DX Zyuoh King & DX Cube Kirin Gallery
 

Zyuoooooooohkiiiiiiing!

Today we take a our 1st trip to the cubical world of Dobutsu Sentai Zyuohger with a special double gallery! First up we're going to take a look at the inaugural 3-piece mecha of the line with the DX Zyuoh King set, then we'll be taking a look at the first of the individually released Cube Animals, DX Cube Kirin!

Packaging
Zyuoh King comes packaged in a not so typical smaller box. It comes with the territory of this toy line being rather small size wise. The typical hallmarks of a sentai DX release are present. Stock photos of the combination itself and some mid transformation shots as well. We also get a nice cross sell of the 3 individual Cube Animal releases released concurrently with it. Cube Kirin (reviewed below) as well as Cube Tiger & Cube Elephant.

Cube Eagle
Cube Eagle is most complex and by extension most interesting of the 3 main cubes. Each of them is charmingly simple but he's got a few more features at hand. To get into Eagle form you need to rotate the Eagles' head up from inside of what will be Zyuoh Kings' chest. When it makes a connection with the edge of the cube that triggers the release of Kings' arms on the sides. These are spring loaded so the hands will always be poking out of them, they aren't entirely convincing wings but to help sell the idea, the panels with the #1 split across them fold out from under each arm to give Cube Eagle slightly more believable wings. While not terribly convincing it does an admirable job given the constraint of having to turn into a cube, and well, having an open hole all the way through it. More on that below.

Cube Shark
Cube Shark is close to Cube Eagles' complexity thanks to a cool auto transform feature. To take it from Cube to Shark form you need to fold out the halves of the shark heads from the sides of the cube. When you begin to rotate them fully forward a small tail fin pops out from the back of the shark. Bringing them both fully forward and locking them in place together can't always quite get the tail full extended, but if you pull on it that will lock in nice and tightly and also reveal the dorsal fin for Cube Shark. Honestly it's a pretty good looking shark, I mean clearly it takes it's liberties with what qualifies as a shark, but it totally works.

Cube Lion
Cube Lion is probably the weakest of this set of 3. Frankly it's jut incredibly plain and boring. To go from Cube to Lion you just fold up the head, then fold out the rear legs. The final product looks more like a table with an angry face on it than a lion. But oh well, we can't all be winners.

Eagle, Shark, & Lion together look like a great matching set, though I imagine if I were to display them not as Zyuohking, it would be in their Cube forms. The cubes themselves can be stacked in any order you choose but obviously for a proper transformation you need to stack them in descending order, 1-2-3.

Zyuoh King
As I said above, simply stack the cubes in descending order, and flip this totem pole you've created around with the Zyuoh King bits facing you. Next take the included column with Zyuoh Kings' head at the top and insert it down through all 3 cubes. When you've done this properly the spring loaded arms on Cube Eagle will flip out. You'll need to flip up the Eagle's head manually and use the small tab on top of the column to rotate Zyuohkings' outward. This small tab is actually the handle of Giant King Sword. Which is a bit of misnomer given how tiny it is, even relative to this tiny robot.

The completed robot isn't quite underwhelming, it's more that I'm, whelmed? If that's an appropriate use of what I think is a word. The way these 3 are designed they fit very well together. Eagle has the blue "waist line" to match up to shark and it's base, while Shark has yellow "knee pads" to line up with Lion. Rather than making the legs actually separate Shark & Lion are sculpted & painted in a way that makes the legs appear separate. Black paint goes a long way to achieving this look. While that's bad, and I completely understand why given the hollowed out gimmick of the cubes, you can't help but feel a little bit disappointed. Even going in knowing what to expect.

Many people will undoubtedly be unhappy with Zyuoh King's size. But they really shouldn't be. Sentai has it's ups and downs with scale and complexity. This is a down year for both. Bu take a look at the last wild animal based sentai with Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger. Their main meach Gao King is roughly the same size as Zyuoh King, granted it was released 15 years ago and is far more complex. But this is hardly the first time a sentai robot has been this small. I've included a few comparisons to hopefully ease some people's concerns.

