Atelier Sai Hiiragi Kagami
I’ve got a few new figures to cover but decided to pick my favorite character to start off with: Hiiragi Kagami from the series Lucky Star. This latest rendering of Kagami is by Atelier Sai, a company with which I did not have any prior experience.
So how does Atelier Sai’s non-scale Kagami scale up to the competition? Read on to find out ^^.
This Kagami is the first Lucky Star figure released by Atelier Sai. If I had to describe her pose, I would say Kagami is displaying her tsundere attitude. Leaning to the side, her hands on her hips, and giving you a long, hard, almost disapproving look. While you could say she is just standing there, I do like her pose. It fits her personality quite well. From some angles it does look like she is leaning too far to the side but overall the pose is attractive.
Kagami is dressed in her blue and white summer school uniform. Of course, twin tails + her brown hair ribbons are here as well ^^
Special bonus with this figure! Her skirt is raised on one side as if a heavenly breeze just drifted by ;)
Her ears seem to stick out a bit more than I expected but it’s really only noticeable when viewed from a lower angle. The rest of her head is to my liking. Her eyes, one of the most important aspects of any figure, are an accurate representation of her anime appearance with sharp points on the top outer edges and are a nice shade of blue. Her mouth is just a little dot but this too is an accurate representation ^^;
Uh-oh, she spotted me ^^;
Full view from below. Atelier Sai decides to go the same route as FREEing did with their 1/4 Kagami. Shimapan ^^;
My favorite shot of the bunch ^^.
Atelier Sai’s Kagami beside Clayz’s Kagami. Clayz’s 1/8 scale figure seemed to be the best to compare against. You can see that the white seifuku on Atelier Sai’s version is closer to actual white whereas Clayz is a odd off-white color. Also, looking at them side by side makes you realize how bad the eyes look on Clayz’s version. Atelier Sai is definitely more accurate in this regard. Also, notice the hair color? This is probably the only thing Clayz’s did better. Atelier Sai made Kagami’s hair too blue, not enough purple/pink in it. It looks closer to Konata’s hair color >_<. It seems the more blue shade is not an unheard of occurrence with Kagami fanart so perhaps this shade of blue was intentional.
In any case, I do like this figure. If I had to choose between Atelier Sai’s Kagami and Clayz’s, I would definitely pick this one. It just feels more like Kagami than Clayz’s. So, yes, I’m satisfied with this purchase ^^. Atelier Sai is releasing a similar Tsukasa figure soon though I don’t know if Konata and Miyuki will be following later.
This figure is still in stock at Hobby Search and HLJ so you can easily pick her up if you’re interested ^^. 4,800 yen retail.
Hiiragi Kagami (non-scale) from Lucky Star by Atelier Sai
Released: August 2009
Retail Price: 4,800 yen
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Themocracy
Shimapan! XDD LOL.
I do agree, Atelier Sai’s Kagamin looks better, especially with her eyes, and, as you said, the hair color was quite off.
Although, I’m pretty okay with the off-whiteness of Clayz’ seifuku — there are some fabrics for seifuku that give off that kind of white, usually the thicker ones. ^^ Atelier Sai’s seifuku looks a bit stiff to me, except for that little skirt bonus. *nod*
I don’t remember Kagamin’s socks being green during summer though. *hasn’t seen LS in a while* @_@;
Very lovely photos of an equally lovely Kagamin! :3
ninjovee´s last blog ..Review: Nendoroid Miku Miku Kagami
Yeah, I don’t mind the hair color difference. The rest of the figure makes up for it.
Her socks aren’t really green. They’re really more like gray, but the lighting made them look a bit weird >_<
Eyes of Atelier Sai’s figure are better. This figure seems nice, but I am not an addict of the quality. I prefer Alter and GSC’s figures !
You made beautiful picture ! Congratulation and thank for this sharing :)
Leonia´s last blog ..Melissa Seraphy – Good Smile Company
Yes, Alter and GSC are great, but they aren’t making Lucky Star figures =P
Really nice photos. I wonder if Atelier Sai has upped their quality, this is a pretty good Kagami.
Marshmallow´s last blog ..asa!
Has Atelier Sai made bad figures in the past? I don’t really know much about them and this is my first figure by them. Seems OK to me ^^
I am amazed at the quality of Kagami made by Atelier Sai. They have made progress.
