I've picked up another figure, but *not* a Sailor Moon one. Very surprising, I know, given how many of the Sailor Moon Figuarts I've been ordering over the past year. (It feels odd to think that there will come a time when they will finish releasing those. No new figure to look forward to every few months...unthinkable!)
This is related to the Persona 4 figure that I reviewed back in...what, October? It seems so long ago. This is from another Atlus video game, "Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha," which falls under the Megami Tensei franchise. There's lots of semantics involved here (it's kind of a spinoff, but yet its own series), but we'll just leave it at that, mainly because I doubt anybody is overly interested. If you'd like to know more about the Megami Tensei franchise, Hardcore Gaming 101 has a great page, chock-full of information.
Let me explain--no, there's too much, let me sum up--the Devil Summoner Raidou games. They're set in pre-WWII Japan, one that happens to be home to supernatural forces and all manner of creatures from myth and legend. Our intrepid and taciturn protagonist Raidou Kuzunoha is a teenage Devil Summoner who moonlights as a detective's assistant while defending the Japanese capital from any and all threats. He's accompanied in his endeavors by a mysterious and fluffy talking black cat named Gotou-Douji. They fight crime!
Ever since I found out that Bandai was making a figure of everyone's favorite magical detective, I've been hunting for a good place to buy him. Amazon seemed to sell out of their stock pretty quickly, and only secondary sellers were left...and I'm not entirely comfortable with buying from them, as you well know. My other usual figure site didn't carry him, so for a while, I was completely stumped. Then, back in July, the folks over at MyFigureCollection directed me to check out Big Bad Toy Store, which turned out to be one of the best recommendations I've gotten for figure buying.
They had my boy Raidou in stock, and had put some discounts on him since all the stock they had left were the ones with boxes damaged in transit. I got him for $32.19, plus approximately $8 for shipping. I was pretty impressed with the service I got, so take this as an endorsement for a great retailer! (No, I'm not getting anything for endorsing them, although if they happen to read this, I wouldn't say no to some free figures!) Anyway, let's take a look at him.
Raidou here is part of Bandai's D-Arts line, which is a sister line to their S.H.Figuarts. The lines are similar, but the distinction is that the former is primarily for video game characters, while the latter offers anime and tokusatsu characters. They are otherwise generally the same in size and quality, so I expected Raidou to be comparable to my Sailor Moon Figuarts.
I knew before ordering him that the box wasn't going to be pristine. That's okay, since my focus isn't on keeping the packaging in mint condition. I still save the boxes to sometimes display them, but mostly as a place to store the figures if I need to. Then I got the box and initially couldn't figure out what BBTS was talking about in regards to a "damaged box." On closer inspection, there seems to be a crinkle or crease in the plastic in the front (it's hard to see in the photo), and the corners on the box aren't 100% precisely sharp. What can I say, one person's unacceptable defect is another person's "I don't get why you're freaking out about this" discount. Hurray!
My initial impressions of the box were favorable. The purple of the box fits in with the subdued color scheme of the video games' cover art; it also reminds me of wisterias, a very Japanese flower. The whole thing looks very slick, stylish, and cool. I will say that it's a little annoying that we can't see any of the accessories--or Gouto-Douji--through the cutout.
I realized once I was done taking pictures that I forgot to take a picture of my favorite part; I've remedied the error with a stock photo from eBay. The cutout on the front continues upwards onto the top of the box, with a cutout in the shape of Gotou, Raidou's feline companion. I thought that was the cutest and more clever touch. But I'm a cat lover, so I guess I'm easily impressed.
Opening the box was easy, and the plastic insides slide out easily as well. I was a little confused at first before I realized that the packaging is two clamshell containers stacked together. They're not taped together, so you can just gently pry them apart.
Here is the top layer, with Raidou and his swirling green mist of DOOM.
And here are his many accessories, plus his stalwart companion. I'm also playing around with the layout a bit to make for easier reading.
