Collecting figures isn’t always an expensive hobby. For the fledgling hobbyist on a budget, there are always affordable figure brands you could look into or used deals on pristine figures to add to your collection. Heck, if you ever find yourself in Japan you’ll be shocked by how many gorgeous prize figures you can nab for less than $20. For collectors with a premium taste, though, Kotobukiya consistently delivers in both price-point and product quality. Their latest offering is no exception, bringing the Fire Force protagonist Shinra Kusakabe to life in a gorgeous new character figure.
Kotobukiya has a variety of different figure lines, all serving a different purpose. The Bishoujo series delivers sexy anime-inspired (and sometimes gender-swapped) versions of Hollywood icons, Horror movie killers, and even Marvel superheroes. The Ani*Statue line, meanwhile, delivers large and incredibly detailed statues of the latest and greatest beautiful anime boys n’ babes.
This new figure of Shinra Kusakabe falls under the ARTFX J figure line at Kotobukiya, which is a pretty special one. It’s a series of figures depicting the latest big names in anime and Japanese video games, as well as some old-school favorites, in ultra-premium detail. Crisp paint and hyper-accurate molding are used to ensure the figures capture their characters in incredibly vivid and shockingly high-quality poses. When applicable, the figures also have special material in their sculpting or unique functionality as well. For the Shinra Kusukabe statue, fluorescent paint was used for the iconic blue lines on his Fire Force uniform, allowing it to actually shine in the dark when it’s exposed to black light.
Besides that awesome, anime-accurate touch, this ARTFX J premium figure is packed full of other incredible details. The big Special Fire Force Company 8 emblem attached to Shinra’s Fire Force helmet shines with the same sort of metallic consistency you’d expect from it. His smiling face perfectly captures that iconic demonic glare he’s known to sport whenever he’s put in a nerve-wracking situation. There’s incredible attention to detail put into the gloves he’s wearing, with a soft matte black material for the leather contrasting nicely with the shiny metallic armor plating on the top of the gloves.
Of course, probably the most impressive part of this figure is the drop-dead gorgeous flame sculpting. Plumes of fire are jetting out from Shinra’s feet and surrounding him in a beautiful base of flames. The way the material of the fire smoothly transitions between dark shades of orange and iridescent yellows perfectly emulates the look of our Fire Force protagonists powerful flames. Eagle-eyed fans might even realize that this flame-engulfed action pose is heavily inspired by the cover illustration done by Atsushi Okubo on the original manga’s first tankobon cover.
Fire Force started out back in 2015 with an impressive run in the Weekly Shonen Magazine. Published by Kodansha, the manga has managed to amass an impressive seventeen full volumes as of July 2019. It was also in July that the anime adaptation of the series premiered, produced by Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure anime icons David Production. Despite a rocky start after making the decision to delay the airing of some episodes and edit further ones in response to the deadly Kyoto Animation arson attack, Fire Force has managed to maintain momentum and become a huge hit with anime fans this season. Whether you’re a long-time manga fan or a new anime faithful, you can show your support for the Fire Force by picking up this Shinra Kusakabe ARTFX J figure for 14,300 yen (or about 134 US dollars) when it ships in January 2020.
