A Gift from Osaka

Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale! Recently, one of our writers here on Tiro Finale, Lance, paid a visit to Osaka for a short holiday and was kind enough to bring me back a little souvenir. And what better gift to get for me than Muse's own resident Kansai-accent speaking senior, Nozomi. 

This particular Nozomi figure was one of the very first deformed-scale figures from the Love Live series and was manufactured by FuRyu as part of their Chobirume Figure series. This particular Nozomi figure was categorized as a Volume 2 release and featured the original outfit that Nozomi debuted in. This design was long before the Otonokizaka high school uniforms had been standardized and every single member wore a slightly different uniform then. Back then, Nozomi was still sporting a tie and blazer combination.

Aside from Nozomi, both Rin and Umi were released in Volume 2 as well to coincide with the Lily White sub-group. These illustrations in particular would be very familiar to those who play the Love Live School Idol Festival mobile game as they pop up from time to time especially in the update/download screen. 

Back when this figure was released, FuRyu was still a fairly new and upcoming company. Not many people were familiar with the brand as they are today yet, all of FuRyu's usual cost saving measures are still very apparent even with their older releases. One of which is the thin material used for the box. Not only does this make it very light, it also results in easy dents and deformations in the box. Despite that, this particular one was still in very good condition which is more than I can say for some of my other FuRyu prize figure boxes.

Open it up and you have two plastic blisters securing the contents within it, mainly the figure, base and stand. When it was new, the figure would have also come with a thin plastic wrap around Nozomi to prevent any paint transfer between the plastic blister and the figure.Just like the paper used for the box, the plastic blister is also notably thinner than those seen in other prize figures. Readers of the blog would know that is not necessarily a bad thing as cost reduced here can then be channeled into making a better figure.

FuRyu were also kind enough to include a small manual on setting up the base and stand. As yet another cost saving measure, the manual includes instructions for Rin, Nozomi and Umi (in that order from left to right on the manual). Fortunately, owners would not have to understand Japanese to know how to set up the base and stands as their construction is fairly straightforward. You only have to make sure the stem for the stand is in the right orientation and the U-bracket should fit just as it is shown in the illustration on the manual. 

FuRyu has cleverly opted for a clear stand which helps to conceal its presence ever so slightly. This is certainly something Banpresto could learn a thing or two about with their tendency to color the stand either white or black. Besides that, Nozomi is actually able to stand up on her own without the need of the stand. But the single pin which mounts Nozomi's left foot into the base is rather slim. As such, I would still recommend the use of the the stand for added reinforcement and to alleviate any structural stress on the pegs in the feet.

If you have set up everything as intended, you will have a cheerful early-design Nozomi welcoming you cordially into the Otonokizaka High School Idol Club. At a glance, it is immediately noticeable the changes that have been put into Nozomi's character over the years. While the present version of Nozomi is certainly my favorite, it is always good to look back at the past to see how things were originally.

With the unboxing done and a quick preview of the figure itself, that will be all for today's sneak peek into FuRyu's Chobirume Nozomi figure. Next time, we will be taking a look at the figure in closer detail in our full review. As usual, if you have any questions before that, do not hesitate to ask them in the comments section below. Until then, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!