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I’ve had a draft clear-out, most’ve them being “hey, talk about this topic” or the first in a five-part series I don’t feel like following up on, but I figured I’d shove this one from about 6-8 months ago out the door while I’m here:

I think I realised something about the popularity of Zeon while watching Char’s Counterattack. It’s not just that they have really cool looking mobile suits, or that they have an absolutely baller aesthetic, but it’s also that they’re interesting to root for. Or rather, it’s that the Earth Federation is uninteresting to root for.

Protagonists in UC works tend to get drawn into the fighting due to personal reasons, indeed the only one who I can think of off the top of my head who doesn’t is Kou Uraki (at least at first). They are not motivated by greater loyalty to the Earth Federation. Zeon as a force, whatever permutation they may take, are fighting to change the status quo, of the Colonies being ruled from Earth. Thus, members of Zeon display fire, passion and zeal, because they are fighting to upend a (from their perspective) unfair system. To bring real change to the Earth sphere. The Earth federation, in contrast, are fighting to preserve the (arguably unfair) status quo. And it’s a lot harder to bring up that same passion when talking about a fairly faceless, ponderous political regime. Hence, the protagonist’s usual personal stake in the conflict.

Zeon are also a complete mess of backstabbing and power plays. Gihren and Kycillia jockey for power during the One Year War, and Glemy straight-up forms a coup against Haman during the first Neo Zeon War. They’re interesting to watch as they compete against one another. The Earth Federation government certainly engages in its own infighting and secret negotiations (such as with Char in Sweetwater, and the Titans), but we don’t see much of a face to it. (Jerid’s really just seeking power, and unconcerned with the actual morals behind the Titans, and Jamitov doesn’t really have a lot going for him on the compelling front). But Zeon has that charisma, has that passion, so it’s little wonder that they enjoy great popularity.

I will be taking a hiatus from tumblr for an unknown time period.

I shall pin this post and update it when I return.

Alright so I finally got around to rewatching Gundam Narrative about a week ago, and I’ll have a post about the movie itself forthcoming soon (EDIT: at some point, because hoo boy do aspects of narrative not stick in my head well). However, I thought I’d do a mechanics post now, since Narrative doesn’t add a whole lot of new suits so they’re easy to talk about.

First up, The RX-0 Gundam Unit 3 “Phenex”. I’d like to stress that this is just its appearance in the movie, the Phenex apparently shows up in a lot of other media that I haven’t seen. Anyway, Gold Unicorn. It’s pretty good. I like the Unicorn’s design anyway, and this just has a fancier V-fin and some Armed Armour DE’s to look like wings. I like the trailing parts added here, since it ties in with the bird theme. However I also get why it doesn’t have any weapons besides those though, since it can’t restock and it’s just overflowing with Newtype energy, so it doesn’t really need them. And it again ties in with a lot of what Michele says about gods, since the Phenex is very godlike in its mannerisms (gold, impossible to catch, otherworldly, makes things happen with a wave of the hand).

Next, the Narrative itself. Specifically the base form (top), A-Packs and C-Packs (I don’t really have much to say on the B-Packs). Again, I like it overall, it’s a Nu Gundam Prototype that was hastily pressed into service since they need a suit that can mount the psychoframe necessary to effectively fight the Phenex. That’s a good angle, especially for a Gundam (though I’ll admit it’s a bit weird about how every Gundam ties into another, there’s no real organic development, it’s just prototypes and variant units). The base unit is pleasingly skeletal (as one character calls it “a scarecrow”), and I like the plainness of it, really makes those smooth lines pop. The cockpit is exactly what you’d expect a prototype Nu to look like, and the head’s just nice and simple. Presumably this is to contrast it against the bling-covered Phenex and Embellished Sinanju Stein. Though I’m typically not a fan of overbuilt units with weapons and systems just bolted on, it works with the Narrative A-Packs since a) that’s its entire aesthetic, and b) it’s put together specifically to capture the Phenex in this one environment, so it’s cobbled-together nature and it essentially being a sled full of weapons and thrusters makes sense. I also love how plan A was essentially “okay, so get close and grab it with these special claws that will totally work”. The Narrative B-packs is just fine, no real opinions there. I absolutely applaud the Narrative C-Packs for just going “fuck it, we Unicorn now” by just strapping a bunch of psychoframe to the thing, and I think it’s utilised well in series.

The Silver Bullet Suppressor. The Silver Bullet has a fascinating lineage I might talk about at a later date, with the Suppressor just being the latest. I really like the bulk it brings to the table - it doesn’t even look that big until you see it next to something. The muted colours give it this…… I don’t know, phantasmal? vibe, like it’s the ghost of something, and the arm replacement mechanic is wonderfully silly. Unfortunately I don’t have an awful lot to say about beyond that- the shuffling around of silver bullet features is fine, and the new head further ties it into the pilot’s prior suit. I’d like to call out it retains most of the original Silver Bullet’s weaponry, so it’s not like it only has five beam magnum shots and then nothing (hey, remember when handheld beam cannons were a big deal back in the OYW? That was wild).

The Sinanju Stein is actually two mobile suits. In one of the few examples I know of an out-and-out retcon in Gundam, it was established that there were actually two Sinanju Stein units stolen by The Sleeves. Unit 1 (shown above, right) went on to become the Sinanju used by Full Frontal, while Unit 2 (above, left) was used by Zoltan Akkanekan, and thus appears in Narrative. I figured I’d discuss them both at once, since they’re largely identical.

Alright, to get this out of the way right now; The Sinanju is one of my favourite suits in the entire Gundam Universe. I don’t have an out-and-out favourite, but the Sinanju definitely makes it into my top 5 (maybe top 6). I’m also typically a sucker for prototype units, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I really like the Sinanju Stein. I love how it moves, how it acts, how it’s armament is deceptively simple, how it’s agility makes it a match for literally anything in the right hands.

