Open Ocean Adventures: Gouf R35

Preface
The same day I purchased the Zaku II High Mobility Type in Okinawa, I also decided to get the Gouf R35. As we were sailing, I was so busy with the Japanese version of Monster Hunter 4 that I continued to procrastinate on actually finishing the kit, taking photos and writing a review till the last couple weeks of this past voyage. In a rush, I finished the review on the Powered GM Cardigan, and finally started writing this review in the final week before we were to land in Sasebo, Japan.

Introduction
The Gouf R35 is the mobile suit of Mr. Ral from Gundam Build Fighters and Build Fighters Try; a spin off character of Rambal Ral from the Universal Century who also pilots a version of the Gouf. Mr. Ral represents the old school Universal Century fans, and has a following of Zaku Otakus in an underground bar that he regularly visits. For some unknown reason, he also revered as a legend among the elite pilots of the Build Fighters universe. However, he still is able to be defeated by kids for some reason; has he lost his touch?

First Impression
At first, I thought that the R35 was a modified version of the Gouf Custom, but found out later that this was an original build. Looking at the instructions, there is supposed to be a difference in certain blue plates, but the hue is so insignificant, that it might as well be one shade of blue. Although the sticker sheet is small, there are some large stickers that are supposed to be placed on the hand shaped cannons. They are supposed to make the bracer section look like the grey machinery, but stickers are too shiny for that.

Body
I have been shying away from this suit due to one piece of this puzzle; the clear orange core. There are two "windows" front and center in the Gouf R35s abdominal area, and I am not a big fan of it. However, I got over it really quickly as I started building.

The Gouf, as with most standard Zeonic mobile suits, have an upper body made up of two shells, and some sort of chest plate. In this case, it is a very plain and very round chest plate. Around on the back side is a small almost Japanese grade school looking backpack housing two thrusters. Shoved on top of that is a booster pack that is similar to the personnel boosters used for space walking. The way this is built however, tends to fall apart.

The skirt is the strangest build I have seen so far. The front skirt is not attached in the center, but instead is attached to the side skirts. This is due to some pipe fittings that end up in the area that a normal front skirt would be attached. Around on the back side, another grade school booster back pack is attached to the back skirt.

Head
Unlike a normal Zeonic grunt suit, the Gouf does not have a blank stare. Instead, the upper visor comes to a point giving the Gouf a more menacing look. The last time I had seen this look is with a Kampfer; a kit I have built, but have yet to write a review.

Arms
Standard Zeonic shoulders with sticks that come out to hold the standard Zeonic shoulder shells. In all honesty, the most interesting part of the arms, which apparently to me is not really interesting at all, is the Spiderman whip actuator which is instructed to be placed on the right forearm; it can be interchanged to the left though.

Legs
Very similar to the High Mobility legs of the Zaku II, the Gouf R35 has those same square calves that house ankle and heel boosters. There are some minor changes in details, but for the most part, the same concept.
The knee joint is a big problem to me however. Not only is the build of the knee cap weak, the double joint, if retracted all the way, will reveal a giant empty cavity. This cavity can be seen in too many positions.

Armaments and Accessories
Twin Shields
Casted as two pieces, these shields are nothing special.

Twin Vulcan Pods
The fact that they are shaped like hands really bother me, but I guess you can rotate or remove the pinky and thumb to make it look like a simple triple cannon. In any case, I find it useless that they can not ball up into Hulk fists

Twin Heat Sabers
Being the effect part blade can be removed, and the hilts placed in either the calf holsters or behind each shield, I guess they are beam weapons. I kind of wish Mr. Ral stuck with the Heat blades

Heat Rod
As I mentioned in the Arm section, this is a righty whip according to the instructions. No where in the technical manual does it state that left handed people can use this whip. It is discrimination I tell you!

