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Saizo Kirigakure and Chacha
Asai -
Goemon
Hot Toys
"The
following is a guest review. The review
and photos do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Michael Crawford
or Michael's Review of the Week, and are the opinion and work of the
guest author."
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Jeff Parker is taking a look at
a pair of new Goemon figures - tell us all
about him, Jeff!
Thank you as always to our Captain… Toy, that is!
Here I am, back with two more figures from Goemon: The Movie, which
tells the legend/folklore story of a once noble warrior who falls from
grace, but is (as legends always require) given the chance of
redemption. So as far as the back story goes, I’d recommend you visit
my first review of Goemon Ishikawa, the titular hero from this story, he’s kind of
the Japanese
equivalent of Robin Hood.
I was hugely impressed with that first figure, and considering he’s
from a movie I hadn’t even seen yet (in fact I still haven’t), then I
was amazed at how cool I found him, and it made me realise two things-
1. I need to see the movie… as soon as I
can!
2. I would need to get the next two
figures in the line!
And so, now here we are with Saizo Krigakure, the black clad Ninja, and
Chacha Asai, Goemons love interest, in her beautiful pink, red and
orange fiery gown.
So, can they live up to the promise of that first figure, lets find
out?
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Packaging ***1/2
Although these are obviously specific to the two new characters, they
also follow exactly the same basic layout as the first one. So they’re
mostly white boxes, designed in a landscape format. The front carries a
large photo of the characters head as portrayed by the actor, alongside
the foil embossed movie title, whilst the back has a picture of full
figure next to a black and white image of the head sculpt. The side
panel is held in place magnetically and lifts to expose a window with
the fully dressed and constructed figure nestled within; on the
opposite panel is full list of the Hot Toys production credits.
So as I said on the Goemon Ishikawa review, these are beautifully
designed and understated boxes, they don’t have the wow factor that
some of Hot Toys most notable packaging has, but they are still mighty
fine, and suit the subject matter perfectly. I’m especially liking the
feint, subtle background patterns that differ from character to
character, nice!
Sculpting-
Saizo ****, Chacha ***1/2
As a collection, the three figures in this series are like a bit of a
dream team in terms of the talent that has brought them into being.
First we had Kojun’s
work on Goemon and now we have Yulli
bringing us Saizo, with Hiroki
Hayashi sculpting Chacha. It’s fair to say that with
these three figures you
have a virtual ‘who’s who’ of some of the most important talent working
on 1/6th head sculpts in the last few years.
So kicking off with Chacha, it’s another beautiful piece of work by the
master of female head sculpts, I already have his Scarlett Johansson
figure from The Spirit
and received Sheva Alomar from Resi
5 at the same time as Chacha, so there is no doubt that this
man knows how to sculpt beautiful women.
The actress who portrayed Chacha is Ryoko
Hirosue, who some might recognize from the 2001 French movie-
Wasabi
, although that is to do her a great disservice as she has starred in
many, many popular movies in Japan. She’s a very fresh faced, pretty
girl, and Hayashi has done a fantastic job of capturing her likeness
here, I’m especially fond of the delicate work on the
upturned sweeps at the edges of her mouth, but it’s the gentle
observations on the shape of her eyes that really set this sculpt
apart, here they are slightly shut, showing the beginnings of the smile
that is so accurately captured with the mouth. Her nose is also
wonderfully realised, it has quite a distinct shape, both from straight
on and in profile
which is unmistakably translated into this sculpt. I think the shape of
her face is just a tad too thin and long here, as its very oval, and
after looking at photos of Ryoko, her face seems just a tad more heart
shaped. So the lack of breadth to her face makes her nose seem a little
too wide in comparison to the rest of her head, it’s very slight
though, perhaps I’m being over critical. Her hairstyle
in the movie, and indeed her whole wardrobe is very sculptural, you
could even say architectural in it’s precision. So to try and convey
its ‘perfect’ nature it was decided to make her have a plain black
sculpted hairstyle like Goemon himself, and to be fair I can’t imagine
this style being executed any other way, well, not on a mass produced
level anyway. The top part is quite domed and falls close to the head
ending in a feathered fringe at the front with two collar length panels
hanging in front of her ears, then sweeping over her shoulders from the
back of her head are two much longer ‘ribbons’ of hair that fall over
her chest right down to her waist. She also comes with four hands,
which is not only cool for Chacha here, but means that at long last we
have a good selection of female hands for other bashes that aren’t
gloved… thank the maker! All are delicately observed and come in a
selection for general posing and to hold her two accessories. One is
even in a pretty convincing gun grip, so I have a feeling Hot Toys know
just how much collectors are crying out for some alternate female
hands.
