I've been hearing about the Azone International doll company for a few years now. Both Jessica (from the
first Photo Mission) and Charlotte (from
Milklegs Dolls) have listed these Japanese dolls among their favorites. I was curious about this highly-articulated brand from the first time I heard it mentioned, but it took me a really long time to choose a doll to buy. It often takes time to get acquainted with a new doll company, but I found the Azone doll selection particularly overwhelming. One obstacle is that there are several different sizes of doll made by this company. To name a few, there are 1:3 (18-20 inch) Original Series dolls, 1:12 (~6 inch) Picco Neemo dolls, and a wide array of 1:6 (9-12 inch) Pure Neemo characters.
Even after I decided on the 1:6 Pure Neemo size range, I still had a lot of options in front of me. First of all, there's size variation
within the 1:6 scale. These dolls can be XS (extra small, 7.2 inches), S (small, 7.76 inches), M (medium, 8.43 inches) or L (large, 8.86 inches). There's some chest size variation, too. In addition, not all Pure Neemo bodies are articulated in the same way. I ended up with what's called a regular Flection body, but there are also Flection Advanced and Flection Full-Action bodies...the latter of which I probably would have liked better than the one I bought. However, I got distracted by the characters of the dolls and didn't pay enough attention to articulation until it was too late. I was fascinated by the characters because many of the Pure Neemo dolls are based on Japanese anime series. I didn't want to buy a doll without knowing her backstory, so I watched quite a bit of anime.
After browsing and deliberating, I decided on a doll from the
K-On! anime collection. The
K-On! manga and anime follow a group of Japanese high school girls who belong to a rock band. My doll is named Tsumugi Kotobuki (Mugi for short), and she is the band's wealthy and kindhearted keyboard player:
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Pure Neemo 1:6 "Tsumugi Kotobuki" by Azone International. |