MagiKing

In 2005, the evil Infershia clan made their return to the surface of Earth since their defeat ten years ago in their secret battle against the peaceful Sky Saints of the mythical land Magitopia. Miyuki Oz, mother of five, is the only human who has known what is going on, and remains as the sole defender against the Infershia. But just before she is killed by one of the Infershia’s generals, she reveals to her children their family history as secret defenders, and gives to them wand-like Magi Phones, which allows them to access their magical legacy.

When one of the Infershia generals wants to increase the stakes, they use their dark magic to grow their Dark Beasts and Super Dark Beasts to gigantic proportions. As MagiRanger, the five Oz siblings call upon their respective Sky Saints to grant them more power; growing themselves to become powerful MagiMajin.

“Change into Majin! Mahou Dai Henshin!”

Maagi Magi Magika!
[change- soldier- element]

• MagiTaurus – The MagiMajin form of MagiGreen (Makito Oz), he towers over even his own siblings’ alternate forms. Based on the creature known as the minotaur, from Greek mythology, he wields the heavy Taurus Axe as his weapon. MagiTaurus forms the body, legs, & arms of the MagiDragon; and he also forms the head, arms, upper & lower torso, and legs of the MagiKing.
• MagiFairy – The MagiMajin form of MagiPink (Houka Oz), she is the smallest and most petite of the five, but she makes up for this with the ability to fly. Due to Houka-chan’s special skill at transforming herself into various objects, so, too, can MagiFairy change into different magical objects, including a large ball that can be thrown around by the others to perform one of their finishing attacks. MagiFairy forms the head of the MagiDragon; and she also forms part of the chest of the MagiKing.
• MagiMermaid – The MagiMajin form of MagiBlue (Urara Oz), she is larger than her pink sister, but can fight alongside her two brothers with her own weapon, the trident-shaped Mermaid Spear. As her name suggests, MagiMermaid can change her legs into a fish tail-like form for underwater movement, though she is equally adept at land-based combat. MagiMermaid forms the tail of the MagiDragon; and she also forms half of the lower legs & feet of the MagiKing.
• MagiGaruda – The MagiMajin form of MagiYellow (Tsubasa Oz), he can control his lightning element just as easily in this body. Based on the creature known as the garuda, one of the principal animal gods (King of Birds) from Hindu mythology, MagiGaruda has wings instead of arms, and can use them for various slashing attacks. MagiGaruda forms the back, neck, & wings of the MagiDragon; and he also forms the back and wings of the MagiKing.
• MagiPhoenix – The MagiMajin form of MagiRed (Kai Oz), he leads his siblings into combat, and is equal in height to both MagiMermaid and MagiGaruda. Based on the creature known as the phoenix, from Russian mythology, he wields the thin Phoenix Sword, though most of his maneuvers look more like they came from a soccer game! MagiPhoenix forms no integral part of the MagiDragon; but he does form part of the chest & upper torso of the MagiKing.

On first glance, the five MagiMajin are an odd couple. MagiPhoenix, by far, is the most flexible- with two joints in the shoulders, two joints in the hips, and the knees. He has an unprecedented level of poseability not see in- well… ever in Super Sentai history for a smaller component robot! MagiTaurus is second with a fair-but-limiting set of arm joints. MagiGaruda has good shoulders and allows for a wide variety of poses, though in some positions he might fall over unless the legs are adjusted just so. MagiFairy, because of its +1″ stature, is limited to small rigid shoulder joints. It has no legs because they’re molded into one ABS piece, and then painted on. The thin dragonfly-related wings on its back are needed to support her on a carpet, but they just barely clear a hard surface, and allow the single-piece foot to hold her up. MagiMermaid, unfortunately, lost out on a lot. Her movement is severely limited to just her elbows, and even they turn out only about 10-degrees to either side, just enough to allow her to grip her Mermaid Spear. The legs can be rotated around to simulate her aquatic form, but it requires separating her and reassembling her; even then, it isn’t all that convincing a change, and it wasn’t mentioned in the instructions.

