Firstly, I've got to open this review by stating that... I didn't think it was going to happen because I lost the cable that connected my digital camera to my laptop, meaning we wouldn't have had my (terrible) pictures to break up the walls of text. As you can guess from the review being up, however, I did manage to find it. If I have learnt any lesson in all of this, it is: don't go tidying your room, because you will forget the new place for things. So anyway, it's another Monster High doll today - as if you didn't guess from the title!
And today we're looking at River Styxx, daughter of the Grim Reaper, from the Haunted line that Monster High have released at the beginning of this year. First impressions? Well, I was amused by the use of the Greek river of the dead as her name, and even a little more amused by her father being the Grime Reaper. Though I have to admit the latter was because I'm a Discworld fan, and I was just like "but she looks nothing like Ysabell." But that's neither here nor there. At first glance, River reminds me very strongly of a magical girl anime. Frankly, that would be an anime I would watch so much of.
And these dolls come with brand new stands! These stands grip the dolls under the arms, allowing the look of floating; which makes sense seeing as they are all meant to be ghosts. And yeah, we'll just ignore the bit of the plot hole that the existence of Spectra in Monster High causes if there's apparently a school just for ghosts. This stand is a nice ghostly blue, and the chain look is a very nice ghost, in my opinion, of Charles Dickens - Marley's ghost, anyone?
Now, from a development picture that went around Tumblr, River was actually meant to come with a proper scythe. Well, a junior scythe anyway since she's only a Reaper-In-Training. As we can see, she does not come with this in the final product. I can only assume that there were more than a few someones on the team who pointed out they would get a less than positive reaction from vocal parents about giving the doll a weapon of sorts. So instead... we get a magical girl staff. Because it it totally a magical girl staff.
The top of River's magical girl staff is a bow with a skull as the centre decoration. Very appropriate for the daughter of the Grim Reaper. There is a little hook on it, so that you can slide the staff on to the doll's hand, but I find that it does squeeze the fingers together. And yeah, this does nothing to stop my thoughts that River is an character awaiting her own magical girl anime.
Okay, so I moved River's hair out of the way here - side note, it sheds a lot when you first get it out of the box- to show off the chains that River wears as a sort of belt. In one of the diaries, it's explained that at the ghost school, students wear detention chains as punishment. Since all of the characters from the school released in the line have chains, I think we're meant to assume they're all being punished for ... something or other. We continue the cute bow motive here, and we can also see that there's some gradient use of colour in her arms and legs fair more clearly.
Blurry picture! This was an attempt to show that the lower half of River's arms are made from a more see-through plastic, into which they show hints of a skeleton. Very appropriate when you consider that the classic look for the Grim Reaper is generally just a human skeleton, often in a big black cloak - and yes, River does have a black cape.
Ths picture manages to show it far better however, and also shows off her boots, While I did mention the detention chains which are apparently a thing at the ghost school - I'm really not sure, we only had the multi-language diaries and they don't give you as much information - I also have a feeling they're part of River's own look. Which is something that could be described as either fairy kei or pastel goth. It's a nice look, and suits the perky feeling you get from the doll.
I mean, look at that adorable (and blurry) face! It's just filled with mischievous giggles, and the hint of fun waiting to come. My only real complaint about River was the shocking state of her hair; I took her out of the box, and had to wait for a while for her hair to stop shedding. It was pretty bad, and I really do mean pretty bad there. However, overall? This is a doll who jumped to the top of my MH favourites list from the moment I saw her picture, and I still adore her completely. She's a darling little gem, and I'm glad to be able to say she has a secure place in my collection
And today we're looking at River Styxx, daughter of the Grim Reaper, from the Haunted line that Monster High have released at the beginning of this year. First impressions? Well, I was amused by the use of the Greek river of the dead as her name, and even a little more amused by her father being the Grime Reaper. Though I have to admit the latter was because I'm a Discworld fan, and I was just like "but she looks nothing like Ysabell." But that's neither here nor there. At first glance, River reminds me very strongly of a magical girl anime. Frankly, that would be an anime I would watch so much of.
And these dolls come with brand new stands! These stands grip the dolls under the arms, allowing the look of floating; which makes sense seeing as they are all meant to be ghosts. And yeah, we'll just ignore the bit of the plot hole that the existence of Spectra in Monster High causes if there's apparently a school just for ghosts. This stand is a nice ghostly blue, and the chain look is a very nice ghost, in my opinion, of Charles Dickens - Marley's ghost, anyone?
Now, from a development picture that went around Tumblr, River was actually meant to come with a proper scythe. Well, a junior scythe anyway since she's only a Reaper-In-Training. As we can see, she does not come with this in the final product. I can only assume that there were more than a few someones on the team who pointed out they would get a less than positive reaction from vocal parents about giving the doll a weapon of sorts. So instead... we get a magical girl staff. Because it it totally a magical girl staff.
The top of River's magical girl staff is a bow with a skull as the centre decoration. Very appropriate for the daughter of the Grim Reaper. There is a little hook on it, so that you can slide the staff on to the doll's hand, but I find that it does squeeze the fingers together. And yeah, this does nothing to stop my thoughts that River is an character awaiting her own magical girl anime.
Okay, so I moved River's hair out of the way here - side note, it sheds a lot when you first get it out of the box- to show off the chains that River wears as a sort of belt. In one of the diaries, it's explained that at the ghost school, students wear detention chains as punishment. Since all of the characters from the school released in the line have chains, I think we're meant to assume they're all being punished for ... something or other. We continue the cute bow motive here, and we can also see that there's some gradient use of colour in her arms and legs fair more clearly.
Blurry picture! This was an attempt to show that the lower half of River's arms are made from a more see-through plastic, into which they show hints of a skeleton. Very appropriate when you consider that the classic look for the Grim Reaper is generally just a human skeleton, often in a big black cloak - and yes, River does have a black cape.
Ths picture manages to show it far better however, and also shows off her boots, While I did mention the detention chains which are apparently a thing at the ghost school - I'm really not sure, we only had the multi-language diaries and they don't give you as much information - I also have a feeling they're part of River's own look. Which is something that could be described as either fairy kei or pastel goth. It's a nice look, and suits the perky feeling you get from the doll.
I mean, look at that adorable (and blurry) face! It's just filled with mischievous giggles, and the hint of fun waiting to come. My only real complaint about River was the shocking state of her hair; I took her out of the box, and had to wait for a while for her hair to stop shedding. It was pretty bad, and I really do mean pretty bad there. However, overall? This is a doll who jumped to the top of my MH favourites list from the moment I saw her picture, and I still adore her completely. She's a darling little gem, and I'm glad to be able to say she has a secure place in my collection
But, seriously, where's my magical girl anime about a girl who turns into a Reaper to protect people from the evil monsters that are trying to take over?
Comments
Post a Comment