Mie by Kurushima
Project details
Mie is an original character from Private Beach 3, created by Kurushima. Listed as a 1/6 scale and measuring in at 24cm / 9.36in long the figure actually feels more like a 1/7 bordering 1/8. She comes in a box containing a styrofoam container due to being crafted in cold cast resin, a material that’s very brittle in nature. Some stores even warn potential buyers of the risks involved and it basically comes down to luck getting a figure in its pristine form. Fortunately, Mie arrived in near perfect condition with the exception of a pink anomaly on her left foot.
Included in the box besides the figure itself is a mirror base, an optional bikini top and a required front part of the bikini bottom. There is nothing sculpted as far as genitalia goes which may be a let down to some but on the upside you get an interesting approach to dealing with one’s swimsuit instead.
I reckon most collectors outside Japan will skip this figure for a couple of reasons. It’s rather pricey, it’s made in cold cast resin and it’s from a lesser known company. All three arguments are hard to object to, though I will say that Kurushima has surprised me in this particular case. It has its flaws; like the aforementioned pink color scratch incident, the bikini bottom doesn’t connect properly in the front and I do find the hair a little plain. On the upside there’s great skin tone shading with a fairly done paint job overall leaving a few hiccups here and there, most which are not spotted by the naked eye. While surgically enhanced, the breasts do look alright though it appear Kurushima spent far more time sculpting them compared to her backside, for example. Not to mention the non-existent genitalia even if it doesn’t necessarily hurt the figure’s appearance as it does realistically.
If you’re planning to pick this up my only advice would be to take notice of the red arrow on the styrofoam before removing the final tape plastered around it. It points to the side which should be facing upwards before you lift up half the packaging. If you’re doing it the other way around there’s a high chance that the figure will fall out of its hiding place which isn’t the best practice when in such a frail state.
SCALE
1/6
ART DIRECTION
Desire
PHOTOGRAPHY SETUP
Flash, diorama
wieselhead
Your pics are as hot as the figure.
There is very nice lighting in these pictures and *damn* the sculpting of her body is really attractive, especially her boobs and the backside.
cold cast material and the paintjob give her a very smooth skintexture, it appears a little different than on a PVC figure.
The mirror base works very well in the pictures, but also liked the black divan bed you’ve used in the pictures below.
Nightmare
It was quite troublesome as blood-red molten lava kept spewing across the table when I shot this. It’s indeed a fine sculpt though I do feel that the backside is somewhat of a lackluster while the chest is finely crafted, Orchid Seed should start taking notes.
It’s fun experimenting with props as long as they don’t overshadow the figure but to be completely honest I wasn’t too happy with how most of the shots turned out. I do appreciate the input though.
BioToxic
Mie is one sexy figure. It’s quite difficult to find any background on who here character is though. There appears to be various renditions of her – Private Beach 1 – 3, which is kind of odd.
The polystone works nicely here – you get that shiny skin look which works well with a swimsuit figure. Plus you get more natural looking details present through her skin tone – round her collar bone or ribs for example.
The mirror base is a good idea for a lying down / arched up figure like this. It allows you to view her back without having to lift her up.
I’m not so keen on how deeply her bikini bottom slices into her thighs. It’s like someone has cut a square straight out her side.
My favourite of your photos is the one with the Umbrella stand blocking the view. Leaves it up to your imagination as to what’s going on behind there.
Nightmare
As Mie appears to be an original character I’m guessing the beach trilogy is a part of that as well.
I was surprised seeing how great the skin tone turned out which enhanced parts of her body nicely. It’s questionable if I’ll take the plunge with this material again however, not exactly a fan of the luck portion involved.
A keen eye there and I agree, the mirror adds another dimension to this figure. I’ve seen mirrors included with other figures but this is cleverly thought of I must say.
This is the biggest flaw of the figure I feel, it’s just not executed that well. I have nothing against tight-fitting clothes but the flesh grinding is something that could’ve been done differently.
Mie has a few angles that suggest self-pleasuring though it could be a number of things, some of them being related to drug smuggling. One’s mind works in mysterious ways.
Adam
I really like what you did with the mirror base. The reflection of the blue sky provides a splash of cool color contrast while also serving up impressions of a sunny day at the beach. I’m frequently at a loss for good ideas when it comes to shooting swimsuit figures, so I might have to try something like this.
This is one of the rare cases where I prefer the cast-off mode to “fully” clothed. The way they tried to make Mie’s bikini top appear semi-translucent looks more odd than sexy. Conversely, the pose translates into a nice artistic nude and the finish on the skin tone looks quite good from your pictures.
What kind of umbrella did you use for the last few shots?
Nightmare
The added depth was something desirable beyond the reflection of a suffocating backside. Coming up with ideas, especially for the kind of figures you mentioned, can be quite the hindrance. With that said, there’s no harm in falling back on a simple concept as long as you don’t disregard composition and the use of light and shadow.
Mie makes for a good subject as far as artistic nudity goes as she differentiates herself from similar figures. And yeah, I agree with the bikini top, execution is certainly in the lacking department. It would’ve been great to see a figure like this stark naked although I don’t see that happening anytime soon, perhaps if Mie decides to return to the private beach a fourth time.
The parasol was custom built for this figure, scale is around 1/6. I would’ve liked to utilize it better but its size gave me some issues so I intend to make further use of it with an upcoming figure.
sportstar
are these dolls for sale? If so where can I get them and how to purchase.
Nightmare
The figures seen on this site are indeed for sale from various sellers. My personal preferences are AmiAmi for regular releases and Big In Japan for exclusive items; both of these companies are based in Japan and do offer international shipping. AmiAmi also has a used section in where you can grab older figures. I would not recommend using eBay for buying figures of any kind.