 

Conclusion
At first I was excited for the twin heat blade, but those turned out to be something else. Then I was excited for the booster pack, but that crumbled in my hands; literally. Then I was excited for the hand cannons, but that was short lived. Why did I pick up the Gouf R35 then; I really do not care for the character, and I just listed a bunch of things that were uninteresting or disappointing. Whatever, I guess it does not matter. I bought it, I had fun, and the Navy personnel are all asking me if it is a Zoid.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading my terrible writing as much as I enjoyed building this little guy. If you just browsed the photos, then that is cool too. I will be back in the states soon, but more on that later; Munitions, out.

Mecha Analysis: G no Reconguista Episode 18

Previously on Mecha Analysis
Gundam Build Fighters Try Episode 16
Gundam G no Reconguista Episode 17

We continue Mecha Analysis with episode 18 of Gundam G No Reconguista. Something to keep in mind when looking at the mechanical designs of Gundam G No Reconguista: The ones responsible for mechanical design are as follows,

• Akira Yasuda, known for designing mechs in Turn A Gundam, Code Geass and Overman King Gainer.
• Kimitoshi Yamane, notable for mechanical designs in G Gundam, Gundam SEED, SEED Destiny, SEED Stargazer, IGLOO, and Eureka Seven: AO
• Not much can be found about Ippei Gyobu. I think he's new.

---

Episode 18
OH MY SU-CORD! This episode of action made up for the heavy amounts of plot in the past couple of episodes. This race to the crescent ship and all the factions fighting for the G-Self made for an exciting chapter before we head off to Venus.

Bifuron

I am still not convinced that this suit is actually interesting, though one redeeming factor is the rocket kick it possesses.

G-Self

The YG-111 shows off its plasma shield and blocks a beam saber. Though it has shown up multiple times already, I think this is the first time Bellri calls it a plasma shield - previous times its used and nothing is said about it.

Guy Trash

I'm not sure if this is the official name, but according to Gundam Guy, its Guy Trash. This fat mobile suit has this strange ring that mounts from the back and is set above the head, almost like a halo. This ring creates what Rockpie calls a Beam Manteau. With it Rockpie attempts to capture the G-Self on behlaf of the Towasangans.

Looking at images online before the show, I thought the suit looked pretty ugly, though looking at it in the episode, the Guy Trash isn't so bad. I like the suit's body type and I especially like the head design, but I'm still not convinced of the Beam Manteau ring.

inb4 P-Bandai online exclusive effect part.

That's all for Mecha Analysis, I'll see you next week!

On a side note, please stay tuned for more information on an upcoming r/Gunpla competition that will be hosted by redditor Brenticus302. As one of the judges, I will be posting information about it on this blog. I hope to see you there!

Mecha Analysis: Gundam Build Fighters Try Episode 16

Previously on Mecha Analysis
Gundam G no Reconguista Episode 17
Gundam Build Fighters Try Episode 15

Today on Mecha Analysis, we look at episode 16 of Gundam Build Fighters Try.Something to keep in mind when looking at the Gunpla: Returning from Gundam Build Fighters, the ones responsible for mechanical design of Gundam Build Fighters Try are as follows,

• Kunio Okawara: THE Gundam designer, designing the original RX-78-2, and Zaku II along with many designs through the years. He's had his hand in Zeta, ZZ, 0080, F90, F91, 0083, Victory, G Gundam, 08th, Wing, X, Turn A, SEED, 00, Unicorn, and many other non-Gundam anime. Holy crap this list is long.
• Not much is said about Junichi Akutsu, Junya Ishigaki, and Kenji Teraoka.
• Kanetake Ebikawa, though has been working as a mechanical designer since the late 90s with anime like Blue Submarine No.6 and Full Metal Panic!, did not start designing for the Gundam franchise until 2007 with Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Other notable works include Gunpla Builders Beginning G, Gundam AGE, and Euerka Seven: AO.

---

Episode 16
If this episode was focused on Gundam Tryon 3 as the "main stage event," I would have been pretty satisfied. However, it seems we're still on the antagonist introduction phase. We get to see the introduction of G-Portent along with the teased Tryon 3.

