A #Bishoujo I've had for a while now, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy is a favorite of mine from the Mass Effect trilogy. I thought it would be a good homage to revisit this lovely character's Bishoujo version. Keep in mind that I will be using older photos. And yes, the pictures are from an old blog that I used to update for all of my fandom. So without further adieu, let's get on with the 2.0 review of Tali's Bishoujo statue!
I mentioned on my Bishoujo Chun Li review that seeing black boxes on Bishoujo is a rare thing; at least for me it is. I'm not sure if it's just the characters I buy produces white boxes, but I have bought a good number of Bishoujos and black boxes are very rare. But touching on these older photos, I didn't have white backdrops back then like I do now so my old game room was my background so bear with ti. Also, I didn't do a full 360 pictures of the boxes for whatever reason (and at times didn't take good pictures of the boxes at all). But talking about the actual box and the art work, I have to say that the black box fits the Mass Effect characters since the void reminds me of space. Mass Effect characters are from space so, yeah. The whole purple fonts and black also goes really well with Tali since purple is her main color.
One of those rare and odd times that the finished product surpasses the official artwork. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not a bad art at all but it just doesn't look as good as the statue itself. The artist for Bishoujo, Shunya Yamashita, is really good, but I think he had a harder time with Tali. He ascends to new heights when drawing sexy gals--obviously.
As far as "accessories", Tali gets two base designs. Pretty good deal considering she doesn't have an extravagant base like some other Bishoujos get.
It says "Mass Effect 3" but I seriously think that Tali shined her best in Mass Effect 2 (my favorite Mass Effect game from the trilogy). I chose the Tali decal rather than this one.
When it comes to designing characters, the Mass Effect had some awesome looking characters. Someone like Tali, her main appeal is her enigma--what she looks like inside her suit definitely helped propel her to new heights. Oh, and Tali also has a body that a lot of human females would die for so that helped with garnering more than a few following. Bishoujo capitalized on that fact and truly sculpted a magnificent piece of statue here. It may be a few odd years old but Tali'Zorah is not cut short of any intricate details that the Bishoujo line is known for. The patterns on the cloth on her veil(?) is a testament of just how much work is put into this thing. There are lines all throughout Tali, from the hood, all the way to her thighs. It remains consistent and not once was the Quarian sold short. Outside her purple garb, everything else also has that attention to detail. Every area of Tali's suit has the illusion of a different material thanks to the way they are sculpted. Need I mention that the gun she's holding is just off-the wall super detailed? I can't recall which gun that is and I'm not in the mood to look it up but I do remember it from the game. And if my memory is serving me right, that is definitely close to being 100% accurate if it's not accurate already! Definitely a lot of love when it comes to the sculpt and the molding of Tali'Zorah and it's a big reminder from both past and present as to why Bishoujo will almost always be worth every penny.
I will say, however, that certain angles does make Tali look odd and not because of the statue, it's just a pose that doesn't compliment all the time. That small compliant is easily rectified by making sure the right side is the one dominantly shown when displayed.
Oh yeah! Tali's assets are on full display and I love it! I'm not the only one, I can assume.
Need I mention just how amazing the paint job is on this statue? Tali'Zorah was not robbed in her Bishoujo form even in regards to her coloring. The purple has the sculpts all over it but the colors that are supposed to be part of the design are all present and does a fine job complimenting an already well done mold. And while Tali has a lot of black, there are different shades to help play off the illusion of different materials. Then as a good juxtapose, the yellow and metallic silver really makes the darker colors stand out more--this put all together is definitely a nod to Bioware's fantastic character design; a design that Kotobukiya replicated so well.
Part of Tali's charm is definitely what is underneath that helmet. Yes, I know, we got something "official" from Bioware, but since that was divisive revelation, a lot of people still keep it in their head-canon that Tali's face is still a mystery. I was wondering when I first saw the announcement of a Tali Bishoujo if Kotobukiya was going to do something to pay homage to either the 'official' and canon version of Tali's mystery face or keep the enigma that a lot of fans keep sacred to them about Tali. What they went with was the latter, which I think would be a hard thing to do but Kotobukiya pulled it off. There's a transparent plastic that serves as Tali's helmet and inside is, what I would assume, another sculpted plastic acting like the silhouette of Tali's face that we would often see in-game. Then those eyes... those mysterious eyes that help convey some of Tali's emotions during cut scenes. There's even a hint of a nose inside of there and I can't help but just geek out with how well this came out. Yes, Tali has a well defined figure that was sculpted in Bishoujo form but having the face do this, well, that just captures the essence of Tali even more!
And here is Bishoujo Tali Z'orah vas Normandy next to her Playarts Kai version. I personally like the Bishoujo ten times more.
And here is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy next to Bishoujo Commander Jane Shepard.
In conclusion I have nothing but nice things to say about Bishoujo Tali'Zorah. I've had this statue for years and after all this time, I still find myself looking at her. It's one of those moments that I can't believe that Kotobukiya actually went with through with it considering that she isn't your typical 'sexy' character. So with that said, I highly recommend this statue to anyone who is a fan of Tali'Zorah, Mass Effect, and/or collect the Bishoujo line because Kotobukiya just does a fine job. There's details, vibrant color, accuracy to the character, and a whole lot of nostalgia that comes with her. Not sure what her pice tag is these days but if one can find her for a good price, get her! You won't regret it!
Until Next Time!
