Akro-Kaiser (King Walder)

Review by Prometheum5

Real x Head is a small Japanese vinyl company started and run by Mori Katsura in 2003. Mori’s first figure was the Oni-Head, but he saw much more success with his second figure, the Mutant Head, the start of the iconic Mutant Zone series. The Mutant Head sculpt was borne out of Mori’s love of classic 80’s toys, especially Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Taken from the Super 7 Mook and the new Encyclopedia of Kaiju, the Mutants are an invisible race that lives in the forests and mountains in natural harmony, existing outside the realm of human perception. The evil Mutant organization Akrobat is led by the militaristic Akro-Kaiser, and the Mutants dislike humanity because of the damage we do to their natural habitats, and so cause accidents and natural disasters to punish us. During an engagement, Mutant Head is injured and loses his ability to stay invisible. Mutant Head is found by a young boy and nursed back to health, showing Head that not all humans are evil. When Mutant Head returns to confront Akro-Kaiser about their aggression towards humanity, a schism erupts within the Mutant world over how to deal with humans, leading to what amounts to a civil war among the Mutants against Akrobat, with the human-defending Mutants being lead by Mutant Head.

Akro-Kaiser is the militaristic leader of Akrobats, and the first release in the much scarier looking ‘bad guy’ wave, Mutant Zone series 2. Akro-Kaiser uses the same basic Mutant body as the previous releases, with a new head, as well as a new piece, the armored vest. Akro-Kaiser’s head features a single eye, big teeth, and in now standard asymmetrical Real X Head fashion, spikes protruding from one side. The armored vest is an awesome addition to the options available for a figure. The vest slips over the basic Mutant body, with holes for the arms to fit into the normal body sockets. It adds a bulky ‘ready for action’ look, and spreads the arms out a bit for a wider stance. The vest also features plenty of ‘creepy’ mutant-ey details, including a spinal cord and a protruding heart. Perhaps these details are ornamentation removed as trophies from some conquered enemies, or the ‘vest’ is really just a twisted mutation in the character’s body?

The particular Akro-Kaiser used for this review is done in two vinyl colors: flawlessly clear purple and opaque black with black and silver sprays. This scheme is known as the ‘King Walder’ colorway, originally seen on the Henshin Cyborg villain King Walder. Walder is the most popular of the original Henshin Cyborg villains, and this scheme has been used on a seemingly infinite number of figures as tribute. The Walder scheme works exceptionally well on Akro-Kaiser, as it lends an eerie evil vibe to this fearsome leader, and takes advantage of the crystal clear clears of Japanese vinyl.