BANDAI HOBBY, the plastic model brand operated by Japan's BANDAI SPIRITS, displayed the latest prototype of the "HG 1/144 Gundam ZERO" Gunpla from the upcoming anime "Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO" at the recently concluded 64th All Japan Model & Hobby Show. The kit is scheduled for release in April 2027.
The upcoming anime "Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO" is part of the next-generation RG Project. It shares its universe with GUNDAM ROGUE ORBIT, a new game launching in 2027, and takes place roughly 100 years before the game's story. Humanity entered an age of unprecedented prosperity after obtaining the Three Revelations from a mysterious object that arrived from beyond the solar system: gravity control, faster-than-light communication, and Cognitive Materialization. These technologies allowed civilization to expand across the entire solar system. However, the object suddenly ran rampant, activating a self-replication system and spawning highly aggressive silicon-based lifeforms. Humanity came to see this unknown ecosystem as the Apocalypse.
After three months of fighting, the front reached a stalemate in orbit. Humanity was forced to abandon Earth and relocate to the Moon and space colonies, with that year recorded as A.A. 1, the first year After Apocalypse. By A.A. 45, the Apocalypse has become a fact of everyday life. On the lunar surface, a boy named Ray Azumi, voiced by Takeo Otsuka, awakens. A war orphan who lost both parents in an Apocalypse attack, Ray will become the pilot of Gundam ZERO, a state-of-the-art experimental mobile suit developed to fight the threat.
The "HG 1/144 Gundam ZERO" prototype shown at the event largely matches the previously released development CG images. However, yellow borders have been added around the green clear parts on either side of the chest. It remains unclear whether this change will carry over to the finished kit or the mobile suit's on-screen design. The real highlight is the newly revealed "spine-linked articulation system." Gundam ZERO's back features a segmented assembly resembling a human spine, which bends in tandem with the chest and waist joints to produce natural yet powerful poses.
▼ The internal construction of the spine section has not yet been revealed, but it appears somewhat similar to the Advanced MS Joint-based Heat Rod used by the "RG Gundam Epyon."
HG 1/144 Gundam ZERO
MSRP: 2,750 yen, tax included
Scheduled release: April 2027
Product specifications: 1/144 scale plastic model kit
(C)SUNRISE