“Bakemonogatari” has always been a source of inspiration for many figure manufacturers, with many of the top companies releasing their own versions of the always popular series. Kotobukiya has been one of them and while their offerings have often gotten the cold shoulder over the ones from Good Smile or Alter, they’re trying to reverse the trend with their latest and most impressive figure yet, Black Hanekawa. Alter had previously released their own Black Hanekawa but Kotobukiya’s pushing theirs’ by marketing a smaller scale and a highly detailed base that’s much more appealing than the one from Alter’s. In fact, the star of the entire package might not even be Hanekawa herself as the base is simply too gorgeous to ignore. The broken tables are so realistically done that you might think that a destroyed piece of school property was shrunk down to 1/8 scale. As for the character itself, while she’s not by all means bad, her face just doesn’t look right especially when compared to Alter’s which was pretty spot on. The best part is obviously the flowing hair but even that has its flaws with a highly visible seam line at the sides. Overall, is it a worthwhile purchase? Even I’m not so sure. If you’re more of a 1/8 scale collector then this might be a better purchase even with the less than perfect face, but if you’re not too picky with sizing, then Alter’s is the way to go. Kotobukiya’s Black Hanekawa will be released in May 2012 for a hefty 9800 yen.