Kamen Rider Ryuki with Dragreder
Review by SentaiSeiya
Kamen Rider Ryuki tells the story of Shinji Kido, who finds a mysterious deck of cards while investigating a disappearance. This Advent Deck allows him to transform into a Kamen Rider and cross into the mirror world from where monsters have been escaping and causing the mysterious disappearances around the city. Shinji makes a contract with the Dragreder, becoming Kamen Rider Ryuki, in order to protect humanity from these monsters. By becoming a Kamen Rider, however, he is dragged into the war that the thirteen holders of the Advent Decks have become entangled in. They are to fight each other to the death in order to become the strongest and only Kamen Rider (Highlander anybody?).
The packaging is really great. Since the Saint Cloth Myth line was the first adult toy line I collected, I have been spoiled by how nice the book-style packaging is on that line. When I got my first S.H. Figuarts, I was quite unimpressed with the packaging, by comparison. The Ryuki/Dragreder Figuarts box, on the other hand is quite hefty and striking . It is more than twice the size of a normal S.H Figuarts box! Rightfully so, since it comes packed with a slew of hands, the Drag Visor , a display stand, and the Dragreder.
The articulation of Ryuki is what one has come to expect from the S.H. Figuarts line.
Dragreder is also quite poseable. Each one of the segments on Dragreder is connected to the next by a ball joint, which allows the Dragreder to be twisted in many ways.
The tail and hand sections of Dragreder also pop off to become the sword and shields for Ryuki, respectively. The shields have incredible mobility thanks to the ball joint that they are attached to.
The set also comes with handles that attach to the socket of the shields so that Ryuki can hold them with his hands. The stand included in this set is a modified Figuarts stands that has two extra plastic arms so it can hold the Dragredder.
The finish for the red parts of Ryuuki give it a rubbery appearance, while the silver and black portions have a matte finish. This offers a nice contrast in both appearance and texture to this figure. On the other hand, Dragredder sports a cool red metallic finish.
Bandai’s attention to detail on Ryuki amazes me. They got his appearance and accessories right, down to the smallest details. Ryuki even comes with five glossy Advent Cards. The detail on the actual cards is very hard to see since they are so small, but can be appreciated when you magnify them.
Each of these cards is different, and they are the ones that Ryuki uses in the show : Sword Vent, Guard Vent, Advent, Final Vent, and Strike Vent. What is even cooler is the fact that the Drag Visor gauntlet actually opens up and you can put in the cards; Bandai even included an extra right hand just for holding the Advent Cards.
My only real beef with this figure are the grey nubs (I want to call them vents because they look like them, but then it would get confusing since the weapons and attacks are called Vents). The nubs on the forearms and shoulders come out in order to accomodate the Guard Vents, dragon head ( Strike Vent), and the Drag Visor. Beware though, once you take off the nubs on the forearms and put them back in again, they will probably never stay on for long since the fit with the nub and the plastic piece that wraps around the hand will never be quite be right again. I cannot count how many times these things have fallen off and I have almost lost them.
Posted 17 November, 2011 - 07:04 by SentaiSeiya |
Comments
12 comments postedI'm not a fan of Ryuuki's look (Guard Vent wasn't too bad), but this is a gorgeous figure for its size! Excellent review and good pictures.
C'mon, Zolda and Magnugiga-!
What- no mentions that "Ryuuki" is being pressed back into merchandise recently because of "KR:DK"'s broadcast in Japan?
I was not aware that Dragon Knight was being broadcast in Japan. Are they are doing it as part of the 40th anniversary celebration, kind of like how they broadcast Power Rangers SPD for the Super Sentai 35th?
No. Japan likes airing American versions of tokusatsu shows dubbed over in Japanese.
This is true. It's been said that Power Rangers Lost Galaxy was more popular than Gingaman in Japan.
[citation needed]
I've heard in general that none of the English adaptations do better than their original incarnations when shown in Japan. In particular, the idea Lost Galaxy outperformed Gingaman appears to be a nasty rumor more than anything.
I believe Toei does these re-showings partially just to get the merchandise a little more advertising with little effort.
Also I doubt the Figuarts Ryuki was directly related to Dragon Knight being aired in Japan. It may have had something to do with Max Factory's weird loophole with licensing Dragon Knight apart from Ryuki, which may have prompted Bandai to show them how it's done but in the end the Japanese collectors just see the Figmas as Ryuki figures. The Figuarts is kind of late to the party anyways so it is probably just some Heisei Rider nostalgia. Ryuki is almost ten years old at this point.
Yeah, I think it was mostly Bandai trying to one-up Max Factory. They really put all their effort into making this the better toy.
It's been said but it's mainly lies.
Power Rangers generally had horrible rating in Japan due to being broadcast during late hours. There haven't been any american adaptation dubs that have beaten out the original Japanese ratings. The people that are spreading these rumors are normally trolls and rabid Power Ranger fanboys.
Zyuranger Ratings:
http://www10.atwiki.jp/shichouseiko/pages/62.html
Power Rangers Ratings:
http://www10.atwiki.jp/shichouseiko/pages/285.html
Now if only people would stop spreading these rumors we'll be fine.
I had heard that some of the other asian countries would dub the American Power Rangers, but I was not aware that it was also done in Japan. In the case of Japan I think it would be like eating pizza the day after, its not quite the same as the night before but some people like it better that way.
I think of Kamen Rider Ryuki as the weakest show of the Heisei Riders (though I really like the ending), but it is undeniable that the recent Figma and Figuarts figures seem to be excelent toys, specially the Figuarts one.
The inclusion of Dragreder that becomes armor and weapon for Ryuki is awesome and beautiful and the joints are very discrete, I like it.
Thanks for the review.
I also just thought it was Bandai's way of sticking it to Max Factory's figmas which I don't think sold that well , since many of the major retailers ended up selling them at heavily discounted prices.
LuizSSB- I also though that Ryuki was kind of lacking , which is why I did not finish it . I only got a third of the way through the show. It was big departure for the Kamen Rider series having followed Agito, which in my opinion is the Best of the Hesei KR, but much more story driven and less gimmicky than Ryuki( which was the begining of the added gimmicks for the Kamen Rider franchise.)
I've found a way to fix the ones on the arms on mine, and I can remove and reattach them easily now.
You have to remove the arm at just about where the black part the port/Dragvisor connects, then take a rod or something similar to push the plastic into the hook on the tab of the dragvisor/port. Of course re-attaching the arm is a bi-atch, and the red part that covers where it connects likes to fall off constantly while you're trying to re-attach it, but for some reason the end result works, and I've had no problems with the Dragvisor or port detaching themselves when I don't want them to since.
Thanks for the info! I would try it, but with my luck , I would probably break something.