Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Rekiness

Release Date: January 2026

RRP: 13,750 yen

Thankfully the fact that most Ultraman series feature a solo hero have never stopped Bandai Tamashii Nations when it comes to character choices for the S.H. Figuarts line - with plenty of alien and kaiju figures to go alongside them. That said, with the Ultra Series placing much more emphasis on legacy characters many of these tend to come from the classic shows, leaving the New Generation era far more underserved outside the Ultras' various forms. With Ultraman Omega featuring kaiju battling alongside the hero himself though, there was no way the line couldn't include at least one of them. S.H. Figuarts Rekiness is the second figure to be released from Omega, and another general retail release.

As is usually the case with the Ultraman kaiju figures Rekiness comes in much larger packaging than usual, but in this case the box is deeper rather than wider. The art assets and layout however are exactly the same as all the modern era Ultraman figures, using a deep blue colour to match Rekiness' own colouring. The front of the box features a small window to give you a (albeit very obscured) look at the figure itself, accompanied by a picture of the actual suit used in Ultraman Omega. One side of the box is completely plain save for the character name and S.H. Figuarts logo in the top and bottom corner, whilst the other features the typical bookend style shot of the figure. On the back you'll find a couple of pictures showing the figure off in various poses (as well as alongside S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Omega), and then inside the contents are spread across two plastic trays - one for the main body of the figure, and the other for the tail. Unusually whilst most kaiju figures are laid on their side in their packaging, Rekiness is placed straight-on.

While it's true that more often than not you just can't beat the classics (there's a reason the popular ones just keep coming back again and again), early Ultraman kaiju often had much simpler designs than in turn make much simpler figures. S.H. Figuarts Rekiness however is modern Ultraman kaiju design in full force and it makes for one hell of a figure. The level of detail packed into the sculpt is incredible, with the bright colour scheme ensuring all that detail stands out. You've got all the various suit textures moulded on top of the intricacies of the design itself, the sculpt and colour work on the chest standing out as particularly impressive. This is also true of all those spikes adorning Rekiness' body - each tipped with a striking shade of red. The head sculpt is superb, again packing in all the detail of both the design and suit with those piercing yellow eyes. Kaiju fans often lament the fact that Bandai bring their A-game to Ultraman kaiju compared to the S.H. MonsterArts line and with releases like this it's hard not to see why.

Whereas most Ultraman kaiju have more streamlined articulation primarily made up of ball joints for maximum movement, Rekiness is actually a little more complex than that and not all that far removed from a more humanoid figure. Altogether the Meteokaiju features;

- Ball jointed head, neck, torso, waist, wrist and tail (x9 segements)

- Hinged jaw and shoulder pieces

- Swivel hinge shoulders, hips and ankles

- Bicep swivel

- Rotating neck scales

Pieces like the rotating neck scales feel like more of a curiosity than anything else but otherwise it's quite a surprising layout of articulation. The combination of swivel hinge and butterfly joint shoulders add a good range of movement to the arms, and the floating shoulder piece joints are also on hand to cover up the huge gaps in the sculpt the joints can leave when using them to their fullest. The standard segmented tail construction is great for both posing and balance, while the moveable jaw adds a little bit more personality to the head sculpt. It isn't all perfect though, with the lower body proving to be a little more limited. The waist swivel great, and the huge spikes on the thighs mean hip movement isn't great either. The legs can probably be pushed a little harder than what I've displayed in these pictures, but at that point paint scraping also begins to be a concern as well. Overall though Rekiness has a good range of poseability - nothing completely out of the ordinary for kaiju figures but enough to show off some personality.

Sadly however when it comes to accessories Rekiness feels like a bit of a throwback to some of the earliest Ultraman kaiju releases (Baltan and King Joe immediately spring to mind) and doesn't include any extras whatsoever. Granted there aren't a great deal of things Rekiness could have (or arguably needs) to come with, but even a pair of alternately posed hands would have been nice if Bandai didn't want to branch out into effect parts to represent Rekiness' psychokinetic powers. But what's perhaps a much bigger surprise is that Bandai also didn't include any bonus parts for the base Ultraman Omega figure either, which is something they usually do with any subsequent Ultraman release after the titular character. Curiously while this has extended to the forthcoming Ultraman Omega Rekiness Armor figure as well, the subsequent Valgeness Armor figure comes with both an Omega Scope hand and Reticulute Beam effect part. The most obvious answer to why is that the Rekiness Armor figure is a retail release and the Valgeness Armor one a Tamashii Web exclusive, but if Bandai are going to continue to pull this sale tactic it would be nice if they did it with the different characters as well as the main Ultra's various forms.

The Ultraman range has built up a great selection of kaiju figures over the years but it's so rare that we get a modern (non-robot) one, let alone one from the most recent series. As such S.H. Figuarts Rekiness already feels like a somewhat special release in that regard, and the fact it's a retail figure makes it all the sweeter. Visually this is an extremely impressive figure, with Rekiness' bright colouring and detailed design immediately making the Meteokaiju stand out among other Ultraman monsters. The articulation is also very good, but it is a little disappointing that Bandai decided not to pack in any accessories whatsoever - particularly since (even as a retail release) Rekiness isn't all that cheap. At this point it's feeling less and less likely Bandai are going release Trigaron and Valgeness to go along with him, but at the very least it's nice to have one of the trio to partner up with Omega.