INU YASHA COLLECTION candy figures

Type: Candy premiums 
Manufacturer: Bandai
Price: 300yen each, but your import mileage may vary

Inu Yasha fever continues with the release of yet another set of toys by Bandai. This series consists of 3" / 7½cm high mini figures of the anime characters, and also included are diorama bases. 5 pieces make up a set:

Reviewed here are Inu Yasha (B) and Zango.

INU YASHA

Inu Yasha comes preposed in a ready for battle stance, wielding his sword Tessaiga. The box images show him with his back to the viewer, and doesn't really do the figure justice. Out of the box he looks pretty awesome. the sculpting is pretty good. His details are all there, including his front, which is fully coloured. His face does look a little skewed, but overall it's a very nice looking sculpt.

I basically chose this verion over (A) because that one looked a little silly. His hair was flying UP, and it generally looked like something out of a Go Nagai show.

Yasha comes in small pieces that must be assembled.

The item comes with instructions on the INSIDE panel of the box, which seems to be the cost saving measure taken with many candy toys nowadays. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what goes where. The pieces fit together well, with no extreme squeezing or huffing required. You will want to put together the body and head separately, and then join them up for an easier assembly. Watch out for small parts; attempting to fix this in a moving vehicle will have a high risk of losing parts! The joints do act as a sort of a swivel point for the figure, so you can do some minute posing. I find that if you turn his waist out towards the front more than the box shows he looks even better. The plastic smells and feels more vinyl-esque and sticky than your average PVC type of gashapon figure. It feels sturdier, though, and will probably warp less. The base is cast out of transparent plastic, and then painted. I'm not sure why, since the paints are opaque. I tried shining a light thru the back, but the effect is not particularly stunning.

ZANGO & KIRARA

Zango is virtually the same in construction as Yasha. She does come in fewer parts, which means easier assembly, but less to use for posing, so she's stuck in one general pose. Great overall details and paint work; even her eyeshadow is there. Her pet Kirara is exceptionally well done as well. Kirara doesn't plug into the base, so it just hangs around wherever you want it to.

I cannot be certain, but Zango seems to be the short pack of the lot. I found the fewest of her, with Kagome in second place.

These are pretty nice, but they're about the same size as the regular Banpresto gashapon, which is slightly cheaper. The only exclusive feature is the base, which isn't very impressive anyway. Nice for the offhand purchase, but I don't think I'll be getting a set. The double Inu Yasha offering spoils the assortment as well. They should have replaced (A) with Setshoumaru, or even one of Naraku's henchmen. I'd definately buy a Kagura / Kanna set, or something with Kouga.

~22/04/02~