Gundam School Part 32

"What is 'Gundam', anyway?" This simple (?) question is answered in our thirty-second casual weekly column just for new fans!


　Is that an earthquake? No, just a super-simple intro column for new Gundam fans dropping! We're back with Part 32 of what makes Gundam Gundam.

　I still can't believe we made it past 30. I wonder how long it can last... (Hmm...)
　Anyway, you can see our previous coverage of what makes Gundam Gundam here, and this week we're back with another Gundam standard!

　One of the best things about Gundam is the variety in its mobile suits and mobile armors!
　Our 32nd column, "What's a Mobile Armor (MA) (Part 2)", looks at the most significant mobile armors that come after the original Mobile Suit Gundam series!


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[Part 1]
MAs are huge! And awesome!

　 Last time, while talking about how to tell mobile suits and mobile armors apart, I gave you a not-always-accurate ground rule: "is it big? Is it non-humanoid? If so, then it's probably an MA!" (← As you saw last week, there's cases like the Zeong where it's still hard to tell.) I guess you could also think of this as one based around using human(oid) methods and tactics, while the other isn't worried about the fine details and is just there to blow everything away (and thus has no need to be humanoid.) The exact details differ a little bit in each Gundam series, so if you're curious, you'll have to dig a bit deeper into each one.


　Our first subject today is the "Rafflesia", a poisonous crimson flower blooming in the jet black of space. ( Mobile Suit Gundam F91) Designated XMA-01, its height is 37.5m and its fully-loaded weight is 263.7t.

　 The Rafflesia was the goal of the top-secret Rafflesia Project. This research effort was led by Carozzo Ronah, head of the Buch Konzern's "Crossbone Vanguard" private army and the true identity of Iron Mask. The mission of this weapons system was to deploy unmanned drones known as "Bugs" inside colonies in order to indiscriminately slaughter the inhabitants. Carozzo, who after being abandoned by his wife voluntarily underwent the medical procedures to become a Cyber-Newtype, sought superhuman power but gained inhuman might. His twisted mind gave rise to the Rafflesia Product, a weapon of wholesale slaughter.

　In other words, he's extremely, extremely salty about being single. Really, though, his motivation is to further his father-in-law's ideal of Cosmo-Aristocracy by perpetrating a blanket elimination of nine-tenths of humanity. (Marrying into money is seldom healthy for the psyche.)

　The Rafflesia exudes menace, making it the perfect fit for an ice-cold man like Iron Mask. As a test bed for though-driven control via the Neo Psycommu System, it doesn't just move based on his will alone, but can also open up with a full pack of mega particle cannons. Its five leaf modules conceal icky-squicky tentacular rods (← A whole 125!) each mounting a beam chainsaw. Put together, it's practically a masterpiece of gruesomeness.

　There's a real, and really disgusting, flower called a rafflesia, but this MA has to be just as disgusting relative to normal examples.


　Next we have Zeon's prototype assault mobile armor, the "Apsalus II". ( Mobile Suit Gundam the 08th MS Team) Its designation, height, and tonnage are all unknown.

　 The Apsalus Project, an effort to research MA development and tactics lead by science officer Ginias Sahalin, used Ginias's sister Aina (the heroine of the story) as a test pilot. The Apsalus II, while sharing the same basic structure as the Apsalus I, had a wide range of upgrades including a Zaku II head mounted on its upper torso. A further-improved Apsalus III followed, but delays in project completion led to an order from Gihren to cancel development and the series was never mass-produced.

　The Apsalus I has a red cover over its mega particle cannon port, (so it didn't even have a weapon!?) but the Apsalus II is fully-armed and operational.

　 Ginias Sahalin's Apsalus Project was a grand scheme to paradrop onto Federation headquarters from stratospheric heights, but Ginias's focus on the MA that would form the center of this scheme and his enthusiasm for restoring the prestige of the Sahalin family was not matched by test pilot Aina. As Aina's romance with Federation 08th MS Team captain Shiro Amada developed, the siblings drew apart, each following their own thorny path... Shiro is, of course, the hero of the series.

　Ginias, faced with the loss of his precious Apsalus II (self-destructed before it can fall into enemy hands,) must be incredibly frustrated with his sister's romance.

　 Between the starfish-like Rafflesia, and the anemonish or crabbish Apsalus, MAs are really starting to seem like things you'd find at a fish market... Maybe it's just because I'm hungry? (Really, they look like I'd feel the same way after a meal.)


　Last for this week, we step away from the Universal Century and into the world of Mobile Suit Gundam 00.
It's the golden pride (?) of the UN, the "Alvatore"! ( Mobile Suit Gundam 00) Designation: GNMA-XCVII, height: 42.6m, weight: 1021.2t.

　The Alvatore was a mobile armor mounting a whopping seven GN Tau Drives.
　The first thing that draws the observer's eye is its golden color, but doesn't it just look like a gold-plated squid?

　 Really, when you think about a golden MA, you have to wonder just how much it cost to paint it that, (← Imagine some kind of reality show about MA tuning!) but it really isn't just a showboat! Those seven GN Tau Drives have an incredible output that give it huge offensive and defensive potential. Its pilot is Alejandro Corner, a United Nations ambassador (and secretly a Celestial Being Observer.)

　Alejandro sorties in the Alvatore to bolster flagging UN forces, and manages to inflict critical damage to his betrayed former allies Celestial Being.
　The Alvatore does have legs, (← Not just for show!) and surprisingly even a core unit, the mobile suit Alvaaron!
　... Honestly, it kind of reminds me of... It reminds me of seafood again, this time seaweed with caviar... ... Really, I'm trying to write a Gundam column with that uniquely feminine insight and practicality! (← No, really!)

And with that pearl (... at least I didn't say "oyster"...) of an MA(-ish MS...), "What's a Mobile Armor (MA) (Part 2)" is complete! 　There are plenty more mobile armors left, and I look forward to showing you more unique examples!

　Oh, isn't Gundam just so fascinating?

　Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, that's it for this week. Next week we'll be taking another laid-back look at what makes Gundam Gundam!