The MAK-005S Gaplant Kai Was A Mobile Armour Used By The Earth Branch Of The AEUG, Karaba, During The
The MAK-005S Gaplant Kai was a mobile armour used by the Earth Branch of the AEUG, Karaba, during the latter half of the Gryps Conflict and throughout the subsequent Neo Zeon War. Unlike its predecessor, the ORX-005 Gaplant, it was a non-transformable suit conceived as an atmospheric interceptor - an excellent means to challenge invading Axis forces. However, Karaba already possessed the excellent Zeta Plus series with which to establish aerial superiority, and as such only 20 units were produced. These twenty units would be deployed in rapid strike operations against (formerly) spaceborne Axis forces entering the atmosphere.
The regular Gaplant is one of those titans suits that I just see everywhere. We know that a lot of old Titans Stock was sold off by the Earth Federation (though to who exactly is a little unclear), and a transformable suit capable of long periods of atmospheric flight was always going to be a hot item. It makes sense that it’d have some further development with the fall of the Titans - though materials associated with them are politically inconvenient to Earth Federation itself, Karaba really isn’t in a position to be picky. The Gaplant’s just rather nice and straightforward. I will call out that I absolutely adore the wing binders, and just wing binders in general; they’re just a design feature I really like - a wing, a thruster, a gun all-in-one. It’s just a great economy of design and yet so stylish.
Armament-wise, the Gaplant Kai eschews the integrated beam rifles and beam sabers of the original Gaplant and replaces them with weaponry more suited to a mobile armour, namely Vulcan Cannons in the wings and some optional 12-tube missile launchers near the rear of the craft (not shown in the above picture). It also has some Diffuse Beam Cannons built into the wings. If it wasn’t for the fact that they can also function as regular Beam Cannons, I’d find fitting your interceptor with what are essentially beam shotguns an extremely ballsy move.
In case it isn’t obvious, I do very much like the Gaplant Kai conceptually - taking a Titans design and pressing it into Karaba’s service in the Neo Zeon War is just kinda rad, recognising the enemy was on to something and deploying it in the next war out of desperation. I like the Gaplant, so a variant on its design emphasising the mobile armour element is just lovely and I appreciate how much more specialised it feels - no longer a test unit, it’s Aerodynamic and suited to quick strikes. I’m of two minds about the colour scheme. One one hand, it’d be difficult to pick out against the clouds, so I can visualise it coming out of nowhere and attacking a surprised enemy. On the other, it’s just a little bit plain.
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Me when GB02 gives out free four-star Nu Gundam and Sazabi, Amuro and Char’s final suit’s respectively: Oh, neat I guess, might repaint those later. Pity we didn’t get the Nightingale.
Me when the GBO2 store has the Ga-Zowmn and Ram Z’gok available to buy, a villain of the week from ZZ and an MSV unit, respectively: Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOO
Kycilia is a really cool and fascinating character.
Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans Masterpost Part 2 - Cyclase Mayer and Gjallarhorn
Okay, Cyclase. I don’t really have that much to say on his origin - there’s nothing wrong with “disgruntled former archeologist whose parent was murdered by gjallarhorn”, but it just doesn’t really grab me for some reason. I do still love how utterly unrepentant he is about his numerous betrayals. He does have *some* similarities with Mcgillis for me, but that’s probably only because Mcgillis sees Gundam Frames (or rather, Bael) as the end-all of strength, whereas Cyclase sees Mobile Armours. It’s interesting how they’ve both been negatively influenced by Iznario Fareed however.
It took me a weirdly long time to realise that Cyclase was a Char Clone. Then again, I was comparing him to Mcgillis basically from the start, so……
Hm. I think that the fight at the end with the mobile armour (Mebahiah) is supposed to be an illustration of Afam and Cyclase’s differing philosophies - Afam wins because he has his friends with him to back him up, forming an effective force against the mobile armour, whereas Cyclase, who has sought power in solitude, has his “champion” defeated. It’s further shown with how they treat their allies, with Wistario visiting each in turn and thanking them, while Cyclase just rebuffs Tagging’s attempt at small talk.
Wait, so what was the point of Omden Colony Corporation/Cyclase getting two rings? That feels like it should be significant in some way. I assumed that it was either to emphasise their ruthlessness (they killed someone else for their ring) or the scale of the company (they’d managed to obtain two on their own), but in practice it just means Cyclase has two guides.
