Gunpla Build - Real Grade Gundam Exia

I don’t know why I bought this model kit.

Well, technically I do - I got it because it was the last one on the shelf at Target, and I figured that if I cleared out their inventory, it’d nudge them toward ordering more, thus keeping their supply of fresh Gunpla flowing.

But still.

This here is the Real Grade Gundam Exia, from the Gundam 00 TV series. My problem isn’t so much with the mobile suit itself. I think it’s good. Great, even. But it comes from a show that, in my most generous interpretation, I find to be a case of wasted potential, and at worst a problematic work of fiction that promotes eugenics, ubermensch philosophy, and other “master race” ideals (or just so happens to unintentionally push those ideas by being grossly stupid and ignorant, but that feels like a case of “six of one, half a dozen of another”).

About Gundam 00

Season 1 of Gundam 00 is actually pretty great. While set in the far future, it is the only Gundam show to be set in our real life Anno Domini calendar. In other words, it is supposed to be set in our future.

And it mostly uses this concept to good use. The show is set far enough in the future that it (mostly) doesn’t base its conflicts on specific real world incidents (except for maybe the Sri Lankan Civil War), but rather uses the state of the world to make (mostly) plausible guesses as to who might be allied with whom a few centuries from now - and what those factions might be squabbling over. It’s a bit “baby’s intro to geopolitics”, but considering this is anime we’re talking about, the show feels downright smart at times.

Sadly, the series begins to unravel in Season 2, then comes apart in the finale movie. It transitions away from being a thoughtful examination of real world politics and environmental concerns, and pivots toward melodrama. Then, in the movie, it swerves into an alien invasion story (because if you believe diehard fans, a single throwaway line about extraterrestrial life means that this was always the secret endgame of the story. Whatever).

But all that could be forgiven if it was just dumb fun. What ruins it all is the series attempt at exploring the concept of transhumanism.

That in and of itself isn’t weird. Between Newtypes and Coordinators, it’s not like Gundam hasn’t thought of the idea of humans evolving into something new. But both Newtypes and Coordinators have interesting flaws and limitations. Newtypes are so vaguely defined or understood that it’s not even all that clear if they’re really an evolution beyond existing humans, nor do their special gifts appear all that useful outside of mobile suit combat.

As for Coordinators, the explanation I’ve most commonly read is that they have a higher ceiling of aptitude and ability, but that it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll use it. An extremely talented and motivated Natural can compete with a Coordinator in some situations. Also, Coordinator genetics make it so that they can’t breed with themselves for too many generations. They have to comingle and reproduce with Naturals if they want to survive.

On the other hand, Gundam 00’s Innovators are another thing entirely. Allegedly, in 00, being exposed to magic Space Particles can evolve a human into an Innovator, at which point they gain:

• Superior Intelligence
• (I think?) superior physical abilities
• Their aging process slows down
• They can better understand people and their feelings (like Newtypes, but stronger)

So they’re basically super humans. But the twist to all this is that it isn’t just exposure to Space Particles that causes Innovation. The story strongly suggests that there is a genetic component to it as well.

And that’s where things get really icky for me. This is a work of fiction. There is absolutely no reason why the authors had to add genetics into the mix. But they do, all while ignoring the fact such a scenario would lead to violence and genocide the likes of which we’ve never seen. Instead, the writers of the story handwave all of that away, instead claiming that Innovators simply integrate into human society, even when roughly 40% of humans have become one. That is far, far too convenient, and it makes it impossible to take this plot point seriously.

(Also convenient is that, according to some side story materials, there is eventually a war between old humans and Innovators. We don’t yet know the details of this conflict, but you have to imagine that the Innovators won - and if they won, do you really think they’d allow the oldtypes a chance to attack them again? You have to imagine that they instituted some sort of oppressive regime, which gets to my point about this plot point being extremely problematic)

All of which is to say that ²⁄₃ of Gundam 00 is so bad, so stupid, and so toxic that it comes close to retroactively ruining its good, first season. I hate saying that - I know it’s unfair of me - but hey, I’m only human.

And so while the Exia - which does, admittedly, come from Season 1 - is a pretty cool mobile suit, I’m not sure I can build it without thinking of all the bad things that come later. I’m afraid that this is going to be a sort of “hate build”. That’s just not fair to the Exia, but I don’t know if I can help it.

