S.H.Figuarts DragonBall Z Krillin 2-in-1 review

Some could probably sum Krillin up with "short dude, big tude", but there's a whole lot more to him than people give credit for. Not only was he Goku's childhood friend, but he also strived to be a much stronger individual than when he trained as a monk. No doubt, he went through just as much character development as the group that would later become the Z Fighters, and it was great seeing him go from a pudgy little bald dude without a nose to someone who grew in bulk and managed to get his own wife in the form of Android 18! Sure, he faced death at times in the series, and he did get dumped at one point by the Bulma-looking babe named Marron, but at least he would later gain white coloring for his eyes and even hair. With the celebration of a new Krillin coming soon in the Figuarts line, let's see how the young version and the 2.0 version hold up. For simplicity's sake, I will refer to the younger version as "Klilyn" and the adult version simply as Krillin.

Here we have them both in hand. As expected, Klilyn is nearly a head shorter than Krillin, given the age of both characters, with one being around the time he was either a kid or a teen and the other being a grown adult who would later get a kiss from Android 18. As I understand it, Klilyn's proportions are intended to be between those of the King Piccolo saga and the Piccolo Jr. saga, although the face is slightly more reminiscent of the kid version of the character. With how Tamashii Nations tries to balance the proportions and articulation, it's not exactly 1:1 with how he actually appears when we first see him. It's appreciative that despite him being a short king, the sculpts aren't exactly the same but in different scales, as he has a blue shirt underneath his orange martial arts uniform. The belt on Krillin is sculpted to look more dynamic than on Klilyn, the body frame is much more muscular, and he goes from wearing these little shoes to proper combat boots. Admittedly, Klilyn's legs are sculpted with fewer articulation cuts, though it could be from the sculpt being made between the release dates of the 1.0 and 2.0 versions of Krillin. While legs appear less broken up, the arms look less naturalistic than on Krillin. Even the shades of orange are different between the two.

Since we already have a general look at their bald domes during the comparison shot, we will go without up-close shots. It's already easy to distinguish the art style differences between the comedic side of Klilyn and the more serious side of Krillin. Let's go over their accessories! Klilyn has a smug head as well as a yelling, more annoyed head, while Krillin features a telling head, a snarling head, and a shocked head. None of them are faceplates, given that Tamashii avoided any line separation from swappable parts that would usually look natural on characters with hair. Klilyn has 4 extra pairs of hands, and Krillin has an extra set. Some of them have the same gestures, but they are different sizes suited for each age. They have an extra hand, but Klilyn's is meant to hold the Kame treat while Krillin has a small bag molded onto it. Klilyn has a 6-star Dragon Ball, a kamehameha blast effect that looks like a bubble being blown, and a stand for it; Krillin, on the other hand, has a Destructo Disc.

Let's cover Klilyn's accessories first since we are going in chronological order. The alternate heads already add a bit of the charm we used to get with old Dragon Ball before we got the razor-sharp artstyle overhaul, and his simpler design showcases that in addition to him flashing the peace sign, being all smug while holding the treat, or looking a bit goofy while going kamehameha. While the blast effect is always a treat, I still think it looks like it's a bubble being blown.

As for adult Krillin, we'll go over the articulation for him. We have a double-jointed system between the head and the neck, ball joints at the shoulders moving front and back, hinges moving in and out, bicep rotation, double-jointed elbows (single joints on Klilyn), double wrist joints for rotation at two points and a hinge, a diaphragm joint as well as an abdominal joint, hips that move front and back as well as in and out, thigh rotation, double jointed knees (single jointed once again on Klilyn), and ankles that rotate as wel as pivot. To top it all off, he has toe-ticulation. While Klilyn may be the more expressive character with his happier faces, Krillin is more dynamic in comparison.

I already like how much more aggressive this figure looks with the yelling face and the razor sharp disc, but posing him looking from the side as he's about to knock you out or looking more serious as he does a blast attack makes this feel like a worthy upgrade for Krillin's character, making him less comedic than people would assume him to be. Sure, he has a shocked expression, but who wouldn't when a DBZ villain returns even stronger? I would like to see a smiling Krillin face to make him more relaxed when he isn't in battle, especially given how expressive he still is as a grown man.

Here we have him and Goku from Super, which has him a little desaturated than the ASROE version. I put them here together since both Krillin and Goku have shocked face plates that make such revelations in battle, however good or bad they may be, more complete. Case in point, would the Saiyan and his best friend expect the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight to fusion dance into this form?

For a general idea on what the original Krillin and the 3.0 versions are like, the newest version is set to look even more naturalistic in terms of sculptwork than the 2.0 version, while 1.0 not only has the whites in his eyes taht the character occasionally has, but the gi on him appears even more broken up than on either version, to the point where he looks more like he's wearing armor in the upper body (seriously look at how robotic his arms look when connected like that). I'll see if I can get 3.0, but that price tag is a little hard to stomach considering how reasonable 2.0's price is. As for the figures I reviewed, Krillin 2.0 makes for a generally good version of the character, though I still wish that he had a smiling head since he tends to flash one as much as his Saiyan bff. Meanwhile, Klilyn is also just as good as his older counterpart, though whether or not you want to get him depends on whether you're either a huge Krillin fan or if you are as interested in original Dragon Ball as much as with Z. And given how popular Z is, I'm sure adult Krillin would be the better choice.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (both)