[Den-O]

"I still want to keep working too, but this body of mine just won't have it."

Kamen Rider Hibiki finally joined the S.H. Figuarts line for the first time over 4 years ago. Then last year, Tamashii at last made their second addition from Hibiki's world to this line with Kamen Rider Ibuki. It's taken quite some time for the beautiful Oni Riders to show up in the Shinkocchou Seihou line, but after the recent release of Kamen Rider Todoroki it's befitting that his master has been released as well. Kamen Rider Zanki!

Like any Oni master, Zaoumaru Zaitsuhara took on an apprentice. Someone to pass along his skills to, his techniques, and one day his title as well. But the young man once known as Tomizo Todoyama had other plans. This kind warrior wasn't as experienced as his contemporaries Hibiki or Ibuki in the fight against the Makamou, but his dedication to protect others made him the hero he is today. Refusing to inherit his masters title to create his own legacy, Todoyama took on the name Todoroki! Kamen Rider Zanki passed on the remainder of his knowledge, his skills, and the mighty Ongekiken Retsurai to the young Todoroki. But a warrior's journey never ends. Never far from the battlefield, and returning once again to take up the Ongekiken Retsuzan, Zanki continues the fight alongside his disciple, for as long as his body will last!

Packaging
It's the familiar Shinkocchou Seihou slip cover box once again! Not much can be said about it this time that hasn't been said before. It's gotten a bit stale (to me) over time but it's still a pleasing type of uniform collector's box thats great for storage.

Main Figure
This review will be nearly identical to that of Todoroki. The two figure's have very very minor physical differences. So don't be surprised to see huge portions of this review be word for word identical to that one.

Like Hibiki, Ibuki, & Todoroki, Zanki is a stunning figure. The sculpt of this body type is superb (even 4 years on!), really bringing 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 the actual suits. A favorite detail of mine. 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 & 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 changes, Zanki is the same basic mold as Hibiki & Ibuki, but is literally identical to Todoroki even featuring identical articulation placement. When Bandai nails the basic design of the body, it can be truly astounding how outer level cosmetic changes can create a vastly different presentation. But of course, even 4 years later some of my issues with this mold still persist. I've always found the legs to be quite 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 be slightly better. Despite being pretty large, they don't easily rest flat on any surface, and the toe bends can be difficult to line up straight.

Znki's belt is really loaded up with accessories like his predecessors. 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 which is an empty holster for when you want him to hold the discs in hand. Straight out of the box, the center of the belt has Zanki's Ongekishin Zantetsu attached. This rectangular piece is removable to simulate how it combines with the Ongekigen - Retsuzan, though it does not actually combine (a separate piece is included). It can be used with any Oni Rider that has a similarly designed belt. In Zanki's original role as Todoroki's master, his belt featured the Ongekishin - Raigou, but since training Todoroki it has been passed down to him.

The upper body is identical to Todoroki as well, just removing the red string accents and replacing them with gold. This bandoleer like sash is still my favorite part of the Zanki/Todoroki design. 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. Zanki'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 deep green. The silver fade from Todoroki has been replaced by a gorgeous gold on Zanki, as well as further red accents. The left shoulder pad does impact the bandoleer at times so be careful not to scratch it, but thankfully the pads don't pop off frequently as they did with Ibuki. The left wrist also features the Henshin Kigen Onka. This one is in it's closed form, but an open version of the accessory is included to replicate Zanki's transformation.

And like others, but particularly Todoroki, Zanki has a stunningly accurate headsculpt. All 4 riders have insanely well detailed sculpts, but the Oni face on Todoroki's head is just top notch. The horn protrusion on his head is actually quite sharp as well, so watch out there. Zanki's head is of course a real nice mostly bronze repaint of Todoroki and it's just stunning on this mold. The presentation of this figure is glorious and seeing master & student together at last is a real treat.

Accessories
Like his disciple, Zanki is fully loaded, with *exactly* the same accessories:

4 - sets of hands. This gives you basically everything you need to hold the other included parts. Thankfully Bandai has even gone so far as to sculpt a small tab on the ends of a couple of the right hands so that Todoroki can properly strum his guitar, but also to help hold it up. Likely knowing the wrist joints wouldn't be quite strong enough to hold it up with one hand (they really aren't) the tabbed right hands do the perfect job of maintaining balance.

