Woeeee, it's been 5 months since my last written review! Hey everyone! ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/
Happy to be doing one of these again.
Today I've got someone that is sure to pique your interest..... everyone's favorite apple-loving shinigami, Ryuk from Death Note!
Apart from Oniri Creation's statue, we haven't seen a good Ryuk in over 8 years since the now defunct Griffon Enterprises' Ryuk!
This figure is made by AbyStyle, a manufacturer who seems to just be starting out in the figure scene. Not quite a scale but not a prize figure either, AbyStyle's Ryuk is somewhere in between and will run you $49.99. He's part of their "Super figure Collection" numbered at #4.
With that being said, let's get into it!
BOX
Ryuk is HUGE at exactly 12 inches so his box is pretty decently sized too. The art on the box is so nice! I really enjoy the famous shiny cross illustration covering the inside of the box (albeit not an insert you can remove to use as a background for photos).
The illustration of Ryuk & L covering the entire back of the box looks great too. It really gives you the feeling you're collecting a Death Note figure! You don't usually see box art this nice at this price range.
PAINT
I'll dig into the best parts of this figure before we talk about the less great things.
The face was recreated well. Ryuk has the kind of creepy face that can go really wrong really fast but AbyStyle recreated it faithfully! Although I definitely would have preferred his skin to be matte. I'm not sure that gloss does him any favors.
To my delighted surprise, Ryuk's jewelry and notebook were painted very neatly. I fully expect messy and splotchy paint on a figure of this price but despite how small & ornate his jewelry is, it was all painted well. However, it is just painted in a singular tone of metallic silver. You won't find any shading in the jewelry but this is forgivable given how clean it looks.
I can see that the shading was done instead on his suit to accentuate all the different textures and wrinkles found on it. The shading technique they used gives Ryuk an almost "grungy" look to him which I found pretty interesting! It's not smooth like you'd expect from airbrushing but a bit blotchy like if they'd used a paintbrush!
Although they were generous in this effort, I think it works for him honestly.
Pictures incoming!
View spoiler
SCULPT
The sculpt was done well. Although he's not as delicately sculpted as a scale, I don't imagine Ryuk is an easy character to bring to 3D. His outfit has all kinds of chains, belts, wrinkles, and other details. Again, considering his price I think AbyStyle did a stand up job.
His hair has a bunch of texture to it which I love. There's nothing more than flat, chunky hair to turn me off from a figure. You can also see the skulls sculpted in his outfit. His stitches, wrinkles, and ridges look good. I like that his hands look as bony as they actually are and they made sure to give him his long sharp nails!
I like that his wings aren't feathery but these other creepy looking kind of wings. It very much resembles what we see in the anime. They've got lots of texture to them as well.
BASE
Alright here comes one of my only complaints about this figure. In truth, it's more of a disappointment than a complaint.
So Ryuk's base in this figure is a skull. Standalone I actually quite like it! It fits the grungy look of the figure. It's an "edgy" motif but I can't help but wonder why they didn't go for an apple instead if they were looking for an object for him to sit on. It's a missed opportunity that could have made this figure THE Ryuk figure for collectors.
I could see it now! A bright red shiny apple to contrast against Ryuk's dark palette while also symbolizing his iconic obsession with apples. I'm really sad it didn't pan out that way!
COMPARISONS
Ryuk doesn't have a real scale to him but paired with a few figures you can get a better perspective on how tall he actually is.
Saber Alter from Alter is a 1/7th and doesn't look at all strange next to him although that's probably more due to their dark palettes, haha!
Iron Saga Judith from Myethos on the other hand is a 1/8th and looks just as fitting next to him. The head sizes are about the same so we can probably safely assume Ryuk is somewhere in the realm of 1/7th or 1/8th scale.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I think this Ryuk is a solid peace! AbyStyle is still pretty new to the figure scene but if they keep pumping figures like this I'm sure they'll be a fan favorite in no time.
He's well priced and has a great sculpt and paint on him. Not counting the questionable gloss on his face and the missed opportunity with his base, he's a great figure for any Death Note or Ryuk fan!
If you're interested in scooping him up you can purchase him directly from their website: www.Abystyle.us
So what do you guys think about him? Not counting Oniri's statue its been a long time since we've seen a Ryuk figure!
Thanks for dropping by and reading this little review, guys. With any luck I'll be posting another one up by this weekend. Lots of exciting additions to the collection this month!
See ya!
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