We’re had Kirino Kousaka, we’ve had Kuroneko, and now, from the anime and light novel Ore no Imouto ga Konna Wake ga Nai (My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute or Oreimo) we have Ayase Aragaki. As secret otaku Kirino’s classmate and best friend, Ayase is like a standard that Kirino uses to determine what’s normal and popular in the ‘normal and popular’ society. See, Kirino hasn’t let Ayase in on her little secret since she hasn’t told many people, and is afraid of losing her friend. But friends are supposed to support you and accept you for who you are, right? Well, Ayase has this thing for taking everything said in the news seriously and to heart. Thus, she highly disapproves of anime and manga and the whole otaku culture, calling it a disgusting hobby and thinks fans will become criminals – ouch.
So you can see the dilemma, plus the fact that yandere Ayase will snap and become a violent psychotic at the first sign she’s being lied to. Yeah, Ayase might think otaku are messed up, but she should really look into a mirror sometimes. Though maybe she does, since like Kirino, she too is a model, and will often accompany her friend in their part-time job. It’s a bit of a surprise that Ayase would get a figma, since I expected Max Factory to stop at the two main female characters in the show. So this begs the question of whether or not Ayase Aragaki is worth the time like her Oreimo cohorts. Let’s find out.
First, Ayase is in the same school uniform we’ve seen on Kirino, with the same muted colours and pink ribbon around her collar. She’s obviously the template that Kirino used in how to wear her uniform, including wearing her socks at the same height. Hang on, upon closer inspection, even the mould of her frilled skirt is the same as Kirino’s! If I didn’t know better, I’d say that this is a mere head-swap! Yes, lining Ayase up next to Kirino, the mould and proportions are all bang-on, so now we have to ask who is really copying who? Granted, the two girls do actually wear their uniforms exactly the same, but using the same mould down to the skirt even, Max Factory? I feel a little cheated.
It’s funny too, since Kirino pulls the look of so much better, but that’s thanks to her character and looks. Ayase is a bit more plain, more common with her very dark blue hair. But it seems like something else too, I look at Ayase and… nothing. There’s very little to be attracted to here. She just seems so normal. But they say the most insane people look the most sane, as evidenced by one of the three swappable faces for Ayase. The first has her lovely blue eyes looking straight ahead, cheeks streaked with pink in the style of the show, and a friendly, unassuming smile. The next face is probably the best face, since it has Ayase looking caught-out and offended. She’s frowning and her mouth is open in this sort of “Ugh!” way, as if what she’s looking at something that makes her sick with disgust.
The final face is her in yandere mode. You’ll have to look closely to see the difference between this face and the normal one, but that’s the point. Ayase was probably smiling happily, chatting away with Kirino, and then Kirino dropped the bomb about her being a closet otaku or something. The change is subtle but unnerving, as Ayase’s eye’s have lost their lustre, the colour has gone from her cheeks, and that smile is only there as an artefact of her previous mood. She now no longer knows how to move her features, since they’re arbitrary. She has become possessed and unyielding to the task: kill! Well, not kill, but probably maim or something terrible.
Going with this look is a set of handcuffs, which were featured in the seventh volume of the light novel. These are simple in design and use, as they do not actually unlock, but since all figma have interchangeable hands, Ayase can easily enough cuff some miscreant figma if she likes. Also included is a nice-looking tan brown handbag with chocolate brown accents (being Ayase, it’s probably some fashionable brand) and a small orange octopus charm hanging on the side. The bag actually opens too, so you can have Ayase suddenly whipping out those handcuffs for a citizen’s arrest or something. The cardboard punch-out for the di: stage included with Ayase is just like the other Oreimo figma girls’ in terms of design, and her colour scheme matches closer to Kirino’s than Kuronekos, unsurprisingly.
Six sets of hands and one extra dedicated hand is provided for Ayase. That dedicated hand has her wielding her grey mobile phone in a right hand. I know it’s become common-place for the figma line to have the mobile phones as basic as possible (unless something like a certain shape demands change or charm adorns it), but I miss the effort made in the old days, even if it was just something as simple as a bit of extra moulding to show the outline of the keypad. A recessed line is there to border the blank screen on the inside, and there’s a couple more around the camera on the back, but not much else is happening. I’m not sure of the purple vanity strip is supposed to be on an angle or not either, since it might again be a fashion thing. Maybe I’m just over-thinking it (yes).
Anyway, the other hands include a pair in the shape of fists, a pair of grasping hands a pair of open hands with the fingers together, a pair of open hands with the fingers spread, and a set of pointing hands for certain poses/exploits. This is a decent range of hands, so you should be right for just about anything you can think of when posing Ayase. Speaking of, I found the most enjoyment came from that disgusted face of hers. Since she’s a bit plain looking when she’s simply smiling, and the yandere face is a bit too nondescript, this angry face is perfect for having Ayase in some unfavourable positions (and by positions I mean circumstances – sometimes). The fact that Max Factory used the same model for Ayase as they did Kirino proves my theory that Ayase is a bit of an afterthought in their figma line, and they’ve put almost enough in here to warrant considering a purchase. Most will be happy with just Kirino and/or Kuroneko, I’m afraid.