The Heisei Era is coming to a close and Kamen Rider is celebrating with its latest anniversary season, Kamen Rider Zi-O. Now the first batch of Zi-O merch has had some issues. A lot of sites were understocked and fans are having a tough time getting their hands on these toys, but I assure you, if you do, you are in for one hell of a treat! The DX Ziku Driver is fantastic on all accounts.
The toy comes in one of two sets. This set is the most basic one, which includes simply the Driver, belt straps, and the DX Zi-O Ride Watch. The Ride Watch itself is a nice weighty handful of a gimmick. The face can rotate to reveal either Zi-O’s symbol and debut year or it can display an image of his face. The single button on top will shuffle through 3 sounds unique to each Rider’s Ride Watch. The Ziku Driver is a little on the small side but certainly not bad. It has a speaker in the middle for sound effects, but mostly the Driver will act as a display as the Ride Watches make the majority of the sounds. Turning the toy on will give you both a sound effect saying “Ziku Driver” as well as those same words appear from one side of the Driver and moving across to the other. Inserting the Ride Watch on the left will give the user the “Rider Time” sounds and display while the right gives you “Armor Time”. Once your Ride Watches are inserted, press the middle button on the Driver to unlock it and spin the Driver 360 degrees back into place to complete the Henshin. From here, you can repeat the process as well as press the button on the Ride Watch to activate the finisher, “Time Break”.
Overall, this Driver is INCREDIBLY unique and really stands out from Drivers of the past. The Ride Watches as well are a fantastic gimmick, working in tandem with the Driver to make its sounds and visual display. I’ve enjoyed just about every DX Driver toy released over the years, but the last time I truly fell in love with a Driver this much was probably Kamen Rider Decade and I haven’t enjoyed a gimmick this much since Kamen Rider Gaim. As I mentioned earlier, this toy is currently tough to get a hold of but, if you can, you will not regret it. The DX Ziku Driver is an absolute home-run of a toy and I recommend it to everyone who’s a fan of DX Drivers.
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