Hey there people, David Lee here again for another toy review. This round, may I present the Henkei Gaia Kyoryu Fang Memory which literally translates to Transforming Gaia Dinosaur Fang Memory. In it's debut in episode 15, Philip was still in shock after how it affected his mind when he first used him in the movie 'Begin's Night'. However, with a burning passion to save his partner Shoutarou, Philip once again risked it and put his conscience at stake by using the Fang Memory once again to Henshin into Fang Joker. What I am reviewing here today is the limited First Press of the Fang Memory. This Fang Memory came with a nifty bonus, a DX Joker Memory Shoutarou Version. I will get to that later.
Now, let us see how the packaging of the Fang Memory looks like.
The outer box of the 1st press edition comes with a shiny silver chromed sticker that shows you the bonus that is found inside. The sticker reads something like "Shoutarou's voice is in this limited DX Joker Memory".
Let us take a closer look at the special Joker Memory.
As you can see, aside from the normal 'J' sign at the sticker, there's a cartoonish Shoutarou silhouette at the top corner of the sticker which can be seen in the opening credits of Kamen Rider Double.
After taking them out, the 2 pieces will look like this.
Fang looks like an oversized little beast compared to the Joker Memory. The details on the Fang Memory is extremely nice and done justice. However, there is one dissapointment I would like to point out here. The mouth of Fang is actually molded shut and cannot be opened. I do not know why they did so as with the mouth being able to open, it would not affect any transformation gimmicks of the Memory itself. Dang, Bandai!
In Dinosaur mode, there are 3 different Dinosaur roaring sounds that can be activated.
The sounds are activated by pressing on Fang's little tail at the back. The sounds are played randomly and do not follow any specific order.
This is how the Joker Memory looks like outside of the package.
It is almost 95% alike with the original Joker Memory by the look of the naked eye.
Transforming this little critter is quite easy. Simply fold the Memory piece which is hidden within the belly area of the Dinosaur out and turn the legs so that they face upward and it's ready. The button at the Memory will be similar to other Memories, having light and announcing the name of the Memory when the button is pressed.
As for the Joker, this one does not say JOKAA! when you press the button. It says "Ikuze Philip!" instead which means "Let's Go Philip!".
Slotting them both in will have the standby sound in motion as usual. Do note that the standby sounds are only available on the DX Memories. None of the Candy or the Gashapon Memories have a standby sound.
Henshin!
FANGU! JOKAA!
When Philip again used the Fang Memory to become Fang Joker, the Fang Memory became the Body Memory while the Joker, originally a Body Memory became a Soul Memory instead. For those who do not know what are Body and Soul Memories, Body Memories are Memories that allow the user/holder to use his body to fight. These include Joker, Metal and Trigger. Soul Memories are the exact opposite whereby by using the Memory, the Soul of the user will be transferred along the Soul Memory to the person using the Body Memory on the Driver.
The other secret / special sound of this Joker Memory is that after the Henshin sounds, the Joker portion will say "Saa, Omae no Tsumio wo Kazoero!" which literally translates to "Now, count up your sins". This is the main attraction of the Joker Memory provided in this set and something I like very much as well. I am glad I was able to pick this one up.
With Shoutarou and Philip working together to overcome the oppressing nature of the Fang Memory, they managed to take control of Fang Joker's wild nature and use it to their advantage. Similarly to the show, by pressing the little horn on the Fang Memory (which is the Dinosaur's tail), it creates sounds based on how many times you have pressed.
Press Once: Arm Fang + Arm Fang Attacking Sound
Press Twice: Shoulder Fang + Shoulder Fang Attacking Sound (something like a boomerang sound)
Press Three Times and more: Fang, Maximum Drive + Fang Stryzer Attacking Sound
In his debut, the Fang Stryzer was the only possible manner to defeat the heavily armed Arms Dopant.
The Joker Memory can also be comboed with the other DX Memories from the DX Double Driver set. Although the sounds may be the same but it gives you a different feel to things especially the catchphrase that comes after Cyclone Joker's Henshin sound. So invigorating.
Let us see the comparison of the basic DX Joker Memory and the DX Joker Memory Shoutarou Version.
As I have mentioned earlier, the only visible difference is on the sticker. If the stickers are peeled off, I doubt I can even differentiate them
To wrap this up, here are my Memory collections up till now (except Metal and my 2 Memory Gadgets which I was lazy to take them out).
Hope you guys enjoy this review and thanks to bro Yam for uploading this on his wonderful blog. Well, that's all for now. Watch out for more reviews soon.