He also comes with an instruction set. Note that he does not come with a stand. I repeat: RAIDOU DOES NOT COME WITH A STAND. You can, however, buy individual D-Arts/Figuarts stands to use; BBTS carries some, and I'm sure other hobby stores do, as well, plus eBay. Prepare to pay about $15-20 for the pleasure, though. (If I find a cheaper price, I'll be sure to shout it from the rooftops.)
He's a bit taller than my Figuarts, and it really fits with his long, lanky design. He may be a top-notch Devil Summoner, but he's also a growing teenage boy. The face doesn't seem to fit completely with Kaneko's rather severe character design, but the eyes are sharp and steely as I remember.
The first thing I noticed when pulling him out was the brown on his white holsters; a comparison to the box art shows pristine white holsters, so I thought that maybe mine was defective. A quick jaunt on some of the figure sites I use shows that no, it's no a defect, and yes, a lot of the Raidou figures have sloppy-looking panel washes on the belts. It makes it look kind of dirty. (I'm wondering if the paint is washable...yes, it would probably destroy the value, but every time I look at him, I want to scrub off the "dirt.") Other than that, the paint job is okay. The black, purple, and silver are rich and deep.
I realized once I was done taking pictures that I forgot to take a picture of my favorite part; I've remedied the error with a stock photo from eBay. The cutout on the front continues upwards onto the top of the box, with a cutout in the shape of Gotou, Raidou's feline companion. I thought that was the cutest and more clever touch. But I'm a cat lover, so I guess I'm easily impressed.
Opening the box was easy, and the plastic insides slide out easily as well. I was a little confused at first before I realized that the packaging is two clamshell containers stacked together. They're not taped together, so you can just gently pry them apart.
Here is the top layer, with Raidou and his swirling green mist of DOOM.
And here are his many accessories, plus his stalwart companion. I'm also playing around with the layout a bit to make for easier reading.
He also comes with an instruction set. Note that he does not come with a stand. I repeat: RAIDOU DOES NOT COME WITH A STAND. You can, however, buy individual D-Arts/Figuarts stands to use; BBTS carries some, and I'm sure other hobby stores do, as well, plus eBay. Prepare to pay about $15-20 for the pleasure, though. (If I find a cheaper price, I'll be sure to shout it from the rooftops.)
He's a bit taller than my Figuarts, and it really fits with his long, lanky design. He may be a top-notch Devil Summoner, but he's also a growing teenage boy. The face doesn't seem to fit completely with Kaneko's rather severe character design, but the eyes are sharp and steely as I remember.
The first thing I noticed when pulling him out was the brown on his white holsters; a comparison to the box art shows pristine white holsters, so I thought that maybe mine was defective. A quick jaunt on some of the figure sites I use shows that no, it's no a defect, and yes, a lot of the Raidou figures have sloppy-looking panel washes on the belts. It makes it look kind of dirty. (I'm wondering if the paint is washable...yes, it would probably destroy the value, but every time I look at him, I want to scrub off the "dirt.") Other than that, the paint job is okay. The black, purple, and silver are rich and deep.
His cape is one solid chunk of plastic, and is very heavy. Raidou doesn't stand up well because of this, and I kept having to prop him against objects to get him to stand for any length of time. The dynamic sculpt is lovely, but would be better suited for a stationary figure, IMHO. Luckily, it's removable! Raidou's head pops off, and you can lift the cape off. But be careful, because:
Well, I figured out why Raidou never takes his hat off during the games. Poor boy, it can't be easy having a square head. The cap lifts--not clicks or pops but lifts--right off. It doesn't really stay attached very well, so bending him in any direction sends the hat tumbling off. Why the joint doesn't snap together, I'll never know.
The movement is on par with what I'm used to from the Figuarts. The feet are very bendable, which I find amusing. Raidou can dance en pointe now. The arm movement is a little constrained by the cape, so I took it off to test out the shoulder joints.
Overall, the movement is good, and snapping the hands and other holster accessories on and off is a breeze.
