Alter 1/8 Louise Gothic Punk

The first figure I will be reviewing from my recent figure loot is the pink-haired tsundere wizard Louise Françoise de la Baume le Blanc de la Vallière, from the light-novel-turned-anime Zero no Tsukaima. Alter has produced this version of Louise wearing “Gothic Punk” attire in 1/8 scale. “Gothic Punk,” as best as I can ascertain from what Louise is wearing, is some sort of fusion between meido and gothic lolita. Regardless of the semantics of the fashion, she looks damn good in whatever the hell she is wearing.

The actual figure is based on the following official art of Louise.

The difference though is that she has a much less embarrassed-looking expression in the figure version, and she is much more shameful with how she is holding up her dress as well. The art has her exposing herself in a full frontal panchira shot, while the figure Louise’s pantsu are still hidden away underneath the dress from a direct frontal view. While an obvious disappointment from an accuracy standpoint and for a pink-haired-tsundere-fanatic like me in general, the figure’s reduced ecchi value makes it more displayable in polite company.

A few closer ups of her torso area and her face show the detail that Alter has put into the sculpting and painting of this figure. Everything from the waist up looks to be a very accurate three dimensional portrayal of the original art.

A side shot of her face, showing off a few more of the bow-ties in her hair and how far her bangs are from her forehead and face.

Another close-up of her dress shows the apron-like front and the bow-tie as well. You can also catch a glimpse of a red strap underneath the dress.

A few profile shots of Louise from her left and right side. The frills in her dress are very well done, as well as the folds in the fabric from Louise pinching the edges and lifting the skirt up.

From behind Louise, you can see even more of the red bow-ties in her hair. Alter took some liberties with this part of the figure because her back isn’t explicitly defined as the original art only has Louise from the front. Nonetheless, there is excellent detail in the sculpting and painting of her hair.

A shot of the lower part of her dress and legs allows you to catch a glimpse of the frills on the underside of the dress, as well as Louise’s zettai ryouki. Part of the “Gothic Punk” fashion must be mismatched hosiery and random red bindings around the knee.

Closing in on Louise’s boots, you can see here the defining accessory, which seems to be the likeness of Jack Skellington (from The Nightmare Before Christmas), as well as the detail in the bindings on her boots as well.

And now, instead of just being disappointed that the figure had diminished the ecchi content found in the original art, I decided to take matters into my own hands and put the faithfulness of the figure to the artwork to the test. Here is a shot of figure Louise’s pantsu from the front.

Yep, it looks like Louise is wearing pink pantsu, just like the artwork, and her pantsu have the frills and the pattern in the front as well, although it isn’t as clear here because the frills of the dress are blocking much of the view of Louise’s naughty bits.

From behind, the pantsu aren’t as defined, and are blocked even further by Louise’s dress.

This is actually the third Louise figure (that I know of) released by Alter; the first being the Bustier version, the second being the school uniform version that I reviewed earlier, and the third being this “Gothic Punk” version. Out of the three, it’s my favorite, and I feel its also now the best figure of Louise you can get now, period (although the only non-Alter Louise I have is the Kotobukiya one, so I can’t make too many first-hand comparisons here). Its just slightly disappointing that its not a perfect match for the original artwork, Louise’s blushing face and revealing panchira shot and all, but the detail put into this figure make up for that.