#shining gundam super mode

[ktwgallery]

[lets-talk-gundam]

The GF13-017NJ Shining Gundam

Love, honor, sacrifice, revenge, and a whole lot of destruction!

Let's get things started!

Gundam fight, all set!

Ready...

Go!

In the Future Century, war is widely considered a thing of the past. Earth's space colonies settle their differences every four years in the ring, using hulking battle-machines called Mobile Fighters. A long-held tradition between the colonies, the Gundam Fight has encouraged the development of many unique and powerful machines.

During the 12th Gundam Fight in FC 56, Neo-Japan deployed a Gundam whose name and designation remain unknown. The machine was piloted by Ulube Ishikawa. Despite making it to the finals, Ulube's Gundam was defeated by "The Undefeated of the East", Master Asia, representing Neo Hong Kong in the Kowloon Gundam.

Further development and refinement of the machine by Neo Japan's Dr. Mikamura would go down two paths.

One of these paths would lead to the first of two machines used by Domon Kasshu to represent Neo-Japan in the 13th Gundam Fight. The GF13-017NJ Shining Gundam.

Designed with a focus on speed and mobility, the Shining Gundam is a terror at close-range. The machine featured a system with which its performance could be increased exponentially, enabling the use of more powerful techniques by its pilot. The machine also drew power from the emotions of its operator, channeling them into attacks to devastating effect.

Like most Mobile Fighters, the Shining Gundam was operated via the Mobile Trace system, a system through which the pilot's physical movements would directly operate the machine.

Notably, another variant of the Shining Gundam was developed. This "Urban Combat Type" featured an alternate color scheme.

I won't be covering the God Gundam here. I think it deserves a piece of its own sometime down the line.

The following information comes from the manga Super-Class! Mobile Fighter G Gundam. Its events do not line up with the events of the anime Mobile Fighter G Gundam.

The Shining Gundam was also refined into the JMF1337SD Shading Gundam, a fully-automated machine based on spare parts for the original. The machine was piloted by its "Data-Kyoji" system, which could learn and grow in response to its experiences. It was also capable of using the techniques of Domon Kasshu, having been specifically developed to combat him.

Having been sent to Earth under orders from the Neo-Japan Gundam Fight Committee chairman, Karato, the machine was intended to cripple Domon following his unsatisfactory performance early in the tournament. The Data-Kyoji was then to be installed in the Shining Gundam, keeping Domon on board for authentication with the machine interface.

The machine was unable to make use of Super Mode, as it lacked the ability to channel the intense emotions required to attain the state.

The GF13-017NJ Shining Gundam was originally designed by Kunio Okawara for the 1994 anime Mobile Fighter G Gundam.

This machine was a request! Requests are always welcome!

[vdrawsrobots]

Fighting Communication and Gundam Science in G-Fighter

I originally posted this on twitter, but I figured it would be easier to read here--- and I'd love to know anybody's thoughts about my rambles/speculation :) Edited/expanded a little because I don't have to worry about word count hehe

A possible interpretation of how "fighting communication" could be interpreted as a more literal phenomenon instead of Martial Arts Magic when considering the way Fighter-Gundam connections are described in the G-Fighter entertainment bible. Warning for spoilers under the read more!

Gundams in G-Fighter are (to an extent) powered by the emotions of the pilot. That emotional state has an influence on how well they can pilot/communicate their intentions to their Gundam, and in some cases, on the behavior of the Gundam itself.

This is alluded to a few times in the show--- the most direct acknowledgment I can find would be Dr. Kasshu referring to Shining’s “Emotional Energy System” being primarily powered by anger. It's also explored in the training that Schwarz Bruder gives to Domon in order to control Shining's super mode--- in order to properly communicate the pilot's intentions, their emotions must be calm and regulated, easier to translate into data that the Gundam can understand. Therefore, his techniques focus on getting Domon to see past just striking out in blind anger. It's about intention and clarity of communication.

This is more explicitly stated in the Entertainment Bible (which does a better job explaining it than I ever could):

This emotional data is then translated into something that the Gundam’s system can understand— therefore, the clearer/more controlled the emotional input, the more accurate the translation, and the better the pilot’s intentions can be “understood” by their machine. The Gundam understands the pilot on a level that no other human can, a pure knowing of the pilot's consciousness (or "soul").

As stated, mental training is also just as important as physical. After all, when this communication is unclear, it can have disastrous consequences. Master Asia encourages Domon to just get mindlessly mad in their fight in order to weaken him. Kyoji’s extreme emotional state when crashing to Earth, combined with the physical damage to Ultimate’s computer system, accidentally teaches the Devil Gundam to hate humanity.

No wonder the technique Schwarz teaches Domon is about clarity, control and inward understanding of emotion and intent.

Given this translation of emotional feedback into transferrable data, the concept of “Fighting Communication” and Gundam Fighters understanding each other through combat could be interpreted literally.

Battles in G-Fighter involve a lot of physical contact--- obviously, as they are battles, but there are a lot of scenes of the Gundams joining hands when struggling against each other, or otherwise maintaining prolonged physical connection at high-intensity moments of combat.

Often it is during these scenes when characters refer to fighting communication, or what the fists of their opponent are trying to tell them (all the references to the soul of a fighter being expressed through their fists, etc). Another important thing to notice here is that both pilots are in a heightened emotional state. They're also in as close to perfect connection with their Gundams as they can--- they're putting everything on the line, going all-out to win, and so is their machine. Gundam and pilot are one--- implying a very high flow of emotional data and neural input from Gundam to pilot in these moments.

Could it be then that this physical contact accidentally allows for some accidental crossover of emotional feedback? Is there an unintentional spillover caused by the Gundam reaching its limits to handle so much raw emotion, or possible crossover in the same way that electricity jumps between conductors? It's not impossible to imagine that the “understanding of the soul” the Fighter experiences is being caused by the accidental crossover of emotional feedback between the Gundams in these moments of prolonged physical contact— therefore literally allowing fighters to see into and understand each other’s true feelings in the heat of high-intensity combat.

And since the way emotion/thought is translated into something understandable to the machine in a way that goes beyond human comprehension, it could also be speculated that this could occur for the pilots, as well. That the high-intensity causes the literal blurring of the lines between the minds of two pilots (think of something similar to the Drift in Pacific Rim). Maybe for a Gundam Fighter, a battle with your opponent really does allow you to understand them on a deeper level than just words can allow. Maybe a fighter really can communicate with their fists in a way they don't know how to with words.

