Pre-Order Hiro Now And Save 20%!

Welcome to the Solaris Blog! ヾ( ʚ̴̶̷ .̫ ʚ̴̶̷ )ﾉ”
Magical girl stories usually begin with hope, friendship and a colorful transformation. Mahou Shoujo no Majo Saiban (Magical Girl Witch Trials) begins with thirteen girls waking inside a prison mansion and being told that one of them may be a witch.

The story follows Ema Sakuraba, who awakens in a cage on what should have been her first day of high school. An owl informs her that she has been identified as a potential threat to the world and will spend the rest of her life imprisoned on a remote island. She soon meets twelve other suspected witches, each with her own personality, secrets, and unknown magical ability.

Their uneasy new life does not stay peaceful for long. Murders begin taking place inside the prison, forcing the survivors to investigate the crime, expose contradictions, and identify the witch responsible during a trial. Find the culprit and she is executed. Choose poorly and the consequences are just as unpleasant.

It is a wonderfully cruel setup that combines a gothic visual novel with murder mystery investigation and courtroom debate. The cute character designs make the violence more unsettling, while the hidden magic abilities add another problem to every case. It is not enough to work out who committed the murder. You also need to understand what should be physically impossible and which girl may have the power to make it possible.

The game originally launched on Steam in July 2025 and quickly became one of Japan’s biggest recent indie visual novel successes. By July 2026, it had passed 600,000 sales. A Nintendo Switch version followed that same month, bringing the trials to a much wider audience. If you like visual novels, I highly recommend you check this one out. Among its memorable collection of suspected witches, few make a stronger first impression than Hiro Nikaidou.

Hiro is Prisoner No. 659 and, on the surface, close to perfect. She is intelligent, accomplished, serious, and unfailingly polite. She carries herself like a proper young lady and seems like exactly the kind of person you would want taking charge during a crisis. Unfortunately, Hiro’s sense of justice does not leave much room for mercy. She judges the world through what is correct and incorrect, and anything that falls on the wrong side of that line deserves to be dealt with. Her manners remain composed even when her thinking becomes severe, which only makes her more intimidating.

Good Smile Company’s new PUP L Hiro Nikaidou captures that beautiful but deeply uncomfortable perfection. Rather than recreating a dramatic trial scene or revealing anything about her magic, the figure presents Hiro in a simple standing pose wearing her full gothic styled school uniform.

The pose is restrained, but that suits her. One hand rests delicately near her chest while the other hangs neatly at her side. Her posture is straight and elegant, giving the impression that every movement has been carefully considered. A more energetic pose would probably have worked against the character. Hiro is much scarier when she looks completely in control.

Her expression is easily the strongest part of the figure. The small mouth and red eyes give her a stern, distant look, but there is also something surprisingly fragile about it. The lack of bright highlights in her eyes is especially effective. She is not smiling for the collector or trying to look conventionally cute. She seems to be quietly judging whether you meet her standards, and the answer probably is not looking good.

Her long black hair gives the otherwise static pose some movement. The locks separate nicely as they fall around her body, with the ends becoming slightly more disorderly than her pristine appearance would suggest. A subtle red tint runs through the dark hair, tying it to her eyes and the crimson elements of her uniform without making the overall palette too bright.

The outfit is where most of the sculpting detail is concentrated. The black outer uniform is layered over a red skirt, with matching patterns appearing across the tie and armband. White stripes around the collar and cuffs break up the darker colors, while the gloves add to her formal, almost ceremonial appearance.

Her floral headpiece is also nicely handled. The red flowers, dark ribbons, and decorative pieces give the upper half of the figure more visual interest and push the design further into gothic mystery territory. Combined with the frilled edges and layered skirt, there is enough detail to keep the mostly black costume from looking flat.

As usual, PUP has kept the base and presentation simple. There are no magical effects or elaborate flair. A base inspired by the prison mansion’s gothic interior could have added more atmosphere, but it would also have pushed the price higher. The budget instead went toward the face, hair, and layered clothing, which is good since those details actually make Hiro recognizable. A few more Manosaba girls have also been announced for a PUP release.

Hiro is currently available for pre-order and you can save 20% with an early bird discount!
Thank you for reading!