HGBuild Fighters

Fumina Hoshino

The Gunpla line finally builds a person, and it actually works.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

Fumina Hoshino · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I went in expecting a novelty and came out genuinely impressed.

This is Bandai treating a character kit with the same care as a mobile suit release, snap-fit build, real articulation, and enough small parts to make it feel like a proper kit instead of a toy. It will never be anyone's favorite build for engineering reasons, but it is a fun, fast, well-executed change of pace that earns its spot on a shelf next to actual suits.

Best for: Build Fighters Try fans and anyone who wants a quick, characterful palate cleanser between mobile suit builds

The full review

What it is

This is a non-scale figure kit of Fumina Hoshino, president of the Gunpla Battle Club and leader of Team Try Fighters, built to the same snap-fit standard as a modern figure-rise release. You get her in her regular school outfit with a removable parka, three swappable face plates for different expressions, and a tiny Petit'gguy accessory riding along. The build itself moves fast, there is no fiddly frame assembly to speak of, and within an hour you have a posed figure standing on her own pedestal. It genuinely surprised me how much personality comes through once she is together.

The catch

Color separation leans on foil stickers for the eyes and water slide decals for some of the finer details, so this is not a kit where molded plastic does all the work. It is a non-scale figure, not a mobile suit, so if you are collecting for mecha engineering or inner-frame complexity there is none of that here. It is also a step behind the earlier Super Fumina novelty kits in ambition scope, some fans have noted this one plays it safer, trading the goofier mixed-material gimmicks for a cleaner, easier build.

Who it's for

Grab this if you are into Gundam Build Fighters Try, want a fast weekend build, or just like the idea of a builder standing next to her own creations on the shelf. It is a genuinely good starter kit too, since the parts count and difficulty sit well below most mobile suit kits. Skip it if you are only after mecha and have zero interest in the source characters, since the appeal here is almost entirely about Fumina herself rather than anything you would pose in a battle scene.

The build story

What the build is actually like, and the engineering worth knowing about.

The build moves quickly and cleanly, this is closer to a figure-rise style snap-fit experience than a typical HG mobile suit, with gate placement that keeps visible seams to a minimum on the jacket and skirt pieces. Nub cleanup is light, and there is nothing here that trips up a first-time builder.

Articulation is the real standout, the joints let you land natural standing and walking poses rather than the stiff default stance you might expect from a non-mecha kit. The optional jacket and three faces do a lot of the storytelling work, and reviewers consistently point to this release as a clear step up over the earlier Super Fumina kits in both build quality and posability.

Lore & trivia

01Fumina Hoshino is president of the Gunpla Battle Club at Seiho Academy and leads Team Try Fighters alongside Sekai Kamiyama and Yuuma Kousaka.
02Every Gunpla Fumina builds carries the model number 237 somewhere on it, a running gag since 2, 3, and 7 can be read in Japanese as Fu, Mi, and Na, spelling her name.
03Fumina is voiced by Yui Makino in the original Japanese run of Gundam Build Fighters Try.
04This kit followed the earlier HGBF Super Fumina and SF-01 releases, which were novelty kits built around Fumina's exaggerated in-universe alter ego rather than her everyday appearance.