Or maybe I'm reaching and reading too much into it :) either way, let me know your thoughts if you have any!! I love writing about g-fighter, both fic and analysis (??? i guess???) stuff like this, and tumblr lets me be as long-winded as I want >:) I have a lot of Thoughts about each pilot's specific relationship with their Gundam, and I'd like to write more about them sometime soon...

[cloudshoregames]

BTE Mech Construction Showcase: Shining Gundam

Now I know for any Gundam fans that come across this showcase, they will wonder why I chose the Shining Gundam over say the RX-78 or Gundam Unicorn. I have a few reasons. This series of showcases has been for the purpose of showing the various ways that mechs of a wide variety of styles can be built. For this and the next, I wanted to focus on mechs that are closer to the super robot variety. Yet, featuring a Gundam in the series was long overdue. G Gundam is one of my favorite Gundam series and is known for being the first alternate universe Gundam series, namely asking, what if Gundam, but super robot. Then why Shining Gundam over God Gundam? Well, I wanted to show off a "mid-tier" build. So we're sticking with Domon Kasshu's first gundam. I think you all will find this one interesting.

The Shining Gundam (and many other mechs from its series) are known for doing combat in a variety of martial styles. In fact Domon Kasshu isn't a soldier, he's a martial artist who uses the  "Mobile Trace System" to translate his movements in the cockpit to the movement of the mech itself. Because of this he has a very nimble fighting style. While most of his fighting is done in melee, certain conditions may call on the Shining Gundam to adjust its up close tactics. Namely, to set up the opponent for a finishing blow, known as the Shining Finger, a super heated, open palm strike.

(Art property of Bandai NAMCO)

Starting us with the primary parts, Shining Gundam is a front line fighter, because of this, it will be equipped with a Blitz Frame giving it 24 AP. While it may be nimble, that does not mean this gundam is fast when compared to others. It is more equipped to enter combat slowly, or by ambush. To reflect this, we'll give the Shining Gundam a Caballero Booster with a Movement Rate of 1. We will go with a Blitz CPU for 2 Utilities. Since the Shining Gundam is a front line fighter and a super robot, it will need a lot of heat to put behind its weapon systems. To accommodate this, we'll use the Anodyne Radiator to show the player's advancement in the campaign, granting it a Heat Rating of 12.

For the utilities, a Neural Interface to represent the Mobile Trace System, also granting +5 to Mech Piloting. This comes with the chance for feedback from damage to harm the pilot, but this is also a feature of the Mobile Trace System. In addition, we'll install the Overdrive Mode Converter to represent the Shining Gundam's Super Mode which increases the mech's speed and damage output. That said it will deal compounding damage to the pilot the longer it is active.

As for the weapon systems, even though the Shining Gundam is the lower tier mech for this franchise, as a super robot it still packs an abundance of weapons/attacks. In order to incorporate most of these we'll make use of the Mode Shift System weapon mod, allowing a weapon to reconfigure into a second mode during combat, while maintaining its own ammo supply. While this will maximize the HR use while constructing weapon kits, it will also reflect the often used trop of martial artists switching styles during combat. We'll build two weapon systems, and equip this mod on both.

The first weapon system will be Martial Arts (though could have also been labeled as Reinforced Limbs), with a total of 5 heat spent in it. We'll stick with a d4 of damage, but apply the optimization to give it a +3 to final damage. The Rate of Fire we'll leave at 1. Where we will put our added point of heat, is in the Ammo giving it a total of 6. For the effective range, we will naturally use the Melee range. Now for Weapons Mods, we will only add the Mode Shift System. This will let us build a second kit with the same HR value and its own set of ammo, that the player can switch to as an action during combat. In this case, the mode shift, will be the Shining Gundam's Beam Sabers. We'll keep the damage at a d4, and stick with the base Rate of Fire of 1; however, we will optimize the RoF to give it a second attack reflecting the mech having two sabers. Once again, we'll put the extra head into ammo so the sabers have 6 attacks. Once again the range will be melee.

The second weapon system is the Shining Gundam's finishing move, the Shining Finger. For this one we will construct the weapon system with 7 heat. Since it is a finishing move, we will put 3 heat in damage to give it a d8 base damage. We will also apply optimization to the damage to add +3 final damage dealt. (This combined with the WS bonus, and added damage if in Overdrive Mode, can lead to a very devastating attack). We'll leave the ammo at 4 as well as apply the melee range. As stated previously, we will apply a Mode Shift System mod, but to tweak the damage further, we will also add the Incendiary Ammo mod giving an additional +2 to final damage dealt. Since this is our finishing move, we will make the alternative weapon system the Shining Shot, where the Shining Gundam fires energy beams from cannons on its forearms. For this, we will put two heat into damage for a d6. We will copy what we did for the Beam Sabers, and put one heat into RoF with the optimization, raising it to 2. We'll increase the ammo to 6, and lastly, for the effective ranges, we will apply Close and Medium giving the gundam a limited distance attack.

Finally, we'll stock the Shining Gundam with a couple disposables: a flight skid for added mobility, and a bandolier of particle grenades since the mech was known to use smoke grenades in the show.

This build for the Shining Gundam makes for a potent front line fighter with the potential to down opponents quickly, but would need to rely on allies when fighting faster opponents who can keep at range. Next time, I'd like to check more than one box again for the demonstration. I'd like to take a look at a proper super robot, as well as a mech from a comedic series. So next time we'll take a look at building Megas XLR. 

[cardtorius]

Air neos was the best thing i got out of rhymestyle mystery prism AND juniper box. Why can i be SO unlucky. Lol

[gundamfight]

[mecha-gifs]

[thejoe2782]

New acquisitions!

Super Mode Shining Gundam & Shiranui Akatsuki Gundam

[fostersffff]

Domon activates the Shining Gundam’s Super Mode, and uses the Shining Finger Sword

Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Episode 6: "Fight, Domon! Earth is the Ring"

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

New pair of G Gundam cels with matching genga. 

First up, a shocked Rain from Episode 18, Steal the Secret! Scheme of the Beautiful Warriors! Chibodee’s girls have their guns drawn on Rain as they download and steal some data on the Shining Gundam. After throwing a flash grenade to blind her, Rain turns here to see them getting away, before chasing after the quartet:

Domon’s cel comes from Episode 20, George, Beat the Nightmare! In the final scene of the episode, Domon says that he doesn’t understand how his Super Mode activated, and it isn’t controlled easily. “So the important thing is that I continue training...” And then the dramatic sword pose before the final pan out:

Scanned from: My Production Art Stash

[tyrantisterror]

I did a four part series of trivia posts when ATOM Volume 1: Tyrantis Walks Among Us! came out, and that was pretty fun!  You can see that set of trivia posts here if you’d like.  I thought it’d be fun to do another now that ATOM Volume 2: Tyrantis Roams the Earth! is out - just one this time, because a lot of the trivia I talked about with Volume 1 still applies.

