Kamado Nezuko | Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (鬼滅の刃) - Unboxing & Pre-Assembly Review

 If you are into collecting anime character figurines, it's worth noting before I begin that Bandai has arguably much better product lines to consider. For example their Banpresto and FiguartsZERO line have figurines that come fully pre-painted, and require either minimal (for the former) or no assembly at all (for the latter). This particular one I'm unboxing - a plastic model kit figurine of Kamado Nezuko, a character from the Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba, 鬼滅の刃) anime series - requires some painting despite the box cover's claim to the contrary as well as lots of assembly.   

Bandai plastic model kit figurine of Kamado Nezuko from the Demon Slayer anime series

 Don't get me wrong. I'm not being a masochist in choosing model kit figures that require me to not only paint some details to ensure color accuracy but also assemble it from scratch. And I'm definitely not against figures that come pre-painted and fully-assembled. In the future, I actually hope to add such figures to my collection. They can be expensive, but can look really cool in a display. Being a miniature painter means a part of me will always cringe whenever I don't have control over a figure's final aesthetics. That's just my ego talking though as the paint job on some of these pre-painted figures look fantastic. But I digress. Let's get back to the Kamado Nezuko plastic model kit figure.      

Side Box Art shows Nezuko in varios poses & indicates stickers will be needed for color accuracy

Other Side Box Art showcases the pre-painted parts namely Nezuko's hair and facial expression

Stated clearly in red letterings is the fact that this is a plastic model kit, not a completed figurine

 Although there seem to be a lot of parts to be assembled for a rather smallish figurine, the instructions don't seem that complicated. So in a sense the kit could be considered as a beginner-friendly plastic model kit. As you can tell from images of the instructions below, there aren't that many steps involved so it'll be a quick build if you don't plan to paint Nezuko. But because I intend to paint specific details of this model kit figure, I expect the overall build time to be a little longer than normal.

Lots of plastic bags with parts/runners/sprues contained within the box

First two pages of the instructions pamphlet are in color, showing the parts/runners/sprues included as well as some basic assembly instructions for beginners ...

... the next two pages are still in color, and has assembly instructions for Nezuko's head/hair ...

... this is followed by black and white pages with instructions for the assembly of ...

... Nezuko's kimono, cloak, and clothing in general as well as her arms, hands, legs, and feet.

 Most unique thing I found among the the runners/sprues are parts for Nezuko's hair. In total, there are eight hair parts that come pre-painted in black and orange. Her face also comes pre-painted with the eyes, eyebrows, and eyelashes all done. But if like me, you have OCD-like tendencies when it comes to hobby-related matters, then you would agree that her face still requires additional paint work. I plan to make Nezuko's cheek rosy and give her lips red hues to better define it.  

Runner/Sprue A: Nezuko's hair comes in eight separate parts, each in black and orange

Runner/Sprue B: Nezuko's face comes molded in a flesh color, and with her eyes already painted

 Meanwhile, the parts that make up Nezuko's clothes were a mixed bag. While her kimono comes pre-colored in a beautiful molded-in light pink hue, its patterns are just engraved grooves that'll require panel-lining to increase its visibility. It's much worse for the white colored parts because these have sections that aren't color accurate. Although Bandai provided colored sticker decals to address this very issue, I'm not a fan of this solution. Most of the time the end results look tacky. Whenever possible I'll try to paint such non-color accurate parts, which in this case comprised the kimono's sash, and the sandal's straps. Other than that, the ribbon bows on the ankle wraps will require panel-lining. As for the brown parts for her cloak and ankle wraps, they look good as is.

Runner/Sprue C: Nezuko's pink kimono comes with the pattern already engraved

Runner/Sprue D: White parts that make up Nezuko's clothes, sandals, ankle wraps and ribbon bows, etc.

Runner/Sprue E: Brown parts that make up Nezuko's cloak and ankle wraps

 Rest of the runners/sprues comprise flesh colored parts for Nezuko's arms, hands, and legs. These will require painting in the form of dry-brushing with pastels to give shading to the flesh hues. In addition, there is also a green part of a belt that secures the kimono sash, and a bamboo tube. To be color accurate, the former will have to be repainted into a lighter green while the latter can just be panel-lined with dark brown. Lastly there is a reddish brown runner/sprue that contains (a) the straps that hold the bamboo tube to her mouth (this can just be panel-lined), (b) another belt that secures the kimono sash (this needs to be repainted to a light orange hue), and (c) the soles of her sandals (these have to be repainted into yellow ocher with a dash of pink for the ends of the sandal straps.

Runner/Sprue F: Flesh colored parts making up Nezuko's thighs, knees, arms, hands, neck, and ears

Runner/Sprue G: Green colored parts making up the belt around Nezuko's sash and bamboo tube

Runner/Sprue H: Reddish brown parts that make up yet another belt around Nezuko's sash, the soles of her sandals, and the cloth 'tying' the bamboo tube to her mouth

 As mentioned earlier, due to the lack of color accuracy on some of the parts Bandai had included a sticker decal sheet (see below) to address the issue. These do a half-decent job but I won't be using them at all. I intend to paint all the parts that aren't molded in color-accurate hues.

Sticker decals for the kimono belts/sash, and sandals to ensure color accuracy

 Below is the 'Unboxing and Pre-Assembly Review' YouTube video of the Kamado Nezuko plastic model kit figure from Bandai. If you like the video, and would like to see more of the same kind of content, please do subscribe to my YouTube Channel i.e. FourEyedMonster Miniatures.

 Now that Nezuko has been unboxed and the contents of the plastic model kit figure closely assessed, I will be moving on to the painting phase of this Demon Slayer project. I don't think I'll be repainting the whole figure. Instead I plan to paint, panel-line, and dry-brush only specific sections of it to ensure color accuracy. This means the painting process shouldn't take long to complete. I had better get started on Nezuko so that I can upload updates on the project soon. Until we meet again in the ever shrinking world that is the blogosphere ... be well, be useful, and be happy!