[Den-O]

"We must travel through time, and change history."

Born into a future without hope, Geiz Myokoin bravely battled as a resistance fighter against the overlord of time, Oma Zi-O. Losing all those he cared for to the overlord, Geiz resolved to travel to the past and eliminate him before he could ever rise power. Using a Time Mazine & Ziku Driver Geiz travels to the present day as Kamen Rider Geiz! Now, faced with a Zi-O who's anything but the evil overlord he knows, can Geiz bring himself to change the future? Or will his begrudging friendship with the present day Sougo Tokiwa guide history down another path?

Packaging
Like Zi-O's packaging, Geiz's is themed basically the same way as the new 20 Rider Kicks Heisei reissues. Those boxes all features the same hallmarks as this one, simply in a white color scheme. I actually think Geiz & Zi-O's packaging is much sharper looking than the reissue line. Silver chrome on black just always work for me.

Main Figure
The text of this review will be largely identical to my Kamen Rider Zi-O review. Just a forewarning. By now around this time each year I get to check out the first figure of a new Kamen Rider main line. And those first impressions really set the bar for what to expect. When the first figure is a dud like Ghost I rarely buy much of the rest of the line. When it's an excellent release like Drive or Build for example, I buy practically everything and then some. For this year Zi-O really set a decent bar, one that can easily be surpassed by future releases in the line, but is quite enjoyable as is. Geiz as a nearly identical figure falls into that same comfortable category.

At 5400 yen, Geiz is quite a bit more than Zi-O was. Though like Zi-O, he seems to be selling quite well. Lack of weapon accessories surely kept a lot of people from ordering him, but as with Zi-O that may have backfired just a bit since any sort of re-issue isn't likely to occur during the show's run. We;ll get into why he's more expensive in the accessories section below. In any case, as with Zi-O this is a pretty solid figure, and that starts with Geiz's legs which provide a well rounded base of support. Wide flat feet, really solid toe bends, and nearly perfect ankles go a long way to allowing a figure to hit all the right balanced poses. Add to this basically wide open hip joints and double jointed knees and you've really got the full package. My only complaint is that the knee joints are quite tight (like Zi-O) and squeak when moved, and I could do with a better thigh swivel.

This figure also features one of the best functional rider belts out there. The Ziku Driver is a really nicely detailed and functional piece that's more interactive than a lot of SHF scale belts, though you're just as likely to lose it's accessories. The Driver itself can rotate a full 360 degrees like the show prop and DX. The read out is permanently set to the year 2068 seeing as there's no armor swapping gimmick with the SHF's from Zi-O to change it. Each side of the Driver can however accept a Ridewatch. The right side of the driver comes with the Geiz Ridewatch already attached. As with all the ride watches attached to this figure, none of them have accurately painted rider faces. Each opts for a simple base paint job, though the details of proper watches are sculpted into each face. And all aside from the Zi-O watch, are molded in a dormant position. So they're technically inaccurate when used with the Driver. More on that in the next section. The Bandai Figurise Standard mode kits all come with Ridewatches that have labels to make them look accurate. I'm not sure why a similar decision wasn't made here. I've seen a number of collectors make very nice labels for these tiny accessories. I just wish Bandai had done it for them in the first place.

The upper body is wonderfully articulated, much better than I would have guessed initially. The lower torso has good rotation to it, but the surprise is how well the upper body can spin around it despite the bulk and the watch band running down the center. As you can see below it's got a pretty dynamic range to it going both directions as well as up and down. The sculpt of the watch band is well defined though I've seen some factory errors in the paint that irk me. The arms are also quite well done. While not perfect (I wish they could bend back closer to the bicep) they really do manage to get the job done. The shoulder pads are thankfully not a problem as can be the case with the initial figures in a new line. There is a minor issue with the forearms though. Each has a double ridewatch holder on it. The left arm contains a completely blank watch, like those used by Time Jackers before creating an Another Rider. It also has what should be a Ride Striker Watch but the absence of any paint or label details makes it look pretty generic. The right arm has the Ghost Ridewatch as well as the Faiz Ridewatch, though it's close enough to the Drive Ridewatch to work for me. These watches are all set in the pre-position. As in the face is in the deactivated position, so even putting it on the Ziku Driver, it'll actually be in the wrong position no matter what you do. The big issue with the arms is that there's no cut in the mid-wrist to allow the holders to move around the arm.

Geiz's helmet design is definitely an acquired taste for many, though not nearly as divisive as Zi-O's. The yellow visor spells out "Rider" in Hiragana which is a pretty unique look for compound eyes, it comes across much more symmetrically than Zi-O's. When light catches them the right way they really sparkle. I find that some of the details around the watch face lining his head are a little spotty paint wise, but everything appears to be there. Overall the figure looks really good with the only real detractor being the way the Ridewatch's are unfinished. And I appreciate the way Geiz has more of digital watch theme when compared to Zi-O's more ornate analog theme.

Accessories
In what's become a more and more common trend with mainline figuarts each year, Geiz does not include his signature weapon, the Zikan Zax. Like Zi-O, both form's of Geiz's weapons will be included with his Rider Machine, the Ride Striker. So unfortunately this figure isn't armed or anything. I know it tends to be off-putting for many people when weapons aren't included, even keeping them from buying a figure at all. For me, it's just the way it is. I expect it from Bandai at this point and I generally buy the bikes anyway, so it's no big deal. But if it's a breaking point for you, then maybe this isn't the figure for you.

What it does include however is 6 hands. Two open palms, two wider fanned out hands, then one each of a pointing hand, and a hand than I can only assume is intended to hold ride watches but doesn't do it very well. What this release does come with that Zi-O lacked is 2 rider stages. That's 2 of the new Ridewatch stages like those that the 20 Rider Kicks reissue figure's come with. Two stages, and the Geiz & Zi-O portraits to stick in them. I completely understand that the figure's elevated 5400 yen price isn't totally made up for by the inclusion of the Ridewatch stages, but it definitely cushions the blow to me.

Final Thoughts
Zi-O & Geiz may not be home runs to kick off a new rider subline, but they certainly work very well as a way to kickstart this one. Yes, they're basic releases with some limited accessories, but they also share a very solid mold with plenty of charm to it. For their value I think they're just wonderful figures. At original retail I believe that Kamen Rider Geiz, like Zi-O, is well worth his value.