I’m gonna divide this into two sections: non-spoiler trivia, for things that really don’t give a lot of plot points away, and spoiler trivia, for things that DO give away major plot points.  I recommend not reading the spoiler trivia until after you’ve read Tyrantis Roams the Earth!, for obvious reasons, and will put the spoiler trivia under a cut.

Ok, let’s go!

- So if you read ATOM Volume 1, you probably noticed that the book is split not only into chapters, but “episodes,” which consist of four chapters a piece.  It’s kind of a nod to how the series owes a great deal of its DNA to various monster of the week shows, with Godzilla: the Series and The Godzilla Power Hour being obvious influences.  It also allowed me to pepper in some illustrations and cheesy b-movie style titles into each volume.

- The first “episode” of Volume 2, Tyrantis in Tokyo, pays explicit homage to the giant monster movies of Japan, perhaps even moreso than the chapters that came before it.  Given how much Japanese media influenced ATOM - from tokusatsu like the Godzilla, Gamera, and Ultraman franchises to anime like Digimon and Evangelion (hell, the title of this episode itself is a tip of the hat to Tenchi Muyo by way of one of its spinoffs) - it kind of felt obligatory that Tyrantis visit Japan and pay his respects.

- Tyrantis in Tokyo also fits in a tribute to another staple of Atomic Age pop culture: Rock and Roll.

- Kutulusca, the giant cephalopod that appears in Tyrantis in Tokyo, is one of the oldest kaiju in this series, dating back to the first iteration of Tyrantis’s story that I put to paper back in 2001 or so.  It’s changed a lot since then, but its fight with Tyrantis goes more or less the way it originally did.

- Old Meg, the giant placoderm/shark, and Nastadyne, the bipedal beetle, both owe their existence directly to Deviantart’s Godzilla fandom.  Old Meg originated as a dunkleosteus monster I submitted to a “create a Godzilla kaiju��� contest held by Matt Frank, while Nastadyne is based on a Megalon redesign I made during the “redesign all the Godzilla kaiju” phase of DA’s kaiju fandom.

- The second episode, Tyrantis vs. the Red Menace, gets dark as we visit the USSR, which had enough REAL horror with atomic power in its history to make creature features seem a bit defanged by comparison.  It’s probably the episode with the strongest horror elements - ATOM’s always been influenced by Resident Evil, and this is probably where that influence shows the most strongly.

- It also features the first fully robotic mecha in the series, the mighty Herakoschei!  Its name is a combination of “Heracles” and “Koschei the Deathless,” with the former part being added by its Russian creators to make it seem a bit more international as they offer it to the U.N. in hopes of gaining aid for a very extreme kaiju problem they’ve developed.

- Most of Tyrantis vs. the Red Menace takes place in the Siberian Monster Zone.  Its name is a reference to the Lawless Monster Zone in Ultraman, which is such a cool fucking name I wish that I wish I could go back in time and steal it.

- The next episode, Tyrantis’s Revenge, is... full of spoilers, so we’ll move on for now.

- The penultimate episode, Tyrantis vs. the Martian Monsters, is a love letter to MANY different sci-fi stories that involve life on Mars, though the most prominent of them is of course The War of The Worlds (one of my top 3 favorite books) and its various adaptations.  From its tentacles sapient martians, the tripodal leader of the titular monsters whose name includes the word “ulla” which is uttered by said sapient martians, the plant monster made of red vines, the cylinder-shaped spacecraft the Martian monsters are sent to earth on, the copper-skinned stingray-esque flying martian who shoots lasers from its tail, and the fact that every chapter title in this episode is a quote from the book, the H.G. Wells influence is STRONG.

- The final episode, Invasion from Beyond!, is shamelessly inspired by Destroy All Monsters, although there’s a dash of “To Serve Men,” Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, and The Day the Earth Stood Still mixed in as well.  It’s also sort of a tribute to my first “published” bit of a kaiju fiction - a rewrite of Destroy All Monsters that included EVERY Godzilla monster that had appeared at the time, which my middle school self wrote back in 2002 or so for Kaiju Headquarters, a kaiju fansite I’m not sure exists anymore.  Invasion from Beyond! is just as ambitious (but hopefully better executed) as my DAM Remake, with dozens upon dozens of different kaiju duking it out, earthlings vs. aliens.

- There were three different documents I made to outline the final battle of Invasion from Beyond!  It’s the largest episode of the series so far and more than half of it is that fucking fight.  My inner child is pleased, though, so hopefully you will be too.

Ok, that’s all I can share without spoilers.  READER BEWARE WHAT FOLLOWS BELOW THE CUT!

JUST MAKING SURE you know that SPOILERS will follow from here on out.  Read at your own peril!  YOU WERE WARNED!

(I’m gonna start with lighter ones just in case you scrolled too far and want to turn back)

- There’s a number of explicit Spielberg homages in ATOM Volume 2, from a “we need a bigger boat” joke during a chase with a giant shark to the fact that Invasion from Beyond! opens with a group of people flying to an island of monsters to review whether or not it should get more funding.

- When Tyrantis appears in the first chapter, I snuck in modified lyrics of The Godzilla Power Hour’s theme song.  “Up from the depths”... “several stories high”... “breathing fire”... “its head in the sky”... Tyrantis!  Tyrantis!  Tyrantis!

- The two rock bands in Tyrantis in Tokyo have real life inspirations ala Gwen Valentine, albeit a bit more muddled than hers.  The Cashews are inspired by The Peanuts (see what I did there), while The Thunder Lizards are a mix of The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Buddy Holly, and the Big Bopper.  I wanted The Thunder Lizards to be more akin to the myth of a famous rock and roll band than the reality - less the real Beatles and more the Yellow Submarine cartoon version of them.

- The song The Thunder Lizards write for Tyrantis was written to fit the tune of “The Godzilla March” from Godzilla vs. Gigan, though ideally if someone made an actual song of it it would be its own song.  I got the idea from Over the Garden Wall, which used the Christmas song “O Holy Night” as a a starting point for “Come Wayward Souls.”

