Bandai's S.H Figuarts Rockman Zero figure is now available in Japan, and those who picked it up are proudly showing off their posing prowess. After the jump, you'll find some excellent shots of the red crusader in action courtesy of our friends in East.
Via sinobbo:
2ch:
Lastly, there's Braveshin -- this guy actually took the time to panel line it:
Hit the links above for more images! Thanks to Brian for the tip!
I love MMZ-Zero but this figure looks so much worse compared to the Wonder Fest one some articles back. This one just looks so awkward and thin.
ReplyDeleteLOL! Yeah basically, your right! I completely agree. This one is awful compared to the Wonder Festival kits.
Delete@Anon2: Yeah Bandai should take a cue from those other modelers. That other figure is righteous. It almost makes Zero look more boss than he already is. This one does look kinda crappy in comparison.
DeleteI actually disagree. The two wonfest kits are relatively thin and inaccurate otherwise. Is this a bit too thin? Sure, but overall it's more accurate and more poseable, and significantly cheaper + durable, so there's really no comparison. And the proportioning is definitely more pose based, which is shown by the poses with his shoulders raised as high as possible.
DeleteIf you're referring to something other than the Atelier Sai and Harvest Wks, then you may be right, but the only other one worth note I'm aware of was a one-off. And if that's the case, please post a photo.
Bandai should take notes from the sculptors! I know each sculptor have their own type of design, style, and concept of Zero, but they always seem to make him look very cool! That's what makes me very into their work! Not like this Zero, Bandai has a lot of resources and so on, and yet these independent sculptors have very little resources to none and still nail it! I'm sure you saw that Zero kit in a previous article of the up coming Wonder Festival, different slight concept of Zero and yet still looks badass compared to this! Best design of Zero series Zero that actually is like from the games are these two kits, mainly the second one in my opinion! If the links work cool, if not sorry...
Deletehttp://www.fg-site.net/fullSizeImage.php?img=10568_0_62084.jpg
http://www.fg-site.net/fullSizeImage.php?img=49456_1_327593.jpg
The atelier sai is the second one, and I think it's pretty bad looking. I mean, the body alone is pretty much on par with the SHF, but the head is FAR too large, and the face is abysmal.
DeleteThe first one, however, looks very nice. The articulation is clearly no where near as good as it is on the SHF, though.
The best Zero I've seen so far is this one off, but as it is a one off, only one person owns it:
http://s28.postimg.org/6g1149a4t/s_SA390001.jpg
Still, if they had just shortened the limbs on the Bandai, and maybe reduced the size of the helmet a bit, it would've been the best. And that's a lot closer than some of these are, detail wise.
Saw the picture, and that Zero is NOT one of a kind or one person owns it, thats the first sculpt that sculptor Atelier Sai did, or Yama Tai Koku, which I think theyre the same sculptor but changed his name from Atelier Sai to Yama Tai Koku. But that his first version of Zero. Its not owned by one person only, I know a guy who owns a lot of the Rockman/Megaman resin kits from the festival in Japan. He has the Zero in the picture link and the X that goes with it. He even has that very X in that picture!!!!! Hes looking for a X from MadHands, Model ZX and Model A/Gray from KidsCompany and the Harpuia in the picture too. But I agree that the Zero in the picture is better than the SHF Zero, looks more proportioned. SHF Zero I think is ruined because they added extra articulation that is not needed if it makes Zero look off/odd. That's why he has stretched limbs. And that big piece of hair in the back, from the front it looks awesome, but from the side and back it REALLY stands out and looks bad. Its all these points of articulation that make Zero look awful and stretched out, the neck, arms, legs, ankles, and hair. When posing it looks ok because you are contracting the joints, bending the joints in, making the limbs look smaller, but when in a normal standing pose theres all the oddness of him. These joints work well in their Kamen Rider line, and Power Ranger line, but for Zero its like they tried to fit it all in what the Kamen and Ranger line have and the end result we have this long limbs Zero. Bandai has been getting home runs with the X line, but for this Zero its like a strike out or first base. For sure not a home run. I used baseball terms to explain, yeah I know. lol! But that's basically it.
