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Lylibelluleホロ ～ Horo
Posted by meronpan on May 27, 2009
A bit tardy with this review, suman!
Good ‘ol horo ^^ There’ve been a few releases based on the light novel art but Good Smile Company’s was the first that captured her anime rendition to my liking.
Fell in love with her tail and way of speaking – went and bought all the light novels yet I haven’t even finished the first one yet orz.
Kind of tiny at 1/8 (20cm tall)
I prefer her ears but I couldn’t quite get them perfectly flush with her head ;_;
Display options include the cast off skirt, vest, alternate tail and hat.
I had a heck of a time getting the dang red thing + metal ring attached… ended up snapping the end that connects to her ;_;
It didn’t snap all the way and put a little blue tac in the hole to help it stay in place… Didn’t want to glue it because you have to attach it to a different piece when you swap her skirt in/out.
Don’t think her other tail fits when her skirt is on.
The big bow thing detaches so that you can affix it to her skirtless mode part.
Keeping her legs warm
I still don’t quite get the metal ring accessory thing… guess it could make for a good makeshift weapon? ^^;
Got a lot better results with a white bg this time. Reduced the height of one of my lights and placed it underneath the bg. Still not perfect, but working with what I have I think it turned out ok.
Ah yes, in regards to horo’s face… put together a collage that hopefully points out why I have issues with it…
Perhaps it’s that her face is a little too round? At first I thought it was her eyes, but on second thought they seem fine… or maybe also that her nose isn’t very well defined? In the end it wasn’t enough to bother me though.
Back in my Airi review, sonic noticed some chromatic aberration in my shots… I started to notice it too in horo’s hair in some of my shots this time. Not sure if there’s anything I can do about it in terms of camera settings (messed with all sorts stuff to no end)… perhaps I’ll have to look again at the lighting and some post processing options.
Overall I’m pretty happy how these shots came out though. Definitely an improvement over previous attempts (even if her hat/hands kind of bleed into the bg ^^;;).
Still like black bg results too thou ^^;
Wish she didn’t have the swappable parts so her ears were better attached to her head. Oh yes, almost forgot. You can take her vest off too – forgot to get some shots off ^^;
At any rate, with another season of horo goodness coming up, I think I’m prepared now ^^
Looks like Volks has a figure coming out though I’m not sure I like that one better.
Another review at Cool & Spicy and Blue Blue Wave
Update: now with more Flying Pussyfoot! Click for Blowfish’s outdoor review.
For comparison to the light novel rendition, check out optic’s review of kotobukiya’s release.
Yet another update: I need to stay on top of my blog reading… hit up 3D Complex for even more pics (GSC)!
以上！
anonymousobject said
The photos look good, better than mine ^^; I need a nice light set up like that.
And I know what you mean about the rope tail being flimsy, I nearly broke it myself trying while taking pictures.
Overall, I like this figure quite a bit. Her face seemed pretty accurate to me (though as you said, maybe a tad too round). Definitely worth the buy in my opinion ^^
And by the way, it looks like the bright lights expose dust more, might want to try brushing off your figures before taking pictures ;)
meronpan said
i was getting frustrated trying to fix it on her back. every time i put it in it would just flop out. put some force in and of course it cracked ;_;
unfortunately i do dust my figures before reviews, so what you see is an already dusted figure ^^;;; i never seem to catch the small bits of dust that show up on the close ups and by that time i’m usually too far gone to go back and redo them all. maybe when i upgrade my camera i can do that thing where the pics immediately show up on your monitor… then i could tell mid shoot and do some extra dusting…
Tier said
I use the clone stamp tool in Photoshop to edit out dust in my pictures; it’s useful for stuff like that and removing odd photographic anomalies (I usually leave in manufacturing flaws though).
meronpan said
ah yes, the good ‘ol clone stamp. sometimes i’ll touch up a photo for a wallpaper or something but i guess normally i’m in too much of a rush to handle all my review photos ^^; but yeah, definitely useful… also helps me get rid of the dang dead spots on my camera’s sensor (or dust? there’s some weird red/blue spots i seem to get in my pics orz)
lylibellule said
Thank you for this review.
