Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Figurerise Labo Minami Kotori - Various angles (1/10)

Figurerise Labo Minami Kotori - Various angles (2/10)

Figurerise Labo Minami Kotori - Various angles (3/10)

Figurerise Labo Minami Kotori - Various angles (4/10)

Figurerise Labo Minami Kotori - Various angles (5/10)

Figurerise Labo Minami Kotori - Various angles (6/10)

Figurerise Labo Minami Kotori - Various angles (7/10)

Figurerise Labo Minami Kotori - Various angles (8/10)

Various angles

Hair rendered in 3D with a large number of parts

A gorgeous pastel-toned skirt

The back of the skirt features clear parts with a pearlescent sheen.

The legs.
The pink band sections are handled with seals.

A balloon that sparkles thanks to gloss injection

The double-layered petticoat uses milky clear parts mixed with coarse pearl powder.

The skirt can be separated into 3 layers as shown above.

Lingerie mode with the skirt removed

The petticoat layers can also be applied step by step.

Secured to the stand with two sturdy locking pins.

Some leftover parts remain from the stand runners.

Together with Figurise Hoshino Fumina [Second Scene] and Miku.

The 4th kit in the Figure-rise Labo lineup, Love Live!'s Minami Kotori, has been released. Honestly, this lineup had me doing some philosophical soul-searching — like, why would you bother assembling a static figure? But with this kit, I feel like the reason to build it has finally clicked into place.

First off, unlike the previous kits, there are no legs or hair parts produced with layered injection molding anymore. Layered injection at the same level as before (though it never fails to impress every time you see it) is now applied only to the face and eyes. Instead, the kit pulls off an incredible level of parts breakdown — it feels noticeably more complex than Fumina or Miku. That actually makes the building experience even more satisfying; there's a real sense of accomplishment in snapping together all those tiny, intricate parts one by one and watching the gorgeous end result come together.

The individual parts are also packed with premium molding techniques — you get a balloon that shines with gloss injection, the parts on the back of the skirt that show a rainbow-like iridescent reflection depending on the angle, and a petticoat finely mixed with pearl powder. The hair is also made up of a large number of individual strands, each assembled from multiple parts, giving it an impressive sense of depth and volume. The molded colors themselves have a high-end feel, so the straight build looks incredibly clean right out of the box.

When it's all done, you can't help but marvel at how on earth they designed molds capable of producing these part combinations. If anything, it feels like a kit made specifically to show off Bandai's injection molding technology. Opinions on the face sculpt and overall looks will vary depending on personal taste, but at the very least, this is a kit where you have to give credit where it's due — for the unique building experience and the dazzling molding techniques.

A few things to nitpick: most of the solid structural pieces (arms/legs) are cleanly pulled off without seam lines thanks to slide molds. However, some parts do have visible seam lines that stick out like a sore thumb. The seams on the sides and the ribbon on the back are the culprits — the ribbon in particular is split top and bottom, which makes it look like it keeps gaping open. A different split direction would've been much better; it's noticeably out of place compared to the clean finish everywhere else.

Anyway, speaking for myself — with this level of build quality and molding technology, I genuinely feel this has its own unique merit as a "figure you assemble." Being able to produce an incredibly clean figure with no paint mishaps from a straight build alone, plus the fact that it's cheaper than similarly sized pre-built figures, gives it a solid reason to exist. :-)

Figurerise Labo Minami Kotori | 2020. 2 | ¥6,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.