S.H. Figuarts Porunga and Dende set
“Genuine”? I think that’s gotta hurt Shenron’s feelings.
The packaging size for this is crazy!! It’s way bigger than Great Ape Vegeta! The box spans 17.25 x 20 x 7.25 inches in dimension.
The box just towers over your garden variety S.H. Figuarts box.
The electronics in this set require 3x AA batteries. Batteries NOT INCLUDED.
Dende
An orphaned Namekian whose family was killed by Frieza’s men, Dende was rescued by Gohan and Krillin from Freeza’s warriors. Dende later helps the heroes summon Porunga, as the latter can only be summoned using Namekian language.
While not having any skills or abilities as a fighter, Dende is invaluable to the team as a healer. His magical healing abilities have saved the Z warriors from near death on several occasions throughout the series.
Each Namekian Dragon Ball can be placed into the indentions on the base.
Aside from the “on” switch at the bottom of the base, there’s an activation button for the electronics here.
Ideally, you should set them up like how they are in the tray. But in case you’re lazy, the positions of the balls from 1-7 don’t matter and won’t interfere with the electronics of the toy (though in the show, the Dragonballs have to be specifically placed in order to activate).
Bases all lined up.
Lastly, simply just plug in Porunga into the effects base to set everything up.
“Takkara-Puto Popporunga Pupiritto-Paro” – the phrase Dende utters to activate the Namekian Dragon Balls.
The Dragon Balls light up when you press the base button.
The set includes a spare set of “open” hands for Porunga.
Porunga
Summoned by Planet Namek’s Dragon Balls, Porunga the wish granting dragon is several times larger (and more powerful) than his Earth counterpart. Only summoned by speaking a specific phrase in the Namekian language, Porunga can grant up to three wishes to the summoner, unlike Earth’s Shenron, who can only grant one wish per summon (Shenron later in the series gets upgraded to grant three wishes as well, thanks to Dende).
A big difference between Porunga and Shenron is that the former is able to grant the same wish repeatedly (I.E. bring the same person back to life repeatedly, as long as they didn’t die of natural causes). Also, unlike Shenron, there is no time limit to how long a person can remain dead before they can no longer be revived.
On the flip side, Shenron’s only edge on Porunga’s wish-granting is that Shenron can revive an unlimited number of people with just one wish, unlike Porunga, who can only revive one person at a time.
There’s a mid torso joint for Porunga, this grants some additional minor movement for his massive upper body.
Since Porunga is really, really big, he eats up 16 (counting the tip of his back fin) x 12 (counting the spikes on his shoulders) x 13.5 (counting both bases when lined up) inches in dimension on a shelf.
A demo video of the electronics. If you leave the set untouched for a few seconds, Dende and Porunga will rush you, warning of Vegeta and Frieza’s arrival soon.
When you remove one Dragon Ball, the electronics will cut out and Porunga says “Goodbye”.
Lastly, if you leave the set alone for roughly 2 minutes without pressing the electronics button to continue the program, Porunga will “leave” and the whole thing shuts down.
With S.H. Figuarts Son Goku.
After granting all three wishes, Porunga then usually makes an “OK” sign before leaving, that’s the purpose of this optional right hand accessory.
Overall, a pretty amazing set!!! I was initially taken aback by the SRP when they first announced this, but now, seeing it in person, I am really surprised at how big and imposing this thing is (even when placed next to Great Ape Vegeta)! The electronics are a nice touch and add a lot of value to an already impressive figure.
I’m not really sure how the lights on balls work without being directly plugged into anything except just being in contact with the base. It’s really something amazing and I am impressed the Bandai engineers came up with it. Great job, Bandai!
Gold
