Ki's Toy Journal:https://www.facebook.com/ki0079.robot.workshops
The METAL ROBOT SPIRITS Zi-APOLLO, from the CODE GEASS series, is the main unit from last year's new anime "Rozé of the Recapture," piloted by the protagonist, Ash. The unit itself possesses the characteristic features of the CODE GEASS Knightmare Frame series: a slender body, a cockpit on its back, Landspinners on its feet, six launchable Slash Harkens on its body, and a Blaze Luminous shield on its arm. An additional feature is its face mask. The overall play experience is full of pleasant surprises and is truly admirable. As a January 2025 release, it certainly marks a great start to the year.
1. Excellent Paint and Finish
The paint application on this unit is superb, making it difficult to find any significant flaws. The relief detailing on the chest armor is meticulous and sharply defined—truly a masterpiece! Of course, upon close inspection, some minor imperfections can be found, such as unpainted areas in the joints of the feet that become visible when moved. However, scrutinizing it to this degree feels a bit like nitpicking.
2. Perfectly Designed Articulation!
This is the aspect I am most satisfied with. The Zi-APOLLO is positioned as an "assassin-type" unit. Its native armament is not extensive; it primarily relies on simple weapons or those commandeered from enemies, using high-speed maneuvering to get behind foes for a one-hit kill. Therefore, this unit is designed for a wide range of extreme movements, with ground-skimming glides being commonplace. How is this achieved? The key is that the joints must be firm enough to support the body through these various extreme poses.
Since the unit's design is already quite clean and streamlined with few parts hindering movement, the tight and well-engineered joints immediately produce excellent results.
The head has good side-to-side mobility, but when tilting upwards, the front of the head bumps into the cockpit, slightly limiting its range of motion (the METAL BUILD Lancelot Albion addresses this with a linked joint mechanism, but that's another matter).
The arms have a sufficient range of motion, are quite flexible, and the joints are tight without being impossible to move.
As for the hands, I was initially a bit concerned. Because the wrists are very small, the connection point isn't a traditional ball joint, and I wondered if it would cause issues when holding weapons. The result... no need to worry.
The waist is probably the least solid part of the entire figure. Twisting the waist is no problem, as there's almost no interference from skirt armor. The backward bend is average, while the forward crunch has a greater range.
As for the legs, the articulation is flawless. The side-to-side leg spread is extremely wide, and the knee bend is also extensive. The feet are particularly interesting this time! First, they feature die-cast joints. Although they might look a bit "wobbly," they are actually "solid as a rock." The front and side toes are articulated, which, combined with the ankle's range of motion, significantly enhances the unit's ability to stand flat-footed.
Furthermore, it passes my favorite test—the single-leg stand—with flying colors. It can even pull off a pose with one leg folded up and the other bent. Only a combination of a solid body, a weighty lower half, and tight joints can achieve such a feat. So, it's very impressive!
3. Decent Armament Design
To be honest, it uses quite a few weapons in the show, many of which are commandeered. If you had an armory on hand, you could spend a long time just playing with all of them. This review will focus on its original armaments.
A. Rifle
This rifle is well-made. It can be held with one hand or in a two-handed grip.
The Blaze Luminous shield is also nice.
B. Greatsword
This greatsword is arguably the Zi-APOLLO's signature weapon. The combination of its slender frame, the greatsword, and its agile movements is reminiscent of Gundam Barbatos Lupus wielding its sword mace against a Mobile Armor. The toy comes with two support stands, but... unless you're planning a long-term display, you don't really need them. The arm and wrist joints are strong enough on their own, so there's no need to worry.
C. Slash Harkens
I was a bit worried about these at first, but it turned out to be unnecessary. For the shoulder-mounted ones, you simply swap out the original shoulder armor and attach the Slash Harken parts. The process is the same for the ones on the chest and thighs. However, I'm personally not a big fan of bending these wires.
D. Arm Blades
The blades hidden in the forearms are reminiscent of the hidden blades from "Assassin's Creed." They have a great feel when handled, and deploying them is very simple.
4. Simple Face Mask Swap
First, the user must remove the head, then slide out the original "face," and replace it with the masked face. Personally, I think it looks cooler without the mask.
5. Removable Cockpit
This is an interesting feature. The user can open the cockpit and pull out the seat. However, you can only pull the seat out far enough to see the back; you can't see much more. It would have been great if it could be pulled out a bit further, or if a small figure of Ash was included!
6. A Small Look Ahead
Since the show's plot had a strong start but a weak finish (a common issue), with the protagonist senselessly getting himself killed, I'm not sure how popular it is overseas... As for its companion unit, the Zi-Artemis, I hope it gets produced so the two units can combine—that would be the ideal situation. However, considering the show's reception... the unit's popularity is just average, and this toy has no potential for mold reuse... plus, handling transformation and combination would be troublesome. It seems the chances of it being released are really low. Oh well, I can only imagine it in my mind.
It's a shame that the unit's greatest features weren't fully showcased in the final battle.
Ki's Toy Journal:https://www.facebook.com/ki0079.robot.workshops