Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is the fourth video game in the Persona series. In Persona 3 the player takes the role of a male high-school student and joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), the group investigates the ‘dark hour’ a time period which occurs between one day and the next. When the hour comes the player jumps inside a tower called Tartarus and then fights shadows with their Persona, Persona’s appear by firing an Evoker, the Persona’s then fight the shadows.
Aegis is an android created by the Kirijo group and is last surviving model of their experimental anti-Shadow weapon. Aegis joins the SEES’ summer beach vacation, she then takes an interest in the player and is assigned to aid the SEES and so enrols in the players high-school in order to protect him. As the game progresses Aegis begins to become more human.
Packaging:
Aegis comes in a standard Figma box.
On the front is a window for viewing the figure, on one side is the Figma logo, on the other is a picture of the figure, on the back there is relevant information, all in Japanese, and pictures of the figure in various poses with their various accessories. Instructions for swapping face pieces and other items are usually printed on either inside of the box tabs or on a piece of paper slipped inside the packaging. Also take note that all figures you purchase have the correct authentication printed or stickered on the box.
Inside the box the figure is held between two pieces of moulded plastic, with spaces for their accessories. The extra hands and the base of the Figma stand are stored in plastic bags underneath the figure in the plastic moulding. Figures are usually wrapped with plastic in certain areas to protect the paint. Boxes also come with inserts which act as backdrops in the box and can be taken out and used for backdrops while displaying figures.
Figma’s also are supplied with a small zip-lock bag to store all the accessories in, the name of the figure can be written on this bag so that figure accessories can be stored neatly. Figma’s also come with a neat little device for storing the extra hands in.
Packaging = 6/10
Stand:
Aegis comes with the standard Figma stand. Made of clear plastic it has three points of articulation which move forwards and back on hinge joints, one joint is at the bottom where it plugs into the base, one in the middle and one where it plugs into the Figma. The articulation of the stand allows the Figma to be posed in a variety of dynamic poses, and because it is clear it does not interfere with the aesthetic of taking dynamic and exciting photos.
Aegis also comes with two peg brackets which slot into her feet and allow her to stand up free from the main stand.
Stand = 7/10
Aegis's overall design is very elegant, she is tall and slender and she is aesthetically pleasing.
Starting from the top, her hair sculpt is very good, and she as nice detail on her head band. Her clothes are nice, with a big red bow on her collar and detailed areas on her shoulders and thighs, with her joints being well disguised in these areas. She has no feet, instead they end in a rather robot fashion, but as an android this is expected. She also has machine guns on both of her arms, which have a space for her cartridges to plug into. A nice touch is her arm-band which reads SEES and is free from her sculpt and can be removed if you take off her elbow joint.
One downside is that because she is very thin and tall she has very poor balance and it’s difficult to get her standing. One other thing is that she has unusually pointy knee caps, which is kind of weird, but perhaps that’s just me.
Sculpt = 8/10
Aegis has a great colour scheme and is painted well. Her silver detailing is painted well, and has few areas where the paint runs over the lines, these places being mainly on her head band, where the red paint is a bit messy. However on a whole her paint job is good. He hands are all tipped well, with the end of the fingers all being silver and her faces are very well done, her eyes are done wonderfully and give her a kind of depth.
Aegis’s accessories are nicely painted, all shiny and sparkly. I particularly like her rocket punch which has gold, red and blue.
Paint = 7/10
Articulation:
Aegis use’s the standard Figma joint system. Figma joints are hinge joints with pegs on either end allowing both forward and back movement and rotation.
At the head a Figma joint is used at the top of the neck allowing the figure to look up and down and turn their head left and right, however looking up is restricted somewhat by the design of the back of the hair. To change the faces on Figma’s the front piece of hair is removed and then the faces can be taken of and swapped.
The shoulder consists of a double joint, a ball joint which sits inside the upper body, this is attached to a ball shaped Figma joint which acts as the shoulder, and this allows full range of motion to the shoulder. Further down a Figma joint is used as the elbow and bends in and then out straight and there is some slight rotation for the lower arm to turn in and out. At the wrist the various hands plug into a small hole at the end of the arm. Each hand also has a hinge joint, which not only allows the hand to rotate but also to move up and down which gives the figure realistic wrist movement.
A waist joint is located under her chest. Waist joints are ball and socket joints, a ball joint will be attached to the upper body and which plug into a socket in the main torso, this gives the body twisting movement and bending forwards and back. At the hips a three jointed ball and socket joint is used. One ball plugs into a socket at the bottom of the torso acting as the hip joint; this allows the hips to turn side to side, lean forward or back, then on each of the other two ball joints the legs plug on. However due to Aegis's sculpt she does not have the movement of the top hip ball joint. Each leg has an inner socket which the ball joint plugs into, this piece allows full range of motion from the ball joint and also allows the thigh to turn in and out as it pegs inside the main leg piece. Aegis also has an added swivel joint at her upper thigh which allows her leg to turn in and out more, rather like that of an original Fraulein Revoltech, however the joint is very stiff and requires a bit of force to move it.
A Figma joint is then used as the knee allowing the knee to bend backwards and then out to straight, and there is some slight rotation for the lower leg to turn in and out. The ankle also is a Figma joint allowing the foot to point and flex turn in and out. However Aegis has no feet so there is no articulation there.
Pose:
Aegis is therefore highly posable and can be posed in a variety of ways. With the use of the accessories supplied, her rocket punch and machine gun cartridges, she can be displayed in a number of poses, a cute sheepish pose using her sweet smiling face, a battle ready pose with her machine guns loaded, and in the heat of battle with her rocket punch. However there are a few areas in which articulation is restricted, as her torso is a fixt sculpt she doesn't get the usual hip movement of a Figma, however Max Factory did add in extra leg joints, however these are rather stiff and so are not that helpful.
Articulation & Pose = 8/10
Enjoyment:
I will break down enjoyment into two categories: Accessories and Play Value.
Aegis comes with three facial expressions; her plain and slightly concerned expression, an angry battle ready expression, and a sweet smiling expression. Aegis also comes with an assortment of hands; two pairs of open hands, a pair of fists, a pair of hands for fighting, and a pair of hands for holding items.
Aegis also comes with her two machine gun cartridges which plug into her arms, and a rocket punch, which is very cool indeed. It plugs onto her left arm and the end fist part can even come off so you can create a sequence of action shots and poses if you wish, with the fist flying off into someone else’s face!
Although Max Factory gave Aegis a pair of hands for holding items which is a nice sentiment, they however have too small a hole to fit most Figma accessories.
Play Value:
I will break down play value into two categories: Compatibility, with other figures and accessories, and general play.
Compatibility:
As Aegis's a pair of hands for holding items are too small to hold most Figma accessories, she can only really hold Reimu's prayer rod and Miku's microphone and stand, which limits her play value somewhat.
Next up is a height comparison, as you can see she is the tallest of the Figma height scale.
General Play:
In general however Aegis is a lot of fun, although posing her can be difficult sometimes due to her balancing issues, but non-the-less she has a sweet yet strong character and her android features make her stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Overall Aegis is an enjoyable figure and she makes a great addition to my collection.
Enjoyment = 7/10
Over all Aegis scores 7.2/10