- Perry Martin, UNNO reporter and peer of Henry Robertson, is a nod to Raymond Burr, with his name being a combination of two of Burr’s most famous roles: Perry Mason, and Steve Martin from Godzilla King of the Monsters (1956).

- Dr. Rinko Tsuburaya is a few homages in one.  Her name comes from Rinko Kikuchi (who played Mako Mori in Pacific Rim), while her last name is obviously in homage of Eiji Tsuburaya.  Her being the daughter of an esteemed scientist is inspired by Emiko Yamane from the original Gojira.

- Nastadyne’s Burning Justice mode is named after a similar super mode from various Transformers cartoons, though it’s more directly inspired by the Shining/Burning Finger super move from G Gundam.

- Martians sending kaiju to different planets via shooting them out of cannons (with or without cylinder spaceships around them) is another War of the Worlds shoutout.  So is martians living on Venus after their homeworld was made uninhabitable, actually.

- Kurokame’s vocalizations are described as wails in explicit homage to Gamera.  His name can be translated as either “black tortoise” (a reference to the mythical guardian beast Genbu, which can also be construed as a Gamera reference thanks to Gamera: Advent of Irys implying Gamera and Genbu are one and the same) or a portmanteau of the Japanese words for crocodile and turtle - “crocturtle.”

- Burodon’s name is just a mangling of “burrow down.”  It also sounds vaguely like Baragon, who Burodon is loosely inspired by.  AND, since Burodon is sort of a knockoff/modified Baragon, that kinda makes him a reference to various monsters in Ultraman!

- The final battle of Tyrantis in Tokyo is sort of a hybrid of the finales of Ghidorah the 3 Headed Monster and Destroy All Monsters.  

- The Japanese kaiju teaching Tyrantis the art of throwing rocks at your enemies is both a joke on the prominence of rock throwing in Japanese kaiju fights AND the tired trope of an American hero learning secret martial arts from a Japanese mentor ala Batman, Iron Fist, etc.  In this case, the secret martial art is throwing rocks at people.

- When introduced to Herakoschei and its pilot, we are told that the strain of piloting this early mecha is so intense that many pilots have died in the process, with the current one passing out on more than few occasions.  This is of course a Pacific Rim homage - sadly, no one invents drifting.

- Herakoschei’s design is a loose homage to Robby the Robot and Cherno Alpha, because big boxy robots are cool.

- The Writhing Flesh and ESPECIALLY Pathogen are both hugely influenced by Resident Evil and The Thing.  Giant body horror piles of raw flesh, tendrils, mismatched mouths and limbs may be a bit outside the main era of monster design ATOM homages, but they fit the themes and bring a nice contrast.

- I came up with Pathogen long before Corona but MAN it definitely feels different in 2021 to have a giant monster whose name is a synonym for disease driving other creatures crazy in a quarantine zone than it did when I plotted out the story in 2016.

- The chapter title “Hello, Old Foes” is a riff on “Goodbye, Old Friend”

- Minerva, the kaiju-fied clone of Dr. Lerna, is meant to be an homage to Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, which is a genuinely good giant monster flick.  I am sure many of you will also believe I included her because I’m a pervert whose into tall women, but you’d be wrong!  I included the seven foot tall Russian mecha pilot Ludmilla Portnova because I’m a pervert whose into tall women.  Minerva’s inclusion was just coincidental, I swear!

- Since Promythigor is a play on the archetypal ape kaiju to contrast Tyrantis as a play on the archetypal fire-breathing reptile kaiju, their fight has a lot of nods to King Kong movies.  Promythigor attempts the famous jaw-snap maneuver of Kong (with less success), J.C. Clark paraphrases the “brute force vs. a thinking animal” line from the King Kong vs. Godzilla American cut, and Tyrantis slides down a mountain to knock Promythigor off his feet in a reversal of Kong doing the same in King Kong vs. Godzilla.

- Tyrantis sliding down a mountain on his tail doubles as a Godzilla vs. Megalon homage.

- Though Promythigor is the archetypal Ape and Tyrantis the archetypal Fire-Breathing Reptile, I think it’s fun to note that in some ways, Promythigor is the Godzilla equivalent in their matchup, and Tyrantis the Kong.  Promythigor has a slight size advantage, was scarred by humans performing unethical weapons technology, and is associated with violent explosions.  Tyrantis is a good-at-heart prehistoric beast who humanized in part by his unlikely friendship with a human woman.

- Of course, in the context of the famous quote from the American cut of King Kong vs. Godzilla, they remain in their archetypal lanes.  Promythigor is the more intelligent of the two (though not necessarily wiser), and Tyrantis is in many ways a brute reptile.  Their battle is a rebuttal of sorts to the assertion that Kong is the “better” animal because he is closer to human.  Promythigor’s near human creativity and emotions don’t make him the kinder/more benevolent monster, but instead fuel a very self-centered and destructive attitude that makes him the far more dangerous threat.  On the other hand, Tyrantis, who is less intelligent, limited in communication with others by his reptilian mindset and instincts, and simple in his thoughts and desires, is nonetheless a sweet creature that is easily dealt with when others consider his animal needs and mindset.  There’s a quote from Hellboy I love that probably sums up all of my writing thus far: “To be other than human does not mean the same as being less,” and that’s what the matchup between these two in particular tries to illustrate: the “less” human Tyrantis is nonetheless more benign than the “more” human Promythigor.

- Kraydi the psychic lizard began life as a soft sculpture I made of the Canyon Krayt Dragon from The Wildlife of Star Wars.  The sculpture didn’t look much like the illustration, but I liked how it came out, and so I made it an original monster named Kraydi (see what I did there).  Figuring out an explanation for that name in ATOM’s world was possibly the most difficult kaiju naming task in the series, but it worked out in the end.

- Kraydi and Promythigor having psychic powers is a result of my time on Godzilla fan forums in my middle school years.  Most of the forums had OC kaiju battle tournaments, and SO many of those kaiju had a wide array of beam weapons and psychic powers just to win the tournaments by beam-spamming and mind controlling their foes into oblivion.  There’s a special kind of rage you get when your original creation is beaten by “Fire Godzilla” because he has a genius level intellect and the power of unstoppable telekinesis.  Kraydi began as (and still is I suppose) my attempt to do a psychic kaiju well, while Promythigor’s villainy being tied to psychic powers being forced on him is sort of my passive aggressive commentary on people foisting powers on a monster without any real thematic reason for them.

