S.H. Figuarts Mother of Ultra

 In addition to receiving the SHMA Godzilla 2000, Mother of Ultra was also delivered this past weekend. Once Father dropped last year, I knew it was only a matter of time before we got his companion. And now she is here, ready to join the ranks of the classic Showa Ultra line.

Like most Ultras of her era, Mother sports a red and silver color scheme. The sides of her face have two downward curving extensions that resemble pony tails, an eye slugger-like crest on her head, as well as two small red horns. Being female (although she was played by a skinny male in the Taro series), she is quite curvaceous, with extra emphasis on her hips and breasts. Bandai did a pretty good job with her sculpt, though she does appear less curvy and feminine than the older Ultra Act version. Still, she's undeniably a lady.

For accessories, she comes with 5 pairs of hands (fists, karate chop, open and two relaxed pairs) and her signature Mother Beam, a pink burst of energy that serves to heal injuries. This one is molded in a translucent pink with gradiant shade, and simply plugs into her wrist. One thing I noticed about those wrist joints is that they are quite small, so maybe use a bit of caution when switching out the hands, though I have yet to break a peg from any of the multiple S.H. Figuarts that I own. She has just the right amount of extras to complete her character. I suppose they could have included another attack for Taro, or her yellow Mother Destruction Beam, but what she has is good enough.

For her articulation, she sports the usual assortment of hinges and ball joints found on most of the figures from the Ultraman line. One thing to note is that her upper torso has a very limited range, only twisting and crunching slightly. The butterfly joints on her shoulders don't extend out too far, making it impossible to cross her hands or even bring them together. The elbows, although double jointed, only bend in a little past 90 degrees. From the waist up, this causes her posing to be somewhat limited. The character didn't do much fighting in the show (though she did have a brawl with Belial later later in the series), so I guess that's why they didn't make her engineering more expressive. She can still achieve a good amount of poses, just with limited range.

S.H. Figuarts Mother of Ultra, despite having less flexibility than some of her counterparts, is still a pretty decent figure. She looks good and has a decent amount of accessories. I'm glad that Bandai has finally released most of the Showa era Ultras in their Figuarts line. The only ones left are Ultraman King, Ultraman 80 and Yullian, which I'm sure will be dropping within the next few years. I'm happy to own her and to complete the Taro family.