1 - Ongekigen Retsuzan. Extremely ornate guitars are the weapon of choice for both Todoroki and originally Zanki. Zanki's guitar is primarily black with gold strings while Todorokis is silver with red. Each has a different Ongekishin to place on the strings as well. When combined with the Ongekishin you can also open up the the side of it to fan out sharp edges for the Blade Attacking Mode. I should mention that no matter which mode it's displayed in, the gold Onisho face sculpted into the end of it is just exquisite. Notably the tip beyond the Onisho is also serrated on the Retsuzan, which is extremely rad.

1 - Ongekishin - Zantetsu. This enlarged version of the one worn on Zanki's belt is meant to plug directly onto the Retsuzan to recreate the Blade Attacking Mode. It plugs snugly onto a peg on the front of the Retsurai and once there, can be quite difficult to remove safely. Just be careful not to scratch or break anything.

1- Disc Animal holster. This alternate left hip part is sculpted with 3 disc animals (non-Removeable) and can be substititued for the empty holder he has out of box. For display I generally always have this attachment on.

3 - (non-transforming) Disc Animals. As with others in the line, these don't transform, nor do I think that should be expected at this scale. Transformation joints made of plastic this thin would be ridiculously brittle. I'd like to have seen alternate already transformed animals included, but it's honestly not that big a deal either. The Discs included are straight repacks of those included with Todoroki; Ryoku Ōzaru, Seiji Gaeru, and Kogane Ōkami. The Kogane Ōkami disc is the yellow upgraded form of the Ruri Ōkami Disc, which came with Seihou Hibiki.

1 - alternate Henshin Kigen Onka. This version of the device has the face pulled down and open, exposing the strings which both Todoroki and Zanki would strum before being hit by lighting to transform into Oni. This part can be swapped out for the standard version on the left wrist.

And frankly that is perfect. Zanki comes with absolutely everything necessary for any display possibility.

Final Thoughts
Hibiki took so long to become an S.H. Figuart that it was fitting that his debut came in the Shinkocchou Seihou line. 4 years was such a long time to wait for another Hibiki rider, but Ibuki was worth the wait. And now twice recently Bandai have really knocked things out of the park. First with Todoroki, and now with Zanki. A majority of the Oni Rider designs share so much basic sculpting and parts, that's it's honestly conceivable to see more of them coming down the line in the near future as well. A few additional paint apps and new parts could easily result in several right off the bat like Kyoki, Danki, or even Eiki just for an example. So bring it on Tamashii, give me all the Oni you've got!

[Den-O]

Part 2

[Annuga]

The lightning effects are pretty much perfect here, kudos

[Kurona]

This is a super good gallery. I'm so glad they were able to get out the four main Riders

[Den-O]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Annuga

The lightning effects are pretty much perfect here, kudos

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

This is a super good gallery. I'm so glad they were able to get out the four main Riders

Thanks fellas I'm really hoping Bandai shows off at least one new Oni rider at Tamashii Nations this weekend. So many of the other series and movie riders are such simple repaints of pre-existing parts. It would be a shame not to see another on the way.

[AkibaSilver]

"Hibiki"... "four years ago"
I do not like this passage of time.

In relevant posting, the gallery looks amazing, as usual. The lightning effects just add the extra beauty to the figure.

[maxlovesamber]

Yay more Hibiki figures!!! Maybe we'll get lucky and see some movie figures soon.

[GurrenPrime]

The Oni designs look so good in the Shinkocchou Seihou line

[BagJo]

Zanki is a real favorite of mine. Hibiki was my first Rider Series, and I was already a fan of Kenji Matsuda (Zanki's actor) from Ryuhei Kitamura's Versus, so he was an early stand-out for me in the series.

I also think the Oni Senshi have been some of the best Shinkocchou Seihou figures thus far.

[hellboy18]

I love this Shinkocchou Seihou line! It's very accurate! The Ongekigen Retsuzan looks amazing, they did a fine job sculpting it!