On to Part 2 below!

Part 2

- Finished Zyu Oh King Combination
- Comparisons to previous robos
- Cube Kirin

Cube Kirin
Cube Kirin is the first of the additional Cube Animals released, meant to give a weapon of some sort to Zyuoh King. I won't go into the packaging much other than saying, even in box, this thing will fit in the palm of your hand. And it uses a plastic tray to hold the figure unlike most modern DX mecha. Cube Kirin itself is teeny tiny though. When compared to the main Cube Animals, it's roughly about 1/3 the size. The cube is obviously very clearly based on a Super Mario block. And while I don't have am S.H. Figuarts Mario to take silly pictures of this with, handling this thing makes we wish I did.

To go from Cube to Kirin you need only unfold the head of the Kirin out fully. And you're done. Now you have your comically tiny basically 2-dimensional animal. Going from Kirin to Bazooka mode is even simpler. Just fold the Kirin head straight up. Done. For it's size I can't blame it for being simplistic but WOW is it simplistic. For Zyuoh King to use Cube Kirin you just need to rotate his arm up one click, then plug the Bazooka's handle into his hand. You also have to line up a small indentation on Zyuoh Kings' shoulder with one on the rear of the bazooka. This helps stabilize it as there is no locking mechanism to hold it in place whatsoever. Meaning you can't put Zyuoh King's arm down either or the Bazooka leans severely enough that it could fall out. A tad bit disappointing but for something this small, and this cheap, what did any of us really expect?

Final Thoughts
I know a lot of people were instantaneously turned off with this series and it's gimmick because of the blocky aesthetics. I can't entirely blame you either. But ultimately these initial toys, while literal bricks, are actually pretty fun and intuitive. Their smaller scale leads me to believe we're in for many more larger combos down the road than we've even seen so far. I feel like there's a lot of playability in these Cubes that has yet to be unlocked. As is I think DX Zyuoh King & DX Cube Kirin are pretty great first salvos in this line.

I appreciate the comparison shots with the Gaoranger mecha, but they also sting, since they look so good. I look at it and immediately understand what the designers were thinking. With Zyuoh King, I'm still not sure, and like you, I assume there must be some something ambitious lurking in the design.

The cube and some of the animal modes are superior to the minipla (and are fully painted, of course), but the minipla's combined mode thrashes this one soundly.

I got my hands on minipla Gekitouja, and it got me thinking about Sentai mecha design. Shinkenger, Go-Busters, and Zyuohger ask a LOT of their mecha: animal, cube/emblem/vehicle, and mecha part. (In the case of Go-Busters, also that pseudo-headmasters thing with the Buddyroids.) That's just for the initial combinations. Gekitouja or Gao King just ask for an animal mode and a mecha mode. The results look super-clean to me.

I really enjoy what the show does with Cube Eagle's glaring-hole problem, replacing it with a turbine. (Phrasing.)

I'm not planning on picking up the DX mecha (although it seems I'm aggressively tackling the minipla), so I'm loving these review/galleries!

It's a beautiful gallery, to be sure, but Zyuoh King makes ToQ-Oh look like the height of poseable design. This one just really isn't clicking with me. Ah well, more for the people who enjoy it then. :D

I cannot wait to get these in their minecraft-y goodness

I've stopped being such a sour bitch on ZyuohKing, but there's just so many things they could have done to make it better. Something like having the knee pads flip up as part of the automorph or something to help showcase the gimmick more so it feels more justified. With only the eagle having any automorph, it just feels disappointing that the shark, lion, elephant, and tiger just sit around unable to do anything, really.

I've warmed up to the cube animals, but even with my enthusiasm for the show, I just can't really get behind Zyuoh King. Unless they release some kind of major blockbuster combination, I'll probably stick to the minipla...

