Villkiss, one of the main mecha from the anime Cross Ange, is getting the Riobot toy treatment this December, and it looks gorgeous.
Cross Ange was a fantasy mecha anime released back in 2014. It had some interesting credits behind it, such as Junichi Akutsu who handled the mecha design.
Akutsu also is known as Bee Craft and worked on games like Armored Core V and Frame Gride, as well as a variety of Gundam anime such as Gundam SEED. The latter is noteworthy as the Cross Ange mecha designs share many of the spikier attributes from Gundam SEED.
While I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the anime, the mecha did end up in Super Robot Wars X, a game which I did enjoy a great deal.
Naturally, as Super Robot Wars X had a strong fantasy mecha angle, including mecha from anime such as Aura Battler Dunbine, Cross Ange fitted right in.
As for this new Riobot toy, it’s quite a step up from the Robot Damashii figure released back in 2015. Firstly, it’s a lot bigger clocking in at 26 cm (or around 10 inches) in height. It also utilizes a lot of diecast in its construction.
The addition of diecast is a big deal, as the Villkiss can also transform. Meaning that the materials used need to be pretty sturdy.
The other big news for this release is that T-REX is handling the toy’s design, which not only means that the transformation will work brilliantly, but also that the sculpt will be pristine. That is something that is already apparent from the photos and trailer (shown below) for the toy.
The price tag is pretty steep though, coming in at 42,900 yen (or around $274). Pre-orders start today via Sentinel’s online shop and the toy will be released this December.
If you are at all curious about the Cross Ange anime, then you can also watch it over on Crunchyroll.
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