DeleteYou're probably right, I forgot where I got the information from but it was years ago. Either way, if Atelier Sai decided to use the newer one over that, he's insane, because the newer one looks terrible in comparison. And on that note, I still find it impossible (for myself) to find the Atelier Sai preferrable over the SHF. I mean, it's WAY too thin, the head's way too big, etc. The only thing the Bandai got wrong were the elongated limbs (it looked damn near perfect in the prepainted shots), while the Atelier Sai got both the proportions and detailing wrong. The reason for the elongation wasn't articulation, it was probably just manufacturing simplicities, which is, again, why it looked nicer in the prepainted prototype shot. It's very easy to compensate for the articulation included (I work with raw POM to make custom joints for replacements/etc).
DeleteEither way, no Zero is as easily available or as poseable/durable, so even with the stretched limbs, toy-wise it's the most reasonable purchase out of all of them.
I just want to clarify that I don't atually know the motives for the elongation after the prototype, so maybe some moron thought it'd be good to get about 3 degrees more articulation in the knees/wrists, but yeah that was a stupid mistake. Either way, you don't need to elongate to get good articulation, that's the point I'm trying to get across. I'm only saying this because the original, unpainted prototype looked glorious.
Deletehttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ru5tnc8B50/UxyP094La3I/AAAAAAABKjg/EaYj70NWP9E/s1600/blogentry-22-0-59589200-1394218355.jpg
That personally looks better than any garage kit available... even though I also think the final product, altogether, is nicer.
Thing about the prototype one is it kinda still has a small abdominal/vest area not in terms of length but over all size in relation to the rest of the body. It's just a little thing though it's not that big a deal.
DeleteActually it still looks slender compared to most actual official concept art. Take for example the thigh area, in most of the artwork its more square shaped and muscular, on this it more looks like frog shaped thighs...ahh you know what I mean. This is due to the armor pieces not being wide enough, thus forcing the legs to curve inward. Even then that's not that big of a deal, cause earlier concept artwork look a lot like those proportions (the ones I personally wasn't found of but whatever).
All in all I actually do think that's the best looking model on this page though.
^"the ones I personally wasn't FOND* of"
DeleteOn that note I recant my statement, outside of articulation, this is the best looking one to me personally on this page.
http://www.fg-site.net/fullSizeImage.php?img=10568_0_62084.jpg
Yeah a lot of that does look nice. Again, though, even though it's not perfect, the SHF is still really nice looking.
DeleteAlso, in relation to the concept art for the first game, the slim look definitely works. That being said, I think the designs for the first game were the worst.
If I were at a store and had to chose between the SHF Zero and the resin kit one, the one with the transparent hair, I'd honestly chose the resin kit one. I know the articulation is not good as the SHF Zero, but why have a figure that looks like very odd when I could get a one that looks exact to very close to the game. Like when I see the figure, I see Zero, not the articulation. This is where Bandai F***S up a lot of the time. This Zero is a good example of theirs. Max Factory, focuses strongly on their Figma lines appearances, that's why a lot of their figures looks exactly like the anime/game. For example their Figma Link doesn't have double elbow joints or double knee joints and look at it, well proportioned and still good articulation, good articulation because they designed/sculpted Link well to work with his joints, Link has a SINGLE knee joint and wow it bends in like if it was double. Why? because he was designed well. Unlike SHF Zero. Bandai just focused on the joints/articulation, put them in and now we have Slender Zero Man.
DeleteWoah, woah. The articulation on Figmas are NOT as nice as they are on SHFs, and the articulation looks a great deal worse. Most of the anime figmas look fine, but Figma Link? That thing has TERRIBLE proportions, a TERRIBLE facesculpt, and subpar articulation. Their figma link's elbows and knees suck compared to SHF's elbows and knees, how in the world could you think otherwise? MF also uses a horrible POM for figma joints, which is why they're so fragile in comparison.
DeleteWhen it comes to sculpts, a LOT of figmas are horrible (most of the hands they do are super thin/feminine, and the sculpt for, let's say, Eren Yeager, one of their better releases, is laughably inaccurate), just like SHF. But at least you get the benefit of durability and more articulation on an SHF. I'm still in a state of disbelief that you actually thought figma Link was a top-tier release. Have you seen the source material? I've even done a facesculpt for him, and the Figma is so downright atrocious that I have a hard time finding anyone educated on the subject who genuinely believes it's on par with higher end figures. I mean, come on, just look at the chainmail.
All in all, the SHF Zero is just too elongated, and that's far from being the travesty that Figma Link was.
