Otomonin 02-UFOmaru
Review by SentaiSeiya
Shuriken Sentai Ninninger is the current Super Sentai series. The show features a ninja and shuriken theme. Not keeping with the theme, the mechas’ motifs are a bit all over the place. Following up the release of the eclectic mix of mechas known as the Shurikenjin, Bandai have produced toys for the first two support mechas of the Ninninger. The support mechas are part of the Otomonin line, which translates to “companion ninja”.
Otomonin 02 is UFOmaru.
UFOmaru’s is, as the first part of the name implies, an Unidentified Flying Object.
The details and paint on the UFO are decent, but not as eye-catching as those for Paonmaru.
One bit of detailing on the UFOmarue are the words “NIN NIN” are written on the front of the spaceship. So I take it these aliens must REALLY like Nine Inch Nails.
From the underside, you can see a good bit of UFOmaru’s robot form, which makes the design feel a bit lazy.
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But by far, my biggest gripe with the design of the UFOmaru’s vehicle form is that the shuriken and the holder, which rest atop the body of the spacecraft, don’t do anything to make the design better. In fact, the exact opposite is true.Taking the shuriken and the holder off makes the UFOmaru look much more like a spacecraft that could truly navigate the cosmos or at least be featured in an episode of the X-Files.
The UFOmaru’s shuriken is made of a soft plastic and is a nice cyan color.
There is a cosmic design printed onto the sticker laying on the underside of the shuriken holder.
UFOmaru’s shuriken holder can play 4 sets of sounds. Each time you press the button atop the holder, one of three sounds will play from the cycle of those three sounds. The fourth sound clip is the theme song of the Shurikenjin UFO, which is appropriately sci-fi themed.
Taking off the shuriken and the holder, then flipping some parts around and attaching the piece with the boosters to the back of the newly-formed humanoid form, gives us the robot form of UFOmaru.
The robot form of the UFOmaru is pretty damn cool looking. The robot’s theme is a mix of astronaut and ninja. Would that make him an astroninjabot? Or a roboninjanaut? Whatever you want to call the combination of themes, it pretty unique. The mechanical bits, mixed with the spacesuit and ninja elements is a fun mix. The robot even has a face that looks like the stereotypical, big-eyed alien face. Resting above the face is a ninja forehead protector.
As you can see, the lower parts of the legs of the robot form are made from much of the circular body of the UFO, so they are quite large and out of proportion with the rest of the body.
Formed by the boosters and golden ring of the UFO, the robot form has a nifty flight pack.
The arms of UFOmaru can rotate at the shoulders, just like Shinobimaru’s.
UCHUU Kittaa!
Shurikenjin UFO
Prepping the Shurikenjin for its combination with UFOmaru is the same as the prep work for when it combines with Paonmaru. You have to take the original right arm off and attach it to the back of the toy. Shinobimaru then becomes the new right arm for the toy. Finally, you have to remove the Shurikenjin’s head.
The robot UFOmaru becomes the pilot, the shuriken and its holder become the new head, and the panel with the boosters becomes the UFOmaru Launcher.
Overall, I dig the space-themed Shurikenjin UFO. The space humanoid makes for a cool looking pilot. that looks much more natural in the seat of the Shurikenjin than the giant-head of the Paonmaru. I also really dig the astronaut-inspired helmet of the Shurikenjin UFO.
That being said, the colors of the Shurikenjin UFO aren’t quite as vibrant as those of the Shurikenjin Paon. So I have to admit that I prefer the eye candy that is the elephant combination over the more subtle space combination.
The strongest design of this toy is the humanoid form of the UFOmaru. The spaceship form is a neat concept, but doesn’t succeed at looking like a good spaceship. The Shurikenjin UFO is neat, but not as appealing as the Shurikenjin Paon. So for those reasons, I have to say the Shurikenjin UFO is the number 2 DX Otomonin so far.
Posted 28 April, 2015 - 19:39 by SentaiSeiya |