Release Date: September 2022
RRP: 7000 yen
True to their word, Bandai went all out to complete the in-show line-up of Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger Power Animals in the SMP line. The final release in the range was something familiar but at the same time different – Shokugan Modeling Project GaoGod! This Premium Bandai exclusive release is a remould of GaoKing – its components the five God Power Animals, the ancestors of the Gaorangers' own totem Power Animals.
Given its role in the series and the fact it's the last of the SMP Gaoranger releases it isn't all that surprising to hear GaoGod is a Premium Bandai exclusive, but of course that does allow for some rather nice packaging. As per the other exclusives SMP GaoGod comes in a single large box, designed to match that of the original DX GaoGod release from 2001. The layout of the art and graphics is identical to that of the original, only replacing any images of the DX toy with the SMP version and adding in the SMP logo where appropriate. The sides and back of the box go further to show off the God Power Animals in both their individual and combined modes – complete with a really nice shot of all the previous Power Animals released in the range. Inside the box you'll find all the parts required to build the five God Power Animals spread across a number of coloured plastic runners, as well as pre-painted parts, sticker sheets, building/combining instructions and a piece of soda-flavoured candy.
The first God Power Animal in the set is GaoLeon, a black repaint of GaoLion with a bronze mane and gold accents. Whereas a lot of the God Power Animals have some slight remoulding compared to their standard counterparts, GaoLeon is simply a repaint with no new parts. The colour scheme is very striking though, once again proving that you can't really go wrong when it comes to a black repaint with metallic accents. For articulation it features a hinged jaw as well as legs that are moveable hips, knees and feet. For the most part it's just basic movement, but enough to give the individual model a little more personality.
Despite being the smallest of the God Power Animals, GaoCondor is perhaps the one with the most significant remoulds from GaoCondor – adding a new head piece as well as a new tailpiece which of course doubles as GaoGod's head and helmet in combined mode. The model still has all the same moving parts as GaoEagle, which include a hinged neck, beak and talons as well as rotating legs and wings that can both raise and rotate at separate points. Though it's still a shame that there isn't a direct way to plug a display stand into the model, there are plenty of options here for some great flight poses.
GaoSawshark is the sole water-based animal in the group – a burgundy swordfish with a toothed bill similar to that of a chainsaw. GaoSawshark is of course a remould of GaoShark, not only changing the colour scheme but also adding that impressive sword piece on the nose to give it some extra length. The colours are rather unique too, with burgundy not being something you see all that often on Super Sentai mecha. GaoSawshark features a moving jaw with rows of moulded teeth, as well as moveable front fins and a hinged mid-section to give it fish-like wriggling movement. Sure it's mainly there to work as the elbow in combined mode, but it's designed perfectly for the animal mode as well.
Like GaoLeon is to GaoLion, GaoJaguar is a straight repaint of GaoTiger without any mould changes – but wow what a colour scheme change it is. Doing the kit up in orange plastic together with all the spot detailing makes it feel like a whole new animal, even if most of the latter is provided via stickers rather than painted detail. GaoJaguar sports a lot of articulation to make it more expressive, including rotating legs with working knees and feet, a hinged mid-section and tail as well as a head that can lower, raise and rotate complete with the obligatory hinged jaw.
Last up we have GaoBuffalo, a remould of GaoBison and the largest of the God Power Animals. As well as slightly switching the colour scheme up to brown and gold, GaoBuffalo also includes newly moulded horns that are longer and conical. The ridges around them also give them a far more organic look as opposed to the smooth sides of GaoBison's. Despite being the biggest of the bunch it doesn't have a whole lot to offer in terms of articulation, with only a rotating head and hinged legs on offer. The horns can also raise/lower thanks to the way they're connected, but it might have been nice if the head could do the same as well for some proper charging poses. One other thing I noticed is that the plastic tolerances on my copy felt a little bit off, as no matter how hard I tried one side of the body would just not clip down the way it's supposed to.
