Akiyama Mio Uplark and Alter Review

Haven’t done a figure review in a long time, so lets go with two figures at the same time of Akiyama Mio ^^

Ok, maybe this is a bit cheating since its almost the same figure with a few differences here and there. But hey, nobody gets the chance to review two figures that are almost the same right? I really don’t know what these two figure companies were thinking when they made they decided to make these figures. Were they targeting different markets, those who want a “cool Mio” (Uplark) and an “embarrassed Mio” (Alter) I wonder how Mio fans felt about this XD

For the Uplark Review, I’ll only cover Mio with her “embarrased” face not the one with her smiley face.

Lets go with the Cool Akiyama Mio first from Uplark. Our bassist’s poses while she is playing her bass guitar, but to be honest I have never found anything interesting with this pose of hers. I mean there is movement, but the biggest attraction of this character is her personality, and to be honest I don’t see that here.

Despite sounding like that, I’m not being biased here because I’m not a Mio fan mind you, nor a fan of K-On!!. I honestly like the slimmer legs that this Mio has though.

Upon closer look, you’ll realized that she’s somewhat embarrassed which kind of made me confused. If you look at her from the front, it looks like she’s confident and cool. But on a different angle, she’s blushing. Multi-purpose figure? XD

Here have an embarrassed Mio. I still love the way they did her face though. I’m not really a fan of characters that look too Moe XD

There is also an extra smiling face that you can swap with, which actually fits her body language I think. But everyone still loves the cool/embarassed face this Mio has.

So much for quality control. Aside from that, I wish they made do with clear plastic like what GSC used for Nendoroid Totori XD

Now for her key item, her bass guitar. I have complaints about the head part of the guitar as it looks like plastic. It doesn’t have the lines that wood has and it doesn’t even look as if it was a varnished piece at all. It just looks like plastic.

Fanservice shot! Hey they got it right unlike most Miku figures (was Miku’s shimapan a fan-made item or was it really intended by Crypton to be a shimapan?). Oh yeah the skirt (lol forgot), nothing really special about the way it flows since its hidden under hear black top.

Rage inducing stand. Can they get lazier than this? I believe you can save an almost crappy figure with an awesome base! And it doesn’t even look like it’s a wooden floor lol.

On  weird note, If you look at her a bit from above, it looks like she’s pouting or showing some sad face. Multi-expression figure XD

Moving onto our “embarrassed Mio” from (company name here). I honestly prefer this one over the one made by uplark because this captures the character best. Mio is supposed to be shy on stage. Love the way she’s holding her bass guitar as well, it adds something different to it.

The hair actually feels more lively here with some strands of her hair being on top of the other. Lol high school thighs XD

Love how shiny the ribbon is as well. Don’t you just love Mio when she’s flustered XD

And her headgear is better made than the other one as well.

Remember the comment I had about the head portion not looking like wood enough with the other figure? Well this figure did it right =P

Again accurate as always, skirt also wasn’t that special. But the legs here are shapelier than the other one. Maybe its because of her “butt lines” there which add some sense of depth. XD

Ok the base is still boring as a plate, but its way better than the plain looking one right beside her XD

This is probably the best angle to take pics of this figure as it makes her facial expression stand out even more along with her body movement.

I honestly still prefer the first one just for the face, but the rest were just major turnoffs. Is there a way to transfer her head to the other one without making it disproportional? XD Oh yeah, I’d like to thank my friend Pete for allowing me to take pics from his figure collection. He also allowed me to cast off his Airi from Griffon. I’m tempted to cover it in the blog, but it’s NSFW material XD

For more figure reviews:
Nendoroid Hatsune Miku Orchestra
Nendoroid Touko Amano
Xiao Qiao 1/10 Scaled Sega Prize Review
Sakuya Izayoi Figma Review
World is Mine 1/8 Scaled from GSC Review
Black Rock Shooter (Black Blade ver) 1/8 Scaled from GSC Review

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11 replies
  1. Miette-chan
    Miette-chan says:

    Pretty cool idea, too bad I can’t thing of any other pair of figures that look so similar. I biased towards Alter’s version, being an Alter fan and all. Plus I like Alter’s more dynamic pose as well.

    Reply
  2. Yi
    Yi says:

    I kind of like the smiling face a bit more, but her embarrassed expression is super cute as well. Anyway, I really like this figure because of her outfit. The details of her skirt, her ribbons, and even her panties are all just so lovely.

    Loved that second to last shot! Best angle indeed. ^ ^

    Reply
  3. Nopy
    Nopy says:

    When I saw the first picture, I thought the figure from Uplark was a bootleg. I find Alter’s figure quality to be top-notch. Judging from your pictures, Uplark doesn’t seem to be in the same league.

    Reply
    • Duqs
      Duqs says:

      Same here. I also thought it was a bootleg too because of the face. Alter’s quality control and understanding of the figure is certainly top notch

      Reply
  4. Fabienne
    Fabienne says:

    Mhh honestly speaking Alters version looks far superior, not that the Uplark version is completely bad, but Alter just outclasses Uplark with their Mio ^^. Well, the face(s) of uplarks Mio look slightly better.
    Personally I think the the base of Mio looks beautiful with the black print and the white letters.

    I wouldn’t mind a NSFW Airi review 😀

    Reply
    • Duqs
      Duqs says:

      Yeah agreed. Alter, along with GSC and Max Factory, has time and again redefined and raised our standards when it comes to figures. Other figure companies still have lots to go in terms of posing and QC XD

      Reply
  5. fabricerequin
    fabricerequin says:

    woot, dam the uplark version is suprisingly good!
    well in my opinion, and plus change the face too? haha thats cool. but not as good as Alter of course but still uplark did a good job!

    Reply

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