Rocksplosion!!!

“Wahahahahaha! My name is Megumin, the lead keytarist of Axel! Come, you shall all become my audience today!”

Having an imposing stage show is key if you want to make it big in rock music. Heavy tunes, shining light and of course lots and lots of explosions. Rock on Megumin!

About the figure:

Since I already made a video review about this figure a couple weeks ago, I will keep this paragraph brief. On paper this figure seemed like a sure win: Likeable character, nice color combination, interesting theme and a good design team and manufacturer to back it all up. The price was a bit hefty though but honestly, I’ve already accepted the fact that in 2021 a solid 1/7 figure is priced well above 15k yen, regardless of franchise or company. And don’t forget that 16k yen on paper results in a total amount of 23-25k yen for me since I’ve to also pay for shipping and local taxes. When the figure was released a saw a few people complaining about her base but personally I like the clear, translucent base. Since I keep most of my figures in an illuminated showcases, a base like this helps a lot in better spreading the light without having unwanted shadows on other figures. Also a few people wrote negatively about her general craftmanship and paint job and I can understand where they came from. For such an expensive figure the overall quality simply doesn’t hold up. Also, my copy of her has a paint defect right above her left eye (more precisely her eyepatch). It’s barely noticeable but knowing it is there can sometimes drive you crazy. All in all, I don’t regret buying her because I knew she would make for a nice photo opportunity and I already have a small collection of rock music themed figures.

About the series:

KonoSuba, short for “Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o!” was a break out Isekai series from 2016, that is based on a novel series by Natsume Akatsuki. Even to this day the series is highly memeable and will often be brought up when someone has to be convinced that comedy anime actually can be hilarious. And although it sits often at the top of comedy series ranking lists, I have a hard time to see it as this gamechanger or undisputed king of comedy. Of course, the subversion of certain genre tropes is funny in the beginning but for me this gimmick lost its appeal relatively fast. After that all there was left for me was stellar music, somewhat likable characters and neat figures. Not to bad for an entertaining medium but I’m far from being a mega-fan.

Thoughts about the picture:

As stated in the review part of this article I immediately had the idea for a picture like this when I saw her up for pre-order. Since I already did a pretty similar photo with Cyan back in 2019 I was able to reuse the miniature spotlights and also had a vague idea on how to craft the stage racks. Back then I used plastic straws but this time I switched to the eco-friendlier cardboard ones. I wouldn’t say that the cardboard ones look better but of course coating them with paint was much easier. The pennants in the background are made out of fabric leftovers. Altogether it looks a bit untidy but I always can say it’s intentional as a part of the punk rock aesthetic.  Because I still have PTSD from crafting Cyans pink speakers I ordered the ones in this photo from Aliexpress and only added a custom paintjob in order to fit Megumins keytar.

But enough talking about the mediocre props. The real star of this picture is of course the practical fire effect in the background. To achieve it I simply used one of those room fragrance spray cans. Since they are designed to be housed in a plastic container that will automatically push down on the nozzle to only emit a small cloud of gas it seemed like the best solution. Ignite the flammable gas with a lighter and you have your own personal miniature fireball. Of course, this would also be possible with hairspray or some other flammable gas but this method looked the safest for booth the figure and my surroundings. Just make sure you do it in a place without fire/smoke detection that is well ventilated. After collecting enough material with fire pillars in different areas I stacked them together in post-production. As with most practical effects the results can vary quite a bit and it’s often hard to choose between two shoots. As you can see, I ended up with two identical ones where only the flames in the background are different. 

Which one do you like better?

Sony Alpha 7R II, 55mm lens / ISO 100 /Exposure time 1/2 sec. /aperture: F/8

Time and effort: Crafting the stage racks and the pennants took quite some time. Also shooting took a bit longer because of the practical effect and since I couldn’t do this in my own apartment.

Costs of the props: Since I reused a few props I only had to pay for the speakers, the paper straws and some paint. With a budget between 30-40 bucks, it was yet another quit cheap setup.

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