Soul of Chogokin Gx-109 ChoRyuJin
Story
To help deal with the incoming threat posed by the looming Zonderian invasion, GGG creates the Mobile Unit, support robots that can be deployed into the field, to assist Gaogaigar in combat and rescue operations. Developed using advanced Super A.I. and powered by the G-Stone, each robot member of the team is heroic, selfless, and fueled by courage in their actions.
G.B.R. -02 HoRyu (HyouRyuu)
When you first take the vehicles out of the box, you’ll need to fix each unit’s ab crunch joint a bit, bend their “spines” backwards a bit so that their “spines” to make the wheels contact better on surfaces.
Attaching ChoRyuJin’s head onto HoRyu’s alt mode can be a bit confusing at first, you just have to shift out the grey base plate so you can tack the head unit on.
Diecast tips on the rifle barrel.
Deployable hook piece (no retractable cable winch though).
Just like with the vintage Takara toy, the crane can extend out to twice its length.
SYSTEM CHANGE!
Transformation Notes Part 1
-Make sure to pull out the crotch section on the twins to protrude them outwards and give better form to the robot modes.
-The heels need to be flipped out to help stabilize the robot modes. They tend to flip back in rather easily so keep an eye on them when you’re trying to pose the figures.
-Same as with the vintage toy, the Melting and Freezing Guns can be stored away in the front cab sections of each figure.
The second G-Stone powered Brave robot created after Gaogaigar, HoRyu is Cool, calm and calculating. Prefers to use cold, unfeeling logic to solve problems the team encounters when on field missions for GGG.
HoRyu’s name means “Ice Dragon”.
It’s a bit hard to tell, but I don’t think there are ankle tilt joints for the feet?
Freezing Gun – an “Energy-Inverting Type Freezing Device”, it is HoRyu’s usual weapon of choice when in combat.
Chest Thriller (Chiller?) – HoRyu adjusts the temperature on his chest before opening his chest panel to blast his targets with concentrated freezing temperatures generated from his body.
I love how the toys are able to recreate this gimmick from the show! Just simply adjust the knob on his chest to “power up” the Chest Thriller before each figure opens it up to blast his opponents.
Semi-Vehicle Mode – As seen in the Anime series, HoRyu can transform halfway to maintain his legs in vehicle mode to allow for faster movement across the battlefield.
The “backpack” has small deployable wheels to help the figure roll around.
Freezing Rifle – HoRyu uses his Power Crane as a shoulder-mounted long-range rifle to shoot freezing beams. It is later on upgraded into the Ul-Tech Rifle which fires energy beams in order to combat the more powerful 31 Primevals.
G.B.R.- 03 EnRyu (EnRyuu)
Diecast-tipped rifle barrel.
Mirror Shield placement on the vehicle mode.
Same as with the vintage Takara toy, EnRyu’s Power ladder can be extended out to twice its length.
SYSTEM CHANGE!
The third G-Stone powered Brave robot created for GGG, EnRyu is the exact opposite of his brother. Hot-headed and aggressive, he tends to take on more than he can handle in most situations.
EnRyu’s name means “Flame Dragon”.
EnRyu is only 5 seconds younger than his older brother, HoRyu.
Melting Gun – a “Cascade Heat Capacitor Type Melting Ray”. The Melting Gun is EnRyu’s signature weapon, which can fire beams of intense heat energy.
Melting Rifle – similar to his brother, EnRyu uses his Power Ladder as a shoulder-mounted long-range weapon capable of firing heat beams. This, too, is later upgraded into a Ul-Tech Rifle that fires concentrated beam shots to combat against the 31 Primevals.
Mirror Shield – Coated with a layer of semi-permanent Mirror Coating, the shield absorbs energy attacks into its left side and redirects it back at the enemy using the right side.
EnRyu’s Mirror Shield can be stowed away on his lower back when not in use.
Chest Warmer – Similar to HoRyu, EnRyu adjusts the temperature on his chest before opening his chest panel to blast his enemies with concentrated heat energy generated from his body.
Semi-Vehicle Mode – Similar to his brother, HoRyu can transform halfway to maintain his legs in vehicle mode to allow for faster movement on the battlefield.
It’s recommended to use adapter piece so that the Mirror Shield can stay plugged into the backpack piece when HoRyu’s in this mode.
