brown, white, gold and mustard.
Senjougahara Hitagi in Kaname Madoka’s magical girl costume was released next and she looks absolutely spectacular! (Madoka’s figure is wearing Hitagi’s casual clothes.)
The pink ribbons in Hitagi’s hair work really well with her purple pig tails. I really love that there is so much movement in her pose, hair and clothing. Her facial expression does not look too happy. If this is due to her new outfit or new job as magical girl-who knows?! But in all honesty: I love her grumpy facial expression! It is very true to Hitagi and at the same time hilarious.
She comes with her own pink and white stand with her name in black writing on it. You have to fixate the shoes on the stand and it does its job very well. She does not swivel around at all and I like to sit the other figures on it as well. Also let’s appreciate Madoka’s pretty dark rose pink shoes, please! Just like Mami’s outfit, Madoka has the perfect color combination: White, dark rose pink, pastel yellow and baby pink!
The last figure I can share (I regularly google to look for new releases, but none so far) is Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-under-Blade, who I will call Kiss-Shot from now on, in Devil Homura-cosplay. Devil Homura’s design is one of my favorite in anime history. I love the dark violet with the lighter purple and the hairbow in a bloody red. Vice versa there is also a Homura in Kiss-Shot’s clothes.
I hope that Kiss-Shot, who is a centuries-old vampire, won’t bite me for saying this, but I think that I like her in the Devil Homura-outfit a little bit more than in her original clothes. The colors and style just makes her look extremely fierce and beautiful, which on the first look manages to hide the flaws of the paint job here and there. Her face on the other hand is flawless, beautiful and fearless. What’s a little bit strange for me, is that she is sitting on the majority of her long blonde hair. It works because it makes a nice curve in her back, but I am not totally convinced. I love her hands and how elegant they look. She does not come with her own stand.
That’s it for my three Madogatari figures! I would be really interested in more releases, since there are quite a lot of characters left on both sides that were not included in this series!
Are you a fan of either of those anime?
Thank you so much for reading!
Theri