WE ARE ALL DOOMED

I have a love hate relationship with Gundam movies. I love that they exist and that they've given us some iconic moments, but I hate how rushed they feel most of the time. Seed Freedom is no exception.

If you hated Seed/Destiny, I don't see this movie changing any minds. But if you enjoyed that universe, it's worth seeing IMO. It's quite possibly the most Seed thing ever. I give it 4 V-fins.

First kitbash plus paint job

Posting this as I was prompted by a memory in [email protected] . 08th Team is one of my favorite Gundam shows, and Nightwish is one of my favorite bands. I think the editing here is top notch.

Hard to believe this came out ~20 years ago. Rubyeye, if you're still out there, cheers.

On a related note, I have successfully gotten my nephew into Gundam... but his 14 year old Transformers-obsessed brain simply refuses to accept that Optimus would get urfed by even a GM beam spray pistol, let alone a newtype snipe.

Belgian man, Belgian man Brings you robot news from Japan Tiny-ass hotel room Leads your wallet to its doom

Nothing terribly exciting this week IMO. I like the color scheme of the First Lot RG Nu. Probably not enough to buy it though.

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:59 January Gunpla Schedule
• 02:42 2023 Top 15 Best Selling Gunplas
• 03:06 HG Zaku High Mobility Surface Type (Sanho Custom & Danan Custom)
• 03:59 Metal Robot Spirits Gundam AGE-2 Dark Hound
• 04:16 FW Gundam Converge Core Gundam Astray Red & Blue Set
• 05:28 GBO2 News
• 05:35 UC Engage News
• 06:30 New Nami Tamaki Album “Singularity”
• 06:48 Gundam Seed Memorial CD-Box
• 07:29 Zaku Kai Girl
• 07:54 RG Nu Gundam (First Lot Color Ver.) Released
• 08:36 HG Gundam Mk.II Titans Ver. (21st Century Real Type Ver.) Released
• 08:54 HG Hobby Hi-Zack (A.O.Z. RE-Boot Ver.) Released
• 09:09 Haro Cushions Released
• 09:17 Witch from Mercury Season 2 Vol.4 Released
• 09:28 Robot Spirits Blitz Gundam Released
• 10:29 Robot Spirits Efreet Kai Released
• 11:02 DX Chogokin RX-78F00 Gundam Released
• 12:21 Haroform Plush Key Chains Released
• 12:56 Lookup Guel, Elan 5 & Shaddiq Released
• 13:09 Gundam Reading Material
• 17:17 Gundam Apparel News
• 20:53 What 0080 Merchandise Do You Want? [Poll Results]
• 22:11 What Was the Biggest Gundam News in 2023? [Ongoing Poll]
• 24:07 Outro

Reposted from my comment in this post over at [email protected]

Heavy spoilers for Gundam X, plus a long-ish in-video ad for some licensed Gundam Seed gear. I wasn't expecting too much out of this but Kakarot's humor carried it for me. RIP Unit 3.

I'm always down for more OYW content. Can't say I'm happy about the Netflix jail part.

Trailer: https://youtube.com/watch?v=r1TDtEA14sY

Kinda digging the new Lacus look. And count me among those that think the new mini Haro plushies are adorable.

A lot of Gunpla news that's mostly out of date since the expo started last week and a lot of stuff has sold out in the US.

Not really a whole lot to talk about personally, but Kakarot is nothing if not thorough. Chapter data for skimming purposes:

00:00 HUF X Gundam Wing 01:07 December Gunpla Schedule 02:45 Amusement Expo + Gundam Seed Freedom Information 05:59 More Gundam Seed Freedom Merchandise 07:32 Gundam Seed Freedom Metaverse Event 10:05 HG Gundam Mk.II (Titans) (21st Century Real Type Color) 10:45 Gundam Seed 20th Anniversary HG Gunpla Set (Metallic color) 11:42 RG Freedom Gundam (Ver. GCP) 12:41 RIP Gundam Evolution 13:00 UC Engage News 13:38 GBO2 News 13:42 Arsenal Base News 13:55 Zakuto Girl 14:02 Hidetaka Tenjin Exhibition 15:11 MG Zaku Cannon Zeta Gundam Ver. Released 15:38 Robot Spirits Sword Striker Pack + Effect Parts Set Released 16:13 Premium Gacha GM Released 16:42 Gundam Build 10th Anniversary Collection CD Set Released 17:09 Asticassia School of Technology Radio Committee Vol.1 Released 17:23 Gundam Seed Phone Case Things Released 17:59 Gundam Reading Material 20:01 Gundam Apparel News 27:19 What’s the Best Gundam Build Team? [Poll Results] 28:35 Who’s the Best Gundam Queen [Ongoing Poll] 30:14 Outro

Not mine, just sharing cool stuff.

This is awful.

