FuRyu Hanakoizumi Anne Review
Hello everyone and welcome to another figure review on Tiro Finale. At the start of the week, we gave you a glimpse of this gem via our Early June Haul post. Yesterday, we had the preview and unboxing of this figure. Today, we will finally be taking an in-depth look at FuRyu's Hanakoizumi Anne prize figure. The first ever figure from the Anne Happy series, Anne was poised to be the only figure in the series' line of merchandise until Hibarigaoka Ruri's Bunny Girl figure was recently announced. But, that remains to be a story for another day as we focus our efforts on Anne today. Before we begin the review, let us first go over some basic information about the figure;
- Manufacturer: FuRyu
- Series: Anne Happy
- Price: NA (~900 Yen)
- Release Date: 08/2016
- Scale: Non-scale (~170 mm)
- Material: PVC
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| Front View |
Released back in August 2016, Anne can be considered a relatively new figure and one that generally flew under the radar for many figure collectors. In fact, I only came to know about her existence just a few short weeks ago. A few weeks later and here she is in my collection, standing happy on one feet striking a pose that highlights her joys and optimism despite all the misfortune she goes through on a daily basis.
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| Rear View |
The pose itself may look rather simple with Anne's hands folds up and her standing on just her right leg but, the whole pose really manages to capture the happy-go-lucky nature of the Anne Happy series. Or as the series would put it, Unhappy-Go-Lucky. More than just a pose though, I am also equally impressed by the engineering put in by the team at FuRyu who has managed to make Anne stand on a single leg with no problems in stability whatsoever. More about that later in the review.
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| Right View |
Looking at the figure from the side, we can see that Anne strikes quite a slim and svelte figure. From her slim legs to her petite proportions, Anne truly resembles the version of herself depicted in the anime and manga. The only difference now is that she is a three-dimensional character. That and the clueless yet cute chibi-version of herself is nowhere to be seen.
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| Left View |
Aside from the figure and the round base, Anne does not come with any additional accessories. Not a problem considering the price you are expected to pay for this figure. It would have been cute to see Anne come equipped with an oversize four leaf clover but, alas, that was not to be the case.
When viewed from afar, Anne certainly holds up very well with good proportions and a lovely jovial pose. But, what about up-close where we will be able to pay closer attention to every little detail and surface finishing. Will she hold up then?
Starting with Anne's facial detail, things hold up fairly well here. Her peach colored hair and pink colored eyes provide a lovely combination that is faithful to the source material. I especially love her bring pink eyes which really stand out even when viewed from afar. The matte decals for her eyes are applied well together with the slight blush on her cheeks. Anne's wide open mouth expressing joy is also the icing on the cake together with her wild fringe which frames her happiness perfectly.
Note the slight defect on the one of the strands of hair on the right side (left on the image). While I was really disappointed with this defect, such as the lottery that one hasd come to expect when collecting prize figures. Occasionally, you would get a few defects here and there owing to a lower level of quality control.
Moving towards the back, the messy layered details of Anne's hair continues. Despite having a short-styled hair cut, Anne's hair has plenty of detailing and layers which is topped of with a bun at the top. The hair bun is tied up atop with a white ribbon and a green four clover leaf hairpiece. While I will admit that the detailing does look a little messy and cheap. I certainly appreciate the effort put in on FuRyu's part especially with emulating the ribbon and hairpiece which play a very important role in several episodes of the anime.
When viewed from other angles, the color grading in Anne's peach hair becomes more apparent as it darkens towards the bottom. The color grading is rather light and would often come unnoticed when viewed from afar or under poorer lighting. Also noticeable from the sides is the peculiar head seam that Anne has. Rather than running straight across her head, it curves along as if to avoid something. It probably has to do with the molding of the head parts but, it just looks very weird and out of place.
A closer look at the ribbon and hairpiece reveals that the painting on the border is not as clean as we have come to expect in prize figures. Absolutely unnoticeable from afar, these painting discrepancies become painfully noticeable when viewed up close. For example, the peach color from Anne's hair starts to creep into the borders of the four clover hairpieces while, the white color of the ribbon spills over to Anne's hair bun. I would tell you I am bothered by this apparent reduction in quality but, weirdly enough, I am not. Probably because it cannot be seen from normal viewing distances.
Despite all of the positive things I have mentioned, Anne's hair is far from perfect though as there are many flaws which are visually apparent. For starters, the finish on the hair is very rough with each individual hair strand having a very clumpy finish. Moreover, there are various tiny stains speckled all throughout Anne's hair. In the future, I will try to remove these stains with a stain remover but, the fact that I have to, is quite a pain really.
Now done with Anne's facial details and hair, let us move onto to her outfit. Or more specifically, her high school uniform. With her black jacket, white blouse, red skirt and tie, Anne's school uniform makes for quite a unique outfit indeed!
One of the standout features of the uniform are the disproportionate pieces of garment with the small coat and oversize tie. All of it has been carefully detailed and reproduced in figure form from the little details such as the white pin stripes, buttons and clover leaf pattern at the end of Anne's tie.
