Figurine | Banpresto Demon Slayer FIGURE Guardians of the Night - First Form

Among many things that I want to get into during my so-called 'break' from adult-ing i.e. working on actual 9-5 job is collecting anime figures or as I called it, figurines. Initially, I have no idea where to start but a friend of mine suggested Bandai Spirits Co., Ltd.  figurines and even a newbie like myself recognised the huge toy manufacturer so here we are.

Now, the first line of figurines that I want to collect is from my current favourite Japanese anime, called Demon Slayer Figure - Guardians of the Night (鬼滅の刃フィギュアー絆ノ装 Kimetsu no Yaiba Figua - Kizuna no Sou) designed by Banpresto Co. Ltd. (toy company that has merged with Bandai Spirits Co., Ltd. since 2019) and the first figurine launched back in mid of 2019 is indeed for the anime's main character Tanjirou Kamado (竈門 炭治郎 Kamado Tanjirou)!

First off, let's go the packaging!

After extensive search through several online shopping platforms, I've finally managed to find this figurine on Shopee. After making comparisons to the photos posted on myfigurecollection.net, I'm confident that this figure is indeed authentic so it was a huge relief as I've found several numbers of fakes and counterfeits also sold on the very same platform.

As this was the very first figurine that came out for this line, I've noticed that the front elevation of the figurine being printed on both smaller sides of the box unlike the rest of the figurines released onwards whereby one side of the box is featuring the B version or the Sepia Colour version of the previous release of figurines. For example, Tanjirou Kamado First Form in Sepia Colour version was featured along side the Second Form of this figurine line which is Nezuko Kamado in normal colour.

At the back of the box, there's the front elevation of the figurine being printed again along with the manufacturer address at the bottom part of the box. There's the manufacturing date printed at the bottom side of the box which is May, 2020 hence this figurine that I've gotten is actually a re-release version of the figurine as it first came out back in July, 2019.

At the top side of the box, there's the official anime logo with the figurine's name printed on it. There's also the indicator (white box) that this figurine is for Sales Outside Japan Only. According to a Shopee seller, an authentic figure always comes in a box and there's serial number stamped on the inner side of of the top (sometimes bottom) lid of the box so definitely check yours before cutting open the plastic cover.

Now, the figurine came with an inner packaging that supposedly hold the unassembled figurine inside so even when the outer box get smashed into half of its size, not to worry as the figurine should be safe for you to unbox. Well, I'd sure hope so as I've already gotten one figurine with torn outer box at this point and it's still in perfect condition although the Shopee seller sure got a long review with multiple photos and a video.

Of course, the figurine came in unassembled parts as shown above sealed in clear plastics; usually in 4 to 6 parts depending on the design but for this First Form, there's the black oval base, Tanjirou's Nichirin blade (unsheathed), the body and then the head. This took me less than a minute to assemble. 

I absolutely love this pose as it screams shonen and that signature checkered haori is nicely covering him like that as if there's a soft wind coming his way. The only problem I'm having is the Nichirin blade that doesn't sit comfortably on his shoulder so I'm thinking to place a double-sided tape on his palm to at least hold the tsuka in place.

 

Side elevations of the figurine. Definitely prefer the look from my right angle (left photo).

Back elevation of the figurine. Yep, gotta love that haori.

I'm not sure whether I've shown this original Japanese manga before but yes, I actually am learning to properly read Kanji as I still haven't master it well (not even those for JLPT 5)  so thanks to furigana in this comic, I'm slowly and surely taking my time with reading the kanji in hiragana. Oh, I just love this cover for the 10th volume! The English version by Viz Media is still on its way from Kinokuniya so hopefully it'll arrive by next month as I can't wait to read them side by side. 

Busted! I actually already bought the Sixth Form also featuring Tanjirou although only in his Demon Slayer uniform. It's definitely a redundant to the collection (I'll share about it in the upcoming weeks for sure) but I just had to get it!

So I guess that's all from me! Let me know if you're also starting a collection or already deep into otaku mode and also tell me your favourite anime of all time by leaving comments down below.

Disclaimer | Figurine is bought and shipped to my door with my own money. My opinions expressed here don't represent any party and I'm not responsible for any misinformation as I'm just sharing them as it is but feel free to let let me know if you want to add or correct anything here. Sharing is caring!