[Den-O]

"That's why you should listen to your seniors."

It is the Summer of Training. And while mentoring Todoroki's inconsistent practice of the Taiko drum, and even bestowing the Ongekibou to both Todoroki & Ibuki, Kamen Rider Hibiki furiously trains himself. Faster, stronger, hotter. Burning brighter than he ever has before, Hibiki must master the rhythm of his core once again and draw out the full potential of his Ongekibou. Without this strength, the deadly Dorotabou will continue to multiply, wreaking havoc on the local villages. With a fire of strength raging in his heart, Hibiki explodes into a new form, Kamen Rider Hibiki Kurenai!

Packaging
Hibiki Kurenai comes in that familiar and collector friendly packaging this line has come to be known for. No massive changes here even from the first Seihou Hibiki release from 6 years ago, the only differenes here being the stock imagery and the front facing portrait. It's a stylish box type even if it feels a little bit more stale each time. I do appreciate when they change things up more with releases like Ankh, Den-O, & Kiba.

Main Figure
Obviously, Shinkocchou Seihou Hibiki was one of the first figures of the entire Seihou line, predated only by Kabuto. So it's great to see that just over 6 years later, that this fantastic mold has returned to the line with this explosive form. The 3 previous releases in the Hibiki line, Ibuki Todoroki & Zanki, were all magnificent and brought something new and unique to this body type. At their core each shares the basic body structure that Hibiki pioneered. With Hibiki Kurenai though, we finally circle back around the to original tooling of the mold.

It's hard to say anything new about the mold itself. As I've gone into on 4 occasions now reviewing Hibiki releases, this is a stellar figure. Each iteration of the mold looks like a suit that's just walked off screen. Of the entire Seihou line, I think the Oni Riders by far look the most gorgeous and lifelike. I'll get into the usual in's and out's of the articulation scheme soon, but first I want to focus on the stunning paint apps on this beauty. The entire figure is decked out in a gorgeous metallic red in the same fashion as that metallic purple of the original release. The paint apps to the core body are largely the only change we see as well, though there are some additional red paint apps on the upper forearms giving them a uniform red look, and some new apps on the head giving Hibiki a much needed visor and mouth plate that really bring the design together. As always Tamashii's attention to detail is jaw dropping. Below we'll get into the articulation this mold has always boasted, but it won't be terribly different from my previous breakdowns of the Hibiki Riders. Feel free to skip down if you wish.

The sculpt of this body type really brings to life these unique Oni Rider suits. In every way imaginable it captures the look of the on screen suit right down to the textured musculature, and the gloss of the armor really gives in that pleather/vinyl feel of an actual suit. The design process Seihou's go through has always been much much more involved than that of the standard figuarts line and the best examples of this were the special booklets included with Kabuto & the original Hibiki. When the design begins with a sort of skeletal inner frame, and builds out what would be like a suit over a real human body like this, you get a much more realistic application of articulation and proportion to the body as a result.

Now despite the obvious color shift to red, Hibiki Kurenai is physically identical to the original release. When Bandai nails the basic design of the body, it can be truly astounding how outer level cosmetic changes can create a vastly different experience though. Even so, some of my minor gripes still exist. I've always found the legs to be odd. To me, they look really long and at odds with the torso, especially when bent for crouching poses. Something about them looks off. They function well enough, though I've always thought this mold had one of the more strange figuarts hip joints out there. While the part separation undoubtedly gives them great range, the hips look very small by the time you angle them out fully, making the thigh seem huge by comparison. And while the knees function just fine, the feet could have slightly more range. The only unchanged part of the legs color wise, is the silver bands which adorn Kurenai's ankles.

Hibiki Kurenai's belt is really loaded up with accessories like his predecessors as well. This figure comes with a lot and luckily you can store some of it on his belt given the display options you've chosen. When loaded out for static poses, the left hip can be outfitted with a Disc Animal holster with 3 non-removable discs sculpted in. Or you can keep the out of box standard part attached which is an empty holster for when you want him to hold the discs in hand. At the center of the belt is the same Ongekiko Kaentsuzumi the original Hibiki had. This circular piece is removable to simulate how how Hibiki uses it like a taiko drum for Ongeki Da finishers. It can be used with any Oni Rider that has a similarly designed belt. The right hip features Hibiki's signature transformation tuning fork, the Henshin Onsa Onkaku in it's collapsed form, though a standard open one is included for use with the figure as well. The back side of the belt can either feature an empty Ongekibou holster or a part is included showing them stored away. If you're paying attention you'll see that in a few photos below I forgot to remove them until well after this shoot was over.

