Caymy

This item appears courtesy of http://www.bluefincorp.com/catalog/keimi.html .

“One Piece is the story of a boy named Monkey D. Luffy who was inspired by Shanks, a pirate. At the start of the series, 22 years before Luffy leaves his hometown and sets sail, a pirate named Gol D. Roger, known as the Pirate King was executed, but before his death, he told the crowd of his treasure, “One Piece”. His death sparked what would become the Golden Age of Pirates as countless pirates set out to look for his treasure. Luffy becomes one as well, desiring to be the next Pirate King and sets out to gather crewmates and begin his adventures on journeys.“

“Keimi (ケイミー Keimī, alternate spellings: Camie, Caymy) is a kissing gourami-styled mermaid that first appeared in Hatchan’s Sea-Floor Stroll mini-series. She first appeared after being spat out of a large sea boar that was saved by Hatchan, along with her starfish pet and master, Pappug. She first worked on Hatchan’s Takoyaki 8 [sailing ship] and later worked as a waitress at the Mermaid Cafe on Fishman Island. Keimi and her starfish, Pappug, also have the most unfortunate luck of getting eaten by large sea kings almost every time they go out. By the time she first met the Straw Hats, she had been swallowed twenty times. Keimi also has the unfortunate luck of getting captured almost every time she goes out, though it is likely because she is so naïve and gullible. Before she was captured by Macro and his crew once again in the Flying Fish Rider’s base, she had been previously captured by the Fishman Pirates thirty times. Fortunately for her, somebody is usually around to save her. Since the first time meeting him, this has usually been Hatchan. While Keimi is currently working part-time at the Mermaid Cafe and for Hatchan’s Takoyaki business, she dreams of becoming a famous fashion designer like her master, Pappug.“

–taken from The One Piece Wiki

(For convenience, I will use the romanji spelling of the character’s name in this review, even though the box is clearly labeled “Caymy”.)

This is a non-poseable figure, ‘standing’ about 5” (13cm) tall. Almost the whole set is composed primarily of hard ABS, while Keimei’s arms and tailfins are slightly-soft PVC. All surfaces have been painted, with the exception of Pappug’s sunshades which are transparent but very dark (as sunshades tend to be); Keimei’s entire tail was molded in semi-transparent white, but then pink and white paint were added. The eyes of both characters have been stamped on.

While Keimei simply plugs her tail over a peg in the display stand, Pappug is slipped onto a transparent accessory piece which then fits on another peg on the stand. Either character can be displayed on the stand alone if you wish, though obviously neither can stand upright on their own without support of some kind.

“Keimi is often seen accompanied by Pappug. The two usually travel together and ironically get eaten by larger fish and both require rescuing together. Keimi is oddly enough both the owner and apprentice of the starfish, Pappug. While she keeps him and feeds him clams, she also studies under him in order become a successful fashion designer like him. As a running gag, she often interrupts Pappug while he is explaining something and continue with the explanation, leaving him ignored, which causes Pappug to be depressed temporarily.“

I’ll admit right up front: I know absolutely nothing about “One Piece”, nor about the two characters featured here, so I cannot comment on how accurate the portrayal of either of them is here. (So how did I end up with this figure? Well, it’s because I’m probably the only self-professed mer-phile on CDX, so Josh had nowhere else to turn to when this sampler was sent to us.)

All I can really say is that the mold details are crisp and clean, part attachment points are flawlessly hidden, and the generous paint applications are both subtle and well-done, most notably in the highlights on Keimei’s skin and fins. (The fins benefit particularly well from the extra pink pearl coat of paint added.) The figures are very solidly built, and will survive a decent drop from the shelf. Pappug’s sunshades just fit with friction over his face, not snapping into place, so it concernes me a little that they might break off from the pressure over time. (Why are they removable? Must be how the character works, I truly don’t know.) Likewise, he falls out of that accessory piece he’s fitted to rather easily, so it’s fortunate he’s solid ABS plastic.

So, is it worth the thirty-seven dollars? Well, the only reason I don’t place more value in this character is because I don’t care about the show! But a non-poseable 5” figure?? Some might have an objection to that, though the quality of the figure is superb, and a lot of that depends on how much you like her from the show. But consider that the Figuarts ZERO Princess Shirahoshi is a far larger (24.5cm/9 ¾”) mermaid character (both in the anime and as a figure) for more than double the price (¥7875) and has a face-swapping feature. However, ultimately the mer-phile in me says simply, “Sure, why not”. The Figuarts ZERO Caymy set is just a simple, cute anime pirate mermaid with a pet starfish wearing sunshades and a rastacap. (*shrugs*)