Metal Robot Spirits Gundam Gquuuuuux

Safe to say that when many of the creative minds behind Evangelion, Hideki Anno chief among them, there were going to be changes to the standard Gundam series in terms of tone, story and mechanical design. Bringing aboard Ikuto Yamashita pretty much guaranteed this, the mecha designer from Evangelion was always going to add his spin. And boy, did he.

Following up The Witch From Mercury, which utilised a lot of different and talented mecha designers for the various in-series school houses, it all still looked pretty "Gundam", from the colourways to the aesthetic - the Aerial itself was a classic Gundam design, wide hips notwithstanding.

The Gundam Gquuuuuux has none of the standard Gundam design elements. It's an angular, fussy design with lots of odd, jutting angles, panels, tubes and skeletal parts that make it look like it's from a completely unrelated series. That's not to say it doesn't have some charm, but in my experience this has been a very Marmite design for most Gundam fans. I'm still not sure I like it, and I've just shelled out for this premium model!

You'll know at a glance if this design is for you, so assuming you're still interested, how does Metal Robot Spirits handle this curiously organic design?

It certainly doesn't lack for detail. Every design element is sharp and well realised, it captures the likeness of the on-screen design. Joints are stiff and hold any pose with ease, the greebly bits, like the constructs sitting on the shoulders, can be moved out of the way to accomplish a wide range of poses. In fact, the jutting elements, such as the hip area, allows for a waist swivel with just enough clearance to make it work, but because you're dealing with layered elements, it looks quite impressive while you're moving it. 

That movement is really only limited at the knees and elbows, which give you 90 degrees. The shoulders are a bit awkward thanks to the kibble, but can be worked with, while the hip joints have massive movement and Gquuuuuux can handily kick your hat off from a standing position.

No idea how that shape is achieved, but the cutlass styling is another Gquuuuuux design oddity

The accessories provide some variety for posing. You get a rifle, twin bladed weapons (with a cutlass-like transparent green beam). shield buckler, angry head and plenty of hands. You won't be lost for ways to pose it, the included stand providing stability for the more outrageous flexes. The shield buckler is the only real disappointment, it fits onto the arm via a clip but curves into the arm and therefore can't sit flush when the arm is straight. It's annoyingly awkward.

The figure comes with three clips that attach below the thrusters at the back to allow Gquuuuuux to store the axe or rifle andleave the hands free.

You can even recreate the Omega Psycommu Overdrive mode, with four zeknovas protruding from the shoulders and knees and alternative head.

Omega Psycommu Overdrive mode - the last time the alt head had both ears attached...

Unfortunately, when putting the figure into this mode it suffered a breakage. The grey "ears" are connected by a very thin piece of plastic plugged into the head, and withstand almost zero pressure being applied to them - even rotating the head can see one sheared off against the collar, which is sadly what happened in my case. More broadly, this is often a problem when translating pointy mecha designs into physical models, but it shows a lack of concern or testing at the design phase. I'm almost scared to interact with it now, it's just ridiculously fragile in this area.

On a more positive note, the paint is stunning. Everything has a chalky matte finish that makes it look like it walked out of the anime, everything is very sharp with plenty of detail painted in, the rest left to tampos that provide a sense of scale. The colourway is at least attractive, a sort of powder blue/grey with rouge and darker blue highlights, the occasional highlight in orange being the only breakup across the neck, boosters and gun.

Having recently picked up both the Hazel Custom and Haze'n Thley Gundam from the same line, it really is very striking how much of a departure this really is. It feels more Evangelion than Gundam and that either works for you or it doesn't. In either case, Metal Robot Spirits has done a mostly solid job in bringing Gquuuuuux to life, let down only by that fragile head.

Balls.