Review: R&M 4 Genocider

In part two of my review to the R&M Series 4, we review the Evildiver, Metalgelas, and the Genocider…

Initially, I wanted to have three reviews to this figure. Part two was supposed to be on Evildiver and Metalgelas solely, while part three would be on Genocider. But I realised that I didn’t have many photos to Genocider, I’ll explain more about why so later, and 10 odd images couldn’t really constitute as a photo review in my opinion. Hence, I merged the two into one post instead.

Enough talk. First up, the Evildiver.

The Evildiver is modelled after a stingray, and was originally Kamen Rider Raia’s Contract Monster. However, when Asakura (Kamen Rider Ouja) defeated him, Asakura used another contract card to seal the Evildiver as his own’s. This in turn, gave Ouja Raia’s powers as well.

I really like the golden ‘etchings’ on the Evildiver. It’s a nice break from the full pink body of the figure. The front ‘fins’ (not too sure what to call them) can be opened up, and it’s there mainly for the transformation sequence into Genocider. I don’t recall any particular instance where Evildiver opened those up on its own. By the way, yes, Kamen Rider Raia is pink in colour. So no, Decade wasn’t the first pink Rider.

The tail is on a hinge, and can move up and down. The Evil Whip is placed into the back of the Evildiver via a peg-and-hole system, much like how the VenoSaber attaches itself as Venosnaker’s tail.

By the way, there are rollers/wheels on the underside of the Evildiver, so it can totally roll around. Also, there are nice gill-like designs on the bottom, so it’s a really cool touch there.

ADVENT!

By the way, the Evil Whip fits nicely into the hands of figma’s Kamen Rider Ouja. Since I don’t have a figma Raia, this is the best alternative I have.

It’s a pity that the Evil Whip is moulded as a single piece and doesn’t have any points of articulation. This would have upped the play value of the figure by so much more. But hey, it was 2002, and the amount of toy engineering that the R&M figures had was pretty astounding back in the day.

FINAL VENT! HydeVenon!

While Venosnaker was a rather articulate mechanized king cobra, Evildiver’s pretty plain compared to Venosnaker. But as a standalone piece, I’d say it’s a good fit to figma’s Kamen Rider Raia, or Ouja for that matter. While it’s not very articulate, you can’t really blame it since that’s the design of the monster. I can’t imagine putting any more articulation points into it without breaking the nice aesthetics to the figure.

All that said, let’s move on to Metalgelas…

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Much like how Asakura contracted Evildiver after killing Raia, he did the same to Metalgelas after killing Kamen Rider Gai off. This in turn granted him the advent cards and powers of Metagelas.

The horn can be moved forward, though I’m not too sure what it’s for…

There’s a pretty decent elbow joint on the figure.

There’s actually quite a number of joints on this figure. Besides the one on the horn and the elbow joint, there’s also some neck articulation on the figure. The shoulder and hips are on universal joints.

FINAL VENT! HEAVY PRESSURE!

*Yes, I know the Metal Horn is used during the Heavy Pressure finisher. But I didn’t have the figma Kamen Rider Gai at the point when I was doing the photos. I’ll probably do this scene again when I get down to reviewing my figma Gai.

If you haven’t realised, Metalgelas is a freaking armoured, humanoid rhino. And I really dig it. While it doesn’t look as menacing as Venosnaker (yes, I’m biased =p), it’s by no means of any lower quality. The sculpt of the figure is gorgeous. There are studs all over the armoured body of the figure, enhancing the ‘metal armour’ feel to the figure. Besides that, for the parts of Metalgelas that isn’t armoured, i.e. the reddish-brownish portions, we have a rippled vein-like effect sculpted on. Not forgetting, the gorgeous chrome like silver that Bandai had used for this figure is absolutely stunning. While Metalgelas doesn’t look as menacing as Venosnaker, it beats Venosnaker in terms of sculpt and paint.

But let’s move on… UNITE VENT!

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I just realised that if I’d taken pictures for the combination sequence of the Genocider, I could have enough pictures for a standalone Genocider review. That aside…

Genocider is a chimera type monster, a monster that is summoned with the effect of the Advent Card – Unite Vent. If you had seen my earlier review on the R&M Venosnaker, you’d see the card for the play-toys is included in this set. The Genocider uses Metalgelas as the main body, Venosnaker as the head, spine and tail, and Evildiver as the back and ‘wings’.

The articulation to the Genocider is pretty limited. The ‘neck’ of the Genocider is made up of Venosnaker and it’s ‘main body’. As established earlier, the Venosnaker’s main body is pretty articulate. The problem is that it is clipped onto the underside of Metalgelas neck. Metalgelas’ neck joint only allows it to look up, and not to the sides, so the neck of Genocider can’t turn to the sides that much since it uses Metalgelas as the main frame. But the main tail of Genocider is Venosnaker’s main body, which means it has a very articulate tail. Evildiver is pretty much just a snap-on to the back of Metalgelas. While it doesn’t do much, it completes Genocider aesthetically.

Of the three monster figures included in this R&M Set, I’d have to give more points to Metalgelas in turns of sculpt and paint apps. Venosnaker wins in the articulation and looks department, whereas poor Evildiver is pretty much bland compared to the other 2 monsters. That said, Evildiver is a solid display piece, and would compliment your figma Raia or Ouja. Besides, without it, you can’t have the really fierce looking Genocider. While Genocider isn’t all that articulate, the sheer size and ferocity of its looks compensates for that.

If you can find this set for cheap, get it. Don’t pay anything more than S$60 for it. Maybe not even 50 bucks if you’re living in the States. It’s not worth that much, unless you’re a really hardcore fan of Ouja.

With that, I’ve come to the end of this review. I hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully I’d have some time to shoot more reviews tomorrow, and maybe even post up a bit or two about my Skull progress. Ta~!