Shitara's Karva Chauth gear, and the short-body Machineca underneath it
Alice Gear Aegis puts its actresses in swappable gear sets, and Karva Chauth is the light one Kotobukiya designed with Kanetake Ebikawa for Shitara Kaneshiya. It is the second Alice Gear Aegis kit in the Megami Device line, and it went on sale in October 2019 alongside the gear arriving in the game. What you see on the shelf is the current reproduction run.
The part worth knowing about is underneath the armour. Shitara is a short character, so rather than shrink the standard Machineca base body, Kotobukiya built a new short version for her and used it here for the first time in the series. The proportions are the reason the base body mode holds up as a display piece in its own right, not just as a frame to hang gear on.
Build difficulty
Kotobukiya puts 201 to 400 parts in this box and prints 15 and over on it. One Japanese builder counted 27 runners and reckoned on three to four hours if you sit down and go straight through. It is snap-fit throughout with no cement needed anywhere, and the three face parts arrive already printed, so nothing here is technically hard.
What it does ask for is a light touch. Three separate Japanese builders reported the same thing independently: the locating pins and the joint shafts on this kit are unusually tight, and forcing a part home can stress-whiten it or crack it. The fix is easy and it costs you nothing. Test-fit, ease the tight shafts with a file or a twist of a hobby knife before you commit, and push on the joint itself rather than on the middle of the part. Do that and it builds fine. Skip it and you will be the fourth person to snap the same rear-hair joint. There is more on this in What to watch for, with the specific spots named.
Technical highlights
The base body is Masaki Apsy's Machineca, the articulated frame the whole Megami Device line runs on, here in the new short version developed for this character. She builds two ways out of one box: armed mode with the Karva Chauth gear on, and base body mode with all of it off, changed over by swapping parts rather than by wrestling armour off a frame.
Kotobukiya moulds this one in polystyrene, ABS, POM and phthalate-free PVC. Colour separation is done with parts rather than paint, right down to the crossed cord detail on the stomach, and eight parts arrive pre-painted on top of that. A water-slide decal sheet covers the eyes and the finer markings, including the Sanskrit-style lettering on the gear. Three-millimetre joints are placed all over the kit, which is what makes the cross-line swapping in the section below possible.
What makes this kit special
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A brand new short Machineca base body: built from scratch for this character rather than scaled down from the standard frame, and used here for the first time in the line.
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Two complete builds from one box: armed mode with the full Karva Chauth gear, base body mode with all of it stripped off, both handled by parts swapping.
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Colour separation done in plastic: Kotobukiya split out details other kits would have covered with a painted part, and added eight pre-painted parts on top. It finishes complete with no paint.
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Three printed face parts: a normal expression looking slightly off to the right, a smug one, and a smile. Tampo printed, ready to use.
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Clear effect parts for both weapons: blue thruster effects for flight poses and a violet muzzle flash for the shot gear, both moulded in clear plastic.
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The Nekomimi Tail KSs accessory is in the box: the cat ears and tail set from the game, swappable in or out, and it works in armed mode too.
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A display stand is included: clear violet, the Megami Device standard, and it ships with a second thicker support post specifically for holding up the full armed mode.
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Three-millimetre joints all over it: the feature that makes the kit worth more than the sum of its own parts. See the next section.
What's in the box
- Shitara Kaneshiya, approximately 180 mm tall assembled including the base, non-scale
- Short-version Machineca articulated base body
- Karva Chauth gear set: tops gear with the claw deployment gimmick, bottoms gear, and the head accessory
- Shot gear, a sniper rifle, with a forearm attachment to help support it
- Cross gear, a spear with a clear beam blade
- Clear thruster effect parts for flight poses
- Clear muzzle flash effect parts for the shot gear
- Nekomimi Tail KSs cat ears and tail accessory
- Three tampo-printed face parts
- Hand parts set
- Water-slide decal sheet for the eyes and markings
- Display stand with two support posts, one standard and one heavier for armed mode
- Present code for in-game items in Alice Gear Aegis (please read the note in What to watch for before you count on this)
- Instruction manual
The flying base in Kotobukiya's photos is not included. Kotobukiya prints "the flying base is not included" on ten of their own product shots for this kit. That is the articulated clear stand holding her up in the mid-air poses, and it is a separate purchase. The plain display stand described above is a different item and it is in the box.
Compatible kits
This is the part that tends to sell Megami Device to people who came for something else. Kotobukiya places three-millimetre joints across the whole kit and states outright on the product page that parts can be used with M.S.G, Frame Arms, Frame Arms Girl and Hexa Gear. That is the manufacturer's own compatibility list, not a community guess, so the gear on this kit will go onto those kits and theirs will come onto this one.
In stock here right now and directly compatible through the same 3 mm standard:
Build your Megami Device collection
The rest of the Megami Device shelf that has stock on it today, starting with the other Alice Gear Aegis actress:
Build specifications
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Series: Alice Gear Aegis
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Line: Megami Device, Character Plastic Model. The second Alice Gear Aegis collaboration kit in the line
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Character: Shitara Kaneshiya, in the Karva Chauth gear set
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Scale: non-scale
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Assembled height: approximately 180 mm, measured including the base
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Part count: 201 to 400
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Materials: polystyrene, ABS, POM and phthalate-free PVC
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Manufacturer: Kotobukiya, Japan. Item code KP503X
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First released: October 2019. Current stock is Kotobukiya's reproduction run
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Gear design: Kanetake Ebikawa
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Sculpting: Masaki Apsy, Noritaka Fukumoto, Shunichi Karashima and Unitec Inc.
