G-Self: 10/10 I love this design, and the show's overall aesthetic. Great character designs from Kenichi Yoshida, too. I think legendary Capcom artist Akiman also did some work on it if I remember right. But the G-Self is maybe my favorite lead MS since the Turn-A. Well, since Exia, at least. And no lead MS since has come close.
Bulk rating OO season 1 Gundams Exia - 10/10, sleek design and weapons.GN Sword is so unique and I just love iconic weapons on a Mecha. Dynames - 9/10, manages to look like it belongs in the same family as Exia but equipped for different roles with its more sharp angled lines. Kyrios - 8/10, my favorite part of this MS is probably the chest. The head is a little bit weird and the knee wings looks cumbersome. Virtue - 9/10, this was the design that you either warmed up to OR hate after watching the show, I'm in the first category. I really like Virtue, it's massive stature makes it imposing and the amount of firepower it carries just makes it ridiculous and awesome. It's Nadleeh form is unique too. OO Season 2 Gundams OO Raiser - 7/10, I think I like the OO better without the Raiser. This version of OO looks too standard with spiky wings that makes it in line with most of the other winged Gundams. Oddly enough I like the condenser version of OO Raiser more despite having very minor differences. OO Gundam by itself gets an 8/10, it is less powerful which makes it exciting to watch in battles and the shield that it comes with look good. Cherudim - 6/10, the design is weird to me, the head the long legs with no armor on the feet needs time to get used too. Fortunately it performed very well in S2 and the SAGA version of this suit looks amazing in model kit form. Arios - 7/10, it's a cool and unique design. I think I prefer it over Kyrios although it didn't do too much cool stuff other than crashing into enemy suits with its claw jet mode. Seravee - 10/10, I love this thing. Basically virtue on a diet but with more power. I love the visual look of the suit like its bull-like antenna and the colors. It also has even more gimmicks crammed into it to one up the Virtue which I love. Seraphim is also a unique support suit. OO movie Gundams OO Quanta - 7/10, looks too much like Exia with weapons that are just angles which I hate because they look boring. Zabanya - 8/10, very over the top and ridiculous which fits the movie. It's a sight to behold seeing this thing mow down endless space needles with its flying fences. Harute - 6/10, loses the sleekness of Arios and traded it for massive boosters and giant scissors... I'm very neutral on it. Raphael - 8/10, so dumb but so fun, the Raphael itself is a little boring other than the unique colors and Gadessa design which is a good way to show Tieria accepting his role as an innovade but the star of this MS has to be Seravee II. The thing sits on top of the little guy and shoots giant claws that doubles as cannons. Age-1- 7/10, it's a standard RX-78 homage with a bit of MK-II thrown in for that extra modernize look. Age-2 - 8/10, OO Raiser lite with transformation added. It's fine but I like Double Bullet more. Age-3 - 9/10, pretty sweet under slung cannons and the design is unique too. Age-FX - with C-funnels 4/10, those green blades on the suit looks awful. Without C-funnels attached 6/10, much better although it's still too blocky for my liking. Legilis - 7/10, it's unique for an alien Gundam but I think its less cool than the previous suit the Ghiraga because that one has more weapons and gimmicks. I think I prefer it in red too. Alex - 10/10, I love more blue colors in Gundams and the Gatling arm is cool. MK-II - 10/10, the perfect refined design based on the original Gundam. It's less blocky than the RX-78, has some mechanical details showing from the inside unlike Age-1 and the colors looks a bit more realistic. I also like the Vulcan pod addressing where the heck does the ammo comes from in most Gundam head vulcans. The weapons are sleeker and improved from the original Gundam with ammo packs stored on the shield that is collapsible for storage purposes. The beam saber storage is genius I think, they are housed on the thruster binders on the backpack so when the MK-II pulls one out the silhouette of the Gundam remains unchanged and it keeps the cool look. Screw it, I'm giving it a predictable 11/10 score because it's such a good design. G-Saviour space mode - 6/10, with a little bit of love and work I think this design can work. The skirt boosters just need to be smaller and the chest needs to be less square. Other than those problems the head is really unique with blue antenna that you rarely get with Gundam.
GAT-X105B/FP Build Strike Gundam Full Package XXXG-01Wf Wing Gundam Fenice PPGN-001 Gundam Exia Dark Matter
"Frankenstein" builds didn't really show up until Divers, I'd like to point out. Build Fighters primarily featured canon Mobile Suits with customized gear and paint schemes. Build Fighters Try mostly featured highly customized to potentially seemingly scratch-built designs that largely existed to evoke a specific Gundam era while not directly lifting a pre-existing design, occasionally referencing non-Gundam franchises as well. Build Divers was the mash-up season, featuring base Mobile Suits from one series, usually customised with equipment from an entirely separate Gundam continuity (eg. the 00 Sky is a bulked-up 00 with additional equipment from the Destiny. Gundam GP-Rase-Two is the GP-02 with GN Tau drives in its shoulder binders. Gabaldy Rebake is the Gabaldy, but with colour scheme and plier weapons inspired by IBO's Gusion Rebake) Build divers Re:Rise features mostly highly-customized units, but with a secondary focus on combining/transforming units.
Yeah, okay whatever, it's kind of all the same to me. What I see above are pieces of familiar mobile suits mashed up with custom or non-related parts and new color schemes. They don't do anything for me, and neither do the shows they come from.
I appreciate the distinction, as my kids just started watching Re:Rise, and I'm honestly surprised at how good some of the characterization, action and stakes are for a Gundam show aimed at kids and selling toys (though it did start slow). Is Hiroto's Core Gundam and parts based on anything or is it an original concept? Most of the other Build shows' protagonists are based on existing models right, like the Build Strike? I haven't watched any other Build show so I'm a bit ignorant on that aspect. Age-2 magnum and 00 Sky look interesting though haha.
Well, sort of. Spoiler Hiroto's Core Gundam was inspired by the original RX-78-2 Gundam... or specifically, a 1/200 Speed Grade model of it. Hiroto had to fight a Gunpla battle out of the blue in his past and this was the only model available. The fight, where he had to exploit its small size and wrecked parts lying around the battlefield, gave him ideas for a small, modular design that eventually became the Core Gundam. Speaking of Re:Rise... PFF-X7 Core Gundam ZGMF-X9AK Gundam Justice Knight Metal Changer Valkylander JMA0530-MAY Wodom Pod
lol Build stuff is going to drive me out of this thread the same way it drove me out of the regular Gundam thread. It just spreads like a pathogen, taking over everything.
ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos Lupus ASW-G-11 Gundam Gusion Rebake Full City ASW-G-64 Gundam Flauros (Ryusei-Go)
