I’m glad I didn’t pick up one of the many Shana figures that have been released over the last year–I do own the Contract of Fate figure though. However, although there have been a number of good Shana figures, I always felt like all of them lacked something. Don’t get me wrong, most of them are great figure (especially the Jun Planning one), but they were never “right now target” I thought. Enter Max Factory.

The promotional shots don’t do this figure justice. This is not just another Shana figure. The details on this Shana figure are ridiculous good, the paint is flawless, the face is a close to perfect, and the hair is a lot better looking than I originally thought it would be. Max Factory’s figure is as close to a 3D replication of Noizi Ito’s original artwork as we’ll get. Shana’s pose is replicated quite well and right down to the detail.

The details really are amazing. The wrinkles in her clothes, her fingernails, and even the placement of her hair are perfect. The paint job on this figure is pretty close to flawless. My figure has a few blemishes on it, but I’m not crying over it. The colors on Shana’s seifuku are very vivid despite being Earthy tones. The gold buttons really are gold and not some cheap yellow. The tan trim and the ribbon are a nice yellow-tan color and very well done. No hiccups there. Although the pose could be considered somewhat stale, it works well with the nature of the figure. Whatever energy is blowing rising up is recreated nicely. The way Shana’s top, skirt, ribbon, and hair are blown upwards match. It’s not like her skirt is getting blown up, while something else looks in place as if unaffected by movement. It’s a complete package in that sense.

What really attracted me to this particular figure has always been the face. Often times figures can looks downright sexy, but a poor face can ruin it a bit. Between Max Factory, Alter, and Good Smile Company, Max Factory (at least over the the last year) has been the most consistent when it comes to a face. GSC has had a couple really excellent faces recently, but Max Factory nailed it with Shana. I think the face is what has always bugged me about most of the other Shana figures. It’s never been about pose, price, or look… something about the faces on those figure never looked quite right. But as I mentioned, the face on this figure replicates the original art right down to the eyebrows and mouth. The hair placement is also carefully placed and not overly dramatic. The hair itself is a treat. It’s a semi-transparent yellowish-red color. It’s not straight up red like other figures, which adds to the dynamic look and feel of this Shana.

Alastor is also very detailed. Unlike the Solid Works figure I have, Alastor is actually painted a couple different colors to replicate the flame within the necklace–definitely not just painted a shiny red color. The necklace is attached around Shana’s neck using some thin wire, so you can adjust the way it dangles… it’s a bit delicate, so I wouldn’t recommend messing with it much. However, it’s nice that you could fiddle with it if you wanted to. It really is 3D Shana art. I’m quite impressed with this offering from Max Factory.

One thing that did annoy me, and something that annoys me with a number of figures, was getting her sword into her hands. Why can figure makers cut apart hands? It would make inserting swords, magical devices, school bags, and whatever else a helluva lot easier. The Nietono no Shana was a bit easier to insert than getting Raising Heart into GSC Nanoha’s hands, but it’s still a delicate process. One side of Shana’s ribbon sticks out right where hand is and having to push the sword hilt through from the top of her hands is tedious unless you’ve got small hands/fingers. Quite tedious trying to force it through slowly as to not accidentally slip and break off the ribbon or snap the sword itself. Once it was inserted enough I had to pull it from the bottom, trying not to pull too hard as to break it. Is it really that hard to separate those hands/fingers like Alter’s Nanoha or Kotobukiya’s Mai? It would make a lot easier.

One last minor detail did bug me a little. The base is plain and boring. The figure is eye candy as it is, so a plain black base would suffice. However, why not go the extra step and bring out a better base? I’m not asking for a diorama or a sculpted base here, but something, anything, would have really made this figure 100% awesome. Maybe some brick or sand design or something. Even a magic circle of some sorts would have been great. But instead it’s a plain black base. I guess you can’t have everything.

As of right now, this is the Shana figure to have if you want one. The 6,000 yen price is on the steep side, but it’s worth it.