- Henry Robertson and Dr. Praetorius chewing out the laziness of people giving kaiju completely unaltered names of mythic beasts will probably be seen as a jab at the Monsterverse and/or the numerous writers in the kaiju OC scene who do the same, but it’s ACTUALLY a jab at my past self, who had DOZENS of kaiju whose names were just Greek mythological figures verbatim.  There are dozens of kaiju named Hydra, Scylla, Charybdis, Chimera, etc., past me, try to make the names stand out!  Oh wait you did.  I mean, don’t pat yourself on the back too much, you still went with “Mothmanud” as a canon name and never came up with something better, but, like, good on ya for trying I guess.

- Dr. Praetorius takes his name from the evil mad scientis in Bride of Frankenstein, who basically has all the wicked traits that Universal’s Frankenstein downplayed in their take on Dr. Frankenstein.  Ironically, ATOM’s Dr. Praetorius is a bit less evil than his fellow mad scientists in ATOM.  I really like how his character turned out, he surprised me.

- Isaac Rossum, the pilot of the USA mecha Atomoton, is named for Isaac Aasimov, whose robot stories are to robot fiction what Lord of the Rings is to high fantasy.  His last name is a reference to Rossum’s Universal Robots, which is where the word “robot” came from.

- The unfortunate pilots of MechaTyrantis in ATOM Volumes 1 and 2 are all nods to Jurassic Park.  John Ludlow = John Hammond and Peter Ludlow, Ian Grant = Ian Malcolm and Alan Grant, Dennis Dodgson = Dennis Nedry and Lewis Dodgson.

- A good way to pitch Invasion from Beyond! would be “what if the staff and monsters were able to fight back when the Kilaaks tried to take over Monsterland?”

- Ok, here’s a fun joke that no one will get but me because it requires a very specific chain of logic based on some obscure and loosely connected nerd bullshit.  There’s a rocker in ATOM’s universe named Sebastian Haff, right?  One of his songs, “Darling Let’s Shimmy,” is referenced right before a mothmanud larva emerges from the ground in both ATOM Vol. 1 and 2.  Ok, so, in the Bubba Hotep, an aging Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff claims he is actually the real Elvis Presley, having changed places with the real Sebastian Haff as a sort of Prince and the Pauper deal that went wrong.  Got that?  Ok, so, in UFO folklore, a common joke is the theory that Elvis didn’t die, but was rather abducted by aliens (or he actually WAS an alien the whole time - the whole “Elvis didn’t die, he just went home” joke in Men in Black is a good example of this).  Ok?  Ok.  So, in ATOM’s universe, we can surmise that their equivalent of Elvis, whose name is Sebastian Haff, WAS abducted by aliens, and that his song “Darling Let’s Shimmy” is subconsciously influenced by his repressed memories from his time aboard the Beyonder spaceships, which is why it accidentally awoke a Mothmanud larva in Volume 1.  There’s a lot of bullshit jokes I put into ATOM, but this is perhaps the bullshittiest of them all.

- One of the most common bits of feedback on ATOM Volume 1 I got was “I kept waiting for something to eat Brick Rockwell, he’s such an asshole.”  And I had to smile and go, “Oh, yeah, guess he never got his, huh?” the whole time without letting on that he was going to die here all along!

- Dr. Lerna and Brick Rockwell’s nature as foils to each other is probably most apparent in Invasion from Beyond!, where both are given fairly similar situations - a nonhuman approaches them with a solution to a global crisis - and react to it very differently.  I worry that some people may think they both made the same choice and got different results, and that that’s hypocrisy on my part, but I hope I wrote it so you can see how their choices and situations actually differ in key ways, and why their decisions, while similar on the surface, are ultimately very different, and thus result in almost opposite outcomes.

- So, when I planned out this book in 2016, I swear I didn’t know about the Orca from 2019′s Godzilla King of the Monsters.  Having the plot hang around Dr. Lerna deciding whether or not to use a sonic device to rouse all the kaiju to save the earth was not INTENDED to be a Monsterverse reference - it came about from me looking at Pathfinder’s take on kaiju, who are all explicitly influenceable by music, and thinking, “Oh, wow, music and songs DO have a major connection with kaiju in a lot of media, I should do something with that.”  Whem KOTM came out a few days after Volume 1 came out I realized I was kinda fucked here, because the comparison was definitely going to be made, but I’d also set this all up already and you can’t just change suddenly to avoid looking like a copy cat and make a good story, so... I dunno, I leaned into it a bit, but it is what it is.

- While most people will probably think they’re a reference to the Reptoids of UFO folklore, the Reptodites are more inspired by the Dinosapien of speculative evolution fame and, even morso, by the Reptites from Chrono Trigger.  Me wanting to avoid the “lizard people control the government” conspiracy theory trope is one of the main reasons why Reptodites have this non-interference clause with humanity.

- Lieutenant Gray is a bunch of different humanoid aliens rolled into one - a little Hopskinville goblin, a little classic gray, a little this one weird alien with five-fingered zygodactyl hands, etc.

- There’s some Beyonder Mecha in this volume that are basically kaiju-fied versions of the Flatwoods Monster.  The species that built them ALSO engineered the Mothmanuds, because connecting Mothman and the Flatwoods Monster is fun!

- Pleprah is, obviously, a one-eyed one-horned flying purple people eater.

- Tyrantis’s brush with death, in addition to being so very anime, was inspired by my dad outlining how mythic heroes often have to travel to the underworld/land of the dead before they can finish their journey.  It’s one of the plot points that I’ve had planned for this series since middle school.

- I’m sure some will view it as hackneyed and corny, but as a person who’s battled with depression for decades, having Tyrantis’s choice to live be the big heroic turn of the finale was very important to me.  Tyrantis incorporates elements of a lot of imaginary friends I made as a kid, and in many ways he’s kind of the face of my more positive side in my head.  He’s been telling me to choose to live for a while, and while maybe to an outsider it may seem hackneyed, it’s just... very Tyrantis.  He chooses life and kindness in the face of pain and struggle.  That’s Tyrantis.

- Tyrantis’s powered up form is called “Hyper Mode,” which is another Gundam reference.  Originally it was a lot gaudier and involved him turning gold like a fuckin’ Super Saiyan.  I opted for something a little more toned down here.  

