A few years ago, lovers of male figures were hard-pressed to build a collection of only bishonen. Now, it seems there’s an overabundance of them! Kotobukiya’s ArtFX J line has been leading the trend towards both more male figures and characters from older shows. ArtFX J has hit on many Toonami favorites, especially the Yu Yu Hakusho line whose other releases Hiei (review) and Yuusuke (review coming soon!) were very successful. Kurama was the one I anticipated the most since, well, he has roses! And a rose whip! So how does he live up to the rest of the ArtFX J line? Hit the jump and let’s get started!
Look, it’s… a box! I find it a little hard after hundreds of reviews to still get excited about boxes, since they just end up in my closet. But I know some people do like to display their figures in the box to protect them, and Kurama does have a nice one that continues his rose motif.
Kurama has two display options. The first, and the one he comes packaged with, has him wielding the thorn whip. The second has him holding two roses, and requires the exchange of a few parts. I’ll say right off the bat that I prefer the whip, mainly for its uniqueness.
I think Kurama is the prettiest boy-figure I own. Most of my other guys are relatively manly or vaguely threatening (like Izaya) but Kurama here is straight up pretty with his flowing hair and bright green eyes. Like Hiei, his face is spot-on to the design of the show.
There are a few minor paint flaws on Kurama: mainly, the black spots on the side of his hair. They’re nothing major and can be wiped off easily enough with a damp cloth, and it’s only noticeable when you’re quite up close.
I totally love the whip! It’s a really unique piece and really draws the eye to him. It’s also nice to have a weapon that adds movement to a figure but doesn’t take up a ton of shelf space. The whip doesn’t have any firm attachment parts: the “handle” slips into his right hand and kind of wraps around his left one, but there’s no pegs so be careful not to knock him around too much. Also, the thorns are really sharp. Like, seriously break the skin sharp, so handle him delicately!
Kurama’s outfit has some nice folds and details, and the paintwork on the trim is nice and smooth. The green/light green/red combo is an obvious continuation of his whole rose theme and along with the base he seems like a very cohesive piece. I’m not sure why there’s a splash of blue–maybe to represent, uh, watering roses?
To display him with the roses is pretty simple: you swap out his right arm and just slide the roses between his fingers. Again, be careful! I dropped one while assembling him, but thankfully they’re bright red and easy enough to find on the ground.
I love this pose mainly because it reminds me of G Gundam. ROOOOOSE BITS!
Like Hiei, Kurama has a small, clear base that follows his attack theme. Rose petals! It also interlocks with Hiei and Yuusuke, a feature we’ll be showing off in the next review!
If you like pretty boy figures, Kurama is the one for you! He’s got the looks and the style to make any fangirl happy. While he has some minor paint issues, they are easy enough to overlook and he really does look great with the rest of the line.
Thanks to Stephen Donaldson for taking these shots! We don’t usually take props for outdoor shoots, but we really wanted to go with a rose theme for the background and just happened to have a ton of petals laying around.
Purchase At: KotoUS | Big Bad Toystore | AmiAmi
[Thanks to Kotobukiya for providing Plastikitty with this review sample]
I love how bright his hair looks in these pictures.
unny you mentioned G Gundam because I always liked Kurama, and Gearge de Sand for pretty much the same reason, red hair and roses.
I can’t wait to see how the bases hook together. Makes me wonder if they plan on doing Kazuma.
^Funny