You might be thinking "Hey! she's not from To Heart: Another Days!" And you'd be right. If some of you young'uns don't recognize her, it's because Serika Kurusugawa is a character from the original To Heart, released in 1997. She's one of the oldest pieces in my entire collection, and the first cold cast figure we've ever reviewed on Tomopop.

Figure-making "technology" has come a very long way in the past decade, allowing for the kind of amazing detail and realism you see in many of the figures we write about. Serika represents some of the best there was back in the day, and while that might not look as stunning as some of today's kits, she remains as beautiful now as the day I first got her. 

Join me after the jump for a better look at a classic beauty.

Serika here is about 8 years old, and while she's by no means the oldest anime figure in my collection, she's certainly one of my most cherished. Partly because she's one of the few survivors of the VHS-era collection that once was, but also because she's made of cold cast resin and is therefore very fragile. 

Yes, I keep the box for everything. This one is packed with tight-fitting foam inside to protect the figure. 

Raise your hand if you're an old enough otaku to remember when figures came with brass character pins.

The sculpt is by Tomoki Maeda, who did an incredible job of capturing Serika's personality. The timid sweetness of her expression and the shine in her ever-sleepy eyes are unmistakable. 

I've said it a million times, I'm a sucker for flowy dresses and billowing hair in a figure. She's got both.

The long gloves are a beautiful touch, too.

This is the same dress Serika is inexplicably wearing during the opening of the anime series. 

If you look closely at her hair in this shot, you'll spy a tiny crack. It's been there for about six years and I still don't know how it happened to this day. One of the risks you face with resin, unfortunately.

You can see it a little better in this shot, above and to the left of where your eyes are (understandably) currently focused. 

The bows really make the dress. The one in front here is part of the main sculpt.

The one in the back is a separate piece that plugs in with a small rod. It fits very loosely, and care must be taken to see that it doesn't get lost. 

It rest nicely on the back of the dress, which serves to help hold it in place.

This same kind of metal rod runs through the length of each of her legs, and sticks out through her heels, which is how she's attached to the base.

Which is also quite nice, and fairly heavy. It's got felt pads on the bottom for cushioning.

Her back is lovely, and makes for some of the prettiest angles from which to view the figure.

One thing you might notice is the lack of the ever-present anime figure hair seam. They've never bothered me in the slightest, but I'll admit it's kind of nice when it's not there. 

You can see here how resin differs from PVC -- those ruffles would have been much thinner and more realistic if they were made of vinyl. This poses a bit of challenge to the sculptor, who in this case managed to create the same effect by hollowing out the insides of the rufles to make them appear thinner when viewed from a normal angle.

But she's gorgeous regardless of where you're standing.

Once a beautiful figure, always a beautiful figure.