Toy Review: S.H. Figuarts Son Gokou

After the long wait, Bandai released the normal version of the S.H. Figuarts Son Gokou. This base form uses a plain Gi with out the patches or logo in front and back. Some of the folds and creases are taken from Super Saiyan 2 that makes the figure a step closer to accuracy, from the source material.

Accessories include 9 hand replacements, 4 additional face parts and the energy ball effect. The energy streaks have different plug sizes that are quite easy to distinguish and plug on each slot on the ball. Without looking at the instructions, the rule of thumb is that if it is a snug fit, then you are doing it right. There are also grooves on the effect in order the hands to grasp firmly. Exchanging the face follows past releases by removing the bangs first and carefully replace with a new piece.

Bandai stayed faithful to the anime or manga version of the main hero from the face sculpt, muscle tone and even the colors used on the figure. For someone with a trained eye, there are some uneven tones on the shoulders and on the short sleeves. Sometimes it would be an obstacle to first time collectors to work through these sleeves because of the big gaps; if you are not creative enough on posing the figure. These are just minor gripes and can easily slide due to the overall impression of the figure. The hand replacements are just in the exact amount to cover all the known positions in the Dragon Ball Z universe and the energy ball just sweetens the deal. There are joints that are too soft to twist around but these will sink against the whole package.