Last weekend, the second of the bi-annual figure expo known as Wonder Festival (or WonFest for short) took place in Japan. Just like earlier this year, I’m sharing some of the highlights and my favorite announcements.
Figma
Attack On Titan‘s Mikasa and ErenWhile not a huge surprise,
Attack on Titan got a lot of attention at this WonFest, which is why I’ve dubbed it “Attack on Wallet.” Mikasa and Eren lead the charge with colored prototypes. Mikasa is set for a January release, and I imagine that Eren won’t be far behind.
Colossal TitanEveryone’s favorite skinless Titan and PR mascot is also getting a Figma release. Levi
was also announced as next in line.
Fate/stay night‘s ArcherMoving away from
Attack on Titan for the time being, I know that a lot of people have wondered about this figure. The prototype showed up again this weekend, and with the sudden upswing in
Fate universe figures, we’ll probably see a release date sometime next year.
Meanwhile,
Girls und Panzer got not just one Figma, but five (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), rounding out the set and completely colored. A release date will probably be coming soon.
Nendoroid
Nendoroid Colossal TitanThe second wave of Attack on Wallet starts again with Colossal Titan. Earlier this year, GSC halfway jokingly made a mock-up of one using their 3-D printer, but the response was so big that now it’s a reality. He comes with a diorama of the Shiganshina District, tiny villagers and soldiers, and three smaller Titans. They’ve revealed two–the Titan from the first episode and moe-moe Titan–with the third one a secret. Personally, I’d like to see abnormal running Titan, but I’ll eat my hat if GSC doesn’t go for the more obvious route. (If you’ve watched/read to a certain point, you know what I mean.)
There’s an extended preview here, and he’s already up for pre-order with a release date set for December.
Nendoroid MikasaBut wait, there’s more! (There’s always more.) GSC also premiered the uncolored prototype for Nendoroid Mikasa. Eren was also announced.
Dangan Ronpa‘s NaegiStarting with the other Nendoroid announcements, the
Dangan Ronpa line of Nendoroids continues to grow after series’ mascots Monobear and Monomi with the first game’s protagonist, Naegi. Although I’m not pleased with how the anime is turning out, I’m still a fan of the series and am excited for this figure. He’ll likely be a
Christmas present to myself, since his release date is currently set for December.
Fantasista Doll‘s Ono UzumeIn the category of “things I was not even remotely expecting,” the protagonist of Fantasista Doll is apparently getting a Nendoroid. I guess the show is doing well or they’re expecting it to do well?
Watamote‘s Tomoko KurokiGetting back to series that don’t solely exist to advertise something, everybody’s favorite social outcast Tomoko is getting the full Nendo treatment. The Petit Nendo version announced earlier is pictured next to her. I’m pretty excited for this one too.
Saber Alter Full Action VersionThe
Fate universe also had a lot of Nendoroid announcements, including a display of this Saber Alter prototype. Since she falls under the “Full Action” line, she will have more points of articulation than the normal Nendoroid. Also, GSC didn’t point this out, but you can pretty much consider this a full remake of the earlier Nendo of this character. …Nendoroids sure have gotten better over the years, haven’t they?
Also announced were Saber Bride and Gilgamesh.
Scale/Others
Attack on Titan‘s Levi 1/8 Scale by SentinelAttack on Wallet’s final blow comes with this gorgeous scale prototype of Levi. Seriously, click on the link and look at the detail pictures, they are amazing. That said, everything I’ve seen by Sentinel seems to be hit or miss, so I’m saving the majority of my excitement for when I see the final version.
Meanwhile, GSC is continuing their Mikasa appreciation parade by announcing a 1/8 Scale version as well.
Dangan Ronpa‘s Kirigiri 1/8 Scale by PhatIt’s my favorite character with a great sculpt! There’s even a Monobear! …I have a bad feeling this is going to be way out of my price range, though.
Komeda Nagito Scale by Algernon ProductSpeaking of out of my price range, I must’ve not been paying attention since I was not aware that the company that makes those cat donut things were also making expensive
Dangan Ronpa scale figures (
spoilers in that link if you think too hard about it). The next one up is fan-favorite Komeda from the second game.
Hatsune Miku TYPE 2020 by Max FactoryThis figure’s uncolored prototype was shown off at the previous WonFest, but I think she has much more of a presence in color! I’ve seen some complaints about her face, but when there are over 9000 Miku figures out there, I think it’s nice to see something a little bit different.
Magi‘s Morgiana 1/8 Scale by G.E.MThis is obviously a rough sculpt right now, but I’m happy to finally see a figure of Morgiana in this outfit, especially since Bandai has said nothing about their line since announcing them. I’ll be watching this one.
Free!‘s Haruka Scale by Alter.And finally, this was the only figure announcement I could find for
Free!. Clearly fujoshi are taking over the market. Anyway, since this is coming from Alter, the estimated release date is sometime before the heat death of the universe, but they’re not making any promises.
Updates
Finally, I’d like to wrap things up with a few updates about figures I covered in my last WonFest Post!
Colored Madoka 1/8 Scale Yukata Ver. from FreeingThis figure has been painted, and she came out very nicely! I know that a lot of people were disappointed with how GSC’s scale Maiko Madoka came out, so here’s an alternative.
Prototype Homura 1/8 Scale Yukata Ver.Freeing is also making good on their promise to make the whole set, starting with Homura. She also has a release date listed for next year.
Prototype “Marth” FigmaAnd finally, this was probably the figure I wanted to see most of all! I was really hoping that it would be colored and get a solid release date, but I guess I have to wait a little longer. The sculpt looks fantastic though. Again, I feel obligated to remind everyone that this is not the Marth from Brawl. This is a completely different character that comes from Awakening.
And that’s it for Summer WonFest 2013! A literal ton of figures were announced this past weekend, and my coverage only scratches the surface, so if you’re looking for more pictures, look under the hashtag #WF2013S on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr, as well as coverage on Culture Japan (here and here so far) and GSC and Max Factory’s event website. Some series that I did not cover in this post got a lot of figure announcements (like Sword Art Online and Idolm@ster) so if you didn’t see something you like in this post, feel free to look at the other coverage to see if something catches your fancy! Have fun, and remember not to go broke on preorders!
All images are from MFC and/or the watermarked websites.