Once again the upper body is identical to classic Hibiki. The torso is a beautiful glossy read offset by that magnificently sculpted chest harness that goes around the back as well. The upper and lower halves of the torso move independent of one another, though it's a tight fit to get either to move very far. I've always felt this body type was a bit stiff, but it gets the job done very nicely still. Kurenai's arms are basically identical to all of the other Oni Riders, though like the rest of the body these are painted in a nice glossy red. The purple fade from the original figure's forearms is instead now a more uniform red befitting the form. The shoulder pads are still a bit genius on this mold, able to angle up and over the main body in a really natural looking way. The articulation is standard here, with bicep swivels, double elbows and really uninhibited wrists, allowing this figure to strike every dynamic pose you know the character for.

Finally this brings us to one of the best alterations to Hibiki's design, the helmet. I adore Hibiki's original purple suit and the way in which the entire face is shiny purple/blue. But there's something to be said for how gorgeous the red paint looks here, while being complemented by the silver and black paint applications which create the mouth plate and visor. It's a very minor but effective change on the design giving Hibiki something slightly more akin to a classic rider look, but still very different indeed. The oni crest on the forehead is another detail that I just can't not talk about. At this scale it's astounding how well sculpted that is. I loved this mold the first 4 times I bought, but some how Tamashii has managed to make me fall for it all over again with another excellent outing of it.

Accessories
Believe it or not this release comes with all the same accessories as the first Hibiki, and then some:

6 - sets of hands. That's 2 more sets than the original release came with. Enough to hold every other accessory in this set including the Disc Animals, Ongekibou, Onkaku and more. There's one super unique set here that I honestly hadn't expected. The Onizume or Demon Claw hands. These closed fists have spiked protruding from them, ala Wolverine style. Thankfully the material is a bit softer than you'd expect as well so you won't be nearly as likely to break them while putting them on your Hibiki. I prefer to display my Kurenai with these hands in fact.

2 - Henshin Onsa Onkaku. That's one closed form to store on the belt, and one open form for the figure to hold. These parts are directly carried over from the original Hibiki.

2 - sets of Ongekibou Rekka. Again we get multiple display options. Both the collapsed belt storage form of these weapons, and the individual versions which can be hand held by Kurenai. I absolutely love that the handles are sculpted to allow Hibiki's fingers to thread through the holes and hold them properly. The red Oni faces on the ends can be removed and replaced with....

2 - Ongekibou Flame Effects. This swirling fire effects can plug directly onto the end of the Ongekibou and simulate Hibiki Kurenai's powerful attacks. These would appear to be repacks of the effects included with the original Hibiki release though in a certain light they look slightly different.

3 - (non-transforming) Disc Animals. These are likewise carry overs from the original Hibiki. Akane Taka, Ruri Okami, Ryoku Ozaru. Again the detail on these is very fine, and I completely understand why they don't transform, but it would have been fantastic to have some static animal form versions of these figures too.

What more could I ask for honestly? The Seihou Hibiki line gives you basically any and everything you could hope for outside of a handful of really obscure items with brief appearances. This release is jaw dropping good.

Final Thoughts
Kamen Rider Hibiki Kurenai has been a long time coming, as by far the most sensible and easily done repaint in the line, it was really only a matter of time. Though at the original Hibiki's release I wasn't expecting it to be a 6 year wait! But it's been well worth that wait. This is a phenomenal release and joins the slowly expanding family of Oni Riders I now have. I'd like to think more are on the horizon though for now it's difficult to say. Seeing as the abilities of this form debuted in a partial transformation affecting only Hibiki's arms initially, I think it would be a brilliant idea for Tamashii to release this mold a third time in that state. The original Seihou Hibiki has soared in price since it's first release. Why not re-release it now, and include the transformed red forearms as swap out parts, thus giving us a unique mid-form a release, and letting those who missed out on the first release of this mold another chance at it? Definitely wishful thinking on my part, but I'd love to see something like that. The Shinkocchou Seihou line has been S.H. Figuarts crowning achievement and I can't wait to see what's coming up around the corner.

[Den-O]

Part 2

[noodles2go]

dope pictures as always. I haven't taken mine out of box yet... didn't realize he's got little wolverine claws!

[Mmicb0b]

has armed even gotten a SH figurarts yet

[Sunred]

This needs to be paired up with Ghost Toukon Boost.

[NGW]

Will always love Hibiki's suit design but the purple looks so much better than the red on it.

[LOST Cybertronian]

This looks badass

[Annuga]

It might be the lighting but damn this looks so shiny to me

[ShiShiLeo]

At this rate it will be another 5 years before we see Armed Hibiki right?

[Guyver Spawn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Annuga

It might be the lighting but damn this looks so shiny to me

I was thinking the samething too. The red coloring really works for Hbiki Kurenai.