Tokai Teio is closing in! Wait… Tokai Teio is closing in?!
Hey y’all, it’s been a while, but I’m back starting the new year off with Bandai’s 30MS Tokai Teio, a simple but pricey kit due to licensing reasons… maybe. I’ve only recently got into Uma Musume, and how I actually got into it was by complete accident. Long story short, I was at the arcade one day and I won a figure of Twin Turbo, didn’t know who the heck she was, so I eventually watched the series she came from and my god it’s absolutely awesome, with season 2 unironically being one of my favorite anime of all time. Tokai Teio is an amazing protagonist, so I just had to get her in plastic form. Sure, this 30MS isn’t accurate to the anime, but you’re sure not convincing me to get the Figure-rise Standard version of her that has stickers, 1 faceplate and whatever the hell is going on at her hips.
Anyway, to the kit itself—people said it’s the most complex 30MS, and yeah I can attest to that. Now, that doesn’t mean much against other musume kits that aren’t Bandai, but it’s interesting to say at the least. The torso alone took me an hour, and getting the paper(?) skirt on was finicky to deal with. However, the limbs are dead simple, even if they’re using the same POM joints like Neverlia, though both elbows and knees are single jointed for realism. But the most interesting part is adapting Tokai Teio to the 30MS design philosophy—she’s still very much Tokai Teio but her fit is more angular and having panel lines give it more of a mech look the series has. Of course, there are the staple arm and thigh rings, but most notably they add a lot of flair with the yellow parts. Her wrists and ankles have wings and there’s this… tailpack as if it enhances Teio’s speed somehow. Overall, I really dig the look and to my surprise it left room for some detailing to be done.
I thought I wasn’t going to paint her, but I thought the yellow could use something, so I use Vallejo Steel to break some of it up, but then I realized that her capes were pink instead of red, so I grabbed a big brush, poured some Vallejo Red and now her capes were back to its actual color. I then paneled her up the next day and there was more to do than I thought—then again, I am used to building mostly black 30MS kits which I can avoid panel lining for most of the kit. Topping her off with a flat coat, it was time to reassemble her and get her posing, and damn, she looks pretty darn stunning.
For a running horse girl, I’m not really impressed with the articulation, and my god her balance is flipping terrible. Luckily, I used my best friend known as double sided tape, which I plastered on her heels, and the balancing got a whole lot easier to deal with. Regardless, with her skirt and single jointed knees, I can’t really get the legs to be as dynamic as I want them to be when getting her to run. She can pull them off for sure, but I wish it was a bit better. However, she can just stand there and look cute and all, it’s Tokai Teio after all. With the lack of any accessories besides an entire Action Base 5, I decided to get a bit funny racing against Yefuna in her bike and borrowing Blue Flash from ACT MODE Tsubasa Kazanari.Â
Overall, Tokai was a fun and simple kit. It only took me 4 days from start to finish, but now that I think about it, I got her for $30 off Suruga-ya, so I think she is the cheapest musume kit I’ve bought so far. Damn. It was a nice way to start of my 2nd musume year. Speaking of, this year is another year full of gals I wanna get—Izumo, Wilber Nine, Tama Utage, maybe Tsukuyomi and Charmed, but Nintendo also just announced their Switch 2, both of which I don’t know I will be able to afford in due time. Anyway, thanks for reading till the end, and until next time!Â
