Ok, she has been announced for quite a while now, but here is a dilemma I face regarding Kotobukiya’s Katsura Hinagiku, in bikini, from the series Hayate no Gotoku!. In case you have not noticed, I am quite the fan of Hinagiku, check out the post I did for her in August, she was the Anime Girl of the Month. However, I am not that big a fan of Kotobukiya’s releases. If you had been following this blog, you would know why.

What is more, Kotobukiya’s 1/8 scale figures are really…small. That is not to say that it is not good in a way, but the problem is if you decide to upscale them to 1/6, like this figure. Sure, 5,700 Yen (as per Hobby Search) is a fine price to ask for a 1/6, especially when you consider how small for a 1/6 it actually will be. However, the real problem I have is…Kotobukiya.

Their latest releases have been shit (not counting rereleases) compared to their original samples. Look at my Air review, and any number of Blanc Neige reviews available on the web. Compared to the originals, WTF did they do to my Blanc Neige, seriously. What is more, their sloppy finishing on their latest product, Air herself, a limited figure, is making me shudder.

Looking at Hina though, the overall appearance looks really nice, but since we are on the subject, I should do a better and more thorough review of her just using AkibaHobby’s color sample post that was up yesterday, thanks to AH for that. All pictures in this post are also from the same post. For more pictures just go to AH.
 

Ok, the half-profile shot looks nice on a close-up, but then again we all know lighting is all part of the problem, and the finishing too. Still, with so much skin, the figure is roughly easier to do on average because all you have to ensure are mostly skin and little in the way of frilly stuff, or complex objects, edges, and the like. And I must be damn hentai because the first thing I noticed about this picture was how small Hina’s boobs are, but the size is fine too.
 

Ok, a better close-up of the face area…somewhat. Now the first thing that bugs me about this figure is her face indeed. It does look like her, and the pose is great, quite possible coming from Hina, but well, it still does not look really like her in the anime. Plus, her eyes do not have that glint, the life possible in some other figures thanks to the eyes. However, this really is not that big an issue…yet.
 

The chest area, and I purposely took a side shot that exposes her figure…or lack thereof, whichever you prefer. The thing is, they did a good job of exposing the ribcage slightly; I mean, Hina is thin. As you can see, the job around the bikini area is fine…but you never know how they can destroy the bikini itself in the final. It may be difficult to do the same thing to the skin area, but the bikini. Urgh.
 

And since we are on the topic of her hair, let us take a look at what else Kotobukiya can destroy in their final! I must admit though, the hair is pretty well done. Hina’s hair is also part of her charm, especially the pink. So no points lost here.
 

And of course, we need to take a look at the pantsu. Again a side shot is shown for shadow effect to highlight the folds and stuff. Bonus of the hand on hip. The strings are going to be an area Koto can fail in, as I can see already. Gasp, maybe even the fingertips! The pantsu itself is also worrying. Otherwise, it seems to be ok.
 

I end this with the same photo AH ended its post with. I have canceled my preorder for her, but now I am thinking about it again. What do you think, should I get Hina? Kotobukiya has faileth twice now to me, recently, no less, and I have figures by them still coming in. Even if I am a fan of Hina, I much rather wait to see if Max Factory or Alter come out with another of her.

And is this one on your get-list, perhaps?
 

F34r Kotobukiya,
Panther