GGG’s first Mobile Unit members – HyouRyuu and EnRyuu
Developed by GGG to assist Gaogaigar in the field as the first members of the organization’s “Mobile Unit” team, HyouRyuu and EnRyuu could initially only operate in their vehicle modes as rescue support units. It took a while for their A.I. systems to become capable of unlocking “System Change” transformations into their robot modes.
Even using heavily advanced A.I. technology, it still took the GGG staff six months to properly nurture and educate the Ryuu brothers before they could be deployed into the field on simple missions.
SUPERNOVA! – The Twin’s kamikaze attack (seen only once in the entire anime OVA series, used on P-Vater). Both brothers open up their respective chest blasters at the same time at zero proximity to their enemy, taking it out, as well as sacrificing themselves in the process. It is the duo’s final desperation move.
SYMMETRICAL DOCKING! – The twins finally unlock the ability to combine into the powerful ChoRyuJin!
Transformation Notes Part 2
-Be careful not to hit the nose sections of each figure when extending out their respective torsos. The clearances are very tight. Go slow when transforming this section.
-Make sure to use the locks on the sides of each robot to prevent the legs from collapsing. Likewise, remember to pull out the locks when transforming back into individual robot mode.
Choryujin
ChoRyuJin is the result of HyouRyu and EnRyu’s “Symmetrical Docking”. Achieved when both of their SympaRates reach 100%. Initially near impossible to achieve due to the duo’s different opposing temperaments and personalities, the twin’s SympaRates were finally in sync when they were both determined to save Gaogaigar from destruction from EI-07’s detonation trap.
ChoRyuJin’s name literally means “Super Dragon God”.
Transformation Notes Part 3
Optional parts are included to give ChoRyuJin better proportions and added articulation.
Note that you will have to pull apart several sections of the figure to merge it with the non-transforming parts.
The legs of the individual robot units have to be pulled off to expose these joints, so that you can plug them into the new body unit.
The optional bigger, chunkier, diecast forearms are really something else. They’re very, very heavy nuggets of metal! Nice!
I strongly recommend using the faux body unit as it adds shoulder butterfly joints to make ChoRyuJin even more fun to pose, plus there’re ratchet jointed, better for holding the Eraser Head component.
The optional, non-transforming torso has an ab crunch joint.
Transform ChoRyuJin from this…
… in this!
CHORYUJIN’s ATTACKS
Double Gun – ChoRyuJin fires the Freezing and Melting guns mounted on his forearms.
Double Tonfa – ChoRyuJin uses the Power Crane and Power Ladder as Tonfa weapons for melee attacks.
You’ll have to plug in the handles for ChoRyuJin to be able to hold the Tonfas.
Double Rifle – ChoRyuJin uses the Freezing and Melting Rifles on the Power Crane and Power Ladder now mounted on his hips. This is later upgraded into Ul-Tech beam weapons after the brothers were equipped with Ul-Tech engines to fight the 31 Primevals threat.
Ul-Tech Beam – Full Salvo – ChoRyuJin fires the Double Guns and Rifles at the same time.
Mirror Shield – ChoRyujin mounts his chest panel (Mirror Shield) on the Power Crane and Power Ladder to absorb enemy blasts from a distance. Used only once in episode 16 when ChoRyuJin tried to block a highly destructive mortar shell fired by EI-16 (Long-range Cannon Robo) while trying to protect Tokyo University. The sheer force of the impact was still powerful enough to destroy the Mirror Shield and heavily damage both twins.
I strongly recommend using a Soul Stage to help prop up the Tonfas if you plan to pose ChoRyuJin with the Shield like this, in order to prevent the joints on the Tonfas (rifles) from becoming loose.
Eraser Head – Developed by GGG to prevent collateral damage to surrounding areas, the Eraser Head is a large, eraser-shaped tool used by ChouRyuJin to divert any type of explosion or energy surge into the atmosphere by vibrating at ultrasonic speeds.
Optional parts are included to be attached to the Eraser Head for Choryujin to hold onto.
The Eraser Head unit can extend a bit and even has adjustable panels. Cool!
Removable “eraser” part.
You can get ChoRyuJin to hold the Eraser Head without the base support with these parts.
Lastly, optional parts are included for ChoRyuJin to “carry” the Eraser Head into battle as opposed to relying on the usual catapult ejection system. I remember seeing this in once, but I can’t remember exactly which episode.
