Toys / Megami Device

Machineca is the real MMS4

Megami Device is a line of female action figures/model kits first released by Kotobukiya in late 2016. As with the Frame Arms Girls, their goal was to tap into the Mecha Musume figure market in order to fill the void left by the effective death of Busou Shinki development.

The girls inherit the spirit and design sense of their immediate predecessors, the Busou Shinki, with improved articulation over the original Multi Movable System (MMS) standard; their body type is dubbed the Machineca standard, which fans unofficially hail as the "MMS4" standard. They have lots of articulation and have a modular construction, allowing for tremendous amounts of customization which is helped by the fact that they retain compatibility with some older Shinki peg standards as well as the universal Kotobukiya MSG (Mobile Support Goods) 3mm peg system which is used by their model kits in other lines (There is even a neck peg adaptor that allows you to use Frame Arms Girls heads with their bodies, and the default neck peg can fit MMS3 Shinki heads if you unplug their original neck peg!).

In-universe, they are 1:1 scale mecha musume Robot Girl figures that do battle in a similar fashion to the Shinki, only there is a greater emphasis on co-operative team combat with factional divisions along the lineup.

A number of original Shinki designers, like Fumikane "Humida" Shimada and BLADE, have either created designs for this series or have expressed interest in making figures under the Machineca standard. Another manufacturer, Skytube, has licensed the Machineca bodytype technology and harnessed the brilliant skill of toy designer and Shinki Engineer Masaki Apsy to create a more mature sister line called Dark Advent. Goodsmile has also hired Masaki Apsy to craft Machineca-compatible Chitocerium figures using the same technology.

Compare them to their duelling sister lineup, the Frame Arms Girls (and the regular mech-styled Frame Arms).

Kotobukiya's Youtube Channel features several trailers for the Megami Device girls.

Waves of Megami Device girls:

• WISM (Women's Imperial Space Marines) series girls, with a solid infantry fireteam motif. There are four girls in this wave, although they are packaged in "pairs" with just enough parts to assemble either one girl in a pair per kit. They were launched over the start of 2017.
  • Scout-Assault: is the simple and straightforward basic girl, while Scout has a smirk and blonde braided twintails. They have a modest bust size and share a UAV drone.
  • Sniper-Grappler: is a dark-skinned blonde catgirl with a focus on close combat, while Sniper has a Hime Cut and can switch her weapon between Sniper Rifle and Flamethrower configurations. They have larger bust sizes compared to Scout and Assault.
• SOL (Sonic Operations Ladies) series girls, who have a more traditionally shinki-styled design. The initial two girls in this series are sold separately.
  • Hornet, a light-skinned blonde with several pouty/haughty expressions and a small ponytail. Her specialty is flight.
  • Roadrunner, a smug tan-skinned girl with a wicked grin and wild curly hair. Her specialty is running.
  • Raptor, a late arrival to the SOL series who was announced in 2018 and arrived in Japan during 4th-quarter 2018 in white-and-blue rather than the stock orange SOL colour scheme. She has brown hair and an apologetic expression.
• ASRA (Asura) is the third wave. Initial release for these girls was done in red, black, and white, and a later swimsuit-styled alternate variant was released in whites and blues. They also sport small Oni-styled horns.
  • Ninja is a twintailed brunette with green eyes. She comes with knives, arm blades, a modestly-sized Fuuma Shuriken, and has a cool scarf. She has an upgrade to her base body in the form of Ninja Kaname.
  • Archer is a ponytailed blonde with purple eyes. She has her bow plus a sword sidearm, and she is one of the bustiest Megami Device girls, with the default styling for her leg armor resembling hakama. She has an upgrade to her base body in the form of Archer Kizuna.
  • Kyuubi (or Nine-Tails in the west) is a ponytailed, pink haired ninja with an armor set based off the kitsune. The tails of the armor are a thruster assembly that grants her tremendous speed and to even turn into a jet. Her weapons include a trident and kunai.
  • Tamamonomae is a blonde named for the Japanese mythological figure. She is armed with a bow, an ECM jamming rod, and a tachi. When wearing her signal-jamming armor, she is the tallest Megami Device unit yet.
• A fourth wave, "Chaos and Pretty", features characters based within fantasy, whether it be Magical Girls or characters from fairy tales.
  • Witch is a short-haired girl with subdued, neutral expressions, and her hat can flip open to reveal a cannon. Her skirt's gems can be detached and thrown as grenades, and her wand is also a sniper rifle, Nanoha-style.
  • Magical Girl is a twin-tailed girl with an unusually delinquent-like unpleasant scowl, and she has a staff as one of her weapons, the spiked head of which can be attached to a chain to form a flail.
  • Little Red Riding Hood, a Genki Girl take on the titular character who carries a basket with a wolf's head, which she can combine with to create a wild mode.
  • Alice, based on the character from Alice in Wonderland, comes with a giant robotic rabbit named "Chronoreps" which she can combine with for Super-Senses and a large rifle.
  • Grandma, a recolor of Little Red that grants her 2 extra wolf heads and More Dakka in the form of three different miniguns.
  • Queen of Hearts, a recolor of Alice that grants her a large set of blades that can become wings.
• A fifth wave, "Bullet Knights," features girls wielding incredibly large weapons.
  • Launcher is a short haired blonde with hair covering her right eye who wields a BFG along with a pair of shields that can become scissors. Her Hell Blaze counterpart is tanned with white hair.
  • Lancer is a short, pink haired Yandere with a gargantuan Jousting Lance and Shield. Her backup weapons are a fork and spoon.
  • Exorcist is a purple haired member of the Naughty Nuns who is seen Dual Wielding a set of pistols. Her and her sister's thighs widen to allow her to cross her legs with armor attached. She also invokes the Moth Menace with her headgear. Her Widow counterpart gives her the Grave Arms M.S.G..
  • Executioner is a purple haired Hot as Hell demon lord who wields a Sinister Scythe. She has both worried and supportive expressions. Her Bride counterpart trades out the scythe for the Knight Master Blade M.S.G..
• A Sixth Wave, AUV, features characters based off Gods.
  • Susanowo, makes use of the AUV system, a modular set of armor that can be reconfigured to make her a Mighty Glacier, Lightning Bruiser, or anywhere in between. Her Souen counterpart gives her icy flames while her Gouren counterpart goes for a fire motif. She can also use the fashion oriented "Regalia Armor."
  • Ameterasu Regalia, a Miko who uses the new fashion oriented "Regalia Armor" to do combat in.
• A Seventh Wave, BUSTER DOLL, focuses on a more affordable figure using the Machinexa Block 2 body type
  • Gunner, a base schoolgirl with armor and guns.
  • Knight, a base schoolgirl with armor and a sword and shield.
  • Tank A base schoolgirl with both more armor and More Dakka than Gunner.
  • Paladin A Superior Successor to Knight.
• An Eighth Wave, PUNI☆MOFU, focuses on affordable, cuter figures using the new Block 2-S Small body.
  • Mao A Cat Girl that wields a giant mallet.
• Subsequent releases that are planned and in the preview stage include an A-Series based on Alice Gear Aegis and a B-series, which, of course, are the Busou Shinki derived MD girls. One of the preview figures is confirmed to use a MD-Small body-type similar to the Shinki MMS 3 Small bodytype.
  • A1 is Kaede Agatsuma, A sword user with a Hime Cut and fox/rabbit ears.
  • A2, Sitara, was revealed at AFA 2018 in Singapore in the form of preview artwork.
  • A3 and A4 were tentatively revealed in 2018 toy fairs in Japan as preview artwork.
  • B1 is the Jaeger-Type Busou Shinki Edelweiss, one of the newest-generation Shinki introduced with the 2018/2019 Busou Shinki reboot mobile game. She sports elf ears, a crown, and is armed with a rifle and 4 swords.
  • The original Arnval and Strarf MKI Shinki are confirmed to be the first two B-series Megami Device girls ever designed; strictly speaking, their prototypes have been in development from well before the first-generation WISM girls were announced, and their very existence was confirmed long before the Megami Device franchise name surfaced.