@Lalam
DeleteYeah, I don't know why I used Figma link as a example. lol! But Figmas are sculpted to work with the joints to a certain amount without ruining the appearance. Like for example Nagisa Momoe from the movie Puella Magi Madoka Magica Rebellion, her articulation is not as good as a SHF, but she really looks like from the movie. Double elbow and knee joints would be way better of course, but if it ruins the appearance of the figure, then its not worth it to be honest. That is where Bandai's SHF Zero fails. They ruined Zero with all these joints that are not that needed. Bandai's X line was very good sculpts and articulation, the only fail of the X line are the elbow joints and somewhat of the knee joints, mostly the elbow joints for sure! The X line is well proportioned but this Zero, its not really proportioned correctly. And yup, I agree with you, all in all, the SHF Zero is just too elongated.
I respect everyone's opinions here, we all have different tastes, but... I like my Harvest-WKS Zero the best:
Deletehttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/c0mbat/07A01F75-1125-4755-91A5-E2A3D1B24860_zpsfwyu2ava.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v119/c0mbat/3CE17593-BCC2-4ABA-8D6C-3A5A687E6CB5_zpssiozzvf5.jpg
The problem is the detailing on that is no where near how the actual thing looks. The proportions are beautiful, but beyond that, the bad kotobukiya joints/relying on a simple resin for quality is something I tend not to do.
DeleteThat's a pretty awesome shot with the Grand Gundam.
ReplyDeleteZero is overrated. X should've hijacked Zero's series,just like Zero hijacked his.
ReplyDeleteAnyway. the figure looks Great. Bandai's Figuarts and D-Arts figures always look fantastic.
"I wanted to make the character's personality a little more hardcore too, and I knew that if I was working from the design of the traditional Mega Man, I'd be stuck in that whole 'nice guy' image. The whole time I was designing Zero, I was seeing him as the 'new Mega Man.' But I didn't bring that up when I went to submit our designs to my boss. I bought out the X that Kaji designed and said, 'Here's the new Mega Man!'"
ReplyDelete"I figured that would ensure a less critical analysis of Zero" - Keiji Inafune RX-OCW
Who hijacked who's series again?
Well in the end Zero DID get his own series. As well as constantly being forced into the spotlight in the X series.
DeleteI understand Inafune's desires, and the reasons for making X, but that's the thing. Inafune made the decision to present X as the new Mega Man. Mega Man X should have been X's series.
In the end, I feel that X is one of the most squandered characters in this media. A character with supposedly limitless potential, essentially none of it lived up to.
Ughhh.... It came out worse!!! He looks odd! Hes supposed to have a bit more bulk. Hes not this thin or for sure stretched out! Or hes like a fun mirror! Because he looks kinda bulky from the front and very thin from the side. Big long fingers in his open hand and small fist hands? The front of his helmet looks odd when looking at him from the front! Like he has a big brain?! Mainly that he his neck is stretched out along with his arms! The worst part is that fat chunk bulge of hair! It looks very awful from the side! Seriously!!! I like the articulation but I'd rather not have it if it makes it looks bad.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I strongly say the Zero series Zero should be left to the fans, it has been proven time after time that fans could get the proportions right and surely include every single weapon! No corporate company should do him, Kotobukiya sucked, Jazwares especially sucked! Now this one too. While sculptors from the Wonder Festival seem to get it right! Seriously! No joke! I'm sure those that like it are happy to get it yeah, because its the only Zero series Zero that you can guys can get and afford. You all wanted him, Kotobukiya gave it and it sucked, now you guys want it again, and its sucks too. Better than the Kotobukiya one though and especially stupid Jazwares, I admit, but I'd much rather have another armor version of X or Vile MKII, or even a Aila, or a simple maverick. This is just a waste of a opportunity of another good character to get made. I'm not going to be surprised if this tanks the line. But as much as I love the Zero series, i'll be skipping this one, glad that hes done with and now onto another good character and better sculpt.
I know I'm ranting, but I was completely cool with X, well done Tamashii nations, Zero ver.1 well done Tamashii nations, Full Armor X well done, Zero type2 well done, Vile well done, Black Zero well done, Ultimate Armor X well done, but this... I'm sorry but look at it, seriously look at it, I'm sorry but no it sucks. To those who get it, good for you. Now onto other characters that actually deserve a figure made out of them!!!!!