Saizo is a completely different kettle of fish after the gentle beauty
of Chacha. He has a hard steely expression, as befits the demeanor of a
murderous Ninja assassin. The actor portraying Saizo is Takao
Osawa who I have to admit I’m not familiar with, but yet
again Google came up trumps.
Of the three figures in this series I think he has the most distinct
features, which Yulli has (as per usual) captured with her inimitable
flair. His expression is very serious, and the brow between his eyes
shows the creases of determination or anger, but whichever it is it
works very well for the character. His hair is swept back towards the
small ponytail he wears at the back, and the rest of his hair hangs
down to his collar, both these pieces at the back are stuck on as
separates, but because of the style where the hair is drawn back it
makes the join virtually seamless, the detailing is beautifully carried
out, meaning you can see virtually every strand. He also comes with a
selection of five hands, a sword grip right, a shuriken grip right, a
general grip/relaxed left and a pair of fists. All are gloved and
designed to fit under the hand guards attached to his forearms,
remember when switching hands to observe the black elastic that is
attached to the underside of these guards as it runs under the palms.
So to sum up, both are striking pieces of work, but as much as I like
the execution of Chacha’s hair, it is the one part of the figure that
stops it looking 100% ‘real’. I feel this is much more down to the
unusual nature of the actual hair style, meaning as an observer it
isn’t a style many… if any have seen in our day to day lives, making it
harder to relate to as being ‘real’.
Paint-
****
I can find nothing to fault on either of these, and their simplistic
perfection leaves me with very little to say. It would appear that both
the actors involved here must have either worn coloured contact lenses
for their portrayal of these characters or had them digitally altered.
As both Takao Osawa and Ryoko Hirosue definitely appear to have brown
eyes, where as in the movie they are given turquoise and blue
eyes respectively. Once again JC Hong has given us spookily
good representations of this feature, as both figures eyes look ultra
crisp in their definition, while also looking wet and glossy, which
helps them catch the light very convincingly. Chacha’s skin tones are
subtle but perfect, just like the beautifully clear, clean complexion
of a woman wearing flawlessly applied make-up.
Saizo’s flesh tones show a much more complex use of paint and colours,
but still have that delicate JC Hong touch. The other two figures in
the series make much more use of the translucent base plastic for their
over all flesh tones, but Saizo’s is fully painted. His base skin
colouration is quite dark and mottled, showing his distinctive freckles
and moles, his lips are also quite a dark tone, but if you check the
images linked to above you’ll see that this is still a very accurate
representation, and they look totally natural when set against his over
all complexion. His hair is the only of the trios to be painted, as
well, but the colour has been kept relatively flat so as to fit well
with the other figures, whilst still managing to look glossier in the
raised parts of the sculpt and matte in the grooves.
The accessories also have some paint effects, most of Saizo’s are to
give the effect of being metal, but my favourite piece is Chacha’s fan
case (which conceals a dagger), as it has some simple, but elegant
lacquered effects.
Articulation
- Saizo ***1/2, Chacha ****
Saizo comes on a narrow shouldered TT with a sculpted neck, meaning
he really gets to utilize the fact his outfit is ‘mostly’ non
restrictive, especially from the waist down with those funky split toed
Ninja boots. However, he does suffer from a little loss of mobility at
the shoulder and elbow because the chain mail section obviously has no
intrinsic give to it, but you’ll still easily achieve at least a 90
degree angle at the elbow and the shoulders can be manipulated into
most reasonable positions, just not too many high above his head.
However, I was pleased that like Goemon there is more than enough
strength in the body to hold the metal sword up, even though it’s quite
weighty.
ChaCha is on the female
TT it’s a great base body with a lot of very well engineered
articulation, some of it well concealed under her silicone torso.
However, it’s still not quite up there with her male counterpart. But
what she lacks with no double knees and slightly restrictive hips and
shoulders, she makes up for with that cool seamless torso and it’s
ability to bow forward, arch back and tilt from side to side. It’s also
worth pointing out that I’m awarding my scores as pertaining to the
relevance for these two characters, so while the ‘action’ Ninja Saizo
loses a whisker for his loss of articulation in his arms, the regal
Chacha is actually more than capable of any pose you could want her in,
especially in this particular outfit, in fact I took a few extra photos
here,
that might not be pertinent to this character, but they show just what
else she is capable of!