I can't help but notice you didn't post the FULL gallery - as there are pictures on the front page that are not in this gallery thread.

that comparison shot with GaoKing...man, it just goes to show how much Zyuohking just doesn't cut that mustard!

Great gallery! I have come all the way around on this thing. I love the cube animals, and the leg issue doesn't phase me anymore. Most sentai robo legs don't move, so they might as well be fused.

Sure, compared to the power animals line these look less than stellar. I do feel that people are doing themselves a disservice by making that comparison though. While pretty, I'd argue that power animals aren't as creative or complex as the Zyuoh cubes. Both have their strengths, and both hold a place in my heart anyway. Can't wait til you take a look at cube and tiger.

Hey, nobody else noticed and they all said it looked great :D

Wow what a change 15 years is make Gao King looks way better next to Zyuoh King. Hopefully when Zyuoh the World Mecha is shown it will make a good impressing on me but for now I not liking it. It still looks cool with the block idea though.

Can't wait to see Wild. It already looks way better head on than King, in my opinion.
http://i.imgur.com/9vcIE1M.png?1

Probably has to do with the legs.

How dare the gallery compare cheap gimmicks with good toys! Don't they know they're making the cheap gimmicky toys look worse?

Don't say that. You're only encouraging them.

That's one mans opinion. Not mine, but to each their own I guess.

Opinion though it may be, how on Earth can you possibly substantiate the claim that Cubes are more creative/complex than the Power Animals? From my point view, that simply isn't true at all. 15 years has made a huge difference in how DX sentai mecha are engineered. And it hasn't been an upward trend either. The point in comparing the 2 was to show the chasm that's been created over the last decade and a half of design. This set of toys is not in the same class as their beast themed anniversary predecessors. In no functional way are these toys as good as those. There's simply no arguing that.

You can enjoy what you enjoy and we can disagree about things and continue to exist without that mattering. But I'm sorry I can not possibly accept what you're saying. There's just no denying that 15 years ago a toy with similar scale and animal theme was created that was far more complex and creative than what we have today. You're entitled to your opinion, but this one is indefensible.

I can see where Lee Fitzgerald is coming from. I love GaoKing as much as anyone, but the individual transformations each animal involved could manage were relatively minimal (with some exceptions). The transformations of the Cube Animals from cube to animal modes (especially in the case of the shark) are more involved than those of their Power Animal counterparts.

As a mecha, they're far lazier and they certainly don't look half as good, but the cube-to-animal transformations are unique and, as each animal's transformations are different, they are fairly creative in how they work.

ZyuOhKing looks...
http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-thin...&tid=117891893

Giraffe is meh, it forms a gun and a giraffe and a cube, it does exactly what I expect it to do. I just keep seeing a weird hyena instead of a giraffe.

GaoKing will always look better, but ZyuOhger isn't really the crapfest people are seeing it as. Barnstench has a point. Power animals were much simpler with really only the leg animals having a ton of engineering.

Now ZyuOhWild is when we'll get a mecha in this line I actually think looks neat. Because as I said in my last post: the head on appearance looks way better than King, especially in the legs. Plus Showa Robo Fist Missiles.

Also Den-O, I'm confused, I thought you were psyched for the cubes after Wolf and Croc images dropped. Why does it sound like you now think this line sucks?

I'm psyched for how they'll look in show, the toyline looked interesting before I had a chance to handle it. But at this point, while I do think they're fine toys, they just don't wow me. But then that's happened basically every year with sentai DX's since Boukenger for me. They sound cool, they look neat, but ultimately I'm left wanting in one form or another.

This. So much this.

I'm a Power Rangers/Sentai fan through and through. I WANT to be excited about new stuff. I WANT to open my wallet for the product. I just can't. And haven't been able to in a good while.

I wasn't looking for a defense and I stand by what I said. As pretty as the power animals were, most of their transformations were uninspired. The cubes are far more creative in their transformations, period.

