Robot Damashii G-Self by Bandai Available From HobbyLink Japan
By Cacophanus from Mecha Damashii
For those who have been following the recent Gundam Reconguista in G anime series, here is the rather interesting Robot Damashii version of the YG-111 Gundam G-Self with the Atmospheric Pack included. As with all Robot Damashii releases, Bandai has really delivered a fantastic toy with some great detailing and articulation.
The recent Reconguista in G series is set in the new Regild Century, roughly a thousand years after the Universal Century. So while this is technically a UC timeline show the world setting and technology have all changed drastically. What’s more, much of humanity’s history has been forgotten, including some of its technology. In addition, certain types of technology as well as its development have been outlawed under the auspices of a new religion.
Amongst all this are those who wish to capitalise on the Earth sphere’s new innocence and this is where the G-Self comes into the fray.
Throughout the series the G-Self and its capabilities are kept very secret; this is also reinforced by the way in which the story is told. Again helmed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, this latest series has his signature narrative quirks emphasized to the point of almost being incoherent.
Tomino doesn’t follow strict narrative rules and instead lets things just happen. The result is that the pacing feels more natural and you have to pay more attention to important plot points as they aren’t labored upon. This draws you into the world setting and is one of the reasons why many of Tomino’s works can be quite compelling.
The flipside to all this is that this only works when Tomino is counter-balanced by other creative forces. With the original Gundam, people like Yoshikazu Yasuhiko would keep Tomino in check. With Dunbine it was both Studio Nue and Yasuhiro Imagawa. In the case of Reconguista in G, Tomino has had more of a free reign and this has resulted in a series that can be very obtuse and difficult to follow for most people.
This is not to say this is a bad series — far from it. It uses an extensive amount of hand drawn animation and the story, if you pay close attention, does hold together but only so long as you watch the series in its entirety.
The mecha design is also fascinating, as it shows how technology has advanced since the end of the UC era. Many of the designs, including the G-Self, were also penned by Akira Yasuda. This is a very important chap, as he’s one of the most renowned character and mecha artists in anime and gaming.
His designs are also very difficult to handle in toy and kit form: just look at his Overman King Gainer designs if you don’t believe me. So it’s great to see that Bandai hasn’t shied away from the G-Self.
The review for the G-Self will go up soon, so keep an eye out for that!
Herianto Yeo
I hope there will be episode for nendoro lover >_<