Call me crazy, but even through the bulky armor & limited poseability, MagiMermaid does show something of a feminine figure- with the thin waist and slightly round bust beneath the stylized blue “M“. MagiFairy has less to worry about here since she is rather slim already, and has to be in order to serve as the head of the MagiDragon. In my opinion, this was a nice touch by Bandai, since most female-related humanoid robots from previous Super Sentai series usually just ignored this for the functionality of the DX set. It makes them a little more relatable to the magic robots that they really are.

The first combination is known as the MagiDragon, and it is impressive. MagiTaurus, MagiFairy, MagiMermaid, and MagiGaruda participate in this spell, which [the first time they performed it] made MagiPhoenix feel left out at first…

“Turn us into the legendary Ryuu! MaRyuu Gattai!”

Maagi Giruma Jinga!
[change- power- combination]

In this form, the consciousnesses of Makito, Houka, Urara, & Tsubasa merge together to become one mind within the body of the legendary MagiDragon. They do not think or talk separately, but think and act as one being. The MagiDragon uses its large wings to keep away from enemies, while launching powerful fireball attacks from a distance. It also has the large claws on its hands & feet, as well as the sharp blade on the end of its tail. MagiPhoenix can ride atop the combination, but operate separately from the combined minds. With him, he carries a combined weapon called the Phoenix Spear. Together, they can perform a fiery finishing attack known as the Magical Dragon Shoot.

The MagiDragon is an amazing design, and is pretty big too. The mouth can open and close a little, but the solid foot of the MagiFairy gets in the way, though it does resemble some kind of long tongue. MagiTaurus’ arms serve as the arms for the dragon, though the hands seem a little strange being upside down. The legs are large enough to easily hold itself up without support whether it’s carrying MagiPhoenix or not. Actually, with the way the transformation works, there is a little flexibility with how the legs can be posed; though any other position might compromise its balance, and it isn’t mentioned in the instructions. The tail is composed of the body and back assembly of the MagiMermaid. It can’t move much except for the end of the ABS tail, and it really only just hangs there by gravity, so don’t turn it upside-down! The way MagiGaruda’s wings unfold to give the MagiDragon a larger wingspan is interesting, as is how it extends its chest to become the MagiDragon’s neck.

In order to go up against a particularly powerful Dark Beast, the five MagiRanger performed a new spell they just learned, involving all five of them this time. MagiPhoenix was anxious to perform the complex spell, but MagiGaruda smacked him over the head and thought that he was childish for suggesting using it without practicing it first. However, the other three agreed with the decision.

“Turn us into the Majin-Oh. Majin Gattai!”

Maagi Giruma Magi Jinga!
(change- power [of]- soldier- combination)

Instead of just merging their MagiMajin forms together like with the MagiDragon, the five MagiRanger were surprised to find that they were new avatars of their own souls within the MagiKing’s cockpit- appearing as chess pieces on a giant chessboard ! They can interact with themselves, but their combined MagiMajin bodies act as one. They use the symbols on the pedestals below them and their Magi Stick weapons to conduct commands and attacks. Its hand held weapon, the King Caliber, is used as both a sword, and as a wand to direct magical attacks at opponents, including the finisher King Caliber Mahou Slash. The King Caliber is composed of the Phoenix Spear, Taurus Axe, and a spare piece that is stored on MagiMermaid’s back.

The MagiKing is an intriguing cross between a futuristic knight, and a wizard of fantasy- even incorporating a pointed wizard’s hat on its head, and pointed-toe boots! The MagiDragon’s head (MagiFairy), placed at the center of the MagiKing’s chest, merges well with the large stylized “M” on its chest. And there is a simple wing & feather pattern on its shoulders. There’s a pair of silver & yellow wings that drape over its shoulders like a short cape.

Just as with the MagiDragon, the MagiKing can deploy its wings for flight, and initiate attacks from the sky. They first used this particularly powerful flying finisher against one of the Infershia’s transformed generals, Majin Gattai WolKaiser.

“Magical Climax! King Caliber- Tenkuu Mahou Slash!”

Maagi Giruma Magi Magika!
(change- power [of]- soldier- element)

The deployed wings on the MagiKing’s back seem fragile and more for display than for flying, but they have a limited number of positions they can snap into. The only difference for the MagiGaruda between the MagiKing and the MagiDragon forms is that the chest remains retracted rather than extended for when it’s used as the neck of the dragon.

