Otachi,
Otachi, OTACHI!
Heck, since I wrote my
review of the movie.
I loved
Otachi from the second she showed up on screen, and the reveal that
she had wings was absolutely mind-blowing. Seeing that massive beast
just carry Gipsy Danger up into the sky was crazy. Even without the
wings, though, the monster design is fantastic.
I
never imagined that NECA’s Pacific Rim line would last this long.
The movie has been out for almost two
years
now and the toys started hitting before then. After the sad death of
their Prometheus line I really didn’t think this one had a much
better chance, but it turns out we toy nerds just can’t get enough
of giant monsters and giant robots. Plus, I think there’s a bit of
a feeling that we had better buy as many of the figures as we can
just to keep things going.
We’re
at a turning point now, though. If you’ve bought every 6” scale
release you now have six
Gipsy Dangers. And two crappy undersized Knifeheads. I appreciate how
well NECA is doing with making variants of the main Jaeger, but it
does concern me. I want to support the line, but with the stiff
competition in toy aisles these days I simply can’t buy the same
thing over and over again, even if it is missing different arms
sometimes. I even passed on Romeo Blue when I found it the other day
because I liked it, but I just didn’t like it enough.
Horizon Brave is awesome, though, and I’ll definitely pick that one
up.
There’s
also the fact that I now have my favorite Kaiju – today’s
subject, Otachi. I’ll go ahead and say that I’m disappointed that
there aren’t two sets of arms. I was hoping that with a toy this
pricey we’d get both of her forms. I already knew when I bought it
that that wasn’t the case and I have enough faith in NECA to
believe that there was not a satisfying way to engineer the figure to
convert into flying mode. But I don’t look forward to spending
another sixty bucks on another Otachi.
Side
Note: To be movie-accurate, a flying Otachi would have unfurled wings
and a missing acid sac and tail. Gipsy Danger shattered Otachi’s
tail and ripped out her acid sac.
Additionally, the figure will need
extensive battle damage. I’d imagine NECA will sculpt new hind feet
that are capable of grasping a Jaeger, as well.
If
we get that far. I feel like there are a lot more Gipsy Dangers
between now and a potential flying Otachi and now that the line has
gotten so close to giving me everything I want it’s going to be
tough to make those “keep it going” purchases. Especially, like I
said, with so many other great lines going.
First
Glance
As
with all of the other Kaiju, this toy reveals all kinds of details
that I hadn’t really noticed in the movie. One of the most exciting
things about buying these Pacific Rim toys is being able to examine
the Jaegers and Kaiju up close.
Not
only is Otachi the largest Kaiju to be released at this scale so far,
she is the most unique and visually compelling as well. There are so
many more textures and moving parts than the other Kaiju – and
that’s no knock on them. This is an impressive beast and one that
NECA clearly put a lot of effort into.
Packaging
Otachi
comes in a large version of NECA’s new, sturdy Kaiju window boxes.
The cardboard is super-thick and the graphics look great.
And...
that’s about all there is to say. It’s a good box and I like it,
but it’s fairly utilitarian. No bio to discuss or anything.
Looks
Otachi
is almost twice as big as the other Deluxe Kaiju from the Pacific Rim
line and about fifty times as big as that first
Knifehead.
Okay,
maybe not fifty times, but that first Knifehead was tiny.
Otachi’s
bifurcated lower jaw is awesome and also creepy. NECA had a tough job here
– to try to make it look good closed, opened, and separated. They
designed the nubby teeth at the forward part of the split to sort of
interlock in a way that keeps the lower portion relatively locked
together. The seam isn’t perfect, but it couldn’t have been
perfect without some sort of ugly device to hold the parts together.
What’s behind the jaw is gruesome. That nodule-covered sack under
Otachi’s tongue is disgusting. Once you get past the cool giant
monster factor, these Kaiju really are unsettling.
I
just want to take a second to once again point out how incredible the
paint apps are on these toys. NECA has managed to make the
luminescent parts look
luminescent. Simply through a clever use of gradients, they make the
various markings and body parts seem to glow as they did in the
movie.
The
rest of Otachi’s head is a Lovecraftian nightmare. It’s like a
combination of a bat and an alligator. The maw full of teeth is
topped by a bat-like nose and two bizarre protrusions that are
somewhat reminiscent of a beetle. The two beady, yellow eyes are set
in thick, ridged brows. The textures and detailing on the head are
highlighted by precisely applied paint.