Megami Device provides examples of these tropes:

• All Your Powers Combined: SOL Hornet and Roadrunner can combine their armor parts together into a single powerful suit of battle armor, as can ASRA Ninja and Archer.
• Badass Adorable: Well, yeah, they are cute little robot girl fighters bristling with weapons.
• Barbie Doll Anatomy: Just like their Shinki predecessors, they lack certain female attributes.
• BFG: WISM-Sniper has a sniper rifle which has a tremendous barrel length. Bullet Knights Launcher's entire gimmick is having a really large gun and Exorcist Widow comes with the Grave Arms MSG, which can be turned into a giant, crucifix shaped blaster.
• Boring, but Practical: The WISM girls, compared to the SOL girls, are rather plain and lack flashy abilities or powers, but they are hightly specialized and good at teamwork, and they have better stamina (battery life) in battle as they don't have any flashy gimmicks that would consume power.
  • BUSTER DOLL Gunner and Knight are also in this boat.
• Catgirl: WISM-Grappler, who has cat ears. PUNI☆MOFU Mao takes the trope to its logical end.
• Cleavage Window: If they have a decent sized chest, chances are they will have this. Examples include ASRA Tamamonomae, Bullet Knights Executioner, and AUV Amerterasu Regalia.
• Competitive Balance: The SOL girls trade off battery stamina for the power to fly and run quickly without sacrificing armor.
• Cute Machines: These little sweethearts are certainly adorable. SOL Hornet in particular has a cute pouty face, and WISM Sniper has blush stickers that add to her charm.
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • The first kits in the line, the WISM Soldiers, differ from later Megamis in that they are one box that lets you build one of two characters when all later kits default to one character per box. This results in the WISM kits coming with six faces and two optional skin tones compared to three faces of one skin tone per kit.
  • The box art for early models draw the joints found on the actual model, such as the standard Chaos & Pretty Magical Girl and Witch featuring the elbow and knee joints on their flesh tone limbs. Starting with the Chaos & Pretty Darkness variants, all Megami Device box art smoothes out the designs for skin parts and sleeves to portray the parts as if they were one whole piece.
• Fun with Acronyms: Megami stands for Mechanical Girls x Armament of Miniature, while also sounding like the Japanese word for "goddess".
• Girlish Pigtails: WISM-Scout has her blonde hair done up in braided twintails.
• Gun Accessories: WISM-Scout has a small UAV Drone/Sensor that she can mount on her gun, while WISM-Sniper has barrel extensions that convert her gun into a sniper rifle or a flamethrower, as well as a tiny scope.
• Hartman Hips: All these girls are gifted with well-sculpted hips and waist and derriere, thanks to the standard Machineca bodytype.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: The Regalia Armor sets were designed to allow a Megami to either battle with or compete in fashion contests. So far, only Susanowo and Amerterasu have Regalia armors.
• Kill It with Fire: WISM-Sniper can switch her weapon configuration to be a flamethrower (which is modelled to resemble a 'movie-style' gas-based flamer with a pilot light rather than a military-style napalm thrower with internal flare-based igniters in the nozzle tip).
• Mecha Musume: The SOL girls in particular.
• Painted-On Pants: Just like the Shinki before them, these girls give the impression of wearing tights when not in combat configuration.
• Power Fist: Grappler has massive gauntleted hands for her combat configuration.
• Sexy Backless Outfit: The ASRA girls have skin-tone backpanels suggesting this.
• Shout-Out:
  • In the original white color scheme when assembled in their fully armored and helmeted mode, the WISM characters resemble Imperial Stormtroopers from Star Wars.
  • Chaos And Pretty Witch has light-blue, short hair in her 'transformed' Battle mode, making her resemble Rei.
• Start My Own: Megami Device and the Machineca body were developed by designers who used to work on Busou Shinki before Konami shut it down.

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