EMIA MS-07B Gouf

Articulation: 28 points. Double ball jointed neck; 6 points in each arm - double jointed shoulder, pre-elbow swivel, double jointed elbow, ball joint wrist; 2 ball joints in torso; 6 points in each leg - ball joint hips, triple jointed knees, ball joint ankles, in-foot ball joint.

Accessories: Heat sabre with removeable blade; shield; heat rod, 15 pieces; extra hands x7

Colors: Painted blue, black, grey, yellow, orange, green, pink; Molded grey, dark grey.

Release Data: Released December 18th in Japan at a price of ¥1800. This item is still in production as of this review (February 9th, 2005).

Author: ExVee

The Figure

As I sat contemplating this review, one thing kept ringing in my head, over and over: "Kill, kill..." ..er, wait. No. The OTHER thing ringing in my head: "This is no Zaku, boy! No Zaku!"

Much as I might want to avoid direct comparison to it, the fact remains that this figure uses the same basic design and engineering as the Zaku second version. In that way, comparison is nearly unavoidable, so I'll get as much as I can out of the way right now.

Yes, this uses essentially the same articulation as the Zaku second version. Except that the Gouf uses it all much better, with exception of the shoulder armor, which still doesn't get out of the way as much as it really needs to. Still, this is pretty well an improvement in every dimension over its immediate ancestor, the Zaku. It's actually rather astonishing to think how much better the Zaku second version could have been, and it's pretty sad that it wasn't as good as it clearly could have been.

The big feature of this figure, and indeed the whole EMIA line, is that the figures have essentially their entire surface area painted. In the case of the Gouf, at least, the only areas not painted are the joints, which makes sense and is a welcome consideration. The figure shows results of good airbrushing, the base color is smooth all the way around, and edges of panels are airbrushed lightly with black, giving a weathered and/or shadowy effect which makes an extremely good look. Plus the quality of the paint spray is first rate, and the only problem I can find with paint application is sloppily applied black paint between heat rid and conduction cable segments, but that's hardly even noticeable unless you're examining them very closely.

The Head

Very, very nice representation of a Gouf head. The sculpt is a pleasing blend of original design accuracy and subtle redesign to reduce the goofiness of the previously exaggerated "snout". The neck uses the same style of joint as the Zaku second version, though this one works much better, giving the Gouf's head a full range of motion, even as far as being able to point almost straight down over the chest. The single issue I have with the head is that the command antenna is slightly bent, but that's not something that can be held against the design.

The Torso

Problem: One of the conduction cables running from the codpiece to the backpack is warped or otherwise misformed, either way it doesn't contour the same way as the opposite side cable. Besides that, there's the torso joints. A ball joint at the waist like normal, and a new ball joint connecting the chest and abdomen. In theory, these would be nice, except that the Gouf's design prevent rotation of the waist, and also prevents alot of side to side. Plus, the upper joint is also restricted, nearly to the point of practical immobility. Can't win them all.The Arms

The shoulder armor is jointed the same way as the Zaku, and works just about as poorly. It doesn't get enough clearance to allow lateral arm movement beyond a short range. The arm articulation is more or less normal, though on the right arm, a combination of the shoulder armor, and the heat rod port prevent the arm from folding up as far as it otherwise would be able. The left arm eliminates half of that problem, though. All the joints are sturdy, and hold position very nicely.

The Legs And Feet

Fortunately, the skirt armor (most of which seems to be a straight reuse of the Zaku's - complete with pegholes) is adequately segmented and nicely flexible, so it doesn't interfere with the hip articulation. As usual, you do need to be careful about skirt bending poses for extended periods, since the soft plastic *will* warp. The knee joint is a triple joint, and unlike the SEED Destiny figures lately, the joint tolerances make it so the wrong part doesn't want to move instead of the part you actually want to bend. Plus, the lower leg can fold back flush against the thigh.

The greatest improvement from the Zaku second version is the foot joint, which manages to not pop out of its socket when moved more than, say, five degrees in any direction. That improvement alone makes a world of difference to the playability of the figure. And this isn't a matter of a favorable coincidence due to the different foot design. It's quite clear to me that this is a case of someone paying attention so the same mistake wasn't made twice. Much appreciated.

Sculpt and Articulation get 9/10

The Accessories

-Heat Saber

This is actually somewhat interesting. In the Gouf's first animated appearance, as it drew its heat sabre, the blade was seen to energize and form out of the handle like a beam sabre. But in every instance afterward, it's been portrayed as a heated solid metal blade. The EMIA heat sabre has a removeable blade. A nod to the original form of this weapon, maybe? Or is it just to facilitate storage in the shield?

Anyway, the blade is pretty neat. It's molded in clear plastic, and then airbrushed with a very thin coat of orange paint. The result is that the blade appears opaque, for the most part, but when backlit, it gains the dull glow effect we normally associate with heated metal. The blade is easy to remove or reattach, but isn't going to fall out on its own. If the blade must be removeable, this is the best way it could be.

-Heat Rod

The Gouf's other signature weapon. In this case, it's a collection of 15 segemtns of varying size and shape, which can be combined by way of ball and socket joints in any combination, and then attached to the port on the right forearm. You can even arrange the segments in such a way as to tie up another MSiA. I might have liked a little different grouping of segment types, but what they did is certainly more than adequate.

-Zaku Machinegun

Not an often used weapon of the Gouf. This is just a straight recolor of the Zaku second version's machinegun. It works well enough on the Gouf, though I'd personally have preferred the Zaku bazooka if Bandai was just looking for a way to pad out the package.

-Shield

Pretty simple. On the inside there's a bar across the widest part which seems to be entirely for detail purposes. The shield fixes to the arm by a square bracket, shaped just right so that it can only fit the arm one way, so it'll always remain stuck on the "back" of the arm. There's a small peg to mount the heat sabre grip, though it seems to make the mounting bracket stay off to one side, so the shield won't stay straight. Given that, I just don't make use of that feature. Also, because of the specific bracket shape, the left hand has to be removed each time you place or remove the shield.

-Extra Hands

This comes with three pair, plus a special right hand for the heat rod. Including the hands the Gouf wears in package, the figure has nine total: Two fists, two five-barrel guns (a right and a left), two open with trigger finger, two open for sabre, and the heat rod hand. They're kinda tough to remove, but the next hand pops on nice and easy.

Accessories get 8/10

Closing Remarks

Okay, this really boils down to just being a Second Version with extra paint. Is that worth an extra ¥300? I don't really know. Is this a really great figure? Absolutely, but I just can't say without a doubt that it's worth the price. After shipping and import markup, you're generally looking at a cost in the neighborhood of $30, which I have serious issues justifying for a single five inch action figure.

I was lucky, and wound up not even paying half that, and so I'm extremely satisfied with my purchase. In this case, the matter of value is gonna have to be your call. This is a little bit more special than the average MSiA, and I'd say should definetly be on your list if you manage to get it at $20 or less shipped, but beyond that you're going to have to seriously consider how much a single toy is worth to you.

Either way, I give the EMIA Gouf an overall rating of Excellent.

-ExVeeBrawn, 02/09/2005