Kotobukiya is currently at the fore front of “mecha musume” or “bishoujo plamo” with their Frame Arms Girl and Megami Device lines. With more manufacturers following suit, Kotobukiya is going back to the property that started it all and bring it to modern standards.
If you recognize this design, then it’s definitely nostalgic. To those who don’t, this is Arnval, one of the more recognizable characters from Busou Shinki. The original Busou Shinki figures were made by Konami and were called MMS or Multi Movable System figures that are highly poseable and allow customization of parts through various sets, from armor parts to weapons. The Arnval series is one of the mainstays of the line, along with the Strarf series so it’s no surprise that these two are getting the initial releases.
Benefiting from their experiences with the Frame Arms Girl and Megami Devices lines, expect to be treated with probably one of the best “mecha musume” kits to be available. They are even encouraging comparisons between this kit and the original MMS figures to see how far the technology and engineering of these kits/figures have gone.
And of course, being a “mecha musume” kit, you can strip down all the armor and weapon parts to reveal a fully poseable Arnval unit, which I believe to be the original version.
I am not too deep in the “mecha musume” bandwagon, but I do have several kits still in the backlog, including the huge ACT MODE one from Bofuri. I am likely to get this one because of (1) the design, and (2) because this is Busou Shinki, the one that started it all. Much like their other reveals, there’s no price or release info attached to this kit, but I’ll likely get one when pre-orders go up.
