Nendoroid 102: Tsumugi Kotobuki

Mugi-chan! The delightful gentle princess of the K-On! anime series is here, Nendo-rised. Having looked at her Figma counterpart last month, we now have the Nendoroid version, Good Smile Company's physical iteration of a chibi character. Wealthy and welcoming, Tsumugi is the dirty-blonde-haired keyboard player in the club who takes delight in the simplest pleasures in life and is a specialist tea-maker and snack connoisseur. Mugi's distinct feature besides her big bushy hair are her big, bushy eyebrows, and a positive personality that's infectiously adorable. My favourite K-On! girl.


So how has the cute chibi version of an already cute girl fared? Not too bad actually. Mugi wears her classic school uniform of blues, with a dark blue blazer with little golden buttons, a white shirt with a blue ribbon around her collar and a light blue frilled dress. The short, squat form with those stubby limbs are always cute, but Mugi makes it work even better somehow. Where would Tsumugi be without her trusty Korg Triton Extreme keyboard? Well, we wouldn't know since it's here in Nendoroid form too. Coming in two parts, simply plug the stand into the bottom of the keyboard and you're ready to go.


A decent level of detail has been achieved for the Korg, though expectedly it isn't nearly as intricate as it's Figma associate, with fewer keys and a mold that isn't as sharply defined. My stand was also a mite wobbly too, rocking about because it didn't stand completely flush with the ground. I cannot comment if this will be the case for every one of these Mugi figures, but it was something that occurred for me. But for effect, the keyboard surely does it's job, and looks right in proportion with Mugi-chan when posed together.


Like most Nendoroid, Tsumugi comes with a bunch of alternating arms and hands to swap over for posing, since articulation in these parts are not yet possible, though future Nendoroid will have something to say about that (coming soon!). Three pairs of arms are here total, with two pairs bent and one pair straight. The first pair are bent and go with Mugi's tiny hands with splayed fingers, to imitate playing the keyboard, these hands can also be put with any of the other arms, but they seem distinctly made for this purpose.


The next set of arms, straight, can go with those hands to make Mugi look shocked or excited. The last set of arms go mainly with two special grasping hands, with small grooves between the thumb and fingers to allow Mugi to hold her serving tray, complete with a teapot, cup and saucer, and a slice of cake. Only the teacup can be removed from this tray, though you can spin the other two pieces in any direction you like. You can hold the teacup and saucer in one of Mugi's hands, but it doesn't appear made for this purpose, with her having difficultly holding them securely, making it an odd decision to make the cup detachable in the first place.


There's another hand too, one holding a special object: a radish! Now, whatever could this mean? In the now infamous episode from the first season (and a moment that has now reared it's head in the second season… protractors?!), Mugi promptly has her now-turned-radish eyebrows plucked off to go with Yui Hirasawa's rice bowl, effectively tripping Yui out. A small sticker sheet with two pairs of brown eyebrows and two pairs of radish eyebrows are provided to place on one of Mugi's three faces to complete this scene.


Smiling oh-so-Mugi-like, Tsumugi's now eyebrow-less face would normally be something terrifying, but here it's delightful, so much so that I didn't feel the need to stick any of the included eyebrows on her. One, because these are use-once stickers, and two, because she looks crazy-cute like this anyway. Perhaps GSC could've tried and taken a leaf out of Ritsu Tainaka's book and made them magnetically attached?


The last two faces have Tsumugi smiling politely, enjoying herself, with her eyes and mouth wide open and beaming. A subtle shade of pink showing in her cheeks. The last face has Tsumugi looking flustered or shocked, eyes blank white with thick black outlines. Maybe this is her looking at something suspiciously suss? We know dear Mugi-chan has a penchant for cute girls interacting closely together, and then letting her mind run wild with seemingly perverted thoughts. Maybe she just likes seeing such a close and intimate relationship, but I find my reasoning more personally pleasing. Heh heh.


Being the most regal of the group, Tsumugi doesn't move about as abruptly as the others, and has no alternative legs to swap over, but of course they are jointed at the hips and can be turned specially. The included stand does a less-than acceptable job of keeping her up, and GSC know this technique needs a much-needed overhaul, with future Nendoroid showing what will hopefully become the new standard for standing your eternally top-heavy toys in place.


Mugi's hair is a gorgeous plume of flowing locks, shaded adequately and with an illusion of many layers. And while the bangs at the front are made of a softer plastic, still tend to collide with her arms and accessories when you have her head turned to the side, such was always going to be an issue with such hair, and they certainly couldn't have cut her hair to make Mugi more easily-posable. Such dilemmas. Still, Mugi-chan is an adorable addition to the K-On! crew, with just Asuza to go for the After School Tea Time band side of things. Will we see some extra cast members in the future for this line? I certainly hope so.