Xabungle
Review by StarSaber
Xabungle is one of noted director Yoshiyuki Tomino’s works from the 80s, a personal favorite anime set in a world with a single rule: that no matter what action someone commits against you, you have just three days to take your revenge. The anime follows Jiron Amos, a young man who challenges that rule by pursuing his parents’ murderer a whole week after their deaths. He steals the Walker Machine Xabungle to pursue that goal, and sets off a chain of events that will change all of civilization.
Super Mini-Pla is packaged as a candy toy, four boxes making up the Xabungle itself, all its weapons, a few extra hands, a bunch of pieces for parts-swapping to the alt modes, two support mecha, and a Hovergy.
The Hovergy is, as the name implies, a small one-person hovercraft. No pilot figures are included, nor are they molded onto any of the machines, but my disappointment is outweighed by the relief that I didn’t have to paint them.
The first of the two support mecha is the Dorado 11 Type. It’s my favorite of the two, it’s a wonderful desk toy.
Also included is the Gallop Type. The support mecha come in either beige or dark green, randomly assorted in the first release. In the upcoming second release, you can take your pick.
Next up, what you’ve all been waiting for, the Xabungle itself. It’s got solid articulation but has an awful lot of stickers (half of the red, all of the yellow) that I opted to just paint instead. If I have a single complaint about this toy, it’s that the hips and skirt armor become very loose very quickly.
Like all other Xabungle toys, the Super Mini-Pla includes the entire arsenal used over the course of the series, which can even all be equipped at once. The alternate broken wing pieces to replicate Jiron’s Sub Xabungle also come with.
After a minute or two of partswapping, you can also recreate Xabungle’s component craft: the Bungle Rover and the Bungle Skipper.
While it’s not perfect, this is absolutely the most modern and reasonably priced Xabungle on the market. I’m looking forward to the future of the Super Mini-Pla line and its promises of more cool and affordable 80s mecha.