Hi there. This is me writing from October of 2025.

Anyway, that’s that. I hope you enjoy this new and improved post.

Another year, another Gundam Universe action figure that I waffled back and forth about buying. Last year it was the Target exclusive G-3 Gundam, and this year it’s the Shining Gundam of Mobile Fighter G Gundam fame:

Spoiler Preface!!!

This post contains spoilers for G Gundam.

About the Mobile Suit

Shining Gundam’s purpose is both simple and monumental. Within the context of the show, it is protagonist Domon Kasshu’s starting mobile suit that he uses throughout the first half of the show, before getting his midseason upgrade.

In the real world, since G Gundam was the first Gundam story to take place in an alternate universe, that means that Shining Gundam is the very first non-Universal Century protagonist Gundam

But we’ll talk about that a little more later. For now, let’s look at what the Gundam Wiki has to say about this mobile fighter:

The GF13-017NJ Shining Gundam was built by the nation of Neo Japan for the 13th Gundam Fight and piloted by Domon Kasshu, as well as occasionally by his crew member Rain Mikamura.

The Shining Gundam was developed for the 13th Gundam Fight by Dr. Mikamura, a Neo Japan scientist. Designed with an emphasis on mobility, it has an excellent balance of offense and defense, and is equipped with the ability to faithfully reproduce the many techniques of the school of the "Undefeated of the East," performed by Domon Kasshu, the champion of colony martial arts. Since the Shining Gundam is a machine that exerts its maximum potential in close combat, there are few fixed armaments.

A special feature of this machine is that the emotions and conditions of the passengers are reflected in the machine's performance. In addition, a mechanism that can power up the machine in stages has been introduced.

No surprises here. Pretty much every mobile fighter is tuned to the skills and fighting style of its operator, and Shining is no exception.

Weapons and Stuff

That being said, I do think that the blurb from the Wiki undersells what Shining is capable of. That sentence about “faithfully reproducing the many techniques of the school of the ‘Undefeated of the East’” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.

But first, the basics. Despite being a mobile fighter rather than a military grade mobile suit, Shining Gundam still has a few of the traditional weapons we all know and love. This includes vulcan cannons, as well as beam sabers.

But as you might imagine, neither of those weapons are used all that much in combat, in favor of hand-to-hand techniques. And this is where all the special moves come into play.

The first and most important one is, of course, the Shining Finger. Here’s the technical description from the Wiki:

Domon's signature move, the Shining Finger uncovers the finger joints and coats the hand in liquid metal, concentrating a large amount of energy into it, resulting in a bright green glow. Doing so enables Shining Gundam's hand to tear through the armor of rival mobile fighters.

I don’t know how Shonen anime fans feel about the Shining Finger, but in my mind it’s got to be one of the coolest and most iconic techniques in the history of the subgenre.

Am I wrong on that? You’ve got the sweet jazz leitmotif. You’ve got Domon’s legendary battle cry:

And of course, you’ve got the move itself:

I never get tired of the Shining Finger, and I hope I never do.

But that’s not all it can do. The’s a bit from the Wiki about how the mobile fighter’s performance is influenced by it’s operator’s emotional state, and I have no doubt that is in reference to Super Mode. When Domon gets angry/emotional enough, his mobile fighter achieves what is essentially Super Saiyan mode:

In addition to getting all glowy and golden (and demonstrating several more transformation gimmicks), Super Mode greatly enhances its capabilities.

It also enables the use of a new special move, the Shining Finger Sword:

Shining Gundam has a lot of cool stuff going on. It never feels underpowered or overshadowed (until maybe its final moments - more on that next), .

The Fate of Shining Gundam

Throughout the G Gundam’s first 24 episodes, the Shining Gundam makes quite an impression. Even during its toughest fights, it never feels like it’s outmatched by its opponents.

However, eventually it has to square off against Master Asia and his powerful mobile fighter, the Master Gundam. As Domon’s former master-turned-seeming-villain, Master Asia is no pushover, yet as Domon finds his true sense of inner peace, he ultimately wipes the floor with him.

At least in the initial round. Eventually they go back at it, bringing things down to the ground with lots of messy punches and slaps, ultimately culminating in trading Shining and Dark Fingers at each other:

This leaves Shining incapacitated (why its opponent Master Gundam remains mobile is never answered), which prompts Domon to flee to try and retrieve the God Gundam, which recently arrived in a drop pod.

However, in order to trick Master Asia, Domon programs Shining to use the last of its energy to pretend an attack, which Master responds to with a mortal blow:

While it saves Domon’s bacon, it leaves his poor in dire shape.

