Sonico Santa Swimsuit (Alter)

This 2014, we saw a LOT of Sonico figures being announced and released. It goes without saying if you have been collecting figures for a long time that a LOT of them were also delayed, including this Super Sonico figure from Alter which I am about to show you guys.

I did say that I’m not giving up figure photography by the way. I love taking photos of them and admiring the sculpt and all, but I really don’t think I have the space to keep on buying them. If I do buy, I guess I’ll just buy nendo-petits or something of that scale. Anyway, let’s get on with the review 😀

Again, been quite busy with my job (job level up this year!) and selling figures among other things, which explains the tardy entry. Thanks to those who still PM me and talk to me despite me not being able to reply a lot to them due to busy hours ^^

First thing you’ll notice is the plastic packaging which contains the figure. To be honest, I’m all up for plastic packaging more than cartons. Collectors normally keep boxes behind in case they decide to store or sell their figures so it makes sense to have packaging that is more durable. I also find this packaging more presentable in case you want to display the figure on your shelf while it’s inside the box.

Super Sonico is a mascot character drawn by Santa Tsuji from Nitro+. She’s a student who studies marine biology (or was it?) in the anime and her hobby is playing her guitar. Aside from these tidbits, she also models as a sideline! I’m pretty sure you guys have seen the character in multiple roles and she’s able to fit in all those outfits without looking so out of place. I seriously don’t know how swimsuits are supposed to go along with winter season, but the disparity lends a bit of interest and sex appeal.

Alter was supposed to release this figure around April 2014 I believe (or was it August 2014?). They kinda had a lot of delays that the release date got moved to a month appropriate to her outfit ^^ Better to delay success than to be a failure on time I say.

Like I said, better to delay success. From the tilted head, to the semi-glossy eyes, that small smile and blush, the figure really captures a demure and softer side of Sonico without looking too innocent and not too slutty at the same time. The hood seems to be attached to the head, but worry not since the figure has a separate head without the hood so you can enjoy this figure even outside Christmas season.

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure about the hood being non removable since we see headphones underneath them ^^

I’ll be astounded if the texture of the hood is actually the same as the other figures they created. That would be something in terms of QC. The white fluffy portion could be less solid looking in my opinion, but that’s just really me I think and it’s pretty minor.

The seemingly simple swimsuit is adorned with ribbons and lacey looking finishes around the bikini. The paintjob along with the small, but long wrinkles make the top look like a lingerie more than a swim suit in my opinion, but hey that’s fine too! ^^

Somewhat astounded by the fact that the top’s string remains to be taut despite the weight placed on by the bell. Is it either the bell is ultra-super light, or her bikini is two times smaller making it extra tight?

On a side note, a friend told me that bikinis with those ruffles or lacey trimmings around it are more prone to ‘wardrobe accidents’ due to water resistance and whatnot… was this all planned too? (lol)

Given Sonico’s past gravure jobs, I wouldn’t be surprised anymore if those were leather bands instead of brown ribbons. The ribbons at the bottom are a bit flexible, but generally you put them around her legs.

What I love about Sonico is the fact that her character design doesn’t thrive by removing as much fat as possible. The amount of body fat she has is just right in my opinion and I think she is more captivating because of that image of health she portrays. Too little or too much of anything is not good after all. Sculpt wise, she doesn’t exactly have the thinnest body, but I do think her waist is pretty good considering the fact that the character’s occupation on the side is a model.

Speaking of which, I need to play SoniComi some day. Does anyone know how I can make the video bigger in the page?

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz9bYEqkmAo]

Fingers stretched in a sitting position is just perfect. Good job to Santa Tsuji for this one. I find her belly button cute for some odd reason, like it was a pinhole on a piece of paper.

Been noticing since 2014 that sitting figures are getting more and more sculpts. Although they don’t look as dynamic as standing action poses, they do look better than figures that just stand there in my opinion. That and it’s easier to display them level by level as well.

I really feel that making her swimsuit look like silk lingerie was done on purpose now ^^

Base is a transparent heart with some whites on the side to resemble snow or white Christmas I think.

As said before, the figure comes with a separate head without the hood revealing Sonico with her easily recognizable signature headphones.

Alter also made sure they got the headphones right. Sure it’s not exactly the most detailed headphones, but this was done just right with the proper paints used for the leather portion and a dull silver finish for the metal portions.

Ugh, she looks really good whatever she wears. To be honest, among all her figures I prefer the Tiger Parka version the most. Next would be the one from Max Factory with a complete set of music materials while she’s wearing a leather tube top… I want to buy that but that might start me buying a lot of figures again. I prefer Sonico with just the right amount of skin exposure despite her very nice body.

From here on I’ll leave you with some freestyle pictures I took with Sonico. Figures that are sitting are quite more fun to take pictures off especially when they’re lying down because of the poses, and the fact that you can make use of different stuff to use as the base.

Special thanks go to my comrade Pete, who brought this to my place and also got me an awesome Monster Hunter 2 illustration book (more on that later). My friend bought this at Onegai Onii-chan (yes that’s the name of the store, and yes they do sell figures other than little lassies). Do check them out here. You can also opt to check their facebook page as well.

And yes, you can make use of these pictures as your holiday greeting cards! ^^

5 replies
  1. wieselhead
    wieselhead says:

    Nice review, the pictures also made me feel like christmas ^^

    ALTER’s Sonico is very high in my personal Sonico figure ranking, it’s nice that she has a comfortable face expression, so many figures portray her worried, I also like these, but it’s good to see her happy. ALTER did a fantastic job with her curvy body, giving her a soft, but also healthy look. I love her legs and the hips with the big butt. You know I think Pochako is a bit too much, but Sonico has is just about right with her very feminine appearance ^^

    In the christmas season the hood is sweet, I slightly prefer the other head though. either way Im a big fan of her lovely face and soft looking hair.

    Sonicomi is a nice Game, she was so cute there and the bouncing looked eh well fantastic XD
    Too bad my Game doesn’t work after reinstall, also with “evil” patch.

    about the embedded video size, there is a plugin called Smart YouTube where you get the options to set general rules for embed sizes.

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] How do I feel about this figure, to be frank I somewhat felt disappointed with it. It actually feels that prize figures are way better than this one. Reviewing it because it doesn’t feel complete to review Fuuri and Suzu and exclude Sonico. I guess I was somewhat used to her previous versions which were well-made. Take a look at the following links if you guys want to see more Sonico figures: Super Sonico Tiger Parka ver (Gift) Sonico Santa Swimsuit (Alter) […]

  2. […] If you guys want to check out another Sonico review, you can opt to check the Santa Swimsuit made by… […]

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