Details
Kenzan (2013)
Part of the second wave of TakaraTomy Go! toys, Kenzan is a roughly Voyager-sized toy that transforms from a Japanese-style police interceptor into a samurai-styled robot, even including a robotic chonmage topknot! He has two swords (with 5mm handles) that can be held or stored on tabs on his backpack or shoulders. He also has essentially no lower torso, with his legs and kusazuri flap masquerading as his abdomen.
He can also form the top, middle or bottom of the Swordbot Samurai Team’s three combined robot forms. His kabuto helmet is worn in GoKenzan form to form the super-robot’s head. It can also transform into a large, ungainly double-barreled cannon which can attach to Kenzan’s back or, via 5 mm post, be held by the robot or mounted atop the police car.
Kenzan features complex electronic lights and sounds. In vehicle mode, pressing the Autobot-symbol button on his roof activates flashing lights and a repeating siren. Transformation into robot mode triggers a shout of “Transform!” and the classic transformation sound. In robot mode, pressing the same button triggers a number of phrases (in Japanese, natch). The button’s functionality changes when held down: in police car mode, it now activates yet another phrase, while in robot mode, it triggers shouts by all three Swordbot Samurai to combine, followed by a musical “combination sequence” tune that plays until a) his kabuto is snapped in place, b) the button is pressed again, or c) his batteries run out. This music is accompanied by a strobing three-color LED.
Once a combined form is completed, the kabuto attached determines what clips further presses of the button will play, but they are all dialogue delivered by the appropriate voice actor of the top third of the combination. In addition, GoKenzan’s dialogue is punctuated with a blue LED, GoJinbu’s with yellow, and GoGanoh’s with red. The combined robot mode is armed with a giant melee weapon formed from all of their individual melee weapons, as well as an aesthetically-questionable, but proportionally less ungainly blaster/cannon made of the unused kabuto helmets. Unlike the other Swordbots, Kenzan’s soles form the palms of GoKenzan’s hands, the fingers and thumbs folding out from his heels and toes. This gives the gestalt additional articulation.
His kabuto helmet was redecoed with gold chrome as a promotional campaign.
Upon his initial release, Kenzan included his Arms Micron partner Zan when purchased from a large number of retailers (including Toys”R”Us Japan, AEON, Yodabashi Camera, and Amazon Japan).
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