Blanc Neige - Kotobukiya

Blanc Neige - Kotobukiya.

Blanc Neige is my latest figure (for now), so i think this photoshoot will be the last photoshoot before new figure arrived. For this October, i only got Yagami Hayate (Alter) pre-ordered, and i heard that Hayate release date is delayed so yeah, no more new figure for awhile.

Blanc Neige in her Shining Wind outfit.

As you all know, Kotobukiya made this figure and released it around last September. This figure is actually the only Shining Wind version of Blanc Neige. The other Blanc Neige figures are Shining Tears version. As i said before, Blanc Neige in her Shining Wind outfit is better than her Shining Tears outfit IMO. The reason why i bought this figure is because of this Shining Wind version of Blanc Neige.

Longer hairstyle in Shining Wind version, stylish!

Not only her outfit, but also her hair. Blanc Neige in Shining Wind version has longer hair than before. Not only longer, but also stylish! But i think those are the only changes from Shining Tears to Shining Wind version. She still got her ice magic and ice personality with her.

Blanc Neige without her cape on, sexy!

This figure is actually came with removable cape. I think i know now which one i prefer more. I like her without her cape on. She does look sexier without her cape on. And this is somewhat rare find, because you won't see her without her cape on in the anime.

It would be better if you could remove the long gloves.

The only downside of removing her cape is her long gloves. The gloves doesn't suit her without her cape. But if you put her cape on, her long gloves suit her well. But that won't change the fact that she looks sexy without her cape.

You won't see her pale and glossy skin because i used Canon's picture style to get a good skin tone.

You won't see her smooth skin too much if you put her cape on. This is one of the reason why i like her without her cape. Talk about skin, i think Kotobukiya can't really made a good doff skin. I don't know how they did this thing, but all i know is Blanc Neige's skin is somewhat pale and glossy. It makes sense if her skin is pale, but glossy skin is a no-no in every figure.

Photography tips:
Notice that her skin doesn't look really pale and glossy in the photos because i set the picture style and white balance before shooting them. Picture style can be set in camera's menu, and white balance, well... almost all camera has white balance setting. If you used RAW shooting mode, you can get a better and sharper result than JPEG, and on top of that you can edit the picture style and white balance setting in Digital Photo Professional (or your camera software) AFTER the shot. FYI, you can't change camera setting for a particular JPEG photos AFTER shooting.

Rough details, bad...

Let's get down to the details. Her choker on her neck isn't really well sculpted. It's somewhat rough. Yeah, kinda disappointed with this. Kotobukiya sculpt isn't really improving. Kureha's outfit is well sculpted but she has a glossy skin. Shana Candy Bikini's skin looks even glossier. But Elwing's quality is a top notch, just as good as Alter's quality. After Elwing, there's this Blanc Neige which has a worse quality than Elwing.

Her left hand and glove, with snowflake mark on it.

I think Kotobukiya weakness is small details. Her long glove is okay, and i don't think i can find any flaw in this glove. Looks like i forgot to clean this figure before shooting :P. You can see some dust on her glove in the photo above.

You don't want to mess with her or she'll ice you.

Returning to small details, her staff does look rough on detail sculpt. In the photo above, i played a little bit with the histogram. I tried to make the shadow stronger, that's why the staff in the photo above looks like it made from metal. Small details actually can only be seen when you used a detailed camera like DSLR or other good camera. But with our human eyes, you won't see any visible rough details on these parts, that's why this figure does still look good if you watch her from distance of 15cm or more.

Can you see her cleavage from here?

Once again, you'll see rough paintjob and sculpt in the photo above. But that's because of the DSLR power, as i said just above. From a distance of 15cm or more, she still looks good. But that's not really the point of this photo. Girls in Shining Wind have their cleavage showing, including Blanc Neige. Eventhough it's small, but her cleavage is still visible because of the hole on this part of her dress.

Cleavage or tie, which one do you see first? XD

This is another photo where you can see another visible cleavage. She doesn't have big breast, but she still looks sexy, she still has the charm. Anyway, look at the tie on the cape. It has that snow / ice symbol on it. The string itself isn't really well sculpted, so i don't think you want to see this tie from a close distance.

Feeling of smooth and soft skin.

Because of her cape, you won't see her back in the anime. I think this is one of the details missed (or unseen) in the anime. Seeing bare skin like this gives you the feeling of smooth and soft skin, and make you want to touch it.

Her waist and butt, hmm... delicious!

You know it's very rare to see Blanc Neige in a naughty pose like this. Just because she has a cool personality, doesn't mean that she can't do a sexy pose. Her pose made her waist and butt look sexier than ever.

Sexy body curve.

From this photo, you'll see nasty seamline going on everywhere on her outfit, her cape, and her skin. But you'll see some nice and sexy body curve here. I think this figure is somewhat off from her real personality, but that's just the selling point of this figure!

Folds and wrinkles plus shading.

Talk about body curve and her pose, Kotobukiya made a good effect on her outfit. They made a good sculpt on her outfit, around the waist. The folds look so real. You may not notice, but every figure has this folds / wrinkles on their outfit, and because of that, the figures look so real and alive.

Long boots...

She doesn't wear any thighigh, but she wears a long boots. I think this long boots go well with her long gloves. And you can also see her thigh in the photo above. Soft and smooth as always. Her dress is partially long on the left leg and short on right leg, this explains why she looks so sexy yet elegant.

POI of this figure: her expression.

POI of this figure IS..... her expression! She already has that sexy naughty pose and sexy body curve, the rest is just her expression. It's just so naughty! I know it's off from her personality, but that's just the reason why this expression is so priceless. She has that "come on play with me" expression. Her eyes, her glance, and her smile are the best. You won't see this expression anywhere in the game or anime.

Well, yeah that's it for now. All that's left is a loooong wait for next set of hauls in November 2008. So i think I'll post some thoughts about anime i watched recently, look forward to it!