I'm not sure how recent this is, but Gundam.info put up an interactive flow chart to recommend a Gundam series to watch. Aside from the random translation misses ("Are you interested in story of engineers then pilots") the recommendations seem random. But they're not: it's all deterministic and repeatable. One portion of the tree as an example:

UC: yes Short series: no Origin of series: yes -> MSG movie I

Origin of series: no Boy meets girl: no -> Gundam The Origin 🤨

Boy meets girl: yes -> Unicorn OVA

That "engineers then pilots" question? Answering yes leads to Twilight Axis. Really? That's your plan to get people into Gundam? 🤦‍♂️

Anyone find anything else facepalm-worthy?

Edit: why are we continuing the Reddit-like unintuitive line break markup? goes back and adds extra white space to start new lines as if CR/LF doesn't exist 😑

I adore this show. Fellow Gundam fans, you should give this a shot, even if the aesthetic puts you off.

What's gonna happen is that Bandai is going to get me to order this 1/144-ish Big Zam figure for however many hundreds of dollars, then in a few years, after it's had time to sit in the box and collect dust, they'll announce an HGUC version for much much less.

😒

Timestamps for click-free headline skimming:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:27 1/60 Metal Structure Kaitai Shouki Gundam Mk.II AEUG
• 01:52 1/60 Metal Structure Kaitai Shouki Nu Gundam Addons
• 02:41 Metal Build GN Arms Type-D & Dynames Repair
• 03:59 Metal Robot Spirits Barbatos (1st-4th Form)
• 04:43 GFFMC Gouf
• 05:57 Gundam Seed Metal Builds Announcements
• 07:00 More Figure releases
• 07:51 Metal Robot Spirits Ka Signature Zeta Pluses
• 08:41 Robot Spirits Gundam Mk.II Titans
• 09:41 More UC Robot Spirits Figures
• 10:46 Robot Spirits Big Zam
• 12:00 Robot Spirits Aegis Gundam & Buster Gundam
• 12:49 SH Figuarts Announcements
• 14:02 Witch from Mercury Robot Spirits Figures
• 14:34 Gundam Universe Figures
• 14:48 Metal Robot Spirits Command & Beret Gundams
• 15:28 Dimension Art Metal Unicorn Gundam
• 16:26 GGG Master Asia Restock
• 16:49 Gundam Seed Freedom Chibi Plushies
• 17:05 HGUC G-Line Standard Armor
• 18:26 Soft Vinyl Santa & Snowman Balloons
• 19:16 Unicorn Statue Winter Makeover
• 19:49 GBO2 News
• 20:02 Gundam Extreme Versus 2 Overboost
• 20:08 Alpha Tauri x Gundam
• 20:19 Sunshine City Bandai Cross Store
• 20:28 Musha Gundam Girl
• 20:33 China Limited Gundam Things Released
• 22:15 Gundam Build Metaverse Kits Released
• 23:14 Mini Mini Carddass & Zaku Head Gachapons Released
• 24:02 Audrey Burne Prize Figure
• 24:42 Life Sized Nu Gundam Tumbler Arcade Prizes
• 24:48 FLASH Phonecases (for Iphone 15 Pro & Pro Max)
• 25:20 Witch from Mercury Carddass vol.3
• 25:47 Gundam Reading Material
• 26:26 Gundam Apparel News
• 28:50 The Best Build Fighter Team (Ongoing Gundam.info Poll)
• 30:03 Outro

Looking forward to the Urdr Hunt anime. It took me until last year sometime to finally get around to watching IBO... the end left me hollow but I'm more than willing to see more of that universe.

That F1 grandpa deco looks SICK. Not sure it would work in HG or EG, but I'd totally be down for an RG. And I don't even like auto racing. But it's absolutely bonkers that the PG is promotional-only.

My nephew recently got into Gundam via one of the console games whose naming conventions I'll never be able to decipher. But as a result he is obsessed with the Gaplant. I am not showing him this video lol. The kid's holiday wish list is already impossibly long.

The faces on the Suletta and Miorine palm figures look awful. Or rather, they do not look like the characters.

Titles and timestamps for those that would rather just skim:

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:23 Urdr Hunt Anime Announced
• 01:58 Formula 1 X Gundam
• 03:50 HGUC Gaplant
• 06:16 Gunpla Boxart
• 06:43 Tamashii Nation 2023
• 08:08 Tenohira Suletta-chan & Miorine-san (G.E.M. Series)
• 09:11 Gundam Seed x Cup no Fuchiko (Ichiban Kuji)
• 10:50 “But Wait. Cats?” Vinyl
• 11:13 UC Engage News
• 11:37 GBO2 News
• 11:54 International Robot Exhibition 2023
• 12:22 Zeong Girl
• 12:26 Gundam Factory Yokohama Hotel Package Deal
• 13:09 Witch from Mercury Pop-up Store Goods
• 13:42 Gundam Reading Material
• 13:57 Gundam Apparel News
• 15:02 Which Gundam Seed Character’s Work do you want to appreciate? (Ongoing Poll)
• 16:32 Outro

Edit: if anyone can explain why reddit (and now lemmy) ignores single carriage returns, I'm all ears. Every freakin time I have to go back and add the list tick marks manually. (Trying to add spaces on mobile just results in unwanted periods and takes longer overall.)

