Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Super Akiba Red

There's always one silver lining to Hikōnin Sentai Akibaranger finishing - it's a sign that the latest onslaught of new Super Sentai S.H. Figuarts is incoming! Much like last year, season 2 of Akibaranger has already announced a veritable selection of both official and unofficial heroes for collectors from the end of June and beyond. To kick things off Akiba Red is back with a brand new figure, representing the Super Akiba Red mode he gains in fourth episode of the second season.

Continuing the theme started with the season one Akibaranger figures, Super Akiba Red's packaging is delightfully garish in all of its rainbow glory. The layout is a little different with the new season two logo adorning the front, and the "unofficial" stamp on the window has been replaced with some red Japanese text (although I have no idea what it says). I really like the lengths Bandai go to to make the Akiba packing look good...even the silver backing card on the inside has the Akibaranger symbol printed on it!

Calling upon the power of his love for Aoi-tan through the MMZ-02, Akiba Red becomes SUPER Akiba Red! Armoured with the body of his beloved anime character embracing him, Super Akiba Red features a rather bizarre suit. However the Aoi-tan section looks great in the metallic silver, purple and blue, complimenting the matte black and reds of the main body nicely. The change from a white muffler to red tops off the overall look of the figure, since adding the white would probably break up the colours a little TOO much.

At a quick glance you might be fooled into thinking this is just the old Akiba Red figure with the armour pieces added on, but in reality there's actually a little bit more to it than that. Though this is indeed a remould of the season one figure, it stretches as far as new hips (which are more like the ones seen on the Kamen Rider Ryuki Figuarts). They don't necessarily provide more articulation than the swing-down ones of the original, but they are a lot tighter and probably more durable with time. The shoulder armour is also extended a bit on the right side, which sadly means for all the great things Super Akiba Red can do, he can't lift his arm up straight.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the original Akibaranger releases was the lack of accessories (which Bandai cleverly took attention away from by including stands as a first run bonus), but obviously those mistakes have been learned from because Super Akiba Red features a very impressive selection. Included are 13 hands, the MMZ-01 in doll mode, the MMZ-02 Munyu Munyu Zubaan in doll and sword modes, the MMZ-01 and 02 in combined into the Moe Moe Zubaa-Cune and 2 alternate muffler accessories. So not that only is that including all of the weapons you'd expect Super Akiba Red to come with, it's also making up for the first release by including the MMZ-01 in doll mode. Not bad at all.

Although its much more of a "new" figure than the season two versions of Akiba Blue and Yellow out next week, I wasn't expecting to be blown away by what I was thought was going to be the same figure again with some waifu armour attached. Of course the season one Akiba Red is a fantastic figure, so I did know that this would at least be good regardless. However as I mentioned earlier the retooling proved to be far more extensive than a realised, making it much more unique than I originally perceived. Throw in a brilliant amount of accessories and you have a real winner on your hands. Super Akiba Red comes as a recommended purchase to both those lacking a bit of Nobuo in their collection AND those who proudly have the standard figure on display.

Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Akiba Red

Akibaranger was a series that wasn't subtle about a lot of things, but one of the first ones that comes to mind is product placement and merchandising. In a series where the cast were frequently seen in a room filled to the brim with Super Sentai figures, mecha and roleplay items, its no surprise that Bandai also had plans to milk the show as far as merchandise was concerned. Not only that, but the show also included several commercial bumpers for the products, and even a gag in the last episode about promotion of two Tamashii web exclusive Figuarts for characters that didn't even appear in the show (Deka Blue and Black Condor). Well now that the show has finished, it's time for the figures to start rolling out. The first to be released is none other than Nobuo Akagi aka Akiba Red, with Blue to follow in July and then Yellow in August. Malshina and a Shatieek have also been seen, however their release details have yet to be announced.

The box is a bright display of rainbows on white (possibly a reference to Akibaranger's show-within-a-show Nijiyome Academy Z-Cune Aoi), with the Akibaranger logo and an "unoffical" stamp on the window section. The back displays Akiba Red in various poses, one with the Inordinate Deka Wapper Power (sold separately, which I will cover later). There is also an amusing bit of Engrish in the form of the Figuarts slogan, which boasts "simple style and HIROIC action".

Akiba Red is a radical departure in design from your official red Sentai heroes, which makes for a much more interesting figure. The chest and abdominal area features translucent red plastic over sculpted detail, and the feet have highly detailed boot markings and buckles. The excellent range of poseability the Gokaiger Figuarts had has made it over to this release, but the tricky-to-navigate shoulder area found on the other Sentai figures is missing on Akiba Red due to the obvious differences in costume design, resulting in much greater flexibility.

Accessories include two alternate scarves (a static one and a "blowing" one), the MMZ-01 in gun mode and 8 alternate hands (two open, two closed fists, two gripping hands and two specific pose ones). Any one expecting to see these figures bundled with the Akibaranger Inordinate Powers (the Deka Wapper, Bouken Scoop and Jet Winger) will be disappointed, as they are instead included with Figuarts Deka Red, Bouken Red and Red Hawk respectively in a sneaky bit of cross promotion on Bandai's part. Personally I don't feel too let down by this as I planned to get the three anyway and am grateful the figures are getting releases as part of the Akibaranger promotion (I don't think they wouldn't have gotten releases without it, but I imagine its speeded up the process), but can understand disappointment from anyone who may be a more casual Sentai fan planning to buy the figures. The one accessory I do think the figure is lacking is the MMZ-01 in figure mode, but with the amount of detail that would have had to gone into a small piece I can't imagine it would have turned out brilliantly.

As a first wave bonus, Akiba Red also comes with three specific Tamashii Stage Act 3 stands, one for each of the Akibarangers. Each stand base has the logo in the member's respective colour and their name, as well as the symbols for "A", "Ki" and "Ba". This is my first experience with the stands as I am yet to buy another figure that has them included or buy a separate set online, but they have left me with a very positive first impression. The base is a decent size, while the articulated arm and claw pieces are study and able to hold the figure very well.

It seems to be a tradition of me giving Figuarts high praise but even with the somewhat small amount of accessories Akiba Red really is something else. The sculpt is perfect with a far greater detailing than anything that can be seen on the other released Sentai Figuarts, the articulation is far less restrictive and three character-specific stands is an excellent and desirable first-wave bonus. Akiba Red is hands down the best Figuart I own and if this quality can carry over to the female figures (which may be trickier due to skirt restrictions in posing) then these will be something very special indeed. An oddity among Super Sentai, but much like the show itself it goes to show that sometimes unofficial things may actually be better that the official thing.