Vagan Gear K

How unfortunate! The first Gundam AGE mech to be seen is considered cannon fodder for the G-Portent. This version of Vagan Gear does not seem modified beyond the color scheme. After using a volley of Dark Feathers (Feather Missiles), and Beam Cannons, the Vagan Gear K uses a special attack not seen on the Gundam AGE version - It's labeled "Special Weapon."

The man that everyone seems to not know is swiftly defeated. Will people continue to ask who he is or will he disappear as a character all together? Personally I want him to disappear - he was not interesting from the get-go.

G-Portent

The mobile suit of the week - G-Portent! Another Gunpla based on Gundam 00? Can the designers be any less creative? Besides that fact, Shia was definitely holding back. In fact, the whole team was holding back! We see G-Portent's beam...ribbon(?) and we also see her ability to manipulate the Plavsky Particles, but we don't see many attacks from her.

One interesting ability is the use of the GN Field, a GN particle shield that was iconic of Gundam Virtue. A part of me wishes Shia customized a Gunpla based closer to Virtue. Why not have a girl pilot something super bulky?

The mystery and power from this one mobile suit! How will Team Celestial Sphere incorporate her into their tactics? Or will they be winning merely by standing in the field? Overall I'm not impressed with the design of Celestial Sphere. For a main antagonist team, they're quite uninspiring.

Gundam Tryon 3

It's a Gundam! It's a Super Robot! It's a Super Gundam! This Pillow Pet of a mech is a great combination of mechs seen in super robot anime of the 80s and 90s, yet stays true to the base kit, Gundam ZZ. The transformation/combination of the animal trio did not seem too convincing (as in if I could see this transformation in toy form), however, the fun nature of Sakai's creation is definitely makes up for it.

Attacks include Armed Boosters,

...Liger Gaze,

...and Heat Wing all yelled out like a proper Super Robot anime! If this monstrosity becomes a kit, I think I might have to pick it up purely for how ridiculous it is in the anime and as a concept in general.

Overall I am happy with the introductions of each antagonist, and Sakai's character is definitely growing on me. Hopefully the fated match between Build Busters and Try Fighters is an epic one! I'd write a little more about my thoughts, but its time to shovel myself out of the Blizzard and get to work! I'll catch you all tomorrow!

Open Ocean Adventures: Powered GM Cardigan

Preface
I knew it did me no good, going to the hobby shop and the toy stores in Sasebo every evening; I knew there was absolutely nothing new. I would have had the same luck checking every week. But still, I persisted after work every day for three weeks, walking down the pier, past the security gates, bypassing the navy base and into town.
Wait, hold on, what is this? A Powered GM from Build Fighters Try? Is this friend or foe? It cannot be a main character; it's a Powered GM! Maybe I should have paid more attention to my brother's emails. Whatever the case, it just came out, and I must get it. So I proceeded to purchase the Grimoire and the Powered GM Cardigan.

Introduction
As you can see above, I was totally wrong, since the Powered GM Cardigan is the first suit that the first protagonist, Fumina Hoshino, pilots. Despite that, I was pleased that it is not her main suit since she replaces it very early on. Not that I do not enjoy building lead suits, I just feel the reviews for the lead suits are oversaturated. In any case, I am glad Fumina, the club president, was using a grunt suit, and eventually an SD.

First Impression
The very first look at the box was kind of explained in the preface, so I will not get into too much detail about the box art, since it is a pretty standard build fighters cover. I was surprised to see Hoshino in the instructions being that I had not even started watching Build Fighters Try at the time. This was because the already bulky, heavily armed Powered GM was being piloted by a female. Not that females are not allowed to pilot bulky mobile suits, but I did not expect the writers to go in that direction.

Yellow, White and Grey were the general colors I pulled out of the box. The yellow is in the shade of a slightly saturated pastel. After seeing how the shields are placed on the suit, it reminded me of a more normal looking Thunderbolt GM; two back mounted shields that are stowed vertically behind the suit.