I did not see the series yet, therefore I am not really attached to the character, but I like the figure.
I think that I would leave him his ears to expose it.
meronpan said
if you ever get around the series it’ll probably be either a nice change of pace or really boring ^^; nevertheless if you like wolf girls, horo is great ^^
Rin said
So nice!!!!!
Note to self: Get those lights!!!!!!!
You’ve done a really nice job on the background!!!!!!!
Love it!!!!!!
meronpan said
thanks! think i still have a lot of room for improvement, but the lights have definitely helped ^^
Shiddo said
Saw the ears being an issue on other reviews as well ;_; Guess a price paid for alot of customizations -_-
LOL when u take shot of her face from opposite angle of her default angle for her pose… the eyes look funny ^^; Specialy left one hehe…
Still best Horo so far imho.
meronpan said
yeah, hard to find customizable figures that don’t sacrifice quality in some other area…
my favorite horo too at the moment ^^
Yi said
The white BG photos look great; I really like them.
As for the figure, I think her face looks very off… Particularly at certain angles, her face just seems way too round. For example, in the third shot, you can see how puffed up her cheeks are. Without a good face, I don’t think I will get it.
meronpan said
doumo! though i noticed when i switch monitors some of the pics aren’t quite white ^^;;
i think you have exactly the same problems i have with her face… except that i was willing to live with it ^^; i guess perhaps i should’ve held out for a release i was perfectly happy with but in the end she was good enough for me.
ELTboy said
Same sentinments that the head is too round. But the expression is good for me and reflects her anime self pretty well. GSC should have just do away with the variations and have her ears fixed to her head. Those variations also drove her price up. -_-”
Still the 2nd best Holo figure for me after Kotobukiya’s version. I want both versions though. Good thing Koto is re-releasing their version and I already have her pre-ordered. Now, if only I can find GSC’s at a decent price. ^^”
meronpan said
i would love it if all my cast off figures were non-cast off ^^;;; i hate messing with that stuff and once i choose a pose i stick with it anyway…
i never really got into her light novel appearance so the koto version has been a lower priority for me… but i totally woulda gotten that one instead had i liked that art style better ^^
phossil said
She should be Firefox new mascot.. ^^
I like her foxy ears..
meronpan said
hmmm but she’s a wolf :P maybe chizuru then? ^^;
neko/kitsune/ookami-mimi ftw! ^^
Blowfish said
Damn those true white background looks good!
May I ask you how you switched to the Blue Skirtish thing that came with her?
Even though GSC delivered her WITH a manual Im not getting this done.The other Belt like thingie wont move a milimeter (seems glued to me) and i dont have any idea how to use the other part without removing the already assembled one.Seems like I suck at Castoff no matter what
Im glad that Im not the only one that has problems with attaching her ears.Ill still display her without her head though.
Sucks that her metal ring thing snapped :(
meronpan said
doumo ^^
mmm you mean switching her to pants (not pantsu :P) mode? after separating her at the waist her big skirt should come off then the little blue loop should fit around the joint… then the bow comes off and goes on the peg, and the red thing/metal ring thing attached on the back…
not sure if that helped… didn’t quite understand which pieces you were referring to ^^;; good luck, lemme know if you still need any clarification
Blowfish said
Dang!
I just realized how to use that part even though you didnt really know what i meant.
Sorry my englishs kinda crap at the moment since i have to do everything rushed ^^;;;
meronpan said
no prob, glad you got everything worked out ^^
Smithy said
Nice photos, your lighting gear is indeed paying off. It’s a lovely figure of Horo, isn’t it? ^^
Oh, so you have the issue with the ears too? Mine does as well, will post pics soon. Seems many other Horo figures are fine though so not all have the ill fitting ears.
meronpan said
at first i thought i had them reversed or something cuz the fit seemed so bad ;_; for now she’s in her hat, even though i vastly prefer the ears…
lovelyduckie said
I didn’t want to admit this…but I will. The GSC one is better then my Cospa one. THERE! I SAID IT! Waaaaaahhh! As for the Volks one I think it’s really lovely too.
