[THE KING OF FIGHTERS ÁNGEL] An In-depth Look at this Captivating Fighter!| KOTOBUKIYA KIKAKUGAI Blog #コトブキヤ

Thanks to everyone’s continued support for the SNK BISHOUJO series, we are happy to announce that Ángel is the fifth character joining the lineup!
Many fans were pretty hyped over her reveal, but for those who haven’t seen her figure yet in person, we’re happy to present an in-depth look into this newest entry!

This figure is based on her first appearance in THE KING OF FIGHTERS 2001 that is illustrated in the familiar style of Shunya Yamashita!

Point 1　Bringing Her Iconic Pose to Life

△The original illustration that the pose is based on.

The iconic pose of her unique fighting style Perfunctory♥ is brought to life!
Her confident and carefree expression and playful pose bring out Ángel’s personality!
You can almost hear her voice lines! ♪

Compared to the original posture, her upper body is raised and tilted to her left so that even when looking at the figure from the front, the viewer can easier see her form.

Point 2　Recreating Her Signature Jacket and Outfit

By using the latest sculpting techniques, we brought the classic design of her outfit to life.
We carefully selected the material to bring out the texture of her leather jacket and chap-style pants.
The sculpt of the figure is really exciting and shows off her stunning form!

Point 3　Creating the Perfect Finish

To try and recreate a white, transparent appearance with her hair, we used the technique of painting over clear parts for the first time in the SNK BISHOUJO series!
The end of her hair is finished with a gradation to give it more of that transparent feeling.

We made sure to properly paint areas that were could not be seen easily. Even the inside of her boots is painted as well!

Point 4　Capturing Her Captivating Form

We were careful in recreating her charming physique by defining her waist and legs.
In addition to the sculpt of the muscles in her abs and thighs, take a look at the details in structure like the collarbone and spine!

Point 5　Representing Her Home Turf, the Mexico Stage

△The Mexico Stage served as the concept for her base.

The base of the figure is recreated from the area around the museum in her home country, the Mexico stage.
We made sure to recreate the texture of the uneven surface, wear, and chipped off corners of brick tiles.

Stay Tuned for the Sixth Character in the Lineup!

During Kotobukiya Collection 2024 in February, the newest character in the SNK BISHOUJO series was announced!
Some of you already figured out who it is! We are working hard at developing her figure so please look forward to the next update! ♪

【Special Feature】 Behind-the-scenes Story of Ángel’s Figure Photos

The person in-charge for the product photos was our very own ARTFX Yamashita, a familiar name among our blog readers!
We have a special behind-the-scenes story about her figure photoshoot from him!

Greetings, I am ARTFX Yamashita.

When I saw the paint master of her figure, I wanted to take her photos because I thought I could make use of my expertise. Although I say this, a professional photographer did the actual photography, and I just gave out directions from the back.
I was impressed how a pro was able to emphasize the proportions of the figure in the photos.

For example, this photo that everyone saw when her figure was shown during Kotobukiya Collection.

When we were taking this photo, I said “Her stomach is visible when taken from this angle, while we’re at it, can we shine a blue light on her?” There were some pretty vague directions, but the photographer got the perfect angle while I held up a blue cellophane sheet.

The shot that left the deepest impression on me was when he mentioned, “I think we can go for a bit more exposure so let’s try getting this part out of focus…” and we ended up with this photo here.

As you can see, bringing the area below the face out of focus creates a photo that leaves more to the imagination. It turned out really great, but unfortunately it was deemed too sensitive to be posted on X*.
Looking back, I should’ve been more direct with my concerns, and I’m still a little sore over what happened.

*Unfortunately, it got tagged as sensitive content when posting it on X, so we ended up not using it…