Saturday, February 20, 2016

Review: Figma Iona

Figure Information
Manufacturer: Max Factory
Figure Number: 263
Origin Series: Aoki Hagane no Arpeggio
Scale: Non-scale
Height: Approximately 13cm tall
Original Price: 6,000 Yen


Packaging:


It actually took a while before Arpeggio characters had a figma rendition and as you can see in the box and obviously from Iona's outfit alone, this is based off the Arpeggio DC movie already. Again, not much to say as the box is still your figma 200+ generic boxes but as for the color choices, they do synchronize well with this version of Iona pretty well. As usual, you have your generic product shots on the sides (and one featuring the awesome Data Rings) while the back of the box are your compiled official shots when she was up for pre-order.


Details:


Max Factory actually did a good job on capturing anime Iona's face and it's really accurate especially her default expression and her eyes are perfectly captured here as well. Her hair could've used more details though but we probably won't have that since their hair are usually like Iona's anyway.


Iona's sudden outfit change in the last 1/3 of the movie was definitely a refreshing view and while I actually prefer her old outfit, I must say that this isn't really bad either and max had definitely captured it pretty well in figure form. The color choices are pretty accurate and the details have been captured down to the teeth especially on how well the blue steel fleet symbol has been embedded on Iona's back, it looks absolutely wonderful for a figure this small. Minor details such as the silver belt buckles are definitely good signs of detailing on Iona.


Thigh high stockings aside, the finish on her leg/footwear are quite clean especially the laces on her boots as I expected a bunch of visible paint mess in there but to my surprise, it is quite clean (on my piece at least).


Size Comparison:


Specified as 13cm, Iona does stand around 12.5cm to be more accurate and to give you some ideas as there aren't any other Arpeggio figmas yet as of this writing. Below's a shot of Iona standing beside the other Kongou (Kancolle AGP).


And for something that's slightly related and in the same figure line, here's Iona standing next to one of my favored ship girls, figma Amatsukaze.


Accessories:


Iona doesn't come with much but to breakdown her accessories, for faceplates and hands, you get extra 2 faceplates (a side glancing smile and a serious/expressionless side glance),  3 extra handsets (a pair of palms, fists and gripping hands) and a right hand holding a cup of tea. 

Figma stand aside, you also get a plate for the teacup, a star fish and the main event, the Data Rings! The data rings come with a special stand option so you can have it surround Iona, the special stand also comes with a shorter option for the bottom ring which allows you to display the data rings for Iona's sitting pose which is also part of her accessories; the sitting pose comes in a bootless and underwear-less (yes, the instructions actually tell you to transfer that) lower body piece and exchanging the lower torso is quite an easy task with Iona. 

Do be careful when attaching the Data rings to the support clips as it is quite tedious and mine actually resulted in some of the data decals peeling off but luckily it's only at the back so it's still okay for my standards.

Articulation Points:


There's technically nothing new on Iona's articulation points as we've pretty much seen the same in several older figmas; to start off, her head can rotate 360 degrees as the tails in front are made up of soft material and if the back part of the hair gets in the way, know that those are articulated at their connection points as well. Her head can also tilt and move slightly up but decently downwards.



Iona's arms can be rotated 360 degrees though you will need to slightly hinge her arm when going upwards since it will bump into her uniform's collar while raising the arm sideways allow you to a nifty 90 degrees. Iona does have a swivel point for her arms using the shoulder joints and you can also use the elbow joints to rotate her forearms. Lastly, Iona, even though being a figma who's number at 200+, still uses the old wrist joints so you can just swivel the hands at the connection point and hinge it based on its placement on her hands.


As far as her torso goes, it is on  ball joint with an additional swiveling point on the connection point between the lower and upper sections of the torso, it's a minor ab crunch/stretch but then again, Iona doesn't really do dynamic actions that frequently.


Splits on both ways (side, front+back) are only near 45 degrees and though the skirt is layered it's pretty hard getting her to kick higher actually. Iona does have thigh swivel and minor rotation on the hip joints; her knees bend pretty good (around 135+ degrees) and you get the usual ankle hinge and tilt since her boot design isn't really complex enough to hinder the tilt.


Poseability:


Definitely out of all the accessories that Max gave Iona, I'd say the Data Rings are definitely the crown here, being able to support Iona in both standing and sitting modes, it's actually pretty epic especially if you display her with the rings together with GSA I-401 in its Graviton mode.


The alternate sitting parts does fit perfectly with Iona's gentle smile expression and you can definitely do a lot of relaxed poses with it as well.


For more extremes, fiddling with the alternate lower torso does double it for perfect kneeling poses which you can do if you want to pose Iona in more dynamic poses as she does so in certain parts of the show. I must say I love the serious side glance faceplate as it definitely compliments more serious poses.  


Overall, Iona's frame is pretty well balanced and eve though she uses the old wrist joints, she can certainly accompany action poses here and there which is pretty much everything you'd need for Iona especially since she's like the only Arpeggio figma out at the moment. 

Below are some scenes inspired from the anime but, of course, with different figures representing the character/object from the scene.


Final Thoughts:

Iona is definitely my second favorite from the series but her being alone in the line did actually put me in a clueless state on what to pose during the shoot (hence the few photos on the section above) but again, I think her articulation is good enough and her included accessories are pretty much spot on for her character. (plus if you ordered her through GSC's online shop, you also get a tea party chair) If arpeggio is in your interests and Iona is your favorite then definitely, give her a try as her figma is really well balanced but also offers nothing we haven't seen before nor does she give the wow factor; IF you have the GSA I-401 or even a built Aoshima model though, I highly suggest getting her to compliment it as they make an amazing display piece, I swear that they just look THAT GOOD together. 

And once again, before I wrap up this review, Iona is once again one of the figures that I ordered from Onegai Onii-chan

I give Iona a 4 out of 5.

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