Given what mobile armours are capable of - hey, maybe Gjallarhorn was right to suppress the technology? Just gonna throw that out there. Like, the more of them we see, the easier it is to believe how deadly they were, and why the Gundam’s were so necessary. Though obviously, that doesn’t justify Gjallarhorn’s murder of Doctor Mayer.
Speaking of that, it’s possible that that was just an accident which Gjallarhorn had no part in, and Cyclase is just jumping to conclusions. That said, why I think he’s right is the fact that it’s Iznario Fareed, the shadiest seven star of them all. If it had been someone else then maybe you could say Cyclase was wrong, but Iznario? Yeah, definitely murder.
“Does this mean…… the mobile armour isn’t a higher form of being?” - Cyclase, buddy, it’s a giant robot that wants to kill all humans, it’s not that hard a concept to grasp. I do kinda love how absolutely crushed he is that his plan failed though. Like, no “hm, an imperfect god” or “this is but a temporary setback”, he’s genuinely pissed that this didn’t work out and even his “I’ll start again” thing feels like he’s desperately trying to save face. All in all, he’s a good villain because of what he does and how he does it, more so than who he is.
Okina Uroka is an interesting character, especially in contrast to Londo Bron, since they both want the same thing, but go about it in different ways. I like his design, it feels very good for an “old retainer”. I’m genuinely unsure how much power he held in the Issue family when Carta was still alive, since he doesn’t seem at all unused to power. It’s also nice because it’s another exploration of the consequences of Tekkadan’s actions in the main series, showing the far-reaching effect they had.
Another interesting detail is that Okina Uroka mentions “the Baklazan and Falk Families Calculations have been a great comfort to us” and Mcgillis states that they “hadn’t lost their privileges”, so could they also be heirless? If so, it could be that we’re witnessing Gjallarhorn finally crumbling since the Noble families that compose it are really struggling with their lines of Succession. Huh, the Fareed’s also kinda count here, since Iznario’s has no “legitimate” heirs (i.e. by blood). This also presents a fascinating possibility of why the Gundam Murmur wasn’t seen/used - the vault’s locked to a blood relation of the Fareed’s which Mcgillis isn’t, so he wouldn’t have been able to access it.
Gundam Requiem for Vengeance then. I don’t really have anything to say on the new trailer other than it reminds me of a trailer I once saw for Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children.
However, given that I did a post on the Gundams in the one year war last time, I figured I’d go over the Full Armour units that I skimmed over this time around.
First up, the PF-78-1 Perfect Gundam. Now I usually try to use fairly neutral pieces of art for these, so they best illustrate the mobile suit in general, but this thing…… well.
It’s a bit of an odd one. First originating in the 1982 Manga Plamo-Kyoshiro, it was built by Shiro Kyoda (the kid in the bottom left of the above picture). Note how I said built. This manga is essentially the earliest permutation of what would eventually become the build series, where the focus is shifted from War to Modelling. Now normally this is where I’d earmark it as a build kit, except that it’s canon to the Universal Century as well. It was apparently a planned upgrade plan for the original Gundam, but was never built, with its data being carried into the Full Armour Gundam, being canonised in MSV. Its armaments are much the same as the original, only adding a built-in 2-barrel beam gun to the arm, four drop mines to the shield and a Shoulder Cannon to the backpack. The shoulder cannon is notable because it’s nature is different in each work - it’s a high pressure water gun in Plamo-Kyoshiro, a 360mm Rocket Gun in MSV, and a high-output beam cannon in Build Fighters.
I admit I was looking forward to talking about the Full Armour Gundam here, but its position in canon is just difficult. Officially, it was never built and existed only as simulation data, because the excess armour and weaponry would have slowed it down too much. Unofficially, it shows up damn everywhere, typically as a foe of either Johnny Ridden or the Perfect Zeong. I’m going to call out two examples here and then move on, primarily because they actually name pilots of the thing. In the videogame Spirits of Zeon: Dual Stars of Carnage, a blue Full Armour Gundam is piloted by Earth Federation Fighter Ace Takashi Kitamoto during the Battle of Solomon. Meanwhile in the manga Mobile Suit Gundam MSV Battle Chronicle Johnny Ridden, a Full Armour Gundam is piloted by Heinz Baer against Johnny Ridden’s Full Bullet Zaku (honestly I mention this because I absolutely love Heinz Baer’s character design, shown below). Armament wise, the Full Armour Gundam retains the Vulcan Guns and Beam sabers of the original Gundam, but carries a twin beam rifle as opposed to the original’s single-barrelled model. In addition, it gains a 360mm Rocket Cannon on its back and four missile bays, built into the knees and clavicles. As a design, I really like the thing, but I’m unsure why. Maybe it’s the simplicity of it being an up-armed and armoured version of the original Gundam, or maybe it’s that there’s some really nice art of it, particularly it’s Debut in Mobile Suit Variation (MSV).
