Despite other buyers complaining about his floppy waist and driver that just didn't want to stay on, I loved my Kamen Rider Wizard Flame Style figure. Since I'm not one to collect multiple Rider forms (at least not yet anyway), the multitude of different Wizard styles didn't interest me and I eagerly awaited the release of S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Beast in June. Well June has now past, and Beast is here in all his mayonaise covered ancient wizard glory. Here is the review.
Much like with the other Kamen Rider Wizard Figuarts, Bandai have really gone to town on the Beast packaging. Overlaying the dirty gold colour is a Kamen Rider Beast magic circle, which features his various mantle animals (Lion, Dolphin, Chameleon and Buffalo), as well as the Beast Symbol and a picture of the figure itself. The colourscheme isn't quite as striking as Flame Style's black and red combo, but the back of the box looks much nicer than the boxed off silver they used for Wizard. Open him up to reveal the single accessory tray, which again uses the smaller cover like fellow June releases Dragonranger and Super Akiba Red.
Kamen Rider Beast is a much more traditional Rider design than Wizard, sharing similar traits with a few Riders of past years. Some people are quick to shrug him off as a OOO LaToraTah rip-off, but I think there are more than enough elements to differentiate the two lion-themed Riders. However he does have a similar asymmetrical-shoulder look to last year's Kamen Rider Meteor (though its a lot more toned down here). But who influences what is irrelevant, because Beast's predominately black body with gold decoration looks absolutely glorious. The level of detail is among Figuarts' best - the driver, the lion shoulderpad and the helmet (with its beautiful green compound eyes) being the obvious highlights.
Sadly the driver is fixed in position, so it does feel a little cumbersome when playing about with the figure in the waist area. I wasn't really expecting it to be hinged (after all its only closed when Nitou is untransformed), and upon reflection that would probably just cause more awkwardness and/or breakage. At least here it's firm. Proportionally he's a step above Wizard Flame Style, but there is a noticeable lack of an abdomen. Well, the abdomen is there, but in comparison to this picture you can see that the Driver is probably covering a lot more than it should. Don't let this put you off though, because it doesn't really affect the articulation in any noticeable way.
Even though the Beast Mantles are being released as a Tamashii Web Exclusive (probably the only factor that truly lets this figure down), Bandai have done a decent job of packing the figure with a good load of accessories. In total there's 17 alternate hands, the Dice Saber (with swappable blades and six dice) and finally a bottle of mayonnaise. The Dice Saber parts are really easy to swap out, and the dial on it even spins! However my favourite accessories have to be the "thanks for the meal" hands and the mayonnaise bottle - the latter is particularly special because he never has a bottle like that with him transformed in the series, just in the stage shows. That's a really nice touch.
The only other real disappointment is the lack of a signature Tamashii stand, which is only because all of Wizard's form thus far have come with their own. Most Figuarts don't come with their own stands so I don't feel TOO cheated by it, but it would have been nice for the nice little bonus to stretch across the rest of the characters too. There is a Beast stand available, but it was released as part of Tamashii Nations' 5th Anniversary Rider celebration and so was randomly packed with orders from online stores. The Beast stand edition sold out before I could get to it so I settled for a W stand.
After four amazing Figuarts in a row, I was bit worried about opening Kamen Rider Beast simply because I didn't want to break the chain. Thankfully that wasn't the case - though perhaps not as visually striking as a Kamen Rider Wizard style, Beast is overall a much more solid and stable figure, fun to pose and brilliantly sculpted. However it's incredibly disappointing that the mantles have been made a web exclusive accessory (Wizard can come with an alternate robe but Beast can't have at least one mantle?) and combine that with the minor gripe of no stand (despite it not being a usual complaint) is enough to make me knock it down a mark. It's a great figure and by no means requires the mantles, but after so much was packed in with Flame Style its a bit difficult to go back to release that's missing a few things.
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