Welcome to the Solaris Blog! ヾ( ʚ̴̶̷ .̫ ʚ̴̶̷ )ﾉ”
neco is a Japanese artist who specializes in sci-fi themed designs, from futuristic weaponry to amazing character designs. By combining adorable characters with a sci-fi twist, neco has created several original series such as the Heavily Armed High School Girls series and A-Z: (Also Sprach Zarathustra) series.
Other than creating their own original works, neco has also designed several characters for the mobile game Girls' Frontline, avatar designs for Project AID, a Virtual Youtuber group and main concept artist and character designer for Bandai Namco’s upcoming third-person shooter, Synduality.
Let's check out some of their work!
Heavily Armed High School Girls is the first original artwork series developed by neco. The theme of the series is just as the name says, girls in high school uniforms with lots of weaponry! Triple katanas, dual wielding great axes and a gigantic bow and arrow.
This figma line up does a great job portraying the series! Being able to customize many features like their armaments, poses and faces make these an absolute joy to display and show off. They also have a lot of flexibility and will go well with many different collections.
Have mostly bishoujo figures? Don’t let the badass weapons fool you, they can go nicely there too! My two favorites are Shi and Ichi.
Shi, or #4 in Japanese has white hair with red tips, red eyes and wields 4 swords. The figma uses drawer joints in her shoulders and thighs which allows for broader posing options. Those joints allow for a little more flexibility and wider separation. Shi also comes with three face plates including an expressionless face, a shouting expression and a smiling expression.
She looks intimidating when in a combat stance but can completely change to an innocent school girl when smiling.
The color scheme of mostly blue and white with some red highlights thrown in works rather well. That along with the slightly disheveled look of the messy tie, mismatched tight length and partly unbuttoned shirt completes the theme for this character.
Ichi, or #1 (all of the characters are named after numbers in Japanese or German) has ash-blonde hair, green eyes and in the original design, equipped her with 3 swords.
This “Another” version has a more cyber punk feel with a very sci-fi-esque black sword. Her cape is articulated which allows for more sense of motion in posing. Ichi’s giant sword, scabbard, hood and goggles are included as optional parts.
She also comes with an expressionless face, a smiling face and a worried face and interchangeable skirt!
You can also display her with her motorcycle, the ex:ride BK91A which is why a different skirt is included.
A-Z: or “Also Sprach Zarathustra” is the second artwork series developed by neco with character names based off of letters of the alphabet. Yes, all of the names of neco’s series are weird…
If high school girls aren't your thing (as it should be, hentai!( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)), this might be more your style. This series uses the same theme of girls with futuristic combat gear and weapons this time combining both melee weapons and firearms.
While still having a mix of cute but fierce, these girls have a more mature, seasoned aesthetic to them. I am very hopeful that my favorite character M will get a figure (cyberpunk bunny girl (͡o‿O͡) ) but D and F01 are close seconds!
The level of detail on this figure is incredible!
D’s jacket has a lot of small details and decorations which Myethos captured perfectly. Small things like the zipper, straps and belt are very well done. There is a great sense of texture to it and it looks like it is fluttering softly in the wind. All of the wrinkles sculpted in this figure look very realistic!
D’s innocent but sturdy face peeking out from the hood portrays a delicate yet powerful style. Her iconic halberd was reproduced nicely and this figure can also be changed to portray her with a sword and gun instead.
The design of the weapons are realistic enough to be believable but still give off a slightly futuristic vibe. The yellow accents on the gloves, jacket and shirt are just enough to catch the eye.
With white hair, yellow/red eyes, tight pants and a sword and rifle, F01 is sure to turn heads. Even though she may have a slightly monotone outfit, it is still pretty unique and intricate.
The metal fittings and belts around her waist, leg and back are nicely sculpted. The jet-black weapons don’t take too much focus away from F01 but instead are a nice compliment. Her strong gaze with expressive eyes maintains that balance of cute but deadly.
Similar to the previous figure, there is great texture all around and the clothing fit and feel are very realistic. F01 is currently available for preorder and is scheduled to release at the end of June 2023!
If the A-Z: series has piqued your interest, you may also want to check out neco’s G.A.D ( General Affairs Division) lineup. This has that same more mature feel compared to Heavily Armed High School Girls and features OL (office lady) Bishoujo. I would have never thought that pant suits and high heels could work so well with swords and tonfa.
For those of you who like alternate history, FALSLANDER may be right up your alley. The third artwork series developed by neco combines medieval fantasy aesthetics with sci-fi weaponry.
The girls are all wearing futuristic updates of historical and fantasy combat gear and are named after their character class. These are also figma so you can have fun customizing and changing the poses! Let’s take a look at Ronin and Hemet Nethel!
Ronin, a solitary warrior wielding a deadly odachi, a type of traditionally made Japanese great sword used by the samurai class of feudal Japan. If you're not a fan of massive swords and prefer something a little more sleek and ninja-like, Ronin also comes with a tanto, a traditionally made short sword used by samurai but also used in traditional martial arts (tantojutsu).
This is an extremely customizable figma that comes with three expressions including an expressionless face, eyes closed expression, and a glaring expression. Along with interchangeable faces, the iconic "ronin hat" can be removed, and a replacement stomach and thigh piece is included for a lightly dressed version.
In addition to that, both weapons can also be sheathed, further adding to the variety in ways to pose and display!
Known as the dark guardian, I think it's safe to say that Hemet Nethel has some inspiration from Egyptian mythology. This well done reimagination of Anubis is ready to guide the poor souls who cross her path to the afterlife.
Despite there not being a lot of armor, she still looks very combat ready. Her look is accentuated with gold-plated armor that matches her staff and adds nice contrast to her jet black outfit.
Hemet Nethel comes with three expressions including an expressionless face, a glaring expression and a smiling expression. She also comes with an interchangeable stomach part to remove the front flap of her clothing. Similar to the previous figma, this makes it possible to give a more sleek design. The mask/helmet can be exchanged for bangs with just the ears or no headgear at all. Hemet Nethel is currently available for pre-order and is currently scheduled to release at the end of July 2023.
As such an amazing character designer, it's no surprise that many figures have been created from neco’s illustrations. In addition to the series above, there is a figure of the original character AKA:Re2ing (still weird naming ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )...
…and several other draft figures in pre-production and planning! You can expect much more from this very talented character designer and illustrator in the future!
I hope you enjoyed reading!
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