S.H. Figuarts Review

Today’s a holiday so I got some free time.  I’ve wanted to do this for a while.  My Figuart collection now has grown to 12 boxes of oh my god why do I have so many and why do I still want more.  This is like an addiction and I am sure I am not alone.  Let’s get on with.  
 

Let’s do this in series chronological order

Red Hawk

When preview pics came out, I bet everyone felt the nostalgia vibe.  Even to those who had no idea what Jetman was can’t help but be drawn to his design.  It just screams classic Sentai.  He is a wonderful looking figure with a ton of accessories.  I am just scared I might break his back piece one day when putting on the wing accessory.

Tyrannoranger

The 1^st red ranger.  My favorite part about this is his ability to hold the power sword like this.  I have never been able to pull this pose off with any of the earlier releases.  Just shows how Bandai has improved these amazing things.  

Dragonranger

The green ranger, the one that made every 90s kid’s childhood awesome.  My only complaint is that the green used looks a little too light.  I expected it to be a little darker.  I cannot for the love of all things Dragonzord get him to the flute playing pose.  I know it’s possible but everytime I try it seems I might break his arm joints, so I back away.

Deka Red

To be honest, HLJ was having a sale and this guy was marked down so low it would be crazy not to snag him.  I really had no reason to want him other than the I want to get all red sentai reason.  It helps that my cousin had the Akibaranger Figuarts and wanted to form the cannon so he agreed to help out financially.  How could I say no to that.  On the figure itself, I have no complaints.

Bouken Red

I have stressed how much I hate the Boukenger design and I told myself there was no way I was gonna pay full price for this guy.  Alas, I got him along with Deka Red during that great HLJ sale.  The cousin collecting Akiba cannon parts and helping pay for it a little helps me swallow this pill easier.  He comes with a ton of accessories but I still hate the design.  

Shinken Red

HLJ did it again with the ridiculous discount to drive me to order him.  He is actually my very 1^st online purchase.  The thing I hate most are the shoulders.  Thank goodness they did away with those on future releases.  The ankles also are very loose but it’s the first.

Hime Shinken Red

This is a peculiar figure.  It looks good a distance but not so good up close.  I got it for a good price so I have no complaints.  We need more female Figuarts.

Gokai Red

My cousin gave this to me as a Christmas gift and I absolutely love it.  I still love handling it.  Maybe it’s the sentimental value but it really feels good.  I have no fear of breaking anything when I play with this guy, except when changing the folded arms pose.

Gokai Pink

It’s all over my site as well as my banner pic, I love Gokai Pink and her Figuart does not disappoint.  The price is insanely high though.  

Red Buster

I have no love for the series but the Figuart is surprisingly good.  I got this alongside Deka and Bouken Red and I like him better than those two.  

Kamen Rider Meteor

My very 1^st Kamen Rider Figuart and he is a beauty.  Meteor made me take notice of Fourze and his Figuart is a keeper.  No swords or guns but he doesn’t need it.  

Kamen Rider Meteor Storm

I debated with myself in getting this since I don’t like the design but I finally gave in because I wanted to pose him with his staff.  This is definitely a step down from Meteor but not by much.  He feels different that’s all.

If you're thinking why so few pics, I'm too lazy to take new ones of my most recent ones.  Here's some more group pics.  Ryuuranger and Hurricane Red are on their way.  I'm waiting for Kyoryu Red's price to go down a bit before getting him.

I really like: Gokai Red, Gokai Pink, Red Hawk, Meteor, Dragonranger and Tyrannoranger

I am ok with: Deka Red, Shinken Red, Hime Shinken Red, Red Buster and Meteor Storm

I dislike: Bouken Red

 Lastly, here is my current shelf. WAP! Wizard Special Rush is a great toy as well.

Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters Vs Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger

 The reason I am posting this only now is because of the recent wave of mouth watering preview pictures of the upcoming sentai team up movie.  I am so excited to see Zyuranger and was genuinely surprised to see Abaranger along with the Kyoryugers.  If this means an Abared figuart is on its way, I gladly welcome it.  His character is one I am not too familiar with yet but from the little I’ve seen, I don’t hate him.  I’ve written this months ago so that just shows how different my life is now compared to last year aka a job. 

The movie starts off by introducing the Mythic Ranger Keys.  When all five are gathered, the most massive power is bestowed upon the individual.  The new Zanyack commander Bacchus Gils, apparently nephew to Ackdos Gil, is heading towards Earth in a black Gokai Galleon.  The Go-Busters are in their base discussing how they depend so much on their BuddyRoids when the alarm goes off.  They head to meet Bacchus Gils and the evil Gokaigers.  The Gokaigers waste no time and immediately transform and attack them.  Gokai Silver shows up in his mecha and is confused by the situation.  Gokai Red orders him to throw some ranger keys and they transform into Goggle V and Timeranger.  The Go-Busters power up themselves and the fighting continues.  The Red Mythic Ranger Key appears and Enter, who already has four, tries to contain it.  But all five of the keys start to react which creates a wormhole which sucks majority of the characters in, landing them in different time periods.  Navi shows up, is put in a cage and brought to the base.  She explains that the evil act was a desperate plan to avoid total defeat back in the Zanyack homeworld.  They pretended to be evil in order to gain the enemies trust and steal the Mythic Ranger Keys once it was gathered to prevent Bacchus Gils from restarting the Zanyack Empire.

