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:
About the Mobile Suit (Technical Info)
The TL:DR version is that the Shining Gundam is the “Main Character Gundam” for the first half of the show, before the traditional midseason upgrade.
Here is what else the Gundam Wiki has to say:
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.
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.
Well, sort of. Eventually it has to square off against one of the strongest fighters in the world and his equally powerful mobile suit. While Domon is ultimately victorious, poor Shining Gundam is dealt a fatal blow in the process.
What follows is a … weird scene in which Shining Gundam (being remotely controlled by Rain) crawls its way over to the recently arrived God Gundam (controlled by Domon) to transfer combat data from one to the other. What follows is a robo-romantic scene between the two mobile suits:
Which is immediately followed by Shining Gundam being carried bridal style, like a fallen maiden:
And lastly with it being left behind as Domon tearfully says goodbye to his old partner on his way to the Gundam Fight Finals:
Weapons and Stuff
Like most Mobile Fighters, Shining Gundam focuses mostly on hand to hand combat, though it does have some traditional mobile suit weapons. For instance, it has head mounted vulcan cannons, as well as a pair of beam sabers.
It also has a few special, Shonen Anime-esque abilities. For example, it’s special Shining Finger special move, in which its right hand glows white hot to break through enemy armor and/or crush their heads:
Then there is Super Mode, in which undergoes a partial transformation and glows golden:
Super Mode is essentially equivalent to going Super Saiyan, as it greatly enhances Shining Gundam’s abilities (and, you know, it turns gold).
It can also do a super move using its beam saber, called the Shining Finger Sword:
Like I said earlier, the Shining Gundam is no pushover. It’s got quite a lot of tricks and abilities up its sleeve.
About the Visual Design
If you think about it, the Shining Gundam is a major milestone in the history of the Gundam franchise. It’s the first main character mobile suit we see in an Alternate Universe timeline.
I have no idea if mecha designer Kunio Okawara felt any sort of pressure to deliver something that felt fresh and new. In the end, I think he took the smart approach, in that the Shining Gundam comes from the same source of inspiration as previous mobile suits, but with a slight (but important) twist.
Traditionally, Gundams were been designed to resemble ancient samurai armor. The Shining Gundam is a little bit different, in that it seems to draw inspiration more from the look of an _un_armored samurai.
I mean this:
is basically the same as this:
You’ve got the wide shoulders, the pair of swords fastened to the side, and the hair tied back (yes, Shining Gundam has “hair”, if you look closely for it).
Then it also tosses in the blue gauntlets on its arms, the blue and red padding on its legs to make it look like it’s all taped up and geared up for a fight. It’s tough, it’s honorable, and it’s traditional all in one, and I think that makes it a pretty fantastic design.
A few more observations:
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.
Personally, I like this design flourish on the Gundam X (since it has a technical purpose behind it), but dislike when it shows up (twice) in Gundam Wing, as it is a purely ornamental flourish in a setting that seems to take itself way too seriously for such things (though I’ll admit I’m probably hypocritical in that stance, for reasons that are out of the scope of this post).
In regards to the Shining Gundam, I’m okay with it. Yes, it’s also ornamental here, but the the Mobile Fighters of G Gundam are very clearly designed for the sake of both style and substance. From an in-universe perspective, it makes more sense than it does in Wing.
My second observation is that the “quality” of Shining Gundam varies intensely. There are some scene and illustrations where it looks super cool, and others where it looks kind of goofy (including the official linear I used earlier in the post). Thus your opinion on the design may be influenced by where and how you see it depicted.
Why Buy this as an Action Figure?
Yes, why buy this as an action figure? After all, there is a High Grade Shining Gundam, and it is hardly difficult to find.
The short answer? - Super Mode
The long answer? - Shining Gundam’s Super Mode looks really cool, but if you’re going to do it with a model kit, it feels like something you have to commit to. In Super Mode, the thrusters in the legs (the ones that are normally hidden underneath the blue and red pads) turn gold, as does the “hair” on its head.
As I learned last year, gold paint (or at least gold Gundam Marker) doesn’t like when you put your fingers on it. In other words, if I ever get the High Grade kit, I’m going to put it into Super Mode and leave it that way.
And that’s where this action figure comes into play. It gives me a version of the mobile suit that I can pose in “normal” mode (or in Shining Finger) mode without worrying about it getting messed up.
There’s another, smaller reason as well. Like all Gundam Universe figures, this one includes some extra panel lining and other visual tweaks compared to the original design, and in this case I quite like them.
About the Action Figure
I’ve talked before about how reviews of Gundam Universe action figures tend to be mixed, but this one in particular seems to be considered one of the better ones. While it cannot do Super Mode, it does include two nicely styled beam saber blades, as well as all the extra parts needed to do the Shining Finger. I think that’s a fair compromise.
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. But there’s one other thing I’m considering.
During the original opening to the show, there’s a brief moment where Shining Gundam pulls out a beam saber, only to reveal that the words “G. GUNDAM” are somehow emblazoned on the beam:
This is one of the stupidest (read: greatest) things I’ve ever seen in Gundam - and I kind of want to try and paint it onto one of the beams included in the kit. It certainly won’t be easy, and I’m not even sure if it is possible, but I may just try.
Other Stuff
I got this figure back in early June, but I didn’t feel like doing all the detailing work until now. That’s the way things go sometimes.