Body
From what I understand, this is a standard Powered GM body. Four vents in black around the shoulder area, surrounded by a split shell. In the split shell are two poles for the arms, and a poly cap that attaches to the skirt. On the back is four pegs for the modified version of the Powered GM back pack. For those interested, the original back pack is included.

I was instructed to wrap a sticker around the waist, just underneath the chest to match the color of the lower core. However, as I have mentioned before, I hate stickers.
The skirt is as standard as it gets; stationary back, single molded piece in the front, and poly-cap mounted sides. In this case, there are holes on the side skirts that match the size of a standard poly-cap. What they are for, I still have no idea. However, I was able to use the holes to insert an action base since there is no poly cap under the skirt in this kit. Also, the original side skirts are included, but the only difference is the holes are smaller and square shaped

Arm
I was not a big fan of the customization of the arms. Although shielded mini-guns on the fore arms are a great idea and the shoulder mounted beam sabers are a little different, the way they are assembled, the way they are mounted, the way they are designed to be opened and closed; everything seemed like a fast patch.

The forearm mini-guns would be great, but the way the original arm is designed, you must twist the arm around to have the mini-gun sitting on top. This causes the elbow joint to bend the wrong way forcing you to have the arm outstretched. If you do have the arm outstretched, the shoulder must be turned ninety degrees for any kind of range of motion.
In addition, the only left hand is an open one; no left closed fists or grips in this kit. It even shows this flaw on the cover art.
The shoulder mounted beam sabers are mounted on a single piece, pivoting between the split shell shoulders. Although it is sturdy, it seems like a cheap move.

Head
Although I am not familiar with the powered GM, Nothing seems special about the head. Standard clear visor with a grey piece behind it. Split shell head with two ear pieces and an antenna mounted on the back.

Leg
Here is where this kit became interesting. Although the feet were the standard GM slippers, the calves were surrounded by many different layers of plastic. This covers up some of the details I would love to have painted, but this is okay.

The original Powered GM calf armor is included, but the Cardigan version have a hole in each shell. This is so that the massive calf boosters can be mounted around it. That means three layers of plastic. Why they did not just make custom pieces surrounding the original base calf, I will never know.
The diamond shaped boosters have a grey inner frame. Normally, I would say this piece makes the boosters amazing, since they are not just holes, but if you can see the inner frame from both front and back even though the back should be hidden, I will have to reconsider this statement.

Armaments
Back Mounted Beam Rifles
Twin back mounted beam rifles are mounted on the top of the back pack. The rifles remind me of Wing Fenice's Beam Rifle. In this case, there are no handles, thus they will have to stay on the back.

Back Mounted Shields
The standard issue Earth Federation shields are attached to the longest auxiliary arms I have ever seen. So long they can block from either direction. An arm bracket is included, but with those mini-guns in the way, I think they will stay on the backpack.

Forearm Mini-guns
Although I mentioned the flaw in the arms in correlation to these guns, these fore arm mounted shielded mini-guns are really what makes this kit. The last time I dealt with mini-guns of this size were on the Master Grade Wing Zero. Actually, those were smaller. That means these things are huge in comparison.
 

Right Handed Beam Machine Gun
As I mentioned before, there are only right handed trigger fingers. Thus, the beam rifle included must be a right handed. Not sure if this short barreled almost assault rifle looking gun is of the Universal Century, or of Build Custom.

Shoulder Mounted Beam Sabers
Again, as I mentioned before, there are only right handed gripping fingers. Thus all the beam sabers are for right handed pilots only. Why they bothered to mount one on the left and right shoulder, I will never know. The weirdest part though was the fact that one is molded out of a single piece of plastic, while the other was made up of two.

Conclusion
As you may have read, I was kind of confused about the decisions going into this kit. Like why is there only one non-gripping left hand. But beyond these flaws, I also remembered that I bought these kits to have a little fun while on my off time. In this case, the Powered GM Cardigan was fun to build, and well designed.
On another note, I may be going crazy and seeing things. I thought I caught a glimpse of one of the NAVY chicks spying on me while I was chroming out the knee joints. Anyways, this has been The Munitions, hope to see you soon!