meronpan said
何を言ったらいいか分かんない ^^; not sure what to say ^^;
i like the pose and expression of the volks one but again the face doesn’t quite seem there for me ^^;
Roy said
Wow great job on the photos, I love how bright they turned out, the lights helped quite a lot. Horo is your avatar right? She’s an adorable looking figure but I got to admit some of the proportions are a bit off but nothing too major :)
sorry to hear about the red ring thing snapping :/
meronpan said
yeah i use horo on a lotta sites (including this blog) for my avatar ^^
i guess luckily the snapped part is hidden on her back, but i gotta be mindful when moving her around lest it fall out -_-
GNdynames said
Lighting is something I definitely need to fix for my photoshoots >.<
I've seen the first two episodes of Spice and Wolf but that's it. I should continue with it, no idea why I dropped it. Though from memory her face shouldn't be that round. Still a good figure though.
meronpan said
trying to fix up my lighting i finally appreciate all the crazy stuff professional studios have ^^; wish it wasn’t so expensive or it’d have tons more lights to play with
make sure to finish the series for more horo goodness ^^
Saku said
ohhh great photos. Those lights that you got definitely helps. My Horo figure is still inside the box ^^;;
meronpan said
doumo ^^
awww you have to free her! samishiii! :P
gordon said
woof woof woof woof woof. (‘~’)
translated as -> how secured are her ears? do they come out easily?
meronpan said
each ear has a peg in it which fits into her head. they’re pretty snug i guess, except that it was hard to get them flush with her head ;_;
optic said
Hmmmm… strange, I never got a ping-back from ya. I think it was in my spam box where it stretched across 2 pages and I forget to check my 2nd before I deleted all. -_-
Lately, I’ve been getting more spam than usually. >_<
Love the shoot. Very nice white bg as many said. I thought the excution in many of the shots went very well.
Just a small heads up, HLJ anniversary continues tomorrow where they are having a 2nd round of discounts. If she is in that discount bin, I WILL GET HER!!!!!
meronpan said
doumo ^^
mmm weird. i usually get spam in waves… currently pretty quiet ^^;
looks like the 2nd round of hlj sale items doesn’t have as big a figure collection ;_; guess we can’t have it all ^^;
Q said
Is it me, or this isn’t your first time breaking the end of a tail-like attachment already? They sound like a pain to put in right…
Horo’s face may look rounder than in the anime equivalent, but it still looks pretty nice. Got to say that the new lighting stuff fares really well in your recent photoshoot! Don’t think I will have the space for such lovely equipments and gotta compromise… ^^;
meronpan said
hmmm well, i’ve had my figma hand breaks and yoko’s rifle snap… have i broken anything else? ^^;;;
glad you enjoyed the shots ^^
Horo figure review « Blue Blue Wave said
[...] comrade meronpan did observe in his review of Horo that he finds the face still not entirely accurate for Horo’s anime version, namely [...]
Flying Pussyfoot » Blog Archive » Spicy Wolf - 1/8 Horo said
[...] Meronpan`s WaWaWaSomething [...]
paradigmshift said
Awesome review of Holo. I wish I could get the white/black background as well as you do, but I think my photoshoot setup is too ghetto to pull it off correctly. Thanks for the link too, btw. Are you hyped for the second season of Spice and Wolf?
meronpan said
thanks! and always happy to link reviews ^^
definitely looking forward to the next season ^^ can’t get enuf horo
T.I.P. said
I thought I commented on this one…but I guess I did it in a dream or something. “orz I haven’t watched the anime, but she’s really cute. I like the many display options she comes with, but I guess most of us are too lazy to change their parts in the end. ^^;;;
As for the difference in her face, I would say the figure have a rounder, cuter face than her anime counterpart. The eyes doesn’t look as sharp as she appear in the artwork neither. But she’s rather cute in this figure form.
meronpan said
i’m too afraid of breaking/stressing/etc the figure to be changing things all the time… and yeah, lazy too ^^;
mmm wish i appreciated the figure face like you do… simply just doesn’t click for me ^^; though as mentioned, luckily it was just a minor point for me
Spicy Wolf – GSC 1/8 Horo | Flying Pussyfoot said
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Flying Pussyfoot | Spicy Wolf – GSC 1/8 Horo said
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