Pre-Order Asuna, Alice, Sinon & Leafa Now And Save 10%!

Welcome to the Solaris Blog! ヾ( ʚ̴̶̷ .̫ ʚ̴̶̷ )ﾉ”

Sword Art Online (SAO) burst onto the anime scene in 2012, captivating audiences with an intriguing premise. What if you were trapped in a virtual reality game and the stakes were life or death? The series quickly garnered a massive fanbase following protagonist Kirito as he tries to survive, meeting many friends along the way. SAO has become a somewhat polarizing topic among anime fans since, as the narrative progressed, it lost its initial wow factor. While many praise its compelling action sequences and exploration of virtual worlds, others criticize its character development and story direction. While Kirito may not be loved by all, one thing most can agree on is that the girls are cute.

If you aren't a huge fan of the show, hearing about a Shibuya Scramble figure may be a big turn off. eStream launched this high quality, luxury figure brand in 2020. Shibuya Scramble figures have insane levels of detail, intricate designs and a pedestal with as much thought put into it as the character. Being a level above other scales, the price point tends to be fairly high.
With the success of the Shibuya Scramble line, eStream is trying to repeat that with a new concept, Cantabile. Taking advantage of what they have learned over the years, they are focusing on expressing the characters' emotions. A lot of the bells and whistles that drove up the price are missing, but eStream knows very well what kind of designs grab attention. eStreams’s website explains that Cantabile figures will portray: mouths full of joy, cheeks stained with embarrassment, and eyes driven by passion. They want Cantabile figures to vividly capture such aspects of characters at an affordable price.

This is great news for collectors! The next Cantabile figures are coming from SAO so if you are like me and find some characters adorable but not worth shelling out big bucks, now might be your chance. The size is going to be around 20 to 22 cm, a little bigger than your standard Pop Up Parade but smaller than a traditional scale. I think it's just about perfect. Not too small where it is easily overlooked in a collection and not big enough to be a centerpiece. Just big enough to be present and complement other, more important figures in your collection. Let's take a look and see if eStream delivers on their objective.

Since it's SAO, we have to start with the canonically best girl, Asuna. The design choice is excellent. I am part of the anti-SAO brigade and dropped the show but I know I have seen this image before. I feel like it was a music album cover but maybe just a quick scene from the anime. If you know where the design inspiration for any of these figures came from, please leave a comment below 🙏 In terms of emotional, expressive imagery, I think eStream accomplished this goal.

Hand on her chest with a soft expression, we get a very strong visual, showing Asuna in a vulnerable state.

Asuna’s hair has a lot of detail and is almost on par with scale figures. There is also a great sense of movement, showing a slight breeze combined with Asuna turning her head.

She has her classic VR attire and this is clearly where the cost savings comes in. There is some detail and the sculpt tries to recreate some realistic folds on her outfit, very similar to what you might find with other budget figures like Pop Up Parade.

The lack of shading is the biggest weakness for the figure, but again falls in line with other non scales. There is no shading but the paintwork in promotional photos looks very clean and the red highlights are vibrant and the gold and silver accents add a little pizzazz.

eStream starting with Sword Art Online may be a double edged sword. The series is massively popular world wide so there are many potential customers. Consequently, there is a ton of competition and many figures for Asuna are already available. With quality on par with other non scales figures and priced around the same, it really comes down to personal preference if you like the pose.
Next up is Alice Zuberg. Her figure is basically the opposite of Asuna's. Her outfit really pops with vibrant blue and shiny gold armor.

Alice's pose and expression however don't give the same strong emotional feeling as Asuna's. She just looks a bit upset and serious. The action she is doing is unclear. Is she drawing her sword ready for a fight or sheathing it? With her arm across her chest is she being defensive? It's not bad and still looks decent, but has room to improve.

Alice's hair has the same level of detail as Asuna and overall looks better than other non scale figures.

The amount of options for figures of Alice is considerably less than Asuna so more is certainly welcome. There aren't many low cost versions of Alice that portray her knight armor and outfit well which is this figure's best selling point. If the pose is acceptable, this is a competitive option with some strengths where others lack.

Third up, we have possibly Asuna's biggest rival for best girl, Sinon. I feel this is the best of the four. Sinon's expression is incredibly cute and kemomimi is kind of cheating. Compared to Alice, Sinon gives more of a feeling with her overall pose but still has room for interpretation. My feeling is Sinon looks shocked or surprised and the figure captures her as she is startled.

Sinon's figure is the most dynamic and has a similar sense of motion to Asuna.

Like the others, Sinon's hair looks pretty good. Since it is shorter there is less to appreciate but they added more detail to her outfit. Her boots and sleeve have good texture and there is a bit of shading with the paintwork.

There are several figures of Sinon available that are de-kemomimi-ified but if you think the added more element is great, I don't think this figure can be beat for the price!

Finally, to complete the collection, Leafa makes an appearance. Leafa has a big, happy, excited expression that brings a warm visual.

Leafa’s figure is solid with no real issues but also nothing really worth highlighting. Her hair is decent but not as detailed as the other three.

Her outfit has a vibrant paint job with a bit of movement to match the overall visual, but not much extra detail.

At its current price point it provides good value and Leafa should look good added to a collection.

Asuna, Alice, Sinon and Leafa are all available for pre-order with an expected release date at the end of October 2025. If you pre-order early you can snag an early bird discount making these a real steal.
Thank you for reading!