Body-chan Sugimori Ken Edition Review Illustration Drawing

When drawing an illustration of a person, have you ever had trouble getting the pose you want or a good composition?
It's fine to personally trace copyrighted works such as well-made illustrations to practice or use as reference, but there are many cases where people fail to follow the rules and publish them, resulting in a backlash over tracing and plagiarism.

For those of you who are having trouble with character illustrations, there is actually a handy tool called a drawing doll!
This time, I would like to introduce the "Body-kun and -chan Series," a movable figure for drawing by SHFiguarts.

Other figure related links are here↓

https://akihabara-bc.jp/figure-kotei/

SHFiguarts Body-chan - Sugimori Ken - Edition DX SET (Gray Color Ver.) Review

This time we will introduce Body-chan, produced by game creator and designer Ken Sugimori, who has worked on character design for the "Pokemon" series.
This model is particularly popular among Body-chan models, and as of May 2022, due to price hikes by resellers, it is being priced above the list price on Amazon.
The regular price is 5500 yen (tax included), so be careful not to buy it at an exorbitant price.

[amazonjs asin=”B09BCKHPSM” locale=”JP” title=”SHFiguarts Body-chan - Sugimori Ken - Edition DX SET (Gray Color Ver.) Approximately 130mm PVC & ABS Movable Figure BAS62103″]

SHFiguarts Body-chan - Sugimori Ken - Edition DX SET Package

Let's start with the packaging.
Sugimori Ken's illustrations are so cute.
It is said that the figure has over 30 movable parts throughout its body.

back.
It includes instructions on how to play and examples of posing.

Just removed from the box.
The packaging looks like this.

SHFiguarts Body-chan - Sugimori Ken - Edition DX SET Set contents

This figure set includes the figure itself, accessories such as interchangeable hands and hats, a dedicated base, case, support, and booklet.

A set that includes a dedicated base, case, and support.

Accessories include five types of interchangeable wrists (left and right), a straw hat, a book, binoculars, and a bag.

The combination of the dedicated base and case can also be used as a storage box, so you can safely store wrists and small accessories that tend to get lost.

The booklet included instructions on how to draw pictures using Body-kun and Body-chan.

SHFiguarts Body-chan - Ken Sugimori - Edition DX SET Review

Her whole body is petite with a low head-to-body ratio.
Among drawing dolls, a body shape of about five heads seems to be quite rare.

The back looks like this.

Landscape orientation.

The ankles and toes also have joints so they can move.

SHFiguarts boasts an overwhelming range of motion, allowing for fighting style poses.

Terry Bogard's rising tackle is something that every fighting game fan dreams of.

Cross-legged pose.

Cute poses like a girl.
You can recreate a variety of scenes, from battles to everyday life!

Furthermore, this body has a movable division in the stomach, so it can also be posed in a cross-legged position.

The maximum leg spread to the side is about 120 degrees.
I wish I could have at least spread my legs 180 degrees...

However, it is possible to do a 180-degree front and back split (vertical split)!
It's amazing that you can do difficult poses like the yoga pigeon pose!!

You can also use the accessories to recreate everyday scenes.

The wrists are also removable.

You can also play with the included replacement wrists.

By changing the wrists, you can use accessories such as binoculars, increasing the variety of poses.

How to use Body-chan illustrations

The back of the package had instructions on how to draw, so I decided to try drawing an illustration using Body-chan.
I'm not sure what makes it so groundbreaking...

First, take a photo with your camera or smartphone in the pose you want to draw.

Next, I import the photos I took into a computer and trace them using illustration software.
When tracing, be careful not to trace the joints directly, as this will make the body look unbalanced, so make small adjustments as you draw.

The line art is complete!
She was transformed from a model into a maid who looks like Anastasia, a character from Akihabara Base Camp.

Worth buying! Figures that can improve your drawing skills

So that was the introduction to the SHFiguarts Body-chan - Sugimori Ken - Edition DX SET (Gray Color Ver.).
This drawing doll has movable joints that allow it to assume a variety of poses, so you can actually observe and draw poses that are difficult to imagine, which has the added benefit of improving your drawing skills!
Also, although it seems like it might be difficult to see its use as a drawing doll, it seems like it could be played with by combining it with other Figuarts and figma series figures...

In addition to the Body-chan featured in this article, the Body-kun and Body-chan series comes in a variety of different head proportions and styles, and new products are constantly being released, so you're sure to find one with the proportions that match the illustration you want to draw!