I guess we have differing opinions on creativity. The cubes do far more in that they take the same shape and make multiple animals. It's not close in my opinion. I believe the only reason people say different is because they just don't like the 8 bit aesthetic. That's fine if you prefer the heavily detailed, more realistic style, but difference in style doesn't denote difference in quality or engineering. The build is quality, and the engineering is really smart.

It has absolutely nothing to do with style or design or the aesthetic. If you're saying that you clearly didn't read my post. These are simplistic toys. I have no understanding of how you can say Power Animals are uninspired when the Cube Animals literally are just blocks stacked on top of one another to create a larger mecha. That's uninspired. That's the definition of uninspired. They do nothing. Their transformations to animal form require 2-4 steps at best. I own every single release from Gaoranger and they're all more complex than that at least. Shark, Deer, Giraffe, the arm modules may not have far to go to become arms, but they already have more moving parts by far than any of the 4 cube animals I've handled at this point. And those are just the bottom of the barrel most simplistic of the Power Animals. There's literally no comparison at all to the heavy hitters like Gorilla, Bison, & Rhino.

Everything being cubes and making laughably passable animals is not an example of creativity. Look at how hard those animal designs are compromised & stretched to make them fit into these cubes. Please look at this objectively because to me I've laid out fact, you've laid out personal opinion. You like the "style" of these things and that's fine. The 8-bit aesthetic looks fine, it translates better to the show than the toys though. And you can enjoy a toy as much as you want, but at the end of the day it simply is not correct to say that these toys are more complex, or creative, or involved, or more highly engineered, or whatever phrase you want to use, than Power Animals. That is not the case. You are not looking at this with an open mind. Dismissing the fact that Power Animals simply are better quality toys. Seriously at an engineering level there is nothing about Cubes that surpasses them at this point. The line could improve, but generaly Gaoranger was sort of the peak of the Heisei era in terms of both TV ratings & toy engineering.

Now is it fair to compare a modern toy to one form 15 years ago? Not always. In many cases production & engineering is quite different over a period of time that large. If you were arguing that the Cubes should be given a break based on how different the demographic & base for sentai are now, and the way toy sales have shaped the line to make it more simplistic, then I would understand. But by not acknowledging how much more simplistic these toys are compared to their predecessors, it just borders on outright ignorance of fact.

I read your post and I simply disagree with it. I have also acknowledged on multiple occasions how simple they are. I'm not ignorant to, nor have I dismissed anything. As you said yourself outside of the "heavy hitters" the power animals are also very simple in their personal transformations. That's a fact, not just my opinion as you stated.

This was never about anything other than the creativity of the cube animals and the different ways they transform from the same cube shape. They are more creative in that regard, and are well engineered in that regard. I've never made it more than that.

They're not exactly the most amazing mech out there, but they look fun and I like some of the ideas behind them. If I can still get them for a reasonable price later this year I might actually import them. That said, I might just wait for the eventual BoA versions when Zyuoger is adaptaded into a PR series. Since they are more simplistic, I'm kinda hoping BoA finds a way to just ad Zordbuilder into the existing sculpts, rather than coming up with their own, somehow simplified, versions for the US market.

They're definitely not for everyone, but I like them.

You forgot to double space it and put it in mla format. XD

It's more like if rather than when at the moment to be honest, given the recent skipping of every other series. Toy-wise so far this show has just as little going for it as Go-Busters and ToQger, far less in the latter's case.

Possibly, but I honestly think Saban will adapt this series given it's fun theme and simplicity. It definitely has more going for it, in terms of the US market, than ToQger did. Granted, I'm also hoping that they adapt it, so I'm not exactly unbiased.
As of now, yes, but they've just started. There could be quite a bit more on the way, and there's the factor of BoA possibly adding in their own original stuff, like they have been with these additional DC/DSC zords.

Honestly, I think the only thing this series is lacking is a card/key/battery/engine/star sorta collectable gimmick. Though for all we know next year's Sentai will also be lacking such a gimmick as well, so that might ultimately not be a factor when choosing the next series to adapt after making Ninja Steel.