- Also, speaking of KOTM references, I decided to make Hyper Mode Tyrantis’s final duel with Pathogen be a sort of foil to Burning Godzilla’s final bout with Ghidorah in KOTM.  Instead of ravaging the city, Hyper Tyrantis’s pulse of energy rejuvenates his fallen allies, and as a result he is “crowned” not out of fear for his supremacy in the wake of killing a powerful enemy, but in gratitude for his kindness.  See?  Leaning into it!

- And now I can finally reveal that Yamaneon is ATOM’s equivalent of The Monolith Monsters - that is, a kaiju that is also a mineral.  I took the “strange continuously growing rock” thing in a very different direction, though, as unlike The Monolith Monsters, Yamaneon is actually alive.

- At various points in the pre-writing process, either Promythigor, MechaTyrantis, or both were going to die fighting Pathogen.  I ultimately decided to let them both live, with MechaTyrantis even getting his flesh and blood body back, because I think it’s more interesting and thematically consistent that way.  They get a chance to heal their wounds by changing their ways.

- The Great Beyonder and Dorazor both almost didn’t make the cut, as I felt they didn’t have the same pull as villains that Pathogen, Promythigor, and MechaTyrantis did.  But then I thought that could actually be the gag - build them up as the final boss, only to have Pathogen take their crown.  I want to explore post-face turn Dorazor a bit more, though.  We’ll have to see about that in a later volume.

- Volumes 1 and 2 make up what I call “The Ballad of Tyrantis Arc” for ATOM.  I call it that because Tyrantis’s storyline in these two volumes was patterend after Chivalric ballads like Yvain the Knight of the Lion.  Tyrantis, a heroic warrior who is kind but dumb of ass, learns of strange goings on outside his home and investigates.  During his journey into the unknown he falls in love with a powerful woman, whose favor he tries to win.  Through happenstance he is separated from his love and, distraught, wanders around fighting various foes to prove his worth, before finally returning to his love a better hero.  Invasion from Beyond! could even be seen as a sort of Morte d’Artur, with Tyrantis and a bunch of other kaiju heroes (including Nastadyne and Kemlasulla, who are built up as Hero Kaiju of Another Story) take part in a huge battle that threatens their idealic kingdom (of monsters).

- Volume 2 isn’t the end of ATOM, but it’s designed to work as an ending if you want to tap out here.  As a reader I feel a definitive ending is important, but as a writer I’m always tempted to revisit my beloved characters, so I feel giving closure while leaving a few doors open for possible future adventures is a good compromise between these positions.  There will be more ATOM stories, some (but not all!) following Tyrantis and Dr. Lerna, but if you want to know that Tyrantis and Dr. Lerna get an ending and the resolution to their arcs such a thing promises, here you go.  An ending, if not THE END.

[reversemoon255]

So Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise has been going on for a month now, and I’ve been quite enjoying it, and I’ve got to do a Fifth Review for this month, so I thought I’d talk a bit about the Gundam Build series. I feel like I’ve always been more into the Build stuff than a lot of other fans I’ve talked to, which I attribute to me being more into the technological aspects of the meta-series as a whole. So, as Gunpla’s kinda my thing, I thought we’d talk about Gunpla. I’ve been interested in doing some Top 10 stuff, and thought it might be fun to go over some of my favorites from the series. I won’t be including Re:Rise since it’s not complete, but I will be looking at all the custom Gunpla from GBF, GBFT, GBD, and their associated manga and choosing the ten that fit my fancy:

Number 10: GF13-17NJ/B Gundam Shining Break

This is probably lower on this list because I haven’t been able to find Gundam Build Divers Break, but I still love the idea behind this unit. I went over it when I reviewed the kit, but the reason the Builder chose the Shining Gundam as a base was because of its wide range of articulation as a martial arts inspired Gundam, but then removed all the things that let it do martial arts techniques and slapped a big ol’ gun and shield on it and gave it an MA conversion. He basically turned it into the WIng Gundam.

And I think that’s really cool. Taking a unit that you like for one reason and completely changing its fighting style and gimmicks to better match that of a unit you mesh with from a control perspective. I feel like most people would just take a unit that was their favorite or already had a fighting style they liked and would just choose that as a starting point, so it’s cool to not see a unit give into that compromise.

Number 9: NYA+MBKF-P02 Nyaia Astray

The Nyaia Gundam is probably the first MS in the GBF canon that we see get a total overhaul, transforming a Gundam with a quadrupedal MA mode into a cuddly cat. And like the Bearguy III, it spawned several copycats that all have cutesy MA transformation... It’s just none of them got actual kits.

Of that particular cast of characters, the Nyaia Astray is my favorite. The successor to the Nyaia and Nyaia Leone, the Nyaia Astray is one of the few cute MA to not have an MA Mode to start with, similar to our previous entry. It’s just another cool bit of inspiration, giving a unit an alternate mode when it originally didn’t have one, and also building outside the preconceived notion of sticking with in-universe canons.

Number 8: 最強機動 Gundam Tryon 3

I love Super Robots. I have not been shy about telling people that. And here we have a Gunpla inspired by Super Robots. Enough said.

Number 7: GN-1001N Seravee Gundam Scheherazade

Y’know, I just now noticed that it’s call sign is 1001N, as in 1001 Nights. Clever.

The Scheherazade is an excellent example of adding an original gimmick to a Gunpla. Its Booster is capable of transforming into a weapons pack similar to the original Seravee’s typical loadout, but also has a secondary mode built for close combat. Plus it can itself be used as a weapon. That’s four different ways a single Booster can be used, leaving the base unit free to worry about its own articulation, weapons, and performance without having to integrate any abnormal parts that might get in the way.

Number 6: RMS-117G11 Galbaldy Rebake

While it was mostly an excuse to slip some Iron-Blooded Orphans in due to licensing issues with other TV stations (the same reason 00 didn’t appear in GBF until the second season), the Galbaldy Rebake is still an excellent Gunpla. While it doesn’t do anything particularly interesting like the last few entries on this list, it still packs an amazing amount of imagination. It takes the Galbaldy, a Universal Century unit, and changes its style into that of a Calamity War unit, giving it equipment to match. The idea in and of itself is amazing, it’s one of only a few units to it, and it arguably does it the best.

Number 5: XXXG-01S2龍虎狼 Gundam Jiyan Altron

The Jiyan Altron combines several aspects we’ve seen in previous entries on this list. It takes an After Colony timeline unit, not to mention one built for midrange combat, and changes it into a close combat unit with aesthetic and combat elements taken from Gundam Fighters. It utilizes its existing parts in interesting ways, has unique new ones, and even incorporates unseen ones like the golden Hyper Mode.

