Figure Review: Figma - Juu Heisou-gata Joshi Kousei - Shi

How many swords are too many? Four? I don’t think so.

Well, if you’re a bit bored of loking at giant robots in their metallic armor (just kidding we never do), you can probably spice up your collection with some mecha musume (mecha girls) instead for some fleshy color. Max Factory has been making Figmas for many, many years and their expertise really help them with their new Figma line: the Heavily-Armed High School Girls.

+ Design: The Heavily-Armed High School Girl concept is quite simple. Basically girls in stylized school uniform (reminiscent of a simplified GFL or Arknight uniform) with some mechanical parts on their body (heads, feet, albows, etc…) along with futuristic weaponries like katanas, bows, etc… For Shi, her weapon(s) of choices are four katanas with funky handles and scabbards connected together by a rear sub-arm modules, kinda like Tauburn’s Pile Crusher. Her uniform is pretty standard GFL style like UMP45. Her shirt is open on the abdomen to reveal a bit her stomach. Her skirt is super short for maximum articulation. She also has a headset-like accessories on her head as well, Overall, she looks like an Iron Blood shipgirl from Azur Lane going to GFL universe.

+ Articulation: Figmas aren’t quite well-known for their articulation, but rather their sculpting instead. And of course, this line isn’t an exception. However, the range on Shi is quite decent as the head, shoulders, thighs and torso are actually quite good. The skirt gets in the way sometimes but its only when you REALLY want to do those spreading dynamic poses, which isn’t really suitable for these girl’s aesthetic at all. The only major problem is the feet articulation. There is a joint on the ankle, but the range of movement is so limited it might as well be non-existent. The “toe” squiggle is pretty useless as well, but I guess it’s not nothing.

All in all, the girls aren’t supposed to go full Obari dynamic by swinging their stuff around like Baikungfu or Gravion, but rather meant for a more graceful style. In that front, this figure can still pull it off flawlessly. BUT you’ll need a stand for most of the time because of obvious reasons (look at how small her feet is). One good thing about Figma is they make the joints extremely seamless so you don’t have to stare into the weird gaps like S.H.F.

+ Gimmicks: The Sword-rack gimmick is pretty fun. You can rotate and pivot them in two directions to create some pretty neat patterns for posing. All four of the swords are actual swords not just handle-in-a-scabbard kinda thing. So you can play with her for quite a bit. Other than that, there’s not much else though. So after you play with the sword-rack a few dozens time, maybe it’s time to decide for the pose of choice and leave her on the shelf.

+ Accessories: This part is actually quite…typical for a Figma. Of course, every Figma comes with an assortment of hand parts, usually four in addition to the default one, as well as a small display base. And Shi comes with, well, four katanas – the exact same ones (which is kinda her style). She also comes with two alternate face plates – which is Max Fact’s forte. The facial expression is pretty cool. And that’s about it, very Figma-ish set of accessories. However, as Figma’s price has been going up for recent product, Shi is honestly a bit on the pricy side for what you get.

+ Conclusion: The Figma Shi from the Heavily-armed High School Girl is quite a basic original figure from Max Factory. If you’ve experienced Figma figures before, then this figure will be roughly the same as that. The looks and gimmick of the figure is its best selling point and will be a beautiful figure on the shelf. The best thing about Figma is they give a personality to the figure, and Shi has exactly that. A really expressive figure with an interesting gimmick.

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