Review and images by JimoAi; edited by bmathison1972
Japan has produced many well made animal figures for both accurate and for comical situations, like animals at work or sleeping animals. In these scenarios, it’s usually land mammals that get these treatment, but occasionally reptiles, birds, and fish will join the roster. In 2021, Kitan Club has broken the mold by opting to go with showcasing the comical features of the underside of rays with their mouths and nostrils, which resemble eyes. This set contains 5 species of rays and surprisingly for a set about batoids, a manta ray isn’t included! This gives the spotlight to the lesser-known species that are popular in public aquaria. All the figures share similar features: highlighted mouth and nostrils, thickened bodies (compared to real rays), juvenile/’chibi’ proportions, shortened tails, and standing up on their pelvic fins with their tails as a tripod, and simple yet accurate paint jobs. Without further ado, let’s take a look at them.
Spotted eagle ray (Aetobatus narinari)
Second in popularity of rays to the manta ray, the largest figure of the set comes in at a 7 cm wingspan. This figure features a glossy finish of a black with white spots on the top, typical of spotted eagle rays, and a white underbelly with black tips on the underside. This figure also contains accurate features: a duck-billed nose, 5 small gill slits, spiracles, a dorsal fin, and a stinger. Despite being the most common species represented, this is my favorite ray out of this set.
Cownose ray (Rhinoptera javanica)
The second largest in the set at a 6.6 cm wingspan, this species is popular in large aquariums around the world, including in touch tanks. This figure is probably the Javanese cownose ray due to it being found around the waters of Japan. This figure is glossy with a chocolate brown top and a white underbelly with dark brown pectoral fin tips. The figure, like the spotted eagle, has all the accurate features of eagle rays, although it has a more reduced dorsal fin.
Red stingray (Hemitrygon akajei)
The ‘typical’ stingray of the set. The wingspan of a modest 5.2 cm, it is painted in a brown main body with a white underbelly and outline in yellow, which I think should be more of a darker yellow or reddish color, hence the name of the fish. This figure has no dorsal fin but features denticles and a stinger on its tail. It is worth noting that Bandai also produced this species for their Fishing Spirits (a popular fishing game in Japan and a Nintendo Switch title that features many different species of real and fictional fish, even including Pokemon Magikarp and Gyarados in one of their promotional material) line which is also very small.
Baby skate (Raja sp.)
The smallest in the set at 4.2 cm wide. Unlike the other figures in this set, this one isn’t based on a specific species (or one that I’ve found). It seems to be based on the generic baby skate pictures commonly found on the internet. This figure features the typical skate features of 2 pairs of pelvic fins and 2 dorsal fins at the end of the tail, in addition to a triangular body. The whole figure is white with a spray of beige orange on the too and some pink on the belly as well as purple to show to heart through the transparent body. The nostrils and mouth looks especially stylized for this one and it only features 3 printed on Gill slits, unlike the rest that features 5 sculpted on gill slits.
Giant shovelnose ray (Glaucostegus typus)
The oddest figure in the set standing at 4.2 cm tall. Not the first figure of the species, but to be fair, no live versions of this species has been made to toy form. This figure is essentially a head with a tail: it’s head is literally twice as long as the entire body! While the other figures I can see as somewhat normal, this one is plain comical. The figure is sculpted as a dried specimen with the cartilage textured and grooves on the fins present. The creepiest aspect is the underside with the wrinkly underside, along with he void black nostrils, makes this piece pure nightmare fuel. It is painted in a dark brown top with a lighter brown belly. The pelvic fins looks like they’ve been split in two to aid in stability and this figure has claspers sculpted. I’ve noticed that the 2 long streaks are part of the body that has been cut from either side of the body, which further cements that this is a dead specimen and a really terrifying one that is.
Overall, a cute assortment of rays, except for the terrifying guitarfish. While the unnatural pose and cartoony aspect may be off-putting, as a batoid collector I find these figures really charming and that guitarfish would make a good piece for a halloween display as well. Kitan Club has done well in balancing realistic and cartoony aspects in this product, as it is quite hard to mix them in marine animals. I really do hope this is an indicator of more rays to be made if it does sells well. Being a recent gashapon set, is still widely available in Japan-based sites. Looking forward to see more unusual rays be made in toy form!
Oh look, I’m another year older…
I’d actually consider getting 1-2 of these if they were at least flat and not sculpted propped up like this!
I actually spent some time contemplating my purchase choice when I first got the set. Really wanted to add the red stingray but the sculpt says no