Non scale Soulgain Review

Here comes the Dark Knight!

Another SRW kit to be reviewed and it is no other than Soulgain which is one of my favorite Super Robot since both mecha and the pilot is really awesome. Initially i planned to show the kit once after the HLJ sci-fi comp finished since i used the kit as an entry in intermediate level. This kit also happen to be my first successful attempt of fixing seamlines with putty and i worked on this kit before repainting Alteisen Riese.

Soulgain is one of SRW Original mecha debuted in SRW A and later appear in OG series as rival of Alteisen. Soulgain is Super Robot belong to Shadow Mirror which is a brother unit of Zweizergain. Unlike most units that Shadow mirror had, Soulgain is controlled using Direct Feedback System where it moves with pilot movement as this unit specialize in close range combat. I recall Soulgain made a brief appearance in OG1 where EFA made a first encounter with this unit and it is given nickname "White Wraith" or "Moustache Man". In SRW A Shadow Mirror may employ some of this unit depending on which original unit that the main character use, but in OG Saga Soulgain is exclusively piloted by Axel Almer.

Axel Almer is an officer of Shadow Mirror with Captain rank and a master of Taijutsu. He is also the lover of Shadow Mirror's second hand in command Lemon Browning. He appeared in current OGs universe after dimension jumped from his original world as Shadow Mirror are being decimated by Elite unit of EFA after declaring war against them. Axel took a deep interest with Kyosuke Nanbu in OGs who he called Beowulf where he tried to defeat him from time to time where he managed to heavily damage Alteisen on one occassion. This is because Axel bear a grudge with Kyosuke's counterpart in Axel's original world as he is defeated by Beowulf who is much sinister and supposedly Axel share some kind of close friendship in the past. However in OGs Axel tries to defeat Kyosuke to prevent him being evil like the one in his world. But in the end Axel is defeated by Kyosuke in White Star where he supposedly died. In OG Gaiden, it turns out Axel managed to survive due to Alfimi and cast away his rivalry with Kyosuke and end up in Endless frontier universe.

It takes roughly a week to finish my Soulgain as give a full paintjob and seamlines fix. I used TS-44 Briliant Blue for the blue parts though i intended the color to be darker, but turns out to match with the original color scheme more or less. I also change some detail on the kit like the gold spikes on Soulgain's right arm which is based on the Inspector animes and the red gem on the torso which is based from Soulgain's design in SRW OGs. Unfortunately i lost the green transparent piece for Soulgain's forehead which makes the kit less perfect. In terms of articulation, Soulgain had significant improvement over other SRW kit though it is not the best of Kotobukiya yet.

All high tier Shadow Mirror unit weapons are named with certain pattern. For Soulgain, its techniques are named after 4 chinese celestial beings or Ssu-ling. The first technique is Byakko-ko or White Tiger bite which is the weakest melee technique of Soulgain where it pummel enemies with barrage of punches and finished with palm cannon at point blank range.

After Byakko-ko, the next Technique of Soulgain is Seiryurin or Azure Dragon Scale which is the only ranged technique of Soulgain's Arsenal. The technique is initiated with stance similar to Hadouken and released blue energy wave which cover significant range. I think Axel usually use Seiryurin to distract opponent and then try to get close in.

SOUL ROCKETTO PANCH!

Third Technique of Soulgain is Genbu Goudan or Black Tortoise cannon which Soulgain release its arms with high centrifugal force and somewhat similar to rocket punch. While it is a projectile attack, in SRW Game this technique is considered as melee and the most efficient weapon of Soulgain.

And the last technique of Soulgain is Mai-Suzaku or Crimson bird dance where Soulgain create several shadow clones(not as much as Zweizergain though) and attacked in quick succession ended with downward elbow strike. Though it is not the strongest arsenal of Soulgain which is Code "Kirin" which is roughly combination of all Soulgain's technique except Genbu Goudan and Soulgain finished the opponent by cutting the opponent in half with its Extended elbow blade.

I am currently reconsidering taking more pics for Soulgain since i find the review lack some good pics, though i had to admit that i am not that good in taking melee pose. I also consider to do some group shot of Soulgain with Alteisen Riese which is too good to be missed though review for other stuff will take more priority. I am also planning to get Ialdabaoth as it is more decent fighting partner compared to Alteisen. In the future i wish Kotobukiya would release more Shadow Mirror kits like Vysaga or Ashsaber which i don't mind to get them though at the moment the SRW lineup is quite slow.