Reviews, Shuriken Sentai Ninninger, Super Sentai

Review: Shuriken Gattai DX Lion Haoh (Shuriken Sentai Ninninger)

Shuriken Gattai DX Lion Haoh
July, 2015 – ¥9,980 (Varied Price)

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Review

[youtube https://youtu.be/JVPoHlUjJL8]

In a strange turn of events, Bandai decided to release their annual “big mecha” in Q3 instead of Q4 with the release of Shuriken Gattai DX Lion Haoh. Lion Haoh is, as the name suggests, a lion themed Otomonin of mammoth proportions. The base mode of the toy is shaped like a lion, known as the Lion Haohjo. In this mode he is capable of flight as well. With a “lion henge” he transforms into Lion Haoh, the robot mode of the toy. Finally, it is capable of combining with Shurikenjin and Bison King to form Haoh Shurikenjin. This massive mecha was released in July, 2015 for around ¥9,980 or so. It was a varied price item, so the final price will differ by retailers.

Saying this thing is huge is an understatement. While there are certainly a number of mecha that are bigger, it’s the biggest one we’ve gotten for quite some time now. The lion mode is probably my favorite of the modes. The blockiness is easily excused as a giant animal, with the only sore sight being the open pit in the middle of his chest. The head is designed neat with the perfect amount of chrome to make the designs pop. It’s unfortunate Shurikenjin can’t sit or stand in the empty space. The end product would have looked rather neat.

The robot mode is neat, but certainly won’t appeal to those that don’t like the blockiness of it. I wish the arms could move just a hair more, but it isn’t a huge deal at the end. The jingle produced by the Otomonin Shuriken is catchy, and the face design is interesting as well. The splitting of the tail into two star shaped sword like weapons is cool as well. It’s tall, and definitely looks powerful.

Haoh Shurikenjin is a really simple combination, but for the concepts behind the show it works. Haoh Shurikenjin is a small robot (Shinobimaru) piloting a big mechsuit (Shurikenjin) piloting an even bigger mechsuit (Haoh Shurikenjin). It’s a bit crazy, but it works! The fact that’s toting giant guns certainly helps it too. My only major complaint is that the components of Bison King that don’t make the guns just slap onto the butt of the robot. Poor Rodeomaru is just hanging there, possibly piloting Haoh Shurikenjin’s bowel functions or something. Overall though, Haoh Shurikenjin is neat for what it is, but doesn’t have that same wow factor past giant formations have.

Lion Haoh is a pretty cool robot at the end of the day. It’s not as cool as something like Bragigas, but it’s certainly a step up from Hyper Ressha Teioh. The mammoth size of this mecha helps its cool factor for sure, but makes the shipping costs for this thing absolutely insane. If you dig what you see, his actual sale price is pretty low nowadays. That will help cushion that insane shipping cost.

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