My next Nendoroid review should come as no surprise for readers of my blog, given my previous two posts about Steins;Gate. I chose the #130 Kurisu Makise Nendoroid out of the following list of Good Smile Company (GSC) Steins;Gate Nendoroids:

Out of these choices, the Mayuri Nendoroid looked a little odd in my opinion and didn’t do a great job of recreating the child-like personality of the character. I was never a big fan of Faris in the story since I found her more annoying than cute, so it was easy to pass on her Nendoroid as well. The Kurisu and Mayuri cheerleading one was interesting, but since it’s not canon (neither of them ever put on cheerleading outfits), I didn’t get that one. Between the two Kurisu Nendoroids, I chose the regular outfit since she spends the majority of time in that outfit in the show as opposed to her lab coat.

Just a side note: I really wanted to get an Okabe Rintarou figure of some sort to complement Kurisu, but there are no Nendoroid versions of him right now, only figmas. Not only are figmas a lot more expensive, but they also don’t fit with the aesthetic of my Nendoroid collection, so I’ll have to wait and see if GSC ever releases an Okabe Nendoroid. With the Steins;Gate 0 anime starting soon, I think it’s possible!

Nendoroid #130 – Kurisu Makise Imported from Japan

With Marth as my first GSC Nendoroid, I think I set my expectations inaccurately for these cute chibi figures. After seeing the Kurisu figure, I realized that aside from characters in some fantasy anime/games/etc., most of the Nendoroids don’t come with a lot of props, especially if it’s someone like Kurisu who doesn’t exactly spend a lot of time in action-packed scenes. But this is fine! In the end, I’m not looking for action figures that can swing swords while holding up shields when collecting Nendoroids, it’s more important to me that the figure shows various side of the character’s personality; this Kurisu Makise Nendoroid does just that.

One important note is that this particular Nendoroid did not come with a manual, which is fine since it wasn’t exactly difficult to figure out how to assemble the various pieces. From what I can tell through some Googling, not all Nendoroids come with manuals, though it’s unclear why that is. In my opinion, it’s a fine decision on GSC’s part, since it only wastes paper if they print a manual for even the simplest of Nendoroids.

As for the stand, since this is an older Nendoroid, it uses one that more or less holds the figure’s “butt” rather than using a connector to firmly connect to the back of the Nendoroid’s torso. Although it seems like many collectors prefer the new stand, I actually really liked this version of the stand for Kurisu. While the newer stand is definitely sturdier and you can pick up the Nendoroid by the body and not have the stand fall off, it’s a pain to work with every time I re-posed the Nendoroid, since I’d have to shift the stand connection. This older “sitting” stand is much more flexible in that regard and I found it a breeze to pose Kurisu for my photos and shift the figure around.

The #130 Kurisu Makise Nendoroid comes with the following pieces:

3 faces: neutral, upset (tsun), shy/blushing (dere)

4 pairs of arms (for 5 poses): straight, holding her research paper, holding a phone, crossed arms, and shy pose

A stand

Since this Nendoroid is less of an action figure due to Kurisu’s character, there is not a ton of articulation, with only the legs, waist, arm connections, and neck able to be rotated. I had no issues with any of the pieces in this Nendoroid; they were all fairly easy to assemble and disassemble, and no pieces had any loose connections.

My only gripe with the Kurisu Nendoroid is that the connection between her face and her back hair shows a fairly obvious line when viewed from the side. I avoided it in all of my photos since it detracts from the pose, but it should be noted if you want to pose Kurisu at a profile angle.

You can see all of the photos of Kurisu below in her various poses! As I mentioned above, the older stand made this part easier for me, although it’s certainly less discreet than the new stand.

I know I mentioned in my Marth Nendoroid review that I was uncertain about the authenticity of it and would revisit the issue when I got my second Nendoroid (so I could compare). I think it’s safe to say that both of these Nendoroids are authentic! The quality is top notch in both and I paid a little more for this Kurisu Nendoroid compared to my first. Since it’s been out of circulation for longer (#130 is fairly early since GSC is on #871 now), it’s harder to find new versions, even on eBay. I paid $46 to a Japanese eBay seller for her, which is a pretty standard price for post-release Nendoroids bought from a 3rd party.

Another interesting note is that the #130 Kurisu Makise Nendoroid was actually released three times: January 2011, September 2011, and September 2013. From what I can tell from the box and stand, my guess is that I have one of the 1st or 2nd release figures, although I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to confirm that.

Overall, I’m very happy with the original Nendoroid of the tsundere genius from Steins;Gate, Kurisu Makise. If an Okabe Nendoroid ever gets released, I’ll be sure to pair him with her so she can tell him to close his eyes.