This is a Jiangshi Mecha Girl from HEMOXIAN, brimming with Chinese style. This kit features a dual-body system, meaning you buy one kit and can build two figures: an unarmored Mecha Girl form and a fully armored form.
The first-run bonus also includes a normal skin-tone body for assembly. I initially thought you could build three different styles just by swapping face plates, but it's not that simple, as the core essential parts only allow for the assembly of one unarmored form plus one armored form.
The quality of HEMOXIAN's mecha girls is quite impressive, not losing out at all to major Japanese manufacturers like Kotobukiya. The sturdiness of the parts after assembly, the articulation for posing, and the part separation and pre-painted runners are all of excellent quality. If you're just doing a straight build without painting, the nub marks and seam lines between parts are quite noticeable, which is to be expected.
Below, I'll use pictures to introduce this Chinese-style Jiangshi Mecha Girl, Jiulian.
▼ [HEMOXIAN] METAGATE Jiangshi Mecha Girl Jiulian
▼ The box art, with a gold sticker in the top right corner indicating the First-Run Bonus.
▼ This mecha girl is named Jiulian.
▼ METAGATE, this is perhaps a series name.
▼ First-Run Bonus.
▼ Side of the box introduction. This kit includes a dual-body system; in addition to the original pale bluish skin tone, there's also a normal skin tone exclusive to the first-run bonus.
▼ Armored Form.
▼ It also comes with an interchangeable head sculpt with light-up effects, exclusive to the "Hài Unit."
▼ The articulation is on par with Kotobukiya's mecha girls. The box also includes a dedicated display base with a built-in storage function.
▼ After much consideration, I decided to use the normal skin tone from the bonus parts for the unarmored form.
▼ My wife particularly liked this facial expression, so I chose it as the main face plate.
▼ There's a small ball joint at the front of both feet.
▼ The braids are made of a soft plastic material. Two braids are included in total, one for the unarmored form and one for the armored form.
▼ The braids attach via a hemispherical ball joint peg. You have to be very careful with this peg; if you twist it in a direction different from the assembly orientation, it can easily break. I broke two ball joints and almost ended up with no braids. It's usually the peg on the braid's end that breaks. I broke two, but thankfully managed to repair them.
▼ The internal structure of the torso is something I've never assembled before. I haven't encountered this type of articulation joint in any mecha girl I've built previously.
▼ I have to give special praise to the hip section. In previous kits I've built, this area is often hollowed out, exposing the internal joints. But HEMOXIAN designed extra parts for the left and right sides of the hips to cover the thigh joints, preventing the internal mechanics from being visible.
▼ Three additional interchangeable pre-painted face plates are included. Besides the pre-painted faces, there are also blank faces with water-slide decals for you to customize. In short, there are plenty of faces to use—a very generous offering.
▼ The overall presentation of the unarmored body is quite good. The straight build has a high degree of completion. I was worried the skin tone material would look very plasticky, but after unboxing and assembling, I found the texture to be quite nice, with a slightly matte finish. For hand parts, special hand-sealing gesture hands are included.
▼ Many builders online have said that swapping the face plates is difficult, which is why you rarely see them showcased with different faces. The main reason is that the pegs are too tight. I recommend slightly sanding or trimming the pegs. After modification, they become much easier to install, but remember not to trim them down too much.
▼ To swap the face plate, you need to remove the front bangs and the side hair pieces. I suggest just modifying the pegs on the side hair pieces.
▼ Face swap complete. A completely different style.
▼ Paired with the hand-sealing gestures, she can go from cute and dorky to cool and stylish.
▼ With a cute expression, you can also switch to corresponding cute hand parts.
▼ The leg curves are beautiful, and the footing is stable enough that the unarmored form can stand firmly without a display stand.
▼ There's a reason why mecha girls are so beloved by modelers.
▼ I really like this shot.
▼ Sitting poses are no problem either.
▼ Although her hips can't sit completely flat on the ground, the articulation is still quite good.
