S.H. Figuarts Hinata Hyuga - Virtuous Byakugan

 

The Hyuga clan is one of the most powerful ninja clans in the Naruto world after the Senju and Uchiha. Their family members can use and awaken the byakugan, an eye jutsu that allows them to see the chakra networks of other living things, target those points, and disable or kill with pinpoint accuracy. They are always depicted as pupilless eyes, but once they lock in, they can see incredible distances through objects. The start of the original series shows that the Hyuga were split into two separate clans: the Main family and the Branch family. The main family are the leader and decision makers, while the related branch families are protectors of the main family. Being protectors, they have a cursed bird cage mark placed on their foreheads so that if they are struck down in battle, no one can steal the power of their eyes. Hinata is a Hyuga of the main family, and there is an interesting conflict with her first cousin, Neji Hyuga. He is a branch member whose father was killed, sacrificing himself to help retrieve a kidnapped Hinata. It built a strong backstory that made both characters really interesting!

Sadly, in Shippuden, the sheer power of the Hyuga is very underutilized, given how hyped up their abilities are in the series as a whole. Even worse, in Boruto, she becomes a housewife who doesn't really get to show off her awesome abilities. I blame this on how little the writers involve female characters in important moments in the show, placing a lot of emphasis on Naruto and Sasuke instead.  That said, this is a really cool version of Hinata from Shippuden! She has her standard hooded zipper jacket and cut-off pants look here with the long hair. It's my favourite look of hers, so kudos to Tamashii Nations for making this figure! 

The figure has great posing and balance, good sculpt and paint, and enough accessories to recreate the battle scene where she helps Naruto defeat Pain. 

S.H. Figuarts Pain Tendo - The Rinnegan of the Six Paths

 

The Pain Arc is one of the most iconic in Naruto Shippuden. We are constantly teased about this character for a good chunk of Shippuden as a mysterious, powerful figure who leads the Akatsuki. We find out through Jiraiya's spying that Pain is, in fact, a formerly deceased pupil of his. The mystery deepens when he realizes that there are, in fact, six formerly deceased people being used in a coordinated manner to lead the dangerous group known as the Akatsuki. They are the Six Paths of Pain, six separate bodies commanded by someone (Nagato) with the Rinnegan (the special eyes with many concentric circles possessed extremely rarely by some individuals in history). 

This path is the Deva (Tendo in Japanese) path, capable of utilizing attractive and repulsive forces on any scale. The path uses this power to initially charge up and wipe out most of Konoha. This path used to be a student of Jiraiya from the Village Hidden in the Rain. His name was Yahiko, and he initially trained with two other students, Nagato and Konan. They were all orphans from the village and were taught by Jiraiya to survive their war-torn country. They grew up and decided to band together and end the war by founding the Akatsuki. Their goals eventually warped under the influence of another villain, and they became obsessed with harnessing power, first by acquiring the nine different Tailed Beasts in the world. This is how they come to try to capture Naruto and steal Kurama, the Nine-tails. 

Pain is ultimately defeated by a new and improved Sage Mode Naruto (figure review incoming!), but the arc is pretty emotional for how quickly Pain destroys things around Naruto. The figure is also good! It comes with the Akatsuki cloth coat that works in many ways, and is a little bulky and awkward in others. The accessories are a little fewer than usual, but overall, the sculpt and paint are well done here. 

S.H. Figuarts Minato Namikaze - Narutop99 Edition

 

If you don't know anything about Minato Namikaze, I previously reviewed him here: Minato Namikaze. Being the father of Naruto, a legendary teacher, ninja and inventor of the Rasengan, he's got a lot of status in the series despite being dead at the start. He's a cool character, and one who worked hard to create his power set and relationships in the show. Since the writing of the last figure (7 YEARS AGO....I can't believe it!), Minato won Narutop99, a poll contest that determined the most popular Naruto characters worldwide (I voted Shikamaru!). 

This is a great revamp of Minato, featuring significantly brighter colours compared to the previous model. The figure also stands better with the current line and has larger proportions than the original as well. The accessories here are pretty standard for SH Figuarts, hands, many face plates, kunai and a Rasengan with a special 99 on it! 

SH Figuarts Tsunade - The Legendary Medical Healer

 Tsunade is one of the better-written female characters in Naruto; she has flaws, a history, some tragedy and love mixed in, and some wicked powers and a legacy to boot. She's the granddaughter of the 1st Hokage, former leader of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. She was one of the three legendary Sanin who helped defeat Hanzo the Salamander in the Second Great Shinobi War. She did fairly well as the fifth Hokage. She possesses godly strength, chakra control, and medical ninjutsu knowledge that is unsurpassed in the series. I really enjoyed her introduction into the series, and how she is beholden to some classic vices! 

The figure representation is pretty dead on. She has a pretty good range of motion and flexibility; the only thing getting in her way is maybe the tunic parts that thankfully do have slits and splits in them to accommodate some kicking action. The accessories are well painted and put together, though they aren't particularly exciting. It might have been cool to include her with a rock blasting effect for when she lands a ground punch maybe? Otherwise it's fairly thorough: many face plates, hands, a necklace and an extra head for the kid Naruto figure! Overall, this is a solid release, with no real downsides for me.