Pureneemo – Azone – Caster Extra

Hello fellow fox minions! Did the unexpected and obtained Caster Kitsune almost at the last minute from Otacute. Not something I would do. She arrived with Canada Post on Tuesday, with me reviewing her on a Kitsune Wednesday.

– Caster and her fox ears hanging away on the left; (off-image) tail on the bottom, and shoes on the bottom right.

(All images taken with a Lumix GF-1 – Pancake lens.)

Caster! I love Caster ever since I picked up the Japanese PS2 bundle with Saber Extra in it. I picked her over Saber and Archer because well….I’m into Fox spirits and she was the most attractive to my eyes. Her attacks, movements, and her comical personality brought me in to love her as a character, and as a foxy character. Been waiting a long time for Caster to appear in Figma and Nendoroid form, with none to speak of. Still wishing for it!

– Fate/Extra – Japanese Limited Edition & North American Version.

I believe Yunamon from the figure.fm community and Sonja from the BusouShinkiWorld Community influenced me enough to have me purchase her when I was given the chance. Sonja gave me the extra heads-up that she was available almost at the very last minute on Otacute having me break the bank to get her, especially with no figma or nendo in sight. Thanks!

I want to also note that Serial Experiment Lain was my first Ani-doll I obtained. I didn’t take images of her much because well….She didn’t pose well. Haven’t played with Dollfies either, only researched enough because people were using them a lot in the communities I go to. Did think about getting a DD Saber and to customize a generic one into a fox but decided against it. Caster here is my first doll that I actually approve of in the Anime realm.

—

– Box Art:

The box art is nice and simple. Nice and pleasing with basic yet fancy designs on them. The box itself was quite small yet packaged in a biggish box which took me by surprise….twice…when the overly cheerful Canada Post delivery guy brought it. The box art keeps with the Fate/Extra theme.

—

– Figure Review:

Wow….she still looks beautiful even when stuck in that box. Taking her out and seeing her accessories neatly placed on the packaging and the instructions on the background sure was nice to see. Always do need instructions for this, especially when it is colored and quite cheerful in telling you what goes where. You see is what you get!

Tons of plastic everywhere! Not really, only in necessary places. Everything is as you would expect when purchasing figures for a lengthy period of time.

– I really did need these instructions for a good 10-20 minutes…..Simple yet “WTF” do I do here? First time owning an Azone. How do you pin this on the head? Where do the ears go exactly? Why does theirs fit so nicely while mine keeps struggling to do what they intended?

Oh look! You have to cut out the talismans….Wait…I have to cut them out? Alright…not a problem! *grabs scissors*.

The first thing I noticed was her right arm being loose….FUCK! Just what I need…..Pardon my language but loose joints is the most annoying thing, especially when seeing Youko from Revoltech suffering from them.  God damn it…..*Rages a bit & cools off*.

– I tilted her to the side and had her lean on her loose arm. The loose joint is at her shoulder of course. The rest seems fine…for now.
– Oh? Nice way to place her head on it. There was an accessory collar I needed to place on her and to take the protective plastic off. Saw some stains as well. No biggy when it stays hidden.
– 5 pairs of hands; 10 hands; 12 hands if you count the ones Caster is currently using.
– Just thought of Rozen Maiden here…Yes, that anime. That pin placing was a pain in the foxy ass! The ears as well…I tried to be very careful.
– I was placing the pin in the middle but then Googled and studied the images more to see I had to do it on the front-edge…*facepalms*.
– Whatever these are called (I’ll call them dress wings) can move around, mostly up and down. You can move them to the side, depending on pose. I quite like these.
– The plastic tail (horrible idea!) is placable by pegging her tail above her pantsu into a hole. Should of had a fluffy tail instead…..Taking a big fat point off this!
– Was I given a defect or is this just insanely picky? I can’t seem to “fix” the positioning on the sleeve designs. Look at pink arrows.

 

—–
– Let’s play with Caster time!

Was testing out her range of articulation and how well she posed. Let me just say that I only started messing with Azones and that I had to deal with a body that wanted to be posed in specific poses.

Her knees probably bends slightly from the weight it has to carry and her is a mix of a Shinki & Figma. You can pose her well in the Shinki range while struggle with certain poses due to articulation like a Figma due to certain designs placed on her. I will re-note that her right shoulder joint enjoys being loose, which ends up pissing me off a lot.

Ok, so posing with the tail is nearly impossible. Her knees give out twice as much….I’m going to go look for a fluffy fox tail for this caster, screw this!

– During one of Renge’s random patrols she came across me welcoming Caster into the home. Jiiiii~
– Oh? They want to be friends! Nice!

Time for the two of them to snooze for Sinterklaas Eve – December 5th European festivities.

