Riuva : Research Institute for Unicultural Visual Arts

Strangely enough, in December of 2005, two KOS-MOS figures were released. One by Kaiyome’s BOME series, the other by Alter. The former has a very boring static pose but a cool Zohar base while the latter has a boring white base but more dynamic posing. I hate Kaiyodo for their rubbish packaging. Sealed action figure plastic boxes which look good but are impossible to open without damaging it. I leave all my Kaiyodo ones inside the box.

With that, I went for the Alter version which was apparently very popular. I had very high, perhaps unrealistic expectations for it, so when I received it, there was slight disappointment. Let us talk about its cool points first. At 20++ cm, it’s one of the taller 1/8 figures I have. KOS-MOS is tall herself, so this should come at no surprise. Her blue hair is translucent(!), and scores points for this unique feature. The pose is a reverse look, her bum faces you as she twists around to look at you, swinging her hair. Rather good so far. She has her gun drawn too, plus points! Girls with guns are hot. But it loses points for the following.

The paint job isn’t perfect, unlike Alter standards. It’s good, but their previous works have set massive standards. The shading’s overdone on some areas, but the biggest problem is the groin area. As we all know, KOS-MOS wears a one piece suit that comes with an attached skirt. Her tummy has these grey ab patterns, which are not done crisply and cleanly enough. These extend to her crotch area and due to the obstruction of the skirt, the painting for that screwed up and she has a dark crotch. IT IS NOT VISIBLE UNLESS YOU UPSKIRT HER GENSHIKEN STYLE. I did.

My other grouse is the white plain base. In general, GSC and friends do not do nice bases. They have plain old solid coloured bases. Some figures go well with these, but most of the time, decorated bases own. Think of the Galaxy Angel series, each of the angels have unique bases which are very cool. KOS-MOS has an enormous base and it just looks too plain. Same goes for King Gainer, the bases are moulded from the same ABS plastic. White ABS is way too plain. Costing 4800 yen, I would say Alter KOS-MOS is a must buy for Xenosaga fans but fans of just girly figures can skip it. 75.

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