Toku Toy Box: S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Evol Black Hole Phase 4 Gallery

"Let my true power return!"

Manipulating the world around him since he arrived on Earth, the alien Evolt has continued to evolve. Shedding the skin of Blood Stalk thanks to the Evol Driver at Phase 1. Absorbing the rage of a dragon with Ryuga at Phase 2. And absorbing the rabbit genius with Sento at Phase 3. But with the powers of the Evol Trigger finally restored, an even greater evolution is revealed as Evolt enters Phase 4. The awesome power of Kamen Rider Evol Black Hole is reborn! Consuming everything in his path, this is the power that destroyed Mars, and will destroy the Earth if Kamen Rider Build and his allies fail. Are you ready?

Packaging
Nothing terribly new to report here after over 20 Kamen Rider Build figuarts releases. This box is very similar in general design to the Evol Phase 1 2 3 set packaging. The only difference being here that there isn't an extra layer of accessories in the bottom of the tray. So the overall box isn't as thick. The color scheme of this box is a bit more subdued than the prior release as well, but really that's not the part of the review you're here for.

Main Figure
A portion of the review for Evol Black Hole will be the same as my review for the Evol Phase 1 2 3 Set Largely because the majority of the body is unchanged for this release of the mold. The basic engineering and structures are the same, though some new armor is included this go around.

Kamen Rider Evol's base form, Cobra, is an incredibly stylish suit design. While I like Dragon & Rabbit as well, Phase 1 is still the best of the 3, and thankfully that's the basis for Black Hole or Phase 4. Like the other 3 forms, Black Hole feels as alien as possible. The Riders feel like the earthly derivatives of Evol that they are, and while Black Hole changes some of what I liked about Phase 1, it really helps set it even further apart from the earthly riders while drawing a couple just a bit closer as well, like Mad Rogue & the Hell Bros. Phase 1 was littered with gold and orbs and circular lines and even had a star map emblazoned on it's forehead. It reminded me very much of theoretical Da Vinci machines as well as telescopes astrolabes sextants and more. Black Hold trades in much of those vibrant colors for the appropriately vacant and cold white and black color scheme of most of the body.

Though the design definitely looks foreign because of all the armor bits, at the core Black Hole uses the Build/Cross-Z leg design. This is mostly evident in the thighs but really the general shape of the leg is there, just contoured by new gold armor. Surprisingly the armor on the legs doesn't really affect how they function though. The ankles are about as good as they've always been, not outstanding by any measure, but decent enough to get good poses out of. Despite the overhang of armor on the bottom of the shin, and added bulk around the knee joint, both remain largely unrestricted as well. We run into issues when we get to the hanging skirt armor though. Evol had some great thigh armor on the front and sides. Black Hole extends this even further, giving the form a sort of 2 layered coattails. Unfortunately, having not learned from their mistakes making capes and such out of hard plastic, these parts are thin rigid, somewhat flexible, plastic on a rather limited hinge. So you'll have to fiddle with it somewhat to get the legs in and around that. So just be careful not to break anything. This plastic can flex, but I do not at all recommend doing it for extending periods or you risk warping and stress fracturing it. Which would be a shame on a figure this extensive. Aside from the skirt armor, the legs themselves are 100% unchanged from their use in the previous Evol set.

On his waist, Evol Black Hole features his eponymous Evol Driver. This is now the 3rd time we've seen this exact same Driver in the line too. We got it with Mad Rogue as well as the last Evol. The shade of red appears identical to Evol, though Mad Rogue's is still curiously slightly different. The Evol Driver also includes the same Evol Bottles this go around with the Cobra & Rider System Bottles. Once again this driver is functional, bottles can be swapped out as desired, and the handle can be cranked. Finally the one big change for the Driver is the inclusion of the Evol Trigger, the original basis for the Hazard Trigger. Once again I love seeing these parts of Evol's technology and piecing together how the earth made equipment was derived from it. The Evol Trigger looks very alien indeed. I wish it was removeable, perhaps it is even. But the paint's rather thick on mine and it just won't budge. at this point I'd rather not break it attempting to remove it.

The lower torso also features that same black striated form we've come to know from the Build Rabbit/Tank torso. Only this time it's encased in the alien armor of Evol. Despite what you may assume, or in fact what I assumed about the chest armor, that chunk of the body is entirely new. It's not just a remold of the previous one. As you can see in my comparison photos below, not only is it larger and bulkier making Black Hole seem even more imposing, it actually makes him slightly taller as well, just slightly taller than Evol Phase 1. The spherical structures of this chest are more refined and symmetrical now, which is a bit of a shame considering how much I loved the last form, but it looks unquestionably nice as well. The general contour of the armor is the same as the old one but like I said it's much bulkier. The articulation of the torso may leave a bit to be desired because of all this bulk, but it could be much worse as well. There's a surprising amount room to play with.