The white pinstripe detailing continues all around the coat trailing the lower edge, cuffs and collar of the coat. One point which stands out for the black coat are the seam lines which are rather obvious. Fortunately, these seams are located on where you would normally find seams on a coat to begin with. As such, the overall presentation is not too bad at all.
There are also various creases and folds throughout the coat especially at the elbow and shoulder region. This makes the fabric of the coat appear as if it is being stretched. The detailing of the white buttons on the cuff-ends are also a nice touch although the painting could stand for a better finish as the black paint overlaps onto the button's area.
Anne's tie is a bright red oversized one with a four leaf clover detailing at the end of the tie. Together with it are several black highlights which help to break the monotony in design. I really like this aspect of the design which matches the checkered red and black pattern of her skirt. Fortunately for this one, the painting is much cleaner and more precise.
Both of Anne's hands are clenched in a fist as she folds her arms towards herself. Her hand is actually surprisingly well sculpted as we are able to make out every single finger. If you look closer, you can also notice the cuffs of her blouse sticking out from under the cuffs of her coat.
When viewed from a different angle, we can see that Anne's palm are not as well detailed as the surface of her fingers are. Nevertheless, the overall presentation is done rather well. No complaints here. I am just glad the fingers are still individually discernible rather than being a simple clumped up mold of plastic.
Besides a joyful expression, Anne expression can be viewed from another angle to create an embarrassed looking expression.
Then, there is Anne's checkered black skirt. The skirt is primarily finished in red, the same tone as the one on her tie, with several black pinstripes to form a checkered detail. The skirt is also layered to give it the expression of volume as it spreads out playfully.
The gaps in between her skirt are unpainted. Whether this is intentional or not, I am not sure. What is certain is that the black pinstripes actually line up properly if you were to close the gaps in the skirt.
Besides the black pinstripes, the skirt also has one additional detail point which are the gold clips located in the front left side of the skirt. These gold clips have a slight brown highlights and fit nicely onto the skirt helping to break the otherwise symmetrical appearance of the uniform.
Complementing the entire uniform are Anne's socks and shoes. Her socks are white knee high stockings with black leather shoes typical of those you would see in a high school uniform.
Anne's legs are thin and slender tapering down towards her ankles before reaching her feet. The sculpt on Anne's legs are your standard prize figure affair with no outlandish sculpts or color tones. If anything, the finish of Anne's legs can be considered rather good with a smooth, clean finish all throughout.
With her right leg lifted up, this places all the strain of holding the figure up upon her right leg. It is mounted into the base via two pegs which slot securely into the base. Once mounted, there is no sign of play or instability whatsoever which is most reassuring especially for a figure which is standing on only a single leg. Moreover, the large diameter of the base compared to the figure ensures a stable figure which does not threaten to fall over at a moment's notice.
The finer details of the Anne's lower half stems from her black shoes. The shoes themselves are rather well detailed with several layers separating the top, body and soles of the shoes. A slight heel gives the shoe a little more flair and the glossy black finish gives the appearance of polished leather.
The only complaint I would have for the shoes is the presence of a seam line running across the center of the shoe which looks very odd. I have a feeling this manufacturing seam is there because of the mounting pegs which are located on this feet.
Finally, we have the base which is just a simple round black base. I would have really liked a white base with some Anne Happy-styles designs around the perimeter. Unfortunately, likely due to cost saving measures, this was not to be. The black base does the job just fine, it is just a little boring for what is otherwise a very happy figure. Perhaps it is the foreshadowing of Anne's misfortune which lies ahead?
We now arrive to the part of the review where we sum up all that is good and bad about the figure before coming up with a conclusion and recommendation. With Anne, the highs and lows of the figure just like Anne is plain to see. There is no hiding it, this is indeed a prize figure and of all the prize figures I have reviewed in the past, this one screams prize figure the most.
Just like Anne's misfortune, the cost saving measures are clear as day
from the mediocre finish, average detailing and uninspiring painting. But just like Anne, there is a certain joy and optimism to the figure that seemingly does not allow me to dismiss it. All of that before we even considering the price you can get her for (900 Yen).
At the end of the day, my motivation for getting Anne's figure is simple. I enjoyed the series and wanted to support the series in a way that I could afford financially. So, if you are like me and would like to show the Anne Happy series a little bit of love, go ahead and get FuRyu's Hanakoizumi Anne. If you would like to show even more love, that there is the upcoming Hibarigaoka Ruri Bunny Girl version. But, if you have come all the way to the end of this review not knowing about the Anne Happy series yet find yourself intrigued, watch the series or read the manga. Trust me, you will not regret it.
With that, we come to and end of this review. I hope you have found this review useful or, at the very least, entertaining. If you have any questions about the review or figure, feel free to ask them in the comments section below. I would love to hear what you have to think. Until the next time, thank you so much for reading and have yourself a wonderful day ahead!
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