Unicorn Jabu

Jabu is another one of the second-tier Bronze Saints in Saint Seiya. After the first arc of the series, Unicorn Jabu fades into the background along with the other minor Bronze Saints. It is a little known fact that Masami Kurumada had originally intended for Unicorn Jabu to actually be one of the main Bronze Saints. This is somewhat evident in the early part of the show, during which Jabu had played a more prominent role; often butting heads with Seiya.

In the end, Kurumada decided against including Jabu in the main cast of the show, since he thought that Jabu was too similar to the protagonist, Seiya. That is not to say they are exactly like each other. Seiya has always had a problem with authority. On the other hand, Jabu is pretty much a yes-man. This difference was evident even when Jabu and Seiya were kids. Seiya refused to let Saori use Seiya as her personal riding horse. Conversely, Jabu had no trouble subjecting himself to the humiliation of being Saori’s plaything. His ability to follow orders later lands him a role as one of Shaina’s lackeys, doing whatever she commands.

Jabu comes in a standard book-style box.

This is the Latin American version, which is really the same as any other release of this character. The only time that one should be wary about buying a non-Japanese version of a Myth Cloth release is if it is the European version. Europe has stricter safety standards on toys, whether they are aimed at kids or collectors. If the character has any weapons or armor pieces that are sharp, they will be blunted for the European release. So, buyer beware when buying European Saint Cloth Myth figures, as you may get a child-friendly version.

Jabu’s Cloth is the ever-manly Unicorn.

The object Mode for the Unicorn Cloth does the job of looking like the fabled horned-horse.

However, it is not going to win any points for impressiveness. In fact, when compared with the Pegasus Cloth, the Unicorn Cloth is downright boring.

This just goes to show the time and care that is put into the designs for the main characters and their Cloths, as opposed to the second-tier Bronze Saints.

The armor for the Unicorn Cloth also lacks the luster that was given to many of the other Cloths in the line, resulting in a plain and somewhat dull looking Cloth.

When armored, Jabu looks pretty accurate to the show.  

He has a good face sculpt and his hair looks pretty decent. I especially liked the smirk on his face, which when viewed from the left of the figure gives an air of cockyness.

Jabu sports a second generation Saint Cloth Myth body, making for a greatly articulated figure.Since Jabu is a Bronze Saint, he has very little armor covering his body .This is great because it allows the figure to move with little restriction, even when fully armored.  

Jabu can easily take a knee and look good doing it.

He can also pull of his sigature move.

Unicorn Gallop!!

If that isn’t the coolest and manliest name for an attack, I don’t know what is.

The only issue with posing this figure comes from the fit of the thigh armor. Now, on the official Bandai pictures for this toy, the thigh is displayed in two different manners: some with the thigh armor resting on the kneepads; others with the thigh armor much higher on the thighs. While the armor-directly-over-the-kneepad look is the screen accurate way to display the character, it is also a bit of a nuisance displaying him this way. That is because the knee armor fits loosely when resting up against the knees. The thigh armor was designed to rest snuggly further up on the thigh, which detracts from the screen accuracy of the toy. Rather than have to deal with a pair of constantly moving pieces of armor, I decided to display the thigh armor in the higher position.

Jabu is sparse in the extras department. He only comes with three sets of hands: open, clenched, and for holding things.  He doesn’t even have a pair of unarmored hands, as this is the time during which Bandai thought it was uneccessary to include those with their Myth Cloth figures.

 Like the minor Bronze Saints, Jabu does not actually come with anything to hold. So to demonstrate his innate holding abilities, as is tradition, Jabu will borrow Pandora’s trident.

Yup, he can hold stuff.

Other than the hands, Jabu comes with an extra headpiece and hair sculpts. This is so that he can be displayed as he looks in the manga.  This extra headpiece is not only lame, but also quite phallic looking.
 
The headpiece looks even more ridiculous on the Object Mode. Yes, this is a legit way of displaying the Object Mode. I didn’t just put it on there for poops and giggles.

With the glossy paint job that was given to Jabu’s armor, it is a little harder to tell which pieces of armor are actually made of metal, since all of the armor has a deceptively plastic feel to it. Only the helmet and the waist armor, however, are made of plastic.  

That is pretty a pretty darn good amount of metal!

In the show, Jabu is pretty much just a second-rate Seiya clone. This can also be said for Jabu’s Myth Cloth iteration. While he fares better than some of the other minor Bronze Saints, he is still not on par with the big guys.

On the positive side, he is one of the cheaper Bronze Saints.  Even after many years of being released, his price has remained virtually unchanged; not two to three times the original price that Wolf Nachi and Lionet Ban are fetching nowadays. Besides the fact that he can be had for about retail price, he makes still a good horsey for Athena, much like he did when he was a kid.

Giddyup!