Series: Advanced Mobile Suit in Action!! (AMSiA)
Title: ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam
Release Date: 07/2003
Suggested Price: ¥ 2000
No. of Parts: 1 Justice Gundam figure + 10 parts
Plastic colors: reddish maroon, white, red, purple, yellow, white. gray
Gimmicks: support stand, high poseability

Introduction

Contributor: Winn Sevilla
Date: January 24, 2004

With the series moving past its third season, new mobile suits are introduced and one of them is designated as the XGMF-09-A Justice Gundam. From my observation on hobby convention pictures, these upcoming AMSiAs doesn't feature the inner frame system, which gave me both a sigh of relief and curiosity. I presumed changes must've been made simply because the designers knew that their initial designs was a total failure. Hopefully and just hopefully, the change would be for the better.

Disgusted with the design of the ZGMF-X09-A Justice Gundam because of its radical "untraditional" design, I never made it a decision to purchase the AMSiA. But the tempting curiosity of the Justice's concept is simply very interesting; I had to purchase it along with the ZGMF-X10-A Freedom Gundam and hoped for a worthy purchase.

The ZGMF-X09-A Justice Gundam (Generation Unsubdued Nuclear Drive Assault Module) was the first of the two units secretly developed by ZAFT. Equipped with Neutron Jammer - Cancellers, a feature that allows it's nuclear reactors to operate freely without interference thus giving the unit tremendous & unlimited power output compared against battery powered reactor equipped Mobile Suits. Utilizing the Phase Shift armor system that repels both physical and energy based attacks, a mobile flight system that can dock into the MS unit as a backpack for both cruising and high mobility purposes, as well as an array of beam weapons in which has no power restrictions, the Justice is an impressive mobile suit. Famed ZAFT pilot Athrun Zala commissioned the unit to hunt down the stolen ZGMF-X10-A Freedom Gundam but shifted to what he believes is right: in the name of Justice.

One noticeable thing about this AMSiA is the quality of the material. Noticeably it seems to be made of the same materials used in Fix Figurations. There seems to be no warping and bent parts that you find in basic MSiAs and the paint used for the parts is typically in flat, non-glossy colors like the ones used in the Fix. Also, the scale for the figure itself is considerably very close to the 1/144. For an expensive price, the material, paint quality and scale totally makes it worthy.

Box art- As the "2nd Wave" of AMSiAs to be released, the box art follows the basic design, with the figure and weapons on one side and the figure in the other. Of course, with the "inner frame system" omitted its not featured here anymore like it never existed. Whew.

Head

An improvement. The head's left-right articulation is unrestricted, upward articulation is zero while downward is angled at around 45 degrees. Details are very crisp and excellent except for one thing that bothers me: the head antenna is simply too soft and elastic. I'm not kidding you, but later on, you'll realize why Bandai had to do this...

Torso

A waist! This baby finally has a waist! Such a miracle Bandai has provided! (And about time too!) The upper torso is VERY cleanly molded and painted. As much as the waist is that thin as the lineart design shows, the figure follows it strictly. The rear portion of the torso allows a slot in which the backpack/mobile flight system to latch on to.

Articulated skirts! Both side & forward skirt armors are articulated via ball joints, a major improvement over the first wave. Although limited to around 45 degrees to accommodate kicking poses for the legs, it is STILL a major improvement! The rear skirt armor is well detailed with verniers as well.

The backpack is BEAUTIFUL. Who would have ever thought that a MS like this would use such a thing?! The wingspan is roughly around 5 inches for each horizontal wing, connected via a jointed brace that allows it to be posed according to how the flight system is used. Main vertical wings have to be connected through slots in which I would suggest a little crazy glue is in order to fasten them.. The MFS can be used in three ways:

1. Vertical Backpack mode: The MFS' underside has a shaft that allows it to inserted to a slot located in the back of the Justice.

2. Attack Backpack mode: The shaft can be shifted to an angular position where the twin fuselage of the MFS can be fitted between the Justice's head. (Which is not an issue when posing it in this mode! the head antennas of the Justice are so soft it can simply bend through without any problem!) Plus, to ensure a firm connection, locking tabs are located on the underside and can be connected to the Justice figure's slots just between the head!

3. Mobile Flight System Ride mode: This is disappointing. As seen in the 3rd opening sequence and in some scenes, the Justice has the capability to "ride" the MFS like a ZAFT MS rides the "Gool" flight support craft.

Eventually, Bandai has realized how heavy the MFS is, hence they provided the figure with a support stand! The support stand has two shafts, which can be interchanged to support the length of the MFS when it's being posed on the first two modes, but none on the third mode. I'll have to commission someone to make me one. Nonetheless, it is quite assuring Bandai had the nerve not to notice how much of a hassle the MFS is.

I would conclude though, despite the lack of support for the 3rd mode, the Justice's Mobile Flight System isn't really that much of a problem! Designs are excellent!

Arms

With a ball joint peg sticking out of the torso, this AMSiA has eventually broken down the severe floppiness of the first wave. Sideward articulation is limited to around 30 degrees. Shoulder armors are ball jointed to the upper arms and has little articulation. The elbow joint however, is not like the previous wave anymore: its been replaced with basic joint! Of course, we all would love to see ver.2.0 elbow joints, but with the first wave's traumatic experience, I'm quite thankful Bandai went back to basic and sturdy engineering at least this time. Only two sets of hands are supplied here: closed fists & rifle holding - which means you don't have the pair of hands needed to grip the shield handle. Sigh.

Legs

Now this is where I first raised the doubt of Okawara breaking traditional Gundam designs... the lower legs themselves are rather too pointed and the feet are like heels. But what the heck?! with the articulated skirt armors, they rock! The feet aren't double jointed as the Freedom is, but it's tolerable. Oh, and did I mention details are marvelous too?!

Weapons and Accessories

Justice Gundam:

MA-M20 "Lupus" beam rifle - Identical to the Strike Gundam's beam rifle except for additional armor laced with purple on the edges. The support stock is articulated. I would suggest that you glue it with the hand for the rifle though - its simply too loose to handle.

GAU5 'Volucris' machine gun - Quadruple vulcan cannons located on the head. They're small but very easily identifiable.

MA-M01 'Lacerta' beam saber - NO BEAM BLADES and cant be jointed to form a "Naginata" as shown in the series. Ugh. Why leave us hanging?! The saber hilts themselves can be inserted through slots located on the waist skirt armor.

Shield - Very thick and heavier than the Strike & Duel's shield. Although it has a support tab that can be fitted on the arm and a handle, you need at least the type of hands that is not too open in the gap so it can hold the shield. (Bandai only supplied 2 pairs: closed fist & rifle holding!) Bandai should've opted to use a support brace instead.

Backpack/Mobile Flight System:

M9M9 'Cervus' turret machine gun - Weird design. Why did Okawara use this design?! It doesn't feel right in the design... and they're not even articulated too!

MA-4B 'Fortis' beam cannon - Located on the topside of the MFS's fuselage, the cannons are very firm and look good especially in attack mode.

Conclusion

Bandai has reconstructed the design of these new AMSiAs where they learned the hard way that a solid structure is much more tolerable than a skeletal structure. The pain of having no beam saber blades, a loose set of rifle hands and a heavier shield shouldn't be expected to be improved since they're there to stay. But the support and locking slots to compensate a major component of the MS's design is much a big relief for me.

Add along the fix figuration styling, coloring and Katoki-ish design, and add along the fact that it is a MS piloted by an antagonist turned protagonist, it's well worth the price, well worth being listed in my credit card billing statement! In the name of Justice!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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