Hime Shinken Red shows up and delivers a message that has been in the Shiba clan for 200 years.  It reveals the location and time period where Yellow and Stag Buster as well as Gokai Silver.  The remaining members figure out where their teammates are and formulate a plan to go back in time using the Timerangers Ultimate Power.  They combine the ability to the Buster machines and head back into time.  Blue Buster meets Gokai Blue and Yellow and start fighting.  Beet Busters find Gokai Green and Pink while Red Buster finds Gokai Red eating chicken curry.  The Gokaigers eventually reveal their plan to steal the Mythic Ranger Keys and the Go-Busters bring them back to the present.  Everyone is back with the exception of Yellow and Stag Buster and Gokai Silver.  Enter has also gone back is preventing them from safely returning.  Gokai Red and Red Buster head out to save them.  After battling with Enter’s Megazord, the time limit is about to run out so the Buddy Roids use their internal Enetron supply to be able to return home.  As the teleportation commences, Enters blasts them.  This causes the Buddy Roids to short circuit.  Beet Buster manages to bring them back online but says their sentience has been damaged, leaving them to be lifeless robots. 

With all five Mythic Ranger keys in his possession, Enter activates a machine that will cover the Earth in hyperspace.  Using the Timeranger’s ultimate power, they borrow the Gokai Galleon from the past since the present one was destroyed on the Zanyack homeworld.  The two teams head out, meet the enemy and henshins.  After taking care of the grunts, Enter summons out avatars of Basco, Damaras and Escape.  Gokai Red, Blue and Yellow defeat Basco using Sun Vulcan, Gokai Green, Pink and Silver defeat Damaras with Hurricaneger while the Go-Busters defeat Escape.   

AHIM AS A FEMALE KUWAGARAIGER! THANK YOU

 Gokai Red and Red Buster board the enemy ship to try and stop the machine.  They kick everyone out and remove the keys but it still does not stop the machine.  They resolve to destroy the ship.  They jump out and are confronted the enemy once again.  As they prepare to fight, a red hero interrupts and announces he and his team will take care of it.  They notice he is alone and so does the new hero.  A little embarrassed but that does not stop him from taking on the enemy.  His team eventually shows and they announce themselves to be Jyuden Sentai Kyoruuger.  They handily defeat the enemy. 

This pose does not fit with Kyoryu Green at all

Enter appears with a powerful megazord appears and the Go-Buster confronts it with their mecha.  The Gokaigers deal with Bacchus Gils and defeats him.   

Magi Red has been in every all red transformation

He grows and they also get in their mecha.  The Go-Busters are losing badly due to the emotional loss of their BuddyRoids.  On the verge of defeat, the power of their emotions reactivates the BuddyRoids systems and unleashes their Ultimate Power.  The power causes the five Mythic Ranger Keys to turn into BuddyRoid keys and the Gokaigers use them.  Each of the 5 mecha suddenly receives 5 giant mecha keys.  All five transform into past mecha and defeat the enemy.   

One of the best mecha designs

The Gokaigers entrust the safety of the Earth to the Go-Busters and plan to go treasure hunting.    

Final Verdict: 3/5

• Hard to think anything with the Gokaigers would be somewhat boring to watch but that’s what I felt while watching this movie.  It felt like they were just there for the sake of it.  Their backstory seemed underused.  The Go-Busters took up most of the time with their BuddyRoids breaking down story.
• It really sucks that the Go-Busters get new roll call montages while the Gokaigers just reuse the old one.  This is one of the last times we get to see them and this is what we get? 
• The only parts I really enjoyed are these.  We finally get to see a good fight scene with a female Kuwagaraiger (this was never seen in the series), the funny Kyoruuger cameo and seeing the old mechas fighting.  Though I’m pretty sure the finale with Ace just reused the scene from the Go-Buster movie.  These are the high points of the movie that fell way short of my expectations.  Mostly due to the Gp-Busters.  Not enjoyable to watch.

