Tuesday 28 February 2012

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Decade Violent Emotion


Now that I've settled myself in for a long stay with the Figuarts toyline, it's time to venture back into some of its older releases. The first figure I decided on was also the first full Kamen Rider series I watched (and will be re-watching for a review on this blog sometime in the near future) and star of the upcoming Kamen Rider X Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen movie. He of course is none other than Kamen Rider Decade, star of the 10th anniversary Heisei Rider series of the same name. The "Violent Emotion" version of the figure is the second release of the character, to tie in with "Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider & Decade: Movie War 2010" and sporting brand new headsculpts.


While the Decade figure still boasts an impressive sculpt, the figure isn't quite as flawless as some of the later ones I've bought from the line. It sports different hip joints which are not quite as versatile as the newer ones, the shoulders feel a bit more restrictive and the hands are much larger than perhaps they should be (this is particularly noticable on the open hands). Regardless, Decade has one thing the newer figures don't, and that is the inclusion of die-cast feet. While it may seem like an odd choice, it adds a lot more weight to the figure making balancing during poses a lot less of a chore. While there might be a few things Bandai did differently back then, Decade could certainly still hold his own.


Before I talk about accessories, perhaps the first and foremost thing to discuss is the two different headsculpts. The one attached to the figure in the packaging is the "evil Decade" version from the aforementioned movie, in which Tsukasa (aka Decade) accepts his role as the destroyer of worlds and hunts down the remaining riders. The second head is a more accurate version of his standard helmet used on the TV show/the latter part of the film. From what I can gather the original release of Figuarts Decade (now dubbed the "State Passion" version by fans/sellers) had lesser quality sculpt, and the difference between the two can be seen here (Violent Emotion version is on the right). To be honest the difference of the two heads included here is minute - the crests are different colour and the eyes are slightly different, but its nice to have the option.


Other accessories include 3 other pairs of hands (totalling in 1 open pair, 1 card holding pair, 1 open fist pair and 1 closed fist pair), a pointing hand (which I assume is intended for the K-Touch included with Kamen Rider Decade Complete Form) and 3 versions of the Rider Booker - standard, gun mode and sword mode. The standard Rider Booker opens and can attach to the figure via a peg hole, but that's about as far as extra playability goes. Its a shame that the figure doesn't include the set of rider cards that were included with the first release (especially when a set of card holding hands was included), but it reality they probably would have amounted to small pieces that would have spent most of their time in the box anyway. A quick google search will provide you with a PDF of printable cards if you're really that interested.


Kamen Rider Decade isn't a perfect figure, but he's still a very good one. A choice of heads is a very nice addition and the design is quite appealing even with the generous use of pink (but if any Rider was going to be able to pull it off, it'd be Tsukasa). Whatever your thoughts on the Kamen Rider Decade series was, as a main Rider Decade comes as a recommended purchase.




Super Hero Taisen: Which side are you on?

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