This post is all about (Mira)Soul.
(I’m sorry, I’ve been waiting a long time to make that stupid pun)
About the Mirasoul Flight Unit
This seems to be one of those cases where perhaps Bandai wanted to sell a new accessory pack, and so Sunrise needed to come up with an in-universe explanation for why Aerial would need such an accessory.
We get said explanation in Episode 6. Basically, Aerial has to perform a school duel against Gundam Pharact in zero gravity. The only problem is that Aerial’s built in thrusters can’t quite match Pharact’s when it comes to Zero-G maneuvering, so she needs an extra boost to help even the odds.
The solution is for her friends in Earth House to take this bunch of junk:
And miraculously turn it into a working flight unit:
Which then gives Aerial the fighting chance she needs:
Like with so many accessories, we don’t see the Mirasoul Flight Unit again after this episode. Aerial simply never has another zero-G battle in her original form (and of course Aerial Rebuild has much bigger built-in thrusters).
The Parts
It’s not very complex, but I have to say that I really appreciate the fact that it comes in so many different colors of plastic. There’s still some color correction that can be done - namely some extra orange in the back and in the thrusters - but it’s nowhere near as bad as most of the Iron Blooded Orphans accessory packs. This actually looks good as an out of the box build.
Missing Color Correction
In fact, I actually forgot to do all of the orange color correction. There's already enough orange on the build out of the box, so I didn't notice it's absence until I wrote this post and took another look at the box art. I still think it looks good as-is.The Build
The Flight Unit is made out of these five core sectios:
Keen eyed readers may notice that this isn’t fully color accurate; there are a few places that are supposed to painted in yellow. The truth of the matter is that I simply forgot to do it, but in retrospect it doesn’t bother me. There’s still enough detail and color separation on this model that I think it looks great as-is.
In order to equip it, you actually have to detach Aerial’s original backpack (small as it may be). That includes the Beam Sabers, but don’t worry - the Flight Unit has its own slots for them.
Like I said before, Aerial looks even more combat ready when she’s got a bit of extra bulk. In the case of the Flight Unit, it gives her quite a lot of extra bulk, to the point of making her look more like a heavy assault mobile suit or something. It’s just enough of a different look without altering the original design.
I also like how the Flight Unit uses a different color palette (that is nevertheless complementary to Aerial’s). It allows it to stand out a bit without being distracting.
Bit On Form
In Episode 6 of GWitch, Aerial fights the entire battle in Bit on Form mode, without equipping the shield, so that's how I had her for all of the following action poses. I hope you'll agree with me that she looks even better this way.
Now let’s get it up in the air:
It looks fantastic just flying around unarmed, but pop the weapons on and it really has that “heavy assault unit” vibe:
There’s also something about the Flight Unit that really helps give the impression that she’s in motion:
In terms of articulation, each thruster has quite a bit of range, though admittedly I didn’t make much use of it. I didn’t feel like I really needed to.
Conclusion
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the Mirasoul Flight Unit is absolutely necessary to pick up alongside the High Grade Aerial, but this is one of the better $10-$12 accessory packs Bandai’s ever put out. The Flight Unit itself looks good, and makes for good poses. And that’s to say nothing of the fact that this is the only way you’re going to get some nice, useful open palm hands for Aerial and/or her sister units.
I hate that Bandai does this kind of nickel and dime’ing, but at least this one gives you good value.