S.H. Figuarts Shikamaru Nara - Brilliant Strategist

 Shikamaru is easily one of my favourite characters in all of Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, Boruto, and Boruto: Blue Vortex. He's smart, kind and one of the best friends of those who are treated as less. It isn't specifically said, but it does seem like he's Naruto's best friend throughout several series. Aside from his unwavering loyalty, he has some unique abilities that he uses well throughout the series. He's by no means very powerful, but does well with what he has. I never imagined that he'd ever be on the list of figures SH Figuarts would make (though I did answer several polls with that answer, so maybe that had an impact??? who knows!). This is a pretty easy figure to pull off, but there are some issues with the faceplates I'll get into shortly. The accessories and poseability are up to a good standard! Now I just need them to make a Shippudden version of Ino and Choji to complete the team! And Asuma couldn't hurt either....

Tamashii Nations Effect Wind for S.H. Figuarts - Blue ver.

 

This is by far the largest effect in terms of size of the three! This very stylish effect set comes with a large, wide-diameter wind column piece that rests easily on flat surfaces. Two larger pieces feature a semi-circle design that is also meant to fit on a flat surface, creating a more powerful wind base aura. The last three wind effects are slight variations on a semi-circular wind slash. These have peg holes so you can plug in a choice of three plastic bars for characters to hold or to join two effects together. So nine pieces in all!

I love the look of the effects, although the joints and parts with holes break up the light slightly when posing. A minor nitpick, but It would also be fun in the two large base slashes were identical and could be joined on their flat side with a peg to form a really wide air slash. That might be cool to see! 

Tamashii Effects Series - Effect Thunder Green Ver. fir S.H. Figuarts

These have been sitting on the back burner for a while now, so this week will be all about the effects pieces! The Effect Thunder is a set of three clip-on lightning pieces, including a large base lightning piece, an attaching columnar lighting piece that plugs into the base, and a single straight lightning piece that plugs into the top of all three. They did a good job here, making the lightning erratic in direction. I love the clear green on it, though sometimes I feel the white translucent plastic highlighting might take away a little too much in some cases. The pieces are very pokey! The figure attachment pieces are a little more difficult to put on than the fire ones, but overall, this is very cool! If you have a Deku figure or anyone else with a greenish lightning effect, this is a solid must-have! It does work for some of my Blue Lightning users, but I will probably get that specific set in the future anyway.

Tamashii Effects Series - Burning Flame RED Version for S.H. Figuarts

 I recently acquired quite a few Tamashii Nations effects pieces as well as the new Ichiraku Ramen diorama so this week I'll be trying to review them all! That said it may not all happen at once. Anyone who knows anything about action figure photography knows that with diorama or effects you can have multiple figures, using multiple accessories with a variety of poses to get some good range of shots, so it takes quite a bit of time to set up everything! 

This time I'll be doing the Red version of the Burning flame effects. These are honestly so cool and work well with all the flame based heroes. The reflection and translucency of the fire parts is awesome. With four smaller flame parts that can fit around figure limbs and three larger aura-like fire effects, these pieces work well on many levels. 

I realized I had to make an all new system to review effect parts and dioramas because the model for figures doesn't quite fit the bill. 

Revoltech Amazing Yamaguchi Batman - Arkham Knight

 I don't need to tell you about Batman in the Arkham Knight game. It's an amazing game with a great story and graphics, and it is the techiest suit I've seen in the series. It's also 11 years old at this point, so if you haven't played it yet, it's cheap in the Arkham collection on most game stores if you want to grab it. 

I started my very first toy collection by purchasing some 2012 TMNT figures and a 4 pack of Arkham City figures. I loved the games, and having some fun to play with representations was kind of like a little physical memento I could display on a shelf. It was all downhill into toy collecting from there! 

Out of all the Arkham figures I own, this may be the most excitingly poseable Arkham knight figure I've ever owned (that is under the Hot Toys price). The figure has a ton of dynamic movement and unique accessories I've never seen before, AND they really learned from their fragmented plastic shard cape fiasco from the 009 Batman figure by making this one with a poseable wired cape. 

