CM Corp's version of Nanael. What a story this has been. Nanael is the one character that managed to make the first season of Queen's Blade bearable, the story was drab and I found the boobs a little patronising really. Like the show had nothing so they added some boob. Luckily though, Nanael was in most of the episodes and I found myself actually enjoying her antics throughout the series. So, despite having nabbed the rather nice Revoltech version of her, I thought 'Bugger it! I am gonna get that CM corp one as well.
I knew nothing about CM's Corp “Gutto Kuru” line. All I had seen were some concept pictures of the main Queen's Blade character Leina and the figure looked pretty damn fine! I thought that if they made Nanael, I would have to get one. So I did.
I was unwilling to test out the Gotto Kuru line with Leina, as these Gutto Kuru retail at about 9200 odd yen which as you can imagine is a lot for an action figure. So my liking for the character of Nanael and the look of the sculpt alone from what I had seen of the unfinished version (Which wasn't much) helped me decide to get this figure. To add to the drama, it was released in December 2010, and the place I ordered it from packaged it with my Sonic Colours CD soundtrack,( as I requested) and it was posted on the 27th of December, but it took almost a month and half to get to me. By the time it showed up in my post box, I was salivating at the opportunity to play with my larger Nanael. And listen to the CD as well.
Here we gooooooo!
Her colours are excellent, the moulding looks pretty damn fine as well, everything is in proportion and all the joints seem aren’t too noticeable at all. they are strong joints, most of them have screws through them, which is pretty impressive. She has joints in ankles, although these are a bitt limited by her greaves, double joints in the knees (woot!), hip, waist, neck, elbows, wrists and one just under her head. Only the big wing has a joint, where they attach to her back are no joints so the little wing doesn’t move at all.
Back to the colours, her one piece dress (although for this it’s actually two) has lines of light blue to highlight areas, and despite her dress which is supposed to be white, the blue actually contributes to the effect of her, as the book she comes from has the blue highlights to show motion in the clothing, very nice.
I was most impressed with the paint on her greaves as it is kind of shiny, but still manages to look realistic and is a fantastic mix for silver, with dark patches to break it up. It would seem that Nanael here doesn’t come with little holes in the bottom of her feet, so the stand must always be clipped around her, the big wing can make it tricky to get her balance right.
Ok, so I then started to take her out of the backing plastic, and much to my disappointment, her right shoulder popped out. So I chucked it back in, and it came out, back in, out, in, out. After having a look, I could probably slap a bit of nail varnish on the ball end to make a tighter fit, but to be honest, when you are paying 9200 yen (at the exchange rate it was $110 Australian and US) you wouldn’t expect this sort of thing to happen now would you? So for these photos, I just put up with it, which was really annoying as every time I moved her, the arm dropped out.
On her dress, she has her belt and bottle of milk, lo, the milk bottle dropped off. *sigh* So I carefully managed to superglue the bottle into the spot where it was supposed to go. At least that stays in place now! It looks nice as well. One extra piece I missed was she comes with a tiny, tiny white circle thing, which I think is supposed to be un-spilt milk for her bottle, it is wrapped in a little bag, and extremely easy to lose. Be wary of this. It’s the plastic rectangle under the milk splash in the accessories photo.
At first I thought the milk splash looked a little stupid, but really it isn’t that bad.
As I said before, the moulding is pretty good, I was particularly impressed with the moulding on her elbow gloves and gauntlets. The gauntleted elbow even has a hinge, so when the arm is bent, you can move the elbow cover to hide the hinge.
The dress is along the same lines as well, it is moulded to look loose and flowing and it manages to convey that well. However, the dress isn’t flexible plastic, so you can’t lift her legs up very high.
More on that later.
The stand though, although nice and black can only be clipped around her, as he doesn’t have any holes in her back or feet. The base of the stand is actually rather slippery and with one larger wing, it can be tricky to get her to stand on the base. Sadly though, the stand is relatively useless. It has ratcheted joints on it, but they are weak and cannot support the weight, so no flying poses here. I was annoyed at this since she is a frikkin angel! Hell, sometime the stand wouldn’t even have the strength to support a standing pose. What kind of crap is this?
Three reasonably major negatives on an expensive toy!
