It’s time for my annual addition to the Shuffle Alliance. This year it’s the Dragon Gundam:
About the Mobile Suit (and its Pilot)
The Dragon Gundam is the mobile fighter of Neo China, and it is piloted by Sai Saici:
Sai Saici is an interesting one. He’s the only member of the Shuffle Alliance who is a kid, and is indeed the only child competitor in the entire Gundam Fight.
He is also a trained martial artist, and hopes to win the tournament as part of his family’s effort to revive the legendary Shaolin Temple.
He’s also an amazing cook:
One More Thing
No one ever refers to Sai Saici by just his first or last name. It is always his full name, and I intend to honor that tradition.Throughout G Gundam, he manages to serve as both comedic relief and serious threat. He latches onto both Domon and Rain, seeing them as his surrogate Big Brother and Big Sister, and in this role he very much acts like a goofy kid more often than not.
But put him in his Mobile Fighter, and it’s another story entirely. To put it in professional wrestling terms, I think the rivalry between Domon and Chibodee is the better story, but Domon and Sai Saici put on the better matches.
If I’m not mistaken, Sai Saici is the only member of the Shuffle Alliance who is able to fight Domon to a draw, which he does in their very first match:
And in their rematch during the Finals, he fights so hard that the battle continues even after his arms have been blown off:
This is when he finally activates Hyper Mode and initiates an ancient Shaolin suicide attack in a last ditch attempt to win:
The only thing stopping him was the Emperor of China ordering the match to end:
None of Domon’s other rivals ever come quite so close to beating him as Sai Saici does. That Shaolin training is legit (Domon himself demonstrates enormous respect for the temple).
Domon's Cheapo Victory Asspull #3
For better or worse, most of Domon's victories in the finals against his Shuffle Alliance mates are Ass Pulls of the highest order. To use some more wrestling terms, my guess is that this was the writer's way to try and put his opponents over even in a loss. Whether or not they succeeded is up to you to decide, but for now let's just look at how he beats Sai Saici.It's actually very simple - Sai Saici launches his suicide attack, which is successful enough that he actually smashes through Domon's God Finger technique.
But then Domon just does it again with his other hand:
It's one of those "just because you've never seen him do it doesn't mean he couldn't", but it still feels like a bit of a cop out.
One more thing: the suicide technique obviously doesn't kill Sai Saici, but it's not clear if it's because he didn't technically finish performing the move, or if it's because he's that strong (maybe Hyper Mode protected him? The show is never clear)
Now, about the Dragon Gundam itself. In terms of offensive capabilities, it’s got a lot going on. In addition to being able to perform all sorts of martial arts moves, it has a staggering number of Feilong Flags. These are essentially glorified beam sabers that can emit a beam in the shape of - you guess it - a flag:
These can be used to attack, but also to distract or trap the opponent.
But it can also turn the flags into a long beam spear, which is the closest thing it has to a primary weapon:
It also has a pair of Dragon Claws on its hands. These claws can bite opponents and breathe fire:
They can also stretch out and extend:
Lastly, the braid on its head ends in a sharp pointy blade, which it can manipulate in order to stab at enemies.
When you combine all these weapons with Sai Saici’s Shaolin-fueled special moves, the Dragon Gundam is an extremely formidable opponent, arguably only second to Domon and his Gundams.
The Elephant in the Room
So we have a Gundam that looks like a Dragon, with extendable arms capable of spitting fire, wielding a spear-like weapon.
Where have I seen that before …
I know there have been rumblings for years online about whether Gundam Wing was originally intended to be the sequel to G Gundam, and that some of Wing’s mobile suits are leftovers from this pitch. But even if that’s true, it still seems kind of wild how much the Shenlong Gundam is a ripoff of the Dragon Gundam (unless it was meant to be the Dragon Gundam’s successor in a sequel story).
Personally, I prefer the Dragon Gundam, and not just because it’s the original. The color scheme, while not my personal favorite, is at least more reminiscent of the way Chinese Dragons are sometimes depicted:
A similar thing can be said about its armor. It’s a nice fusion between a dragon and a traditional Chinese warrior.
Meanwhile, Shenlong just apes the same color scheme of one of its comrades, which makes it feel redundant. And it’s armor design has a little bit of a Chinese flair, but not nearly as much in comparison.
Or to explain it meme form:
About the Model Kit
Gundam Rose came with a whole bunch of accessories, and thus commanded a slightly premium price. Then Gundam Maxter came out with more accessories and an even higher price.
And now the Dragon Gundam repeats the trend. It clocks in at a whopping $40 MSRP, but as someone said in a comment on this Youtube review, it has a Robot Spirits-level of accessories and extras:
We’ve got the Action Base 5 as usual, and the Core Lander of course, but I also count six Feilong Flags (along with corresponding beam effect parts), beam effects for the spear, arm extension parts, as well as everything you need to recreate the Shin Ryuusei Kochouken final attack. It’s just a crazy amount of stuff for a High Grade.
About the Build
These G Gundam High Grades are built so well. They’re quick and easy and they look gorgeous when all is said and done, so I expect this to be a joy of a build.