Bandai Garo Equip and Prop volume 1 set

Garo is described as a tokusatsu show for adults who grew up watching tokusatsu shows but despite adult overtones, nudity and horror, it’s still ultimately as formulaic as the rest of tokusatsu. It’s frustrating because with better writing and more ambition, the series could have been something really special. For all its faults, I do believe it will go down as a landmark series in tokusatsu history since it debuted at a time when the Kamen Rider franchise is being aimed at an ever-younger audience.

Bandai has exploited the Garo series to the maximum with a large array of merchandise at multiple price points. The flagship line is the Equip and Prop series which bundles a highly-detailed figure with a prop from the show. Unsurprisingly, the first volume in the series featured the titular character.

Box

Both the assembled Kouga figure and the unassembled Garo parts are easily viewed in the packaging while the rear of the packaging has glam photos of both Kouga and Garo.

The various parts are on two clear plastic trays and secured by a staggering amount of twistie ties as well as cellophane tape. Removing them ought to quickly dampen your enthusiasm. A bigger concern is it’s hard to repack because the parts jiggle loose in the box without the aforementioned twistie-ties.

The instructions are on a single black and white sheet taped to the cardboard backing of the package. The instructions for the Japanese retail version are terse to the point of being incomplete but you shouldn’t face difficulty figuring out what’s what even without any knowledge of nihongo.

Kouga

The 17cm-tall Saejima Kouga figure comes pre-assembled in the package but it’s best to think of it as a bonus. That’s not to say Bandai didn’t put any effort into it. The company did, actually.

This is most evident when you look at the head sculpt. It’s a terrific likeness of Konishi Ryousei, the actor portraying Kouga. A nitpicker should be able to find differences easily enough but considering this is a bonus figure from a 3800 yen set rather than an expensive statue, I’m inclined to let things slide.

Elsewhere the figure is perhaps less impressive. The proportions are off with the torso being too short considering the size of the head and the length of the limbs. This is no doubt the result of having Kouga’s torso double as Garo’s.

There’s a lot of sculpted detail on the figure despite it being mostly black. I’m impressed the sculptor(s) went so far as to include an itsy-bitsy Zaruba on Kouga’s left hand.

Pose

The articulation low-down:

• Neck – a severely limited ball joint.
• Shoulders – severely limited ball joints.
• Elbows – hinge joints.
• Wrists – ball joints.
• Chest – limited ball joint.
• Waist – severely limited ball joint.
• Hips – ball joints.
• Knees – hinge.
• Ankles – limited ball joints.

The posability isn’t good due to the fact some joints have a very poor range of motion. The shoulder joints are especially disappointing as they’re so limited the arms have little range laterally. The ball-jointed wrists help a little but additional swivel joints at the biceps would have allowed a few more swordsman poses.

Kouga has some accessories of his own. There’s an extra right hand for gripping the included sword. (You may have use a little force to get the hand to grip the sword.) The 11cm-long plastic Makai sword is nicely sculpted and painted, and can be sheathed in the scabbard included in the set. There’s no way of attaching the scabbard to the figure and there’s no gripping left hand so you can’t, say, pose the figure holding the scabbard in one hand while unsheathing the sword with the other.

It’s not bad overall but I doubt anyone will be getting this set specifically for the Kouga figure. The pièce de résistance is clearly …

Garo, the fanged wolf

This is the reason most would covet the set for and I’m of the opinion the set is worth it for this figure alone. Standing 19cm-tall, this bestial knight is beautiful, majestic, ornate … well, it’s a figure that inspires effusive praise is what it is.

It may not be part of the Super Imaginative Chogokin (S.I.C) series but Garo design does give off the same vibe. Edgy style, intricate detail and ever-so-X-TR3M3. McFarlane-ish in other words. That there are similarities should hardly be surprising since sculptor Takeya Takayuki has worked on both series. I do consider this figure to be superior to S.I.C figures because it nails the show look while the S.I.C line takes too many liberties with Kamen Rider designs for my liking.

