Mikuru is a sweet soft spoken girl who goes along with almost all of Haruhi’s silly demands. Haruhi enjoys dressing Mikuru up, much to her dismay, Haruhi also tends to get very jealous of Mikuru’s friendship with Kyon.
Packaging:
Mikuru 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. Mikuru's backdrop is a reflective silver.
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:
Mikuru 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.
Mikuru also comes with an extra L shaped piece which attaches to the end of her stand so that she can be attached to her stand in spite of her long hair. A very nice touch by Max Factory.
Stand = 8/10
Sculpt:
This is Mikuru Asahina Cheerleader Version.
Mikuru's overall design is simple but alright, it is cute and sporty which I believe is the aim, so no real complaints.
Starting from the top, her skirt is nicely pleated and made of soft PVC, her shoes are very nicely detailed, her hair is the standard Mikuru sculpt. And lastly her top is shaped well but rather plain, but this is a cannon clothing design so no real complaints. One thing I will note is that her lower arm just below her elbow has a weird shape to it, as if it has an extra and large muscle, looks strange from some angles. She is also wearing the standard Figma soft PVC panties, but these ones are red.
Sculpt = 6/10
Paint:
Mikuru has a colour scheme of blue white and red, with a band of yellow on her shirt, a very simple straight forward paint job. No runs and nicely detailed shoes, her faces are well painted and detailed. One error is that her hair colour has rubbed onto her left shoulder.
Her accessories are well painted, her extra head and face are nicely painted and her other accessories are nicely painted her cheerleader pom-poms have nice shading, and her baseball bat has a nice metal silver.
Paint = 7/10
Articulation:
Mikuru 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. 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.
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.
Pose:
Mikuru is therefore highly posable and can be posed in a variety of ways. With the use of the accessories supplied, her baseball helmet, ball, mitt, and bat, and her cheerleader pom-poms, she can be displayed in a number of poses, in the midst of catching a ball, getting ready to pitch, and stepping up to bat, and even jumping with cheerleader enthusiasm. However there are a few areas in which articulation is restricted, because of her long hair she is limited in head movements.
Articulation & Pose = 8/10
I will break down enjoyment into two categories: Accessories and Play Value.
Accessories:
Mikuru comes with two facial expressions; a happy smiling expression, and a determined concentrating expression. Mikuru also comes with an assortment of hands; a pair of fists, a pair of open hands, a pair of relaxed hands, a pair pointing hands, a pair of hands for holding items, and a hand for holding her baseball.
Mikuru also comes with a pair of cheerleader pom-poms, which are made out of a nice semi-transparent yellow rubber, and these plug straight into her lower arm. She also comes with her baseball equipment, a baseball, a baseball bat, a baseball mitt, and a baseball helmet. Her baseball bat is used by unplugging the end of the bat handle and sliding the hands on. The baseball mitt was obviously made by someone who as not played baseball as the plug which goes into the lower arm is placed in the wrong place, it goes through the middle between the strap and the mitt, where it should go in from the end and under the strap.
A nice touch is that Max Factory have provided an extra head of hair which is smaller in shape so that her baseball helmet can fit onto her head.
Play Value:
I will break down play value into two categories: Compatibility, with other figures and accessories, and general play.
Compatibility:
Because Mikuru comes with holding that are not fully closed on one side, so she can hold a number of items from other Figma's. She can pick from a number of weapons. She can also fit the faces from other Mikuru Figma's, she can also fit Reimu's face and be a cute little drunk. Mikuru also can use the extra hair piece from Tsuruya-San Culture Festival Maid Version and become a cute maid. She can also do cleaning and put on a knock-out rock star performance.
Next up is a height comparison, as you can see she is in the middle range of the Figma height scale.
General Play:
In general Mikuru is a fun figure, she has lots of accessories to play with, and when combined with another Mikuru figure there are a lot of options for play and display. So overall I am rather happy with this figure.
Enjoyment = 8/10
Over all Mikuru scores 7.2/10