This is only the second Amazing Yamaguchi figure I've owned, and while it is extremely poseable, it's almost a 3D puzzle to figure out how to get it exactly how you want it. I'm still not well-versed in this despite playing a bunch with the Ver. 1 of the Arkham Knight itself. As an aside, they are coming out with a Ver. 1.5 of that figure that actually has their two pistols and rifle. I'm a little tee'd to be honest that I bought the version previously, knowing how DC was being weird about it's license for figures that used guns. Sigh! Anyway, into the review!

McFarlane Toys Robin (Damian Wayne)- Page Punchers

I've reviewed a few Damian Wayne Robin's before, and even one from McFarlane, but I specifically ordered this one for a couple of reasons.

1) My old McFarlane Robin had a broken arm after some light handling, and despite gluing and drilling in a metal peg, was still too wobbly so it's permanently glued in place now. 

2) I didn't love the weird lopsided grimace on that one

3) The weapon he came with was really a Deathstroke blade and was bent as hell in the package. 

4) That figure's joints aren't doubled at the knees or arms and have limited motion

So here we are, I had never bought a Page Punchers figure from McFarlane before, but this one sold me pretty well! If you've never bought one, Page Punchers include a comic book featuring the character. I liked the comic, Batman and Robin. It takes place in the Reborn line where Bruce is dead and Dick Grayson has taken over as Batman. I never actually assume in comics that Batman is actually dead, so we'll see how this turns out! The main featured villain is Professor Pyg, thus the included accessory!

The figure does really well at giving Damian a new look. He's got better articulation, a sword that is actually meant for him, a removable, fabric hood attached to it, and a fabric cape that all have bendable wire in it! It's not the smallest stitching I've ever seen, but it works and adds more dynamism to posing. 

The main cons here are that he could be a more complete representation of his look in the very comic he comes with! The boots in the comic are longer, the belt is completely bright yellow like his cape, and I don't see any artist lines for his red tunic on the left and right of center in the comic. Strange. Yet, the cover is pretty close to the figure. I don't know what that's about, maybe his costume changes later in the line. The other con is because the sword is a bulky plastic, it is once again very bent. Hopefully, some boiling water and an ice bath will fix and straighten this out. 

S.H. Figuarts Itachi Uchiha - NARUTOP99 Edition

 I won't harp on too much again about Itachi Uchiha, I've already done one detailed SH Figuarts review from his older figure here. He is Sasuke's brother and a prominent drive for Sasuke's character throughout the two series. This particular figure is the result of re-releasing Itachi to celebrate the top 20 characters chosen in the Narutop99 poll taken a while back. As the 20th anniversary of the series, they took a fan poll of the top 99 most popular characters. Itachi came in 2nd (the first being Minato, who, as a result, got to have a one-shot manga written by the original writer). 

Anyway! This figure is a huge improvement on the previous figure in nearly every way. The secret here has been including not just a cloth goods Akatsuki cloak to allow fun poses with clothing Itachi normally wears, but having it bendy-wired. This allows so many good options. Typically at this scale cloth goods look bulky and a bit silly but despite the lower than Mezco price point, they've managed to do a good job here. Add that to the improved articulation scheme and some fun accessories make this a great release! 

The only thing the original takes from this one is having a couple of final battle face plates that allow a bit more dramatic expression for the character. Also technically I think the clothes under are supposed to be blue, not black, but that's more of a nitpicky thing. 

S.H. Figuarts Naruto Uzumaki - [Kurama Link Mode] Courageous Strength That Binds

The Naruto show goes through a ton of instances of power scaling, a term in anime (especially Shonen anime) that refers to determining a character's power by comparing them to other characters. Specifically, this is often a power race between Naruto and his rival, Sasuke. 

Near the end of the series, Naruto and Sasuke get a massive power boost. In this case, for Naruto is finally can win over the heart and the chakra Nine-Tailed beast imprisoned inside him by his father, and bond completely in a symbiotic synchronicity. The nine-tailed demon fox, Kurama, has learned over time the value, loyalty and determination of the human being he is locked inside and decides moving forward that Kurama is now on Naruto's side, creating a new power blend resulting in the Kurama Link Mode. Naruto is now surrounded by a yellow-orange chakra and black outlines surround him to show how completely enveloped by Kurama's chakra. In this mode, Naruto has incredible, previously unheard-of power. He can also create clones with insane power and throw on chakra cloaks to an entire army. It's a lot! 

This special figure release is amazing and a bit of a holy grail for me. It was NOT cheap to acquire and yet it's a pretty awesome version of Naruto while not being a repeat of previously produced Naruto versions in the line (I'm looking at you Sage mode!)

