EmencyBlazer Works

NAME: Rizfis Luttiva Mente
SERIES: Shuraki
SCALE/CREATOR: 1/8, by GoodSmile Company
RELEASE DATE: May 2008

Lo and behold the beautiful Italian Shuraki! I went to Italy once. It’s a beautiful place with some of the best food you’ll ever come across. There are loads of ruins for you to snap photos of. Lots of scenic countryside for you to explore. However, there is no person in Italy dressed like Rize. Unless they are a cosplayer.

I saw a lot of ladies in Italy wearing fur coats, but no one wearing…whatever the hell it is Rize’s got on.

I did come across some crazy looking guards in the Vatican who were, oddly enough, wielding lances similar to the one Rize has. (Though they weren’t anywhere near as lethal looking). But Rize looks like she belongs more in a generic medieval JRPG than the wonderful land of spaghetti.

I’ve got more sword-users than I know what to do with…but only one lancer. This makes me SAD.

Rize is from the Shuraki series, which I still have no idea is about. I just know it’s GoodSmile’s answer to Megahouse’s Queen’s Blade line. That GoodSmile….someone finds success with something, and then GSC tries to get a piece of the pie. Are you guys not big enough? You practically own the figure market.

And there’s a good reason GSC sits atop the figure throne: Their stuff is the best on the market. Very few come close to the level of quality GSC consistently puts out. Rize looks EXACTLY like the original prototype. Every detail in her outfit is perfectly reproduced. Her painting is gorgeous and flawless. I really wish more companies would follow GSC’s example. (I’m looking at you, Taki Corporation)

Like with the other Shuraki girls, Rize comes with a small artbook and a drama CD. The CD’s in Japanese, so good luck understanding it.

In case you were wondering: Yes. These photos were taken in a bathroom. This is the master bedroom’s bathroom. And it looks like a palace compared to the one I got.

There is one area where Rize fails. I mentioned how Shuraki is like the anti-Queen’s Blade or something, right? The big deal about Queen’s Blade is “Full Cast-off”…aka you can remove practically all the clothing to reveal the girls’ breasts and genitals. (No, seriously) In the case of Shuraki, you can undress the girls to reveal their underwear. Or you can change them into “Battle Damaged” versions of their costumes.

Rize, much like Liu Meifeng before her, is downright impossible to deal with. You’re required to take apart the figure in order to remove this protective plastic wrapping, and it is incredibly frustrating. The clothes do NOT come off easily, and it’s almost as if GSC is saying “Ha ha! I don’t think so, pervert.” Putting Rize back together is almost as difficult as taking her apart. It’s something I never, ever want to do again. (Same goes for Liu.)

FACT: One of Rize’s foot pegs is already broken. It snapped off when I was trying to clean her. *cries*

Like all the other Shuraki girls, Rize comes with a pretty cool base that matches her design well. I don’t know of any place in Italy that has ground like that, though.

OVERALL: 9/10
Rize would be perfect were it not for that horrible excuse for “cast-off” GSC unleashed on drooling collectors everywhere. With Shuraki girls you get a lot of bang for your buck: A fantastic figure, a small artbook and a drama CD (Japanese). Because of this awesome package, the Shuraki figures are extremely difficult to find. There may still be a few online vendors that carry them, but most of the popular shops are sold out.

- G.K. Sil Kamina