Asama Tomo Zudon ver (Kotobukiya)

It’s been a month since I’ve updated this page, and a lot has been going on lately. I’ll be creating a separate post on that on what happened they entire September. For now I’ll talk about another Asama Tomo figure which I’ve received as of late.

To be honest, the only Kyoukaisen figures which I’ve found interesting so far are the Asama Tomo ones. I found the other figures (aside from Futayo Honda) to be somewhat lacking. I would’ve gotten Futayo, but Max Factory’s Asama was right around the corner and then this newest one from Kotobukiya came out.

This is perhaps the largest figure box I have purchased in my entire collecting life, and to be honest I’m wondering where to store this already. I mean look at that, it’s taller than a 32 inch television! The culprit for the box being oversize is the bow which cannot be disassembled. Reason for that is because the bow can actually have a string and you can pull back the string like a bot. So the bow itself can’t be a composite product unless it’s made of something sturdier.

Honestly I found her pose to be odd because of the “frontal obstacle” she has on her. I mean, how will the bowstring even properly go back to it’s original position with her boobs being in front of her in the first place. Ah anime magic!

The one thing I love about this Asama Tomo as to why I got it is the amount of conce4ntration shown on her face. Props to Kotobukiya for including the “half tone” eye pattern that Kyoukaisen Characters have, but somewhat disappointed since once again their quality assurance kinda failed because I received a figure who had a nick on her hair. Repairable, but it’s somewhat of a hassle I guess…

Tomo isn’t heterochromatic by birth, but her green eye is actually an artificial eye called Konoha which assists her during long range fights. I guess it really helps in aiming since Archers are nothing if they can’t see long range.

Not exactly sure what the head is for (maybe it’s make sure her hair doesn’t irritate her eyes?). Side flaps on her ear resemble that of a dog or even a rabbit which adds some charm to her character design even more.

Glad Kotobukiya did’nt make her long hair into something boring. But I really find that gap on the crown of her head somewhat disturbing. Outside of that, the hair looks proper and normal.

I bought this figure for the siege mode pose, but one of the things that make this figure really awkward I guess is the pose as well. Because of the ‘lean back’ It gets somewhat tricky to pose this figure. I do suggest leaving her on a lower elevation on your display case to enjoy her to the fullest.

Aside from her oppai, Asama’s backside is nothing to be scoffed at, I do think the sexiest portion for this figure and it’s design in its entirety is the backside which isn’t just the exposed back, but also the tight buttocks as well.

This exhaust looking thing either functions as a shield or a simply to help stabilize Tomo when she is in siege mode. I’m quite amused by the deisng as it resembles the bottom portion that traditional Shinto priestesses (Miko) wear, but with a technological twist to it.

Not sure what those fins are either, seriously I wish they showed more of what this outfit can really do, but I think that’s asking for too much given that the series itself has too many characters already.

Said fins and the side accessories are removable, so if you want to display Tomo with only the bow, then it’s also possible, but that would be kinda bland in my humble opinion ^^;;

I forgot what this piece in archery is called. As far as I remember, the reason why the left arm has a longer sleeve is to protect it from the bowstring which can graze or even injure whenever it returns after the arrow has been shot. Nothing out of the ordinary here, though I wish they made use of more gradient for the paint.

What is up with that seamline there? @__@

Right hand only needs a small glove since this is the one that releases the bowstring. Minimal clothing as much as possible is needed to ensure that the string will not collide with anything by accident.

Arms are interchangeable in case you need to place the bowstring in, or exchange Tomo’s released hand posture with one that holds the bow… or if you want to make your figure look like a Greco-Roman Statue.

Despite all the problem’s I’ve been seeing with the QA of the figure, I’m happy to say that Kotobukiya went the right step when it came to the base. Instead of giving us a boring transparent plastic base like most figure companies do, they give us what seems to be the floor of the Musashi ship complete with cracks on the floor where Tomo is fastened during her siege mode.

Hole here is where the plastic stand is located to fix the Hanayo Maus, more on that in a while.

As I was saying before, the main culprit why the box of this figure is too big was the bow. In the series, Tomo uses a smaller bow whenever she needs to shoot something from medium range or while she’s moving. Her siege mode on the other hand, requires that she attaches two bows together to form a very large composite longbow of sorts which fires pillars for arrows.

You attach the bowstring from both ends, honestly I wouldn’t want to because it can potentially warp the bows shape over the course of time if you leave it displayed with it. Even real bowmen remove their bowstring from their bows to prevent warping as well.

Asama Tomo comes also with her Maus, Hanayo. She’s the one that assists Tomo when it comes to adding spell effects to her arrows in battle. Unfortunately she comes with a transparent stand that is somewhat distracting in my opinion. I think they could’ve gone the route that the Elf from Megahouse went into by ensuring the squirrel didn’t look ‘attached’ to anything.

Figure came with a poster which doubles as a backdrop as well

As you can see, the poster backdrop is big. I left the Umi Sonoda nendo petit there for scale reference.

I don’t know if the arrow/pillar is supposed to be bent in some way… but whatever. I think you won’t mind it as much when you do display this from a lower angle compared to eye level or from a high place (which I doubt anyone would).

Again, I’ll leave you guys with photos of Asama Tomo. To be honest, this was a figure that was hard to shoot because she’s of how big she is, the pose, and the fact that she’s leaning backwards. In my humble opinion her best shots come from the backside more than the front since there seems to be a lot more things to see from there.

Feel free to check out this Asama Tomo review I made also in case you are interested with the character. This one was made by Max Factory. If you like other archer figures, I do suggest taking a look at the Elf from Dragon’s Crown as well.