Thursday, May 21, 2015
Review: Akumajou Dracula Prize Collection Dramatic Figure Vol. 1 - Simon Belmont
| Figure Information | |
| Manufacturer: | Konami |
| Origin Series: | Akumajou Dracula Judgment |
| Scale: | Non-scale |
| Height: | Approximately 16cm tall |
| Packaging: |
Now I know there's no price indicated because seriously, no matter how much research I do, I just can't find the srp for this one especially since the Akumajou Dracula Prize Collection figrues are as the figure line says, prize figures and more so, they are actually from Konami who isn't really a figure centered company to begin with.
As the title says, this figure of the Legendary Simon Belmont was based on the rather infamous Wii fighting game, Akumajou Dracula/Castlevania Judgment, whose designs were made by Takeshi Obata (famous for his work on Death Note) and that is very evident as both the character portraits of Simon and Maria from the game are placed on the sides of the box as the two of them make up the Vol. 1 set. The back actually shows you of what to expect from the figures as well as Konami's gimmick for it. The top isn't that much great as it literally just spells out the set you're getting.
Overall, the box style is pretty worthy for the characters having a gothic frame while bearing a seemingly bloodstained black background; it certainly does fit the whole idea of the Akumajou Dracula/Castlevania franchise.
| Details: |
So yeah, even if I am a huge fan of the franchise, I still don't get figures from the franchise if I find the faces derpy such as the Vol. 2 ones (Symphony of the Night Alucard and Maria) but somehow, even though I certainly am not a fan of Obata's designs for Judgment, I actually think these prize figures are bearable.
Simon's face doesn't really capture the art very well but it does indeed look okay and bearable at the very least; if you actually look closely, the human features of the figure does look good and for a prize figure, they sure put in some effort to give Simon some teeth.
One of Obata's signature styles would probably be how he does the hair of his designs, they are very layered and to my surprise, this figure actually captures that pretty nicely; additionally, Simon's hair does indeed mix in different shades of dark red which does give this figure a very great level of paint detail.
The great amount of details goes to how ridiculously well finished Simon's body is, there's definitely a great amount of work in there as the muscles look realistic thanks to the wonderful combination of the mold and paint for the skin tone.
The goodness doesn't stop there as literally every amount of detail on Simon's outfit has this fine finish in terms of the texture AND the paint. Things such as the cross on his back, the scales on his thighs as well as his greaves look perfect especially for a mere prize figure.
Probably the biggest downer on his figure is that the tattoos on his design look absolutely bland since it doesn't have the shadowy shades that the skin tone and the hair had.
His whip looks amazing mold wise though I feel it could've gotten a better color since it looks completely like an unpainted molded brown plastic.
| Base: |
Probably the cheapest and most Prize-ish looking thing with Simon's figure is his base because it ridiculously looks cheap, the texture is pretty dull and the paint definitely gives it a plastic look, could've been better really but they actually did some form of gimmick with it as you can absolutely "connect" it to the base of Simon's wavemate, Maria Renard though I won't show her just yet on the shot below. :p
| Pose and Appeal: |
Simon's pose is definitely badass as it is very dynamic and fitting for his character, the whip's mold also does give it an extra dynamic factor and I just love how it looks overall.
The dynamic nature of Simon's pose also does make the figure very photogenic because there's always a story to tell in almost every angle; by almost every angle, I do mean it since you don't even need to show his face just to capture a good angle on him, something that of which a majority of static figures definitely cannot pull off.
| Final Thoughts: |
Again, I definitely am not a fan of Obata's designs for Judgment but seriously, this figure feels worth every penny because it generally looks great with the exception of the base and this IS a prize figure afterall. Prize figures are definitely a category of their own but this actually does give the same feel as that of Konami's 1/8 line for love plus in a way or another. With the franchise pretty much dead by now, owning this figure is definitely a great way to make it live on forever; so yeah, compared to the NECA ones, I must say this is the more worth it figure to get. And before I end, this is a figure that I got with the help of Hubbyte Toy Store around 2 years back I believe!
I do give Simon a mighty 4 out of 5.
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