Chibi Arts Blue Rose Figure Review

When Tiger & Bunny hit, it hit big. And when that happens, a boatload of figures are sure to follow. This time I'll be reviewing the Chibi Arts version of the ever popular Blue Rose!

 
First, a little background. The Chibi Arts series seems to be Bandai's response to Good Smile Company's and Max Factory's Nendoroid line with the similar body type and scale for the figures, as well as the replaceable expressions and resized accessories. The line is mostly known for its Pretty Cure and One Piece figures, but since Chibi Arts haven't been around for very long they haven't achieved the "instant sellout" status that Nendoroids have, regardless of series. With a few exceptions, Chibi Arts are quick to hit the discount bins and probably in response to this Bandai has been silent on figures announced for the line over a year ago but have yet to see a release date. Despite this, I think the line is pretty solid for how new it is.

 
Even before I took her out of the box, I was amazed at how packed it was. The size is smaller than the standard Nendoroid box, but there are even more added accessories than the usual Nendo release. She's got alternate arms and legs for every singe pose; no switching out of hands here! Also, straight out of the packaging she doesn't have her earrings, thorns, or gun holders in, so you have to attach them yourself. The earrings are prone to falling out if you mess with them too much and the thorns were a bit of a pain for me to attach, but the rest of her is pretty stable.

 
With the accessories in, the charm of the figure gets clearer. Blue Rose is a good character for this kind of figure style, since her emphasis was always on cute. I really like the clear parts used in her skirt and head piece and how they catch the light. I'm also fond of the base for her stand, with the "Super Celebrity of the Heroes" subtitle. It's a basic clear stand, but the added touch to make it special for the series is nice. The tiny Pepsi logo is perfect. The expressions on each of her face plates are smooth with no blue paint bleeding in the mouth. The rest of her paint job is fine as well, but up close the gold lines get spotty, with some flecks and overlap into other areas it shouldn't be in. There's also a mark on the back of her default set of legs, but since you can't see it from how I display her, it's not a big issue.

 
Like I said above, Blue Rose has alternate arms and legs for every pose. It's really easy to replicate poses from the series, and since she's so sturdy there isn't any problem with drooping arms or legs out of line. Switching out her faceplates is a little different from the norm; the back of her head comes off first, then the bangs and finally the faceplate itself. It's almost completely backwards compared to the Figmas and Nendos that I'm used to, so it took me a couple of tries to remember that the bangs went on first, not last. She also comes with cutout quotes and a special stand to put them on. The ones shown here are the "Cutie Escape" and her catchphrase "My ice may be a little bit cold, but your crime has been put completely on hold!" There are two others: one that says "Freeze!" and another that translates to something like "I'll trust my friends until the end, as a hero."

 
As much as I like Blue Rose and how cute she is in this version, this figure is more like a statuette with optional parts than a Nendo alternative. She has basically no articulation; her legs are immobile and hopefully you'll like the angle you put her arms at, because they don't like to be moved either. The peg for her neck is articulated, but the head itself can't go up or down very much. Its main purpose is to turn to accommodate the hands in some poses. To be fair, most Nendos don't have a lot of articulation points either (with the exception of the Full Action line), but they have a far better range of motion than Chibi Arts Blue Rose does.


Altogether I really like the look of this figure and all the fun stuff that she comes with, but I'm a little sad that the lack of articulation means I can't deviate much from the stock poses. I'm fond of super-deformed figures so for me the style makes up for a lot, but if you insist on articulation in your figures for photography, etc., you may be better off waiting for the Figuarts version. That said, Chibi Arts Blue Rose has been going for ridiculously cheap prices online--only ¥670 on AmiAmi before she sold out!--so if you like the character, you can't beat that rate.

Images by me. Also available on Organization Anti-Social Geniuses.