C’mon, Look at this guy. A flying ace who wears a sweater under his pilot suit.
Next up, the FA-78[G] Full Armour Gundam Ground Operations Type, originating in MSV-R. Nice and simple, now. It’s essentially a Full Armour Variant that’s designed for ground combat, using the RX-78-1 Prototype Gundam as a base. It was designed, but never built (whether due to costs, practicality or the lack of the RX-78-1). Design-wise, yeah, it’s nice. Critical areas are up-armoured, and some new weapons added, but it still looks fairly agile, and the Prototype Gundam features make it stand out a little more. It’s armed with Vulcans, Two Beam Sabers on the left arm, a twin beam rifle on the right arm, a 360mm Rocket Cannon on the backpack and a missile launcher. Not much more on this one, it’s just neat.
The FA-78-1B Full Armour Gundam (Type B). Oh, I love this thing. Also originating from MSV-R, it was developed from the G-3 Gundam, rounding out the three full armour units. It was designed primarily for anti-fleet combat, with the assumption that it would be piloted by a Newtype. MSV-R keeps things vague on the details, but given that it seems to have been developed in response to The Battle of a Baoa Qu, the general theme of Full Armour Units and that it was intended to be used with a Newtype Pilot (which the Federation really didn’t have a lot of), it feels a safe bet to say that it was probably never built (honestly, Zeon went big on Newtype research and even they only had about five combat-ready examples). Armament wise, the Full Armour Type B is rocking Vulcan guns, a 360mm Rocket Launcher, a Triple Beam Rifle, upgraded missile launchers in the knees and clavicles, two beam sabers mounted on the left arm and a large missile launcher on the back, which is loaded with two large anti-ship missiles on the front and twenty along the back of the launcher, designed to counter any anti-beam defences employed by its victi- targets. Employed by its targets. Design-wise, gorgeous, I love the patterns on its armour and the simplistic colour palette of blue, grey and golden-yellow for the details is just wonderful. It’s heavyset yes, but it doesn’t feel excessive since it’s designed for anti-fleet work in space. The box-style beam saber adds to this, since it gives the idea of a quick weapon primarily to block attacks, as opposed to its primary armament. I’m not typically a fan of the G-3, but the Full Armour Type B blends its aesthetic so wonderfully.
Next up, the FA-78-2 Heavy Gundam. Another simple one. Three-Four units built postwar, with at least one of them being piloted by one Den Berserk. Apparently one unit was lost during atmospheric entry tests. Essentially a second go-around at the full armour Gundam concept, only a brand new mobile suit as opposed to an add-on. It is armed with: A shoulder mounted Beam Cannon, a singular beam saber, a frame launcher (essentially a composite weapon combining a Gatling gun with a 4-tube missile launcher) and an optional Beam Rifle. Again, just a lovely design, really liking the added bulk on the chest and the visor emphasises its ranged speciality.
The second unit (right) is equipped identically to the regular Heavy Gundam and appears in the Manga MSV-R: the return of Johnny Ridden, where it’s repainted and piloted by Ingrid 0. Due to the series being set in U.C. 90, Unit 2 is somewhat upgraded when compared to the original, being equipped with a bio-sensor for use by newtypes and a set of Dummy Launchers not dissimilar to those found on suits around the time of Char’s Counterattack. These were pretty clearly later additions, however. It was also equipped with a bazooka, patterned off the original Hyper Bazooka used by Gundam units in the One Year War. EDIT: I’d like to note that we don’t know which unit was lost during atmospheric entry tests, so it’s possible that the “lost” unit was Unit 2, so it could be employed “off the books”, as it were.
The RX-78SP Gunner Gundam was designed shortly after the end of the One Year War, during a review of captured Zeon materials. It’s essentially a sniper Gundam, featuring an improved sensor pod and specialised beam rifle in addition to the standard Gundam armament of Vulcans and beam sabers. I say designed because it was never built, development began and a mock-up unit was built from a GM, but it was deemed that the G06 Mudrock Gundam was able to perform the same role. A Full Armour variant appears in the Shin Matsunaga Manga however (MSV-R: Legend of the Universal Century Heroes: Rainbow’s Shin Matsunaga).