The
back is made up of segmented plates similar to a crustacean with
circular light nodes visible in the joints.
The underbelly consists
of two parts – a distended sack covered in more slightly nauseating
nodules (this could be the creature’s womb) and a lower abdominal
area with yellow and blue markings. The yellow patterns are the same
sorts of markings that the rest of the Kaiju have. They aren’t
sculpt, just paint. The bluish markings are actually ridges sculpted
into the figure with more of the luminescent-appearing paint app. I
believe these are wounds inflicted by my favorite of the Jaegers,
Crimson Typhoon.
Otachi’s
forelimbs feature the wings we saw in the Hong Kong fight, but folded
up. The feet at the ends resemble the hind feet of bats with the
knobby knuckles and oversized claws. The rear legs have similar feet
with dew claws rather than thumbs and large plates over the knees.
All four appendages are covered in sculpted scales and folds of skin.
Dark washes bring out the details and the claws are a glossy,
menacing black.
The
tail is a multi-jointed piece with plates, scales, horns, luminescent
(appearing) nodules, and a big ol’ pincer at the end. It’s
awesome, but more on that in the “Fun” section.
NECA
has done an amazing job painting all of their Kaiju, but Otachi might
even be a step above the rest. The apps are so uniform across the
toy, with many disparate elements forming the whole. The glossy black
of the talons, the green body with the dark wash, the glaring yellow
eyes, the ivory fangs, and the eerily luminescent nodules and maw
make for a stunning toy. The precision and vividness of the paint is
fantastic.
Accessories
Otachi
comes with a plasma blast effect and a baby Kaiju.
The
box refers to the infant as a “Baby Otachi”. If that’s correct
(and NECA is typically pretty thorough, so I’d imagine it is) then
that suggests to me that the Kaiju names are actually species
names for subspecies within the Kaiju family as opposed to specific
Kaiju.
Of
course, none of it really
matters because these are just the names that Earthlings gave the
Kaiju (which is also a name we gave them). Otachi means “big sword”
in Japanese.
The
baby Otachi is a delightful bonus. It’s a less developed version of
the larger toy and has a great paint job for such a tiny thing. The
head is on a joint that mostly just swivels and the umbilical cord is
flexible enough to move around.
The
plasma blast looks great. The sculpt has a liquid look to it and the
paint captures the same luminescent quality as portions of the
figure. Otachi’s tongue is removable and the blast effect plugs
into the vacant spot. It takes a bit of effort to plug it in, but it
stays securely in place once it’s there. This thing is sculpted to
be in mid-blast, so it’s a bit short and it doesn’t terminate in
a splash effect. I would’ve preferred that. As it is, if you
display Otachi with this it will just sort of hang in mid-air for
eternity, never eating holes in anything with its corrosive…
corrosiveness.
Fun
The
tail is incredible. So incredible that I felt a video was necessary:
First
of all, the tail connects to the body via a ball-and-socket joint. I
had to use a hair dryer on the socket for about thirty seconds to
make it flexible enough to fit over the ball. Once it was attached
and had cooled down the joint was tight and secure.
The
rest of the tail is a series of ball joints with an articulated
pincer at the end (not a snake
pincher).
As you can see in the video, the flexibility is great and this thing
is a lot of fun to play with. There’s a three-way gear at the base
of the pincer so that the three prongs move in unison.
Otherwise
Otachi has a similar range of articulation as the other Kaiju. The
rear limbs are a bit limited, but the front ones have a pretty good
range. The head is great fun just for the jaw alone.
Between
the tail and the plasma blast there’s a lot to mess around with
here. The figure itself is fun to move and pose, though you can’t
really achieve a huge range of poses. All in all, though, Otachi
feels more satisfying than the other Kaiju.
Overall
This
is a gorgeous monster. Make note – Otachi is another toy that I’m
recommending for those outside of the specific fandom. Regardless of
your feelings on Pacific
Rim,
this is a great monster toy. The design is top-notch, the paint is
incredible, and there’s a lot to like about the way the creature
moves and the options available.
As
much as I would have liked it, there was just no way we were going to
get ground-based Otachi and flying Otachi in the same figure and
have them be screen accurate. This is the best non-flying Otachi we
could have gotten for this price. Granted, that price is pretty high
– around sixty bucks - but I have to admit that I feel like I got
my money’s worth.
5
out of 5
Treat
yo’ self:
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