“What’s wrong?” Blanc Neige asked, flashing her warm smile back at me, completely unlike the powers that she wielded in ice magic. I mumbled something unintelligible, and her smile seemed to me to grow ever slightly wider. “If I can’t hear what you’re saying, it’s hard for us to carry on with this photography session you know. That’s what we’re here for right?” Ah, that’s so right indeed, I thought, as she gracefully moved to the first place we had chosen for our special shoot.
Welcome to the first (and probably going to be really rare) edition of my special photoshoots. For this month’s Figure of the Month, Blanc Neige has been selected. This outfit of hers from Shining Wind is, for the first time, made into a figure, by Kotobukiya, and it is only fitting that, as the special theme of the month, she get a special post for her in the monthly feature post, something different from the norm. I will be proceeding along in both narrative form, as well as doing my usual review. The narrative will always be in italics, and the normal review separated from it by a line of 5 asterisks in between.
The narrative form is important in that it will be combined with the following narrative stories I will write for Figurative Story, and hence the narrative is necessary since it forms a part of my story for the shoots involved. Because of the narrative however, this is going to be a longer post than usual. There is also a night shoot version, but I will save those pictures for night part of Figurative Story.
My heartfelt appreciation goes out to Squee for the provision and kind loan of his camera, and to Justin for being a great cameraman for this shoot. I also took most of her for the day shoots. Bad pictures of this shoot should not be blamed on either of them, but rather to my ultra noob skills in Photoshop while editing the pictures to make them look better. At the top is the special cover picture I did for this particular photoshoot, I hope you folks like it.
Now, let us move on to the lovely Princess of Runevale, or perhaps, people might prefer to remember her as the ice mage with a warm heart.
General Information
Name: Ira Blanc Neige Gardenias
Series: Shining Wind
Manufacturer: Kotobukiya
Scale: 1/8
Category: Fantasy
Release Date: 13th September 2008
Approximate Height: 19.5 cm / 7.7″ (excluding base)
Overall Personal Rating (10): 8.5
Estimated Cost: USD 60-80
Availability: Currently average, may speedily decline in the future due to huge demand
Description
“Does this look like a good spot?” Her words snapped me out of my trance, so mesmerized I was by her beauty. She hid a small smile. “Um, yeah,” I kind of said without thinking, looking instead as she swished her cloak behind her in regal fashion. Her charm was overwhelming.
She must have noticed me looking at her instead, for she said, “Come now, is this really a good spot? I wouldn’t want to be in a picture without a good backdrop you know, and you’re the photographer,” adding a wink as she said. I must have blushed furiously, for she hid another small smile behind her hand. Looking behind her, I saw that indeed, she had chosen quite the spot for the shoot.
“Now, shall we begin?” I asked, my camera at the ready. Her look back was assuredly saying, “Yes.”
*****
From the works of Taka Tony, the well-known popular hentai artist, comes this lovely figure of Blanc Neige from the sequel to Shining Tears, Shining Wind. Her outfit was changed from Tears to Wind, becoming more elegant, regal and having long flowing hair in the latter version. Kotobukiya is the first figure manufacturer to have done a figure of her in her Wind outfit, and though the sample still had a better facial expression and overall dimensions, this one still delivers in terms of quality, though not to the extent of the great quality most of us were expecting from the sample.
Here are a few profile shots of her from different angles.
Flicking off a little dust that had settled on her, she blended well into the background, more than I had dared hope for. Ah, the perfect model. I decided to move in for a closer look, and she seemed to have no objection as I edged nearer for some closer shots.
*****
Blanc Neige’s expression originally was slightly different, and better, than what was used in the final product. Was it an error by the production team that gave the wrong dimensions? Her eyes look a bit too far apart for me. Here are some close-up shots, or sort of, that show more of her top half, including pictures of the facial area.
I hesitated. It was time for her to show her yet more beautiful form, without the cloak, but I had no idea how to broach the subject without making it awkward. She saw my troubled expression, and went, “What’s the matter?” “Well…”
“It’s ok,” she smiled at me for the first real time today. Ah, what I would give for her to smile at me every day like that.
“It’s the cloak, Blanc Neige. Could we have some without the cloak?”
“So it was just that. But of course, we can,” and she took off her cloak smoothly without a second thought.
*****
Blanc Neige’s cloak, as you can see, is a castoff. However, that is the limit of her castoff. I know there are others who have taken shots of her pantsu, but let me assure you that doing anything like trying to take off her dress is going to damage the figure. Here are some profile shots of her without her cloak.
I moved closer without noticing, for her beauty could be said to be almost intoxicating. She must’ve noticed, for she smiled and said, “Don’t worry, it’s fine.” I blushed, mumbled an apology, and continued.
A cold wind suddenly blew, and though I was sure she wasn’t afraid of the cold, being the ice mage she was, she still took up her cloak. “Shall we move to another spot? A change of scenery might be nice,” she said, brushing her lovely flowing hair back with the wind. How I wish I could have remembered to take a picture then instead of standing there like a youth smitten as though it was love at first sight!
“Well?” Her question snapped me out my trance, and I said, “Yes, let’s. Those bridges over there look like they might be a good background.”
