Top 5: Tamashii Nation 2025 Reveals

Bandai's annual Tamashii Nation events are always a good time but the 2025 edition felt particularly stacked in regards to reveals, particularly if you're a fan of tokusatsu. While there were a lot of great reveals from the worlds of anime, live-action, video games and Western animation as well (Star Wars: The Clone Wars S.H. Figuarts has got to be a contender for one of the most unexpected reveals of the weekend), if you are a fan of Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Ultraman then there was A LOT to salivate over. As always I've picked out my personal favourite reveals from the event, but I have to say it was much tougher to narrow down than usual.

First Impressions: Captain Earth

With the more juvenile series out of the way, let's get talking about one of the REAL mecha shows making its debut this anime season. Captain Earth is the brand new show from Bones, written by Takuya Igarashi and directed by Yōji Enokido - both of whom worked on Star Driver. Those two aren't the only Star Driver staff returning, with artists Shingeto Koyoma and Takayuki Yanase (both of whom also worked on Eureka Seven and its sequel Ao) handling mecha duties. Mentioning these two series is pretty important, as prior to airing some referring to Captain Earth as "Eureka Seven meets Star Driver". With those being two of my favourite anime series of all time, Captain Earth was probably my most anticipated show for this season.

Toybox REVIEW: Bandai Robot Spirits Nirvash TypeZERO

I've been waiting for this figure for a while. After first watching Eureka Seven I knew I had to get my hands on a Nirvash toy, but with the Robot Spirits Nirvash Spec2 figure fetching such a high price and complaints of it being a rather fiddly toy, I held on a little longer by preordering the spec1 figure and getting a reduced Devilfish to pass me over until June. But now it is June (well, for one more day anyway) and the wait is finally over. The Nirvash typeZERO, the primary mecha of Psalms of the Planets: Eureka Seven is here.

The first thing to point out about the Nirvash is that unlike the Spec2, which had the ability to transform into both jet and car modes and (so I hear) suffered for it, this figure has forsaken the car mode in exchange for more posability, better accessories and best of all, a lower price tag. Coming straight out of the box the figure may seem a little on the small side but that quickly passes after you see its fantastic sculpt which accurately captures the proportions of the Nirvash - bulky torso, skinny legs, big feet etc. The mix of colours really blends well too - white, red, grey, gold, they're all in there an look superbly faithful to the art of the series.

Nirvash's accessories include additional sets of hands (gripping hands and closed fists), boomerang weapons which can be stored in the shoulder pads and a huge rifle, complete with moveable scope and of course, the ref board which no Nirvash figure would be complete without. Best of all though, is that this Nirvash actually comes with a stand! And not just any stand, a fantastically sculpted trapar wave stand molded in translucent green. My only (minor) gripe is that the board attaches to the stand via a peg on the stand, which sadly means older Eureka Seven Robot Spirit figures (i.e. my Devilfish) can't make use of such a great stand. Nevertheless its a very small complaint as I'd have only used to stand with the Devilfish to take some action shots.

To me, this figure wasn't just worth the £30 I paid for it, it surpasses almost every mecha toy I've ever bought and is without a doubt one of my favourite toys I own period. Revoltech Gurren should be afraid, because he may not be holding that top spot much longer.

If you've watched Eureka Seven and buy mecha toys you need this figure. If you haven't watched Eureka Seven and but mecha toys go away, watch Eureka Seven and then buy this.

Toybox REVIEW: Bandai Robot Spirits Devilfish

Here we have the first figure I've bought from a line I've been wanting to get into for a very very long time. Bandai's Robot Tamashii/Damashii (or just Robot Spirits) line offers a wide variety of mecha in a similar scale to Revoltech from series such as Gundam SEED, Gundam 00, Full Metal Panic, Code Geass, Macross Frontier and many more. What we are reviewing here appears in the fantastic series Eureka Seven. The only problem is these figures don't come cheap - you're looking at around £25-35 depending on which figure you're after. 70% off at HLJ later, and I've got myself a Devilfish.

The Devilfish is Holland Novak's personal LFO (Light Finding Operation) which appears at the tail end of the series and the alternate universe movie Goodnight, Sleep Tight Young Lovers (Pocket Full of Rainbows). One of the most powerful LFOs in the series, it is not equipped with a limiter, which allows it to function to the very zenith of its capabilities. However, to keep up, the pilot must take special drugs which enhances their nervous system to keep them from blacking out. Constant intake of these drugs can have dire consequences and is considered near-suicidal.

The sculpt is great, as you would expect from a highly regarded company such as Bandai. Articulation is superb - equal to Revoltech in terms of points of articulation - minus the clicky revolver joints. It feels far more fluid here and therefore less effort to get a diverse range of poses. It even comes with a few accessories - some interchangeable fist hands, a green eyed head and connectors so that its ref board can be split in half and stored on the figures hips (making some rather badass hip guards). The ref board itself is huge - even taller than the figure itself!

