Most people have very fond memories of watching Dragon Ball Z as kids but before that series, there was the original Dragon Ball and that featured a much younger and altogether more adorable cast and it’s this that Bandai is commemorating with some new figures, starting with Kid Goku.
Bandai has obviously been catering for the Dragon Ball Z side of things for a while now but there is obviously still a huge fanbase for the original Dragon Ball. However, due to the shorter stature of its younger cast, it does present some new challenges when it comes to making figures of the characters.
Not to mention what with the recent release of the excellent Dragon Ball FighterZ fighting game, it seems only fitting to go back to the start of the series and pay tribute to its main protagonist, Goku.
Dragon Ball obviously started out as a hugely successful manga by Akira Toriyama and its origins are a fascinating tale. When I spoke with Toriyama’s then editor Kazuhiko Torishima, he explained why Dragon Ball utilized elements from Journey to the West.
So I said that if he liked kung-fu movies so much, why not try a kung-fu action manga for the next project. After this, Toriyama came up with a very short 13 page short story called Dragon Boy. This one off short story then got an incredibly good ranking in Weekly Jump.
This version of the story pre-dates any of the elements from Journey to the West and that was my idea that came later. The biggest reason for that was it was a free intellectual property, as it was very old. In addition, when you need to make a long running manga series you need to add a lot more features over something like the episodic Dr. Slump. So in Journey to the West, you have lots of gadgets, like the pole staff and flying cloud. So when we moved Dragon Boy to a long running story format, that’s when the Journey to the West elements came in.
One of the other big reasons I liked Journey to the West as an influence was because with Dr. Slump the story mainly happened on something like the West Coast of the U.S., as in the environment and overall setting. However, as we were trying to start something new I thought we needed an almost opposite setting. In those days, China was not a popular topic in manga and I thought that would make us stand out, by being unique and fresh. So we wanted to have the story operate in a very different world from that of Dr. Slump, so the opposite of California for me was something like China.
These gadgets that Torishima mentioned, namely the staff and cloud, are things that Bandai has catered for in this new figure and it’s worth covering what else you are getting here.
Like with other S.H. Figuarts releases, you get many accessories, from numerous hands and facial expressions to all sorts of other gimmicks, such as Goku’s tail.
In the case of Kid Goku, you also get a stand to help you display the cloud. This is an interesting addition, as the stands for these figures are normally sold separately but in this case, it makes sense as the cloud itself is quite heavy, as it is comprised almost entirely of solid plastic.
What is especially great about this Kid Goku figure though is its sculpt and great detailing. The facial expressions capture Goku’s exuberance and fury incredibly well and really bring this dinky figure to life in quite a unique way.
This is also backed up by very solid articulation, which affords a great number of dynamic poses and also allows Goku to sit quite comfortably atop his cloud.
Following that, the staff and its sheath are included as are extra tails for Goku. The party piece is definitely the cloud though and that makes the whole set really rather charming to behold.
Overall, this is a lovely rendition of Kid Goku that not only can be played with quite happily but also makes for a great display piece, not least due to the addition of the cloud and excellent selection of expressive faces. So even if you are more of a Dragon Ball Z fan, this Kid Goku figure is definitely something you should consider having in your collection.
While this Kid Goku figure was released in Japan back at the end of January, its U.S. release will be on April 25. The pricing is also reasonable, coming in at $54.99. You can also pre-order this figure via Amazon.
Disclosure: Bandai sent me a sample of this figure for the purposes of this review.
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