About the Gundam Exia

Much like Gundam Wing, Gundam 00 is about a group of Gundam pilots with color coded mobile suits and specific combat specialties. And just like Wing, one of those pilots is the best of the bunch, with a mobile suit that is also arguably the best (or at least the most well rounded). They’re not the leader of the team perse, but they’re definitely the lead of the show.

In Wing, this title is bestowed to the Wing Gundam. In 00, it’s the Gundam Exia.

In theory, the Exia is the close combat specialist of the team. To that end, it carries up to seven different melee weapons at once, including:

• The massive "GN Sword" mounted on its right arm
• A GN Long blade mounted to the left hip
• A GN Short blade mounted to the right hip
• Two Beam Sabers
• Two Beam Daggers

Generally speaking, this is a much larger arsenal than what the show’s other three Gundams are equipped with. What’s more, it manages to store all these weapons discreetly. The four beam weapons are all just handles, so they easily store in hidden compartments. The two hip blades don’t take up much space either, and even the GN blade can fold inward to save space when not in use.

This is by far my favorite thing about the Exia. I’m a sucker for mecha designs that think through the “how” and “where” of weapon storage, and I especially love when the solution manages to be compact and/or hidden. The Exia is loaded with weapons, but it doesn’t look like it is, and I think that’s pretty cool.

But wait, there’s more! the Exia also has a rifle built into its GN Sword:

No idea as to how powerful it is, but it is capable enough of taking down an enemy mobile suit with a well placed hit. Suffice to say that it is good enough to be a genuine option for long range combat.

Lastly, according to the Gundam Wiki, the Exia has a few additional, largely invisible (but extremely important) features. For example, it claims that the mobile suit was designed to have better, more human-like movements and articulation than the other three Gundams, allegedly to help it excel at melee combat. Secondly, it’s GN blades are allegedly capable of piercing the special “GN Fields” generated by all four Gundams to shield them from damage. This is because it was designed to be an “Anti Gundam” Gundam; if any of the others were to be stolen or go rogue, only the Exia would be properly equipped to take them down.

When you consider all these special characteristics, in addition to its robust weapon set, it is obvious that the Exia is the most well rounded and robust of the four Gundams.

About the Visual Design

The mecha designs in Gundam 00 are one of the most offbeat in the entire franchise. Rather than looking like a “person in armor” like some mobile suits, the designs in 00 have a decidedly robotic and mechanical feel to them. While this is particularly true of the mass produced grunt units, it’s still true of the Gundams as well:

I mean, just look at those legs. Human legs don’t cure like that. Look at the shape of the arms. Look at how it combines circular shapes with sharp edges. Check out those cables running from the arms to the shoulders. And of course, don’t forget the cone shaped GN Drive sticking out of the back:

This design is unabashedly robotic and unnatural in nature, more like a sports car than a mecha. There’s something about that I find quite appealing, at least in this particular instance, in this particular show.

About the Model Kit

Personally, I like the changes are for the better. Look at that official lineart above, and then look at the RG model:

In addition to white, it uses two different tones of grey to act as yet another neutral color to help break up the blue and red. I also think this design tightens up the proportions, and adds even more cool mechanical details.

Another nice thing about this model kit is that it includes shiny metallic parts for all its swords. No need to paint or gloss coat them (you can sort of see it in this photo. Look at the hip-mounted sword in particular):

Other Thoughts

• When I first got into this hobby, I built nothing but Real Grades. Then I built no Real Grades for literal years. Now I've built three of them in 2021 alone. I don't know where I'm going with this observation. I just wanted to make it.
• Exia was the 15th Real Grade kit, out of 36 total so far, and was the first Real Grade model one to come from Gundam 00. I'm honestly surprised that it took that long.

  For the sake of comparison, they made eight RG's from the Universal Century and six from Gundam SEED before getting around to anything from 00. While I understand how popular both the UC and SEED are among the fandom, there was a time when 00 itself took up all the oxygen in the room. Considering that the Real Grade line launched the same year as the 00 movie, you'd think that they would have gotten to a 00 model sooner in order to capitalize on its popularity.