I wonder if Space Santa leaves Helium-3 for the bad boys and girls who hang up their stockings MS Leg Boots.

Of note, all of the announced Japanese P-Bandai reprints never sold out of the US store. And they are not alone. I'm not sure if Bandai decided to allot a ton more product to the US, sales have dropped off, or some combination. It seems like almost everything has been freely available... which is awesome, at least until Bandai does a course correction.

The China-exclusive MG Freedom and Justice look freakin amazing. Not a huge fan of the Providence overall but the deco is eye-catching.

Table of contents/time stamps below in case anyone wants a tl;dw.

• 00:00 November Gunpla Schedule
• 02:04 MG Mission Pack A-Type & L-Type for F90 Preorders
• 03:11 JP P-Bandai Restocks
• 03:28 Surplus Gunpla Runner Sale
• 05:43 Cucuruz Doan’s Island Goods
• 06:03 Metal Robot Spirits AGE-FX Preorders
• 07:01 New Gundam Universe Lineup (Halloween Inspired)
• 08:22 RIP Urdr Hunt
• 10:55 Digi-Fig App
• 14:34 GBO2 News
• 14:42 Gundam Seed Freedom Animate Limited Goods
• 15:55 WfM S2 Vol.3 Blu-ray & DVD Artwork Unveiled
• 16:01 Gundam Base Christmas
• 16:17 Tokyo Gundam English Guide
• 17:13 Gundam Open Inovation
• 18:18 Zeong Girl
• 18:48 WfM S2 Vol.2 Blu-ray & DVD Released
• 18:57 MS Leg Boots (RX-78-2 & Char’s Zaku) Released
• 19:22 Gunpla Round Boxes Released
• 20:09 WfM Sheet Music Released
• 20:20 China Limited Gunpla
• 22:07 Gundam Reading Material
• 22:25 Gundam Apparel News
• 27:44 Who’s the Best Gundam Trickster? [Poll results]

If you like your Zakus with a splash (or more) of blue, this might be hard on the ol' wallet.

> - RG Zaku II (Shin Matsunaga) > - RG Zaku II (Uma Lightning) > - RG Zaku II (Robert Gilliam) > - MG Advanced GN-X > - MG Advanced GN-X (Deborah) > - MG GN-X III (A-Laws) > - MG GM Cannon (North American) > - MG Hyaku Shiki Kai > - HGBF Turn A Syn

Three Zakus, three GN-Xs, three others. Perfectly balanced.

Not really a whole lot that grabbed my attention, aside from Bandai continuing on the self-pwn track with metaverse. Just a shitton of stuff for sale at mostly ridiculous prices.

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:09 Miyuki Ichijou Passing
• 00:26 Bandai’s Response to the Metaverse Leak
• 03:01 Gundam Metaverse episode 2 & 3
• 06:09 Wa-Gu-Mi Bamboo RX-78-2
• 07:06 G Frame FA UC 0079 Memorial Selection
• 08:07 G Frame FA Sisquiede AEUG & Titans
• 08:59 FW Gundam Converge +4
• 09:46 Jumbo Soft Vinyl SD Gundam Mk.II (AEUG Ver.)
• 10:37 Witch From Mercury Mechagurumi Art
• 11:00 Gundam Seed Freedom Wafers
• 11:25 Gundam Battle Operation 2 News
• 12:53 UC Engage News
• 13:31 Gundam Evolution News
• 14:10 New Bandai Gachapon Store
• 14:18 Haro Carbon Neutral 2023
• 14:25 G-3 Girl
• 14:30 Gundam Seed Destiny Line Stamps
• 14:33 New Linkl Planet Music Video
• 15:28 Robot Spirits Figure Releases
• 16:09 Gundam Stationary Released
• 17:04 WfM Season 2 Vol.2 DVD & Bluray
• 17:10 GGG Amuro Rereleased
• 17:18 GMG MS Team EFF General Soldier and EFF Bike
• 18:18 Gundam Reading Material
• 19:19 Gundam Apparel News
• 26:02 Which Upcoming Gunpla Are You the Most Excited For? [Poll Results]

So episode 1 was introducing the characters, with a disjointed cliffhanger post-credits. Episode 2 started off with a flashback, then "I'll tell you everything." And episode 3 is plot armor helps prove that gunpla is freedom friendship. That's it. The rest is fanservice cameos.

What a nothingburger. Even going in with low expectations didn't help. Feels like a waste of good designs.