Black Hole's arms feature new parts only in the shoulder pads. While the basic mold is the same, some of the surface details have been changed to match the new aesthetic and they're now white to match the torso color. Oddly enough, these pads didn't affect articulation much on the first Evol, but because of the new torso armor bulk they actually do lose some clearance. The rest of the arms are unchanged and carried over from the first Evol. The elbows work similarly to any other Build release which is quite well, and the wrists while designed in the same manner as the others in the line, and are slightly hindered by the armor around the wrist. I do adore the spiked knuckles on Evol's closed fists though.

And much like Evol Phase 1/Cobra the head sculpt is beautiful. The alien menace is still there, just more refined. The basic head is all there, with some surface details removed, and some new ornamental parts behind the widest areas of the visor. It has such a unique compound eye visor that extends out beyond the head out to what look like horns as well as down into snake fangs. I think my favorite thing about this new head is also the absence of something that was present on Phase 1. The tiny planisphere that was present on the originals head, is blank. A black hole. Incredibly appropriate given the change in form and a detail that I absolutely adore. I still think I may prefer Phase 1 more as a form overall, but Black Hole is without a doubt one of the best rider designs in years still.

Accessories
Unlike the previous Evol Set, Black Hole includes only what is essential, that being several sets of hands. Any time a Figuart only incudes extra hands, I always think of that as a disappointment. Though I know that isn't always fair as well. Frankly there are no weapons or items that could have been included with Black Hole aside from maybe Pandora Panels, or Full Bottles. But in cases where all we get are some sets of hands, I really wish Bandai could work out packing in some sort of an effect part at least. As is, the variety of hands is pretty nice. Evol is an expressive villain and the gesturing hands he includes give you everything you need to have this alien jerk sassing your heroic riders.

Final Thoughts
I think it's safe to say, I love Kamen Rider Build. I think there's a good chance that, had this show aired before we launched TokuNation 9 years ago, that my user name may be Build related instead of Den-O. I've now bought and reviewed almost every figuart released for the show and they continue to wow each and every time. S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Evol Black Hole is another gorgeous form for one of my favorite villains in franchise history. And soon enough I'll have a few more Build releases in hand for review, like Metal Build, Grease Perfect, and Cross-Z Build.

Part 2

Really great set. Great figure. Hope to have him one day!!!!!

Probably a super dead horse by this point, but I do wish his arms and legs were also painted to match the overall monochrome scheme.

Even if I continue to think that forever though, it's very cool to see the alien destroyer's final form (his further-evolved monster form aside). I really like the photo of all of Evolt's main transformations. The only thing missing from the gallery would be a transformation sequence that includes one photo that's just empty space.

Even though in hindsight a few years later, Build dropping the civil war plot line to turn into a more Dragon Ball Z sort of story seems a bit questionable, at the time it felt like such an incredible escalation. Evol Black Hole was a fantastic suit, even with the money saving choice of not repainting the limbs. I'd love it if we could get a figure of Evolt's monster form too in any scale, but sadly I think the time has passed for that

The bad guys always get the cool stuff

Evvvvvvooooltttto! Over The Revolution. Now this was a real great suit and i am a real fan of build

My enjoyment of Build was cooling a bit around the time Black Hole Evol debuted; the end of the series dragged on a bit. It was a cool costume, but I can't help but find it one more instance of what frustrated me about Build: there were just too many forms!

And OH MY GOSH, that Evol Trigger is bulky. Between this and some of the later Ex-Aid stuff, I thought we'd seen the most cumbersome possible belt configurations in the franchise. Then the people who designed Saber were all, "Hold my beer," and I just feel really, really bad for those suit actors. There's a level of obvious impracticality I have a hard time getting past. At least the Hiden Driver managed to be relatively sleek... or modern Kamen Rider has just ruined my sense of what qualifies as sleek.

My favorite of the Evol forms, still waiting on my figure to ship but it just looks incredible.

No, you're right that a zero one was sleek, a lot of the upgrades were out of the way and took up barely any space on the belts, even 02 was just a new face plate and progrise key.

And the belts the suit actors usr are mainly mixes of hollow plastic and foam, so no real weight on the belts part is encumbering them. The suits on the other hand are bulky and quite restricting.

On the Evol Blackhole figuarts, i feel that at the price they were charging, they could've given it a cloth skirt. It seams pointless otherwise to engineer such great leg articulation, only to stifle it with a thick plastic skirt.

The design itself is superb, the redone visor, especially, highlights the cobra motif moreso than phase 1. Its bright whitish-pink hue evokes a sense of otherness and encroaching danger as it sits, in contrast, atop an amalgam of black and white, turning and interlocking to form this otherworldy armor.

Also, love your snake reference at the start of the review