But let's begin the review!
One of my current favorite anime series is Bungo Stray Dogs, based off of a manga series by the same name. It takes place in a world much like ours, but with one key difference: individuals with supernatural abilities exist. (I know, I know, there are tons of series with the same type of premise, but stay with me here!) This series focuses on a group of such people who live in Yokohama, Japan, and work for a detective agency called the "Armed Detective Agency." They'll solve any case, from the simple and mundane to the complicated and risky. But they also have mafia rivals who wield the same type of powers, and who will do anything to take the agency down. As an added quirk, just about every character in this series is named after a famous author, and their abilities are named after (or themed after) one of said author's works.
The figure we're looking at today is modeled after one of the main characters of Bungo Stray Dogs, Dazai Osamu (named after the famous author, of course). He's one of the key figures at the detective agency, and is also one of the most popular characters among fans of the series. I was pleased to hear that they made into a Nendoroid, so I snapped this up the instant I saw it was available for pre-order!
I picked him up on Hobby Link Japan, which I have come to use for pre-ordering figures from Japan. The prices tend to be cheaper than some of their competition, but most importantly, they do not charge you money at the time you place your pre-order. (Downside, they make it difficult to cancel items, so be ABSOLUTELY SURE you'll want something when you order.) They also offer a warehouse feature, like Big Bad Toy Store. I paid a little under 4,000 yen for Dazai, which comes out to about $35. This was from the first wave of figures released in January, but a second wave will be issued in September.
Let's take a look, shall we?
Below are some standard shots of the box.
(Okay, I have to interject here. If you're wondering what the blue circle is...well, it's one of the strangest ideas I have seen yet
I think this part is new? I don't remember seeing the Nendoroid number on the cardboard insert before.
I love that they provide pictorial instructions, but some kind of index telling you what the parts actually are would be super helpful.
And here, we may lay our eyes on Dazai and all of his accessories, in their glory. This is a shockingly generous amount of content, by the way. Besides the Dazai figure himself, we get two face plates, two arm sets, a leg set, three very unique accessories that we'll go into later, a stand, and a...replacement neck joint, I guess? Maybe?
His outfit from the show is nicely replicated: dress shirt, vest, pants, trench coat, and his blue-jeweled bolero tie. There are a lot of touches of blue in this set, as we will see further on. I like the dynamic sculpting of his coat; there are a lots of scenes in the show where it blows dramatically in the breeze, and we can now re-create a bunch of them, thanks to GSC's thoughtfulness.
You would think that the trenchcoat belt is movable, but alas, it is not.
Obligatory leg shot. Now, let's check out the faces.
Here, he is clearly scheming something. Maybe he's scoping out some waitresses to proposition, or he's going to try yanking Kunikida's chain again. Whatever it is, you know we all want in on it.
And of course here, we have his dopey, carefree face.
If you're wondering what this is, it's a manifestation of Dazai's power, "No Longer Human." It's not quite as cool looking as in the show, but hey, Nendoroid does "cute," not "cool."
This is basically what you're supposed to do with it; you sort of have to jam it onto one of the arm pieces to make it look like he's executing his power.
Of course, he wouldn't be complete without his suicide manual. I feel so morbid just handling it.
Here you can see it clipped into his hand; there is an arm set devoted to this.
I admit that this is one of the weirdest accessories that I've ever seen.
You can re-create Dazai's entrance in the show: floating down the river, upside-down, in a desperate attempt to drown himself. Precious memories~~
It took me FOREVER to figure out that the last set of arms were meant to be hands shoved into pockets. Like WTF Good Smile, there aren't pockets already on the trench coat, so why would I think that there are supposed to be pockets? I eventually figured it out and felt like a friggin' genius.
Pretty standard stand, nothing different or unusual about it. Plus extra neck joint. (I think that's what it's supposed to be, at least.)
This is a great Nendoroid overall, from the amount of detail to the price. I'm glad they did Dazai, although I'd like to see some of the other popular characters, like Atsushi or Akutagawa. Since Dazai did well enough, maybe GSC will consider it? In any case, if you enjoy the series and especially like Dazai, this is a great item. The ability to do so many scenes from the show is a great bonus, and if they add more characters, that will get even better!
Hopefully, I'll see you guys soon! Miss Scarlett, signing out!
