[Tokumonkey]

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!