Toybox REVIEW: S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Taro Suit -The Animation-

Release Date: September 2022

RRP: 7150 yen

The second season of the ULTRAMAN anime series by Production I.G. and Sola Digital Arts finally landed on Netflix in 2022, and to coincide with its release Bandai Tamashii Nations revealed that they also would finally be returning to series! Even though an animation remould of the Ace Suit is yet to be seen in the line, given the focus of season two it made sense for Bandai to push forward with the release of S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Taro Suit -The Animation-. Debatably the main character of this season, Kotaro Higashi is the latest human to become Ultraman when is he mutated during a run-in with agents of the Black Star. S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Taro Suit -The Animation- is a Tamashii web exclusive release, and the first figure from the ULTRAMAN manga/anime since Bemular -The Animation- back in February 2020.

S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Taro Suit -The Animation- comes in bold packaging that proudly shows off the figure brandishing its Ultra Badge accessory on the front of the box, complimented by the bold white lettering running alongside it. The sides of the box are identical and relatively plain, simply repeating that bold lettering alongside the SSSP logo from the manga/anime in an orange box. On the back of the box you'll find the usual selection of stock images showing off the figure in various poses, complete with an appearance from S.H. Figuarts Ultraman -The Animation- as there are accessories for that figure as well. Inside, the figure and accessories are neatly stored on a moulded plastic tray.

If there's one thing ULTRAMAN can't be faulted on, it's the ability to take those infinitely classic but relatively Showa era Ultra designs and turn them into impressive armoured suits. Right of the bat the Ultraman Taro Suit is instantly recognisable as the sixth Ultra Brother with his iconic horned head sculpt and Ultra Protector armour. Like the previous animation variants the Taro Suit uses a more vibrant shade of red than the original Ultra-Act x S.H. Figuarts versions (which were based on the manga designs rather than the anime), as well as a shiny metallic silver. Despite the bright colours there's plenty of detail across the red body to give the impression of an armoured suit, while the silver has all manner of rivets and moulded detail to emulate metal plating. The head sculpt looks especially good, and definitely warrants a closer look just to take in all the detailing it has. It's a great looking figure, but there's something unmistakably off about the feel of it. While it would be unfair to say it isn't solid, it definitely feels a bit more lightweight than your average S.H. Figuarts release. Similarly the plastic finish is quite different too, feeling more akin to the Ultra-Act line (which was the original home of Tamashii's Ultraman figures until the move to Figuarts in 2016). This could be to create a sense of consistency between the releases as the other animation versions were built off of the original Ultra-Act x S.H. Figuarts releases, but it feels like a rather odd throwback on a brand new release.

Articulation is another point of curiosity on this figure, on the surface delivering what you'd expect from an S.H. Figuarts but at the same time missing the mark somewhat. Altogether the Ultraman Taro Suit features;

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

- Swivel hinge shoulders and ankles

- Drop-down ball jointed hips

- Double hinge elbows and knees

- Single hinge toe sections

- Bicep and thigh swivels

If there was any lingering doubt before then looking at the articulation confirms it - for all intents and purposes, this thing is an Ultra-Act figure. The use of this style of drop-down hips alone is enough of hint, being something that hasn't really been seen in the S.H. Figuarts line for years. To the line's credit it shows how ahead of the curve they used to be that the Taro Suit is still pretty poseable overall, but this dated articulation brings around all manner of issues. Joint tolerances are absolutely all over the place, with the hips extremely floppy straight out of the box while the knees are squeaky tight. The hips are so loose that the figure struggles to hold any sort of wide-legged action pose without eventually doing the splits and toppling over. The different (I'm hesitant to say "cheaper", but it certainly feels that way) plastic quality has clearly had a knock-on effect to the joints to, as taking all of these pictures I experienced another thing I haven't had happen on an S.H. Figuarts release for some time - a snapped wrist joint. Just trying to switch the hands as you would any figure led to the peg shearing clean off the joint, which meant the rest of the gallery had to be finished with a trusty bit of Blu Tack. While breakages like that are likely to be less common from figure to figure (it doesn't make it any less frustrating though!), bad joint tolerances feels like it'll be a widespread issue.

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