Pinky Cos: Sakura Shinguji

Product Information/Specifications

Introduction

I brought my Pinky: Cos: Sakura Wars Sakura Shinguji from a local anime hobby store.  I didn't want to buy it from the web since the cost of buying from that option was actually expensive.  I'm no fan of the Sakura Wars series, but I brought this Pinky since it's one of those special ones.

The Review

Sakura Shunguji Pinky in packaging

The packaging of this Sakura Pinky is much bigger than standard Pinky packages.  It's wider & lengthy.  The reason why is probably the accessories & the Pinky itself.

 
Sakura Pinky out of packaging

Sakura Pinky comes with the standard amount of accessories like most Pinkys.  She comes with an extra body of her French-style uniform, her katana, a bow for the French uniform, & a large display base.  Like all Pinkys, she is customizable.  Her ponytail with the ribbon is removable & the bottom part of her Japanese clothing as well.  However, the handle of her katana is stuck to the sword.  Also, the base is very large.

Not the best looking base, but it's different from the others that's currently on the market at the time of writing this review.  Aside from it being larger in sizes, it's in solid colour.  It's not clear or clear coloured like the past ones.  The flower designs match the ones on Sakura's kimono, but I find them to be a bit lacking.  The reason for the large base size is probably to fit the whole Pinky in there.  What I mean by whole is the length of the sword since it touches the floor.  I assume the creators didn't want people to damage or scratch the sword.  However, both of Sakura's bodies can stand on their own without the base.  They are very stable.  But I would use the base since it's given.

 
Sakura from different sides

Out of all of the Pinkys I've seen so far, the Sakura Pinky has a non-static pose.  With the stance of her preparing to pull out her sword, it's done pretty well.  With the floating sleeves & hair, this Pinky has some life in it.  Putting Sakura on the base required more strength than usual for some reason.  I assume the drilling of the hole on her feet wasn't done well. 

Looking at the Japanese uniform first, there isn't too much to say about it.  The paint job is fairly good since it's mainly one colour.  The flower designs are cleanly etched in. Plus, the brown paint on Sakura's wrist has no bleeds almost.  The most bleeds come from the blue line around her slash.  Also, her katana is pretty good from the tip of the handle to the bottom of the sheath. 

For the molding, it's not too bad.  The cut on Sakura's pants from her waist is molded nicely without any air holes or uneven surfaces.  However, I'm not too sure if the distance of her right hand to the katana handle should be that far apart.  I put the katana on her left hand to the maximum & that's the distance it got in the second pic from the left above.  I felt the distance should have been shorter.

 
Sakura in her French uniform

Although Sakura has a non-static pose in her Japanese Kimono, her French uniform is purely static as she just stands there straight.  The good thing about that extra body part is the paint job.  The gold paint is incredibly done with very minimal bleeds all over her body.  As for the molding itself, it's pretty clean with no air holes to be seen.

Aside from the plain pose, the molding on the body does have a lot of work on it.  It's mainly the gold areas & the molding is pretty clean.

Unlike most Pinkys, Sakura is looking off on her right side & not straight ahead.  Also, that facial expression looks more like an evil smile.  Although I seen one OVA series, I don't know if that's really her personality.  When I saw her, she's more of the well-manner type.  But the workmanship is pretty good like other Pinkys.  Clean & crisp.

Overall Conclusion

The Pinky: Cos: Sakura Wars Sakura Shinguji is actually not a bad Pinky at the Japanese retail price that it's set at.  Also, it's a bit different from other Pinkys sold in blister card packaging.  I had her displayed on my work table before selling her away.

The Pinky: Cos: Sakura Wars Sakura Shinguiji gets an eight out of ten.  The workmanship of this Pinky is very good.  The joints are tight & her head & ponytail are a bit loose to allow you to twist her head any way you like.  Plus, there isn't a lot of Pinkys that have a dynamic pose.  The problem with the figurine though is the large base.  It does take up a lot of space, but luckily Sakura can stand on her own.  The other problem is the brand name.  Sakura Wars may be popular, but the number of merchandises from this series is almost ridiculous.  Plus, the name isn't well known outside of Asia.  But, the Japanese didn't design this Pinky with that thought in their heads really.  Also for some reason, I felt making a Pinky out of the Sakura Wars series was a waste.

If you are a fan of Sakura Wars or like to play with Pinkys, I would recommend getting this Sakura Pinky.  Finding this Pinky isn't a problem since there is a lot of stores still carrying her on their shelves.  Although there are some store selling her lower than the Japanese suggested retail price, I don't see this Pinky increasing in price for a long time. 

Photos were taken using Sony DSC-F828 digital still camera.

Last updated on May 21, 2008