Medicchu Yukikaze Review

Hello again, everyone! We are back this week with yet another Kancolle Medicchu review. This time, we will be taking a look at the fleet's good luck omen, the "unsinkable" Yukikaze! While her name may mean "Snowy Wind", this fleet girl is anything but cold with her cheerful and bright attitude. All of that and more have been compressed into the deformed scale of the Medicchu figure which we will be taking a closer look at today. But first, let us cover the bases with some basic information about Yukikaze.

• Manufacturer: Phat Company, Good Smile Company
• Series: Kantai Collection
• Price: 2,300 Yen (before tax)
• Release Date: 10/2015
• Scale: Non-scale
• Material: PVC

Front View

Released the same time as Medicchu Kaga, Yukikaze is a vastly different fleet girl with emphasis on her miscellaneous ship parts rather than her ship parts. From the front, Yukikaze's signature equipment including the air-horn on her head and binoculars are immediately recognizable. If you are familiar with the series, there is absolutely no mistaking who she is.

Rear View

Aside from the twin turret cannons, the only other offensive weaponry Yukikaze has are quad-torpedo launchers mounted on her back. These launchers have some degree of rotational mobility which I will talk about more later in the review. Otherwise, there is not too much going on in the back.

By far my favorite part of the entire figure, Yukikaze's facial expression is absolutely adorable! Phat! has done a very good job in retaining her cheerful expression and scaling it appropriately for the Medicchu scale. Yukikaze's top row of teeth which shows through her wide open mouth look just like buckteeth making her look really cute. Not only that, the fringes of Yukikaze's hair have been sculpted to appear to be in motion. This adds a real life-like quality to it which really helps to strengthen her whole appearance. Two thumbs up and easily one of the best aspects of the figure!

Moving on to her outfit, Phat! have not neglected or skimped on the details here either with everything being very neatly painted and sculpted. Observe the fine blue lines running across the hem of Yukikaze's dress and cuffs for an example of the fine details applied onto the figure. Even Yukikaze's booths are painted in three different colors (black, gray and red) albeit being one of the smallest parts of the figure.

Being a fleet girl, how about her ship parts then? As far as I can tell, they are all safely accounted for and reproduced to the highest quality. For starters, there's the air-horns and mast which serve as Yukikaze's head gear. For some reason, the air-horns remind me of tanuki (racoon) ears. Perhaps that was intentional?

Then, there is Yukikaze's signature large binoculars which uses to scout for enemy ships ahead. Even in Medicchu form, the binoculars are really big! Because of their size, much of Yukikaze's uniform is obstructed from the front. But at this angle, you can lightly make out the yellow scarf that Yukikaze's wears together with her dress. A small but, really neat detail.

Earlier, I mentioned Yukikaze has a torpedo launcher mounted as her backpack. As opposed to constantly pointing downwards, the launchers can actually be rotated on a fixed plane adding some degree of variability. Unfortunately, they are finished entirely in gray lacking the red finish a the end of each torpedo. A real wasted opportunity, in my opinion, as that would have helped make Yukikaze that little bit more special.

Fortunately, her other armaments are not skimped out in terms of paint. For both her backpack and turret, the leather straps are all painted in a light shade of brown. Even the buckles on her turret "purse" are left in gray allowing for some color separation between them. 

At 2,300 Yen, Yukikaze is one of the more affordable Medicchu's ever released and that price is reflected in her relative lack of equipment. But, that is not to the fault of anyone, as Yukikaze herself comes sparsely equipped even in the original design. Aside from a few misses here and there, Yukikaze is overall an extremely solid and high quality deformed scale figure. Incredibly adorable and exuding an air of cheerfulness, Yukikaze is just the Medicchu to brighten up your day. Certainly a figure that can be enjoyed by both fans and non-fans of the series alike.

With that, comes an end to this week's Medicchu review. Over the course of the week, we will have daily new content including new additions to Mami in Action which I have recently restarted. In the meantime, I hope you have enjoyed this review and found it helpful. Until then, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!