Mecha Analysis: G no Reconguista Episode 17

Previously on Mecha Analysis
Gundam Build Fighters Try Episode 15
Gundam G no Reconguista Episode 16

We continue Mecha Analysis with episode 17 of Gundam G No Reconguista. Something to keep in mind when looking at the mechanical designs of Gundam G No Reconguista: The ones responsible for mechanical design are as follows,

• Akira Yasuda, known for designing mechs in Turn A Gundam, Code Geass and Overman King Gainer.
• Kimitoshi Yamane, notable for mechanical designs in G Gundam, Gundam SEED, SEED Destiny, SEED Stargazer, IGLOO, and Eureka Seven: AO
• Not much can be found about Ippei Gyobu. I think he's new.

---

Episode 17
The vibes I got from the overall episode is an older sibling telling his/her younger siblings "if you don't clean up this mess, mom's gonna ground you!" Commanding the other fighting forces to clean up the mess coming out of the colony with the threat of "no hot showers" feels so...domestic. With all the tensions rising about the revelation of Bellri/Aida's origin, and the growing hostility between the Capital Army, Ameria and Towasanga, this episode felt quite off (especially for a followup to last episode). Whatever the case, more mobile suits appear, so everything is okay!

Mac Knife

PLASMA CLAW!

That's about all that happened with this mobile suit. I must say I like the mono-eye of the grunt version of this suit more than Mask's depth perception Mac Knife.

Moran

One of the designers in the aforementioned trio is in love with ligaments filled with concealed rockets. It's too bad none of them were responsible for Heavyarms or Zssa, then I could point to that person, with slight confidence, as the one responsible for all these concealed rockets.

Anyway, Moran has a bunch of rockets tucked in its forearm.

Neodu

This mobile suit has appeared multiple times at this point even though this is the first time I mentioned it in these articles. I do not think the name of this mobile suit was mentioned until now, or, as with previous incidents, I missed a character mentioning the Neodu.

According to this episode, the Neodu is considered an older mobile suit. Despite this, it seems to perform decently in the right hands. We only see Raraiya use the standard beam rifle and shield. Even if there is a special ability (probably not), it has not been revealed.

Bifron

A wild four-armed beast has appeared! This thing looks UGLY. I care not if it is a test unit. I care not if it has the powers of illusions. I care not that it quad-wields beam daggers. The suit just feels wrong in almost every way. If this experiment suit is supposed to lead to some badass end game suit, then I might be okay with this, but right now I just think it's all sorts of wrong.

That's all for Mecha Analysis. See you next week!

Mecha Analysis: Gundam Build Fighters Try Episode 15

Previously on Mecha Analysis
Gundam G no Reconguista Episode 16
Gundam Build Fighters Try Episode 14
 
Today on Mecha Analysis, we look at episode 15 of Gundam Build Fighters Try.Something to keep in mind when looking at the Gunpla: Returning from Gundam Build Fighters, the ones responsible for mechanical design of Gundam Build Fighters Try are as follows,

• Kunio Okawara: THE Gundam designer, designing the original RX-78-2, and Zaku II along with many designs through the years. He's had his hand in Zeta, ZZ, 0080, F90, F91, 0083, Victory, G Gundam, 08th, Wing, X, Turn A, SEED, 00, Unicorn, and many other non-Gundam anime. Holy crap this list is long.
• Not much is said about Junichi Akutsu, Junya Ishigaki, and Kenji Teraoka.
• Kanetake Ebikawa, though has been working as a mechanical designer since the late 90s with anime like Blue Submarine No.6 and Full Metal Panic!, did not start designing for the Gundam franchise until 2007 with Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Other notable works include Gunpla Builders Beginning G, Gundam AGE, and Euerka Seven: AO.

