She was the first step of the journey…

It has been raining here for at least four days, so I can put the idea of doing an outside photoshoot out of my head for now. Instead, I’m going to use some pictures that I’ve made a few months ago.

 

Tokiha Mai - The dancing princess

Yes, that is indeed Mai Tokiha from Good Smile Company. ^^ She was the first figure that arrived here at home, so she has a special place in my collection. That’s way it’s maybe a good thing that I’m also doing my first post about her.

Tokiha Mai - Multiplied by seven

There are quite some completed models, as well as garage kits, of Mai. I just wanted one figure of her so I had to make a choice between all those figures. So why the one from GSC? Well, the garage kits weren’t an option for me in the first place, so that left only the completed models. I really wanted to see “Mai” back in the figure, since I like her personality and character. The first three figures fell of since she didn’t wear her school uniform. (There was another reason for the first Mai… I just don’t have the need to push in a figures breast and discover that it actually squeezes. -_-’) The fourth one wasn’t released back then, but I still wouldn’t have chosen her. It could be me, but her scarf doesn’t look like it’s blown up naturally by the wind. It looks just stif. Number five had brown hair, like in the manga, but I had only seen the anime so I preferred a Mai with orange hair. That left only the last two. Number 6 was a bit too energetic, I don’t remind her being like that. The last one showed a bit of her caring side. Her expression and the way she was standing gave her the right personality… Well, it’s all a matter of opinion of course. ^^

1/10 scale - 16 centimeters/6,3 inches

When I got her (November 2007) I thought: “Wow! She looks so wonderful! And she is so… small!” I believed back then that every figure was about her size. But she’s still the smallest figure in my collection.

Tokiha Mai - Look closely; she's blushing ^^

When I just had her, I showed Mai to a friend of mine, who said: “She’s got big breasts.” I had to agree with her then, but when I look at Mai now, I think that they aren’t that big at all. Probably because I’ve seen so many different figures in my year of figure collecting, and some of them where… well… you know. Well, I wouldn’t want them smaller anyway, because Mai just has quite big breasts, so her figure should also have them.

Tokiha Mai - Looking innocent and caring

Her facial expressions seems to change a bit if you look at her from different angles. It’s fun to look for those different expressions while photographing.

Tokiha Mai - Passing by

GSC kept the base simple and gave it a light orange/yellow colour. It makes sure that your attention isn’t drawn away from Mai.

Hair colour - Which do you prefer; orange or brown?

I really like this figure but there is still one thing that annoys me; the colour of her lock of hair that is jumping out. The orange is very different from the hair on top of her head. It’s even darker then her hair ends.

Tokiha Mai - Showing a bit of her pantsu

A (really) little peek at her pantsu. It’s like the rest of Mai; quite simple. So they’re just white, without any ribbons or anything like that.

Tokiha Mai - Taking a stroll

Her hair ends are shaped like sharkteeth, probably because she is too small to give her more natural hair ends. It isn’t a very bad thing in my opinion, so it doesn’t bother me.

Mai & Kaitos - *sniff* *sniff*

She probably has a nice smell… ^^’

Tokiha Mai - Wearing the Fuka Academy schooluniform

On the bottom of her schooluniform, where the orange and white meet, is the orange painted a bit further then it should have. So there is a small orange line on the white part. That is the only thing I could discover on her, and it isn’t even something that would irritate . So you could conclude that they did a fine paintjob on her.

Tokiha Mai - A view from above

Her pose seems relaxing, partly because of the position of her arms, but I discovered by actually trying her pose, that it is rather tiring to stand that way. (Don’t ask me why I’m wondering about stuff like that.)

Tokiha Mai - Posing for the camara

This is my favorite photo of the bunch. I simply like the composition and the background. ^^

Tokiha Mai - The back side

Mai has been released in May 2006, so one would probably think that it’s rather difficult to find her, but she’s still available on Ebay. (And for less money then I’ve bought her ^^’)

Tokiha Mai - The front side

 Tokiha Mai

• From the anime/manga Mai HiME
• Manufactured by GoodSmileCompany
• Sculpted by Sakurasaka Mikoto
• A 1/10 scale; 16 cm high
• Made from PVC
Has a list price of 3800 円
Released in May 2006

Tokiha Mai - Reminder of how she looked in the anime