Fortunately enough, I happened to notice I still have
figures not yet reviewed while I was checking through my drafts. Metatron was
my last figure of year 2011, bought last year in late October. Since then it is
a 3-month figure drought, because I had to spend my money on other crucial
stuff. Back in October, Guilty Crown commenced and I had a sudden urge to buy
myself a figure with a plugsuit outfit (thanks to Inori-chan). I only had one
such figure – Good Smile’s 1/8 Kagami Sumika. The Evangelion girls are too
common and boring so I went for Metatron instead.
I picked up her up from a local toy store in Penang for USD
$100/RM 300. I simply bought this figure to give my collection of figures more
variation. Give a look at your figures – their outfits, their hair color, and
ask yourself whether your figures have enough variation. Some people mizuki/swimsuits,
some prefer seifuku/school uniforms, or maybe maids, for example. For me, I
want a variety to make my figure collection look nice. As for the origin of
Metatron, Deus Machina Demonbane, I had a low quality copy of the anime which I
only watched 2 episodes so far. Demonbane is more famous for its game though, by
Nitroplus.
Out of Box
Metatron figure, beam saber, round plastic base. A simple
package in an average sized box.
I had to crack my head and make use of my imagination to the
fullest to take photos of Metatron. I mean, my past photos of figure reviews have
all been plain backgrounds, and enough is enough. The sci-fi theme of Metatron
figure made it tough to choose what background suits her. But, while browsing
for figure photos online, pictures of Kos-Mos itself, such as the figma, loaded
with heavy weaponry, made a light bulb lit up above my head. I came up with the
decision to put my Gundam kits’ accessories to good use.
Evaluation
Pros: Great details on her outfit, simple but attractive
pose, TITS.
Cons: Weak figure-to-base connection, limited viewing angle,
the unsymmetrical nature of this figure (legs) might be an eyesore for some
people (though I actually liked it)
Metatron is an old figure, but not very old – she was
released in 2008. At 1/8 scale, she stands at 210mm tall. Year 2008 - That was
the year when great figures are making their way to the market with new
ground-breaking levels of beauty of their sculpt (think about the Haruhi
Gekisou/Extravaganza series as one such example). So, if this figure doesn’t
match up to today’s standards of figures, I can’t really complain. Fortunately
this isn’t the case for Metatron, she’s a decent figure by all means, with my
main complaints centered at the foot-to-base connection and petty issues some
wouldn’t have bothered. More on that later in the legs and base section below.
Metatron has a disadvantage as a figure – her pose makes her
viewing angle narrow. She only looks good from certain angles, and therefore
when you display her on a shelf, looking from the wrong angle and you will be
looking at her back and butt instead. Not exactly a bad thing though.
What caught me by surprise is that Metatron has light
pinkish make ups. That’s because I never thought the color pink could go well
with blue. The hair is well sculpted but the details are lesser than the newer
figures nowadays. Somehow, Alter usually sticks true to the character you see
in an anime in terms of appearance; Good Smile tends to exaggerate on the
aesthetics such as body curves and details of the outfit and hair, usually
because they follow the original artwork. If you want a good comparison, you
can compare Alter’s K-On figures to the anime, and compare GSC’s Saber or
Tohsaka Rin UBW version to the Fate series anime.
I happen to lose a small blade/spike placed on her arm, but
I actually prefer her without it. You can replace the blade with a beam saber.
That’s one of her primary weapons I assume.
Well, no human being can handle a Gatling gun with a single hand...
I happen to forget to take pics on her with the beam saber buit it's nothing important, i think the GN sword i gave her makes her look nicer. LOL
Well, no human being can handle a Gatling gun with a single hand...
The other hand holds what seem to be a helmet, which is very
well-detailed, though the helmet seems a bit too small to accommodate her head
and her hair.
Her outfit is what I think to be one of the best parts f the
figure. A rather detailed futuristic plugsuit. The nipples are pretty visible –
rare for Alter. What attracts me the most the is pubic area though. =3 Her butt
also triggers good imaginations for some of you I believe. :D
The decent butt reminds me of Street fighter’s Cammy. More
often. She is being recognized as a blond with a hot ass. In fact, “THAT (exposed)
ASS” is pretty much an unofficial
trademark of Cammy in the Street Fighter series.
Her legs are unsymmetrical, just like her arms, but a lot
more obvious. Her right leg seems to be some remnant of a broken armor, but
that incredibly small foot (it is almost “foot-less”) gives me second thoughts,
on whether it is a mechanical leg instead of being an armor. As I mentioned
earlier, I haven’t finished watching Demonbane, nor played the game, so, I have
no clue.
Her right leg is your typical feminine leg.
Looking at her feet, you’d pretty be able to realize that
the feet-to-base connection pegs are quite small. This makes the connection
pretty unstable, and you can knock the figure off her base if you handle the
figure carelessly, but I’m pretty much most figure collectors are quite
delicate in handling figures.
The base, as seen above, is just a common round plastic base with some codes
on it, which you can’t see in my photos of Metatron above. The section below
will show how I made her “stand without her base”. The base itself looks good
and suitable to Metatron’s futuristic theme, though a bit too plain. Pardon me,
I might have been spoiled by Good Smile Company’s figures, where each figure
gets a unique realistic base except the cheaper ones (below 6000yen price tag).
Conclusion
Short review this time around. Should I buy a figure of this or not? That is a tough
question to answer. However, I would advise you not to buy her unless you are a
fan of Demonbane, not Transformers (she is not Megatron’s wife.) or, you have
some prior knowledge over her background, or maybe you simply like her in terms
of design. Because, this is an old figure, and most figure collectors are going
for something new and better, unless that old figure is a rare one which was
extremely popular. Metatron isn’t that kind of ultra-popular character like
Black Rock Shooter, Hatsune Miku, or Saber Lily, and she isn’t very rare either
even now. She is a great figure, but not something I’d recommend to someone to
buy it randomly. If I were to rate Metatron, she gets 4 out of 5 stars.