Well, I figured out why Raidou never takes his hat off during the games. Poor boy, it can't be easy having a square head. The cap lifts--not clicks or pops but lifts--right off. It doesn't really stay attached very well, so bending him in any direction sends the hat tumbling off. Why the joint doesn't snap together, I'll never know.
The movement is on par with what I'm used to from the Figuarts. The feet are very bendable, which I find amusing. Raidou can dance en pointe now. The arm movement is a little constrained by the cape, so I took it off to test out the shoulder joints.
Overall, the movement is good, and snapping the hands and other holster accessories on and off is a breeze.
The accessory count is impressive, especially considering the dearth of accessories in some of my earlier Figuarts purchases. I have to ask, though, why so few? A brand-new Sailor Moon Figuarts (as in the Sailor Moon series) comes with about the same amount of hand pieces, and maybe one accessory. And it's about the same price! The Sailor Moon Figuarts retail from about $40-$45, and Raidou's MSRP was about $46. The difference, it boggles the mind.
But we've got plenty of fun stuff here. Raidou comes with his signature katana and pistol, both of which you can fight with in the games. The katana and pistol can be placed inside the sheath and holster strapped to Raidou's belt, which is a great touch. The katana also comes with a swirling green fire effect that you can literally slide on. It looks pretty cool, like the sword is glowing. There are a lot of options for the katana: there is an unsheathed katana, with an empty sheath that you can attach, plus a sheathed katana. It allows for a lot of posing options. There are also two separate demon containment tubes (the things that look like mini silver test tubes), but be careful with them! They tiny and lightweight and I almost lost them twice. Gouto doesn't really move, but he beats Figuarts Luna and Artemis in that he can stand without falling over. He looks a little bug-eyed, but is fine otherwise.
As a note, several reviews I've read have warned that the pistol is very fragile and breaks easily. I didn't have that issue with mine, but I only handled it once. I will be very careful, and urge others to be as well. (And worse comes to worse, you can glue it together and just keep it in the gun holster.)
I'm happy with what I got, but only at the price that I got it at. The lack of a stand, especially given the figure's difficulty in standing up, is almost a deal-breaker, given how expensive individual stands are. In my case, buying this discounted figure and then a stand would come to what the original (stand-less) figure would cost. The rest of my issues--crappy panel wash, tiny/flimsy accessories, and flying hat--are a little more minor; but when all combined together with the lack of stand, send me into questioning mode. "Bandai, are you cutting corners here?"
It's a solid "okay," and just a hair away from being "good," but it's not "great."
Miss Scarlett suggests: Pick this up only if it's discounted; it is okay but not worth full price.
P.S. If you are a MegaTen fan, and are determined to have a Raidou Kuzunoha figure, try checking out this recent 1/8 scale PVC sculpt from MegaHouse. It is more expensive, but I have heard only good things about it. If I liked stationary figures, I would go for it.
As a note, several reviews I've read have warned that the pistol is very fragile and breaks easily. I didn't have that issue with mine, but I only handled it once. I will be very careful, and urge others to be as well. (And worse comes to worse, you can glue it together and just keep it in the gun holster.)
I'm happy with what I got, but only at the price that I got it at. The lack of a stand, especially given the figure's difficulty in standing up, is almost a deal-breaker, given how expensive individual stands are. In my case, buying this discounted figure and then a stand would come to what the original (stand-less) figure would cost. The rest of my issues--crappy panel wash, tiny/flimsy accessories, and flying hat--are a little more minor; but when all combined together with the lack of stand, send me into questioning mode. "Bandai, are you cutting corners here?"
It's a solid "okay," and just a hair away from being "good," but it's not "great."
Miss Scarlett suggests: Pick this up only if it's discounted; it is okay but not worth full price.
P.S. If you are a MegaTen fan, and are determined to have a Raidou Kuzunoha figure, try checking out this recent 1/8 scale PVC sculpt from MegaHouse. It is more expensive, but I have heard only good things about it. If I liked stationary figures, I would go for it.
