Mobile Suit Gundam’s return to television has become one
of the franchise most popular entries since it started in late 2022. With several interesting changes to the
Gundam formula granting easier access to even casual Anime viewers, The Witch
from Mercury is enjoying a success not seen with Gundam since the days of
Gundam SEED or Gundam 00. Of course,
while we’re all here for the continuing drama of Suletta and Miorine, we’re
also here to watch Mobile Suits kick ass…specifically the new titular Mobile
Suit Gundam, the Aerial. I fell in love
with this thing the moment I saw it and clearly, so did a great many other fans
because when I went to Katsucon 2023, finding a Gunpla of the Aerial was damn
near impossible, it probably sold out withing the first couple of hours of the
Dealers Room being open. Thankfully,
there’s the internet and plenty of vendors to shop from and the Aerial has
always been a priority since I started building Gunpla again. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a
long time…so how did I do?
The Aerial was first unveiled when it arrived at the Asticassia
School of Technology, along with it’s pilot, Suletta Mercury, in the year Ad
Stella 122.
By this point, over 21 years
had passed since Gundam’s had been outlawed due to the stress from the brain
computer interface they employed, which resulted in critical damage to the
human body or death.
The student
population of Asticassia, and the world at large, were initially unaware that
the Aerial was a Gundam until Suletta’s first Mobile Suit Duel.
In addition to its formidable power and
arsenal, the Aerial seemed to connect with Suletta on a personal level that
resulted in her being unaffected by the factors that led to many pilots dying
in a Gundam cockpit.
Suletta quickly
rose in the ranks of Asticassia’s duelist system, becoming the School’s Top
Holder, thanks in large part to the Aerial being able to overcome all
challenges, even battles with multiple combatants at once.
During it’s brief stay at Plant Quetta, the
Aerial was eventually upgraded to the XVX-016RN Gundam Aerial Rebuild, which,
as of this writing, is still it’s current state.
Build Experience
I was surprised by the amount of racks for the HG Aerial,
in particular the lack of a PC rack which contains many internal connecting
pieces.
Everything was merged onto racks
A-C with so much ease you’d think this was going to be an Entry Grade and not a
High Grade Model.
I’ll actually talk
more about a BG model next week but trust me, this is no Beginniers Gunpla, but
maybe it’s a nice next step up, a decent first High Grade to work on.
The Aerial also comes with the option for two
different sets of decals: black and a more digitalized color scheme (red,
orange and yellow).
The latter emulates
the more powered up state of the Gundam so i decided to try that out.
Unfortunately for me, this led to my one snag
on this build.
I didn’t get the decals
on the right side of the clear pieced knees, so they do kind of stand out.
Worst yet, by the time I’d locked in the
legs, it would have been pretty difficult to take them apart and make the
necessary changes.
Personally I blame
the decals themselves because they aren’t very well marked.
They could have had everything on two
separate groupings rather than right next to each other and making the builder
have to guess which set is the one they wanted to go with.
Other than that though, The Aerial came out really well.
The model itself is a nice marriage of old
and new Gundam trends from the slim and kind of skeletal layout akin to the Barbatos
from Iron Blooded Orphans but it has the weaponry and capabilities of later
Universal Century Gundams’ like the Nu Gundam or the Unicorn.
The bright colors pop really well too,
harkening back to the good old days of the very first RX-78-2.
The Sheild came together very, very well and
can easily be broken apart to recreate the first time Suletta unleashes its
full fury in a duel.
And this might seem
minor but after the last few models I’ve covered have decided not to have
transparent colored beam sabers, we get two blue colored ones and they look
freaking awesome in the Aerial’s hands, maybe even better than the Beam Rifle
and Shield combo (both can rest just fine on the Gundam’s back, so definite
points there).
Conclusion/Rating
My own folly with the decals aside, the Aerial was worth
the searching and waiting.
It feels like
both an evolution of the Gundams that have come before it while also containing
trace elements from previous generations to make it familiar for long time
fans.
The Gunpla itself is pretty
sturdy, colored very well and is the kind of build one might try as their first
High Grade, even if it lacks the standard amount of racks and pieces that make
one up.
Don’t be tricked into thinking
this might be an Entry Grade with its lack of a complex interior.
This is still a Gunpla that can be tricky and
yeah the decals could have been handled better.
But this is a Gunpla that feels super accessible to any level of Gunpla
builder, just as the Aerial itself is a welcome new face for the long running
franchise, ready to welcome fans old and new alike.
8.5/10
Next week, we’ve looked at the most recent of the
Gundams.
Now it’s time to go back to the
beginning and I mean that in more ways than one.
The very first Gundam on the lowest Gunpla
builder setting.
We’re going back to
basics on the next Gunpla Builder Thursday right here at the Gundam Anime
Corner.
No comments:
Post a Comment