DX Zyuoh King & DX Cube Kirin Gallery

Zyuoooooooohkiiiiiiing!

Today we take a our 1st trip to the cubical world of Dobutsu Sentai Zyuohger with a special double gallery! First up we're going to take a look at the inaugural 3-piece mecha of the line with the DX Zyuoh King set, then we'll be taking a look at the first of the individually released Cube Animals, DX Cube Kirin!

Packaging
Zyuoh King comes packaged in a not so typical smaller box. It comes with the territory of this toy line being rather small size wise. The typical hallmarks of a sentai DX release are present. Stock photos of the combination itself and some mid transformation shots as well. We also get a nice cross sell of the 3 individual Cube Animal releases released concurrently with it. Cube Kirin (reviewed below) as well as Cube Tiger & Cube Elephant.

Cube Eagle
Cube Eagle is most complex and by extension most interesting of the 3 main cubes. Each of them is charmingly simple but he's got a few more features at hand. To get into Eagle form you need to rotate the Eagles' head up from inside of what will be Zyuoh Kings' chest. When it makes a connection with the edge of the cube that triggers the release of Kings' arms on the sides. These are spring loaded so the hands will always be poking out of them, they aren't entirely convincing wings but to help sell the idea, the panels with the #1 split across them fold out from under each arm to give Cube Eagle slightly more believable wings. While not terribly convincing it does an admirable job given the constraint of having to turn into a cube, and well, having an open hole all the way through it. More on that below.

Cube Shark
Cube Shark is close to Cube Eagles' complexity thanks to a cool auto transform feature. To take it from Cube to Shark form you need to fold out the halves of the shark heads from the sides of the cube. When you begin to rotate them fully forward a small tail fin pops out from the back of the shark. Bringing them both fully forward and locking them in place together can't always quite get the tail full extended, but if you pull on it that will lock in nice and tightly and also reveal the dorsal fin for Cube Shark. Honestly it's a pretty good looking shark, I mean clearly it takes it's liberties with what qualifies as a shark, but it totally works.

Cube Lion
Cube Lion is probably the weakest of this set of 3. Frankly it's jut incredibly plain and boring. To go from Cube to Lion you just fold up the head, then fold out the rear legs. The final product looks more like a table with an angry face on it than a lion. But oh well, we can't all be winners.

Eagle, Shark, & Lion together look like a great matching set, though I imagine if I were to display them not as Zyuohking, it would be in their Cube forms. The cubes themselves can be stacked in any order you choose but obviously for a proper transformation you need to stack them in descending order, 1-2-3.

Zyuoh King
As I said above, simply stack the cubes in descending order, and flip this totem pole you've created around with the Zyuoh King bits facing you. Next take the included column with Zyuoh Kings' head at the top and insert it down through all 3 cubes. When you've done this properly the spring loaded arms on Cube Eagle will flip out. You'll need to flip up the Eagle's head manually and use the small tab on top of the column to rotate Zyuohkings' outward. This small tab is actually the handle of Giant King Sword. Which is a bit of misnomer given how tiny it is, even relative to this tiny robot.

The completed robot isn't quite underwhelming, it's more that I'm, whelmed? If that's an appropriate use of what I think is a word. The way these 3 are designed they fit very well together. Eagle has the blue "waist line" to match up to shark and it's base, while Shark has yellow "knee pads" to line up with Lion. Rather than making the legs actually separate Shark & Lion are sculpted & painted in a way that makes the legs appear separate. Black paint goes a long way to achieving this look. While that's bad, and I completely understand why given the hollowed out gimmick of the cubes, you can't help but feel a little bit disappointed. Even going in knowing what to expect.

Many people will undoubtedly be unhappy with Zyuoh King's size. But they really shouldn't be. Sentai has it's ups and downs with scale and complexity. This is a down year for both. Bu take a look at the last wild animal based sentai with Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger. Their main meach Gao King is roughly the same size as Zyuoh King, granted it was released 15 years ago and is far more complex. But this is hardly the first time a sentai robot has been this small. I've included a few comparisons to hopefully ease some people's concerns.

On to Part 2 below!

