Soul of Chogokin Gx-114 Marquis Janus & Gx-12R Venus A
The set comes with spare antennae for Venus in case you break the default set.
Queen Star
Venus A’s version of the Brain Condor. Piloted by Jun Hono, the Queen Star serves as a transport vehicle to bring Jun from the base to Venus. The Gx-12R version now sports a clear canopy, with a sculpted little Jun Hono inside. A big improvement compared to the original Gx-12 Venus A, which had a solid opaque canopy piece.
Venus A
A mech created for support for Great Mazinger similar to Aprhodite A and Diana A, Venus A features the same chest-firing missile attacks as its predecessors, armed with additional weaponry as well as now having the ability of flight, thanks to its Venus Scrander. It made its first appearance in episode 3 of the Great Mazinger TV series.
The figure is a straight up reissue of the Gx-12 Venus A originally released waaaay back in 2002 (more than 20 years ago!), with an improved Queen Star ship.
Same as before the figure sports a spring-loaded chest firing mechanism for her Koshiryoku Missiles.
The set also comes with optional alternate chest pieces for when her missiles run out.
Aside from her chest missiles, Venus A comes with finger missiles for added attack power. This attack is something Diana A and Aphrodite A never had. Venus can also shoot Koshiryoku beams from its eyes, similar to Diana A. She is also able to catch and redirect Great Mazinger’s Thunder Break attack once Great has finished generating the energy needed to launch it.
Lastly, Venus comes with her Venus Scrander, an attachable winged backpack similar to Mazinger Z, to allow it to fly in battle.
Display base
Chogokin 50th Anniversary design for the sticker label.
Same as with before, the base platform has holes you can plug the spare missile pieces into.
It can also serve as a flight stand of sorts, if you’re feeling brave. But I wouldn’t really recommend it.
With Gx-111 Kakumei Shinka Great Mazinger.
Marquis Janus
Marquis Janus is a fierce and loyal warrior of the Mycenae Empire. She replaces Archduke Gorgon as one of the Mycenae’s main strategists after his death at the hands of Great Mazinger in the series. Human sized and an accomplished pilot, she controls her own personal mecha also called the Marquis Janus.
The figure reuses parts from the Soul of Chogokin Aphrodai/Diana/ Venus body.
The Marquis made her first appearance in episode 23 of Great Mazinger. 
As Janus is human-sized, unlike the rest of the Mycenae Generals, she pilots her own mecha to be on equal footing with the other officers in Ankoku Daishogun’s court. Her c0ckpit canopy is located on her left chest.
Her right side is a regular chest in the show, but for the toy, it has been changed into a firing missile similar to Aphrodite A and Venus A, for added play value, I guess.
I wish the skirt was soft goods, it’s made with hard plastic so it greatly limits poseability.
In terms of attacks, Marquis Janus only has her long fingernails as melee weapons. We rarely see her in actual combat in the Great Mazinger series, if I remember correctly. She usually served as field commander stationed in the command ship, similar to Archduke Gorgon, so she rarely fought in actual combat against Great Mazinger and Venus A.
The Good
-The Weigh in:
–Venus A – 165 Grams
–Janus – 181 Grams
-Both Venus A and Janus stand roughly 6.75 inches tall.
-Queen Star now sports a clear canopy, you can even make out Jun Hono inside!
-Diecast parts include:
(for both Venus and Janus, as they share the same body construction)
–Torso
–Arms
–Legs
–Main joints
The Bad
-No display base for Marquis Janus.
-No styrofoam trays (just like the recent Dynamic Classics releases).
-Not much in terms of accessories for Janus (a tiny minifigure of her human-sized form would’ve been nice).
-Venus is almost a straight up reissue of the original Gx-12 with the exception of the Queen Star unit.
The Ugly
No quality issues on my copy, thankfully.
Overall, not too shabby. I guess it’s been a while since we got a reissued Venus A and they did improve the Queen Star so it’s not entirely a blatant reuse of the 20+ year old figure. The real target of this set, of course, is the Marquis Janus, as that’s a new character we have never gotten a toy of before and like the Gx-108 Rhine X1, it is a pretty good retool/ reuse of the Aphrodai base body.
It’s a shame that Marquis Janus doesn’t come with her own display base, though. Gx-108 Rhine X1 did. I wonder why they didn’t do one for Janus? Also, I would’ve preferred a cloth piece for the skirt, the plastic seriously limits any posing.
Gold
