Release Date: May 2017
RRP: 9020 yen
If there’s one thing you can almost certainly guarantee with any Star Wars toy line, it’s that one Stormtrooper variant is never enough. And with a line with as much imagination as Meisho Movie Realization, you can bet that Bandai Tamashii Nations intends to milk that design for everything that it’s worth. The Yumiashigaru Stormtrooper is the fourth of five original trilogy variants to be released, reimagining the Galactic Empire soldiers with the aesthetics of jeudal Japan’s infantry. “Ashigaru” means “light of foot” and refers specifically to an infantry class, whilst “Yumi” is the Japanese word for bow. Like most of the variants released after the original, the Yumiashigaru Stormtrooper was a Tamashii web exclusive.
The Yumiashigaru Stormtrooper comes packaged in the usual two-piece Movie Realization box, featuring a nice big image of the figure on the lid alongside the Star Wars logo. As a Tamashii web exclusive, the web shop logo is also featured in the top corner just under the line’s own specific logo. One spine simply has the name of the figure written on, whilst the other has a nice profile shot of the figure which would look great with the other boxes when lined up together. On the back you’ll find the usual range of images, which show off both the figure and all the incredible accessories this particular variant comes with. Open it up and you’ll find said figure and accessories nicely laid out on a plastic clamshell tray, with a little bit of assembly required to fix the quiver to the back of the figure and then clip the bow on top of that.
Despite being one of the later Stormtroopers to be released in the line the Yumiashigaru variant brought with it some significant design changes that really make it stand out against its predecessors. The most obvious of these is the brand new head sculpt, which retains that iconic Stormtrooper mask piece but replaces the kabuto-style helmet with a jingasa-style one. The other big change is the torso armour, which replaces the sculpted ribs and nipples of the earlier version(s) with the Imperial insignia - a recolour of the Akazonae Imperial Guard's torso section. These two changes would also be carried over to the subsequent Spear Ashigaru Stormtrooper. There are a couple of other armour changes too, but these relate more to the type of trooper this is rather than the overall design. As as well having a hole in the back to attach the quiver the Yumiashigaru trooper also has an extended arm guard attached to the left shoulder, which extends downwards and curves around the entire arm. It gives some real visual weight to what's already a pretty chunky figure, and the metallic paint with rusted dry brush makes it look particularly impressive. But then, the paintwork on this figure is pretty fantastic in general. While proper Stormtroopers are usually rather plain in their shiny white armour, Bandai have taken every opportunity to load the Movie Realization ones with detail. As if the off-white colouring didn't already give it a look akin to an old-style painting, its also loaded with golden detailing across the armour threads as well as some sublime black-washing that brings out all that sculpted detail. Just look not further than the mask to see how well these figures are sculpted.
The articulation remains largely similar to that of the rest of the Movie Realization line, with the main differences stemming from the unique bits of armour the Stormtrooper has. Altogether the figure features ball joints in the head, shoulders, waist and hips along with double hinge shoulders and knees, bicep swivels, swivel hinge ankles and hinged wrist joints with a ball joint connector. Both shoulder pads are connected via slightly raised ball joints, allowing them to be repositioned along with the arm and not impact on the shoulder articulation too much. Of course given the size of the left shoulder-guard that's easier said than done, but surprisingly you can still get a solid 90° raise out of that arm. The ball jointed hips have plenty of movement to them, but the layers of soft plastic skirt armour do give some resistance. As I've repeatedly said with my Movie Realization reviews these things aren't as poseable as S.H. Figuarts despite having largely identical joint placements, but you will be pleasantly surprised by the poses you can get out of them. Maybe it's just the fact that the quality of the designs elevates them to another level, but even the simplest poses can look amazing.
This particular Stormtrooper's accessories are three additional pairs of hands to compliment the closed fists (open, sword holding and bow/arrow holding pairs), a sword and scabbard, five arrows, quiver and of course the bow itself. Though thin the bow is an extremely impressive piece of kit - hinged at either end to be compacted when not in use and then when extended longer than the figure itself. The design is a relatively simple one that adheres to line's more historical stylings, but the gunmetal colouring and "teeth" running down the side of it give it that appropriate sci-fi feel as well. The arrows are very similar in execution, so it's worth being careful when handling them as they are rather fragile and could easily snap if pressure was applied in the wrong place. One arrow can be comfortably placed in the designated hand for proper archery poses, while the rest sit loose in the quiver to ensure the Stormtrooper remains well-armed at all times. Finally there's the sword and scabbard, which is a basic armament among the majority of the Movie Realization figures. The moulding is exactly the same, but the grip has been recoloured in a more appropriate Stormtrooper off-white colour. Really it's the bow and arrows that are the big draw here (because if they weren't you could just settle for any of the other variants available) and they don't disappoint. They look great, and are the perfect armament for a Japanese-inspired Stormtrooper design. Traditional AND they can continue failing to land a single shot.
There are plenty of Stormtrooper variations to choose from in this line, but the Meisho Movie Realization Yumiashigaru Stormtrooper is undoubtedly the standout one among them. Reinventing the iconic design as an archer easily beats out some of the more gun-orientated versions released previously, and once again the design blends that iconic Star Wars design and traditional Japanese armour flawlessly. The fact that this is the one Stormtrooper variant that’s managed to retain (and in many places exceed) it’s original price on the aftermarket also speaks for its quality. This line has quickly become possibly my favourite Tamashii Nations has ever produced, because every release has been an absolute joy.
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