Lastly, kotos for the awesome pictures of whom took them! Liked the one with the gundam! lol! Very cool pic!
As posted in another comment, the only time a fan has gotten the proportions right was in a one-off garage kit. Other than that, I've never seen anyone get it right. Personally, if this lost some of the lankyness, it'd be without a doubt the base. But as for the prototype v. actual release, they changed some things, which was noted in the 2chan topic. The face is actually in a different position, making it look more natural with the elongation of the limbs. And on that note, yes, the limbs are too elongated, but when you pose it right, it looks very nice.
DeleteThe only thing I completely disagree with you here is the helmet, though. I think it looks absolutely perfect, size aside.
In other words, people are blowing out of proportion what the "fans" can do. I was actually sculpting a Zero some time ago, and coming from someone who studied the living shit out of the character, while the Harvest Wks has good proportions, the detailing is far from accurate, and the articulation is abysmal/durability is abysmal compared to this.
"Hes supposed to have a bit more bulk. Hes not this thin or for sure stretched out!"
DeleteBut that's the Mega Man Zero series design ethic in a nutshell, thin and stretched out. Also dwarfy and more clothing-like.
:"But that's the Mega Man Zero series design ethic in a nutshell"
DeleteNo way, they are not normally that thin or stretched at all. Zero has some bulk in the later game's (2 and up) concept art. You just seem like you're trying to make the series' art-style look worse than it is or something. Also anon1 is right, this Zero does have a vertically longer cranium in comparison to that actual designs.
@Lalam
DeleteWait what? You said in a comment above "and maybe reduced the size of the helmet a bit, it would've been the best." So its not perfect then?
Wait why wasn't my comment submitted? I'll try once more. I kinda hate this approval stuff.
Delete@Jet-Striker: Characters from MMZ are not normally that thin or stretched at all. Zero has some bulk in the later game's (2 and up) concept art.
Also I agree with anon1, this Zero does have a vertically longer cranium in comparison to the actual designs.
For anyone that doesn't believe that MMZ is generally not as thin and stretched out as this figure. Compare the Triple Rod shot with http://www.therockmanexezone.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/017~0.jpg
DeleteTell me if the chest and shoulders are not more enclose and smaller. Or the limbs and armor on them significantly less bulky and stretched out. Then look at the helmet and compare shape.
In fact compare any official art from Zero 2 and up (the majority of the series) then come back and tell me if that is not generally the case.
I know we're all seem to be nick-picking or bashing the figure, but its like us as consumers, we're getting this un-proportion figure, while Bandai has all or a lot of resources to make it very well, and yet we get this??? Bandai gets our money and we get this. So far the X line is well worth the money, except that Bandai could of make the elbow and knee joints, especially the elbow joints, A LOT MORE BETTER! But sculpts and articulation wise they came out very good. But this Zero, is like slopped and thrown together and made to look pretty..
ReplyDeleteLOL! Slender Zero Man.
ReplyDeleteI guess this is where the D-Arts line dies.
ReplyDeleteSuch a shame. I was really hoping they'd get to some characters that never got figures. Robot masters mostly.
New review, this one showing just how nice the proportioning can look if you pose the shoulders higher.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/arab2489/32200124.html
Still looks elongated limbs. What I only see good in a way is the helmet/head, the review pictures showed more proportions of it. But still elongated limbs. In the pictures you can see it stretched out, like from the shoulder to the forearm is way long, why, because of the joints adds more length, and plus the forearm is long too, they made the forearm longer to accommodate room for both elbow joint and wrist joint to fit. And the wrist joints adds a bit of length as well. Its all this points of articulation/joints that really stretched it whole arm out! And its the same for the legs in the shins, the stretched it out to fit the knee and ankle joint, plus the ankle joint is a bit long too! And NOT liking the knee bend, if you see the pictures with the knee fully bended, it has that ugly flat long knee, which is what the Power Ranger and Kamen Rider line has. Ughhh... they stretched the legs just to fit that joint in, which made the appearance bad.
DeleteI thought they were supposed to be reissuing the X series versions of Zero soon. Any news on that?
ReplyDeleteTwo new reviews:
ReplyDeleteTwo new reviews:
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/skp816/e/54e64d6ddad4977d6dee9e9e32a0fc26
http://ameblo.jp/call-of-blackbell/archive1-201410.html