Also gets a lot of credit for going with the series Altron rather than the EW version. Though, now that I think about it, most of the units based on Gundam Wing seem to utilize the show versions, which is odd considering how popular the Endless Waltz versions appear to be. I wonder if there’s a reason for that?

Number 4: MBF-PNN Gundam Astray No-Name

I’m honestly surprised that the No-Name ended up so high on this list. I know I like the Astray, but not that much. I think that’s just a testament to how interesting the design is. Despite being from GBD, the Astray No-Name feels like the ultimate culmination of the philosophies of GBF and GBFT. As the unit was more and more damaged through actual battle, the Builder continually built upon and reinforced it until it became what it is now. It’s construction out of necessity, rather than how Gunpla are typically built in GBN where it’s based on pilot experience and data. It’s cool that there was at least one Gunpla in the series that hearkened back to it.

Number 3: PEN-01M Momokapool

Gunpla is Freedom! The fact that this is even higher on the list than the No-Name is even more surprising. But the Momokapool is just, like, one of the most unique units in the series, partly because it’s built weaker than its base unit. What really sold me on this was the instruction manual of all things. It gives so much extra detail about the construction of this unit that you miss during its debut episode (though it is a decent episode). Momoka even wanted to remove the finger guns, but only kept them because Koichi was helping her build it and insisted she have some kind of weapon. The Petitkapool is also another great example of an original gimmick, though in this case even though it takes up a lot of space it’s still seamlessly integrated into the design.

I also like the name. It’s Momoka’s Kapool so it’s the Momokapool. Cute.

Number 2: SD-237 Winning Gundam

You may have noticed that most of the units on this list are from GBD. As the series’ have progressed the designers on the series have gotten better and more imaginative, so it’s not surprising that the newer units would incorporate more of the technical stuff I like in comparison to older units that were mostly recolors with new heads.

However, the Winning Gundam, despite its age even within its own season (eventually being replaced by the Star Winning Gundam), stands out as one of the most imaginative units the series has ever produced. Most SD Gundams are themed, normally around Romance of the Three Kingdoms due to most SD Gundam shows being based on it, but the Winning follows the typical schemes of most MS. Not only that, but it has a Booster Mode, it’s head can separate from that to form a smaller Booster, and it has multiple weapons and parts that can combine together for different situations.

But the best thing it does? It’s able to integrate with Real Type MS. The first to do so. It even inspired an entire, though to my knowledge brief, line of SD Gundams capable of doing the same. It’s thinking outside the box at its finest.

Number 1: XXXG-01Wf Wing Gundam Fenice

And the only Gunpla from GBF ends up being number 1 on the list, but not for the same reasons as everything else. It has a few new gimmicks, but nothing amazing. It has a few additional weapons, but nothing as intense as other MS in the series. It has some unique design elements, but doesn’t utilize any spectacular ideas in its build. And it’s green.

But what it does do is tell a story. Like the No-Name, it’s been bashed and beaten through years of Gunpla Battles, and has been repaired and upgraded each time. Unlike the No-Name, however, you can actually tell by looking at it, with its asymmetrical design, broken head components, and heterochromia.

And its upgrades are great, too. It has a personal vehicle that utilizes some of the missing components from the Wing Gundam base, the Meteor Hopper. When it’s eventually destroyed in its battle against the Qubeley Papillon, its successor, the Gundam Fenice Rinascita, takes many cues from this unit while reincorporating the MA Mode from the Wing Gundam and has new combinable weaponry likely inspired by the Wing Gundam Zero. And on top of that, its final incarnation, the Gundam Fenice Liberta, removes the previous MA Flight Mode in favor of a ground-based one reminiscent of the Meteor Hopper the first Fenice utilized.

All in all, the Fenice may not be as bold and flashy as some of the other Gunpla it fought or those from future series, but it makes up for it with sheer charm and design quality.

And that’s my favorite Gunpla to have come out of the Build Series. I’m pretty sure most people won’t agree with a lot of my choices, but I know what I like. I’m not trying to be objective; I’m just running on gut feelings here. And to bring things back around to Re:Rise, I’m excited to see what new Gunpla we’ll be getting in the future, and am happy with the ones we’ve gotten so far. And I’ll talk more about that tomorrow...

[the-infamous-mister-gates]

[5] Custom Master Grade Vagabond Shining Gundam [Info.] "Seen in the wastelands of the Sahara desert during the 18th Gundam Fight Tournament. This unique design is modeled after the spare parts of the God Gundam and Rising Gundam, utilizing the recovered inner frame and OS of the lost Shining Gundam, thought to be completely destroyed during the 13th Gundam Fight. At the time of this report we know that this mobile suit represents Neo Japan in the 18th tournament, but the pilot is still unknown. Like the original Shining Gundam, the Vagabond uses the famous Shining Finger finisher move, but thanks to the combination of other gundams it can also use the improved Burning Finger the God Gundam used on opponents. However, the shining and burning finger are not the Vagabond's strongest weapons. Along with the two beam sabers and two swords mounted on its back, the Buster Sword is its signature weapons, activating the Vagabond's Super Mode to wield it. The Bust Sword can also double as a reverse sword/bladed shield when the infamous Sixth hidden sword is unlocked from the buster. I sharped katana made from Gundarium Alloy and cold-pressed steel, with an inner core for generating heat similar to the Shining and Burning Finger attacks." . https://www.instagram.com/p/CC1fJjaD60d/?igshid=1hidgl3wvp7z0

[bwprowl]

I really dig how Bandai’s Super Mini-Pla line is coming out with affordable, fully-functioned versions of more and more classic Sentai Mecha (as well as others, hey Voltron and Gridman!). Case in point: I really never thought I’d get a good toy of the regular robot from my long-standing fave Choujin Sentai Jetman, but here I am now, having assembled Jet Icarus in sweet tiny plastic-model form. Barely took me an afternoon, and it was definitely worth it.

The individual jets of the Jetmans aren’t exactly the most thrilling designs on their own. Sentai was just moving away from boxy vehicles bashing together at this point (with Zyuranger’s mecha a year later really revolutionizing things), so what you get is five chunky planes doing their best to look distinctive and evocative of their namesake birds. Jet Hawk being the center Red of the bunch is the most individualistic, but also kind of the most unintentionally hilarious? Like it has to form the center torso of the robot, so it’s curiously cuboid in a very noticeable way, even as you assemble and fiddle with it and realize how much moving bits it has going on to facilitate all that. Honestly, putting it together and seeing how it works makes me appreciate it more in spite of its, shall we say, charming proportions.

