1/8 Shigure Kai-II

Hello everyone, Lance here. As promised yesterday, today I am going to have a look at the newest addition to my humble figure collection, the 1/8 Shigure Kai-II from the popular browser game Kancolle! Personally I always had abit of a soft spot for the Shiratsuyu-class of destroyers, and a peculiar whim to gather a small collection of each of the sister ships. Goodsmile had previously released this figure back in 2015 and later re-released it in October this year, though I was at the time financially not in a position to make the purchase and slightly begrudgingly held off. Fortunately however, in my recent trip to Tokyo I managed to stumble onto this little gem tucked away in corner of a shelf at Mandarake's Nakano branch, unopened and in pristine condition (except the box), at 9000 yen no less! After a short deliberation I decided to snatch it right up and never looked back.

Before I continue, here are some quick info on the figure:

• Product Name: Shigure Kai-II
• Manufacturer: Good Smile Company
• Sculptor: knead (sai)
• Release Date: December 2015, October 2016
• Scale: 1/8
• Height: ~205 mm
• Price: 13,705 Yen 
• Material: Painted ABS & PVC
• Official site link

I apologize ahead of time for the less than ideal photography as I had to resort to my phones camera with my camera kicking the bucket T^T. Coupled with my amateur photography skills and poor lighting setup the results were not the best, but I hope its helpful nonetheless ^^''. Alright without further ado lets take a quick look at the box.

Shigure Kai-II comes in a simple, no-frills box with an window in the front showcasing the figure and a background illustrating a rainy sea, possibly alluding to the fact that Shigure (時雨) and 5 of her sister ships rain-based names. As you can see above, the 205mm figure in the box towers over the lovely Nendoroid Yamato, herself about 100mm in height.

The sides of the box show Shigure in her two possible configuration, one wielding the traditional 12.7cm cannon and the other with her signature huge guncannons in both arms, more on that later. You might have also noticed the slight damage to the box, a possible reason for how it ended up in Mandarake.

The back features some more official pictures by Goodsmile. But that's enough of the packaging, lets open it up and see what we got!

Straight out of the box, we can see the 1/8 scale figure itself in its fixed pose, its stand, the twin guncannons/backpack unit, 24-inch torpedo tubes, 12.7cm cannons, and the connectors & armparts that accompany each of those parts. Before we attach them on lets take a closer look at her equipment.

The mechanical parts of the figure were are meticulously detailed (even the undersides) and nicely weathered to give them abit of a metallic and used look from seafaring. While the figure itself is fixed and non-movable, the guns and torpedo tubes with their ball mounts have some limited articulation, and as seen from the above image those turrets are also movable.

I am personally a fan of the nicely detailed and painted torpedo tubes and mount, with a striking glossy finish to the rear ends of the 24-inch torpedos.

The two large guncannons can be combined to form Shigure Kai-II's signature back unit. The 12.7cm cannons can also be neatly stowed away to the sides of the backpack.

I was pleasantly surprised when I later found out that her fingernails were individually painted with a nice gloss pink finish. A nice touch =3

Note: If you are looking to insert these handles into the hand parts. Do yourself a favor and insert the handle from the pinkie-side first unlike what was suggested in the manual, it won't go in well from the other end.

The inside layer of the box around the figure itself can also be taken out and used as a simple but nice background for Shigure of other figures if you so wish, with identical images as seen from the outside of the box.

But that's enough of the small stuff, lets put it all together for the main event!

Sho cool! <3

Rear view

This pose from Shigure Kai-II is based off an illustration from the card game Weiß Schwarz from Bushiroad, as pictured below.

The dynamic pose helps convey a sense of motion and feel of being in pitched battle. Her hair ornament and skirt in particular also give a sense of flowing in the wind.

Looking closer we can see Shigure's face nicely sculpted to have a cool, focused experession as she enters battle. Her hair in particular I really like for its fine detail and separation, complete with her signature lucky ahoge. She also has her signature 'dog flaps' and hair ornament on her hair, particular to her Kai-II upgrade, a feature also shared by her sister ship Yuudachi Kai-II. Little bit of trivia, back from World War 2 Shigure (along with Yukikaze) had a reputation of being a 'lucky', surviving many major fleet skirmishes and many more smaller encounters with little to no damage, sometimes even as the sole surviving ships. Her captain in fact was the only IJN destroyer captain to have served through the entire war and survived. She however, just like every of her other sister ships, was eventually sunk. Shigure was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Blackfin of the coast of Kota Bharu in modern day Malaysia. 

Taking a closer look at the torso we can see the uniform-like outfit that emphasizes Shigure's modest but nice curves. Its abit difficult to see here due to the poor lighting, but the numerous finely sculpted folds in the outside accentuates a sense of dynamic motion while making it seems as if soft to touch. 

Again, big fan of the torpedo tubes & their mount. The long, lean legs peeking out of her flowing skirt is also a nice charm point for this figure. The mechanical, weathered ship parts also add a solid 3D feel to the overall silhouette while making a oddly charming contrast with her pearly smooth skin.

Nope, you may not

If you want Shigure to look closer to how she was depicted in Kancolle, you may swap around the parts for this alternate pose with the 12.7cm cannon in hand and the cannons neatly stowed behind. Both configurations look very neat and have their own charms, but personally i prefered the first one, though not by much >.<

Rear view

Overall, I found that I really appreciate this new addition to my collection, more so than I would have expected, even with the slightly hefty price tag. The fantastic build quality, paintwork, sculpt and dynamic pose all factor heavily to the charm of this Shigure Kai-II, making it one of my favorite pieces to own. It'll be even better once she is joined by her sister <3 More on that next time.

Alright, that wraps up my review (?) of the 1/8 Shigure Kai-II. Hope you like it. I had fun making my first review on figures. Hopefully I'll be able to do more, perhaps when I have more free time and more figures arrive. Until then, have a great year ahead!

Image credit to ハオ