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This Kotobukiya figurine reimagines Sadako Yamamura, an iconic figure of Japanese horror, in the style of the HORROR BISHOUJO collection. Crafted on a 1/7 scale based on an original illustration by Shunya Yamashita, it stands approximately 17 cm tall including its base.
Sadako is depicted as if suspended above a pile of VHS tapes, her legs drawn up against her body and her very long black hair flowing around her silhouette. The composition incorporates several elements that are inseparable from the character: her white dress, the magnetic tapes spilling out of the cassettes, and this otherworldly pose, giving the impression that she is floating above the scene.
Kotobukiya uses translucent parts for the white dress to replicate the appearance of a fine fabric soaked in water from the well. The sculpture also pays meticulous attention to detail right down to the tips of her hands and feet: Sadako’s damaged nails are rendered in shades of red, a reference to her desperate attempts to escape from the well. Her hair has been given great volume, with long, wavy strands that make up a large part of the figurine’s silhouette.
Two main configurations are available for the face. The first retains the classic image of Sadako with her face entirely concealed behind her hair. The second reveals one of her eyes and a melancholic expression through the strands of hair. The parts are interchangeable, allowing you to choose between a presentation very close to the traditional horror imagery and a version that more clearly highlights the BISHOUJO interpretation imagined by Shunya Yamashita.
The display elements form an important part of the piece. The magnetic tapes protruding from the VHS cassettes can be arranged freely around the base, and two additional reels are supplied in a small box specially designed in the shape of a video cassette.
Technical specifications
Manufacturer: Kotobukiya
Range / Collection: BISHOUJO Series – HORROR BISHOUJO
Licence / Universe: Sadako / Ring
Character: Sadako Yamamura
Scale: 1/7
Type: pre-painted collectable figurine
Height: approx. 17 cm, including base
Materials: PVC, ABS, PET, steel and magnets
Articulation: none
Sculptor: Salle Cato
Original artwork: Shunya Yamashita
Pose: Sadako floating above a pile of VHS tapes
Base: display featuring VHS cassettes and video tapes
Interchangeable part 1: configuration with face concealed by hair
Interchangeable part 2: configuration revealing the face and one eye
Accessories: additional decorative magnetic tapes
Extra tape reels: 2
Box for the extra tapes: shaped like a VHS cassette
EAN for the reissue: 4934054098590
Packaging: illustrated manufacturer’s box / window box
Origin and character lore
Sadako Yamamura is the central figure in the horror saga *Ring*, originally created by the Japanese writer Koji Suzuki. The story revolves around a mysterious video cassette: those who watch it are doomed to die after a period of seven days. The investigation into this curse gradually leads to Sadako and the tragic events surrounding her past. KADOKAWA specifically presents Ring as the story of a video cassette that led to the simultaneous deaths of several young people after they watched it.
The film *Ring*, directed by Hideo Nakata in 1998, brought the character to global prominence, along with several elements that have since become iconic in Japanese horror cinema: the cursed video cassette, the well, Sadako’s long black hair concealing her face, and, above all, her apparition on a television screen. KADOKAWA describes this apparition emerging from the television as one of the images that helped make Sadako a true international icon of J-Horror.
Sadako is the daughter of Shizuko Yamamura and possesses significant psychic abilities herself. Her story is developed throughout the novels and film adaptations, notably in *Ring 0: Birthday*, which looks back at her life before the events surrounding the video cassette and portrays her as a young woman involved in a theatre troupe.
After her death, her resentment and supernatural powers become inextricably linked to the curse. The video cassettes are thus much more than mere props: they are the primary vehicle through which Sadako’s influence spreads throughout the series. This HORROR BISHOUJO figure draws directly on this iconography by positioning the character atop a pile of VHS tapes, the reels of which spill out all around her.
The figurine thus brings together the main visual symbols associated with Sadako whilst adapting them to the BISHOUJO style: the wet white dress, the face hidden by a vast mass of black hair, the traces of her confinement in the well, and the tapes linked to her curse. The result retains the character’s unsettling identity whilst offering the stylised interpretation characteristic of the Kotobukiya collection.