S.H. Figuarts Sasuke Uchiha - Naruto Shippuden

 I didn't love Sasuke's character in Shippuden. He seemed more irrational and less relatable than ever before. In Part 1 you could understand his motivation and really get it even though he wasn't particularly likeable. He had episodes where he showed a more childlike or human side to himself that made you understand, even in the battle at the end. 

Shippuden's writing needs to make more sense. That said, the character grows and he does get some pretty sweet lighting and doujutusu (eye) abilities that make him an intense force to be reconned with. This figure is of him post-Itachi fight, in his gray collared shirt, armbands, blue robe and purple obi rope belt. 

They did kind of an amazing job with all this clothing junk he has on his outfit. First of all, amazing range for the arms, neck, diaphragm and legs, especially when you consider how the robe restricts movement. The belt bows move independently which is nice! He has a very clean place to put his sheath, with or without the sword in it. His chidori effect is pretty good, though not any better or worse than the previous release. There's quite a few differences between this release and the last Sasuke release they had (Itachi Battle ver.). He comes with a lot more face options, and some nice sword options to go along with his chidori (lightning). I'll be comparing the other Sasuke by SHF which I'll refer to herein as SFB (Sasuke final battle). 

Sculpt/Paint: 3/3 Solid solid entry here. Shading on the robes, nice, rich colours that stand out far more than my other Sasuke Shippuden figure. The sculpt is more broken up but allows for posing that looks a bit more dynamic than SFB. The sculpting is a bit more bulky and fits his form better IMO. 

Articulation: 3/3 (30 points) The ankles, like Sakura's are crazy mobile. The knees and elbows are well done and unlike other releases, don't have the ugly cap that falls off. The robe is SIGNIFICANTLY improved. It is in four pieces like the previous releases but is made of a much much more pliable material that allows for a wider stances. The belt double joint is pretty secure and allows a good amount of movement. The torso is split into 3 pieces that allow a lot of side to side and forward/backward motion. The neck joints have a lot of range, and the wrist joints are pretty standard. 

Accessories: 1/1 He has a lot of pieces and some that weren't necessary to enjoy the figure but are a nice touch! He has four face plates, including the Fourth Ninja War version with the Rinnegan in one eye, which is awesome. He has 5 extra pairs of hands outside his fist hands, as well as his chidori. This time the chidori doesn't fit over a hand, it actually has a peg joint for the wrist so it can take over. This is pretty cool! The sword comes unsheathed with a separate sheath, a sheathed version for the belt, and a sheath with a small partial blade coming out of it. I like it! The back of the belt also has the option of having a moveable pegged in piece for the sword or you can replace it with a solid piece to close up the belt. Kind of impressive! 

Fun Factor: 3/3  This figure is a ton of fun to pose, and moves really easily. He maintains good stances and has so many options! Because he's a buzz kill in the show, he doesn't have a comical face plate which is too bad but makes sense. He was far too emo and edge lord for that in Shippuden. I love it! Prefer it even to SFB. 

Verdict: 10/10 I'll be honest, I probably don't need to write full point reviews for these figures, because for me, they're all gonna be 10/10. Awesome figure and you need this one if you're a Naruto fan/collector. 

Very nice three tomae Sharingan! 
Allows him to see through illusions, 
manipulate people's minds and instantly counter
physical techniques

This neutral face isn't too bad. 
I like that all the plates have anime
expression lines for the eyelid lines

He looks *gasp* almost happy! 

Really good balance and flexibility in the joints 
and robe here.

Decent splits! 

This face is also really good. He manifests the 
Mangekyo Sharingan, the ultimate eye jutsu
of the Uchiha clan. With them he is able to
both produce and control Amaterasu, the undying
black flames. 

This is a really nice Chidori effect. The previous 
ones were ok, but required the hand go inside and
would sometimes separate the two molded parts. 
This effect is less translucent than the other one
but they've added white paint to the end and gradations
to make it look a bit more like the show effect. 

This is a really nice one, very rageful,
and a very detailed sharingan with rinnegan 
in the other eye. 

The ability of the shoulder joints to 
let the arms cross over the chest is 
really impressive

The three Sasuke's! This newest one is superior in
nearly every sense, it's not even a competition. 
I am very excited (and have preorderd) SH Figuarts creation
of the new kid Sasuke. It's gonna be great! 

Sasuke throughout the show! If they make another version 
of Sasuke, I hope they make The Last version or a Boruto version
That would be sweet. Alternatively, second choice could be 
a white coat Sasuke from his time serving under Orochimaru or 
kid Sasuke during Chunin exam.