Saint Seiya Myth Cloth review # 31: Ikki of Phoenix v2... times 2

So here we are, less then an hour before the year 2011 comes to an end, and what better way to wave it out with a final review of the year. As a matter of fact, the first post of 2012 will also be one, to go back to back with the New Year celebrations.

Why I chose this as the last and first of the things I post about on my blog? Because I love them personally. Every time I post about a Myth Cloth means I`m one more cloth closer to the full collection (I guess I`m about half way there currently), so it`s not for a rating boost at on average 50 views for each, but as a pesonal memento of the one thing in my collection I am by far the most proud off owning.

Ikki, older brother of Shun, and the bronze saint of Phoenix. A strong warrior, his power is fueled by his rage and hatred, and it was already early on established in both the manga and the anime that his powers as a bronze saint rivalled and even surpassed even the Silver Saints, who are supposed to be the `warrior caste` of Athena`s army.

Originally the first major antagonist of the bronze saints, he commanded the Black Saints to attack the heroes and steal the Gold cloth from the Galaxian Tournament to become even stronger and fearsomer then he already is... but turns to the side of our heroes afterwards and turns out to be a most trusted ally, though he often goes his own way and arrives ad hoc from the others.

He is immortal just like it`s cloth, as he is time and again reborn from his own ashes, but however he does age, so there is an actual limit to his immortality. He can die of old age, but that is like about it, and no matter how many times his cloth is shattered, it always ressurects itself, something the other bronze cloths can not do and need to be repaired when having sustained to much damage.

He also has a very cool attack with his Genmakhen, which forces his opponents to see illusions in order to shatter their mind or beat them up, or to extract the truth from then if needed like he did with Mime in the Asgard arc.



So onto the cloth of this rather cool fella then... and I am ashamed to say it, this is BY FAR the worst model in my collection.

I can`t really put my finger on it, but something is `off` with the proportions of head / chest / helmet piece, which results in him looking rather goofy. If that is not the worst they can do, the face doesn`t resemble Ikki at all, and to add even further shame: it is all coloured wrong. The horns are bright yellow and the armour is a purplish blue.

I rate this, ow my poor little heart and wallet, an desastrous 0 out of 5 stars...

BUT

The Phoenix ressurects from his own ashes, does he not?



Soon after the 2nd series Cloths, BanDai brought out a limited set of the five bronzes with slightly improved colouring. And this is certainly true for the Phoenix. The model is exactly the same, but at least the horns are orange now, and his cloth is a dark blue instead of the purple of the original.

This raises his score to a still miserable 1 out of 5, but better then nothing? If he self ressurects 4 more times, we`d be getting somewhere...

No, this is a definite `no buy` advice from me to whomever might look for some tips, apart from `having it in your collection` like I do. But rest assured, he is way back in the cabinet hidden behind other Saints...



And so the Society finshes another year of ranting, bragging, showing Myth cloths, gaming and a gazillion other things you can probably live without just as well. It was all in all from a blogging point a good year, with some new faces signing up, and some familiar faces staying on board through all the rough waters.

So as we prepare to step into the new year and I`m going to grab my coat to watch the fireworks (at least it stopped raining for the moment), I thank you all for looking around in here, and raise a toast to the comming year. May the gamer gods in whatever field of intrest smile upon you and most importantly, make sure y`all stay in good health.

Best of Wishes and a Happy New Year!