But let’s walk it back a little. What, exactly, is the Sinanju Stein? The Sinanju Stein line was built as part of the U.C. Project at around U.C. 94. It was intended as a material test unit to examine the use of psycho frame material in the suits inner frame, since the only units that had psycho frame prior to this were either Char’s Neo Zeon Forces (which were few and far between), or hurried integrations like the Nu Gundam, leaving little time for the Earth Federation Forces to actually study the technology. Lessons taken from the Sinanju Stein would eventually be applied in the development of the RX-0 Series, making the Sinanju Stein the precursor to the RX-0 series. I can’t quite find a reference for this next part (so take it with a grain of salt) but I’m sure I recall somewhere that the Sinanju was intended to be a fusion of recovered data from the Nu Gundam and Sazabi, making it a combination of the two suits (which makes sense for a psychoframe test unit, since psychoframe and the data therein was rather rare). I * might* do a post trying to make sense of the U.C. project at some point (if I can get through my backlog) because on paper it sounds fucking stupid (at least prior to it being hijacked, which is the whole plot of unicorn). Both Sinanju Stein units were “stolen” by Neo Zeon Forces on June 14th, U.C. 0094 (really secretly transferred to Neo Zeon under the guise of a robbery), with Unit 1 being converted to the Sinanju used by the Organisation’s leader, Full Frontal.

(Like, the federation wanted to destroy all elements of the “Newtype Myth”, so in order to do that they built Four dedicated Newtype suits (The two Sinanju’s, the Unicorn and the Banshee, which was somehow extended to Five with the Phenex) and then supplied two of those to Neo Zeon Elements, in order to empower Neo Zeon, enabling them to be swept away along with the Newtype myth, even though Zeon officially relinquishes its independence in a few years, which’ll greatly reduce the amount of remnants anyway. Why would you arm them with technology equal to what you intend to deploy against them? What if they have better newtype pilots than you? I doubt that the Federation expected “The Second Coming of Char” but…… why would you arm them? I dunno, you “use the newtypes to destroy the newtypes who we just gave cutting edge tech to.” s’just weird to me.)

Anyway, the Sinanju Stein. It’s honestly just gorgeous, I like how it’s weaponry (mostly rifle and bazooka) is chunkier than the Sinanju proper, since it creates the sense of a) a prototype, since it requires a better cooling system and b) gives it a much different silhouette, making it feel balanced compared to the stripped-down regular Sinanju. I like how it can carry it all in its shield. I like how smooth and functional the original lines feel, before being embellished with the Sleeves markings. I like how close it feels to a Gundam, without being a Gundam. It’s just this delightful combination of traits that I like.

Notably, the name “Sinanju Stein” refers both to the suit being “a diamond in the rough” and also to it being “the stone from which Full Frontal’s Sinanju was hewn”, which is neat, since Stein is German for stone (Though it admittedly suffered from your main suit having a cool name and you having to give the prototype something adjacent).

Note: I talked about the Neo Zeong and Neo Zeong II in my post about the Great Zeong, so it’s not in this post. That and I ran out of pictures.

Right, that’s the main suits out of the way, what about the grunts? The Jesta (Shezarr type) just misses out having a picture here, since I just haven’t that much to say on it. I like the Jesta, and the units used by the Shezarr team just have some add-on equipment to make them look cooler. I think it’s another good example of “tacticool” done right, since it doesn’t go overboard (sight, net gun, beam launcher with tripod). The Dijeh’s used in the opening I’m of two minds about. On the one hand, I like the new colour scheme, and I think the new rifle’s rad, since it actually looks like it was designed for the Dijeh, as opposed to the AEUG being cash-strapped so only making one (very good) rifle design. The searchlights are also fun. On the other hand, I miss the original Dijeh’s aggressively 80’s colour scheme (it looks like it should be on a beach somewhere parked next to a surf van, and I like that vibe in a mobile suit) and in the novel it’s stated that “the mobile suits used by Luio&co had their serial numbers removed prior to sortieing, making them untraceable” which is stupid. Because yeah, that happens with rifles in the real world, but I feel like a 20-meter tall mobile suit being “untraceable” stretches credibility a bit, especially one prominently associated with a particular group (the AEUG). It just feels like it wasn’t thought through. I do kinda like how it seems everyone remembered about the Dijeh at the exact same time though - Amuro gets on in Moon Gundam, Char gets on in MSV-R (and it’s retconned into being one of the inspirations for the Geara Doga) and Luio&co use some in Narrative.

Anyway, on to the suits I actually have opinions on - The Jegan D type (Escort type) is one of a bunch of Jegan Variants in universal century, presumably because they’re an easy thing to make models of. However, the new chest and faceplate are pretty nice, and they actually make it feel up-armoured. I tend to look at Gundam in a case-by-case basis when it comes to it taking influence from real military hardware in its designs, but overall the Jegan Escort type gets a pass and the purple visor really makes the rest of the suit pop. Next we have the Geara Zulu Guards Type (Erika Yugo/Ellic Hugo custom). I know I complain about p-Bandai a lot, but I would’ve been genuinely tempted to buy this thing had they made a kit of it. I like the Geara Zulu anyway, but a blue commander custom with a fancy machine pistol and front skirt? Oh yes. Though I’ll admit this probably ties in to me wishing we saw more of its pilot. (And I’m totally not bitter about it constantly murdering me in GBO2 while I’m just trying to snipe in my Gelgoog Cannon 1A)

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I have described at least two three four Gundam characters in roughly similar terms, so I am feeling called out.

Gundam fandoms talking about their favorite characters