Days of Hope & Fleeting Happiness - ANBU Uchiha Itachi by Megahouse

And people kept asking why Megahouse (MH) is my favourite figure manufacturer.

Looks like I made it in time to march in to September with my favourite man~ Believe me I was swooning (and cursing at how long I took to edit) as I was preparing for this post. Ever since MH revealed their first unpainted prototype back in Dec 2014 (Figure 1), I nearly died waiting 4 months for the painted prototype and pre-order date, followed by another 6 months for it to be released, and an additional 2 months thanks to the delay on my buyer's side...

(I'm positive it was after this incident I became numbed to waiting)

Figure 1a. First Itachi from Megahouse's G.E.M. line: even before it was painted I knew it would be perfect

That was around the time of his last fight with his brother, so in exchange for his death on screen, we get a personified version of his statue, in memory of a great man lost in ninja history.

Isn't cross-media marketing lovely?

It is the same for today's ANBU Itachi. Yes, it was definitely a planned release in tandem to Itachi's Story, TV release (イタチ新伝：光明と暗夜篇) back in March 2016, based on the light novel by Takashi Yano (2015). Goodness, talk about unexpected - ever since he died I was certain there wouldn't be anymore Itachi's figure, and this is the one of those times you want to be wrong! 

And it was done so perfectly................ MH please hire me to work for you

Figure 1b. Second Itachi unpainted prototype released during MegaHobby Expo Spring 2016. Good choice to travel back in time to his prime time! Image courtesy of Mechincal Japan (2016).

More details on the figure:

Series: Naruto Shippuuden

Manufacturer: Megahouse

Product Line: G.E.M.

Scale: 1/8

Material: ABS, PVC

Sculptor: Arai Kyousuke

Release Date: Nov. 2016

Now, to the shoot...

Seeing that I've ran out of places around my neighbourhood, I picked one of the up and happening nature hotspots in Singapore - Punggol Waterway Park. It has been 3 years since my last visit, and till date there remained a fond memory cycling down the asphalt trail with my internship supervisor lol

As to why it is "happening," well, if you mention that you live/ wanna live at Punggol, you'll be sure to stir up a debate between [Ulu + Ex VS Peaceful + Beautiful] among Singaporeans... just a heads up

Regardless, aren't the cumulus clouds there impressive? Look at that total reflection! 

Hooray to no concrete blocks everywhere

 While I'm at it lemme advertise the place a li' bit more

So sad, I don't understand why they're chopping down these amazing hedges :(

Can you spot the squirrel?

And after walking for an hour, I discovered a potentially amazing spot and took camp.

 I always make it a point to get the character to look into my lens, and I maintain that is the hardest part, next to capturing the most flattering angle, appropriate distance, background... So naturally, close-ups are my favourite shots

As one of my trusted friends pointed out, it shows the figure better

Shout out to my peeps for helping me decide the background colouring <3 You know who U R 

Before:

After: 

This was a tricky shot - I was testing out one of the funky filters that came with my Olympus, and who knew it happened to become one of my favourite photos! So... I went through hell just to adjust the colour balance until it barely matches the rest of the photographs zzz

Do you prefer "Before" or "After?" Frankly I prefer the former lol

Trying out the hexagon overlay, nice or not? 

I have envisioned taking this overlooking the waterway shot a mil times in my dream, so to finally see it come into fruition, the travel and trouble's all worth it

My first artificial sunset, loving the fighting till dawn feel

Some comments about the figure:

So there's actually an 8 year age gap between his first (Akatsuki) and second outfit (ANBU), where he is 21 and 13 respectively... However they are sculpted with the same 8 heads proportion, hard to believe he stopped growing since then eh? Luckily there are noticeable differences in the head sculpt, so this one's rounder and cuter (depicting "youngness" I guess) than the first figure.

Figure 2. Itachi in anime

Also, the sculptor modified the top, from his usual sleeved black tee (Figure 2) which he wore underneath the armour to the typical ANBU sleeveless tee - very very good choice. We can not only see the hidden tattoo (it was seriously never once shown in the show!) and his delis biceps.

The plethora of weapons thrown in - kunai stuck along the trunks, and his katana, pure gorgeousness.

OK, gonna get out of here, the next time I post will be from his country of origin ^.^

As usual, thanks for staying till the end.

xoxo