You already know about Guanggun Jie, aka "Singles' Day," the Chinese shopping holiday on 11/11 - chosen as a day for single people because it's four lonely ones (though like John Oliver said, 4/4 might have been better). But another tradition is the hóngbāo, or red enveleope: friends and family give each other gifts of money, with the red color symbolizing good luck and prosperity. These are most widely exchanged at Lunar New Year, and recently Good Smile Company has gotten in on the tradition in their own way, combining it with the Japanese fukubukuro, or "lucky bag," a grab bag of unknown merchandise, sold below regular retail price,
as a way to attract customers.
In January/February, Good Smile sets up a special page on their website where you can order... something. You can choose from their various products - Figma, Nendoroid, Pop-Up Parade, high-end statues, etc. - but you have no hint as to what character you'll get, or even what property it'll be from. Clearly this is just a way to clear out overstock from their warehouse, but the possibilities are not just limited to old figures; it's anything they have in stock, and so it truly is a lucky draw that might see you get something new and in-demand. You can order as many of these as you want (and they'll do their best to make sure there are no duplicates in a single order, but if you place another order later you're taking your chances). I like Figma, and it seemed unlikely any of the ones I already owned would be in the loot pool, so I took a chance and ordered two for $30 apiece. (Also shipping, but shipping for one was basically the same as shipping for two, which is why I doubled up.) So who'd I get?
...I don't know!
"Wh-what's your problem? Want me to kill you?!"
From the popular smartphone game Princess Connect! Re:Dive comes
a figma of the sharp-tongued Gourmet Guild member, Karyl!
I've never heard of Princess Connect! Re:Dive. The original Princess Connect ("Priconne" to its fans) was a social media game that started in 2015 and shut down 16 months later. Re:Dive is a waifu gatcha game in the guise of a JRPG, where you collect different characters (girls, mainly) to help you fight monsters? So, half World of Warcraft, half Tokimeki Memorial? I don't know. There was an English server run by Crunchyroll in 2021, but it was turned off in 2023. There was also an anime adaptation in 2020; let me go watch that real quick to find out what's up.
In the world of Astraea, there are humans, elves, beasts, demons, and various other races. Karyl is a beast - specifically, a cat - and has a cat's temperment: she's aloof and standoffish, but seems to actually care for anyone who treats her well and makes an effort. And is very food-motivated. She's a starting character in the game, and one of the main characters of the anime, so it makes sense she'd be chosen to get a toy.
Of course, all I knew when I opened this figure was she was some kind of goth catgirl. She wears a short, frilly dress,
a corset/vest thing, and a sleeveless white shirt with a simple tie below the collar. The vest has matching flared sleeves, but they don't actually connect to the rest of the outfit at all. She has dark stockings to match the trim of her skirt: one taller than the other, with a garter holding up that second one. A piece of jewelry or something hangs against her left hip, a series of maroon diamonds trimmed in gold and slung on a golden chain. It's a very cute look, and the tails of her coat and the giant, flowing ponytails streaming off her hair make the figure more dynamic than expected, even when standing still.
Articulation is plentiful, of course -
that's the Figma way! Karyl moves at the ankles, knees, thighs, hips, waist, chest, wrists, elbows, biceps, shoulders, neck, head, and tails of both the "pony-" and "cat" variety, a fine assortment of balljoints and swivel/hinges and whatever else is needed to make her move the best she can. The big pigtails can overbalance her, easily, but there's an articulated stand included that can plug into her back.
Actually, there are four: one for her,
and three for her accessories. Karyl is a magic-user, so her accessories include two magical effects and her staff/spellbook. The effects pieces are intricate mandalas (think "Doctor Strange") printed in pink on clear plastic discs. Her staff is topped with a book rest designed to look like a cat bowing (the Season 1 design), and her book, the Chaos Grimoire, indeed rests on top. It's sculpted open, and can't be closed. Thanks to the display stand, you can have all these hovering around her while she uses her magic.
There are a whole group of swappable hands (open, closed, gripping, clawing, and pointing) as well as three alternate faces.
Her standard face is plain and pleasant, while the extras include one that's shocked and pale, one that's excited (with a cat-shaped mouth and a single visible fang), and one that's blushing. Because her having feline personality traits means she's totally tsundere, so she's often embarrassed by her own emotions. Too bad they didn't also give us one with her mask.
Figma #558 originally retailed for $98.00 (depending on the exchange rate), but can be found for about half that these days. That's still more than I paid to get her as a Lucky Box, and I wouldn't even have looked twice at the character anyway (other than the general appeal of "goth catgirl," that is). Heck, I never even would have heard of Princess Connect! Re:Dive without this figure. The cartoon - sort of a mix between Sword Art Online and Delicious in Dungeon? - is good, for something that's honestly just an extended ad for a freemium game that is itself really just a microtransaction delivery system. How good? Well, it's far from the only anime based on a gatcha game, but it's one of the only ones to earn a second season. And clearly all that cash they were raking in from the game was put into creating top-notch animation for it, from the simple slice of life monster-of-the-week episodes to the epic battles that are right up there with Gurren Lagann and Kill La Kill. The game already had anime-style cutscenes in between rounds, but that was no guarantee a show would be good; this, meanwhile, had gorgeous, fluid animation throughout, that managed to make even the fairly plain story feel cool, and is probably worth watching. It doesn't feel like an ad for the game, it feels like its own thing. And thanks to Good Smile's red envelope sale, I've got an awesome figure from it.
-- 05/11/25
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