Weekend Plastic Modeling by Taiyuki, Voice Actor! The 4th "Plastic Action" generation is in tears of joy! Let's get that black guy you wanted that day! I made the "Black Ryujin Maru/Senjin Maru Set!

When you are a working adult, you tend to have a lot of plastic models piled up in your busy life. ...... In this series, Yasuyuki Tai, a voice actor who loves robots and plastic models, takes on the challenge of building plastic models on your behalf!

The concept is "even busy working people can make it this far on their weekends off. There are only two rules: bare bones assembly and a production period of one to two days!　If you read this series, you will surely find the plastic model you want to build.

So, "Weekend Plastic Model Making by Voice Actor Taiyuki! Part 4 has begun!

Vol. 4 PLAMAX MS-04 Black Ryujinmaru/Senshinmaru Set

Almost 30 years ago. About 30 years ago, there was an anime that was being broadcasted that even the author was fascinated with.

The title of the anime was "The Heroic Monsters: Wataru".

Perhaps influenced by the RPG boom of the late 80's, this ambitious work incorporated RPG elements into the anime.

The main character, Wataru Senbe, an ordinary fourth grader, is summoned to the village of Monja at the foot of Mount Soukai in the Shinbe world as a savior. He and his friends set off on an adventure to exterminate Doakdar in order to restore the seven-colored rainbow of Mount Soukai, which has been deprived of light by the evil Lord Doakdar.

The characters in this work fight aboard deformed robots called "machines," and the two characters introduced here are the black versions of Ryujinmaru, which Wataru used to ride, and Senginmaru, which is ridden by Wataru's sword master, Kenbe Shibaraku, who becomes a friend in the early stages of the game. The name of the set is "Black Ryujin Maru/Senjin Maru Set!

Thirty years ago, Takara (now Takara Tomy) also released a plastic kit called the "Plaction Series," which was, well, very popular!　There were also several limited editions released, and this item is a tribute to the "Limited Edition Black Ryujin Maru/Senjin Maru Set" that was released at that time!　I myself bought the limited edition kit ...... for sure at the time, but it went away before I knew it. I would like to turn that dark sadness into rainbow colors with this kit!

Let me start with the packaging.

The kit is almost all black, which might seem monotonous. However, by using rainbow colors for the background and arranging the dragon illustration, the illustration is finished with a sense of dignity.

On the side of the kit, there is a sample of the finished product and an introduction to the accessories. These accessories are also very nice.

Here is the runner of the Black Ryujin Maru. Only one part on the right side is pre-painted. This is the part of the boarding port on the head of Ryujin Maru.

This is a runner of the Black Senjin Maru. The outer parts of the lower left forearm have been painted.

Actually, this is also a tribute to the Plaction version. The plastic version also had the Ryujin Maru's boarding port painted, and the Senjin Maru's forearms were sealed to have the same color scheme. The person in charge has done a lot of research!

Other accessories include an assembly instruction manual printed in full color, stickers for the Ryujin Maru and the Senjin Maru, and a sticker to reproduce the Senjin Maru telephone card, which was included as a real telephone card in the original plastic action at the time!　The detailed design is different, but the illustration part remains as it was back then!　I cried once here. I hope everyone will purchase the kit and see the real thing!

So, I was able to build the two pieces together in about 45 minutes. The time required was about the same as or less than that of the original "Plastic Action" version. The "Plastic Action" series was characterized by the one-touch action gimmicks, such as swinging arms and weapons popping out, that were included in each kit, and because of that, we had to pay attention to the meshing of the gears when assembling them. However, considering this, the difficulty level of this product is not so different from that of the kit of that time. But the style has been improved, so it is wonderful!

I cried again (for the second time) when I saw these two figures side by side.

First, let's start with the black Ryujin Maru. The body is entirely black, and the bright red forehead and dragon emblems on both shoulders are eye-catching. The eyes are stickers. The matte black color gives it a luxurious look.

The claws on the shoulders are the most famous part of Ryujinmaru. The head looks slightly downward and has three horns. This is the silhouette of Ryujinmaru. The three fingers are common to all demons.

In the anime, the summoned Ryujinmaru shows an impressive backside for a moment.
On such a back, he is carrying a climbing dragon sword.

The shape of the sword is cool, and when illuminated by light, the shape emerges just right. Ryujinmaru's eyes peeking out from the brim are also very good. I thought the neck of Ryujinmaru was quite difficult to reproduce, but it has been beautifully sculpted.

The movable range of the neck is as shown here. A little to the left and right.

Up and down a little. If you try to move it more than this, the number of parts will increase, so I think this is a good compromise to keep the price down.

Still, there are some nice ideas hidden in many places to make a wide range of movement with a small number of parts. The shoulders can be swung in conjunction with the blocks on the torso side (around the Hiryu-ken).

