From the popular series Ano Hana, it's everyone's favorite ghost in Nendoroid form: Menma!
Menma had a pretty simple but attractive and cheerful design in the anime, and right out of the box it's easy to see that GSC nailed it. The dress with its blue bow and little ruffles seems like it was easy to replicate, but the detail is appreciated nevertheless since no matter which angle you pose her in the flow of the dress looks natural. Anyway, the simplicity of it really draws attention to her expression and to her colorful base which is one of several parts that come with the figure to recreate the ED from the anime. There are some rather obvious seams on her hair that are visible from the sides and the back (see the below picture) but there isn't any paint bleed or any other noticeable problems with her.
Instead of the standard plug that goes into the figure's back, Menma has a magnetic stand that attaches to the back of her head. This is the first time I've had a figure with a magnetic stand so I was bit skeptical at first, but it holds Menma rather securely and its nice to have a poseable figure that doesn't have any holes on her. A little before I got her, I heard that these kinds of stands can cause scarring on the head, so I put a little bit of tissue paper where the stand connects. This ended up being a good idea, since several times during the photoshoot I heard the stand make a scratching sound across her head while I tried to get it in the right position. No damage was done though, so overall the magnets were a good choice for GSC.
Menma comes with a ton of accessories, and even more arms to hold them all or just to replicate poses from the anime. Most Nendoroids have separate hand pieces but due to Menma's dress design you have to trade out her arms instead for the different poses. Changing out her arms was the most difficulty that I had with this figure, since for whatever reason some of the pegs wouldn't go in all the way and any slight movement would cause them to fall out. I had some trouble with her legs as well (she comes with an extra bent leg) where the joints were so stiff that for a while they refused to come out. These problems were pretty minor though, and once she was in the pose it held very well. The details on the accessories are really well done; you can't really see it in the picture, but the words in Menma's diary are completely readable. That they were able to replicate that on such a small scale is amazing. For that particular pose, her arms are a little too far apart to hold the diary properly, so a little adjusting is needed so that it will stay in place.
She also has the standard two extra faceplates: "determined" and "calm." The latter is a closed-eyes expression that goes really well with the final set of arms that go behind her back. Add in the final accessory--flowers mounted on their own plastic stand--and you've got the scene from the ED! The cardboard in the back of the box (which you can see in the pictures of the packaging above) can also be used as a background for this pose. Overall, I'm extremely happy with her and I think it's a must-have for any fan of the anime who is a figure collector due to the number of poses that were inspired by the anime. The "calm" face is also extremely compatible with other Nendoroids like other closed-eye expressions. By the time I got her Menma was sold out at most online retailers, so if you want her, get her while you can!
Images by me.
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