MG 1/100 Spiegel Gundam Review

One of the few gundams that didn't get the treatment it deserved.

I haven't been able to review any Plastic model kits that i worked on recently as i was terribly busy for last few weeks. I worked on Spiegel Gundam last week and repaint the kit as it is one of the worst kit branded as Master Grade. For most Gundam Fans, they might never know or interested with this gundam as this guy doesn't seem to be really cool. I find Spiegel Gundam to be one of the more awesome Gundam from G Gundam series shortly after i play Gundam Vs Gundam Next where the game portrays the character of this unit the best. Long short story i decided to get the MG kit which actually not the first G Gundam kit i have ever worked on.

Spiegel Gundam is the Neo German representative for the 13th Gundam Fight in Future Century year 60. Spiegel means Shadow in German and its techniques are all based on Ninjutsu which makes it formidable opponent due to amount of tricks under its sleeve. Spiegel Gundam is probably what is the closest thing to Ninja in whole Gundam universe as its techniques are inspired by the lore of Ninja.  In the 13th Gundam Fight Spiegel Gundam managed to reach up to the Semifinal battle with Flawless victory and fight against the Neo Japan's God Gundam and lost in the fight. The pilot of Spiegel Gundam is Schwarz Bruder a master of German Ninjutsu.

Schwarz Bruder or Black Brother in German is mysterious Neo German representative who is the masked man archetype in G Gundam series and known as sportive man in Gundam fight. He is one of the important supporting character as he helped Domon from time to time and serving as his mentor who is responsible for teaching Domon Meikyo Shisui. Later in the series it turns out that Schwarz looks exactly the same with Domon's brother Kouji who was used as the host of Devil Gundam. It is revealed that Schwarz is actually a Cyborg created from DG cell with the corpse of former Neo German representative and given order by Kouji to protect Domon. This is because Kouji feels that Devil Gundam begin to take over his mind due to unsuccessful landing on earth which cause the program of Devil Gundam to go haywire. Near the end of series, Schwarz sacrificed himself for Domon to destroy Devil Gundam for good as he exposed the pilot hatch of Devil Gundam which let Kouji to be released from his misery.

Spiegel Gundam is one of the cheapest lineup of Master Grade kits along with other G Gundam kits where only 1/100 Ball variants is the only cheaper kit. The kit was released in early 2000 which cause the quality of the kit is the worst among MG kits. The plastic quality is just terrible to be considered as MG kit where it is as bad as MG Ingram(which just got MG slapped on to it for marketing purposes) and also the details are lacking as well. However Spiegel Gundam used the revolutionary inner frame used by MG G Gundam lineups which make its articulation is better compared to most kits at that time. The Leg articulation is particularly good and the frame is well balanced that allows the kit to stand on one leg which some of the MG kits can't even do.

Being close combat unit, Spiegel gundam lacks of firepower in ranged combat naturally. Spiegel Gundam utilize beam Kunais as primary ranged weapon which multiple of them are thrown at single time. Spiegel Gundam also have a particular technique which makes the Beam kunai explodes on contact which is quite useful for retreating move. Another ranged weapon that Spiegel Gundam possess is a Net created from Beam which prevents the target from moving which is rather odd weapon while it is really useful.

Being a gundam based on Ninja, Spiegel Gundam naturally possess high agility in terms of performance. It possess ability to dash in blinding speed which is similar with God Gundam's God Shadow and Spiegel even capable of creating Shadow Clones just like Ninjas in folklore. Spiegel Gundam also able to raise Iron wall from the ground as Defensive techniques which is rarely shown in the anime series.

Spiegel Gundam's agility makes it a really formidable opponent in close combat as this gundam is on par with Master Gundam. Spiegel Gundam utilize some Ninjutsu techniques like Izuna Drop and the pair of blades on its arms for close combat where it approach its opponent in a flash and make short work of them. The ultimate technique of Spiegel Gundam is where it stretches both arms and spins like hurricane which cuts everything in its path though i forgot the exact name for the technique. This very technique is used by Schwarz during the semifinal battle with God Gundam which i recall Domon retalliate with Sekiha Tenkyoken.

While the kit is one of the worst MG lineup for Gundam that i have worked on so far, i really like this Gundam as a mecha and i would say the MG kit satisfy me for the physical representation of Spiegel. Unfortunately this gundam is one of the less popular ones as it is rarely usable units for crossover games like SRW or ACE where God and Master Gundam often make appearance. The video below would show better why Spiegel Gundam is quite interesting gundam.