We'll just have to wait and see. Though if Ninja Steel sticks to the two season format, we could be waiting almost two years to find out, lol

There's nothing creative about stacking three cubes on top of each other and calling it a combined mech form.
Downplay the Power Animals all you want. The fact remains that as a package they provided a better combined mode experience.

And hey, I could understand your complaint about the gallery comparing the two sets if you were coming from the perspective of "these two sets are trying to do two different things," but you're not taking that approach. You're claiming that the Zyuoger set is superior to the Power Animal set. Which is false. It's not a matter of personal taste re:aesthetics. The Zyuoger set is a set of simplified spring loaded auto flip figures you literally stack on top of each other.
If you still dig them? Ok. Cool. Just don't try to make them something they're not.

You're either deliberately or inadvertently missing the point he's making, but either way you're misrepresenting what's actually being said. He has not said anything about ZyuohKing as the mecha being better than GaoKing, or said that the way the animals come together is more creative. He didn't even imply that. You can't make a counterargument for something that has not actually been argued in the first place.

All he is arguing is about the specific Cube Animals being well engineered and creative in their individual transformations. Which is not something he is wrong about.

He also never said anything about the cubes being unequivocally better than the power animals. His exact words were:

Which is kind of exactly the "these two sets are trying to do two different things" approach you say he should be taking. In this case, it seems he is arguing that their strengths are that the power animals have a stronger focus on aesthetics while the cubes generally have more involved transformations. Which, again: not actually incorrect.

That sounds like his pretty "unequivocally better than the power animals" stance. But agree to disagree or not, everyone's personal tastes aside, it's just not correct to make that statement at all. These toys are nowhere near Power Animal levels of engineering. I just don't get how anyone can make that argument. Power Animals have strong visual aesthetics, that's true, but they are also better engineered toys plain and simple, they are more complex pieces. Given the 1st entries in the Zyuohger line, I just don't see how currently the argument can be reasonably made otherwise.

Taken as individuals or as whole mecha, there's sort of no comparison. Which again brings us back to why I did the comparison photos in the first place, to show just how far standards of engineering have fallen in the 15 years since our last animal themed anniversary series. I understand I have a huge bias for Gaoranger already, but looking at this objectively, they really just are better engineered and more complex toys. That seems pretty clear to me.

Arguing otherwise, as I stated earlier in this thread, ignores fact. Like what you want to like but don't make the case for something that just isn't factually correct. That'd be like arguing VHS is better than Blu-Ray because of it's simplicity & charm rather than taking into account the technological shortcomings of the format. From an engineering standpoint one is clearly much weaker, which in this analogy is clearly the Cube Animals.

Not to get myself involved in argument, but "better engineered" and "more creative" aren't the same thing. One is about complexity and facts and the other is about art style and opinions.

I, oddly enough, would agree with both. The cube animals are more creative, while the power animals are better engineered. The cube animals have a cool art style to them that they accomplish very well while being simplistic, while the power animals have a level of complexity that they accomplish very well while having a more simplistic style to them.

Honestly, comparing the two sets isn't fair to either in this case, imho, as they're both attempting rather different things here.

Anyone else realize how divisive we are getting over freakin' cubes?

Den-O covered what I originally came here to say.

It's not even about aesthetics. I don't mind the eight-bit look in and of itself. I've recently gotten into retro gaming, so if anything? I would dig an eight-bit look if done in an appealing way.
These just aren't. The stacking three cubes to form a combined mode is the height of lazy design, and the flip change gimmick does nothing for me.

I get that it's a gimmick, and I get that it's not for everyone. And I fall into the group that doesn't care for it.
Still? There are ways to do an eight-bit look that don't indulge in such a dip in engineering quality.

If you like these? All the power to you. I feel like this represents the bottoming out of Super Sentai as a "genre" of robot toys on an engineering level.

