Okay, I have to make an admission before I even get started here: I have not actually gotten a chance to read of experience Mitsuteru Yokoyama’s Sangokushi (The Three Kingdoms) manga. However, my familiarity with the source material, and being pretty good at recognizing a good action figure when I see one, made this new Guan Yu figma required collecting.
If you are not familiar with the manga, it is an adaptation of the Japanese adaptation (from China) of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story set at the end of the Chinese Han Dynasty. This is required reading for many Asian history and literature pursuits, so you might have had some “real world” contact with the story at some point in your studies. I have read the story, and I have a bit of a soft spot for historical fiction, so this figure gets to tie in some of my interests that usually don’t show up in my hobby. Mostly made up of myths and legends, the historical aspect comes from the end of the Han Dynasty and where the rule of China would go next, and romance and military battles make for some strong themes in the story.
As you can imagine, the story is INSANELY detailed and complex, and there are tons of characters (I could not even count, but there are hundreds), so I imagine the manga is (fortunately) culled to lend itself to more of an entertainment piece, but with the production of this Guan Yu figure, it is apparent that at least the main characters are intact. A prominent character, whose romanticized exploits of this story (and others) eventually lead to his deification, Guan was a general who served to preserve the last thread of the Han Dynasty during the period, and has come to be known as the textbook example of the difficult combination of loyalty and righteousness. His loyalty to his lord Liu Bei is the stuff of legend, and even though this figure has been through the “interpretation” spin cycle a few times and most certainly has a manga/anime look to it, it is still cool to get a figure of him.
We have covered so many figma releases on the site over the past several years, but it still does not get old mentioning just how well the articulation works on these releases. For my buck, the combination of useful scheme, range of movement, and joint smoothness makes for the best overall articulation design and engineering for anything I collect. Guan is absolutely no exception, and while his character design and build do not make him as lithe of athletic as many characters to be immortalized as figmas, I’ll be damned if he doesn’t move just as well.
As you know, it is not just the amount of articulation points and joint design that makes everything work well, you have to account for materials and sculpting to provide tolerance for the points, and that is done incredibly well here. The lower portion of the beard is a separate piece so the neck can still move well, the lower robes are soft and flexible to the hips don’t lose functionality, and the shoulder joints are very complex to account for the upper robes. All of that combined with the fact that every joint is smooth and none are too loose or too tight, makes for a very impressive release.
As I said above, the character design for this Guan is certainly cartoonish, and that is totally fair since this is based on the manga, but to be honest, the body, for the most part, makes for a good feudal Chinese general anyway. Most of the anime influence is in the face (duh), and while some of the proportions are exaggerated, it is still a good plain base. I mean that in a complementary way, of course, because the sculpt is intricate, and the golden armor and shoes not only add to Guan’s legendary status, they are also very detailed and offset the while robes nicely. I have ninjas, samurai, and now a Chinese Warlord in my collection, so I am doing pretty well at this point.
The likeness matches up with the manga source well, and like many figmas, you get three different face plates, all illustrating a different emotion. This includes the “standard” neutral face, a closed-eye face, and an opened mouth “yelling” face, and while it is good to have options, I will likely be going with the standard face. You also get several sets of hands, and these include fists, grip, chop, and splayed, so Guan can be outfitted with a variety of weapons and situations. Speaking of, his included sword and spear can accommodate the grip hands well, and an alternate hilt is included for the sheath. I really like this method as it makes the need for an actual functioning sheath unneeded, and no stress is put on the actual accessories. Finally, the standard figma stand and accessory bag is included, so you can store all of these neat parts you probably won’t use very often.
Hey, I have a Table Museum, and now I can start adding some historical fiction characters to my shelf as well. Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Yokoyama’s manga adaptation make for a neat idea for a figure, and it might even lead you into the story itself. If not, this is a great figure of a Chinese feudal lord, and you can always use one of those. Guan Yu is still available HERE, so go get him while you can.
