Anyone who’s a fan of Japanese manga has surely heard of the series ‘To Love-Ru’. Written by Saki Hasemi and illustrated by Kentaro Kabuki, this series was originally published into 18 volumes of Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine between 2006 and 2009. Since then, sequels have been made, and the series has been adapted for video games and anime. In fact, the latest sequel, ‘Love-Ru Darkness’ is set to begin airing its second full season on July 6, thanks to Sentai Filmworks.
As a way to promote the upcoming season of ‘Love-Ru Darkness‘, and their figurines, Max Factory, a Japanese toy company known for their manga figures, has decided to do something big, and I mean REAL BIG! At the Toranoana 20th Anniversary Appreciation Fair at Makuhari Messe in Chiba last week, the company unveiled a life-sized 3D printed figure of the popular character from the series, Momo Velia Deviluke.
Also referred to as the ‘Third Princess of Devalue’ in the series, Momo is said to have a highly perverted side to herself. She has a problem distinguishing between lust and love, and is quite attractive, at least for an animated character. With short pink hair, purple eyes, and a long black tail, how could characters within the Love-Ru series keep their hands off her, right?
Max Factory seemed to have the same problem with their 3D printed version of the female character, dressed in the bridal lingerie that’s depicted on the cover of Love-Ru -Trouble- Darkness: Venus art book. The design for the life-sized figure can be attributed to Nobuhiro Nakayama, of which Max Factory had originally released a 1/6 figure of, for around $82 back in January of 2014.
Max Factory used the same design to create this enormous figure measuring around 5 feet in height, by taking the original model and blowing it up by a factor of 6. They then printed it in numerous pieces before bounding the pieces together and meticulously painting it. While fans were not able to touch the figure, they were permitted to stand around and gaze at it, and many young men certainly did just that, we are told.
The company did not say whether they plan on selling this figure or producing duplicates. Our guess is likely they will not. Considering a 1:6 scale model costs around $83, one can only imagine the price they’d ask for this model, although I’m sure some teenage fans might consider buying one….
Let us know your thoughts on Max Factory’s rather creative, yet provocative means of promoting their business. Discuss in the 3D Printed MOMO forum thread on 3DPB.com
