Friday, August 12, 2011

Karas 'n' Us - Size comparisons with Apocalypse Zero Kakugo Hagakure and others

Having reviewed and seen pictures of the MoreToy 1/6 scale Karas 14-inch figure in previous posts, I wanted to show how tall the MoreToys Karas figure is compared with other 12-inch figures. It also gives me the opportunity to show some other 1/6 figures that I had bought simply because I liked the look of the figure, not knowing anything about the character or its background but just based on its appearance.


This is the Medicom released Apocalypse Zero 1/6 scale Kakugo Hagakure 12-inch figure with Zero armor from the manga series written and illustrated by Takayuki Yamaguchi. The manga was adapted into a two-part original video animation (OVA) in 1996.



Kakugo and Harara are siblings trained to fight the monsters roaming in post-apocalyptic Tokyo in the 21st century. To aid them, Kakugo and Harara were entrusted with "Fortified Armor Shells", exoskeletons forged from the souls of deceased warriors. After Harara succumbs to the evil within the armor, it is up to Kakugo to defeat his sibling. Unlike Harara, Kakugo stuck to his duty to protect innocent citizens in trouble. This leads to several encounters with the monsters that inhabit the city and finally Harara, himself. For the review and pictures of the Medicom Apocalypse Zero 1/6 scale Kakugo Hagakure 12-inch figure with Zero armor, see my post HERE. There's even a post of Kakugo without armor wearing a pair of 1/6 Adidas Superstar HERE.


Next up is the Medicom 1:6 scale Metal Gear Solid 4 Raiden 12-inch figure. Raiden, real name Jack (ジャック, Jakku), is a video game character in the Metal Gear series of stealth games by Konami. In Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Raiden returns outfitted with a cybernetic exoskeleton as a result of The Patriots' machinations. Raiden's redesign for Metal Gear Solid 4 has been praised for reducing his androgynous appearance and thus, make him appealing.


Raiden's redesign has also been compared with Gray Fox's cybernetic ninja design from Metal Gear Solid. Similarly, the GameSpot staff stated that Raiden "is definitely the inheritor of the quasi-unkillable Cyborg Ninja inheritance" when making his first appearance in a Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer. His actions in such trailer were applauded by GameSpot who labelled it as "wordlessly awesome" and compared his stunts with the ones from the film Casshan: Robot Hunter. For lots more of Medicom's Metal Gear Solid 4: 1/6 scale Raiden 12-inch figure pictures, check out my post HERE


And this is the Dragon Models Limited (DML) 1:6 scale Berserk Guts Black Swordsman 12-inch Figure. In the dark fantasy manga series "Berserk (ベルセルク, Beruseruku)" written and illustrated by Kentaro Miura, Guts (ガッツ, Gattsu) is a an orphaned mercenary warrior who is a tall, muscular man with a prosthetic left forearm that has a magnetic grip, conceals a cannon, and can be fitted with a small repeating crossbow. He also wields a huge sword called Dragon Slayer.


The Japanese really know how to think them up, don't they? Each of these characters are as different from the next and yet still look pretty cool on their own. Check out my earlier posts / reviews on the Dragon Berserk 1/6 Guts Black Swordsman 12-inch Figure HERE and HERE


Medicom released this RAH (Real Action Heroes) 1/6 scale Monkey Magic Saiyūki Gokū 12-inch Figure in 2007. "Monkey Magic!" is a 2007 Japanese movie released following the success of the hit 2006 Japanese television series Saiyūki (西遊記), which is based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en.


Sūn Wùkōng (孙悟空) Monkey King (Son Gokū) is the main character in Journey to the West as he accompanies the monk Xuanzang or Tripitaka on the journey to retrieve Buddhist sutras from India, along with Pigsy (猪八戒 Zhu Bajie) and Sandy (沙悟浄 Sha Wujing). The Medicom 1/6 scale Monkey Magic Saiyūki Gokū as Sūn Wùkōng (孙悟空) Monkey King (Son Gokū) 12-inch Figure was reviewed earlier HERE


What's Japan without Ninjas? Ninjas are as integral to Japanese history and culture as Sushi and Sashimi. The ultimate ninja (IMHO) is by Alfrex. Their 1:6 scale Sonny Chiba as ninja Hattori Hanzo is probably one of the nicest and most authentic ninja 12-inch figure ever produced.


This Alfrex Sonny Chiba as Hattori Hanzo ninja figure came dressed in the shinobi shozoku, black keikogi preferred by ninjas for blending into the shadows when operating in the dark. Amazing thing about this Alfrex product was that it comes with instructions on how to dress and tie the waist belt, sandals etc - good thing too because most people wouldn't have known how to. To see more pictures of the rare Alfrex Sonny Chiba as Hattori Hanzo ninja figure, including all his ninja weapons, visit my post HERE


Finally, we have the MoreToy 1/6 scale Karas 14-inch figure standing side-by-side with a 1/6 scale Japanese Samurai 12-inch figure. This was the stunning DiD released Date Masamune Samurai figure with intricate die-cast armor plates layered individually on top of each other. The helmet and mask is no doubt the inspiration for George Lucas when he thought of Darth Vader in Star Wars. For more pictures of the DiD Date Masamune Japanese samurai figure, go to my post HERE.


2 comments:

Super-Duper ToyBox said...

these are so far-out looking! a lot of fun to look at

alex teo said...

thanks Colin, I agree :)