Rekindling the love for Gundam Plastic Model Kits

RX-78-2 Gundam displayed in Yexel's Toy Museum.

It's been a while since I watched another Gundam series... The word "Gundam" has not been on my mind since the last Gundam Anime I've watched, Gundam SEED. I haven't even watched Gundam SEED Destiny yet (because I prefer watching Gundam Anime in English dub and I'm still looking for a copy of the English dub version) and I know that there were already a couple of Gundam Anime series since then, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, which just finished airing last October. But really, I haven't been watching Anime shows in general for the past few years. After I was introduced to the Manga World (mainly, Shounen Jump), I read manga instead.

Mobile Suit Gundam 00 + Yexel's Toy Museum + vegeta8259 (and Prime92)

This was the combination that made me look into Gundam again.

The reason why I'm not into Gundam in the past few years is because I don't really like the look of the last 2 Gundam Series, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny.

I haven't watched Mobile Suit Gundam at the time SEED Destiny first aired in Cartoon Network, but I already know that its prequel, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, is a sort of retelling of the original Gundam Anime. When I first watched SEED, I didn't like it that much. The Gundam designs are awesome, don't get me wrong, but the characters themselves... I don't like how they're drawn. Especially the eyes. My first expression is "it's those kinds of Anime shows where every character freakin' looks the same, just with a different wig!". Fortunately, the "retelling" part of the original Gundam doesn't go all the way and the plot gets interesting as it goes along. Also, the story is deeper compared to the other Gundam Series that I've watched before it. (That's because I've only watched Gundam Anime from the alternate universes.) Although, I don't really mind the parts that were mimicked from the original Gundam Anime, I was kind of turned off. Yes, I was turned off, and I haven't even watched the original Gundam Anime yet. So, I can imagine the reaction of some of the hard-core Universal Century fans out there. Then, came SEED Destiny. I managed to watch the first episode. "Holy crap, the Gundams were stolen again. This time, it's from ZAFT.". Nope! I decided that I'm gonna look for the English copy at another time.

Enter Mobile Suit Gundam 00. It was first aired in 2008. Why the hell haven't I watched the Anime at an earlier time? Well, I don't like the changes in some ways. And I have 2 reasons why I didn't watch Gundam 00 back then. The first one is because it reminded me of Code Geass. I know, I know. I've seen reviews on the internetz about it that it's a great Anime show. I just don't like how it is drawn. I know it's superficial reasoning, but I just don't like art that looks similar to CLAMP's, because I hate Card Captor Sakura. *Blasphemy!!* Well, anyway... The second reason is because the mecha designs doesn't look like Gundam designs anymore.

I just watched Gundam 00 late last year. I actually only watched it because my best friend recommended it to me. If not for that, I still might not have watched this great Gundam Anime. Yup, I liked it. I got used to the way the characters were drawn, as well. After watching for a while, it doesn't really look like Code Geass that much, so that's good.

After watching the Gundam 00, I wanted more! I started re-watching the Gundam Anime shows that I've watched when I was a kid. I still wanted more! I started looking into Gundam Model Kits again. And when I was invited to visit Yexel's Toy Museum by my friend, the only Gunpla that we saw there were these:

These are the only Gundam-related things on display in Yexel's Toy Museum. Not much Gunpla going on. But I like the Gundam head. No, not "Gundam Head", that's a totally different Gundam altogether.

Oh, wait. There's more. Yexel's souvenir after visiting the "Odaiba 1:1 Scale RX-78-2 Gundam".

Of course, I thought that it was kinda ironic, since Gunpla, for me, is one of those kinds of toys that are fun to collect. I was also into "Black Rock Shooter" at the time and was disappointed that he didn't have at least 1 figure of BRS.

Afterwards, I started watching tons of vegeta8259's Gunpla videos... and then the Gunpla love came back to me.

Now, I'm looking forward to collecting more Gunpla. Also, there's really no reason for me to not watch Mobile Suit Gundam AGE. Although I think it is somewhat kiddified, Akihiro Hino from Level 5 is in charge of the story. Level 5. Level 5 = Professor Layton. Enough said, I'm in!


Thanks for reading my ramblings. I'll see you again in the next post!