“If you say so,” she winked back at me. My heart skipped two beats.
*****
Like other Kotobukiya figures recently, especially in the Wind series, Blanc Neige is screwed to her base in one foot. I had problems with the other running out of its joint in the base, but otherwise nothing major cropped up.
Blanc Neige would fit best on a slightly higher vantage point. With her small size relative to most other 1/8 scaled figures, she would fit almost anywhere with a lighter background, which would contrast with her dark cloak and overall color scheme. She also would fit better on a slightly higher vantage point to the viewer, not to mention glancing sideways at the viewer, meaning her “front” is not exactly facing the viewer.
“Hey, you guys! Why’re you taking so long? We’re nearly bored to death waiting for you here!” Elwing’s voice rang clear across the huge garden, jolting me out of my thoughts. That’s right, I was here not only to do a special shoot for Blanc Neige alone, but also for the other five cute and lovely girls that were now waiting for me to finish Blanc Neige’s shoot.
“Guess that’s our cue,” Blanc Neige said, flicking her hair backwards once again in the wind that had picked up. “You did get enough shots of course.” Her glance back was icy.
“Y-yes, of course,” I almost stammered. Her gentle smile back instantly melted the ice however.
*****
Out of my love for Blanc Neige, for the first time when I saw the sample of this figure by Kotobukiya, my heart was screaming, “Get it!” Unfortunately though, the final product has not truly lived up to expectations, but for a Kotobukiya 1/8, and a Shining Wind figure to boot, Blanc Neige still has the quality to be up there. To judge the entire figure based only upon its differing aspects from the original sample is to be narrow-minded; this final one of her has its good points too. Despite its sloppy finishing recently in other figures, Blanc Neige’s finishing overall was pretty good this time round. Truly, for a Wind fan, or for a Blanc Neige lover such as me, it would hardly be easy to regret such a buy.
Currently available but going fast, her preorders were hot on sale long before she hit the stores, and it would be no surprise indeed if they were to do a re-release of her, based upon her popularity.
Blanc Neige is amongst my most favorite figures, though I still hoped that Max Factory or Alter might do one of her. Despite that though, this one by Kotobukiya will certainly remain one that I treasure, and will recommend to others too.
*****
As we slowly walked back to join the impatient Elwing, she suddenly stopped in front of me and turned back.
“W-what?” I asked, nervously wondering if I had forgotten to do something, or even worse, done something wrong.
“Why,” she said, “it’s pretty obvious. You’d better do me justice in those photos of yours…otherwise,” and she moved closer, her face close to mine, “I’d have to freeze you.” Eye-to-eye contact for a flashing instant, and she turned around and moved away.
I whispered after her retreating back, “I wouldn’t mind if you froze me with you forever.”
Ira Blanc Neige Gardenias
Cameras: Olympus Stylus 760 / Nikon D40
Location: Japanese Garden
Related Posts/Links/Reviews
Blanc Neige’s Full Album
Figurative Story Part 1 – The Garden of Fantasies
Figurative Story Part 3 – The Palace of the Gods
White Snow – Ira Blanc Neige Gardenias
AkibaHobby’s Blanc Neige Review
Foo-bar-baz’s Blanc Neige Review
Blanc Neige @ HappySoda
Blanc Neige Review @ Exelica Meteor
Shimbori baron’s pavilion’s Blanc Neige Review
Tsundere’s Blanc Neige Review
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Topspin on 
nice pics. like the one with the pond in the background
Narrative sounds… a tad weird… I don’t think I’ll do whatever pictures I can salvage in that style…
I like the 2nd last picture the best. The bridge at the back gives the shot an interesting feel to it.
@k -
Yeah I did think that was another good shot…more to come of course. But mostly the rest are at night so nothing much different except for the way the shots were taken at night, no real background. The one with the bridge I also like pretty much, and I know I am not the only one.
@フェイダムさん -
You have never read Super Rats’ figure reviews right? You are anyway, free to write in whatever style you want, so long as it is near to this narrative. You can even make a diorama out of your shots.
@malzias -
Yes Foo-bar-baz mentioned that he felt the same way too. The bridge in the background though was a pain because if I took a landscape there would be buildings to both sides of the picture and I did not want that, even if they were not obvious in the final shot.
Blanc Neige. Mai waifu. Etc. This is a lovely figure and would be on my shelf if I was still collecting.
@Yamcha -
“Still” collecting? She already ought to be on your shelf. Sacrilege.
Wow, go write first person narrative fanfiction :P
Nice pics, Panther. I can’t wait to do some photo shoots on mine but she has to wait in line after my Emi Kizaki :D
Nice shots man. I like the first one the most. ^^
@Saku -
Thanks. Well after watching just 2 episodes of Balls of Iron and dropping it I seriously cannot tell myself to get Kizaki Emi. Not worthwhile.
@RyoBase -
Haha thanks, I was trying out different stuff, and realized it could be used as a cover with a little editing by chance.
Nice photos, fantastic narrative. My heart was going “doki doki” as I read it. ^^; (Srsly)
@Mizunaga -
Thanks but, how the hell do you get doki doki reading this? I mean, seriously.
lolol. I dunno. I must’ve been imagining myself to be “in your shoes”, so to speak.