Conversely, Jet Swan and Jet ‘Condol’ make for probably the most coherent jets, and they’re barely distinct as a result. The design of Jet Icarus as a whole is really committed to a homogenized combined robot form, and that means these bits forming the legs get to be as similar as possible. It’s actually nice assembling them, once again, to really become aware of the bits they have that do differentiate them, like the wing shapes and accompanying decals, and how Jet Swan tries to work in more whites and pinks while the Condor just commits to the overall black scheme with some red accents.

And then there’s the arms, Jet Owl and Jet Swallow (go ahead and laugh). These are definitely the most clearly-compromised, being as they are Just Arms with wing-packs stapled on. Jet Owl in particular with its underslung surfboard and adorable bug-eyes at least rocks its particular flavor of goofy. Meanwhile, I may be biased since Ako is my favorite Birdman ranger by a country mile, but I think Jet Swallow works pretty well for what it is, mounting that sleek shield-to-be set of moving wing-blades on top and wearing that swish blue color scheme and narrowed eyes like a boss.

As is often the case with these types of Sentai bots, there’s an intermediary big-combined-vehicle thing mode for these, and it’s actually really cool. I’ve always loved how impressively-solid the Jet Harken looks, bits and corners folding out to streamline the thing into a singular wedge shape. It’d make for an impressive combined display on its own if you had a flight stand for it. Anyway, the transformation and combination to this or the proper Jet Icarus mode can be surprisingly involved. Well, the legs and chest anyway, the arms just kinda pop on. There is some slight partsforming here, having to swap some panels on the feet and attach the fists, but it’s surprisingly unobtrusive given what I’ve seen other Mini-Pla get up to.

And the combined Jet Icarus is pretty impressive in this format. I’ve always dug the heck out of what an unabashedly basic design this thing goes for, you can practically *see* the cardboard boxes they built the suit out of. It’s honestly more impressive that they figured out a working transformation to this simply-shaped mecha from the variously-angular jets, and the model kit shows how it works quite nicely. This is also where the details of the Super Mini-Pla get to shine, with the pre-painted gold chest bits and head details adding that extra touch of quality you would want with being the only working toy of this thing available in the past twenty years. He’s super-posable too, with fairly complex hip jointing and Gundam-skirt-style armor to accommodate it, elbows and knees with tons of range, even some pretty broad ankle posability. It’s pulled off via some pseudo-sliders that I’m not crazy about, it kinda feels like you’re about the disassemble the feet if you pull them out too far. But my misgivings aside, they do work just fine. It’s also got an absolute buttload of weapons. I think I naturally favor the ol’ sword and shield, but if you want you can kit the robot out with any combination of the absurd amount of pointy things it includes, particularly the friggin’ giant morning star.

Even apart from the association with one of my favorite toku series ever, this is just a cool little set of model kits that combine into one bigger, cooler model. Like a lot of the Super Mini-Pla sets, it properly captures the old-school appeal of a design like this, while updating its functionality to the standards we would want. It’s a fun build, with a fun toy resulting once you’re done. I’m real glad I picked it up, and that I didn’t wait too long to put it together. *looks forlornly at lingering unbuilt model kits*

Hope you had fun, everyone! Stay cool, and I’ll see you next time!

[sweetgoufbrah]

The G Gundam Rewatch! Episode 20

Well it’s Georgy boys turn for a Guiana Highlands breakthrough, how nice.

George de Sand is inexplicably in the Guiana Highlands as well. We see him fencing in Gundam Rose against his butler Raymond in his Butler Bensouman. The magnificent thing about Raymonds mobile suit is that its cockpit is in the head and you drive it like a car. Like it has a steering wheel. The fact that he can fence with it means that Raymond is one of the most talented pilots in the entire franchise. Also the suit has a mustache.

So anyway, George and Raymond duel and George has his own DG freakout. Just like Chibodee and Sai, but not Argo. Argo doesn’t even care! Rain shows up, and George is like “I don’t need any help.” Raymond thinks George should talk to Domon since it kinda works, technically. But George just wont hear it. So Raymond goes out himself to seek Domon. He finds him attacking a waterfall in Shining Gundam. So Raymond throws a boulder at him.

Raymond shows Domon and Rain data from a recent battle showing George out of sorts and being savage.We also learn how George became Neo Frances fighter. There was a tournament, and in the finals George faced Jean-Pierre Mirabeau. Mirabeau is an objectively evil guy who kept putting spectators behind him so George couldn’t attack. Again, why would you have a Gundam fight in a stadium?! Also, his trace suit has, like, a shark mouth on it. The famous French shark mouth.

So the King, I assume it was the King, was disgusted with Mirabeau’s behavior and named George the winner. So, being a balanced individual, Mirabeau tries to kill the King with missiles. George attacks Mirabeau to stop him, causing him to send missiles all over and into the stands. It is a disaster that haunts George and the Dark Gundam incident only helped to dig up his feeling about this horrible tragedy. George catches Raymond airing his laundry and fires him.

So, predictably, Mirabeau escapes prison. Domon heads over to see George and calls him a big baby. George is like, “Yeah, I guess.” and Mirabeau shows up in a stolen Gundam. Raymond also gets a comedic sequence of him running back to George. So, Mirabeau tries to kill George, but Domon stops him with Shining Gundam, and then Schwarz stops HIM in Shadow Gundam because George has to win himself to get his groove back.

So, OK, Mirabeau is using Mirage Gundam. This Gundam is a mess. Ugly paint scheme for one. It just looks generically evil. It has guns and spikes. It doesn’t look particularly French either. Also, it doesn’t use mirages or illusions or anything. It shoots missiles. SO WHY IS IT MIRAGE GUNDAM?! Also it has DG Cells so it becomes an evil hunchback and shoots missiles out of the hump. It’s a mess, like I said. It is a bad Gundam with a bad man as a pilot.

So to cut things thankfully short. George freaks out so Domon gets him into a chill out head lock. He then enters his Super Mode for some reason. That’s the whole point he’s training. To figure out the Super Mode. So George gets his groove back, and defeats Mirabeau. He also rips out Mirage Gundam’s cockpit and cleanses it of DG Cells with SHUFFLE POWER. He also rehires Raymond. This episode is kind of a wreck.

[cardtorius]

Vegito blue was acquired today. Not sure id say i like the mold, something evil about his face imo, but atleast he fits well and came with a stand.