So, I’m still very much looking forward to how the Triad- Alpha and Eva
bodies turn out, but for now Hot Toys still reigns supreme in the arena
of articulated, and all importantly accessible base bodies.
Outfit
****
Chacha’s outfit brings to mind some of the incredibly ornate couture
dresses that Natalie Portman wore in The Phantom
Menace, not one of them in particular, but more the general,
regal but fantasy feeling that they evoked. However, even though it
looks like a fantasy creation it still shows lots of the
characteristics of historically accurate Japanese formal dresses. Parts
are like a Kimono whilst the back has elaborate panels of starched and
folded fabric, again adding to its sculptural look and reminding me of
the complex fabric origami that makes up the rear of a Geisha’s
robe.
It comes in two parts; the base dress is made from beautifully sourced
material that shows layers of different coloured fabric. Over this she
wears an even more ornate sleeveless tunic with petal shaped layers
that radiate over her shoulders, these petal shapes are all edged with
wire so they can be pushed into the position you want. The colour
palette is very passionate and fiery, all vivid reds, pinks and oranges
and is very complex in it’s construction, congratulations to Hai Lim at
Harue for replicating it so well at this scale. Her feet are in the new
high-heeled shoe position, so the shoes she wears are… you guessed it,
high heels. It’s the first HT female figure I’ve had with this
configuration of foot, of course Machiko
also came in high-heeled boots, but there was no foot within them.
Chacha’s shoes are very delicate, to the point she even comes with a
small printed sheet telling you not to fiddle with the tiny straps too
much, as they are prone to breakage. But don’t be too concerned as I
handled mine as I would any other figure, and they certainly seemed
robust enough for general posing.
Saizo’s outfit is the antithesis to Chacha’s, as by comparison it is
relatively plain and black, but it still manages to cram in a ton of
finely observed details and tailoring into its make-up. Again it is
fabricated by the Harue Creative team, and it’s realized fantastically.
He has soft pliable Ninja boots, very similar to Goemon's, these are a
dream to pose your figure in, and mean virtually no articulation is
lost at the ankle. He then wears soft black cotton pants and a black
wrap over shirt that is bound then tied around his waist. Over this he
wears his amour, it’s two separate sleeves that are attached by two
separate cords wrapping around the body. From the front it looks a
little like a bullfighters Bolero jacket, but when viewed from behind
you see the nature of its construction. These sleeves have a geometric
pattern printed onto them, mimicking its armoured texture, but on top
of these are the actual rigid armoured panels and between them, where
the elbows need to bend is a panel of real metal chain mail. This does
mean a modicum of articulation is lost at this joint, but it’s a price
I’m more than willing to pay for the fantastic attention to detail.
If anyone out there is collecting the DiD Samurais, this would
compliment them very well as a Ninja sidekick, in fact Saizo’s face
guard is very similar to the one my Date Masamune came with.
In short, they are two stunning outfits!
Accessories
- Saizo **** Chacha **1/2
So what do we get?
Saizo has-
- Metal sword
- Back mounted sword belt and scabbard
- Traditional face guard with throat cover
- Hanzo’s Shuriken star (Throwing knife)
- 5 alternate hand sculpts
- Kunai Knife
- Figure stand with nameplate
Chacha has-
- A knife (disguised as a fan case), at least that’s what it looks like
to me!
- A folding fan
- 4 alternate hands
- Figure stand with nameplate
It’s not often that I mention the designer/sculptor of the accessories,
but Dickson Yip is worthy of note here, not only for his work on
Chacha’s delicate accessories, but also for the work on Saizo’s and
Goemon’s twin metal swords, both have some beautifully observed work on
their engravings and the scale looks just about perfect. Saizo’s sword
differs only from Goemons by it’s leather and fabric bound handle, but
knowing as I do that these two charcters share a history of training
under Nobunanga, and that he had a Darth Maul style double ended sword,
then something tells me these two blades don’t look similar for no
reason, check out my Goemon Cosbaby review to see it in action.
The scabbard to hold the sword is worn in the traditional Ninja style
across his back, this is adjustable on a sliding buckle and because of
it’s positioning it doesn’t over balance forwards like Goemons, which
was worn at the waist. It also carries plenty of detail, is bound in
strips of leather and attached to the belt with metal loops.
He also comes with the same Shuriken and Kunai knife that Goemon did,
but it’s cool that they don’t have to share, it would have been too
easy to give both just one of these two accessories each. Lastly he has
his face
amour, this is in the style of traditional Samurai face
plates, did you realize Samurai even used to armour their dogs?
