Review: #297
Name: Tsugumori
Brand: figma (Knights of Sidonia)
Year of Release: 2015
Variations: none as at this date
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS:
Tsugumori, the main Garde that the protagonist, Tanikaze pilots in order to defeat Gauna within the anime Knights of Sidonia. This version of Tsugumori is more based upon the anime rather than the manga.
Tsugumori is actually a little bit more expensive than your typical figma, but he comes in a wider box. As per usual, it is a very nice box.
Opening the box up reveals the contents and he only has one layer of accessories, as opposed to the usual two plastic layers, oh well.
Taking it all out and spreading it before you, Tsugumori doesn't have an abnormally huge amount of accessories, and the figure itself isn't that much bigger than a standard figma. It must be the new joint designs that pushed up the cost.
First up is the cardboard stand that doubles up as the inner packaging. It is a glossy purple but something you likely don't really care about.
He comes with two "high-frequency blades", modeled after the ones used in the anime.
Next up is the Kabizashi spear, with a bit of guana remains at the end.
We have the long "ballistic acceleration device".
As is standard, we have several pairs of hands: open, open fist, relaxed fist, and one left-hand which holds a Kabizashi bullet which was used to destroy Benisuzume.
There are several small accessories including the extension piece for the booster backpack during acceleration, a Gauna core and an alternate head which is opened ready for a Heigus particle attack.
A typical figma stand is included, and it has an extra piece which plugs on top since Tsugumori doesn't use the stand in the normal way.
A clear plastic bag is provided to store all the extra pieces that aren't in use.
Finally, there are the instructions which includes English, which is very useful.
FIGURE:
Tsugumori, the Garde piloted by the protagonist Tanikaze is faithfully recreated here. The smooth angular design, with minimal grey and red to break up the white works really well here.
He carries the massive booster in his back. This actually came as a separate piece in the packaging and needs to be attached to the figure.
Tsugumori looks great and very faithful to the animation model from all angles. Unlike other figmas, Tsugumori hides the figma joints very well.
His head is interesting since it is in the closed position which feels smaller than it should be. It can tilt up and down as well as left and right.
He is slightly taller than your standard figma, although the comparison above doesn't really show it since Black Lotus herself is abnormally tall. Tsugumori is approximately 15.5cm in height.
Above is a comparison against a typical Transformers Warrior figure to show how he compares.
As you'd come to expect from a figma, the detailing on Tsugumori is superb and impresses you. The torso is intricately sculpted and looks perfect.
You might not expect it, but Tsugumori is able to stand on its two legs without the use of a stand very easily. This is partly thanks to the flexible ankles.
On the underside of the right arm are two missiles type weapon.
Tsugumori has a huge number of flexible joints, including two for the torso which can make him a bit floppy at times.
In order to hold the Kabizashi spear you need to swap out the hands for the fists which has a hole in it. You need to thread the spear through the hole which can feel tight at first. The spear itself is made of a more flexible bendy plastic but will still be easy to snap if too much pressure it placed in the wrong spot.
The spear tip has Gauna gunk on it which wrecks the look. Nevertheless, the shoulder articulation has a huge range thanks to various joints which allow it to lift out, and also forward.
Two handed poses are easy to achieve, you can either have the second hand with the relaxed fist which makes it easier, or the other closed fist in which case you have to be more careful.
The Gauna core just slots through the tip of the spear, no need to wiggle it in. Very cool.
The arm blades are easy to slot into the sides of each forearm. They look great there.
You can have blades on both his arms. A shame that this set doesn't include the Kabizashi sword/knife he used in the second season.
His arm articulation is also fairly decent, his elbows and wrists have a nice range of motion.
His hips are disappointing though since they cannot be pulled outwards that much before the top of the hip gets in the way. The knees are also weird in how the piece with the grey bit is attached.
A bit more detail here are the boosters, including the smaller secondary one which is on a joint. Tsugumori uses the stand a slightly different way, resting his pelvis on the stand rather than having it plugged into him.
You can recreate the iconic scene where Tsugumori fires off his fist holding the Kabizashi bullet against Benisuzume.
Replacing the tip of his booster with the longer one will give Tsugumori his acceleration mode, in which he travels much much faster.
It is a long piece, and you will also need to push his booster up. In both configurations, the booster attaches to a peg to hold it securely in place.
Tsugumori has enough articulation to perform the "handshake" that is often used in the anime when several Gardes travel together at greater speeds. Yup, you'll need to buy the Series 18 Garde figma too to complete this iconic travel method!
The final piece of weapon here is the ballistic acceleration device, where you need to unplug the missile thingie from under his right arm, then attach this piece. What is great about Tsugumori is how easy it is to swap pieces, usually, figma's have tight joints but this is not the case here, Tsugumori's pieces have the perfect amount of tightness.
Unfortunately, you do need two hands in order to hold this long range weapon. His elbow is not strong enough to support it with one hand.
The weapon is wicked and you can have Tsugumori in his ground shooting pose during the Battle for Planet Nine.
Lastly, you can do a head swap for the head with the "Heigus particle cannon", which actually looks better than the normal closed head.
Using this head, he's ready to use the particle cannon to attack the Gauna.
Some great potential for poses here, it looks like he just jumped out from the screen. This is an amazing figure.
OVERALL:
If you are fan of the anime, then figma Tsugumori is a fantastic figure that you should absolutely purchase. Sure, he is a bit more expensive than your typical figma, but Tsugumori is absolutely worth it. He has an amazing range of articulation, most of the accessories used in the anime and some incredible detailing, Tsugumori is sturdy enough to be an action figure as well as a display piece.
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Thanks for reading this review. For other figma reviews, have a look at this page.
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Here's the remaining photos taken but not used in the review. Thanks for looking!
