Tuesday 5 July 2011

Toybox REVIEW: Revoltech Johannes Krauser II



In the first of a 3 day special, I shall be reviewing each revoltech figure of the 3 members of the band Detroit Metal City, from the manga/anime/live-action movie of the same name. Today's installment is vocalist/guitarist/frontman of the band, Johannes Krauser II. Or, as he's known off stage, Soichi Negishi - the protagonist of the series.

The figure itself is rather basic - smooth with not too many intricate details, but it is an excellent likeness of Krauser. The silver is metallic, and the cape is a nice deep purple (as is the orange toning on the figure's hair). As is the norm with revoltech - articulation is a key player, and here its no exception. While not as articulate as some of the later figures in the line, it still boasts revolver joints on the neck, shoulders, elbows, hands, hips, knees and feet. The cape is also held together by joints, meaning it can be positioned in everything from a 'swooshing' effect to being held perfectly stable in the air as if Krauser were jumping.

The cape is removable, meaning Krauser can be posed with or without it (which adds a lot more flexibility in terms of poses). Also included are three different pairs of hands, an alternate 'screaming' head, a microphone and Jack Il Dark's signature SG guitar which he receives at the end of the anime (I'm unsure about the manga). The guitar's strap is fairly sturdy but probably would break if too much pressure was applied, and can be locked onto the body nicely if the cape is placed over it. To go with the guitar are a pair of 'speed' hands, which nicely depict Krauser's thrash metal playing. However, these aren't the only hilarious things you can do with the hands, as my pictures below point out.

There's only a couple of bad things about Krauser in fact - the first being his balance. Since he's wearing stillettos, it means it can be very difficult to pose him (but not impossible) without the aid of the stand provided. Not that this is the end of the world, but some times I like my figures to be able to hold their own in terms of balance. This is made much easier if you remove the cape, but then Krauser obviously doesn't look as imposing. The second problem, and this is one that plagued most of the earlier Revoltech releases, is that the alternate hands/head can be quite difficult to put snugly on the joints, meaning obvious sections of revolver joint are left exposed.

Despite my love for Revoltech, I've never really thought they handled humanoid figures brilliantly (for those I turn to Figma), but Krauser is an all round great figure. Plenty of character, only a few minor problems and looks great both on his own and with the rest of the band. If you're a fan of DMC in any shape or form, this is definitely one to look out for since it can be found relatively cheap these days.

SAT-SU-GAAAAAAAAAI!


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