Another of my late April preorders has arrived. The S.H. Figuarts version of Ultraman Nexus. Thus is one Ultra that I had hoped would get released in this series, so it was an instant preorder when it was first announced.
Nexus hails from the 2004 series of the same name. It was notable for its darker, more mature tone aimed at older audiences. I remember watching it back in the mid 2000's on bootleg DVDs from a store in the Bay Area that sold kaiju figures and merchandise. I found it really enjoyable, and appreciated the more serious storyline, the unusual but quite memorable kaiju, and the dark tone that was more akin to horror than sci-fi. Unfortunately, it aired Saturday mornings at 7:30am in Japan, resulting in low ratings (I imagine a serious show was not the target demographic [kids] cup of tea), so it was cut short from the original planned 50 episodes to just 37. As a result, it ended up having a rushed ending and Tsuburaya moved on to start a more traditional friendly series (Ultraman Max). Anyway, the figure is based on Nexus' base form, referred to as Anphans. It is silver and black, with a red color timer in the shape of a V, and the top of his head resembling a sleek helmet. Tamashii Nations did a fine job reproducing his look, from his off-white, ridged eyes, to his wrist spikes and various black and grey stripes. Nexus is instantly recognizable due to his darker color, instead of the traditional red and silver that other Ultras usually have. Everything is painted well on the figure.
The accessories include 6 pairs of hands (fists, relaxed, open palm, and 3 varieties of flat), a translucent blue charging effect that fits over one of his flat hands, for when he's ready to fire his beam. And finally, said beam, called the Cross-Ray Schtrom. This one is a translucent golden amber. He has no alternate color timer, as the one on this form would simply flash on and off when he was running out of juice. The other notable thing is that the spikes on the back of his calves are retractable. You simply pull them out, though they don't snap into place to hold the outward position. I assume it was done to not impede the bending off the knee, or avoid scratching and paint scruff.
Nexus' articulation is very good. It includes a peg joint head, ball joint neck, torso, waist and wrists, swivel hinge butterfly shoulders, swivel hinge hips and ankles, double hinge elbows and knees, thigh swivel and toe hinge. Another hidden extra is that the joints on his elbows can be pulled out a little to give the arms extra range when bending them. His torso can bend and twist very well, his legs can spread very wide, and he can look up fairly easy. This allows you to easily reproduce most of his classic poses. Nexus got the upgraded engineering, so messing and posing him should be a fun breeze.
With a good, accurate sculpt, clean paint and flexible joints, S.H. Figuarts Ultraman Nexus Anphans is another solid entry in Bandai's Ultraman line. He has a few other forms, so I'm sure they'll eventually release those ones as well. What I would really love, though, are some of Nexus' bizarre kaiju opponents released in this line. Golgolem, with his extending mouth, and Kutuura, a tentacled blob thing with the face of Munch's The Scream, would be awesome. I'll keep my fingers crossed that my Nexus eventually gets a co-star or two to keep him company.
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