[Den-O]

"Henshin!"

When the Destroyer of Worlds, Kamen Rider Decade, embarked on a journey through the worlds of the Heisei Riders he came upon something familiar. A world, besieged by the ancient Gurongi, and protected by a hero bearing the Linto Tribe's Arcle. But beneath this familiar form, was someone different. Often unsure of his abilities, but ready to protect the smiles of the people of his world, Yusukue Onodera stood against darkness as Kamen Rider Kuuga!*Choosing to join Tsukasa on his journey through dimensions, protecting everyone's smiles on the way, Yusuke grew into the confident hero he was also meant to be.

This figure comes courtesy of our friends at Bluefin Brands and Team Rider. Check out their awesome selection of Kamen Rider items, Ultraman items, and more Tamashii Nations & Bandai Japan products!

Packaging
The Shinkocchou Seihou line of S.H. Figuarts has always been known for the premium engineering and finish of the figures within it. However the packaging is also something noteworthy that stands apart from the usual things we see in the concurrent Kamen Rider SHF releases. This simple but elegant slipcover box has been the form of every Shinkocchou Seihou released and it's clearly aimed at the avid collector. While I always love the yearly packaging style change for whatever the current rider series is in the main line, there's something to be said for the uniform nature of Seihou packaging, and just how good they all look when lined up together.

Main Figure
The Shinkocchou Seihou Kamen Rider Kuuga mold is a tried and true example of the line. Solidly constructed from the ground up, and accurately sculpted in the form of an actual person wearing a suit, this figure displays with the best of the line. In fact this is now the 5th time that some version of this mold has seen release. Initially with Mighty Form, then Rising Mighty, Amazing Mighty, Ultimate (who all make cameos down bellow) and now Decade Version. While I did not have a chance to review each of these releases as they came out, I did post a gallery of Seihou Kuuga Ultimate Form back in 2016, so that should give you some indication of just how great the Kuuga body type is.

Kuuga Decade Version is a figure that at first glance, you may not necessarily see a difference in when compared to the original. However let me assure you, in person the difference is clear. The first Seihou Kuuga recreates his suit as it was seen in the original Kamen Rider Kuuga TV series. Largely a matte black base body with gold accents and more of a flat red for the armor. When the suit was restored for use in Kamen Rider Decade the colors weren't exactly matched to the original footage. The result was a suit with a more metallic cherry red sheen and the Decade Version of the Seihou mold recreates that very specific color scheme. In the side by side comparisons below, you can see that the Decade Ver. (on the left) really does jump out at you more thanks to those metallic colors. This is where the cosmetic differences between the two figure's end, so if you've already handled or already own the original Seihou release feel free to skip on down to the gallery below. As for the rest of us, let's dive into how this figure works.

The Seihou Kuuga mold (like more or less every Seihou) starts with a solid foundation of support. Wide mostly flat feet on hinged ankles provide for wide angled stances. Flexible knee bends as well as hinged hips add to this. Seihou's in particular tend to have really wonderful hip engineering that doesn't take away from the character's suit design, and Kuuga is no different. While the legs are primarily all matte black, making it rather easy to get away with any leg design, Tamashii goes the extra mile. Making the waist & "crotch" their own separate part while the hips move independently on rotating thigh joints, is brilliant stuff. And might I add it looks far better than the older style of drop down hips on a mold like this. It all adds up to a dynamic articulation package making this figure capable of striking any signature pose.

Around Kuuga's waist is the artifact of the Linto Tribe which gives him his power, the Arcle. This unique rider belt evokes all the simplicity of Showa era designs like the Typhoon, but has those finely sculpted details that make it looks as ancient as the culture it hails from. The center stone of the belt, the Amadam of course takes direct inspiration from the Typhoon. While it isn't really a gimmick laden belt at this scale, it's gorgeously sculpted and painted. The torso is separated into 3 components; a matte black lower abdomen, the metallic chest armor, and a small floating piece of armor between the two. The ab section rotates and arches pretty freely which is great, while the upper chest does the same. It's the mid riff armor that does the bulk of the work to make the figure look great statically and dynamically life like. Filling gaps as you pose the figure, this small bit of armor goes a really long way. Like Kuuga's lower half the upper body works in unison to create a really well engineered figure. The ornate gold details on the armor are also just magnificent.

Each of Kuuga's arms also makes use of some incredibly intelligent design work. Kuuga figures of the past would have opted to attach the shoulder pads to the chest armor. In this instance however, the armor is physically attached to the shoulder while on it's own sliding joint. Allowing you to place it away from, against, or even over the chest armor. This gives you plenty of dynamic range and can also help the figure maintain an accurate suit like appearance. Adding to this a well obscured bicep swivel, an elbow joint which provides a very tight inward bend, and totally unimpaired wrists, and what you have are the makings of a truly lifelike figure.

Finally that brings us to Kuuga's head. Without a doubt, they nailed the sculpt on this. Kuuga's mouthplate evokes that classic Rider 1/2 look, and is just exquisitely sculpted. But the real winners here are those compound eyes. They absolutely shine in the proper light, where you can see every individual component of them. Shout out to Kuuga's horns/mandibles as well, it's one of my favorite rider visor designs and it's been executed so well here. Taken as a whole, this figure is just wonderful. Call it Godai, call it Onodera, throw a Decadriver on it and call it a Kamen Ride, this figure will look fantastic no matter how you display it. In the gallery below you'll see not only comparisons to the original Seihou Kuuga, but also some shots with Kuuga fighting Kamen Rider Abyss who also hails from Decade, a little cameo by the Neo Organism Doras, the entire team of Decade Riders, ALL of the Seihou Kuuga figuarts released thus far, and a personal favorite figure of mine in Kuuga Rising Ultimate Form! As always I like to do henshin poses with a Body-Kun so there some of those in there as well. Enjoy!

Accessories
Like the original release, Seihou Kuuga comes with exactly what you need. Hands. 3.5 pairs of alternate hands. As the first proper Heisei Rider, Kuuga's primary form didn't rely on any standard weapons or gimmicks, just good old fashioned punch & kick based rider combat! Of course Kuuga's various Dragon, Pegasus, & Titan forms each have unique weapons, so it stands to reason that his base form wouldn't anyway. So it also stands to reason that the figuart wouldn't have any such accessories. What we do get are several pairs of expressive hands perfect for recreating Kuuga's signature poses. By far the most important thing though is the lone right "thumbs up" hand. By far Kuuga's most iconic gesture, the thumgs up has come to be synonymous with both versions of this rider, so much so that even the character's progrise key for Kamen Rider Zero-One is called "Thumbsupping Kuuga". The inclusion of this one hand would have been enough alone, but 6 more makes this the perfect figure for the Kuuga collector.

Final Thoughts
It goes without saying, that the S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou releases are works of art. Each recreating a past rider in immaculate detail, while also engineering them to be properly impressive as figures for display. Kamen Rider Kuuga was a wonderful release when we first saw it several years ago, and now the Decade Version will allow droves of collectors who missed out, a second chance. Do yourself a favor and pick this release up, even if you already have the original. Having a representation of the second Kuuga in my collection is a hole I never knew I needed to be filled, but I'm certainly happy it has been.