MS General

Overview

A fairly large Chinese manufacturer of model kits, MS General is listed here because, though it does produce three lines, all three of them are incredibly similar in engineering and architecture as to be closer to the variances between Megami Device’s sublines. These three lines are:

• Syokon-ki, focusing on adapting characters from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, launched in 2021 with Zhao Yun, Guan Yu, Huang Zhong and Cao Cao.
• Seven Deadly Sins, focusing on creating anthropomorphic manifestations of the eponymous sins, launched in 2023 with Greed and Gluttony.
• Raiders of Shadow, focusing on tokusatsu-inspired heroes based on the Chinese Zodiac, launched in 2022 with Zi Shu (the Rat) and Chou Niu (the Cow).

This review will focus on these three lines. As an aside, we are also aware that MS General, prior to all of these lines, have a lesser known Journey to the West toyline, and are also responsible for the Animacircuit model kits. These lines will NOT be covered in this section, which will exclusively cover the above three lines.

Construction and Engineering:

For the positives, MS General kits follow the usual Chinese girlpla manufacturer practice of having massive amounts of content per box, with each kit fielding multiple accessories and two bodies, one in the kit’s armor and one unarmored (except for Qiao Sisters, which have only one body per sister). As such, each kit is insanely good value for money.

The kits are not beginner-friendly, with complex engineering and use of non-plastic components such as metal and wire heavily figuring into the design. The more complex kits will require many hours of focus and concentration to put together, and it is not a task for someone with no experience of modeling or used only to building Bandai’s High-Grade Gunpla kits or 30 Minutes Label kits.

Furthermore and unfortunately, Chinese girlpla manufacturers have a (partially deserved) reputation for poorer build quality both in material and engineering. MS General kits more than live up to the engineering of their Japanese counterparts, but the plastic quality can leave something to be desired.

Aesthetics

While nearly every girlpla line focuses heavily on sex appeal to market their kits, MS General kits are almost unique in focusing heavily on a more action figure-esque aesthetic, resembling something closer between a HoYoverse gacha character and a tokusatsu hero. This can be hit or miss if you’re not into that, but we appreciated it.

The results are kits with a unique aesthetic that can be hit or miss depending on preference.  MS General also garners our praise for using Raider of Shadow to field some of the very few male humanoid non-licensed model kits with Shen Hou, though there are planned to be more males in the line.

Ease of Acquisition:

MS General kits hover towards the more expensive end of the range. The cheaper Raiders and Syokon-ki generally hover around the ¥7900 (£37/$50) mark, with prices more likely to lurk around ¥12000 (£56/$75). The Seven Deadly Sins line can even out-price some of the more expensive AUV kits, hitting a total of ¥19000 (£89/$119) for a single kit, though given the sheer amount of plastic within a single one of these kits, these do reflect the size of one of these kits being equal to three or even four smaller model kits. Most typical places that stock Japanese model kits will also stock MS General.

Personal Verdict?

Whatever MS General kit you get, it will almost always end up being well worth adding to any girlpla collection, with an impeccable aesthetic and decent engineering for the experienced and enough accessories to justify the high price point.

Personal Recommendations

We had a very soft spot for Shen Hou; a rare male model kit in a sea of female kits makes him a rarity as it is, but his aesthetic in his armored form, reminiscent of the average tokusatsu hero combined with the sheer amount of plastic and accessories in his kit leaves us no choice but to rate him as one of our favorite kits of all time.

Official Site: https://weibo.com/u/7483371607?topnav=1&wvr=6&topsug=1&is_hot=1#_rnd1597656727085 (Weibo, in Chinese)