Kit Review

Straight build +
panel lining

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Front & back close-up shots

The head design is quite different from Exia's.

Arms and legs compared to Exia — only the GN Drive exterior parts are changed

1/100 Gundam Astraea - Rear detail. Pretty intricate for what it is. Unlike Exia, the 2 beam sabers on the butt can only swin

Rear detail. Pretty intricate for what it is.
Unlike Exia, the 2 beam sabers on the butt can only swing out to the sides.

Comes with a pretty solid weapon loadout.
4 separate handheld weapons, not counting the beam sabers.

1/100 Gundam Astraea - Both left and right open hands are included. Why didn't they do this sooner.. They always used to only

Both left and right open hands are included. Why didn't they do this sooner.. They always used to only include one side..

There's a bit of an inner frame inside the GN Beam Rifle.

The GN Launcher also has a nicely detailed inner frame.

1/100 Gundam Astraea - Even with the shoulder cover removed, there's still some frame detail underneath.. The line between 1/

Even with the shoulder cover removed, there's still some frame detail underneath..
The line between 1/100 No Grade and MG is getting blurrier and blurrier.

Once assembly is done, quite a few parts from the original Exia are left over as leftover parts.

Articulation on par with Exia.
Don't even try comparing it to old-school 1/100 kits!

A little action pose

Equipped with the GN Launcher and Proto GN Sword instead of the GN Beam Rifle and shield.

GN Launcher and Proto GN Sword action.

Proto GN Sword-only action.

Remove one of the shoulder wing feathers and you can lock the rear of the GN Launcher in place.

Kneeling GN Launcher firing pose. MG-level posability.

Drawing pose.
Going from Exia to Astraea, the beam sabers were cut from 4 down to 2.

Beam saber action

Dual-wield action

Stand action

GN Launcher action on stand

Great articulation means great action poses.

1/100 Gundam Astraea - Comparison with the 1/100 Exia. Same basic structure, but a good chunk of the exterior armor has been

Comparison with the 1/100 Exia.
Same basic structure, but a good chunk of the exterior armor has been changed.

They look similar, yet they're quite different machines.

Upper body front & back comparison. The head and torso designs are completely different.

The arms and legs only differ in the round GN Drive sections.

1/100 Gundam Astraea - Comparison of Exia's GN Shield and GN Sword. Going to Astraea, they've generally become simpler and sm

Comparison of Exia's GN Shield and GN Sword.
Going to Astraea, they've generally become simpler and smaller.

Astraea's sword is definitely the more compact one.

Alongside the HG Astraea with the Astraea conversion kit that was released as a magazine bonus.

Straight build

Gundam Astraea, one of the various side-story units from Gundam 00, has been released in 1/100 scale. With the main series units not even all out yet, having a side-story unit come out first... it feels like things are a bit out of order;

Gundam Astraea was previously released as a magazine bonus in HG form — a parts-swap kit based on HG Exia — but the 1/100 has been released as a proper lineup entry. That probably says something about how Astraea quietly built up a fanbase, and I'm sure the fact that it could make use of the existing 1/100 Exia tooling was a factor too.

Astraea's design does bring to mind the Astray from the old SEED days, but the relationship is a bit different from Strike vs. Astray. The Astray had a completely different design and structure from the Strike, whereas Astraea is more like Exia with about 50% of the exterior armor swapped out. Looking at the runners, roughly 60% are new parts/runners — not a bad variation kit, all things considered. One thing to note is that Gundam Astraea's exterior armor is generally brighter in color, so the difference between panel lining and not panel lining is pretty significant.

The 1/100 Exia already won a huge fanbase with its MG-like proportions, detail, and articulation — and the 1/100 Astraea matches that same quality while adding even richer weaponry and a unique design, making it an excellent kit overall. The four separate weapons each have their own strong personality and great style, and there's even a nice little bonus: the beam rifle and launcher sides actually include a touch of internal frame detailing. On top of the weapons, the shoulder internal frame — something the 1/100 Exia didn't have — is also reproduced here. Seeing all this makes you wonder just how far this no-grade 1/100 lineup is going to push things. Sure, it's great that they keep getting better, but it does make you think — when the MG eventually comes out, how insanely good is that going to be..? ;;

Great articulation, great style, loads of personality — it's a solid kit all around. That said, the hip joints still feel a little on the weak side. I'd strongly recommend gluing the leg parts that connect to the hip joints — if you just snap them together, there's a 90% chance they'll gradually spread apart and get loose during posing. If you build it and try moving it around yourself, you'll probably know exactly what I mean..

Since it's based on the 1/100 Exia — which was quite a shock when it came out — this one doesn't really hit the same way and feels more like a safe, straightforward kit by comparison. Still, it seems like a fun little side-story kit that's satisfying to put together when you just want something to do ^_^

1/100 Gundam Astraea | 2008. 4 | ¥2,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.