▼ A single-knee kneeling pose is also possible.
▼ The front of the foot can bend downwards.
▼ Dual-body display.
▼ After the unarmored form, let's move on to the armored form (Jiangshi).
▼ Multiple talismans for the forehead are included for you to apply according to your preference. These are water-slide decals. The decals are a bit soft, so be careful not to soak them in water for too long.
▼ The pale bluish skin tone also comes with three pre-painted face plates for swapping. In addition to the pre-painted ones, there are blank faces to use with water-slide decals.
▼ This piece of cloth on her chest can be removed.
▼ This chest piece is made of actual "cloth" material.
▼ The character "駭" (Hài) on the abdomen is a water-slide decal.
▼ The legs have a hydraulic feel, reflecting the concept that Jiangshi "hop," thus requiring shock absorption.
▼ The legs feature springs, which are made of real metal.
▼ The default leg armament is a small chainsaw.
▼ A large chainsaw weapon is also included for replacement.
▼ The chainsaw can be deployed.
▼ You can detach one of the two chainsaws to use it as a single weapon.
▼ With the display base, you can plug the support arm directly into her waist sash or back.
▼ The gold patterns on the legs and shoulders are all water-slide decals. These decals are extremely soft, so don't soak them for too long and don't use too much decal softener.
▼ The default arm armament is a set of three silver claws.
▼ When transforming, you can remove the hand parts before proceeding.
▼ Complete! The Jiangshi vibe is really coming through.
▼ Both hands can transform and deploy.
▼ Swappable chest parts are a fundamental play feature for all mecha girls.
▼ In addition to the fully open chest part shown above, you can also swap to a half-open version.
▼ If your wife gets angry when you're playing with it... well, just keep it covered up.
▼ The claws on the arms can be removed and replaced with different weapon attachments.
▼ Since the weapon pegs are all the same size, you can seamlessly attach the chainsaw, creating a one-chainsaw, one-claw look.
▼ The face plate can be changed to any expression you like.
▼ Using a single chainsaw also works.
▼ It's not exactly scary, just very unique XD.
▼ Different expressions create different moods. Lowering her head makes the pose even better.
▼ Now this is truly terrifying! The legs use a special three-section joint system that allows for many incredible poses. The leg chainsaws can be detached and reoriented to face forward.
▼ The other included head sculpt, the "Hài Unit" exclusive head.
▼ The head sculpt has a light-up effect; just press the spherical part on top of the hat to make the eyes glow.
▼ A special note here: the ornaments on the left and right sides of the head are pre-painted parts and are extremely fragile. I strongly recommend either widening the holes or sanding the pegs before installation. I chose to apply Vaseline for lubrication. Because the fit is so tight after assembly, even a slight turn without prior treatment could cause the part to snap off inside, making it irreparable.
▼ Next up is a studio photoshoot showcase of the "Hài Unit."
▼ Besides the chainsaw, Jiulian also has...
▼ The meteor hammer also comes with a light-up effect part.
▼ Press the top of the meteor hammer to activate the effect.
That concludes this review of the HEMOXIAN Jiangshi Mecha Girl Jiulian. Mecha girls are just this much fun—both the building process and the posing can bring a smile to your face. I've built many mecha girls, but this was my first time with HEMOXIAN, and the building experience was very pleasant. The runners themselves even have some undergated parts, though not many.
The key point is that previous mecha girls I've built were all single-body kits. When you display the armored form, you inevitably have to sacrifice the other form. But this Jiangshi Mecha Girl generously includes a dual-body system, making for a much more impressive display. On top of that, the dedicated display base with part storage is what I love the most, especially since it can hold both figures at once.
Posing her with the hand-sealing gestures gives off the vibe of a female Taoist priest leading a Jiangshi. In summary, I highly recommend this HEMOXIAN Jiangshi Mecha Girl Jiulian to all mecha girl fans. Below are some simple studio photos.
▼ Studio Photoshoot: Finally fixed my studio lights XD
