Let me tell you about my favourite video game. Once upon a time there was a game called Valkyria Chronicles, a strategic RPG from Sega that featured a unique mix of turn-based and real-time action, an appealing storybook aesthetic, an amazing WWII-meets-medieval art design, and a riveting story that took me on a variety of missions, from small skirmishes, to fighting in the trenches, to avoiding night-time patrols, to fending off some of the most oversized pieces of war machinery you’ll ever see. Part of me want sequels to the game, yet another part of me is grateful for that fact that none exist — I mean, imagine if the franchise ended up on the PSP! Gee, what a nightmare that would be!
My favourite character is definitely Selvaria, one of the antagonists of the story. In many ways she is akin to the Ayanami Rei from Evangelion — they both have blue hair, red eyes and pale skin. In fact, Selvaria was supposed to have virtually the same haircut as Rei before it was decided that she had to have long hair to show off the hair physics in some of the scenes. The similarity between these characters extend even down to their personalities, as they are both “empty vessel” characters who are devoted to an exploitative figure because they are the only people they have. For Rei it was Gendo, and for Selvaria it was Maximillian, the power-hungry Imperial prince with way too many toys at his disposal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6JQl2xjBVw
The art design in Valkyria Chronicles is outstanding, and like the rest of the main characters, Selvaria has a really cool outfit — a sleek black military outfit that brings out her womanly curves and her no-nonsense sensibility simultaneously. Alter has made a figure with her in that outfit, and sadly I missed the boat for it. Luckily for me, Alter decided to take another stab at the character, I wasn’t about to pass it up.
I know quite a few people who have been excited about this figure, and I’m sure they have their own explanations on why Selvaria appeals to them, but to me, the reason is that she’s maximum woman. Virtually all of the feminine characteristics have been cranked up to 11, and while this might have been a disaster, character designer Raita has the know-how to make it work, and by extension, Alter was also able make such an exaggerated image so appealing.
