Izanagi D-Arts (Bandai)

Oh, Izanagi, you should have gotten a figure of your own a long time ago!  It's a good thing Persona 4: The Animation came along. Otherwise Izanagi would have never gotten a figure of his own!

I love the Japanese bancho look he has.  It really makes the main character of Persona 4 look like some gang leader, and it makes sense!  Izanagi definitely looks like he won't take crap from anyone and that's what makes him so badass.  I couldn't resist this figma because Izanagi is my favourite Persona.  I pre-ordered him as soon as I saw him.

I must admit, I'm very impressed by the packaging of this action figure.  From what I have seen in the past, figmas usually have standard boxes.  They all seemed plain. Boring even.  The only differences were the colours and patterns on the boxes.  However, Bandai did not fail to impress me with their Persona 4-themed box.  The window is shaped like a television screen (like the ones you see in Persona 4), and there are silver embossed designs all over the box.

Now here's a box that actually stands out from the others.  It's bright yellow, flashy, and let's face it Izanagi is awesome.

Izanagi is approximately 160mm tall, which really isn't that tall.  Sure, you can try to make him look taller with the pole that comes with the action figure, but it doesn't really make a difference.  My Professor Layton is almost Izanagi's height.  The man's head is about the size of Izanagi's torso.  It's quite silly if you think about it.

Anyway, Izanagi comes with six different hands (including the ones initially attached to him when you purchase him), two sets of flames, a pole/stick that gets shoved into his back, a base (naturally), and an impressive blade.

I love that Izanagi can have so many poses and still look badass.  The blue summon flames included with this package really makes a difference.  One of the summon flames is meant to sit on the base, making it seem as though Izanagi was being called upon.

The other blue flame is actually an attachment for his blade, so you can actually give the illusion of movement with this figure.  Bandai, I must say I am impressed.  I've never purchased Bandai's merch before, but Izanagi most certainly earned my two thumbs up.  The great thing about the flames is that they don't look or feel cheap.  They're somewhat transparent and they're also made of what feels like sturdy plastic.  Having done so many Shonen figures in the past, I'm sure the developers at Bandai have learned from all their mistakes. All weapons and attachments have been upgraded many times, I bet! They're probably close to perfecting the art of fake flames by now.

I must confess I had difficulty placing the flames on his blade at first.  The fire added extra weight to blade, so when I slid the it into Izanagi's hands it fell right out.  Even after swapping the hands out, I found it was difficult to pose Izanagi the way I wanted because of the extra weight.  Afraid the sword was going to fall out again, I didn't move Izanagi while I was taking pictures. Oh, Izanagi, I wish you had stronger hands.

But at least you have a fancy base!

I can't stress enough how grateful I am to not have a cheap, transparent, boring plastic base come with an awesome figure like Izanagi.  I praise Bandai for keeping consistent with the Persona theme.  Certainly, the base looks eerie if you gaze at it long enough (yes, it will steal your soul), but it definitely reminded me of both Persona 3 and 4, which are amazing games.  The checkered pattern just blends with Izanagi...though that's probably because he's sporting a black and silver coat. Ah well, no complaints here!

Izanagi generally has some impressive details for an action figure.  The belts on his coat are painted nicely (almost flawlessly) and his metal cup has the the zipper pattern on it, just like the original concept art.

It's funny, yes, but don't stare too long!

I have to give credit to Bandai for doing a swell job with the coat.  Like the Professor Layton figure by Revoltech, Izanagi has a flexible coat, so I have no worries about accidentally snapping anything off.

Izanagi is also wearing a fine set of boots.  I mean, check out those deadly heels! I actually find it interesting how his heels remind me of knives (or butcher knives to be more precise).  If you look closely you'll also see that his heels have teeth. I really wouldn't want to be kicked by this guy...

MegaHouse's Izanagi (with the atrocious pegs)

I like that Bandai's Izanagi doesn't come with ugly white pegs at the bottom of his heels (I'm looking at you, MegaHouse).  The pole that holds him up from the back can keep him floating, which is much less distracting than semi-transparent white pegs clinging onto the bottom of Izanagi's boots.  If you keep Bandai's Izanagi standing upright, you can easily ignore the semi-transparent pole wedged in his back

You call that a paint job?

My only major problem would be the paint job on Izanagi's hand.  It's bloody horrendous and I feel as though the painters literally slapped a glob of white on his hand and left it out to dry.  They probably didn't even look at it twice.

The only other odd, noticeable paint job was found on the back of his headpiece. It only sticks out a little, but I feel as though a piece of the paintbrush just happened to fall off and meld with Izanagi.  Fortunately, it isn't too noticeable because it's on the inside of Izanagi's headpiece.  That and it's all white.

Other than that, I don't really have complaints about Izanagi's paint job.  It's just like any other figure (except all-mighty Alter's).  There are a few spills here and there, but nothing so major it'll make me flip out or irritate me to no end. Bandai was not cheap when it came to details, but they weren't fantastic either.

You can see that the details and paint job on are just fine in the image below. Izanagi's got a shiny coat of silver paint on his face, and the gold on his shoulder doesn't spread out poorly like the white on his hand.

On another note, you can see that the white headband is adjustable thanks to the black piece sticking out from the back of Izanagi's head. By changing the angle, you can give the illusion that Izanagi is moving.

Overall, Bandai produced a very kickass action figure out of Izanagi. I'm glad I chose this one over MegaHouse's. Not only is it cheaper, but it's more fun to play with! I get to pose mine the way I want!  Plus Bandai's version of Izanagi came with a great base.

I think fans of Persona 4 would love to make this badass float.  The best part of this Izanagi figure is that there are no ugly, cheap plastic pegs gluing him to the base.  Izanagi is free to fly! Fly and fight and burn (or zap) enemies!

Summary:
Box: 8/10 (It's completely Persona-themed!)
Base: 8/10 (It's also Persona-themed!)
Pose: 8/10 (Make Izanagi stand or make him fly!)
Sculpt: 8.5/10 (Izanagi's got a great shape.  He doesn't look bad when you adjust his limbs or torso!)
Paint: 7/10 (Points lost for the horrible hand I got)

I recommend picking Izanagi up.  Sure, he's small, but he would definitely look great on a shelf or on a desk. If you're a Persona 4 fan, I highly recommend picking this figure up, especially if you find you can't really afford the 1/8 or 1/7 versions.

Manufacturer: Bandai
Purchased from: Amiami
Price: 2760 yen (original price: 3800 yen)

~Suich