S.H. Figuarts Obito Uchiha - Hollow Dreams of Despair

 Obito Uchiha's story is riddled with traumatic moments and tough times that ultimately led him to become completely numb and turn into a villain with a grudge. He is key in implementing the Tsuki No Me (Infinite Tsukoyomi) plan, which aims to put the entirety of the ninja world under an illusion to end all wars. He goes through several iterations and changes in the story.

SPOILERS BELOW!

He begins as a child of the Uchiha during the third great ninja war. He is part of the three-person team of Minato (Naruto's dad) that includes himself, a young Kakashi and his crush, Rin Nohara. During a fierce battle, half his body becomes crushed under a rock, and he gives one of his Sharingan eyes as a gift to Kakshi, who lost his eye in the battle. From there, we find out he in fact didn't die, and has been rescued and revived by a super old Madara Uchiha, who is just barely alive, but teaches Obito what he knows and bonds him to a White Zetsu (a copy of the 1st Hokages cells, allowing a half body transplant that returns him to be fully able to fight once more. Madara convinces him to follow his plan, which involves forming a group to take all the tailed beasts and summon the Ten Tails. This would allow Madara to become the host of the Ten-Tails and project his power onto the surface of the moon. 

In between all those plans, Obito goes out to find Rin, sensing she's in danger. He comes at the exact moment Kakashi is manipulated into killing her by Rin herself to avoid releasing the three tails upon Konoha village. Kakashi faints after awakening his Mangekyo Sharingan and Obito goes crazy, killing every ninja there. 

After that, Obito continues as the Masked Man, controlling the Nine tails to attack Konoha village, killing Minato, his old teacher and his wife. At this point they seal away the Nine tails half in Naruto, half in Minato as he is dying. Years later, Obito becomes Tobi, and manipulates Nagato, Pain and Konan into using their newly formed Akatsuki organization to execute Obito's plan of piece. 

He successfully gets most of the tailed beasts but only summons a partial Ten Tails due to Naruto still having Kurama and Killer B still having 8 tails Gyuuki. He becomes the ten-tailed jinchurikii, then gets backstabbed by a newly resurrected Madara, who has brought himself back to life in the prime of his power. Eventually, he gets Naruto'ed, convinced of the error of his worldview and grudge-filled past. 

In this form of Obito, he is still claiming to be Madara and has outfitted himself for the Fourth Shinobi war. He uses Madara's fan weapon and a white mask with three tomoe around in a circle to indicate his power of having acquired one Rinnegan. This figure is a nice battle-marked representation of Obito, and I have to say it's done very well like the others. His accessories are plentiful, his articulation is great (minus the waist), and the paint is clean. 

S.H. Figuarts Orochimaru - Seeker of Immortality

 Orochimaru is one of my favourite villains in the Naruto series. He has the mad scientist-type vibe and has no qualms about experimenting on people and killing those who stand in his way. He is based on a Japanese myth with a character of the same name, a robber who was blessed with snake magic that allowed him to spit venom at his victims. He is in love with Tsunade, the slug princess, who is Jiraiya's bride. A lot of names were taken in by the show! 

Orochimaru plays a fairly big part in part 1 of the show, being the main antagonist for a good chunk. He has acquired a ton of ninja techniques but is often seen using summons and powers involving snakes and poisons. Early on, he takes on Sasuke and Naruto in the Forest of Death and sinks his fangs into Sasuke, giving him the Curse Mark. This painful seal allows him to draw on power from outside his body but causes transformations of his physical body into something a bit more sinister. The sub title of the figure is Seeker of Immortality, but I'm not sure he isn't already. As long as he has access to a new body to inhabit, he continues living. Maybe it's a pseudo/viral type of immortality. 

Given that I didn't know this figure was coming (I was expecting maybe some of the other Konoha 12 from part 1), it's pretty cool that there's another villain! The figure is pretty great, and if you're waiting for me to put one of these figures on blast for something it's probably not going to happen. I love the accessories and completely forget it ALSO included another faceplate for Sasuke! A part of Sasuke's curse mark 1! The figure is very well articulated, and even the back of the hair flips up on a hinge to allow some movement. The only odd thing I could say here is there is some messy shading on the front and back of the bottom robe, but nowhere else. It's a little visually off.