Not too long ago , I managed to get my hands on one of the newly released Gashapon Soul Gems . Lady luck happened to be on my side then as I managed to get Mami's Soul Gem on the first try. The most worth it 300 Yen that I have spent? Well, time to find out.





Open the spherical Gashapon capsule and you will greeted with two parts. The first being the Soul Gem itself neatly sealed in the plastic pouch. The Soul Gem itself comprises of two parts, the main Soul Gem and the "cap" for it.





The second part is a simple piece of paper with the usual documentation and instructions. Because this Soul Gem has a particular gimmick to it, the instructions for it are enclosed within this small piece of paper.





Together with it are pictures of the various different Soul Gems also available as part of the same set. Red for Kyouko, blue for Sayaka, yellow for Mami, purple for Homura and pink for Madoka. All the main 5 girls are here with slight design variations between them besides the fairly obvious color differences.





And here we have it, Mami's Soul Gem. At just 50 mm tall, Mami's Soul Gem is pretty diminutive in size and, I would say, almost the actual size of an actual Soul Gem. Despite all of that though, this is easily one of the most detailed Soul Gems released thus far.





With a design very clearly based upon Faberge Eggs, the Soul Gems are very ornamental with jeweled designs all around the gem. The two notable design points which make each Magical Girl's Soul Gem a little different is the emblem placed at the very top of the gem and within the circle at the frond of the gem. In Mami's case, her emblem/crest is that of a flower which we also see emulated with her hairpins.





The clear "gem" segment of the Soul Gem is not just clear to look good. Behind it lies a simple gimmick that Bandai has put in place to make the Soul Gem sparkle. Will it actually sparkle though? Let us find out.





The answer? No, not really. It does not really shine very much even with a torch shone at it. Theoretically, it should. Practically though, it does not. So, just how exactly does this gimmick work?





By filling the Soul Gem with water, it would cause the metallic shiny stars within it to float and reflect light creating a "sparkling" image. While it does not achieve the desired effect, it does admittedly add some sparkle (over the original) and some much needed weight. So all in all, not all is in vain.





Do keep in mind though that the sparkling effect would likely vary across different Soul Gems as they all have different gem colors and opacity. Mami's Gem being of one of the lighter colors is able to produce the sparkle color rather easily but, Homura's may not. At just 300 Yen though, I have little to no complaints for Bandai's Soul Gem at all. While resellers may sell the individual Soul Gem for a slightly higher price, this does remove the chance aspect of playing the Gashapon. Either way, I highly recommend getting it if you have the chance to.



