Armored Girls Project: KanKolle Yamato
 

A few months ago I had a chance to sit down and watch the Anime series KanKolle. I had seen a lot of images from the series, didn't quite understand the concept of girls wearing parts of old ships to battle in the water. When I saw the series on Crunchyroll, I figured why not give it a shot?

Boy am I glad I did!

I know the show is based off the game, and I have done a little digging into the characters, one ship that stood above the rest for me, also goes back to an anime that I used to watch as a kid, StarBlazers, or Space Battleship Yamato. When she showed up in episode 8 of the KanKolle series I was excited. I wanted to know how they went about using her, what her deal was and just about everything else you could imagine.

Imagine my surprise when I found out there were figures. Holy crap, people! I found the Yamato figure through Tamashii/S.H. Figuarts and got one, for me and for the store. I had a chance to sit down with the figure last night and this morning and had to put my thoughts down in a review. So, here goes;

KanKolle Yamoto Kai, released through Tamashii/Bluefin and is part of the S.H. figuarts line. When I received the box I didn't expect it to be a large. Honestly, I figured it would be a large box, just not sure how large.

The box is a piece of art in it's own right. Very nicely done with some gold foil lettering on the box. The sites and back of the box, show various poses of Yamato with and with out her armaments. When you open the box, it's amazing to find the hardware and the packaged in the try. I was really impressed. I thought the armaments were made of die cast at first so I was a bit nervous, due to weight issues. I was happy with the fact that they are plastic and a bit relieved.

Some of the items the figure comes with;

3 additional faces (4 total)
5 additional sets of hands (6 total)
a parasol antenna
Battle ship parts
A stand and support system to hold the pieces up with out straining the plastic.

The faces are beautifully painted and the eyes seem to pop! The armaments are wonderfully done. Each cannon moves up and down, on their own hinge, the main cannons can also swivel on it's side. The ability to pose the cannons is one of the main things that makes this figure fun.

The different hands gives her options to hold her parasol. But she is not dependent on holding it. The hands she is given also allow for her to keep her hands in fists, or opened wide. She has hands that hold small torpedoes as well.

She has a wide range of articulation. With swivels in the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and ankles. Her torso has 2 independent ball joints. Her Knees move freely back and forth, and allows for her to sit as well as stand.

Her pony tail is on a ball joint, and it's nicely painted with Cherry Blossoms on it. It adds a level of artistic value for the figure.

Some things to note on this figure if only for some interesting trivia;

She wears an Armband that resembles the Maritime signal Flag for the letter "Z", the Z flag played a major role in Japanese Naval History. On May 27, 1905, Admiral Heihachirō Tōgō raised the Z flag on his flagship the IJN Mikasa before the start of the Battle of Tsushima and the Z flag was raised on the Akagi on the eve of the Attack on Pearl Harbor. The raising of the flag means the following: "The fate of Imperial Japan hangs on this one battle; all hands will exert themselves and do their best."
Yamato's remodel art features a 'Hirihoukenten (非理法権天)' kneesock (originally a flag). It reflects one of the old philosophy in feudal Japan where foolishness (非) is not above sensibility (理), sensibility is not above law (法), law is not above authority (権), and authority is not above divinity (天). As the emperor was treated as a divine figure in imperial Japan it has a meaning of "no men can oppose the (divine) emperor". A slogan adopted by the Imperial Japanese navy, this flag was hung on Yamato on her final voyage towards Okinawa.

There was only one real issue with this figure and that was the bangs for the hair. Which isn't a tight fit. Other then that. I am so pleased to have this in my collection. It's definitely a step up on any higher end Figuarts figures in my collection.

We have one up currently on our e-Bay store. I would highly recommend anyone who enjoys the AGP or KanKolle to look into this figure. You will be greatly pleased at the level of articulation and paint applied to this figure. Definitely a crown jewel of anyone's figure collection.