Kakegurui - Jabami Yumeko - ARTFX J

Today I'll be reviewing Kotobukiya's very much anticipated (at least for me) 1/8 Scale figure of Jabami Yumeko, the heroine from the popular 'Kakegurui' Manga entry/77833, which also got an anime adaption in 2017's summer season. For Yumeko I actually splurged and ordered her Koto (JP and US) shop exclusive 'orgasmic' face, though I certainly wasn't happy about that (as always with store exclusives, especially when ordering via proxy). Well, I did it anyway since it's such an iconic and impactful expression and I just had to have it. x3

Ok, so let's go ahead with the review shall we?
Starting off with the box, which is colored mostly in red and black and white, fitting the color-scheme of the figure. There is a big window spanning the top and front of the box allowing a good view at the figure. Several pictures of the figure (with pretty damn nice effects on her eyes) adorn the box together with lots of printed cards supporting the gambling theme. One side of the box actually features an illustration from the anime, a pretty nice addition imo. The bottom has the usual safety notes and other gibberish written on it. x3
The cardboard used for the box is pretty thin and flimsy, though there's another layer inside the box making it more stable.

Anyway, taking the blister out of the box it's pretty evident that it's nothing special, though as long as it does it's job there's no reason to complain.


I can't exactly comprehend how a company like Kotobukiya, which is no stranger to exclusive ('bs' some might say) can't find a better solution for packing said bonuses. The little blister is nice (I guess?), but not putting it inside the box seems kinda half-assed to me. Also the instruction sheet was included with the bonus expression in a little plastic bag... like... yeah... nice try

Well, enough of that, let's take a look at the base. Yumeko comes preattached to it, which is quite common for lots of Koto's figures.
The base itself is a clear acrylic(?) disc with cards in black and red printed on it, again enforcing the gambling theme of the source material. Yumeko is attached to a clear wedge on top of the base, seeing the bend feet that's also the safest option, even if it's not the prettiest.

As for the 360° view (with the standard face)...




The whole pose seems very inviting and even lascivious, which fits Yumeko's character quite well. It's almost as if she wants to drag you into another batshit crazy gamble.

Her (standard) face is really beautiful and very like her.
The eyes make her gaze look intense and her lips are curved in a very invinting and appealing manner.

All the while her expression still retains a somewhat unsettling vibe, similar to this.

Before receiving this figure I was really concerned if the would arrive intact, since the hair just looks prone to breakage, but as you can see nothing like that happened to it (partly because I shipped her via EMS in an enforced package, making this way more expensive). I don't think these fears aren't justified, but seeing how the hair bends a bit upon touching it the risk isn't that high imo (that kind of flexibility really helps).
Anway while I'd dismiss breakage to a certain point, the hair unfortunately doesn't come without flaws. Let's point out some good parts first though... The sculpting of the different strands is overall pretty damn good and the paint looks pretty decent, especially the bluish hue (the back of her hair in particular). The way it billows and the amount of detail are really something to behold. On the other hand there are quite a few visible seam lines and rough sculpting in places, which I wouldn't consider dealbreakers (most are in places only seen up close and from angles you normally wouldn't display her at), but I can't exactly overlook them either.






Also I really would've wished for the paint to be not as dull. Yumeko has a really beautiful type of silky black hair and paint a tad bit glossier would've enhanced that impression.

Onto her, let's be frank, quite voluptuous body...
Yumeko is wearing Shiritsu Hyakkaou Gakuen's signature red and black uniform. They captured all the details like buttons, collar and cuffs and the way the uniform creases and clings to Yumeko's body remains very faithful to the source's oversexualized visuals. I actually don't have anything to complain here, the shading is subtle but sufficient and there are no obvious sculpting or paint errors.
Plus the way her hand digs into her chest, making it look very soft is just... hnnng... x3




Her hands look quite good too, with sculpted and painted fingernails (I love those kinds of details), though I could argue that her nail polish is usually more subtle.View spoilerHide spoiler
And the ring she's wearing could've been painted and sculpted a bit 'cleaner'.

The skirt also creases and 'billows' in a very lifelike fashion, fitting the dynamic pose. Another nice addition is the pattern and especially the way it supports the look of the folds.

The obligatory panty-shots are under spoiler, because of their NFSW-ness. x3
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I really like the way they adopted the look of real life thights and of that lacey underskirt. Though the seam line between her panties and the rest of the tights look weird.

Looking at Yumeko's legs apart from them being very shapely it's quite evident that a lot of thought went into painting the thights, with shading in places where the fabric usually contracts and looks darker. Besides the sculpting around her knees also seems quite realistic

The shoes look quite good too, with the glossy, high-class finish and the on-point sculpting. My only gripe is the white dot on her sole (and that they have no tread, though I don't know if that's normal or not).

Now for the face swap, which is pretty easy (especially for everyone who ever handled a Nendoroid or anything similar). At first the parts fit very tightly together (good thing I didn't trim my nails beforehand), but after swapping the faces a few times they became a bit looser (still fitting snugly though).


If you look at the faces separately you could get the impression that the shading is quite overdone (esp. at the ears and forehead), but it's just about right since you can barely glimpse those parts while the respective face is attached to the figure. The ears are nicely sculpted as you can see btw (who know, some might be into that x3).

Anyway, here's another view with the bonus face from different sides...

Imho the expression changes the whole dynamic of the figure, just due to it's over-the-top~ness, creating a way more expressive picture. Koto sure got her 'orgasmic' face right. x3

かけぐるい ましょう!!

Lastly for some size comparisons. The numbers are thus: Yumeko is a 1/8 figure measuring 21,5cm with base and about 21cm without it. Due to her feet bend the way they are we can probably substract 1,5 - 3 centimeters off her total height, placing her 'real life' height between 148 and 156 centimeters, which seems about right for female manga-/anime-characters.
That being said she's pretty average in size for a 1/8 figure and if the numbers didn't already tell you here are some pictures of her next to other 1/8 figures. :3





As you can see she doesn't look out of place next to either of them (though Morgiana seems a bit dwarved). I especially like the combination with the Queen of Hearts, since their color-schemes match quite well (as well as the card~ish theme, if you think about it).^^

Yumeko might also look good next to small 1/7 scales like Amakuni's Astolfo, but if you place a regular sized one like Holo, or a big girl like Alpahamax's Nero next to her the whole thing becomes a little weird.
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Conclusion
Well, to be honest I wasn't as hyped about adding Yumeko to my collection as I initially wrote, because I'm not Koto's biggest fan. They are by no means a bad manufacturer and their prizing and rare delays are only a few things you could like about them. But they also don't also deliver stellar quality (and I don't want to content myself with a figure, just because it wasn't as expensive). Those fears were very much ungrounded though, there are a few minor defects and very few things I wish they'd done a bit differently, but this is still an outstanding figure and certainly one of Koto's better works. As a fan of both Kakegurui and Yumeko I'm very glad to own this figure.
While I still prefer the standard face right now, because of it's more subtle expression, I don't regret buying the bonus the least (not even a tiny bit). The limited exclusive 'bs' is another story (maybe for another day) though. x3

That's it for this review! Thanks for reading! ^^
Since I strive to improve my reviews and writing
I'd be really happy about some constructive criticism. :3
Of course any thoughts on the figure are very welcome too!^^