I’m not really a fan of models or figurines of anime girls. And when I say “not really a fan”, what I mean is I don’t own any, and don’t have any interest in acquiring them.
But I guess there are exceptions to every rule. If someone were to make a solid, non fanservicey figure of a character I’m fond of, I’d consider it.
And if that character just so happens to come from Gundam X, I’d consider it even more. And that’s exactly what Bandai did, so for the first time in my life I broke down and bought a Girlpla:
I’ve said it before, but Tiffa is awesome. If I have to have a model of a Gundam girl, this is a good choice.
But is it a good figure? Let’s find out.
About Tiffa Adill
For all intents and purposes, Tiffa is the co-protagonist of After War Gundam X. For the TL:DR, here is the blurb from the manual:
Everyone loves Tiffa. In this unscientific Reddit character poll of Gundam love interests, almost every rating is a 10⁄10, giving her a total average of 9.61 (which, at the time, was the second highest rating, topped only by Rain Mikamura).
But why is she so beloved? I think the biggest reason is that she is one of, if not the best written Newtype characters in the franchise.
In general I’m not fond of the whole Newtype concept. I think the whole idea rests on shaky ground (being way too close to an ubermensch analogue for my liking), and is made even worse by bad writing that makes Newtype characters overly hostile and moody.
Tiffa is different. While it is true that she begins the show acting like your stereotypical “waifish anime girl with mysterious powers”, there is a reason for that. Her Newtype powers do make her mysterious to people that don’t understand them, as she demonstrates a mix of psychic and precognitive abilities. And she’s timid and shy because she’s spent some unknown amount of her childhood being kidnapped and experimented on by bad actors.
In other words, she doesn’t interact much with people partly because she doesn’t know who to trust, and partly because she doesn’t know how.
But even early on, there are signs that she is sweet and caring:
And over time, the Freeden crew helps her come out of her shell, not by treating her different, but rather by treating her like a regular part of the group.
By the end of the show, Tiffa has become a fully actualized person, with a (fully requited!) crush on Garrod, who chooses to fight back against the evil forces of the world, not because she’s been pressured to, and not because she’s special, but simply because her and her friends think it’s the right thing to do.
It is a beautiful character arc, one in which a Newtype defines herself not through her “otherness”, but through the genuine connections she has with others. It’s the kind of message that other shows want to have regrading Newtypes, but which most of them fail to properly convey. But Tiffa nails it, and that’s why she rules.
The other reason people love her is because her relationship with Garrod. It is at once super sweet, innocent, strong, and affectionate. If seeing them together doesn’t melt your heart I don’t know what will.
There are a lot of Gundam shows that end with some sort of hope that the younger generation will do better and make the world a better place. I usually roll my eyes at this, because it usually feels like the teen characters are just as flawed as their elders.
Garrod and Tiffa are two rare exceptions. I actually believe they have what it takes to improve their world, and that sense of hope is very powerful. That, more than anything, is why I love these characters.
About the Build
Suffice to say that it’s surprisingly similar to how Grogu is built. The limbs are just a lot longer.
Disappointment
Tiffa is a character that shows a range of emotions over the course of the show, and I was really hoping this model would capture as many of them as possible:
But it just … doesn’t.
The main problem is that it only comes with four faceplates, and of those four, two of them are tampo-printed (which means they eyes are pre-printed and cannot be changed)
This alone makes it really difficult to come up with a set of truly varies expressions. It’s made worse by the fact that her only “angry” face is one of the pre-printed ones, meaning if you want her to look upset, she’s always going to be looking off to the left.
Of the other three, one is an open mouthed “shocked” face, while the other two are smiling. This seems like an odd choice at first glance, as Tiffa doesn’t spend most of her time smiling. Put a pin in that for now.
Now let’s look at the waterslide decals used for the eyes:
Most of them are bright and wide, with rosy cheeks, and none are what I’d consider sad, mad, upset, or in any way distressed.