It is true that we perceive his side “Tsundere”. :)
Lylibellule´s last blog ..Risa 1/6 (Pre-painted / Gathering E2046)
Yeah, I was a bit surprised by the quality too. In a good way, it was better than I expected ;)
My Tuskasa (figma) is off to Japan. Your shooting gives me an idea when I realize when Tsukasa will be mine ;)
Nice shooting, congratulations.
mikiwank´s last blog ..[fig] Figma, haruhi suzumiya summer uniform ver
Thanks, I’m glad you like the photos :)
Off to Japan? Are you taking a trip? ^^.
I’m sorry, but I’m going to be a nay-sayer.
I hate how this figure looks like.
Her mouth is too small, even by anime standards, her cheeks are puffed out in a totally weird manner, and her pose is ridiculous, especially since she’s ill-proportioned: Her upper half of the body is WAY too small, both for her legs and for her head. It looks like they just stuck three separate parts together, rather than make one full sculpt.
Honestly, it could’ve actually merited a spot on my “Five Not”, I find it horrid :-/
Guy´s last blog ..Custom Plush
Hmmm, well, everyone is entitled to their opinions, but as a devote Kagami fan, I don’t agree =P
If you’re comparing against the Clayz figure in the last pic, that figure is actually the one that isn’t accurate.
Her mouth is small but like I said, that’s accurate from her anime appearance (when she is not smiling or talking).
Examples:
http://e-shuushuu.net/images/2008-12-04-128356.jpeg
http://e-shuushuu.net/images/2009-08-26-192262.jpeg
The puffed out cheeks are also accurate. The face on Clayz version was too long. The Lucky Star characters kind of have a chubby look to their faces.
http://e-shuushuu.net/images/2009-07-28-182562.jpeg
http://e-shuushuu.net/images/2009-07-27-182254.jpeg
I don’t really see any problems with her proportions but I’ll admit that the way she is leaning is a bit odd. It looks good from some angles, a bit awkward from others.
Anyway, she’s certainly not perfect but I still think she’s a pretty good figure ^^.
I’m a bit worried about the figure though; looks like she could be a leaner, in more ways then one.
Snark´s last blog ..Sacred Blacksmith – First Impressions
Yeah… I hope she doesn’t start leaning even more >_<
For an Atelier Sai figure, this Kagami looks pretty good. Although something looks wrong on her face.
Anyway, nice photos! And also nice shimapan. XD
sonic_ver2´s last blog ..Tayutama –Kiss on My Diety-
Hmmm, I still don’t see much wrong with her face >_<
Shimapan ftw ^^
Gosh Im soooo blind…I only noticed the coor difference after you pointed it out >.<
Her cheeks look a bit weird imho but you can be choosey with Kagami eh?
Blowfish´s last blog ..Ultra Vibration Valkyrie Mirim (NSFW)
Yeah, the hair color difference doesn’t bother me much. Only really noticeable when next to another Kagami figure.
She looks cute! A nice Kagami figure though most “Lucky Star” figures, especially Kagami and Miyuki do miss that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that would make them great figures. Love “Lucky Star” but the figures made of the series have never convinced me, maybe Max Factory, Alter or Good Saile Company should do a scaled figure set.
Smithy´s last blog ..Shin Koihime†Musou 1
That would be nice but if they haven’t done them by now, I doubt it will happen :-/
I’m very skeptical about Atelier Sai products ever since the leaning waitress Mikuru incident. Not sure how much they’ve improved since 2007, but do careful of leaning problems if she doesn’t have a leg support. :)
Nonetheless, a really nice review. You should’ve compared it with your FREEing Kagamin. ^^
Tommy´s last blog ..MegaHouse Queen’s Blade Airi Special Edition
She would look like a midget compared to the FREEing Kagami xD
Thanks for the warning. Will have to watch the Atelier Sai figure for leaning
I dislike the Atelier Sai Kagami myself, I like the Clayz one. But to each their own :) I think when Clayz made their figures they designed them around the illustrations in the manga. The art style of the manga and the anime are different.
lovelyduckie´s last post… Bakuman Manga Review
Yeah, perhaps that is what Clayz intended. It’s not that I dislike the Clayz version, just that I think I like this Atelier Sai version more ^^