Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Demons Spider Genome

Release Date: July 2022

RRP: 7700 yen

While Kamen Rider Revice may have been a series that pushed the story of family first and foremost, it wasn't just the Igarashi family that captured fans' hearts. Fenix commander Hiromi Kadota quickly established himself as a firm fan-favourite in the series, fighting as the first Kamen Rider Demons using the Vail-possessed Demons Driver. After going missing and presumed dead, he would eventually return to the fight against Giff leading Weekend's Demons Army. His popularity pretty much ensured the quick release of S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Demons Spider Genome, who joins the line as the fourth release in the Revice range and its second Tamashii web exclusive.

S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Demons Spider Genome comes boxed in the usual Tamashii web exclusive packaging, which uses a strong red and blue colour scheme to nicely match the colours on the Demons suit (and perhaps coincidentally, Spider-Man too). The box is a little thicker than usual too thanks to some of the flourishes on the suit, though the figure itself certainly isn't any bigger than your average Figuarts. The front of the box features a nice big image of Demons in his signature pose alongside the Spider Vistamp marking, while the back continues with a number of different images showing off the figure in various poses (as well as the accessories the release includes for Kamen Riders Revi and Vice). Inside the figure and its accessories are neatly laid out on a moulded plastic tray, with the instructions printed on a small flyer as opposed to on the inside of the box's side flaps (which is what they did for Revi/Vice).

Along with Kamen Rider Evil/Live (Bat) and Kamen Rider Jeanne (Cobra), Kamen Rider Demons' spider motif is a loose homage to the bat, cobra and spider kaijin from the original Kamen Rider series – Revice being the 50th anniversary series in the franchise after all. It's a very impressive design that goes all-in on spider theming, not only sporting asymmetrical web patterning on the torso and head, but also eight spider-like compound eyes that wrap around the helmet. But even beyond the spider theme there's a lot to love about this suit, all of which has been faithfully recreated at Figuarts scale. The undersuit has all manner of armour plating across it that gives it the look of a military-grade suit, the spinal column running across the back a particular highlight in terms of sculpting. One thing that is worth noting is that it's a rather spiky suit, with lots of areas that can easily catch you (look out for the little spikes on sides of his thighs and just above the knees!). Much like its full-sized counterpart the Demons Driver around the waist is a rather hefty piece, nicely painted to be screen-accurate though it’s a shame that the display screen has been left blank. Overall it's a fantastic-looking suit, easily one of the best Revice as a whole has to offer.

Demons' body is the same build as the other Revice Riders, giving him overall articulation consisting of;

- Ball jointed head, neck, torso, waist and wrists

- Swivel hinge shoulders, hips and ankles

- Butterfly joint shoulders

- Double hinged elbows and knees

- Single hinge toe sections

- Bicep and thigh swivels

While the shoulder sections are connected to the arms via their own separate ball joints, you only have to take one look at them to see that there's going to be some shoulder restriction. Naturally this is a lot more noticeable on the right shoulder being covered by that massive spider web piece. While the shoulder can fully rotate around without any issues outward motion is a lot less, even with the movement provided by the connecting ball joint. Comparatively the left shoulder is much better as it functions more like a standard S.H. Figuarts shoulder pad, but even that highlights how you have to be a little more careful with this figure because of all the brittle spider-web pieces hanging off it. It really doesn't feel like it would take much pressure for one to snap, and even if you were careful there are a lot of areas where the parts tend to press up against each other. The torso armour has a similar problem, pressing up against the bulky Driver when the waist is angled down. It's nothing that you can't avoid with a little caution, but it's definitely a design I can see breakages happening on if said caution isn't exercised.