It’s clear to me now - and in retrospect, it should have been clear to me right away - that the point of Figurise Standard models like this one isn’t to reflect the true and full personalities of these Gundam girls. Rather, the point is to either make them look sexy:
Or to make them look as cute and precious and demure as possible (which is what I think they’ve done to Tiffa here):
That’s … not what I wanted out of Tiffa, but I guess that’s what the target audience wants, so that’s what Bandai is willing to make.
I suppose the silver lining is that now that I know what to expect, I know I can safely ignore the Figurise Standard line going forward. But for now I’ll try to make the most out of Tiffa here.
I have to say, despite my issues with the lack of facial variety, overall it is a pretty good representation of the character. Her dress and hair are perfect, and the model does a very good job of hiding her doll-like joints, moreso than other Figurise models.
One thing to keep in mind is that Tiffa is not a mobile suit, and so her articulation is limited. Her legs alone are restricted by her skirt, but her arms are limited as well. For example, at one point I realized that her arm looks a bit like Mega Man’s M-Buster when you remove the hands:
So I tried to get her in the classic Mega Man jumping pose, because I couldn’t get her arm to point straight forward:
It’s not a problem perse, but it would have been silly fun to put her in action poses.
I tried using these eyes to make Tiffa’s “blushing while thinking about Garrod” face, but I don’t like how it looks. Did I do something wrong? Should have placed them lower on the face?
For now, these photos are the closest I’m going to get to having the couple together:
Now let’s look at some accessories. Tiffa comes with the Gundam X’s G-Controller, which she’s not really all that associated with. I’m assuming they included it because someone thought it would e cute for her to have something that belongs to Garrod.
She also includes the little orb that represents D.O.M.E, which I won’t go into detail about so as to avoid spoilers. But if you know, you know:
We also get Tiffa’s chair, as well as a special set of legs so that she can sit:
This is the most involved of the accessories, since it uses the most parts, but it feels like a waste since they didn’t include her drawing easel:
Finally, we get a second head in which Tiffa wears her hair down, which she only does for one brief story arc where she gets possessed by a Newtype ghost; anime loves doing this trope where a character changes her hair when she’s possessed, so you know it’s a different woman in control:
It’s not a bad set of accessories, but I would have gladly traded some for a few extra faces.
Where Doth Garrod?
If you look up any social media post from when this figure was announced, or look at any Youtube shorts or videos about it, you will find an extremely healthy number of the comments are asking, if not downright pleading with Bandai to make a figure of Garrod to go along with Tiffa.
I 10000000000000% agree with this sentiment. It feels weird to have either of them without the other.
But it seems that Bandai refuses to make any male Gundam characters into Figurise models. Which is weird, because they have made male Figurises:
They just won’t do it for Gundam, and at this point it’s kind of getting ridiculous. If ever they were going to break the trend, you’d think they do it in this instance and make Garrod. But I just don’t see it happening, and that’s extremely unfortunate.
Price
Figurise models vary greatly in price, but a lot of them seem to be somewhere in the $30’ish range. But most of the Gundam girls - at least the ones from the last few years - are $40 and up, with some (like Tiffa) going for nearly fifty bucks.
In this particular case, I told myself it was the price to pay in order to show support for one of my favorite Gundam shows.
But this does not mean I condone the cost. There are a lot of Master Grade Gunpla that you could buy for less than this (granted, some of them are very old, and maybe not as fancy as modern ones, but the point still stands).
Now if the models had more face plates, or more accessories, I might be able to explain it. But instead this really feels like a “cute anime girl tax”. I’m guessing this hasn’t affected sales numbers much, since Bandai keeps making more figures. I will say though, that I’ve encountered a few people like me - who don’t generally buy Figurise models but do want Tiffa - who can’t justify the price. And that really sucks.
Conclusion
I don’t regret this purchase perse, but I’m disappointed that it’s not what I was expecting. I’ll put Tiffa on a bookshelf somewhere and go back to ignoring the Figurise line like I’ve been doing.