Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Char Aznable

Release Date: October 2025

RRP: 9900 yen

There are a lot of characters famous for their time spent in "Bandai Purgatory" (the fabled place prototypes go after being displayed at Bandai Tamashii Nations events and then never seeing subsequent release), but certain figures are particularly legendary - especially when they manage to finally escape. S.H. Figuarts Master Asia is one example that immediately springs to mind, first appearing at an event in 2008 before finally being released in 2014. Kamen Rider Saga is another one - first appearing as a standard S.H. Figuarts in 2011 before being revitalised as a Shinkocchou Seihou in 2024. Then in 2025 another one joined their ranks, and arguably it might be the most significant one of them all. After first being seen at a Tamashii Nations event all the way back in 2014, S.H. Figuarts Char Aznable is finally a reality. With the appearance of more and more Gundam characters in the line the iconic Mobile Suit Gundam antagonist was long overdue, and marks the first release from that original series.

Char comes in the smaller style S.H. Figuarts packaging, with the box sporting a black to red gradient colour scheme (with gold trimming) which nicely matches his uniform. On the front of the box is a window section that shows off the figure itself, with a printed image located to the side of it. Dotted around the front is also the character name and various brand/series logos, with the release branded with the original Mobile Suit Gundam logo rather than GQuuuuuux. Which is undoubtedly as it should be - I just thought there might be a chance it was classed as GQuuuuuux simply because the release came around multiple other characters from that series. Both sides of the box feature alternate images of the figure alongside the character and series names once more, and then even more images can be found on the back. Open it up and the figure/accessories are neatly stored on a moulded plastic tray, with instructions on how to swap the various parts printed on a paper flyer.

Thinking back to the original 2014 prototype it wouldn't be too farfetched to believe that Bandai haven't really made any improvements to the figure since and just released it as is, but comparing the two side by side there have been some tweaks made along the way. For starters the final release has a far flatter colour scheme than the prototype, lacking the black shading on the red parts of the uniform. The belt is now white (as opposed to grey with black shading), and the face has definitely be refined - with the final release version less pointy and more akin to the animation model. To its credit the original prototype looked pretty great to begin with though, so the changes don't feel huge even if overall there is an improvement. The sculpt itself is fantastic, perfectly capturing Char's slender proportions along with vibrant colours on the uniform. The metallic gold paint for the uniform's crest and epaulettes look very striking on top of the black, which in turn stands out on top of the bright red. The uniform also has fabric folds moulded in various places to give it a little more depth. Both the cape parts and skirt have been done using soft plastic, which from a sculpting point of view looks great but does inevitably impede articulation. Finally we come onto the head sculpt, which captures Char's likeness well despite relatively soft facial detailing. Overall it's a great looking figure - not overly complex, but capturing all the detail of one of anime's most iconic villains.

The figure also boasts some subtle improvements to articulation compared to the 2014 prototype, and altogether features;

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

- Butterfly joint shoulders

- Swivel hinge shoulder and ankles

- Double hinge elbows and knees

- "Drop down" ball jointed hips

- Single hinge toe sections

- Bicep and thigh swivels

The significant improvements from the prototype are the addition of bicep and thigh swivels, as well as adding a double joint to the knees rather than a single one. That all said though, Char still definitely has an air of "old S.H. Figuarts" about him. The classic drop-down hips are one aspect to this, but so is the use of plastic for the cape and skirt parts. The drop-down hips help give the legs a little more movement (as do the slits in the skirt), but backwards arm movement is significantly impacted by the way the cape parts drape over the shoulders. Whilst the capes will move with the arms if you push them back far enough, on my copy it also usually resulted in the arms popping out of the shoulder as well. Granted given Bandai's infrequent use of soft goods I wouldn't have expected fabric on this figure in the first place, but some sort of joints to free up the shoulders a bit more would have been nice. It's also true that Char doesn't necessarily need to be the most articulated figure in the first place since he spends a lot of time in Mobile Suit cockpits, but a little more than he has for action poses with his gun would have been nice. What this figure can do really well though is capture Char's endless charisma and sass - and for some people that might be all it really needs. 

Char's accessories include four alternate face plates, seven additional hands, beam gun and an alternate crest for his helmet with "Newtype effect parts". This is represented as a crackle of lightning coming out in all directions from the centre of his forehead, painted in light blue plastic. Whilst far from the most impressive effect part the line has ever produced, it's a pretty good representation of how it looks on the show. The alternate faces provided here include smiling, laughing, sneering and shocked - giving Char a pretty good range of emotions that both fit the character and are perfect for signature poses. To swap the faces, simply remove the helmet and then unplug the face part. Whilst one of the more common complaints about this figure is that it doesn't provide any unmasked options, my bigger complaint is that removing the helmet reveals a rather unsightly plug that prevents the figure from being displayed without wearing it. The One Piece range has done a great job of providing alternate forehead/hair pieces so that characters can be displayed hatless, and it would have been an easy job for Bandai to do here as well even if Char isn't seen all that often without it. Moving on the hand selection includes a pair of saluting hands, a pair of weapon holding hands and then three unique posed hands (one left and two right), which again give you plenty of options when it comes to posing. The beam gun is a very simple sculpt but nevertheless anime-accurate, now coloured light grey as opposed to the original prototype's slightly purple shade. When not in use, the gun can be hooked onto the side of Char's belt via the protruding peg. Overall it's a decent selection of accessories, but there are also a lot of missed opportunities. Which is a shame because, despite being such an iconic character, it's taken us this long to get one Char figure so it doesn't seem likely we'll get another one any time soon.

Though the long overdue release of S.H. Figuarts Char Aznable is certainly something to be celebrated, one can't help but feel that a character this iconic deserved slightly more than what Bandai have given here. It's not so much that the figure is bad (rather its more "par for the course" for S.H. Figuarts, which itself should be a mark of quality), but more that there's just so many missed opportunities that would have been easy to implement. 9900 yen is already quite expensive for what is effectively a fairly standard retail release figure, so missing things like an unmasked head option or even an alternate hairpiece part are harder to overlook that a bit of restricted articulation here and there. That all said, this is Char we're talking about. He's one of the most iconic anime characters ever, and the figure oozes that same level of personality he has onscreen. Objectively Char is a good release that could have been better, but subjectively? The Red Comet has captured my heart.