1/7 Fate Testarossa Casual Outfit Ver. An Oath and a Little Wish (Alter)

My, what a surprise, and what a treat!

I’m not the biggest fan of the Nanoha series, and I’ll admit, Fate Testarossa is not my favourite character (forgive me, Fate's adoring masses!). However, there's no denying Fate is beautiful, and she has beautiful red eyes to match.

Plus she's wearing her hair down, and Fate with her hair down is absolutely gorgeous. And she's made by Alter. Did that seal the deal? You bet it did.

Fate comes in a box that isn’t anything special. It's a box that does what a box should, and little else. Now, I'm not a box enthusiast. If the box protects the contents, then it's a good box in my eyes. Given that, Fate's box is not unaesthetic in any way. The colours are quite charming and the wide window adds a certain sleekness to its design.

 

Onto the 360! I'm not very impressed by static poses, but for some reason, Fate's shy hip tilt is absolutely endearing (and so very feminine).

 

 

The expression, oh my! Fate's face is my favourite part of this sculpt. Not many figures can pull off this atmosphere of contemplation, but Fate does it effortlessly.

I’m glad to find an expression that finally captures Fate’s gentler, soft-spoken side. It's a nice change to her  kill-shot eyes. She seems to be pondering something distant (Nanoha, perhaps?). And the eyes, they speak of a solemn maturity beyond her years. And they're beautiful—beautifully red.



Her hair, in all the eloquence of English, has “whoosh” factor. The sculpt is excellent, and side-puff that I found so annoying in the series is softer. Her hair is shaded very discreetly. Not enough to make it seem brown, but enough to give it some depths. The pull lines leading to her ribbons are an additional plus. As usual, there is a seam on her head, but Fate’s hair is beautiful enough to render them moot.

The layering of her hair is just spectacular.

Alter certainly doesn’t slack when it comes to detail. The outfit is basic, but wonderful in its simplicity.

Sometimes it’s nice to have an easy breezy figure rather than an overwhelming anthology of sculpting prowess (although those are also undoubtedly awesome). The shading on the black isn’t given much depth, but it’s difficult to shade black without making it seem grey anyways. I’m a big fan of the folds they put into Fate’s outfit. They appear in just the right places to just the right degree.

Seeing as the "regular" version of Fate comes with weaponized Bardiche, I'm a little disappointed this Fate doesn't. On second thought, I guess it would be somewhat inappropriate for Fate to wield a dangerous weapon in her nighties (her beautiful, black nighties).

While on the subject, there's a fine golden sheen on jewel-Bardiche. The belt around her wrist is a nice touch. If you look closely, her fingernails are sculpted and painted too.

What do you think she's thinking?

 Her expression. Really, is there a better word for Fate than melancholy? She's so soft-spoken and elegant.
Alter gave Fate's eyes a nice liquid sheen. I always appreciate a nice, lively sheen in my figures. It gets in the way of photography, but I enjoy the extra shine in real life.

The expression of a thousand "moe"

I like Fate's boots because I’m partial to anything shiny. Besides the shininess, it's also wonderfully folded and cute in their roundess. If you look closely, you’ll see they actually sculpted the holes for her laces. Now that, my friends, is raw dedication.

Do I enjoy my Fate? Yes, yes I do. She's a wonderful piece of Alter goodness. The only fault I can (maybe) find is the less-than-dynamic pose, but then again, she's not supposed to be dynamic. She's supposed to be quietly thinking in her PJs, and that's exactly what she's doing.

Just a quick warning. Jewel-Bardiche falls out very easily. I can’t count the number of times I’ve accidentally jostled Bardiche right out of her hand (3, actually), only to be lucky enough to hear it fall.

Although this version of Fate began as a WonderFest limited edition, she's actually avaliable for on several online sites. At the time of this post, she's still up for order at Big in Japan.

The Run-Down

Packaging: 5/10 (It's a box)
Base: 5/10 (It's a base)
Pose: 6/10 (Not action-packed or spectacular, but simple and sweet)
Sculpt: 10/10 (It’s Alter, what can I say?)
Paint: 10/10 (Again, it’s Alter)
Overall: 8/10 (Lovely)

Company: Alter
Price: 6500 yen
Purchased from: Big in Japan

Verily yours,
Jenn