I know the different wings would upset the balance somewhat, but even so, one would expect a stringer stand to come out with a character with wings, as you’d think people might want to have them flying…
Speaking of the larger wing, it is actually very, very nice! It has multiple layers, albeit only two or three and is probably one of the better looking feathered wings I have seen on a toy.
She is very well moulded, as I have stated over and over, one think I was impressed with was the shape of her thighs. The way they lead up to her groin is very well done and looks natural and sexy.
Of course you would expect some decent moulding on a figure this big. It is approximately double the size of a figma and double the Revoltechs as well.
Nanael’s faces are all very well done and the colours a perfect fit, from the rosy cheeks to the colour of her eyes, and even a touch of light reflecting off them. With five faces to choose from and a selection of two types of hair, a decent amount of emotion can be gleaned.
The way you change the faces is by digging her fringe out from the back of her hair, it was quite tough on mine, which is good, as mean they will stay on, but I couldn’t be bothered doing it again with the other fringe. luckily, the same effect can be see though some improvisation!
Of course, with four faces I couldn’t resist this…..
The Four Headed Nanael DRAGON!
Enough silliness.
Her spare hands and sword are all nicely moulded as well. The hands, being clad in gloves all have the blue tint to it and I must particularly mention the sword, her “Celestial Blade” as it has some excellent silver paint for texture and looks great. The only real bummer is she has to wield the sword in her hand, unlike the Revoltech one which can have the sword attached to the wing, as she rarely wields it in her hands, preferring to use it with telekinetic power. Or angel power.
You will have to pop the handle out of the blade and slide it into the hand and then attach the blade again. Do not twist the handle, or else you will snap the peg, as it is flat on one side.
Now for the good bits
Things may get a little risqué from here…
Being a Queen’s Blade character, her clothes come off.
You dirty perve!
Her pants are slightly shiny plastic and have no texture marks. The colours are right, but the bow is just painted on.
She has nicely moulded boobs, although she doesn’t look as well endowed as the cartoon one. The dress makes them look bigger, but underneath, well have a look for yourself.
“何を見ている？！？？？！？ 変態やろう！！！”
“What are you looking at? You pervert!”
Interestingly enough, the boobs have this little ‘mom’ bit advertising them on the box. “mommi mommi suru” in Japanese, roughly translated comes out as ‘squeeze squeeze.’ Much like a couple of the QB Revoltechs (Cattleya had this gimmick advertised on her box, Elina has the gimmick as well, but not marked on box).
Changing her face makes it quite amusing!
I think the boobs are hollow, as they just give in when pushed. For example, if given a support bra, they would collapse, instead of look bustier. This puts Nanael a bit behind the likes of Elina, whose boob gimmick works quite well (see below).
Getting off the boob factor for second, I was a bit annoyed to see that all that holds her together is a small joint. Although it allows good movement, it does come out quite easily. A times I thought I had paid for a big expensive Revoltech figure, as that is what that join kind of look like.
Again, the front of the legs looks just as good as the back in the way that it looks like they are joined together. PAAANTS!
I also wonder if the ring on her leg is a representation of a halo?
I like the way that there is a hint of bum-crack above the pants. Sexy.
Ha Ha!! 100 odd bucks, the pants better come off!
And they do. As you can see, the wing is articulated rather well, despite the lack of joints where it’s attached to her back.
TADAAAAA!
Without the pants on, her proportions look a bit off.
Still like the way the legs meet up with the groin though.
Nice moulded butt crack too. Now there’s a line I never thought I would type…
Has limited anatomical correctness too. Not as noticeable as the Revoltechs though.
Of course, she can go commando as well. Must be hard as an angel when you fly over the world and everyone trying for the elusive up-skirt shot.
You can also give her a mid-riff baring set of beach wear.
That’s about all I have really. It’s a nicely moulded figure, let down by some annoying quality issues. The quality issues are extra annoying, especially considering the price this thing costs. The stand is pretty useless as well.
As a result, I wouldn’t really recommend this figure to anyone except the most hard-core Nanael fan, and even then, I would suggest waiting to get it on sale. Better yet, get the Revoltech version, one third the price and probably better in a price to size ratio.
Some extra bits for fun.
Stand works ok for figma figures…
Compared with the Revoltech
Revoltech’s stand can make her fly too.
Nanael from the book she originated.
She doesn’t hold her sword in her hand…
Screen hot from her OVA episode.
Nanael from the Queen’s Blade PSP game.
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