S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou Golden Knight Garo Gallery

"It's my duty to protect them. That's what I believe!"

And now, after 7 years, collectors have been given hope with a brand new rendition of the iconic Golden Knight Garo! The original S.H. Figuarts Garo was released in 2011, but it was a terribly flawed and inaccurate release which collector's have complained about for years. Given the insane popularity of Tamashii Nation's high end Kamen Rider renewals in the last few years, it was perhaps only a matter of time before the treatment was applied elsewhere. Now, the first S.H. Figuarts Shinkocchou Seihou release for the Garo franchise has arrived!

Packaging
Being that Garo is the first non-Kamen Rider to be released in the Shinkocchou Seihou line, his packaging is a really great departure from the norm while keeping the same style. The slipcover box has returned but thankfully we've lost the dull white/black design and gotten a sleek glossy black box this time around. The character art on the front is absolutely gorgeous and the green flames accent it very well. I'm very much in love with the gold foil lettering on the spines of the box as well. While this box is clearly the same as what we've seen before, the presentation of it is greatly improved and really sets this release apart from the others.

Main Figure
Can I just say "wow"? I haven't been quite this impressed by a new figuart in some time. I've never been a huge fan of the Garo franchise personally. I have so many friends that love it and the various Makai Knights within it. I have attempted to immerse myself in it more than once over the last decade as well. But I have never found a compelling reason to actively like these shows. Bearing that in mind, can I admit that Shinkocchou Seihou Garo is one of my favorite figures ever? Because it actually really is. If that's not a winning endorsement, I doubt you'll find one better.

Seihou Garo truly is the renewal collectors and fans have waited for over the better part of a decade. Functionally the old figure was pretty lackluster, but it wasn't even just that, visually the details were wrong, the armor the wrong color, some features were just missing entirely. The Seihou fixes all of the issues. The most striking change is of course the glorious golden chrome paint application over the entire armor, along with some extra silver accents. The armor is extremely shiny and the finish is very crisp. Every surface detail that can be covered in this gold is. Connecting moving joints are not where necessary. But literally anything else that can be, is. The entire armor is also ornately detailed. Every single detail is immaculately recreated here. Every etching, every line, everything. I'm just so massively impressed by it.

On to a bit of how the figure works, it's imperfect, but a vast improvement on the original. The armor is big and bulky, but surprisingly there's much more flexibility to the joints than you'd imagine. The ankles are fantastically unhindered, while the knees can only bend about 90 degrees. The hips leave a little bit to be desired though. They can angle out just fine, but pulling them forward and back inevitably hits the waist armor meaning you lose a small bit of movement. I appreciate that the silver details on the hips are not painted chrome but molded in silver along with the black parts so there won't be any chrome where there. However the actual waist is two separate pieces of armor, chrome on top of chrome, so that really scares me for the future.

As mentioned before, the details on this thing are indescribably nice. The upper body is just a spectacle, especially the back plate. And while it may not look like it, the upper bod floats on the lower torso quite well, and luckily the details on the interior part are painted in flat silver and gold rather than chrome so no scraping concerns. The arms are actually pretty ingenious as well, despite having so many protrusions you aren't going to draw blood trying to put new hands on him. The wrists are nice and unrestricted, the elbows actually bend very nicely and have a weird rotational joint built in so they can swivel a bit too. The bicep also features a swivel and the shoulder joint itself is wide open so the arms can freely move. And why are they so free? The shoulder armor is hinged. The plates that make up the shoulder and neck armor are jointed and can move up and down depending on where you need them in relation ot the actual shoulder. It's frankly brilliant. At one time Bandai even stated that this sliding armor gimmick is what had kept the figure in limbo for a while as they perfected it. Well damn they perfected it alright.

Finally, Garo's head is a magnificent recreation of this hero's fierce visage. Thanks to the chrome gold and silver applications, punctuated by those piercing green eyes, and the black paint wash that brings out the minor details, Garo's face has come alive.

Accessories
Garo comes with most of what he needs, missing at least one key item that I'm disappointed about:

3 - sets of hands. That's one open set for action poses, 1 set used to hold the sword, and 1 set specifically for holding the sword scabbard instead.

1 - Garoken Scabbard. This is a bit of a dummy accessory which is disappointing. The scabbard has a nice metal chain which I appreciate, but the sword grip sticking out of it is a dummy accessory. The grip can be removed to simulate the sword being removed. But the sword itself cannot actually be put in the scabbard. I'm kind of baffled as to why. Numerous, *numerous*, Garo figures in the long running Makai Kado line from Bandai have had fully functional scabbards. It's just silly that this one isn't despite it clearly being the right size to house a sword.

1 - Garoken. Garo's signature weapon is ornately detailed along the handle and blade. While many counterparts to this weapon in the Makai Kado line feature die cast for weight, I'm quite glad this one doesn't. The wrists are fairly strong but they couldn't hold up to that kind of weight. I've included a couple images of Seihou Garo holding the Makai Kado version of the sword with the Green flame effect built into it. The weight of it is almost too much for the figure. But it works pretty well.

Not bad, but I feel like not including the Madou Lighter is a huge misstep here. It's green flame is a signature of the franchise, used to enhance weapons and detect horrors, without it the figure feels incomplete. The one that came with Makai Kado Garo fits almost perfectly in the Seihou's hands so if you have one that will work. I also wish some general green tamashii flame effects were included, I actually had to resort to buying some flame effect KO's on ebay for what I needed in this gallery. Weirdly Tamashii Nations has yet to release an official green set of their own, really a big missed opportunity.

Final thoughts
I'm just astounded by the quality of this figure all around. I know my review is a bit all over, but please peruse the gallery below and you'll see what I'm failing to communicate. This is an excellent figure, more than deserving of a place within your collection. S.H. Figuarts Shinkoccohou Seihou Garo is the culmination of years of improvements made by Tamashii Nations to rectify design mistakes made in the past. Garo is a vast improvement on what has come before it, and his ally the Silver Fanged Knight Zero will arrive by year's end to compliment him nicely. If this is what we can expect for the future, then I sincerely hope Tamashii Nations has long term plans to continue making more Makai Knights in this line. If this quality streak continues, I'll buy every last one of them.

Part 2
- Garoken & Scabbard
- Garo VS Kiba

If there's one thing you have to say about Garo, it's that the suits are fucking gorgeous so it's good to see this held up to that. Though no lighter is dumbbbbb

The sculpt looks good, but I just don't like that much chrome.

Garo was the Figuart of the year for me. I love everything about this figure it everything I want in what a knight should be like. I was so happy and impressed to add Garo in my collection wow just perfect.

You did a great job on the gallery I love it thanks.

I forgot about the lighter damn that should of came with it.

Also I hoping Bandai will give us S.H.Figuarts of Tiaga with a cloth cape and Gotent Garo horse would love to get that also GoldenStorm Sho.

I very hype for Silver Fang Zero after what Garo Shinkocchou Seihou gave us.

Wow that looks incredible

That Garo looks really nice.
That Zero looks even better in my opinion.
If they make a Kiba, i might just have to bite.
I have a Makai Kado collection which is by far my favorite collection of figures.

I can post pics if anyone is interested.

I just wish they would make Makai Knight Giga, Sonshi, a new Jaaku and i wouldnt mind a New Kiba. Now, dont get it twisted. The Current Makai Kado Kiba is still an awesome figure but, i can Trust Takayui Takeya, the designer and sculpter of the Makai Kado line to only do a better Job.

It looks so perfect that I'd be afraid to touch it, hopefully they make some more knights.