Taeyang AKIRA x Destinee de la Rose was released in February of this year in Japan, he will be released here in the US some time in the next few weeks. So far this year AKIRA x Destinee de la Rose is the only Taeyang announced/released. He has a MSRP of  18000 yen.

I received my Taeyang AKIRA x Destinee de la Rose from JPGroove in my package of sample items. Initially when he was announced I didn’t really know what to think of him, his promotional shots were not that flattering and well a Taeyang collaboration with a lolita clothing company is something a little different. I’m aware a few Alice and the Pirates Isul collaborations exist but well Isul doesn’t really count, even his non-collaboration releases have been known to come with purses he is just not a very masculine fellow.  The previously released H. Naoto and Hell Cat Punks Taeyangs have much more of a harder edge than AKIRA x Destinee de la Rose. I have to say I was pretty well shocked by just how striking he was in person, he was not a doll I would have bought based on promotional photos but after seeing him in person I now know how much I would have missed out on him by skipping him.

Taeyang AKIRA x Destinee de la Rose is a triple collaboration between Groove, Alice and the Pirates (clothing company) and Akira (model). Previously Aoki Misako and Fukasawa Midori partnered with Groove and Alice and the Pirates to release Favorite Ribbon and La Robe Vert Clair based on their own designs. The model designs the outfit in conjunction with Alice and the Pirates who releases the outfit in human size and Groove releases a doll based on their likeness in their designed outfit but now in 1/6 form.

Photo Source

The real life Akira wearing the Destinee de la Rose fashion. The human sized outfit was available via Baby, the Stars Shine Bright’s store/website who is the parent company of Alice and the Pirates – you can see the post announcing the fashion on their US site here.

AKIRA x Destinee de la Rose in the box

The real life Akira’s hairstyle is faithfully reproduced. The wig is nice quality although I find the style to be a bit bizarre but again it is replicating the model’s hairstyle. The wig is black with a golden yellow streak in the longer ponytail bit.

He definitely has some striking eye chips. I absolutely love his smokey eye make up and grey-ish toned lips. The real life model Akira’s mole is faithfully recreated on the doll as well. I think his face up would suit a lot of different styles and he would be quite versatile outside of his stock.

AKIRA x Destinee de la Rose’s stock is very nice, the details are all fantastic my only complaint with his stock are his boots. The boots are made of plastic and seem kind of cheap compared to the rest of him.

I completely did not see it when it in the promotional photos but in person when I deboxed him I was immediately struck by how much AKIRA x Destinee de la Rose’s stock reminded me of some of the outfits from Revolutionary Girl Utena. The observation was not a complaint as I love Revolutionary Girl Utena and I meant I had the perfect name for him Akio.

He truly looks like a prince with all his glamorous regalia. The white and gold color scheme make him into quite the dashing prince.

His jacket is exquisitely detailed, it is partially lined with a red silky fabric.

The frilly shirt underneath the jacket, I’m not sure how versatile it would be ^^;

Additional photos of AKIRA x Destinee de la Rose are available on my flickr. He is still available for preorder at JPGroove and Pullipstyle
And once again, a very special thank you for making this review possible!