DISPLAY BASE
Admittedly, the display base isn’t that impressive. You hardly even notice it’s there when you mount ChoRyuJin on it.
Alternately you can mount the Eraser Head unit on it (as shown in the manual), but it looks really awkward.
Together with Soul of Chogokin Gx-68 Gaogaigar
The Good
-EnRyu weighs 365 Grams, while HoRyu weighs 375 Grams .
-Both figures stand roughly 7.5 inches tall.
-ChoRyuJin stands roughly 9.5 inches tall (counting shoulder height) and weighs 756 Grams (1020 Grams with option parts).
-Diecast parts include:
–The piston pieces on the Power Crane and Power Ladder.
–The gun muzzles of the Power Crane and Power Ladder.
–The hinge sections of the Power Crane and Power Ladder.
–Main Torso sections of EnRyu and HoRyu (ChoRyuJin’s knees)
–Mirror Shield/ ChoRyuJin’s chest panel
–Each figure’s feet
–Each figure’s biceps
–Each figure’s side skirts (ChoRyuJin’s front skirt plates)
–ChoRyuJin’s forearms (optional parts only)
–ChoRyuJin’s elbows
–ChoRyuJin’s knees (formerly EnRyu and HoRyu’s torsos)
–ChoRyuJin’s feet
–ChoRyuJin’s optional feet parts
-The Eraser Head unit can expand and even has adjustable panels. Cool!
-The inclusion of optional parts to give ChoRyuJin better proportions and articulation was a good move.
-Display (support) base is included.
-The (heavy!) diecast forearm optional parts were a nice surprise.
-The use of clear parts for the “sirens” and “headlights” on the vehicle modes make them look really good.
-An improvement over the vintage toys, when the wheels roll on these trucks, the mags don’t roll along, but stay fixed in place. Nice.
-Beautiful paint apps all around. The whole set looks really nicely done as far as finishing is concerned.
The Bad
-Just one size for the Eraser Head.
-No Eraser Head -9999 (lol)
-The Display base feels rather lacking. No dedicated character nameplate?
-Using the display base for the Eraser Head looks very awkward. I think they should have at least dedicated a proper attachment/ adapter to it instead of forcing ChoRyuJin’s adapter for it.
-No Pencil Gun Weapons?
-Robot mode “heels” flip back in way too easily. It gets annoying sometimes.
-No way for the individual bots to recreate their Tonfa weapons. I tried it with EnRyu but his hand gripping hand gap was too big, I had to eventually rest it on his knee to create this shot.
-Repeated pulling out of parts to combine with the better-proportioned optional pieces might result in wear and tear? Not sure about this one, but it does seem like a possible thing to be concerned about after multiple “transformations”.
-An ejection gimmick for the guns to push them out of the lower leg cavities just like in the Anime, instead of just shaking them out, would’ve been a nice.
The Ugly
I recommend being extra careful with HoRyu and EnRyu’s weapon-holding hands. I nearly tore the fingers off one of the “pistol holding” hands trying to get the Mirror Shield into place.
Likewise, I feel like the joints for the Tonfas should’ve been executed better. It’s just plastic on plastic friction. It will wear down and loosen over time. It’s already starting to happen with HoRyu’s Power Ladder. There should have been some ratchet joints in there or something. Sigh…
The filler piece for ChoRyuJin’s inner leg tends to fall out often (especially for EnRyu). I don’t know if it’s just my copy or if I’m totally doing something wrong.
SECRETS SECTION
While not mentioned in the manual, you can pull out the logo on ChoRyuJin’s chest panel and turn it around to reveal the alternate chest piece for the EnRyu and RaiRyu combination mecha, GenRyuuJin.
Overall, an amazing toy! It’s a beautiful update to the original Takara toys from back in the day. While the Tonfas could’ve been done better, the figure overall looks really good and has some great shelf presence. Naturally, it pairs very well with Gaogaigar.
While there are some negatives, none of them are too glaring and the overall figure is well done, considering the amount of detail and engineering that went into making this.
I get the feeling Bandai will release the Pencil Gun weapons along with the SP Pack parts as an optional set down the road. We shall see.
With Big Volfogg recently teased, I really hope we get GekiRyuJin soon.
Gold
