Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Evil Tiga

Release Date: September 2024

RRP: 9900 yen

As the first series in the Heisei era and still undoubtedly one of the most popular in the entire franchise, it isn't surprising that the S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou Ultraman range kicked off with Ultraman Tiga. But with some copies of the figure suffering from both parts degradation and paint issues almost straight out the box, not everyone was convinced these were quite to the same level as their Kamen Rider counterparts. But three years on and the range has continued to make improvements as it has branched out into other series. It isn't quite done with Ultraman Tiga yet though, and as such S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Evil Tiga has felt long overdue. An Ultra twisted through a forced merger with Cytech Corporation CEO Keigo Masaki, this new Evil Tiga figure is a Tamashii web exclusive and the fourth Shinkocchou Seihou (and seventh S.H. Figuarts) release from Tiga.

Evil Tiga comes packaged in the usual two-piece S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou box, which for the Ultraman range is given a black matte top half and foil silver bottom half. The top side of the box simply features a headshot image of the figure (along with all the various brand logos), and "Evil Tiga" written along the longer sides. The underside however sports a range of different images, showing the figure off in a variety of poses. Inside the figure and accessories are spread across two moulded plastic trays – a deeper one for the figure itself, and then a shallower one underneath for the accessories.

Evil Tiga may not have been the first evil Ultraman to appear in the franchise nor is he the most prominent, but the decision to step away from doing a predominantly black colour scheme and instead rework an earlier design of Tiga has led to arguably one of the most distinct evil Ultras among their ranks. After all it was so good they did it twice - with Evil Trigger adopting the same colour scheme in 2022 the same way Trigger adopted Tiga's. The all-silver body with black, red and gold accents doesn't immediately scream "evil", but when placed alongside Tiga definitely feels like a warped version of it. A big part of that look also comes down to the eyes, which haven't just been rendered in a piercing light blue but also feature black lining around them to make the colour stand out all the more. Basically it's a fantastic design, and Bandai Tamashii Nations have brought their usual A-game to his Shinkocchou Seihou rendition. With the line sculpting each and every one of these figures from the skeleton up and basing them on their respective suit actors there are obvious differences in sculpt and proportions when compared to Ultraman Tiga that might not be there (or at least not as pronounced) had it been released in the standard S.H. Figuarts line.

Articulation in and of itself has never really been an issue with the Shinkocchou Seihou Ultraman figures -  the poseability has always been great, it's concern over the fragility of the rubbery parts that tends to be the issue. That said, Evil Tiga suggests that even though Bandai don't seem to be moving away from these parts any time soon things are still a lot better now than they were a few years ago when Tiga was released. Altogether Evil Tiga features;

- Ball jointed head, neck, torso, waist and wrists

- Swivel hinge shoulders, hips and ankles

- Butterfly joint shoulders

- Double hinged (with built in swivel) elbows

- Double hinged knees

- Single hinge toe sections

- Bicep and thigh swivels

Honestly it is very easy to forget that this figure even has rubbery parts. Press down on the torso pieces firmly enough and you can tell they're softer than the rest of the body, but it just genuinely require pressing down - otherwise they seem just as firm as the rest of the figure. As such it's not really something you need to be overly concerned with when posing Evil Tiga, and instead you can just enjoy the great articulation that the Shinkocchou Seihou line has to offer. The elbows having a built in swivel (no matter how slight the movement) is a nice little surprise, especially as the figure also has bicep swivels to help positioning the arms for things like the beam pose. While the wrist guards coming down over the hands may impact wrist articulation a little bit, Bandai have adjusted for that with the way they've done many of the alternate hands on this release. Overall its a really expressive figure - doubly so when you take into account some of the more charismatic poses the character is associated with.

Evil Tiga's main accessories include an alternate red colour timer, 12 alternate hands and an Evil Beam effect part. On paper this sounds just like the usual things you'd find packaged with an Ultraman figure, but Evil Tiga stands out purely for the amount of unique hands he comes with. There's a couple of the usual suspects in here (closed fists, grappling hands, beam pose hands), but many of them are uniquely posed ones suited to his mannerisms/poses, complete with them connecting at the wrist joint at more unusual angles for extra expression. They really help add a bit more unique personality to the figure, rather than having the only poses available to you be the usual Ultraman stuff. Just as it was with Tiga, the Evil Beam effect piece is connected to an alternate forearm which needs to be switched out on the figure – a little daunting, but the arms switch out quite easily with a bit of gentle wiggling. The Evil Beam is moulded in translucent purple plastic and not only looks great, but feels secure to the arm and not like its about to pop off like some of the more recent Ultra releases (looking at you Gaia and Father of Ultra).

But as an additional bonus Evil Tiga also includes a special "beam collision" effect piece – a translucent white and purple explosion piece that can slot into both Evil Tiga's Evil Beam and Tiga's Zeperion Beam to create a proper beam struggle/collision display. Special care should be taken when slotting the beam parts into it as the fitting is tight, but once secured not only are they unlikely to fall out but between the two figures the display can balance perfectly without any additional support. Given the length of the two beams displaying the two figures this way takes up a lot of room on the shelf, but you really can't argue with the results as it looks fantastic. Given that Bandai could have easily stopped at the Evil Beam and just given Evil Tiga the same basic accessories as regular Tiga, this is a really nice addition that enhances both figures.

Of all the Shinkocchou Seihou sublines it's fair to say that the Ultraman range has been the most inconsistent in terms of quality, but figures like S.H. Figuarts -Shinkocchou Seihou- Evil Tiga just go to show that it has its share of heavy-hitters as well. Evil Tiga not only seemingly fixes all the issues present on the initial run of Ultraman Tiga, but follows that up with a great selection of unique accessories that enhance both the individual figure and its potential in wider displays. And all that's without mentioning that gorgeous colour scheme, standing out as one of the most visually distinct evil Ultras out there.