Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Zero-One Rising Hopper

Release Date: February 2020

RRP: 3300 yen

Kamen Rider has entered the Reiwa era, and Bandai Tamashii Nations are along for the ride! The Kamen Rider Zero-One S.H. Figuarts range launches with S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Zero-One Rising Hopper, which is of course the base form of the titular Rider. Following the trend of recent years Bandai have opted to make the lead Rider of the currently airing series a particularly enticing release, offering them at a notably lower price point than is typically seen for even general retail Figuarts these days. Aruto Hiden dreams of a world where humans and Humagears can co-exist peacefully, but have Bandai created a figure that allows both them and collectors to do the same? Keeping reading to find out! 

"A jump to the sky turns to a Rider Kick."

S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Zero-One comes packaged in the thinner variety of Figuarts packaging, which has pretty much become the standard for most Kamen Rider releases now. The box is predominantly white with text written in both black and neon yellow, the latter of which holds a rather cool surprise that will be covered further down in the review. As well as the usual touches of the figure name, series logo and big image of the figure on the front, the window has both the Hiden Industries logo and the S.H. Figuarts motto printed on in that same neon yellow colour. The Hiden logo is especially neat, as it means future figures will undoubtedly also come with the logos of their respective allegiances. Continue around to the spine and back of the box and you'll find the usual stock images of the figure that Bandai released in the run up to its preorder window, largely focussing on Zero-One himself here as the figure doesn't have much in the way of accessories. Open it up and you'll find what little it does have, as well as the figure itself, housed on a moulded plastic tray. Interestingly Zero-One comes with open hands attached to the figure rather than the usual closed fists, which isn't the first time Bandai have done this across their ranges but is certainly a rarity for the Kamen Rider line.

It's the beginning of a brand new era for Kamen Rider, and a more back to basics approach is definitely represented in Kamen Rider Zero-One's suit design. After several years of complex designs and motifs across the Heisei era, Zero-One takes fans back to the beginning with a simple but modernised grasshopper motif. Zero-One's slim-line figure is a bit of a departure from the bulkier Riders of recent years, and the same can be said for the Figuarts as well. Zero-One is an impressive combination of a textured black undersuit and vibrant yellow-green armour parts, with the fact part looking almost like a mask rather than an actual helmet. Tamashii Nations have done a fantastic job carrying this unique design over to their figure, which retains all of that bodysuit texturing and pits it against glossy armour pieces. The figure is minimal on the paintwork, but that's only because a lot of that colouring is plastic rather than paint. What little paint apps the figure does have, such as the silver streaks and red lining running down the body, are crisply applied. The red especially helps create an almost sporty look for the suit, and Zero-One's feet are very akin to Ex-Aid's in that they look just like sneakers. Of course the design wouldn't be complete without those trademark Rider compound eyes, moulded in the usual transparent red plastic and really standing out against that sea of black and yellow. It's a really striking design that just screams Kamen Rider, so it's pleasing to see that Tamashii Nations knocked it out of the park with such high quality.

The Zero-One Driver features a removable Rising Hopper Progress Key, moulded in both black and yellow plastic. It's a static piece that remains unfolded and barely has any moulded detail, however it does have the most important detail - the signature grasshopper emblem that can still be seen inside of the Driver when inserted. The Key can also be used an accessory for the figure, and can comfortably be held in the hands provided. Sadly a folded version of the Key (or any of Zero-One's other Progrise Keys for that matter) have been included with this release, so those holders hanging from either side of the belt will have to remain empty for the time being. Perhaps a future release will come with some in-scale keys that can be stored, but in the meantime if you are impatient there are third party/custom ones out there that you can get your hands on. The belt itself is really nicely detailed, with some sharp paint apps that really stand out. On a sea of black and neon yellow, a little splash of silver can really make a difference!

But as nice as Kamen Rider Zero-One looks that's only part of the package. The big surprise here, and one that wasn't even advertised no less, is that when you stick that figure under a UV-A/black light you'll discover that all of that neon yellow plastic glows a vibrant green! Most prominently seen in the commercial bumper that screens after the opening, the Kamen Rider Zero-One glows in the dark and now the figure does too! Throw the packaging under the blacklight and you'll see that all the yellow text/bordering on the box glow as well. It was a feature Tamashii Nations were always capable of throwing in but given the price and how it wasn't ever advertised it really could have gone either way. Perhaps the best part of all is that all that glowing armour is plastic too rather than paint, so even if your figure somehow gets scuffed up the feature should be unaffected. It's a shame that the eyes don't glow along with it, but that's undoubtedly a much more complicated feature to implement. I'd have happily sprung for a figure with light up eyes too, but it would have surely eaten into that low price Bandai were aiming for. A very pleasant surprise, and it'll be interesting to see if it continues with Zero-One's other forms too.

That fantastic minimalist design gives way to some incredible articulation, nearly rivalling what the more advanced Shinkocchou Seihou figures have to offer. Zero-One is built with the usual structure of a ball jointed head and neck, swivel hinge shoulders with additional butterfly movement, ball jointed torso and waist, bicep and thigh swivels, double hinged elbows and knees, ball jointed wrists, swing-down ball jointed hips, swivel hinge ankle rockers and a hinged toe joint at the end of each foot. Despite being considered somewhat archaic now the drop down hip system has continued to be used on current Rider figures for some years now, usually to mixed effect. Zero-One pulls it off flawlessly though thanks to its more advanced design, working like the traditional joint but resembling the more advanced hip joints visually. The swing down joint is a lot stiffer than it typically is, but still provides a great range of movement and Zero-One's textured black body is ideal for keeping that sculpt unbroken. There's also a very impressive range of motion in both the torso and neck, allowing Zero-One to comfortably slip in and out of twisted and outstretched poses. The elbows and knees all display an excellent bend, and that bodysuit texturing remains throughout the joint to ensure no detail is ever lost.

For the last couple of years the lead Riders for the current-shows have been pretty-bare bones releases, with various accessories shunted off to their (Tamashii web exclusive) bikes in order to maintain a low price tag. From a business standpoint it made a lot of sense to turn them into entry-level figures, but for longtime collectors having to buy additional figures just to get key weapons was a bit of an annoyance. With a price tag of 3300 yen Kamen Rider Zero-One continues this trend, however this time Bandai have done things a little differently. The figure itself comes with seven alternate hands into addition to the open ones already attached, ranging from closed fists to posed hands and even Aruto's signature "Aruto ja naito!" point. The Attache Calibur, Zero-One's primary weapon, has not been included. However the big difference is that rather than coming with Zero-One's (still unannounced but inevitably web exclusive) bike, the fold-out sword actually comes with S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Vulcan instead. Now its still a pain that it isn't just included here (does one accessory really bring the price up that much?), but far more people are likely to buy the general retail secondary Rider than they are the bike. If Bandai insist on doing this with all their lead Riders going forwards, this is how they should be doing it.

In a world where the Shinkocchou Seihou range is just getting better and better with every release, it's easy to just shrug off the mainline Kamen Rider Figuarts as being lesser products sometimes. S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Zero-One Rising Hopper however proves that this is far from the case, raising the bar for the mainline figures in way that hasn't been seen since Kamen Rider Gaim in 2014. Combining affordability with a sharp sculpt, excellent articulation and impressive colouring, Zero-One is a release that doesn't disappoint. While he may not come with a weapon, the figure is so good that it's unlikely you'll want to pass on Vulcan – which means Bandai have done their job. With S.H. Figuarts prices constantly increasing, it's good to know you can still get some of the best ones at a reasonable price.