The thing that bugs me is that the peeps who dig the cubes aren't content with "it's something different and I like it."
That's fair, and I won't try to tell someone they're wrong over an aesthetic preference or personal taste.

They take it further than that though, by trying to claim they're actually more advanced than figures that they really aren't. And then wallpapering over points that are so blatant even their spin doctoring can't overcome. Like LF's bit about Sentai mechs usually having limited possibility in the legs, so why not make them fused?
Why not make them fused LF? Well because it looks terrible and cheap for starters. The whole thing comes off like a desperate attempt from a niche fanbase (that exists within an already niche fanbase) to justify devolved engineering.
Again, like it if you want. That's your prerogative. Just stop trying to tell us how we're all really wrong for not agreeing with you.

You keep saying this, but no one is talking about Zyuoh King as a whole or disputing that the combined mecha is better. They're talking about the INDIVIDUAL animals.

Engineering is a whole different ball game which I can't comment on, but in terms of pure aesthetic there is no right answer people. If you think these are more creative because these are animals that transform from cubes then great - that's your opinion. I can completely understand that given that the power animals are *just* animals.

But at the same time, the Power Animals have a certain sleekness and elegance to them that others might find far more appealing than the cube animals. They have their own creative charm to them that's just as valid.

It does if you take creativity to be the only metric with which to measure quality, but that's not really the case. One thing may do something in particular in a unique fashion, while still not managing to be better overall than other things in comparison.

But eh, I'm stopping there, at this point I'm just arguing in place of someone else trying to piece together his opinions and that's silly and actually really unnecessary. The only reason I responded to Templar is because he was making an argument against something that hadn't even been said, which bugged me. Probably should have left it at that.

Except he did say it (Den-O provided the quote I was arguing against).
If you want to agree to disagree on the larger point? That's fine.

See I read this...

...as an attempt to try and spin doctor the more obvious failings of the combined mecha away.

Again, like the cubes if that's your thing. Just don't try to tell me they're something they're not.

The elegance is a big part of why I prefer them, but the "heavy hitters" of the set do put the cubes to shame in terms of engineering.
And the total package is really a big selling point for me. EVERY Sentai set will have a simplistic figure or two, but I can overlook that if the set as a whole has some strong pieces and the overall conversion/combination is interesting. Which is really where the Power Animals really outshine the cubes. Are the Power Animal arm modules simple? Yeah, but the elegance in design and their role in a more complex combination system ups their appeal.

I was referring to what you said about ZyuohKing being more creative than GaoKing, which was never argued, as ZeoRanger said. The quote you provided only says he doesn't care about the legs, never in that sentence do the words "and thus it is more creative/better than GaoKing" appear.

I don't really disagree with anything, because that's not my opinion. GaoKing and the Power Animals are my favorite robots in sentai, and one of the few I can claim to like. I don't really care for the Cubes in particular, but I can see where LF is coming from in this case. I'm not actually arguing for myself (which is unnecessary as i said before, so i should really shut up now).

No, but that quote about the legs, in combination with this...

...really do seem to indicate that he's taking a firm stance that one is more creative than the other, isn't he? Which is definitely not "both are good in their own way" position you tried to ascribe to him.

So when it comes right down to it you and I probably have similar aesthetic preferences for this sort of thing but you felt the need to take me to task because you don't like the way I'm expressing my opinions?
Look, I'm not looking for a response. You said you wanted to stop, and that's fine. And smart. I probably should too.

I guess at the end of the day I really don't see where LF is coming from. I understand his argument, yes. I just don't think there's much to it aside from aesthetic preference. Which he is certainly entitled to.

The ultimate thing to remember here is that everyone is entitled to their opinion. Just back them up when and where possible so we can keep the conversation positive.

I will admit that I may have missed something, but I don't think I've seen anyone say anything like that.

The whole "the cubes are actually more complex, period" sentiment came off that way to me. In a sort of "my opinion is right, period" sort of way.

I'm going to drop out of the conversation though. Den-O is right. No use getting worked up over aesthetic preference.