Part 2

- Finished Zyu Oh King Combination
- Comparisons to previous robos
- Cube Kirin

Cube Kirin
Cube Kirin is the first of the additional Cube Animals released, meant to give a weapon of some sort to Zyuoh King. I won't go into the packaging much other than saying, even in box, this thing will fit in the palm of your hand. And it uses a plastic tray to hold the figure unlike most modern DX mecha. Cube Kirin itself is teeny tiny though. When compared to the main Cube Animals, it's roughly about 1/3 the size. The cube is obviously very clearly based on a Super Mario block. And while I don't have am S.H. Figuarts Mario to take silly pictures of this with, handling this thing makes we wish I did.

To go from Cube to Kirin you need only unfold the head of the Kirin out fully. And you're done. Now you have your comically tiny basically 2-dimensional animal. Going from Kirin to Bazooka mode is even simpler. Just fold the Kirin head straight up. Done. For it's size I can't blame it for being simplistic but WOW is it simplistic. For Zyuoh King to use Cube Kirin you just need to rotate his arm up one click, then plug the Bazooka's handle into his hand. You also have to line up a small indentation on Zyuoh Kings' shoulder with one on the rear of the bazooka. This helps stabilize it as there is no locking mechanism to hold it in place whatsoever. Meaning you can't put Zyuoh King's arm down either or the Bazooka leans severely enough that it could fall out. A tad bit disappointing but for something this small, and this cheap, what did any of us really expect?

Final Thoughts
I know a lot of people were instantaneously turned off with this series and it's gimmick because of the blocky aesthetics. I can't entirely blame you either. But ultimately these initial toys, while literal bricks, are actually pretty fun and intuitive. Their smaller scale leads me to believe we're in for many more larger combos down the road than we've even seen so far. I feel like there's a lot of playability in these Cubes that has yet to be unlocked. As is I think DX Zyuoh King & DX Cube Kirin are pretty great first salvos in this line.

I appreciate the comparison shots with the Gaoranger mecha, but they also sting, since they look so good. I look at it and immediately understand what the designers were thinking. With Zyuoh King, I'm still not sure, and like you, I assume there must be some something ambitious lurking in the design.

The cube and some of the animal modes are superior to the minipla (and are fully painted, of course), but the minipla's combined mode thrashes this one soundly.

I got my hands on minipla Gekitouja, and it got me thinking about Sentai mecha design. Shinkenger, Go-Busters, and Zyuohger ask a LOT of their mecha: animal, cube/emblem/vehicle, and mecha part. (In the case of Go-Busters, also that pseudo-headmasters thing with the Buddyroids.) That's just for the initial combinations. Gekitouja or Gao King just ask for an animal mode and a mecha mode. The results look super-clean to me.

I really enjoy what the show does with Cube Eagle's glaring-hole problem, replacing it with a turbine. (Phrasing.)

I'm not planning on picking up the DX mecha (although it seems I'm aggressively tackling the minipla), so I'm loving these review/galleries!

It's a beautiful gallery, to be sure, but Zyuoh King makes ToQ-Oh look like the height of poseable design. This one just really isn't clicking with me. Ah well, more for the people who enjoy it then.

I cannot wait to get these in their minecraft-y goodness

I've stopped being such a sour bitch on ZyuohKing, but there's just so many things they could have done to make it better. Something like having the knee pads flip up as part of the automorph or something to help showcase the gimmick more so it feels more justified. With only the eagle having any automorph, it just feels disappointing that the shark, lion, elephant, and tiger just sit around unable to do anything, really.

I've warmed up to the cube animals, but even with my enthusiasm for the show, I just can't really get behind Zyuoh King. Unless they release some kind of major blockbuster combination, I'll probably stick to the minipla...

I can't help but notice you didn't post the FULL gallery - as there are pictures on the front page that are not in this gallery thread.

that comparison shot with GaoKing...man, it just goes to show how much Zyuohking just doesn't cut that mustard!

Great gallery! I have come all the way around on this thing. I love the cube animals, and the leg issue doesn't phase me anymore. Most sentai robo legs don't move, so they might as well be fused.

Sure, compared to the power animals line these look less than stellar. I do feel that people are doing themselves a disservice by making that comparison though. While pretty, I'd argue that power animals aren't as creative or complex as the Zyuoh cubes. Both have their strengths, and both hold a place in my heart anyway. Can't wait til you take a look at cube and tiger.