A photo of Busou Shinki WaffeBunny.

“Waffe” is German for “weapon” and this bunny is certainly armed for bear. The character’s arsenal includes a pair of swords, a handgun, a tactical machine pistol and a minigun (pictured above).

A photo of Busou Shinki Rabbit WaffeBunny. The EX weapons set is based on a character design by mangaka Kasahara Tetsuro.

You have to love a line that allows you to turn a medieval knight into a futuristic special weapons operator.

A photo of Busou Shinki Knight Xiphos in full armour.

Size of figure: 16.5cm.

Size of lance: 20cm.

I’m afraid I accidentally tore part of the breastplate while removing it. The accessories and armour pieces are generally well-constructed but that particular piece of PVC should have been made much thicker, I think.

The breastplate can still be attached to the figure thanks to pegs but in between this and the fact some parts have a propensity to fall off when the figure is manipulated, it’s evident to me that this is a line meant primarily for display.

A photo of Busou Shinki Knight Xiphos in full armour. I have always loved the knight-in-armour look so this impresses me.

(It must be said, however, the helmet does evoke an armoured dunce cap.)

The only pieces retained from the other mode are the boots and groin armour. Attaching the armour pieces isn’t as simple as snapping the pieces onto the figure. You have to first dismember the entire figure by removing limbs and the head.

I noted earlier the figure’s arms were prone to falling off once the pauldrons were attached. This puzzled me considering the amount of thought that went into the rest of the design. Upon checking the instruction sheet, I realised I had neglected to remove a tiny plastic washer from each bicep joint and once I did that the arms stayed in place.

One final note: contrary to my previous observation, at least one toyco has brought together action figures and videogames before Konami did it with Busou Shinki. Takara did it with Web Diver in 2001 and there are probably other examples as well.

A photo of Busou Shinki Knight Xiphos.

Size of figure: 15cm.

Size of sword: 12cm.

When not needed to look incongruous, the sword is sheathed in a scabbard which is pegged to the figure’s armour either at the side or on the back.