Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

This is a record breaking 48 pictures because Good Smile Company’s Melissa just looks sooo good. I don’t know anything about this figure but when I first saw the promo pics, I knew I couldn’t miss her in spite of the slightly pricey cost. Moetron posted a figure review with indepth information about Melissa, so I’ll leave that to him.

Now in line with the new photo commentary approach, I have selected these three pictures to be judged.

As superrats pointed out in a previous post, this picture could’ve done with a bit more lighting on her face.

The background is really perfect though.

I hope this picture shows Melissa’s energy and genki.

It was a perfect mix of factors that created such vibrant colours. Of course, Melissa herself had an amazing orange. Add to that the fact that the IMF was being held and all these fancy plants were all over the place for the duration of the conference. And finally, there was just the perfect blend of sun and cloud. A point to note - this was not the original backdrop intended. We actually planned to use the rows of Himawari (sunflowers!) but some hardworking gardener appeared and started doing his watering thing, getting mud all over the ground. It was certainly a blessing in disguise though.

This set was taken a while back, back in the days where I didn’t actively seek pretty pictures but rather pictures that would work in a review. Hence the lack of creative angling. The lack of elevation

Now where are the HCGs?

Any comments?

Now for the actual review. This is one of my more loli figurines, it’s up there with the Ichigo Mashimaros in terms of flat-chestedness, petite frame and crime. The rather amazing thing is that I’m no lolicon but still find these attractive.

Someone once wished the Alter Nanoha had a base with a runic circle scribed on. Melissa does have this, her base is a translucent dark gray ABS one with a "Star of David" design plus mumbo jumbo runic scriptures, all part of the molding. Unlike normal bases, this one does not have plugs but instead, uses a separate triangular piece which can be inserted into the pumpkin skirt to keep Melissa standing. This innovative design has its pros and cons.

There will most certainly be no warpage, because ABS generally is rigid unlike PVC. This method of attachment also allows Melissa to be posed standing on her toes in high heels off the groud, for a energetic hovering feel, which augments her little wings well. On the other hand, the drawbacks - the piece is visible and a bit of a sore thumb; and critically, you cannot pose Melissa without her pumpkin skirt if you want her to be standing. The latter flaw is rather silly considering the gimmick of skirt removal is very pronounced for Melissa.

Moving up, the pumpkin skirt is surely the highlight of the figure. It’s the first thing people really look at and the major reason why Melissa stands out. Made of an opaque ABS for the orange area and a translucent gray ABS for the eyes and mouth (same material as base), the humongous pumpkin’s menacing demeanor adds an edge, sort of a Tsundere afterburner, to the already tsundere-type figure. The translucent eyes and mouth also happen to make her delicate panties visible. The pumpkin is very well painted, with the usual fruity colours, that is, a lighter tone of the tips. The sepals are an evil graduated purple, with very good detail and sharpness. This part screams "EVIL!" and we all know evil is good.

The pumpkin is made up of two halves attached via plugs. Fitted together, the halves are pretty much seamless as the seams lie where lines should. There’s a large yellow bow on the pumpkin and this is cute.

We now look at Melissa. The photos at some point got screwed over, I think I accidentally set the "neutral" colour setting on my camera. Anyway, as all lolis do, Melissa has a disproportionately large head and small body. And on top of that, large eyes, a cute fang grin, blush, flat chest all boost her loliness. She’s not wearing much, just long gloves and a tube top. The gloves and tube are a glossy black. The latter has a rather prominent and EVIL skull smack right on her pectoral area. Her clothes are lined with gold.

I like her dress, it shows the right amount of flesh (a lot), with enough coverage to still prevent a slutty appearance. It’s funny how wearing long leggings or gloves and hence showing less skin gives a girl more sexiness.

A pair of red bat wings attached to her lower back add some devilish cuteness. Melissa’s hair is beautiful too, with cool asymmetry, long random tendrils that end up in curls. The blonde colour is brilliantly painted on. On top of her head lies a little crown, the sort that exists only in fiction because of the Newtonian laws it breaks. Little crowns are good, ask Diva of Blood+.

The face is perfect. Blushes adorn her already adorable face, and we have not one but two powerful features. The first is the fang grin. Everyone loves fang grins. The second, is the Gatekeeper-styled Radial Iris!

Removing her pumpkin, we see more criminal beauty. The customary loli hips, plus a tiny tiny string panty, al lacy and pink too. You can’t actually pose her without her skirt as the base is attached to it, but the good thing is you can steal peeks through the eyes of the pumpkin.

Overall, this is a fantastic super figure, the quality of which probably ranks at the forefront of existing ones. The price, almost 5000 yen, is pretty much worth it. Gorgeous sculpt design, perfect mold execution, brilliantly impeccable paintwork - go buy it right now.