Sounds like the perfect figure right? Well there is one rather large oversight that is quite hard to ignore. The figure, as with the rest of Robot Spirits line, do not come with stands. Usually I wouldn't consider this a huge problem but the fact is to get the best range of poses out of this guy, and with any other Eureka Seven LFO, you NEED a stand to get some mid-flight ref boarding awesomeness. To add insult to injury, Bandai do in fact make stands for their figures, only they are SOLD SEPARATELY. And in packs of 3 none the less. So in essence you really need about 3 of these figures before you get your value for money from the stands, and even then they don't come cheap.

It's by far not my favourite Eureka Seven LFO, nor is it my favourite mecha in the Robot Spirits line. But its still a fantastic toy and convinced me that these figures are worth every penny. With the Nirvash Spec1 due out in June (yes, I've preordered it) and Nirvash Spec2 and theEND already out, I think I've found a new pet project for my robot collecting. And then I may have to move on to Evangelion, then Macross....

Anime REVIEW: Eureka Seven

After having my mind blown away by the movie at the Sci Fi London Anime All Nighter a few weeks back, I thought it was time to take a look at the 50 episode long series that is Eureka Seven. And boy, was it worth it.

The story revolves around 14 year old Renton Thurston, son of miltary researcher and world hero Adroc Thurston, who died saving the world. He loves lifting, a sport similar to surfing but with trapar, a substance abundant throughout the air, as the medium. He dreams of joining the renegade group Gekkostate, led by his idol Holland, a legendary lifter. An opportunity to do so literally falls into his lap when a large mecha, called the Nirvash typeZERO, and Eureka, its pilot and a member of Gekkostate, crash into Renton's room. Renton's grandfather orders him to deliver a special part to the Nirvash called the "Amita Drive", which releases the immense power dormant within the typeZERO called the "Seven Swell Phenomenon". Afterwards, Renton is invited to join Gekkostate, where he quickly discovers that the behind-the-scenes life of Gekkostate is hardly as glamorous or as interesting as printed in the glossy pages of their magazine, ray=out. Only one thing makes it all worthwhile for him: the presence of Eureka, the mysterious pilot of the Nirvash. Renton, Eureka, and the Gekkostate embark on an adventure that will shape their future as well as the worlds'.

Okay I admit, I ripped most of the from wikipedia, but it pretty much sums up the premise of the series without giving too much away. And I want to avoid spoilers if I can, because this was without a doubt one of the best anime series I've ever watched (top 5 easily, possibly in the top 3). Once you get to grips with all the terminology within the series (trust me, there's quite alot of it) you get sucked into this wonderful world of action, adventure, romance and mecha. The amount of character development in the series is staggering, with most (but not all) characters getting their fair share. Eureka is one of my favourite anime characters ever now, beaten only by Nia of Gurren Lagann and Lucy of Elfen Lied. The last few episodes brought me close to tears and its finale is one of those ones that closes everything nicely yet still leaves you wanting more. Add in a fantastic soundtrack and you've got yourself a modern classic.

I HIGHLY recommend this series to both newcomers and anime fans alike, it really does have something for everyone.

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And now that I have an understanding of the series I've got back and rewatched the movie again to give it a fair review. After seeing many "hardcore" E7 fans blasting it online I needed to know what the fuss was about. And now I somewhat understand. This review WILL HAVE SPOILERS so you have been warned...
As a parallel universe title - lots of things have shifted around. Renton and Eureka now know each other from their childhoods, Dominic was their teacher, the Nirvash is a weird fairy type thing, the Coralian antibodies are now an alien life form called the Image and perhaps the most drastic change - Gekkostate are the enemy. Sure, at first this does seem very very weird (and in the case of Hap and Stoner remains weird until their deaths) but you have to remember this is a clean slate and anything can be done with it. In fact I like it that way - I like to see "what if" titles, to be honest I really wish Gainax would do another Gurren Lagann series like that. Gekkostate are the victims of a scientific experiment that has left them with rapidly aging bodies (all of them are around 17 in reality) and need Eureka and Renton to unlock the gate to Neverland, a place where time is frozen.

The Peter Pan ideology works really well in this context and the romance between Renton and Eureka is played out very different - despite still not being human (she is in fact an "spy robot" sent by the Image - which sounds very bizzare) her personality is far more human. Since there's less time for character development in a 2 hour movie there's no time for her to discover emotion and THEN fall for Renton, just the latter. It works out a little differently, but the end result is still pretty much the same. The mecha battles are alot more high budget and pretty than in the series too. I also like the fact that they made Eureka and Anemone of the same race in this continuity...while I understand the logic behind it in the series I think I prefer it this way. Fairy theEND was awesome too.

My opinion has not budged on this, it’s still a movie worthy of a full five. However you will understand alot by watching the series first, that way you can make out some of the more obscure cameos present in the movie. But I suppose it’s possible to watch this first since I did. Highly recommended either way.