To transform the Kouga figure into Garo, you have to first dismember and decapitate Kouga. Kouga’s torso is reused for Garo and you simply attach Garo’s head, limbs and armour pieces.

The instructions omit one step: you have to first attach the neck piece to the Garo head before attaching it to the torso. The part may be a little tricky as it’s not immediately clear how the neck piece should attach to the head. (Hint: Garo’s neck becomes thicker towards the head.)

Strike a pose

Like the Kouga figure, Garo has multiple points of articulation. The low-down:

• Neck – double ball joint
• Mouth – hinge joint
• Shoulders – double ball joints.
• Biceps – swivel joints.
• Elbows – hinge joints and swivel joints.
• Wrists -limited ball joints.
• Waist – limited ball joint.
• Hips – limited ball joints.
• Thighs – swivel joints.
• Knees – hinge and limited ball joints.
• Ankles – limited ball joints.

Garo’s posability isn’t as great as the number of joints would indicate. You don’t expect a fully armoured knight to pull off kung fu side kick poses — that said, the show character is deceptively mobile — but I am still a little disappointed the figure isn’t more posable at the hips and knees. Garo does, however, have better arm posability than the Kouga figure thanks to inclusion of bicep joints.

Look-wise, I’ve gushed enough about the figure but I would like to commend Bandai for the fantastic paint job. You don’t need die-cast metal to evoke an armoured knight when you have a really good paint job to suggest the same.

That’s not to say the figure is entirely without die-cast metal. One of the armour parts on the figure’s back is metal as are some parts on the chest armour, wrists, knees and ankles. I can undestand why the piece on the back needed to be made of metal since it has to be strong enough to secure the chest armour to the Kouga torso but the use of die-cast for the other pieces seems gratuitous.

Sword of Garo

Garo’s main accessory is his sword. The 15cm-long die-cast metal weapon is beautifully painted and sculpted. I was a little concerned the sword would be too heavy but the figure has not had any problems holding it in various poses.

Garo’s other accessories include extra hands — the set includes pairs of open and closed hands in addition to a sword-grip right hand — and a die-cast scabbard for the Garo sword. There’s also a cape which attaches to the figure’s back. It’s made of a rubbery material but it’s pretty much stuck in one pose.

The Ringu

The Madougu are sentient items that aid the Makai Knights in their quest to free the world of Horrors but more to the point, the Madougu are items that provide the story writers with an easy way out. Need to locate the Horror? The Madougu will know the way. Need exposition? The Madougu will explain it all.

Zaruba, the Madougu ring partnered with Kouga, is the prop of the Equip & Prop volume 1 set. The meticulously sculpted die-cast ring is too large for my fingers but it’s not like I intended to wear it anyway. Unless you’re a heavy metal musician, teenaged goth or a demon-slaying knight, you’re probably not going to either. A stand has been included but as a display piece, it’s only mildly interesting. Still, bonus.

QC

There aren’t any glaring QC issues with the set. The Kouga figure has minor paint misapplication and various Garo parts are prone to popping out but those are minor nitpicks. I’m pleased to report the set is of good quality overall.

That said, I am concerned about the long-term effects of transforming from the Kouga figure to Garo and vice versa. It seems to me that repeated transformations will cause the joints to loosen to the point the figure will fall apart easily over time. There are remedies for this but still, be careful.

Overall

The set was first released over a year ago but you should still be able to find stocks here and there. Local TV station NTV7 has begun airing the Garo series and I expect Litt Tak, Bandai’s local distributor, will bring in the merchandise if it hasn’t already.

I paid approximately USD55 for the Japanese retail version but I don’t feel like I was ripped off because I’m delighted with it. The figures in the set could do with a little more play value but I recognise it’s aimed at the segment of the adult collector market which is far more interested in toys as display pieces. As display pieces go, the Garo figure alone is worth the asking price and the other items in this set are really nice bonuses.