Bakemonogatari Petit Nendoroid set

Review by Animaven

With the success of “Nisemonogatari” this winter anime season, what better time to visit three figures from the first series in this set, “Bakemonogatari“? This is a petit Nendoroid set, featuring the fire sisters, Karen and Tsukihi, and the tiny vampire, Shinobu. 

Here’s the box. It’s smaller than a regular Nendoroid box, but longer. 

And here are the girls inside their plastic casing with all of their accessories. You can see that each girl comes with an alternate pose and alternate hands.   

And now out of the casing. 

They really are something. Shinobu has her little helmet and one strap is hanging off her shoulder. Karen has an exuberant look on her face, while Tsukihi looks somewhat thoughtful. 

Let’s start with Tsukihi. She’s in her blue kimono (which, incidentally, is what she’s sporting at the beginning of “Nisemonogatari“, as she rolls around on the sofa suggestively). She looks so sweet and innocent, but we know better. 

And a view from the side. The only thing I really have to say, other than check out that fried egg, is how obvious the seam through her hair is. 

Here’s the view from the back. She stands a little crooked, as you can see. 

Here are the fire sisters from the side. Most notably, you can see the differences in the eggs. Karen’s points up, like the gender symbol for male, while Tsu’s points down, like the female symbol. It’s pretty neat, considering that Tsu is the feminine one and Karen is the tomboy. 

Here is Karen from the front. She’s pretty straightforward. 

This is the view from the back. You can see her sculpt and paint is fairly solid. The only real problem with her is the side ponytail; it pops off easily. That said, it’s simple and easy to put it back on. 

The sisters come with different hands, as shown in this pic. 

They also come with kneeling bodies, that can be posed together. 

And now for my personal favorite of the set: Shinobu. The tiny child vampire is utterly adorable here. She’s got beautiful eyes, and looks just fantastic. 

Here she is without the helmet. 

And here’s the side view. You can see the seam in her hair; it’s pretty obvious. Luckily, she’s got the helmet to cover that up. Also notable on the side view is the way her hair flares out at the ends. 

And here she is with one of the different arms, holding her famous little donut. This looks just makes me melt. 

Let’s switch bodies. Shinobu is crouching here, just like she is the first time we see her in “Bakemonogatari.” She looks sad, almost helpless. 

Let’s put all three together. 

Figure photography done by Heather Amaral.