Devilman

Review by Omni Existence

The toy is based on the Devilman 2004 live action/CGI film. Devilman was originally created by Go Nagai. You can see more of the movie at http://www.devilmanthemovie.jp/.

On to the toy.

It comes in a black, and very gothic window box, with church mosaic inspired designs. The box measures a cool 35 cm X 6.5 cm X 32 cm (l x w x h). The contents include the plastic tray that holds the toy, and a couple of inserts. One insert is made of a silver colored cardboard, with a tribal flame design, and acts as the background for the toy. The other insert is made of an acetate sheet, with the mosaic designs, and the Devilman label.

The Devilman toy itself is heavy for something made of plastic, and comes with a couple of accessories that include a replacement head with open mouth, two extra fists, a display stand, and of course, it's devil wing attachments.

Since this toy is based on the movie version of Devilman, it's very "prickly" because of the horns, claws, veins, and spines, but that only means that this toy has a great amount of detail on it.

I particularly loved the semi-translucent wings, and the bendy tail! They really add to the whole "beautifully creepy" look of the toy. It's nicely painted, and the semi-glossy finish, gives additional emphasis to the well etched details, like the veins on the wings, spines, and horns.

Sadly though, the Devilman toy is about 70% statue. It does has some decent articulation, particularly in the arms, but it's not enough to let you do some dynamic poses. Weight is one issue, and another is the use of a poor joint system.

The joints, especially on the knees, are very weak, and easily give way. With the upper body weight (even without the wings), a standing pose is hard to pull off without the toy falling over. The trick to making it stand, is to utilize the "Bendy Tail". The tail can be bent, and positioned to support the rear weight of the toy when posed.

One other saving grace for the pose-ability issue, is the fact that the stem of the display stand is made of metal. The stand can "clamp" on Devilman's waist, and keep him steady when doing some poses.

Overall, the Devilman: Movie Realization toy from Bandai is a mixed bag. Personally, I liked it, in spite of the joint and pose-ability issues. The superb detail, shelf presence, and overall look of the toy itself is more than enough for me to let the problems slide.

If you're a Devilman/Go Nagai fan, then it's for you. If you're just into weird, evil looking figures, then it's for you as well, but if you're looking for an action figure with G.I. Joe-ish articulation, I would stay away from this toy. This is definitely a display piece.