For those of you wondering what the differences are between the DX Majin Gattai MagiKing from “Mahou Sentai MagiRanger“, and its English-speaking counterpart, the Deluxe Titan Megazord from “Power Rangers Mystic Force“, well, let’s say they must think American children are afraid of too much paint:

• All paint on all of the lower legs of each separate Titanzord has been removed. This is especially noticeable on the Butterfly (MagiFairy), Griffin (MagiGaruda), and Phoenix (MagiPhoenix) Titanzords. While the yellow paint remains on the legs of the Griffin, the silver was not added.
• The paint on the wrists and horns of the Minotaur Titanzord (MagiTaurus) has been removed.
• The color of the plastic on the Mermaid Titanzord’s (MagiMermaid) knees has been switched from blue to plain light gray.

All molds and materials seem to be the same between the MagiKing and Titan Megazord.

At first glance, the DX MagiKing is an amazing design, plus it brought back the third alternate mode for the same set. But there were a few things that made me go “What [on Earth] were you thinking, Bandai!?”

• Even though the King Caliber sword has a generous handle, only the tip of the handle can fit into the holes in the hands.
• MagiMermaid’s arms & torso could have been designed to have rotating shoulders, or at least forward-rotating elbows.
• And even though its poseability is some of the greatest I’ve ever seen, I thought some elbow joints could have been built into the MagiPhoenix, and refined on the MagiTaurus.
• Even though there is a knee joint on the MagiTaurus, it is there to serve only the MagiDragon, and maybe the MagiKing. It could easily have been set up so the MagiMajin’s legs could swing forward as well.
• Perhaps the MagiGaruda could have has some alternate changes between the two larger combos, or easily some more-poseable legs so a wider range of positions with the wings could be reached, but this doesn’t bother me much.
• From articles I’ve read online, a tab could be cut off from under four of the MagiMajin’s heads, and allow them to turn side-to-side. (I wouldn’t recommend this unless you don’t mind risking permanently damaging the toy.)

But on the other hand, the MagiKing incorporated some good stuff too that made me applaud Bandai’s imaginative designs:

• The intricacy of transformation of the separate elements and the combos is fantastic and more detailed that I’ve seen in a long time, especially for a Super Sentai robot.
• The three hand weapons came together to form the King Caliber sword; a good way to eliminate excess accessories, as was the Phoenix Spear combo weapon.
• The metallic-blue paint was a nice change from the typical silver, white, gold, or black highlights.
• Keeping MagiPhoenix out of the MagiDragon combo so that it could ride on it, was a neat idea.
• Dozens of little “M”s were hidden in plain sight all over each MagiMajin and their weapons, and prompted a search for all of them.
  • MagiGaruda’s head, in keeping with its mythological roots, was a bird’s head rather than just another mask-like head, and it had wings instead of arms & hands.
• The overall size of the five MagiMajin varies greatly, from the smaller MagiFairy (3¾ inches to the wings’ base) to the taller MagiTaurus (8¾ inches to the horns). That is a neat change they threw in there as opposed to having them all about the same size, regardless of their function.
• The MagiKing had a limited poseability with its hips and knees; but it was an option not seen since the DX Kakure Dai Shōgun from “Ninja Sentai KakuRanger” (1994) (aka the Deluxe Ninja Megazord, from “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” Season-3, 1995)
• There is a little cross-compatibility between some of the MagiKing’s snap-on joints and some previous Sentai robots, such as the DX Tokusou Gattai DekaRanger Robo from “Tokusou Sentai DekaRanger” (2004), seen here.
• Even though MagiTaurus took up most of the structure of the MagiKing, and a large part in the MagiDragon, they were able to make it work without compromising too much the importance of the other four MagiMajin to the combos.
• The five MagiMajin weren’t just some more bulky humanoid robots that combined with one another; they tried to keep them in some sort of human proportion.

I am very, very impressed with the DX Majin Gattai MagiKing , plain and simple. It took some big steps in design without the gimmicks or electronics of previous years. It had a few loose ends as far as design, but I can overlook those easily. I recommend it highly. If they’re anything like the MagiKing, I’m anxiously looking forward to the other DX toys in this show’s line.

If you want to learn about the Deluxe Titan Megazord , please read Rob Braun’s review, also located on www.CollectionDX.com!