Umiko Natsuyama (夏山海子)

Face-up artist(s):

Volks

Body blushing artist(s):

N/A

Modifications artist(s):

N/A

Tattoo artist(s):

N/A

Date of acquisition:

July 2, 2020

Provenance:

Ordered directly from Volks USA via the April 2020 Online Full Choice System

Reason for choice:

A Volks FCS has been one of my grails since I first started in the BJD hobby, but I hadn’t settled on a sculpt until I saw F-40. Her mischievous catlike eyes and winged eyeliner really sealed the deal for me, so I had to have the coordinated faceup! She just perfectly fit the vision I had in mind for her character.

Best Points:

Her skin is a gorgeous color. It’s velvety-smooth and photographs beautifully. I also love her double-joints which allow for lots of versatility in posing! The very best thing about her is that she’s an FCS, so I got to choose everything about her. She has the exact skintone, bust, legs, hands, and feet that I wanted.

Worst Points:

I wish the torso joint was under the bust instead of at the hips. So far that’s the only thing I dislike about her.

Eyes:

Zoukei-Mura glass eyes - 16mm blue green

Wig:

Volks Medium Curly, Cinnamon Gold; (alternate wig) Leekeworld LR-020_M, Sandy Brown

Favourite colours:

White, Blue, Yellow, pastels

Fashion style(s):

VSCO, beachwear, bohemian

Key fashion accessory:

Sunglasses

Umiko is all about fashion and very specific brands. Her style is heavily influenced by the VSCO movement on Instagram: bikinis, crop tops, oversized tees and sweaters, ripped jeans, cut-off shorts, scrunchies, friendship bracelets, Chucks, Birks, and Vans. She always has her iPhone in one hand and her Hydroflask in the other!

Name story:

Umiko (海子) means “sea child” in Japanese. She was born by the sea and practically lives at the beach. She also has a deeper connection to the ocean that she doesn’t actually know yet, but will be revealed in the future. I chose the surname "Natsuyama" because it means "Summer Mountain." There are mountains in both Japan and California, and summer is her favorite season.

Character age:

16

Character gender:

100% girly-girl!

Offsite roleplay:

This doll's character is available for offsite roleplay.

Umiko was born in a California beach house to her Japanese mother and an unknown (but apparently American?) father. Her mom claims Umiko was the result of a brief fling and refuses to talk any further about it. So she was raised by her single mom and has no clue who her father is, having never even met him. Umiko finds boys and men to be both fascinating and scary because of this.

Her mother is also a well-known fashion designer, so this is where Umiko gets her love of fashion from. However, because her mother is always traveling abroad for her job, Umiko has been shipped off to boarding school since the 6th grade and only gets to travel with Mom during school breaks, if at all.

As you might guess, Umiko constantly craves attention and has gotten very good at getting it--from IRL friends, teachers, and her growing online "fans" on Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. On the weekends she sneaks off to the beach near the school and goes to bonfire parties with kids from other high schools and sometimes even the local college. Her other favorite "offline" activities are yoga, swimming, surfing, and hiking.