Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Ribut

Release Date: April 2022

RRP: 6050 yen

The Ultra Galaxy Fight series has brought back a number of obscure Ultraman heroes back into the fold, but undoubtedly one of its greatest achievements is making a star out of Ultraman Ribut. Originally created as a joint collaboration between Tsuburaya Productions and Malaysian company Les' Copaque Production for their animated series Upin and Ipin, Ultraman Ribut has gone on to appear in all three recent Ultra Galaxy Fight instalments (New Generation Heroes, The Absolute Conspiracy and The Destined Crossroad) as well as make a guest appearance in Ultraman Trigger and star in his own Galaxy Rescue Force voice drama. Bandai Tamashii Nations have recognised this prominence with the release of S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Ribut – the first of their Ultra Galaxy Fight figures to be released at general retail.

S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Ribut follows the usual packaging design for 'modern' Ultraman characters, coming in a teal and black coloured box with black bordering. Although Ribut has appeared in all of the new Ultra Galaxy Fight miniseries so far, the packaging specifically refers to The Destined Crossroad – the latest one to be released. In addition to the window section showing off the figure inside the front of the box also features a nice big image of the Ultraman Ribut suit, while the back of the box shows off the figure (along with its accessories) in a number of different poses. Inside everything is neatly stored on a moulded plastic tray, with the weapon/effect parts comfortably stacked on top of each other to make full use of the space.

There's a joke among Ultraman fans that to newcomers heroes such as Ultraman, Zoffy, Jack, Neos and Ribut all look pretty much the same. Of course line them all up and the differences immediately become obvious, but it also isn't hard to see why given how they all have variations on the original red and silver body patterning with little else in the way of discerning features. When it comes to Ultraman Ribut though, there's definitely an extra level of modernity in the design. It's not just the sharper, more dynamic markings across the body that make it clearer – more significantly it's the sections of metallic blue across his forearms and shins. These are his G Crystals, which in fiction control the Galaxium energy within him. The most prominent of these is the one on his left forearm, which is raised into an Arm Cover armament. Ultraman Ribut definitely has an overwhelming "what's old is new again" feel about his design, which makes him feel particularly prominent when lined up against the far more varying New Generation Heroes. Bandai have also reflected this more modern feel in his colour scheme – using a far brighter red and shinier silver as opposed to the more muted colours of the Showa Ultraman figures. It really is a design which you only really fully appreciate in-hand, with elements like the yellow-tinted eyes and translucent blue Arm Cover section popping all the more on the design.

Articulation is something that's been getting increasingly better with Ultraman releases over the years, and Ribut continues that evolution with a great range of movement. Altogether he features 

- Peg joint head 

- Ball jointed neck, torso, waist and wrists 

- Swivel hinge shoulders, hips and ankles 

- Butterfly joint shoulders 

- Double hinge elbows and knees

- Thigh swivels

On first glance the shoulder cuts might seem a little more apparent compared to some of the other Ultraman releases, but you certainly can't argue with the range of movement they provide – giving the arms the ability to pull off all those staple Ultraman poses. Sure there's still no consistent presence of a bicep swivel present on these figures, but between the shoulders and the little bit of swivel you can get from the elbow connection ensure that signature cross beam pose isn't a chore to pull off. Everything else here is just the usual high quality S.H. Figuarts engineering, coming together to show why this line is still among the top when it comes to poseability.

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