First things first, I pre-ordered this figure in July 2011. It arrived in Singapore in April 2012. So the saying is true. The manufacturing time of ThreeA figures is as long as the development of a human baby from conception to birth...
The word Penumbra, simply put, is a term that describes the imperfect shadow next to the complete shadow of an opaque object... This figure is from ThreeA's Adventure Kartel line, and is the clean version of the Shadow 2, which is a reinterpretation of the original character, Little Shadow. Quite a mouthful I know... I do not own the original figure, but I've seen enough photographs online to know that the sharp, chiseled edges of the original Shadow's face and hair has been replaced by a rounder, softer form. I guess much of the character of the original figure was also lost in this transformation; I like to think that the original Shadow was 'TQ-fied'. While the name Penumbra suggests some sorta relation to Shadow, she could well be a new character from the AK world, as I don't really see any resemblance or relation to the original.
To be honest, I was never really into Adventure Kartel. I only bought my Ankou Police because it was cheap... Penumbra and Junglevet are my 2nd and 3rd AK characters, and I bought Penumbra (2 of her in fact) mainly for the jacket. It was the 2nd of these ladies hooded jacket manufactured by 3A, akin to those worn by the Oyabun Tomorrow Kings, the 1st belonging to the TQ-loper, which is almost impossible to get.
Turns out, Penumbra is really a gem on her own...
The first impression I got when I saw this figure in hand was that she was nice and clean. Unlike her counterpart, Shadow 2, who is painted with weathering and grime all over her face and body, the paint app on Penumbra is crisp to perfection (no kidding... I can't find any sloppiness in the paint app). Personally, I do prefer the clean look to the dirty one, so I'm very glad that I got 2 Penumbra instead of Shadow 2.
The second thing I noticed was the large print on the front of the T-shirt. I dunno... these large T-shirt prints (such as those on Bleak Mission) just don't do it for me. It is very distracting and glaring, and out of proportion, spreading across the chest area like an unsightly blotch that it is. Instinctively, I flipped the T-shirt so that the print is on her back. I like it better this way, as the print is not distorted by Penumbra's melons. Also, viewing the figure from the front, there is less distraction from the pretty face that is on the newly developed headsculpt, which I've grown to like alot.
I've said my piece on the new female body that ThreeA's developed and using for all of their latest releases, and shall say no more. I'm surprised that I actually like the gloved hands (first time I've seen them in hand), as I am more used to the bulkier gloves that are on the TQs. Looks like I can live with Queeny having these hands instead of the typical TQ ones. However, I was quite taken aback by the fact that there are no replacement joints for the tiny, fragile ball joints on her wrists. Everytime I remove her hands to take off the jacket / change to the fist, I have to hold my breath. I'm not sure why ThreeA suddenly decided to stop with the issuance of spare ball joints, which I thought was a good practice that I appreciated alot.
Many people complained about the figure's saggy looking boobs, which, in relation to the original Shadow's perky ones, is quite a major development, to say the least... However, I don't really think it is such a serious issue. Item in hand, she can still poses quite well. Perhaps flipping the T-shirt around does help to draw the eye away from her boobs to the face. It looks like the Yesterday Princess Yubi is going to sport the same boob, but she looks fine clad totally in white. Same theory.
It used to be that from the AK universe, we have Shadow with sharp facial features and Super Saiyan triangulated hair sculpt, opened eye and tight gloves. On the other spectrum, from the Popbot universe, we have the TQs with round facial features and hairsculpt, narrow slits for eyes and bulky gloves. But it seems these distinct features are slowly amalgamating into each other. Penumbra has shed the straight lines previously on Shadow, and Queenie will sport Shadow's tight gloves. This is just an observation (just sayin'), and not necessarily a criticism. Overall, Penumbra's still a great looking figure.
Anyway, the last picture shows how Princess will look in Penumbra's jacket, akin to the TQ-loper that I'll never have. Looks pretty cool huh...?
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