Figure Wishlist: MegaHouse Kusanagi Motoko

Hello everyone and welcome back to Tiro Finale! For a blog that is focused primarily on figures and anime, we sure have not been covering much of that lately. What not with the recent global pandemic causing a halt of most shipments outside of Japan and my recent infatuation to building keyboards, this has been a perfect recipe to siphon my funds into other hobbies aside from figure collecting. To be honest, aside from my recent big order from Good Smile Company (which has been delayed as expected), I have not quite found the need to pre-order any new figure. That was until a few weeks back when the pre-orders for my much anticipated MegaHouse Kusanagi Motoko from the latest season of Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 finally opened. 
 

This figure is one that has been on my watchlist since its reveal at Wonder Festival as an uncolored prototype. Ever since then, news of it has been rather sparse and a colored version was not even debut until the opening of this actual pre-order. Trust me, the temptation to give into my impulses to make a day one pre-order had never been stronger than ever. Hence, this was the ideal candidate for another chapter of the Figure Wishlist. 

In the article where I weigh in on the pros and cons of an upcoming figure that I would like to get in an effort to come up with a rational plan of action. I mean, as rational as can be when it comes to a hobby like figure collecting anyways. If you have followed the blog, you would know that this is not the first time that Kusanagi Motoko aka, Major, has appeared on my wishlist.

In fact, she has appeared on my wishlist twice with both figures of her promptly being pre-ordered by yours truly shortly after the writing of the article. Both times I decided to make the call to get her was not a decision made in vain as her prices began to soar once again in the re-sellers market post-release. If there needed to be any indication of just how much of a cult hit the Major's figures are, the day one pre-orders of this particular MegaHouse Motoko should be a pretty good indication as she sat on the the top (on Amiami) for a good few days.

Before we get into the nitty gritty, let us gloss over some basic information about the very first figure release for the new SAC_2045 anime. Retailing on pre-order for 15,180Yen with an October 2020 release date, MegaHouse's Motoko was open for pre-orders beginning the month of June with the window remaining open up till the early August. The reason MegaHouse will be able to fulfill the orders as soon as October of this year is likely because Motoko is a limited release premium figure only available for orders via Premium Bandai, Megatrea Shop, AmiAmi, Digitamin Volks and Yellow Submarine. Of all those retailers, AmiAmi is the only with a truly global presence making this a potentially rare figure for many international collectors. 

The final product is a non-scale figure with an estimated height of 200 mm making this a fairly tall figure especially when you consider Motoko's stance. There has been no word on additional accessories or body parts but, it is safe to consider that what you see is what you get. Also owing to the limited release nature of the figure, AmiAmi will not be offering any discounts over the retail price meaning you will have to pay full retail for her even if you pre-order. That being said, I fully expect prices to go up at re-sellers once she is released.

Figure wise, there are quite a lot of things to note for what appears to be a relatively simple figure. For starters, we can focus on the most obvious aesthetic point which is Motoko's character design. Based on her latest appearance in Netflix's SAC_2045 anime, Motoko is sporting a brand new look by Ilya Kuvshinov which, while different, still pays homage to the original character design of Motoko from Stand Alone Complex and the original Ghost in the Shell series. 

This may be a point of contention where the MegaHouse version of Motoko has more voluptuous proportions compared to her original design as seen in the anime. Personally, it does not bother me too much as I find it to be a happy medium between the look of Stand Alone Complex's Motoko (who is still my personal favorite) and SAC_2045's look. 

What I will instead point out is the superb coloring, sculpt and detailing on the figure. Motoko's outfit is faithfully recreated from her outing in SAC_2045 and I love how her jacket floats backwards emulating motion while the creases in her pants really give a dynamic feel to the entire figure. Not to mention, the way the figure is mounted. Thus far, a base has yet to be shown. But if they are able to support the entire figure solely upon the base mounting in her right foot, I would take that as a massive accomplishment which goes a long way in selling the figure. 

As of writing, the only thing truly holding me back from making the pre-order is the price. Without a discount, it does feel like the limited release is simply a way to get pre-order customers to pay full price. While the lack of any additional accessories for a 15,000 Yen figure does feel a little disappointing especially in today's figure market. I am still very much inclined to make the pre-order but, with a little more time on hand to think about it, I am going to make the most of it. What do you think? For all of you Ghost in the Shell fans, is this a figure worth pre-ordering? Let me know what you think in the comments section below. Until the next time, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!