What follows is a … weird scene in which Shining Gundam (being remotely controlled by Domon’s mechanic/future love interestRain) crawls its way over to the recently arrived midseason upgrade, the God Gundam (controlled by Domon) in order to transfer combat data from one to the other. It goes from a tender scene between the two lovebirds-to-be to a robo-romantic scene between the two mobile suits:

Immediately after this is a scene in which Shining Gundam is carried by God Gundam bridal style, like it’s a fallen maiden:

This is topped off with Shining Gundam being left behind as Domon tearfully says goodbye to his old partner on his way to the Gundam Fight Finals:

As weird as all of this sounds, it’s surprisingly touching in execution. Most pilots toss away their old units for their midseason upgrades without a second thought, but to Domon, Shining Gundam was more than just a tool. It was an extension of himself.

About the Visual Design

Being that Shining Gundam is the first of all the AU Gundams, I have no idea if mecha designer Kunio Okawara felt any sort of pressure to deliver something that felt fresh and new, or to keep things safe and familiar. In the end, I think he came up with something that’s somewhere in the middle.

From the very beginning, Gundams have always been designed to resemble ancient samurai armor. Shining is no exception, except in this case it’s a little different, in that Shining seems to draw inspiration more from the look of an unarmored samurai.

I mean this:

is basically the same as this:

You’ve got the wide shoulder pads, the pair of swords fastened to one hip, and the hair tied back (yes, Shining Gundam has “hair”, if you look closely).

It’s a fun little inversion, and it perfectly fits Shining Gundam as it roams around looking for opponents to fight during the first half of the show.

I also love the blue gauntlets on the arms, the blue/red “padding” on its legs (where its hidden thrusters are stored). It looks like the kind of pads one might wear when stepping into the ring for a fight.

But now for a caveat - I love all these little touches, and they’re all reasons why I like the look of Shining Gundam as much as I do. But they’re all very subtle - arguably too subtle. If you don’t pick up on them - if you don’t understand the aesthetic it’s trying to go for - then you could easily see it as being too plain and uninspired compared to some of the best Universal Century designs.

I know this because that’s how I used to feel about it before I picked up on all the subtle details. So while I very much like it, I can see why someone might not.

I have a few more observations about the design …

Green Gem

This is the first time we see a Gundam design with a green gem embedded in its chest, though it won’t be the last. Indeed, the next two consecutive AU shows will do the exact same thing.

I generally don’t like this flourish, not only because it’s unnecessary, but also because the color usually clashes with the traditional Gundam color palette (I’m okay with it on the Gundam X because it actually has a functional purpose).

On the Shining Gundam, I’m mostly okay with it simply due to the fact that it’s so small.

The Hidden Thrusters

We usually only see the hidden leg thrusters when the mobile fighter goes into Super Mode, but it can use them in its normal operating mode. In fact we see this as early as Episode 2, where it uses them to move across the water:

The Beam Saber

There is a bizarre moment in the OP of G Gundam in which Shining Gundam draws its beam saber to reveal that somehow, some way, the words “G. Gundam” are emblazoned on it:

Of course, you’re probably thinking “that’s fine, it’s just a fun little flourish for the show’s opening”. But it shows up again, in the show:

Granted, in its an episode where Domon is in this weird, brainwashed, hallucinatory state, but there’s no evidence that anything about his mobile fighter is illusory, so this heavily suggests that, for whatever reason, this a real, in-universe flourish.

Why Buy this as an Action Figure?

So why buy this particular mobile suit as a Gundam Universe action figure, rather than a Gunpla? After all, there is a High Grade Shining Gundam, and it’s reprinted fairly often:

And to be clear, it does seem like a really solid kit for its age. It seems to support all of the transformation gimmicks, and comes with a ton of accessories (including what looks to be the Shining Finger Sword):

But I also know that it needs a good deal of color correction. As an example, I know that there is a color correcting sticker for the leg pads:

Your options are to either use this seemingly janky sticker, or try and paint blue on top of red plastic. Personally, I’d like to do neither of those things, and with the Gundam Universe figure, I don’t have to.

But beyond that, I’m also really intrigued by some of the extra surface details and panel lines that they added to the Universe figure:

I think they add a welcome bit of extra texture and intricacy to the design. It gives it an almost Real Grade vibe that will have to do in the absence of an actual Real Grade.

Of course, there is one major downside to the figure. While it has a swappable face for doing the Shining Finger, it cannot transform into Super Mode. For that reason alone, I may still end up biting the bullet and getting the High Grade kit eventually, so that I can have some version of Shining Gundam in Super Mode.

Detailing and Stuff

As usual, I plan on panel lining and doing any other color correction that’s needed to make this figure really shine. I’m also considering writing “G. Gundam” onto one of the beam sabers, though I’m not actually sure if I have the skills to do so. We’ll see!