Me neither!
Anyway, I digress, the mask fits snugly by means of a thin elastic
thread, but as cool as I find it, I like the face sculpt too much to
cover it up, so I’ve posed mine holding it in his hand. Speaking of
which he has the selection of hands I mentioned above and also comes
with a classic black HT figure stand, but don’t waist that amazing
ankle articulation by having him stand bolt upright in his stand for
goodness sake!
Chacha doesn’t come with anything like the amount of goodies, and as I
still haven’t seen the movie I don’t know what else she could have come
with, if indeed anything. But her two accessories are still beautifully
carried out, she has an oblong lacquered object, that at first I took
to be a case for her fan, but it pulls apart to expose a hidden knife
blade, which I’m sure is important in the movie. She does also have a
tiny and incredibly delicate fan, hence why I thought the other item
was a case for it. The multiple sections appear to be laser cut and are
super fine in their construction, they spread open and hold a folded
sheet of paper with a traditional image printed on it. Lastly she too
has a stand, and although I did get her to stand just fine, this one
may be more useful because of those dainty feet and ornate shoes.
Value
for money- Saizo ***1/2, Chacha ***1/4
As I said about Goemon Ishikawa in his review, it’s pretty impressive
that all three of the figures in this series have sold out from
Sideshow, given that the movie hasn’t even been released in the US or
Europe yet!
They had them available for $149.99 each but with a little work you
should have been, and indeed still be able to pick these up for between
$120 to $140.
I based my score on a cost of $135, and for that price both these
figures are a very good deal, in my opinion. Saizo manages a whisker
more than Chacha because of his cool accessories. But there’s very
little in it.
Fun
Factor ***1/2
These are, as is always the case with Hot Toys 1/6th figures, aimed at
serious collectors. The kinds of obsessive who remove them from their
boxes as carefully as possible, who store the empty boxes in labelled
filing systems, who don’t even display their figures in natural
sunlight or let other family members hold their collectibles for fear
that the acid in their fingerprints will discolour them over time, they
keep their figures displayed in dust free glass cabinets, in
temperature controlled environments… well, yeah, actually, these are an
investment dontchaknow!
So, if these are aimed at that rare geeky breed
(collectiblesnocturnusobsesiveanal) why are they just screaming to be
played with!
Luckily I’m not too anal when it comes to my toys (though my wife may
beg to differ). Mine are on shelves not in cabinets, and I tend to
rotate my displays every couple of months. I like to pose my figures
and I don’t mind (some) people handling (some) of my toys occasionally,
hell, most of the fun is garnered from posing them every time I go past
them. But, it stands to reason that these are not in anyway meant to be
actually ‘played with’… well, not by children anyway!
That’s not to say the basic figures aren’t constructed in a robust way,
because they are, but if anyone under the age of say eight or nine got
hold of them you can guarantee Saizo’s scabbard would break within
minutes and Chacha’s fan wouldn’t survive it’s virgin opening (and no
that’s not a euphemism). So as a collectible I feel happy giving them
the same mark as Goemon, almost a full score! But as a toy, bearing in
mind we would be talking about a $140 toy, well, that would be a
different matter!
Overall
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*** 1/2
These fully deserve the same score as Goemon, and as a set they look
most impressive together. The price is fair, the head sculpts are
outstanding and the paint apps are so strong they lift the quality of
those sculpts even higher.
The outfits are beautifully tailored and the accessories are very well
thought through and put together, in short there’s not too much to
count against these. In fact the only things keeping them from that
elusive full score are Saizo’s slight loss of articulation because of
his outfit and Chacha’s hair… which I’ve already been over at length!
In fact Hot Toys worst enemy is Hot Toys itse
lf, they have become such perfectionists that unless they deliver the
now ‘expected’ perfection (in the eyes of the beholder) every single
time, they end up being judged against their other ‘superior’ products…
but no one said it wouldn’t be tough at the top.
Where
to buy
Like the Goemon Ishikawa figure these were available with Sideshow for
4149.99 each, but are now long gone. I cant find these listed with any
of Michael’s sponsors except-
Big Bad Toy Store
- $ 139.99
Meaning these are both $5 cheaper than the actual Goemon figure. You
can also try eBay,
where I saw them with ‘buy it now’ prices similar to
those quoted in the ‘value for money’ section above. Good luck tracking
them down, they’re definitely worth the effort!
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This product was purchased for the review by the reviewer.
Photos and text by Jeff Parker.
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