Review: Dark Angel Olivia by Kotobukiya

The dark angel is a character from a rather popular mobile game called Rage of the Bahamut. And I finally got it...not in the game but as a scale figure.

The game is actually quite interesting. It combines tile matching, RPG, and card collecting into an entertaining game. The characters, like Dark Angel Olivia, are represented as cards and she is one of the rare cards in the game. I didn't have time to play the game extensively but I greatly enjoyed the artwork and character designs found in the game and was very interested and excited when I found out that scale figure makers we're going to convert some of the characters into statues.

Now that my copy finally arrived, I can say that this is really a great addition to my collection. The details on the statue are amazing and the face depicts the original artwork really well. Here are some customary 360 degree shots of the scale figure.

 

Although the statue is listed as a 1/8th scale statue, I can't help but think that it is actually more of a 1/7th scale statue. And as you may have thought, the statue is pretty wide with that wingspan.

Here's a view from the top.

The base is quite interesting; there are purple crystal shards jutting out from the base and the base itself has a very glossy black finish with white dots that looks like faux stars...or faux sparkles. The shards are textured too making it a little more realistic. The statue is screwed to the base for security...with everything set up, the statue has some good weight on it so a screw makes sense.

Now that you've seen it in all angles, let's dive into the details. Here are the accessories.

There are two swords, one looks like a long sword while the other looks like a combination of a scimitar and a long sword. I really like the crazy amount of detail on the hilt. Then there's some kind of sash with detailed gold ornaments.

The sword handle and the blade of the long scimitar separates from each other and goes to the left hand. The straight long sword on the other hand comes in two separate pieces which goes to the right hand. The right hand actually holds part of the handle and that's where we connect the sword parts.

Here are the hands of Dark Angel Olivia without the swords.

And here's how it looks with the swords. The swords make a cross that goes to the back of the statue and the length almost touches the base.

The sash thing goes to the waist of the dark angel and all the pointy gold ornaments are sort of given the impression that they're floating.

The red belt also have some good detail on them. The details are also color gold to make them pop. Those teardrop islets on her clothes are actual holes and not just black paint. In this shot, you can also see the skirt folds closer, the folds are nice and crisp.

Despite being hidden by the hair, you can find some armor detail at the back. Here's a shot with out the head attached to get the hair out of the way and another with the head attached.

The wings go to the back of the statue and the pegs go deep which made it a bit challenging to fit all the way in. With the wings off, you can see the upper arm "armor" from the back. Also, I'm sure you've also noticed by now that her lower arm is adorned in some gold patterns.

Here's how the upper arm armor looks like from the front.

Speaking of wings, the wings on this statue looks great and the feathers are detailed very well. There's also some gold inking on the inner edges...not a clearly defined gold line, instead it looks like they sprinkled some gold bits. And the wing tips are as sharp as you might have assumed.

Though not as amazing as the wings on Max Factory's wings on Holybell, the wings on Dark Angel Olivia are sturdier and easier to handle.

The next photos show off her kicks where you'll see touches that are similar to the armor theme. You'll also notice that the paint gradients to orange around her calf which makes it look like stretched stockings.

Moving up a bit to the knee, you can see more golden armor and just like the other armor parts, it's detailed. Those little teardrop shapes at the top of the armor are also real holes and the armor detail goes all the way around.

Moving up to the chest area, the black and gold armor is adorned with more sculpting. That center detail kinda looks like a flower. You can also see a closer view of two thin antennas and made to look as though the antennas are originating from under the armor. At the side, you can see more gold sections of the armor.

The most critical part for me is the head, because that's where we have the face. A lot of scale figures fail when in comes to making a good face and this statue is an exception. Dark Angel Olivia's face came out quite accurate when compared to the original artwork. Needless to say, the face is pretty but it's got the typical template of a pretty anime and manga face. What really stands out are the red eyes.

Unfortunately, this frontal angle is the best angle of the face. The hair gets in the way when you view the face from the sides. And like other similar faces, it looks flat from the sides too. We've got other things going on on her head...the super detailed horns, and some hair ornament all coated in black and gold.

The only real pain in all this is that the figure comes in a giant box. It's huge because Kotobukiya opted that the wings be spread out and positioned correctly to make it look like that the wings are already attached. Plus, the circumference of the base is quite large. I really hope that they could have made the packaging more compact by repositioning the wings and unscrewing the base. But all in all, this is an amazing scale figure.