Review: S.H.Figuarts Kamen Rider Kiva (Emperor Form)

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ぴゅんぴゅーん！テンション フォルティッシモ！

変身！

My knowledge on Kamen Rider Kiva is pathetically close to clueless. And so, to do this review, I watched the Episode 24 of KR Kiva to get a feel on what it takes to be Kiva Emperor Form. However, I find the Tatsulot (used by KR Kiva to unleash his final form) rather irritating and disturbing…

I learn about KR Kiva Emperor Form through one of the episodes in the season of KR Decade. Even though it was a brief entrance towards the end of the season, my eyes were literally glued to the screen when it first made its appearance (at least to me) in the show. And dear me, it is so sparkly gold!

I am so gonna get this dude! Which I came to own right after Machine Decader, it was awfully expensive.

First Impression

I literally drooled when I first removed this figurine out of the box. Everything about this figurine is exquisite. From the detailing to the color, everything is almost perfect! It is a very solid release and the figurine weights 3 times heavier than KR Decade. The feel of the plastic is so reassuring that you may start to wonder if Bandai Tamashii has changed to use an even more expensive mould for this release.

The Head

The head is beautifully sculpted. The golden crown has got some awesome carvings. One thing about the head which I feel I must really point it out would be the green jewel on KR Kiva’s forehead. It is not just done using a dot of green paint! Bandai Tamashii actually went through the pain to sculpt and pain the green jewel to give it a depth. It is as though you can pawn the jewel away if you really wanted to…

The eyes are gorgeous too. The whole eye actually brightens up if you were to shine light at it. My camera is unable to capture the detailing but the eyes have got very detailed compounds. I know it looks different from the show but this is really a beauty to stare at if you know what I meant.

And the mouth reminds me of the mouth of samurai armored face mask, don’t you think so?

The Body

The body sculpting design gives me a very 3D and castle feel. The body armor has got this unique depth that will totally captivate anyone who starts at it for a long time. The carving and painting are almost perfect. Just like the green jewel on KR Kiva’s forehead, the three jewels on the body seem to have a certain depth sculpted. However, I really wished that they share the same color as the one on the forehead. The three green jewels on the body seemed like a rush job done.

I really like the color scheme used. Metallic Red versus Sunny Golden, it is like a perfect match to bring out the bat-theme from KR Kiva in his emperor form. The color looks grainy and it reflects light nicely.

Even though it seems like the body is made up of three different pieces, the truth is the body is only made up of two separate pieces like any other Kamen Rider figurines to give it an articulation at the area above the torso as well as the waist area.

The black color used in this figurine looks a bit flimsy. It would be better if the black is darker and duller instead of being so shiny so that the black areas look more leathery.

The Belt (aka Kivat Belt)

The highly detailed Kivat Belt came as a total surprise simply because I was pretty upset about KR Decade. If only Bandai Tamashii could add line details to Kivat’s eyes, it would be perfect. But then again, considering that this is a mass release, I am probably asking too much.

The Fuestles (whistles which are used by Kivat to summon different power-ups) are located at both sides of the belt. Each of them has detailing sculpted on them and they are painted nicely which definitely adds on to the trip to heaven. You can imagine how jaw-dropping this figurine is because the detailing at the belt area is so hard to notice unless you have a very close up view.

I think Bandai Tamashii really outdid itself for this release. I am totally in love with this release because of the belt.

The Back

One thing bad about this release is probably the back of the figurine. It comes with two pieces of separated red plastic meant for the cape. And trust me that you will still get annoyed even after you managed to put the two pieces of plastics into place to form the cape. Mine is now a bit loose, as in they don’t really hold into place unless I press it down really hard. So guys, please be really careful when you fix the cape simply because you don’t really want to risk breaking the joints.

The design of the cape is really cool. KR Kiva in his emperor from has this habit (or should I call it a tendency or bad habit?) of flipping his cape or pose while holding his cape. If you are able to see pass the fact that the cape is being done using 4 different pieces of plastics, it actually allows you to achieve the poses similar to the show. It is not that bad if you see it from the front though. Some people may just feel weird about it but this is how Bandai Tamashii does it.

The Upper Limb

The shoulder pads are very much in the way, you will probably only be able to lift the entire upper limb up to at most 90 degrees unless you turn the shoulder. But the design and the sculpting is so exquisite, it moderates the posing problem. If you recall, KR Kiva Emperor Form doesn’t do any weird poses with his upper limbs held high, does he?

I only remember KR Kabuto does his grandmother pose with his right hand held high. Weird…

The Tatsulot on the arm looks like a rush work to me. Bandai Tamashii could have done a better job by at least getting the color scheme right. The middle should be red instead of an orange spot. There should be a green jewel at the tail and the silver should be darker…

At least the wrist band is probably done…

The Leg

The legs are annoying me greatly. In fact, the entire figuring has some sort of balancing problem. While you can’t spread the legs too far apart, even if you try to close the gaps between the two legs, the entire figurine still has problem standing still. I literally have to use blue tags to hold the figurine into place.

And the leg feels lighter than the body. Somehow, I feel that the center of gravity of the entire figurine is off the place. And this adds on to the posing problems.

But there are still a few good parts I have to highlight would be the kneecaps, the ankles and the feet. The design of the sculpting makes the legs look more “armory-like” which I find it cool and sturdy.

The Accessories

These includes:
1. A pair of clenching hands (both left and right).
2. A pair of signature posing hands (both left and right).
3. A pair of weapon holding hands (both left and right).
4. Demon Imperial Sword Zanvat Sword (I really hate to type it out so I will stick to calling it DISZ Sword).

The DISZ Sword is amazing! Look at the detailing, it is nicely sculpted and painted accurately. The only thing I could wish for is the straight line in the middle of the grip of the sword extending all the way from the cross-guard to the pommel should be painted gold. As well as the wings, the holes should be painted orange.

Call me a nit-picker! XD

The Zanvat (the sword’s rain guard) can move up and down along the Imperial Blade (the blade of the sword). This means, it is possible to pose KR Kiva Emperor Form prior to unleashing his Final Zanvat Slash!

And of course the sword doesn’t glow. I like how the blade is being done using clear plastic with painted slivers running along. It is as though the clear plastic is being uncased by another silver plastic.

Conclusion

Despite the major problems this release has in regards to balancing problems etc I highly recommend this figurine because of the level of detailing existing in most crucial areas such as the head, body and belt. The color scheme is wonderful least to say I really hoped the black could be more leathery.

After owning this release, I really want to own Dark Kiva too. I am probably looking out for Kiva in the meantime. What can I say? This release is definitely worth the money you are paying for. I have got a feeling that this may be the only release Bandai Tamashii is willing to put so much effort in regards to the detailing and coloring in areas such as the belt itself. You will probably notice and agree with me that it has got the best belt sculpted so far.

Kudos! And thank you for reading!

~Tulcus