Play Arts Kai Chun Li - Super Street Fighter 4 Review

After my Play Arts Ryu review i think one could suspect this one not far off, being very impressed with how the ultimate Street Fighter series poster boy turned out i'm looking forward to doing one for the series' poster girl or should i say, "The First Lady of Fighting Games". Unlike Ryu, the first time i saw pics of the Play Arts Kai Chun Li i am impress with the overall looks and aesthetics of the character, believing that she may be the best Chun Li figure ever released so far and much, much better than Play Arts Kai Ryu. When i got her i am happy to say that i got ONE of those statements on the mark. 

She indeed is the best action figure incarnation of Chun Li so far but is she better than Ryu? Well, let's find out shall we...

Packaging color differs from Ryu which, admittedly, irked me a bit since i display my collection inside their boxes and that means there are no color coordination for this line for display purposes. Setting aside my obsessive compulsive urges, ahem, Chun Li comes with almost exactly the same accessories as Ryu: an alternate open-mouth head (head this time not face like Ryu), x2 open palm hands, her  Kikoken fireball and the 2 pc stand for her fireball. Her trademark spiked wrist bands are also removable as well as the ribbons on her "ox horns." You have to transfer them manually to her alternate head.

 

Chun Li's got great detail though not as solid as those of Ryu, the shiny clear blue outfit won't hide wayward paint specks. Ryu is spared of this because of his dirty and worn Gi. Her face sculpt, however, is better than Ryu or maybe i am just biased because 1) she is faithful to her classic design and 2) her face sculpt is really cute, which, kinda reminds me of the Play Arts FF7 Advent Children Tifa figure.  

Still better than Kreuk

 

Articulation's basically the same with the Ryu figure, including the hinges on the upper arm though in Chun Li's case, the sleeves of her "qinpao" limit the movements of her arms when you are posing her throwing her fireball. She's got balance issues also because of her heavy legs and upper body and small feet. She's got what other collectors dubbed as "thunder-thighs" which isn't really a big deal to me since the game character design got those also. Meanwhile, Ryu's feet are large and flat so he's more versatile with balanced poses. I couldn't do the hundred kicks pose on Chun Li without some kind of support. With a little patience i was able to make her pass the kick test.

Ryu: Hey! Let me out, i have to go to the bathroom!

If you are 1) a Street Fighter fan, 2) a Play Arts Kai fan or 3) a fan of both you can't afford to miss this figure, she's simply the best Chun Li figure so far (err...i think i said that already...) and she completes the 1-2 combo of Play Arts Kai Super Street Fighter 4 line. Got mine cheaper than SRP and she's available right now @ Greattoys Online. 

mmmm...quite an enchanted view...

Chun Li doing a Xiayou, sigh, Play Arts Kai Tekken where art thou?