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Base body: Machineca, short version, designed by Masaki Apsy
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Kit packaged weight: approximately 801 g, retail box approximately 31 x 19 x 13 cm
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Barcode: 4934054055609
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Recommended age: 15 and over
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Skill level: Skill Level 2
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Assembly method: snap-fit throughout, no cement required
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Paint required: no
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Display stand: included, with a second heavier support post for armed mode
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Special features: short-version Machineca base body, armed and base body modes, claw deployment gimmick in the tops gear, clear thruster and muzzle flash effects, Nekomimi Tail KSs accessory, 3 mm cross-line joints
Perfect for
- Alice Gear Aegis players who want Shitara on the shelf in the gear she actually runs
- Builders already deep in Kotobukiya's 3 mm ecosystem who will strip this for parts as much as build it
- Anyone who wants a display piece that changes completely depending on how much gear is on it
- Collectors chasing the Alice Gear Aegis collaboration kits, which come and go in reproduction runs
- Builders coming across from Gunpla who want to see what the other half of the hobby is doing
- People who enjoy a long, careful build and do not mind slowing down for small parts
Fast Australian shipping
Dispatched same day from Brisbane if ordered before 2pm AEST on weekdays. Free shipping Australia-wide on orders over $199. Packed securely in a sturdy outer box with water-soluble cornstarch void fill that dissolves cleanly in the sink.
What to watch for
Honest notes before you buy. Four of these come from Japanese builders who put the kit together and wrote up what went wrong, and one comes straight off Kotobukiya's own product photos.
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The pins and joint shafts are tight, and parts can break. This is the single most consistent report across three independent Japanese build reviews, plus two more builders in the comments underneath one of them. Named spots between them: the rear-hair joint (one reviewer snapped his own returning the kit to base body mode), the E9 and G2 join at step 15 of the manual, the top-of-head part, the rear-head dowel pin, the shoulder ball joints, and the tail joint on the cat accessory. None of it is a defect, it is a tight-tolerance kit. Ease the shafts before assembly, push on the joint rather than the part, and take your time on the head.
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Swapping between the two modes means taking the head apart. The head shares several parts across armed and base body mode, so a full mode change is not a five-second job. One reviewer called it the most tedious thing about the kit and wished Kotobukiya had included a second head. A second reviewer found the swap itself straightforward but still recommended a dab of glue on the top-of-head part so it stops falling off. Worth knowing if you were planning to flip it back and forth on the shelf.
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Armed mode is big and it takes up real space. Three separate reviewers said the same thing without prompting: the bottoms gear spreads sideways and the wing units spread further, and all three were surprised by how much room the assembled kit wants. One of them put the footprint at close to double the previous Alice Gear Aegis kit. Measure your shelf before you commit to displaying her fully equipped.
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The floating gear arms are the weak point in a pose. Two reviewers reported the rear joint arms drooping under the weight of the gear once posed, with one noting it varies between individual kits. The same two also found the sniper unstable held in the hand alone, even with the forearm attachment. Neither is a dealbreaker, but if you want a locked-in flying pose you will be fiddling.
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The flying base in the photos is not included. Kotobukiya prints that line directly onto ten of their own product shots for this kit. A plain display stand IS in the box, with two support posts. The articulated flying stand is not.
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The present code has conditions, and this is a 2019 bonus. Kotobukiya's own published terms say the code is valid only while the Alice Gear Aegis game service is running, works only on devices the game is published on, cannot be reused once redeemed, and will not be reissued, refunded or exchanged for any reason. The game is still running as of July 2026, but one Japanese reviewer recorded the download window on the original release as roughly a year. Treat the code as a nice extra if it works, not as a reason to buy.
Builder tips. Decide which of the three faces you want on display before the head goes together, because the head is the fiddliest part to revisit. Trim the excess film off the water-slide decals before you apply them, particularly the long strips around the top of the boots and the panel on the side of the shot gear. One reviewer also found the shot gear decal has to go on before the round central part is fitted, which the manual does not tell you, so dry-fit that assembly first. And if you own anything else in Kotobukiya's 3 mm system, build her in base body mode first and try other gear on her before you commit to her own, because that is the whole point of the standard.
Build notes
Snap-fit throughout with no cement needed anywhere. Bring nippers, a hobby knife, a sanding stick and tweezers, and a fine file is genuinely worth having on this one for easing the tight shafts before assembly. Paint is not required and the kit finishes complete without it. The decals are water-slide rather than stickers, so have a bowl of water, tweezers and a decal setter ready. Recommended age is 15 and over. One builder reported three to four hours straight through; plan for two sittings rather than one if you would rather not rush the tight parts. A display stand is included.
Last updated: 31 July 2026 (AEST)
