[FiguReview]SHFiguarts Lunatic

Yohooo, after almost 2 weeks, here I am, back with new figure review. And this time it's the turn of the villain, or at least anti-hero, from the popular series Tiger and Bunny, Lunatic! Hear the voice of Thanatos and read my review of Lunatic!

SHFiguarts Lunatic
28th August 2012 release | 4725 yen | Bandai

Character History

Outside his vigilante dark hero/anti-hero persona, a man behind Lunatic mask is Yuri Petrov, judge of Sternbild City's Administration of Justice. Yuri is the son of the legendary hero Mr. Legend, he awaken his NEXT power when he sees Mr Legend, who at that time had his power degenerated and became drunker, beating his mother and accidentally killing Mr Legend. By Legend's lesson to "not turn a blind eye to evil", Yuri decided to follow his own code of justice to kill all the murderers because that way true peace will be attained. Lunatic power is pyrokines, but much stronger and more versatile than Fire Emblem's. He can both produce and manipulate blue-green flame, control them to the point not everything is burnt by it but rather only those he wants. He also can shape his flame into arrow-like object and then shoot it with the crossbow he carries, he can use his flame to propel himself in the air, he can pass through solid object with his flame, and disappear/teleport by turning his whole body into his flame.

Packaging

The box is really really thick, compared to the normal SHF or even all previously released T&B SHF. This is because to store all the accessories Lunatic comes with, Bandai used two two-layered blisters.

The art design of the box is pretty much Lunatic-ish, with all the blue flame on both side and Lunatic's signature red moon on the front. If you can read Japanese, there is short summary of Lunatic background but if you can't at least you can enjoy some sample pictures to see a glimpse of what this figure can do.

Set Content

I said that they had to use two two-layered blisters to store all the accessories Lunatic comes with, didn't I? Yes, compared to previously released T&B SHF, Lunatic comes with ton of accessories. And that's great. Here's the list of what you'll get:

• Lunatic figure
• 2 pairs of optional interchangeable hands part
• 1 optional interchangeable head part
• 2 crossbows (1 sheathed position and 1 used position with flame effect on it)
• Crossbow sheath
• 2 ammunition(?!) holders
• 2 pairs of flame effect
• 2 front mantle parts and 1 back mantle part
• Tamashii Stage Act 4 Lunatic customized stand

Sculpt

The sculpt is great. SHF tends to make character thinner but Lunatic looks great, with or without the mantle. The feet is die-casted and although it small but it can support the whole body to stand, even with the extra weight from the mantle, just fine. Though the design of Lunatic pants might make it slightly hard to move the feet. The part I really like is the head, all the details look lunaticly great and spooky. The lower part of his shirt (that looks like a skirt) is made by soft plastic so it's not really hinder the leg movement. What disappoint me is the material used for the mantle part, which feels like cheap plastic and the really visible seamline when we use the mantle.

Oh by the way, the ammunition(?!) holders that supposed to be put on his back sometimes easily fall off unlike the crossbow sheath, so it may annoy you a little.

Paint

Paint is great too, no major flaw spotted by me, only several little details like on the belt, but overall it still looks great, and again I really love the details on the mask. The asymmetrical of his eyes actually makes him looks creepier, and that's good. Though I kinda feel weird to see some flame effect looks more dominant blue while other is more green. I know his flame is blue and green but I don't know, probably better if the mix the two colors and make it more similar from one another.

Articulations

The articulation is top-notch as always, it's what SHF is good at after all. Joints are all tight, durable (except maybe for the fragile-looked hand joint), and easy to move. All the joint movements are like most recent SHF, so for those who already get use with SHF won't be having difficult time to posing Lunatic, I think. The feet, like I mentioned earlier, might slightly hard to move sideway since its sides are blocked by the pants.

But when putting the mantle, almost all upper body parts movement will be blocked and you can only move the head (and neck), little bit of right arm (if using the alternate front mantle), and the legs.

Gimmick

The main gimmick of Lunatic is undoubtedly his signature mantle. The mantle looks spot-on and he looks great when wearing it, but the cheap plastic material used is let-down since it leaves very obvious seamline. And even if there's alternate front mantle so we can (slightly) move his right arm, Lunatic's upper body movement is blocked. But well, just standing wearing the mantle he already looks awesome, so there's that XD

The other gimmicks Lunatic has are the interchangeable head and the flame effect parts. The interchangeable head with flame on his eyes grant us to make more dynamic and memorable pose, and he really looks cool with it. The flame effect parts (we have 4, 2 for each hand) are actually more interchangeable hands and the flame part can be separated into parts. These effect parts really look great, though some are more green while the others are more blue-colored; and most of them easily break into pieces, makes it annoying when we try to pose Lunatic using these effects.

Pose

And finally, here are more pictures I took showing Lunatic and all his glory.

Here's more when Lunatic is wearing his mantle...

Using giant cross diorama from McFarlane's 10th Anniversary Spawn, and Overload Effect from Super Robot Chogokin Gaogaigar... 

And every villain (well he's actually an anti-hero, but who cares XD) need a hero to fight, so here's Wild Tiger and Barnaby!

And couple of random pictures =3

End Verdict

Lunatic is packed with ton of accessories and it's really fun. If you already have Wild Tiger and Barnaby, then you have all the reason to buy yourself Lunatic. There's no major problem with him, though maybe that easily break apart flame effect parts may annoy you, but he's great action figure and for me it's worth the penny. So once again, hear the voice of Thanatos, he tells you to buy Lunatic!