Though it isn't really advertised as such GaoGod's Power Animals can still form the "carrier mode" present on GaoKing, which means GaoBuffalo can also transform into a wheeled truck-like mode. This is done by opening the torso hatches and extending the leg parts (flipping the wheels out in the process), before reclosing those sections you began with. It's a nice little function to have even if it doesn't offer that much to the set, given there's no way to directly fix the rest of the animals onto GaoBuffalo in this mode.
All in all it's a nice little set of Power Animals, with both the remoulds and colour schemes setting them apart from the GaoKing components nicely even if they are fundamentally the same. The colours especially as they're not really following any conventional Super Sentai pattern and more just going for whatever works for the combination. Speaking of which, combining the animals into GaoGod is largely the same as it was with GaoKing – just with some very slight differences at the very end. To start with GaoBuffalo's horns rotate upwards to brace around the sides of the torso, rather than poking outwards the same way the do on GaoBison. Meanwhile GaoCondor's wings don't wrap around behind GaoLeon the same way they do on GaoKing, instead rotating upwards to add an additional flourish to the shoulder area.
GaoGao's silhouette may seem familiar but all of those remoulds plus the alternate formation for GaoCondor do a surprisingly good job of making him feel unique. The head sculpt especially stands out with its impressively long horns. But what really works with GaoGod is the colour scheme. The predominant use of brown and gold, combined with other darker colours that fit alongside them do a fantastic job of presenting GaoGod as some ancient and mythical being. For the most part the combination fits together nicely, however there are some minor issues about the slightly different way GaoCondor connects. Whereas with GaoEagle it's locked in by the wings wrapping around the head, with GaoCondor the only things clipping it into place are the small hemispheres on the top of GaoLeon. These are meant to clip onto GaoCondor's legs firmly, but aren't really big enough to get a proper grip. These leads to the whole head section popping off quite easily, which isn't a huge complaint but can get frustrating when you're messing around with the set and trying out various poses.
Being a remould of GaoKing also means that GaoGod shares exactly the same articulation, which altogether consists of;
- Ball jointed head
- Three-way rotating shoulders
- Two-way rotating hips
- Double hinged knees
- Single hinge elbows and left hand
- Waist, bicep, (left) hand, thigh and foot swivels
With the switch to GaoCondor's wings being raised to shoulder height as opposed to tucked behind GaoLeon's mane, the ability to pull the arms outwards (in an almost reverse butterfly joint) definitely help in getting the most out of those arms, though one unfortunate thing I noticed on my copy of the model is that the black plastic used for the shoulder joints is extremely tight/brittle. Similarly to what I feared would happen with my GaoIcarus' wings, the joint completely snapped just from trying to rotate the arm. Thankfully I was able to repair it without losing too much of the movement, and while it probably isn't something that affects all versions of the kit it is something to take note of. The waist swivel also benefits a little from not having the wings in the way, however in this combo it's GaoBuffalo's horns getting in the way instead. Overall though it's very much the same as it was with GaoKing, however after the release of GaoRhinos the GaoBison/GaoBuffalo leg formation just feels a little lacking in comparison due to the lack of ankle tilts.
Although GaoSawshark's tail piece removed from the combined form can be used as a sword as it is with GaoKing, GaoGod also comes with his own unique weapons. GaoGod's horns can be removed from his helmet to form his bow, although as you can imagine this is a little underside. So to cover it Bandai have also included a fully-sized bow that can be comfortably held in the model's left hand, complete with an alternate bill piece for GaoSawShark sporting an arrow tip. Together these can be used to recreate GaoGod's "Heaven's Punishment: Power Arrow" attack, where (as the name suggests) GaoSawshark's bill is fired from the bow just like an arrow. While the bow was never going to be omitted from the set, the inclusion of the fully-scaled version and arrow-tip bill are very nice touches in making the set that little bit more show-accurate.
Shokugan Modeling Project GaoGod is the perfect way to round off the Gaoranger SMP collection – taking it back to its beginnings with a remould of its first figure. As a much less prominent mecha in the series this release might not be quite the "must-have" others in the line were, but those who do pick it up will definitely enjoy the little changes made to the mould as well as its unique colour scheme. It doesn't quite have the same polish as GaoKing did (particularly with some of the plastic tolerance issues on my copy), but there's no denying how great it looks alongside the rest of the group.
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