Azone Nagi
After months of waiting, my Christmas present to myself finally arrived: the beautiful Nagi Azone doll, from the series Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens. I haven't seen much on figure.fm about Kannagi, but I thought it was an exceptional series, and remains one of my favorites. I adored the characters, especially Nagi and Jin, and when I saw that Azone was making a doll for Nagi, I knew I had to get her.
I have two other Azone Pure Neemo dolls, Illya and Jietan, but Nagi totally blew my expectations out of the water. I think they got ever aspect of her perfect, incuding all the details of her outfit, and even her boots! (I'm madly in love with her boots.)
My only complaint about her over-all appearance was the fact that I had to figure out how to put her headband on myself. I was hoping her hair would come already done, but I struggle to get the headband on under her hair. Eventually I got it figured out, since instructions were included.
I love her expression, as well. It seems very Nagi-like without it being one of her more frequently worn expressions, like her angry or blissed-out looks.
Her magic girl wand was included, and it's absolutely perfect as well. I haven't gotten around to adding the little white things to it, but I should sometime in the near future. I personally think it looks fine as it is, but I want it to be as authentic as I can.
Comrade Kasbunny was accompanying me on this photo shoot, and if you can't tell, these pictures were taken on a sheet of ice. As I was laying on the ice to get the right angle, she was wandering around somewhere in front of me (but out of the shot). We'd been joking about how one of us was going to fall earlier, and all of a sudden, she just fell over backwards! In the process, she ended up throwing the bag that held Nagi's accessories and my cell phone at me, and it hit me in the face! Nagi thought it was hilarious, since she didn't get hit.
I've found that I like the Pure Neemo flection body far more than I thought I would. My only complaint is that it's near impossible to get her to stand on her own. Her legs are sturdy enough, but her knee joints are really loose, so she kept buckling.
In addition to her every day outfit, Nagi came with her school uniform. So cute! I'm thinking about making a custom Tsumugi (my second favorite female character of the series) to go with her, since I have the uniform and all.
"Mother, it's too cold for this. Can we go inside before my legs freeze off, please?"
The shots of Nagi in her uniform were all taken at Kasbunny's aunt's house, where she has a small koi pond, which is completely frozen over. It was nice, because it meant we could take some cute pictures of Nagi sitting on a lily pad. Nagi was doing okay until she saw all the poor koi frozen under the surface, which distressed her greatly.
Over-all, I'm so glad I jumped at the chance to get Nagi, and I can't wait for her to come back to university with me!
Those are indeed nice boots, and they look even better on Nagi!
Nagi says thank you! She and I both love her boots dearly.
Me: How neat, the shoes tell you which is left and right on the bottom!
Eri: Yeah, I need that.
Me: Hahahaha. Here's the right shoe.
Eri: *puts it on the left foot*
Me: ... The RIGHT shoe, Erin.
THE RIGHT SHOE GOES ON THE RIGHT FOOT. <3
I'm dyslexic, okay?! XD
Excuses!!
I'm surprised you managed to catch that. (^.^;)
She catches ANYTHING that makes me look like an idiot XD
You're just lucky I pointed it out pre-photo instead of making fun of you later when it was wrong. XD
I fell over this way, a couple feet away. :D
I have to ask, aren't you worried about getting Nagi dirty with all the outdoor shots? (^.^;)
I'm very careful with her. I wipe off the surfaces as best I can, and also wipe her off when we move from set to set. I do most of my shots outside (Dollfies, figures), and aside from Mariko face planting in to the snow, I've never had any issues with dirt.
Cute! the more i see of the Azone dolls the more attractive they look lol. hope you all aren't getting as buried in snow as we are here in Ky.
It's just started to snow today, actually. Kasbunny and I were getting snowed on when we were hurrying back to my house after the shoot X3;
familiar joint like "revoltech"..big doll version..nice
The only problem with her joints are that they've VERY stiff in her arms, which makes it near impossible to move them, while her legs and feet are so loose they pop out if you look at them the wrong way.
which should i buy the most if i complete my promise? a DD or a Azone doll?
A DD. I love my Azone dolls for what I pay for them (Nagi only set me back around 200 USD), but I don't think I could live without my DD daughters now.
Yeah--that's the OTHER reason I'm not getting a DD. ^_^
I started collecting 1/6 military figures in 2000 or so and told myself: "Just one! Only one! And only military!"---that's how it all starts!
It'd really depend on what you want--DDs are better overall, but are large, costlier, and IMHO a lot 'softer' than Azone dolls (based on my observation of a friend's two DDs). Since DDs are 1/3 scale, you'll have to either customize their clothing or buy them directly from Volks. If yo ever find the urge to get guns for them, Dragon models sells 1/3 scale Glock pistols and an M14 rifle, but you'll have to still buy 'gun hand' parts from Volks to use them.
I pick Azone because I'm a stickler for scale, only want a couple of anime chara in that scale (mostly ones that don't have a figma/revoltech equivalent), and it's easier to get a hold of compatible clothing if need be.
Nagi's one of those rare Azone figures that actually looks like that character.
I can't afford nor have the space for Dollfie Dreams. Pureneemo/Azone's 1/6 dolls are closer, but I seriously don't like the way they keep using the same stock head for all of their anime-related figures. It's why I never got Feena or Erika, and their Yoshika and Sanya figures don't really impress me either.
Ideally, I'd love for more Resinya headsculpts to be released. Despite their cost, they're much better heads for 1/6 dolls--the To Heart 2, Da Capo, and Little Busters heads look perfect (not a fan of Hayate no Gotoku, so didn't like them to begin with).
Are the Resinya headsculpts the ones that have the plastic-y hair rather than the traditional "doll" hair?
Yes. I know, I know--the sculpted hair isn't the same as doll wig hair (much less real hair). But it also means the sculpts are more sturdy. I guess the closest approximation is if you took a very well-sculpted 1/6 statue and put the head on a doll body (sold separately).
That, and I don't need my dolls to look up very often--unlikt my 1/6 military figures, I keep my girls (Kotori, Yume, Otome from Da Capo, and Meyrin from Gundam Seed Destiny) looking normal. ^_^
...and more accurate. (^.^)
Azone Yui looks really accurate in my opinion. Other than that, Zange and Freena don't look too bad.
Ah, she looks cute ^^. I was thinking about getting her but missed the pre-order deadline :(
Her main outfit and wand look great. The boots are nice too :D
I love her boots, but they fit so tightly that they pull her feet off with them when I try to take them off XD