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Episode 15
Like the last time team Try Fighters upgraded their suits, the team flaunts their individual skills without much teamwork at all (though the jump-start boost from Yuuma was a nice touch of teamwork). Overall, it's what I've come to expect with this show (in terms of battles) - gratuitous amounts of flare with little substance.

Team Amorphous

This South Hokkaido team, like the name does not suggest, uses transforming mobile suits.
The first to be eliminated is the Screw Gabthley, a suit based on the Zeta Gundam Titans suit of the same name. One thing I realize I like about the Gabthley is the mobile armor mode. The "head" is quite interesting. Unfortunately for this suit, the only action we see of this Gabthley is the transformation into molten remains as Try Burning speeds by.

Raider Lagoon is completely owned by Winning Gundam. We see the typical armaments from its base model, the Raider Gundam of Gundam SEED: the Mjolnir and the Hyper Velocity Shield Cannons. For a suit with a custom name, not much has really been customized - this and the Screw Gabthley. Somehow a part of me thinks the suit designers were being lazy.

The only suit to see a decent amount of action was the Gundam 00 suit, Salty Kyrios. Why are there so many 00 suits taking the main stage this time? Could it be the fact that two out of three mech designers had a hand in the show? No, that can't be...

Moving on, the Salty Kyrios, like the other two suits in the team, is a stock suit. Even the tail unit with the rockets is something from the original Kyrios. Nothing remotely salty about this suit.

Overall Team Amorphous was from the red shirt department: Nothing but collateral damage.

Team Try Hards

I remember when Sei upgraded his suit in the original series. He tried to conceal his special moves until later in the tournament. Of course, he ended up showing the power of his shield and Plavsky Gate quite early on. In Try, we see these guys, without restraint, flaunt their power with confidence in Victory. Though there's nothing wrong with this approach, a part of me feels like they're not playing their cards smartly. I'm sure they're going to win either way.

Star Winning Gundam is pretty much more of the same - she still separates and transforms. Additional armaments include funnels and a blade that attaches to the beam rifle, creating a gunblade of sorts.

The funnels seem to not have any ranged weapon attached, but the energy that comes out of them can be have a variety of functions like cutting, pinning, or defending. The back funnels seem to be shaped in a way that it can be combined into an over-sized shuriken whereas the side funnels, at least in this episode, do not have that function.

When Lightning Gundam first appeared, I was unimpressed by its performance. With its Back Weapon System upgrade, I was still unimpressed by his performance. Now that he has the Back Weapon System Mk-II, calling his Lightning Gundam "Full Burnern," I can finally say I am sold on this suit.
The way Yuuma says "Kousaka Yuuma, Lightning Gundam Full Burnern...here I come" reminds me of the way Kou Uraki launches off with his upgraded Zephyranthes. All we need now is The Winner by MIO playing in the background.

Though Lightning Gundam's backpack and weapon have changed, the base kit and function have not. Right now, everything we know about the Lightning Gundam upgrade is a mere tune up with some aesthetic changes: Nothing suggests Yuuma created brand new weapons for a different fighting style (like Fumina's funnels). I'm assuming this was done on purpose since, according to Meijin Kawaguchi III, his mobile suit was already well constructed.
All in all, Yuuma, in this episode can be summed up with one image,

Aoi Honoo episode 2

Try Burning Gundam did not change, as to be expected.

 

Please, Sekai. At least name your fire-bird-engulfing technique...

Gundam Lion 3?

According to certain sources it is named Gundam Lion 3, but I don't think there's an official name for this mobile suit yet. We only catch a(nother) glimpse of this mobile suit, this time in the post-credits scene. Though I do like the concept, I am hesitant to say whether I am interested in this suit or not.

This suit is supposedly based on Gundam ZZ, though I see nothing that resembles the Core Top and Core Base. I am interested to see how this Voltron-like team come together and I hope the parts don't disassemble to reassemble (which the current images highly suggest).

I think I covered everything to be had in this episode. See you all tomorrow for G no Reconguista!