Kamen Rider Fourze Elek States
Kamen Rider Fourze tells the story of Gentarou Kisaragi, a boy who is entrusted with the Fourze Driver, which allows him to transform into Kamen Rider Fourze.
Gentarou uses his powers as Kamen Rider Fourze to fight monsters, known as Zodiarts and Horoscopes, which threaten the school that he so dearly loves. Besides fending off the baddies, Kisaragi’s other goal is to befriend all of the students, good or bad, at Amanogawa High School.
The box for this releass is the standard S.H. Figuarts fare.
While Base States is my favorite of the Fourze forms, Elek is easily number two. The golden color scheme on the space suit and the electricity motif make Elek States stand above the other flavors of Fourze.The S.H Figuarts Kamen Rider Fourze Elek States is the well-crafted, highly articulated piece that we have come to expect from Bandai.
Posing the Elek State Fourze is relativley easy; he takes a knee with little trouble. THe only major restriction to his movement are his shoulder pads which do not allow his arms to go straight up into the air.
In the past few years, the number of power-up combinations available for the Kamen Riders has steadily increased. Fourze is no exception, with forty unique weapons becoming available to him as the show progresses, and Gentarou gains access to the various Astro Switches. The Elek Switch is one of the few switches that have the power to completely change Fourze’s State (his outfit), thus creating Kamen Rider Elek States.
This, the first upgraded form of Fourze, allows Gentarou to harness the power of electricity by using Billy the Rod (yes that is the name of his weapon). Mr. the Rod, or Billy as his friends call him, is well sculpted and painted.
It (he?) even has the three sockets on the body, into which Fourze plugs in the cord that is attached to Billy, allowing him to do three types of attacks: melee, ranged, and binding.
Billy also comes with a separate pommel (bottom part of the hilt) that has the Elek Switch attached. In the show Gentarou will plug in the Elek switch to the bottom of Billy the Rod in order to perform its Limit Break finishing move Rider 10 Billion Volt Break (ライダー100億ボルトブレイク).
Besides Billy the Rod, this release comes with two other weapons that Fourze acquires from two other Astro Switches.
The Scissors weapon is, well, a big ol’ pair of scissors that attaches to his left arm.
Beat, from the Beat Switch, is a speaker that attaches to his right foot and can stop his opponent dead in their tracks with some heavy beats.
Both Scissors and Beat are attached by removing the corresponding forearm and leg.
They are not the only ones that can be removed, as the other two can also be taken off. The reason for making all of these parts modular is to accommodate the other weapons that can be acquired by purchasing the other version of Fourze and the module sets.
Another key part of the Kamen Rider experience is the belt, and Bandai continues to deiliver some well-made belts on their S.H. Figuarts Riders. The Fourze Driver is is no exception. My only real complaint about the belt is that the sculpt for the switches is too soft and lacks detail, and the paint application is a bit sloppy, with the red paint of the switches creeping over to parts above.
Bandai also provided two of each Astro Switch, one in “on” and one in “off” mode. This is so you can swap them out, to simulate when Gentarou activates the various switches. The only real difference between the two is that one has the tab sticking out straight and the other comes down at a 45 degree angle.
While I commend Bandai for their continued pursuit adding these fine details to their figure, it proves to be a nuisance in this case. While the switches hold in place fairly well, they can come off without notice. If they do, good luck trying to find those little suckers! Good thing Bandai provides two of each in case you lose a switch while handling him.
Also, included with Fourze Elek sates is Burgermeal, one of the Foodroid’s that aid Gentarou and the Kamen Rider Club in their quest to stop the monsters that threaten Amanogawa High School.
All around this is another solid release in the S.H. Figuarts line that comes with some neat extras. It is a great addition for those who want to add more of Fourze’s arsenal to their existing Base States, or for those who dig the electricity-inspired design of Elek States.
One thing is sure, if you do pick up a Kamen Rider Fourze, he will certainly become friends with all of your other toys…
…well, almost all of them.