Kamen Rider Wizard Series Review

Kamen Rider Wizard is the very 1^st rider show I’ve followed from the beginning of its run to its conclusion.  It is not my 1^st rider show that I’ve seen all episodes though, that honor goes to OOO.   Now that it’s done, I can say I’ll never get into the Kamen Rider series as much as Sentai.  Wizard is a flashy show that hooked me with its smooth main rider.  It got better with the introduction of a competitive, mayonnaise loving second rider.  But after that, the show became boring.  For one, the 2^nd rider suddenly lost the characteristics that made me like him.  He suddenly became just the other rider to call on for help.  Then the main rider had to always share the spotlight with the 2^nd.  I know the obvious need but darn it, when he was alone, his fight scenes were so much more entertaining compared to the long drawn out ones he has with the 2^nd rider in later episodes, against the goons no less.  

Nonetheless, I kept on watching for the eventual final form and the epic way the riders obtain it. Infinity is one of the coolest designs.  Hyper is meh.  But after that, I just slogged on through the filler episodes until they finally got to explaining everything during the final arc.  It was a good final arc and the Heisei Rider teamup is the perfect way to finish off the series. 

So did I like it?  I liked the suit design and that’s a big reason for my watching.  I will always like the 1^st 23 episodes.  The following seemed to lack the magic the 1^st 23 had.  The big episodes like Infinity and that awesome team up will stand out when I reminisce about it.  Overall, a pretty nice show and I have no regrets following it for 1 year.  The actors for Koyomi and Medusa being there week in and week out was another reason to watch as well :)

So what follows are screenshots from each episode with some words below.

That was a great 1^st episode showcasing all his standard special moves

What can I say, I like the way he fights even if he doesn’t use punches.

This ep made me love Water form and its slash strike

This guy was a memorable phantom

Man, slash strike finishers are addicting to watch

Just another nice fight and transformation scene

Why didn’t he do this more often?

Always a cool gesture and sound

I like the Dragon forms.  Thinking of getting the WAP!

Forgot he did this, it’s like the Infinity style finisher

For lack of anything nicer to screenshot

I liked the story

This was a pretty nice aerial battle

Haruto is a lucky guy.  Koyomi’s smile is very nice to look at

I think water dragon is my favorite dragon form

This is one of the “coolest” finisher sequences I’ve seen, and he meets Santa Claus

I like Nitou because I get to see him put mayonnaise on anything

This is a funny scene

I enjoy seeing food being eaten

Okay, this is hilarious! And a little disgusting

                                  Sadly, this is the last we see of his mayonnaise bottle for a while

4 words, AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!

Take a page out of Son Goku’s playbook.  Can’t beat enemy, let the sun do it for you.

Yes, why is that?

Wow, he never did this again

Medusa’s actress just got interesting

Man, weren’t we all excited about this, a possibility of another wizard and it’s a female to boot

Sheesh, I don’t even remember ever seeing this treasure box again

Meteor Storm color scheme and a gun as an upgrade

Chimera and Dragon together.  Nice fight scene

Awesome and somewhat overpowered Infinity form debut!

Sparkle Sparkle!

After some hilarious events, we get 4 simultaneous Dragon Style Kick Strikes!

Meh, not really interested in this guy.  Miss Phoenix

Whooooh, look at that close up

2^nd time he’s run out of mana

Wizard has a sense of humor

Does anyone else see that ring of circles in the middle of the screen?  What is that?

Glow baby glow

Well this was a let down of magnificent proportions

The plot thickens

Don’t know why this pic but eh

All Dragon a second time in 15 blurry seconds, WHY?

Boring episode

Relatable guy huh

So it’s all about Koyomi now

Going for a Best Actress Award perhaps?

Gee, that was fast.

Beast finally did something awesome

Fourze did this as well

My 1^st punch and it’s in the 3^rd to the last episode

So this 2 parter is to make up for Gaim not showing up in Wizard’s summer movie

 Episode 53 

This episode warrants more than a single phrase to sum up my thoughts on it

Firstly, it makes no sense and it was a rush job 2 episode storyline.  Amadam being a wizard who misused magic and got punished, where did that come from?  Did Decade explain that to Wizard? And why is Tsukasa there?  He’s just a Rider Ring summon.  Is Beast dead?  Praying to the 13 rings when Earth is at its highest?  And a lot more but I’ll stop now cause it doesn’t matter.  

What matters is we got an amazingly flashy FINALE for a show that was flashy to begin with and it was fun.  Future all Kamen Rider team up movies should take a lesson from this episode.  It features a lot of actual team up fight scenes between the various Riders, cumulating in that massive CGI battle against “larger enemies”.  Seeing them use special moves and power ups together is what I want to see in a team up special.  

Really?  Sunglasses the whole time he had his helmet on?  Looks badass though

I bet someone will recreate this scene with Figuarts one day

Gaim is… I am not sold on it but let’s check out the 1^st ep and we’ll see

I guess everyone knew well beforehand this kid’s name

Well that’s it, sayonara Wizard.  It was fun and I like your suit designs enough to consider buying your toys.  Nicely done Toei.  Story could’ve been better though.  Looking forward to one last showtime! 

I do believe this is a female White Wizard