From its manga origins spanning two arcs both untimely cut, to two anime chronologies that ultimately went nowhere with either, Rozen Maiden was probably not the most fortunate of PEACH-PIT’s multimedia franchises. But from the memes it spawned, to its en pointe style, to fostering a love of the Japanese rock group ALI Project in many, these factors alongside it standing out as truly something unique in the Japanese anime/manga sphere have allowed Rozen Maiden to enjoy a lasting legacy. For those who collect figures, in the pre-painted category, it has been a long road to receive figures for all the main characters of the series. The now-defunct Griffon Enterprises released figures for Shinku, Hinaichigo, Suiseiseki, and Souseiseki as far back as 2014. While their quality was mixed, they were ultimately well-built 1/3 scale models of the four, with figures of Suigintou and Kanaria planned. With Kanaria being my favourite of the Rozen Maiden dolls, I was stoked to get my hands on an official figure of her.
But then the delays happened.
The manufacturer closed its doors.
and then there was nothing.
Here we are now in 2024, with the manufacturer Flare opting to work with the cult-classic anime, bringing their take on the remaining two characters to life in figure form. After understandably releasing their Suigintou figure first last year, now in January 2024, those who have waited many years for a Kanaria figure can now finally hold it in their hands. Was it worth the wait, and was it worth the shockingly high price of 26,800 JPY? Read on to find out!
In terms of appearance, Kanaria aligns more with Souseiseki than with the remaining five Rozen Maidens, exuding a mixture of sophistication and youthful charm, and a design that is visually distinct from any other character. Instead of frilly lolita dresses, her outfit consists of more traditionally boyish items (in the fashion style), but with feminine twists to them – a vibrant dark canary yellow dress adorned with lace and ribbons and puffy orange pants. Adorned with her iconic canary yellow parasol, musical motifs tying into her using a violin as her weapon, and her twin braided green hair – she leaves a visual impact not just as a character, but among my entire collection of anime and video game figures.
This is the first time I have ordered a figure from FLARE and I must admit, they leave a lasting impact. There is no shoddy cardboard box. Instead, the packaging consists of almost 365 degrees of clear plastic, allowing you to admire the figure from every angle before making a purchase. Instead of carefully chosen marketing shots, you can do a decent spot-check for imperfections, while enjoying some simple yet pleasing rose motifs on all sides in subtle gold. So you have admired the packaging, purchased the figure and are ready to open it up. The question is… do you enjoy unboxing figures? Hopefully, you responded “Yes”, because Kanaria comes in multiple parts. While easy to assemble, to ensure that every separate piece of the figure arrives flawlessly, there are a lot of plastic layers to unpack and a fair few fiddly bits. The figure comes with a guide that is easy to follow thankfully, and after unboxing the pieces, there is nothing uncertain about where a piece needs to go or struggle putting it in.
Once you have her assembled, herein lies the first problem… she is incredibly well-designed and the quality difference is stark against the earlier figures. While the pre-Flare figures felt more like putting the individual characters on a podium, you can tell they wanted to embrace what makes Kanaria, Kanaria, and delivered it abundantly. In addition to capturing the character’s charm in her expression and pose, they did a good job at capturing her alignment with music through the violin and musical notes in the background – while her parasol isn’t a half-assed attempt at replicating one, but is incredibly well detailed and looks convincing both at a distance and up close.
Similar to the base they created for Suigintou, Flare did not opt for a shared base but instead provided Kanaria with one that is distinct to her. This takes the form of a raised base with a theatrical flair, featuring black diamond motifs. It feels a little playful, while also contrasting nicely against the musical elements of the character – her violin and a bar of music supernaturally emitting from it. Everything is tied together with the sculpted roses in a rich golden-yellow tone, akin to her namesake canary colour, giving the figure another direct link to the rose motifs of the Rozen Maiden series. It gives the impression that if they were to offer a new set of figures around the Rozen Maiden franchise, this would be the hallmark base for such a collection. The base was well-constructed, with the peg holes for the figure and all the accessories fitting snuggly with minimal extra resistance, hopefully minimising any risk during assembly.
As mentioned above, this figure comes at a price of approximately 29,900 JPY, and once shipping and taxes came into play, ended up costing a whopping 34,800 JPY. Now, figure collecting is by no means a cheap hobby. With both that price point and a near-decade-long wait, coupled with the figure’s size of only 235mm (or 185mm minus the parasol and base), my personal expectations for this figure were very high. Thankfully, the figure I received was virtually flawless. Clearly, the figure was created by a team that cared about Kanaria’s character and aimed for more than just a simple ‘character standing on base’ design. The build and sculpt quality are immediately apparent, with a high level of detail across the character’s figure – from the small details on her accessories to the layered ruffles of her canary-yellow and orange apparel, to her playful pose and expression, to some of those typical pain points of mass-produced figures all being handled to the standard that I believe one should expect. The paintwork was also vibrant and rich in detail, the colours faithfully matching Kanaria’s palette from the Rozen Maiden Zurückspulen TV anime, and no noticeable issues of overpainting or uneven painting. Particularly notable is her parasol, which arrives in multiple pieces and serves as a striking backdrop that beautifully frames the figure, and also not being just a simple plastic piece but featuring the parasol frame underneath. However, since she has been sculpted holding the base of the parasol, there is no easy option to display her without it.
As the saying goes, “A picture says a thousand words”, so I would like to share an assortment of photos I captured of Flare’s Kanaria figure, to let you see for yourself whether she might be worth the price, and worth incorporating into your figure collection.
With the cost of living pressures that many find themselves in today, it is difficult to say that any anime or video game figure is “value for money” when every dollar is precious to so many, and if I hadn’t been waiting the greater part of a decade for this figure, then I would probably not have picked it up for myself.
But what if we disregard that element? Despite the figure’s relatively small size for its cost, what you receive is an incredibly well-designed, manufactured, and detailed piece. It is a celebration of Rozen Maiden’s iconic aesthetic, and is a positive indication of the premium collectables offered by Flare, even for a character like Kanaria who throughout the anime seasons and outside the latter half of the manga, was an underutilised secondary character at best. But as a character I would consider one of the best designed in not only Rozen Maiden but many anime of the era, it is great to see her finally receive the recognition she deserves. Here’s also hoping we one day receive a true, start-to-finish TV anime adaptation of Rozen Maiden… one can dream at the very least.
Known by its Japanese title ローゼンメイデン 金糸雀 完成品フィギュア, this figure is now available to purchase from a range of anime retailers to import from Japan. I personally ordered mine through Amiami, but be sure to shop around for the best prices from reputable retailers.
ローゼンメイデン 金糸雀 完成品フィギュア is manufactured by Flare, featuring sculpt work by i-con (Indigo Sky Blue), with paintwork by Emi Hoshina and package design by TSUNE (Nozle Graphics)
All imagery in this article is © The Otaku’s Study
