Got this in the mail today as part of my three eBay items (the previous two were reviewed already, dontcha know!) I had a bit of bad luck with this one as his left hand had a broken finger right out of the package. And while attaching the armor one of the side pieces broke in half.
I'm not sure how I should judge this in the review so I'll give the figure the benefit of a doubt and say this PROBABLY won't happen with all of them, but I hear broken fingers sometimes happen with SH figures. Much thanks to OAFE.net's Twitter account for helping me fix this.
That said, let us follow this mysteriously cool man. Hibiki-saaan~
My previous review was of a figure from the earlier SH designs. Hibiki is, as far as I know, in the midway point of SH figures. They're a bit taller, this time just JUST below 5 1/2" tall instead of 5" like the originals. The later-to-current SH figures such as Kiva and Double are perfect height for your SH Figuarts collection. Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying he's fairly well sized.
Like all SH figures, the Hibiki series figures have the tiny head, even moreso since the helmets are basically the same size as a human head. However, one thing the Hibiki design have over previous Rider designs is that they don't have quite the same level of "armor" - Rather than being a blank spandex-wearing body with a large chest armor piece and large forearms, Hibiki here has a spandex-like body (with lots of molded detail!) and the only attachable bits of armor is the odd chest piece here.
Basically, that silver you're seeing is four pieces that wrap around his torso, and they DON'T make him look chunky. And I find that helps make him look a lot more appealing. The chunky style adds a bit of novelty to older Showa era designs like Amazon, in that it makes them look like older toys, but it's not so flattering on Heisei era Riders. I'm pleased Hibiki translates so well to this toyline.
Hibiki's articulation is a big step up from older SH figures. Doublejointed knees (the knees were there before, but they're less useful), balljointed ankles, better hip ball joint, better elbow joint, nice balljointed neck, swivel hands... Oddly the elbows are not doublejointed, but they added stuff like swivels on the lower thighs and upper biceps, and a much-needed balljoint at the waist! He's full of articulation that gives you options. And I like those options. I can have him in a static pose that feels more organic and characterful. It makes for a good desk display.
Hibiki comes with a few iconic accessories. Basically almost everything he needs. First, the Ongekibou Rekka, or drumsticks if you prefer. Due to my figure's broken finger I cannot take advantage of this, but you can actually have the figure hold them with his upper finger's through the loop, just like he holds them in the show. Or does he wear them at the thumb? Not sure now... Research should be done before writing reviews.
Anywho, nice little things, very nicely sized, and the sculpting for the ugly little demonic heads at the end are nearly perfect. The only problem I have is... they don't store on the back of the belt like in the show. There's not even a holster for it. A minor nitpick, I know, but it feels like such an oversight to not include the weapon storing place on the costume. Regardless, they look nice and you can get him into some killer monster-destroying drumming poses.
He also comes with the Onkaku, or tuning fork, the item he uses to transform. I'll say this first: It's big. And that's always gonna be my thing with the tuning fork, it's always oversized in toy form. But to their credit, it does seem to be able to change size in the show when it's being used to read the disk animals. Speaking of which, you also get a SECOND tuning fork in its folded state, which you can not only attach to the belt (as that's its purpose), but you can also place a little disc animal on it! A neat little function I wouldn't have expected. Nice, though the folded version is made of two pieces and it tends to come off a lot.
Speaking of disc animals, he comes with three. And a little holster for them that you just plug them onto. They're neat and also something I didn't expect, I just figured he came with a single molded piece of the discs in the holster. They even come with (admittedly brightly colored) stickers so you can have them all detailed. Again, they're neat.
Oh! One last thing: While his belt is not a separate piece of armor (all for the better since it looks well sculpted as is), the Ongekikou belt buckle is removable. Likely to simulate the finisher move. Unfortunately, no large drum. You'll have to make your own. I made my own using papercraft. Enjoy.
So overall, would I recommend this guy to you? If you're a fan of the Hibiki show or just like the design, of course! That's the thing: The show is different from your usual Kamen Rider show, sure. But if you become a fan of it, the merchandise can be easily found at a cheap price (that is, cheap for Japanese imports.) I found THIS guy for about $15, and believe me... That doesn't happen. You're likely to find these SH figures for about $25-30+ depending on their age or popularity, and luckily Hibiki is not quite as popular.
Anyway, great figure despite the breaks I had with it, and a fun functional toy all around. I sometimes question what Kamen Rider characters we can expect to see in the SH Figuarts line, and if Hibiki never gets one, THIS is what you'll be using to represent him in your Figuarts collection.
So, after all is said and done... Let us go on a journey, Boy.
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