TOY REVIEW: Hallelujah! ‘Figma – Kill la Kill Ryuko Matoi’ is bloody fantastic

The blood-soaked, magical girl wackiness that is “Kill la Kill” remains one of this year’s most sinfully delectable surprises, so it’s not entirely shocking that big-name toy companies are fighting tooth and claw to deliver their best interpretations of the show’s characters.

 

And so we come to the latest addition to the Figma line of super-articulate action figures: Max Factory’s depiction of main “Kill la Kill” protagonist, Ryuko Matoi. Figma may be known for the impeccable quality of its toys, but I’m more than happy to say that Ryuko annihilates all expectations, in the same vein that the show that spawned her skewers the trope-congested anime industry right through the proverbial groin.

 

Sculpt: Bizarrely beautiful

 

As much as I loved “Kill la Kill,” I have to admit that my least favorite aspect of the show was the design of Ryuko’s Senketsu armor. There just seems to be an aesthetic and mental disconnect between the sharp-edged, mechanical facets of the getup and its textile-based accoutrements, such as the skirt and the hose.

 

It’s an entirely different matter in 3D, however. In sculpted plastic, battle mode Senketsu explodes into life: an outlandish mixture that tosses in ninja, schoolgirl, and Super Sentai in one, exquisite package – and with just the right amounts of perv sprinkled in.

 

From Senketsu’s fiercely penetrating eye and the exhaust vent at Ryuko’s back, to her teeth-lined, pleated skirt and those square wrist guards that look solid enough to break someone’s cranium, it all, superbly, works. The sculpting is strikingly sharp, and it certainly helps that the finer details, such as the red bands on her hose and arms, are all part of the mold as opposed to being lazily painted on.

 

Equally marvelous is the job done on Ryuko’s head and body. Her impossibly thick hair is gorgeous, the locks flowing as if caressed by strong winds, tapering into points that look spiky enough to gouge out eyeballs – quintessential for reenactments of those hyperactive action scenes, but just as wonderful on more static poses.

 

Figma Ryuko’s face is an excellent and immediately recognizable rendition of its onscreen counterpart. The eyes are painted on, but they brim with the same ferocity and cockiness as those of the brash yet pretty tomboy who has sliced and diced her way into our hearts.

 

As for her other, ehem, anatomical features, they don’t disappoint – especially if that’s your thing. Ryuko’s bust size seems to have gone up a couple of inches, but I suspect this is to obscure the visual awkwardness resulting from the segmentation of her upper torso from her lower torso. With a much smaller spacing between the breasts, the torso joint isn’t as noticeable as it is when viewed from the figure’s side and back.

 

The visible cut doesn’t ruin the overall figure, but it IS there. Thankfully the other joints are less conspicuous, due to a combination of clever positioning and the deliciously dark paint scheme.

 

Paint: Dark, daring, and dangerous

 

The simple color scheme of Ryuko’s armor is a huge part of why the design works so utterly well in action figure format. The slightly glossy black screams danger, and the contrasting deep crimsons leap out like gouts of blood from wells of darkness. Add to that Senketsu’s smoldering glare, and Ryuko’s brazenly arrogant visage, and what you’ve got is a character the embodiment of badass.

 

The paint applications are impressively clean, almost entirely devoid of slop and other unsightly blemishes found on other action figures of the same scale (and sometimes even on larger ones). Figma toys are also exceptionally consistent across the line in regards to paintjobs, so it is natural for the high quality coloring you relish in one Ryuko to be perfectly replicated in another.

 

The only issue I have with Ryuko, and indeed with a majority of Figma toys, is the eyes. They seem to lack the lustrous, jump-at-you vibrance of the paint apps on the rest of the figure, almost teetering towards a faded, even flat look. While no biggie, brighter eyes would have bridged that piddling gap between almost perfect, and perfect.

 

 

Articulation: Flexible enough for anything

 

Like others in the Figma family, Ryuko enjoys generous articulation allowing her to perform a broad range of poses.

 

Made of a rigid material, Senketsu’s eyes are connected at the root to a flexible joint that lets you move them around. They can actually be pulled out of and plugged back into Ryuko’s chest, so avoid giving her to an excitable four-year-old unless you want your sentient sailor uniform’s peepers getting torn off and vanishing underneath a couch or somewhere far more inaccessible.

 

The skirt doesn’t get in the way of leg articulation, so you can put Ryuko in kneeling positions or almost any position you have in mind.

 

Ryuko can hunch forward and swivel her body some 45 degrees thanks to the torso joint. The two suspender straps connecting the skirt to the chest armor, however, act kind of like rubber bands that impede backward and sideways bending.

 

Because of her beautiful but ridiculously gigantic hair, Ryuko also has trouble looking up, although she can look down with no problem.

 

 

Accessories: Running with scissors

 

Though Ryuko can balance on her own two feet, more complicated poses will require the use of the standard articulated base that all Figma products come packaged with.

 

She has two magnificently sculpted Scissor Blades – one in its standard, half-scissor form, and the other in its vicious Decapitation Mode. Both have sharp enough tips to cause minor injury (or perhaps even major injury if you’re sadistic enough to poke someone in the more delicate regions), so again, keep Ryuko off-limits to children.

 

Ryuko also comes with an extra four pairs of swappable hands, ranging from closed fists to those with fingers curled to wrap around a weapon.

 

Lastly, Ryuko has two additional, interchangeable faces, the first shouting in rage, and the second blushing and pained, with teeth clenched. She would have benefited from one more expression, however: the glowering, close-lipped scowl that we’ve come to identify with the character. It’s an odd choice leaving out her most iconic look, and I’m hoping this will be rectified by including it in the school uniform version of Ryuko, should they ever make one.

 

 

Hallelujah!

 

At 14 cm, Ryuko finds herself looking down her nose at many other Figma figures – which befits her stature as one of Max Factory’s best releases to date. “Kill la Kill” may be a phenomenon of unadulterated absurdity, but there is nothing remotely silly about Figma Ryuko Matoi. With a killer sculpt, an exemplary paintjob, and a delightful array of accessories including weapons you can probably murder a small animal with, Ryuko is a veritable queen among peons, a sexy, badass action figure goddess. Hallelujah! — TJD, GMA News