Bandai has been busy milking the Witch of Mercury theme for a while now, including a multitude of various versions of Suletta and Miorine; anything from cheap keychain junk to parts-swapping modular SH Figuarts action figures. However, I was quite pleased to see that they also decided to expand the character line beyond these two titular figures that started to grow a bit stale. So, Bandai decided to spend the last quarter of 2023 by releasing a string of arcade prize items in lots of one and two, the third one being the very uniquely designed Ms. Panlunch here, with the weirdness dialled cranked up to eleven. Strange hair, strange name - who comes up with these character designs anyway?
The box-size and style is consistent with the previous two Banpresto / JAIA prize item figures we saw earlier around the beginning of 2023. Prices on the secondary market seem a bit lower, currently hovering somewhere around ¥1200.
I really like the plastic material in use for these prize figures. It keeps its shape very well yet is still a little bit soft and not at all brittle. The legs did bend inward a little bit but with the help of the sturdy pegs on the action base there is no problem getting the figure to pose as intended by the designers. Simple but effective. Job well done.
Alright, there are a couple of things to unpack here. First of all... the hair. I mean, the colour and the shape cannot possibly be mistaken for anything but a part of the male physique... what on Earth were they thinking? The design does work better on a two-dimensional paper but here it doesn't even remotely look like hair. If I wanted to be a bit more graceful I'd think there is a circus in town and the kids are out buying cotton candy. Other than that I like the relaxed and nonchalant pose and the colouring and sculpt is spot-on. You get a certain vibe of the personality of this character (true or not I do not know because I have yet to watch the somewhat controversial anime...).
As I have mentioned in the previous reviews of the recent string of cheap Gundam character figures I think they are neat and fun to collect, the only real drawback being the oversized bases which makes it difficult to create any interesting displays between them.
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