Also did some quick shopping and bought a parts container for Caster – a basic parts container and two cute stockings. Happy to hear that the female cashier pointed out happily how cute they were, why I took them in the first place. I wanted something cute for my Shinkis and Caster.

I wanted to take more images but my camera died out at this point….Also have another article specifically for Renge, Marika, and December 05th festivities after this article. Also going to quickly note that while reviewing Caster it snowed a lot to the point were the flurries whited out the view, kind of like fog. It stuck on the ground for a few, but not for long.

——–

– Final Thoughts:

Quite a nice doll I must say. I love Caster Fox in Fate/Extra PSP a hell of a lot! I love the way she laughs, screams, and Kya’s at everything. Her happy ‘carefree’, yet loving tsundere way amuses me and everybody she encounters. Her combat movements attracted me and had me hypnotized for a while. I just want to be with her in real life.

Well, it would go mostly without saying that I would get something Caster….eventually. I wanted Good Smile Company to produce a Figma or Nendoroid, yet it looks like it might never happen. Even with the demand there is no supply…Pureneemo & Azone (or one or the other) made Caster instead. I followed the preordered only to curse at the cost…However, now that I got her, thanks to Sonja’s final heads-up thanks to remaining supplies, I can now say that this was worth the $230ish Canadian dollars I put into her. Costly, but awesome! I complained how much I put into Shinki Ach, yet her…wow..All good in the end!

She does have her flaws but when you overlook them and notice her as a whole you feel satisfied. I do however dislike how loose the right shoulder joint is, how semi-loose the knees are, and how bloody heavy the tail is! The tail and the shoulder joint are my biggest gripe with this doll. Her shoes also love to hissyfit at times, not much you can do about that? I also had a bit of difficulty with the hair piece with having to literally pin the hair band into her head. What? Nearly bent the pin fully trying to place it onto her head only to later figure out from the image I was supposed to do it from the front. The ear band? Slide it through the hair a few times….A tiny bit tedious but I managed to make her look photogenic in the end…I hope. I am pleased with how she looks and the image I took so I guess I did it right 🙂

Caster’s posing is well……on the very positive side. It suffers thanks to the loose right shoulder joint and can’t do the traditional Japanese sitting you see Caster in on the desk on the PSP game. She can however sleep similar to this. The posing on her is quite….picky and stubborn. Her posing requires precision and the utmost care. Quite amusing seeing her look down upon my Shinki Renge.

I am overall pleased with this purchase, the figure, and with the way she was designed. I will however keep my eye out for any Azone tails aimed at Caster because that tail outright pisses me off. I can’t pose Caster without her falling backwards. I am not going to get a stand for her either! They hurt my style of images that I take.

Would I recommend this?
Yes! If you are a Caster fox minion or a doll owner of some sort then a strong yes.  Even a neutral yes to those that may be new, but do take special care!  Read the instructions properly. For those that don’t want dolls may want to stick to their specific group they chose in Anime or the world. Harass GSC if you want a Figma or a nendo if you’re picky about size – Supply & demand.

———

– Pros:

  • Great detailing and attention to detail. She mostly looks like Caster, with that Azone atmosphere to her. The dress and her accessories make her look like Caster from Fate/Extra.
  • Many great little details placed along her dress that helps me like Caster more and more *points to button on belly & the knots on her dress.*
  • Love those “dress wings” for the detailing and their articulation. They can be moved around without really hindering and looks great on Caster.
  • Comes with 5 pairs of hands to add with the range of posing and interaction.
  • Articulation is great enough to allow for fancy photo-shoots.
  • Caster comes with many talismans, you however need to cut them out for Caster to use them.
  • You can mix and match her clothing with others similar scale Azone accessories.

– Cons:

  • Right off the bat I noticed Caster’s right shoulder joint being loose. It hindered with specific posing.
  • Her plastic tail was a very bad idea and a “lazy” way of doing it. I would much have preferred a fluffy tail instead to help with posing and to reduce weight. This is my biggest gripe with the doll. I would bet others would have preferred the fluffy tail also.
  • No typical Caster weaponry? No floating mirror? She does have her talismans but no floating mirror *sad face*. Do want!

—

Thanks for viewing and hope you enjoyed this review! Maybe you have this Caster as well? Any Pros and cons you want to mention? Do you like her?

I’m going to quickly say I had her come through Canada Post and won’t be Fed-Ex’ing my Anime products. Fed-Ex has a messy office and wanted to charge me when I already paid them off so screw you Fed-Ex! You lost a costumer. Hello Canada Post! You’re more cheerful and easier to manage, even when you don’t deliver properly *hugs*.

Onto December 5th’s European Festivities! Happy Sinterklaas Eve!