Dissidia Squall Play Arts Kai
Well, yeah, I gave in. I sort of had to. No, really. I loved Squall's redesign for Dissidia, and his English VA unintentionally (probably) made me laugh so hard so many times that he was just too hard to resist. You gotta love bitchy, distant Squally-pants.
He's not even out of the box yet and he
looks angry. Maybe he's just angry because his box is
kinda "meh" compared to Dante's or Nero's, but then it's a
box. I'm going to throw it away.
I hope no one cares too much about
the back of the box, because this is the best shot I
managed. Oh well, you get the idea. They
pose! There's Squall and Cloud and Gabranth!
They have sharp things!
A few days before he arrived, I
was directed toward a Japanese review of this
figure. The camera angles along with the
lighting made me terrified that I'd just wasted a
hell of a lot of money on a figure that looked
extremely out of proportion, cheap, and badly
textured. I was relieved to get Squall out of
the box and inspect him, because he's so much nicer
in person than those pictures had me believe.
It's a matter of finding the right angles for him,
though. He does not photograph easily, which
should actually come as no surprise. The
detail is much nicer and sharper than I'd been
concerned over, and the paint job is really quite
nice... mostly. I mean, I'm used to a couple
of smears here and there, as that's just how it
goes. Nothing I can't fix in a couple of
minutes.
I'm sorry, Squall, I didn't
mean to suggest you were compensating for
something. Don't try to figure it out too
long, you'll get a headache.
--Right, let's talk joints. There's a distinct improvement over how they hold up as compared to Dante and Nero. This may change with wear, but Squall's not quite as likely to randomly fall over since his knees and ankle joints lock. The shoulders, though... they're kind of impossible to explain. While I like the easy ability to take them apart (the jacket can be slid off easily, but... why?), the shoulders are just... odd. This isn't really a complaints, it's more of a wishing I knew why that decision was made... though admittedly, it does make it easier for him to put a hand on his hip, and you must have that classic Squall pose.
Minor gripe: upon trying to attach the second set of hands, I had to take a knife and dig the paint out of the peg hole. I know, I usually have to do this, but I'm not going to stop complaining about it. That too is a little different this time around, and hopefully it will prevent things from breaking... or at least spare parts can be more easily ordered and replaced. The great thing, though: no pegs are needed to hold the gunblade in place. You score points for this, SE.
--Right, let's talk joints. There's a distinct improvement over how they hold up as compared to Dante and Nero. This may change with wear, but Squall's not quite as likely to randomly fall over since his knees and ankle joints lock. The shoulders, though... they're kind of impossible to explain. While I like the easy ability to take them apart (the jacket can be slid off easily, but... why?), the shoulders are just... odd. This isn't really a complaints, it's more of a wishing I knew why that decision was made... though admittedly, it does make it easier for him to put a hand on his hip, and you must have that classic Squall pose.
Minor gripe: upon trying to attach the second set of hands, I had to take a knife and dig the paint out of the peg hole. I know, I usually have to do this, but I'm not going to stop complaining about it. That too is a little different this time around, and hopefully it will prevent things from breaking... or at least spare parts can be more easily ordered and replaced. The great thing, though: no pegs are needed to hold the gunblade in place. You score points for this, SE.
While I'm talking about
scoring points: there are bullets in the
chambers. It is so stupid how thrilled
that made me. Anyway, moving on.
He does hate to hold
still and be admired, you know. I
foresee many people complaining about...
well, many things. Me, I'm
satisfied. He is a
little overpriced when you take into account
Cloud's and especially Gabranth's level of
detail, but I'm not disappointed
with Squall.
I am, however, going
to share my amusement. The
shoulder joint is weird, like I've
said. The whole thing comes out,
attached only by a tab.
Bizarre. And the knee joints are
really quite awesome for dynamic poses,
but sometimes... that's just not right.
And what is one
of my not-reviews without an
obligatory ass shot? (...That
red dot on his elbow is actually my
fault. *coughs and goes to wipe it
off*)
Now if you'll
excuse him, he'll be at the
bar. Trying to determine the
best way to deal with things.