In addition, the shoulders can be rotated around the shaft connection and horizontally up to the point where the shoulder claws hit the ground.

The elbows can be bent forward and backward by about 45 degrees, and the wrists are ball-jointed. The wrists are ball-jointed, allowing for a certain degree of expression. To begin with, the number of parts required for this body type to have a full range of motion would be quite large, and the cost would rise. I feel that this range of motion is sufficient.

The torso has no movable parts.

However, the style is really nice. It looks like a modern revived version of the action figure.

The legs also have no movable knees. The knees are not movable, but the body shape is such that it would not be a problem even if the knees were not bent. The hip joints and ankles are ball jointed.

Two types of sword are included, one to be held in the hand and the other to be carried on the back. There are wrists to hold the weapon on both sides.

Here is a shot of Ryujinmaru posing with the sword in his hands!

Ryujinmaru: "Use the climbing sword!"

Wataru: "Alright!　Here I go!　Ryujinmaru!

Wataru "Dey!"

Ryujinmaru: "Wataru!　Not yet!

Wataru "Special kill! 　 Climbing Dragon Sword!

Next is Black Seng-chan. Let's see what's next.

The "X-shaped slash" gimmick that was available in the original PLATION series has been omitted, but the style of the Black Sengen-chan is perfect!　Senjin Maru was the first in PLAMAX's Majin series to be released.

The fact that they went to the trouble of painting the arms red will ease the sorrow of those who lost or could not get the limited editions at the time.

Sasu or mountable on the back.

Torso (or neck, if you prefer) allows this degree of swing from side to side.

Can rotate 360° on the shoulder connection axis and raise the arms horizontally about 90°.

The elbows can be bent back and forth about 45° each. The wrists are ball-jointed, allowing for quite a bit of expression.

Hip joints and ankles are ball-jointed. The range of movement is not very wide due to the body shape, but this level of action is possible.

The sword is not in its scabbard. The sword is not in the scabbard, but the handle is built into the tip of the scabbard connected to the waist (or legs?). The handle part is removed when the sword is held by a separate part on the weapon handle.

Senjin Maru almost always uses two swords. Oh no!　I cried again when I put the sword in his hand.

Now let's pose him with two swords!

Shibarak: "Wild bull Shibarak style, x's slash!"

Sivarak "(Phew, it's decided)"

The sword on his back can also be held in his hand.

Shibarak "Now that this sword club Shibarak has come, you can rest easy now!

So, the dragon on the shoulder of the "Black Ryujin Maru" at that time was a luminescent device that glowed in the dark when exposed to light. I read the instruction manual carefully and found it at .......

It was a luminescent sticker!　And the eyes too!　This is where I cried again!　Max Factory did this much for me?　Max Factory!

Of course, SEN-chan's eyes also have the same luminescent stickers.

In the case of black molding color, it is not possible to ink with black, so in such cases, we sometimes ink with a light color such as gray. This time, I used Tamiya's smear paint (gray). It may not be so noticeable in the light, but it makes the details clearer than if it were left completely black.

In the picture, you can easily see the details of the slit on the head and the claws on the shoulders.

Senjin Maru is also inked in gray. Can you see the horns on the forehead?

Since the "Black Ryuoshinmaru/Senshinmaru Set" has been reproduced so well, can we expect a "Gold Ryuohmaru/Black Jyakkomaru" limited edition by Snow Brand Milk Industry?　Or even the seven-colored Ryujin Maru that was limited to Dragon Shop (an antenna store in Harajuku at the time the anime aired)?

There are many things I wish for, but I hope that the lineup will be expanded in the future, and with the Ryuohmaru scheduled for release in August, I'm really looking forward to seeing how this demon god, so popular in the "Plastic Action" version, will be made into a kit!

It will surely be an "interesting and cool" finish!

Product Information

PLAMAX MS-04 Black Ryujin Maru/Senjin Maru Set

Price: 4,815 yen (tax not included)

Specifications: PS&PE assembled plastic model

Foil stickers included

Non-scale

Height: approx. 80mm

Sculptor: Rampage

Released by: Max Factory

Distributor: Good Smile Company

<Taiyuuki's Profile

Voice actor born on October 6, 1977.

His works include: "Toukendanbu-ONLINE-" Sousan Left Character, Tarotachi, "Bungo to Alchemist" Haruo Sato, "Yume Oukoku to 100 no Ojinsama" Latria, "The 3rd Super Robot Taisen Alpha: The Galaxy of the End" Quavray Gordon, "Beastly Machine Attack Dancouga Nova" Johnny Barnett, "Super Robot Transformers Prime" Foil Jack, Beacon, "Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny" Chen Jian Yi, and many others.

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