Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Upper body front and back

HG Arios Gundam - The head. The color combination is really quite colorful~ and varied. The camera section on the head has a

The head.
The color combination is really quite colorful~ and varied.
The camera section on the head has a clear part placed over a red seal, which gives it a nice look.

The body has a really soft, pastel-like color feel to it..

The GN Drive is positioned in a very... important spot on the Arios.. ; (Yes! Right there!)

Arms and weapons.

Leg section

HG Arios Gundam - The orange sections on the wings attached to the legs are handled with seals as well. The mismatch isn't to

The orange sections on the wings attached to the legs are handled with seals as well.
The mismatch isn't too noticeable, thankfully.

Articulation. Pretty impressive.

There's a joint that lets the wrist bend inward, which comes in handy when posing.

There's also a gimmick where the rifle splits open.

HG Arios Gundam - Action poses on the ground. Being a kit that transforms into a flight vehicle, it really does look better u

Action poses on the ground.
Being a kit that transforms into a flight vehicle, it really does look better up on a stand.

HG Arios Gundam - The universal stand that used to come with a lot of HGUC kits is included here. In MS mode, you have to plu

The universal stand that used to come with a lot of HGUC kits is included here,
In MS mode, you have to plug in a separate connector piece and attach it to the rear end behind the GN Drive.

Stand on!

Looks pretty decent.

HG Arios Gundam - You can expose the GN Submachine Gun by pulling off the forearm armor and reattaching it slightly to the si

You can expose the GN Submachine Gun by pulling off the forearm armor and reattaching it slightly to the side
to expose the GN Submachine Gun.

HG Arios Gundam - GN Submachine Gun action! (1/3)

GN Submachine Gun action!

The Arios' beam saber is stored inside the front skirt.

Beam saber action

Transformation

First, gather the structures on the back and shoulders upward.

At this point, you need to tuck the nose into the chest and fold the head all the way forward.

Fold the arms in close to the body, then..

Remove the rear skirt and rotate the legs 90 degrees.

HG Arios Gundam - Fold the wings in nice and slim. With most flight-mode transformations you unfold the wings, but with the A

Fold the wings in nice and slim.
With most flight-mode transformations you unfold the wings,
but with the Arios it's the opposite — you actually have to fold the wings that were spread out..

Fold the feet and push them all the way inward.

HG Arios Gundam - At this point, the small wings on the top of the feet and the rear portion of the wings on the legs fit tog

At this point, the small wings on the top of the feet and the rear portion of the wings on the legs fit together perfectly.

Take the rear skirt you removed earlier, rotate it 180 degrees to the front, and plug it in.

HG Arios Gundam - At this point, the rear skirt has locking pins that fit snugly into the holes on the shoulders. For an HG k

At this point, the rear skirt has locking pins that fit snugly into the holes on the shoulders.
For an HG kit, they've put quite a bit of thought into the locking mechanism.

Rotate the rifle's grip 180 degrees and plug it into the right hand.

The body after transformation

Transformation complete!
It transforms into something really slim~ and sleek.

Underside

HG Arios Gundam - There's a separate part included that lets you connect the included stand in flight mode, which attaches to

There's a separate part included that lets you connect the included stand in flight mode,
which attaches to the crotch area.
The shape of the locking pin looks a bit odd, but it holds pretty well.

Stand on

Various angles

The front section spread open like a claw.

Together with its predecessor from Season 1, Gundam Kyrios.
The Arios Gundam clearly has the better build.

Flight mode comparison with Gundam Kyrios.

Compared to the Kyrios, the flight vehicle form is thinner and longer.

HG Arios Gundam - Bottom comparison. While Kyrios ends up in a rather awkward pose, Arios looks like it's getting a decent ni

Bottom comparison.
While Kyrios ends up in a rather awkward pose, Arios looks like it's getting a decent night's sleep..;

Together with the main character, 00 Gundam.
Even compared to 00, Arios is noticeably bigger.

The four Season 2 Gundams are finally all complete!

Together with the Season 1 four-Gundam lineup.

HG Arios Gundam is the last of the four Gundam 00 Season 2 Gundams to be released. It inherits the concept of the Season 1 Gundam Kyrios, carrying over a similar color scheme and a similar transformation system.

The overall quality of the Season 2 00 Gunpla has stepped up a notch, and the gap between this Arios and the Season 1 kits feels especially wide. The HG Kyrios had pretty flimsy joints, making it a real struggle just to get it standing in a decent pose. In short, the proportions just didn't come together well, making it a really tough kit to pose. Thanks to the newly improved polycaps on the HG Arios, every joint is solid enough that the proportions come out really nicely.

It's bigger than Kyrios overall and the design feels more refined, but the biggest difference has to be the transformation system. The flight mode is almost absurdly thin and elongated compared to Kyrios, but whereas Kyrios required all sorts of parts swapping, removal, and even separate pieces to transform, Arios pulls off a 100% complete transformation with absolutely no extra parts, swaps, or removals whatsoever. There are also dedicated locking pins during the transformation, so the stability in flight mode is excellent too.

It seems like the transformation system was designed to be simpler than Kyrios's from the ground up, but either way, the transformation quality feels like it's been upgraded by two or three levels. As a result, the time it takes to transform has been cut down to a fraction as well. One more thing — a stand is included, which is a basic must-have for any flight-mode transformation kit. Bandai has been pushing the separately sold Action Base pretty hard lately, so it's been a while since we've seen a kit come with its own stand. Nice to have it back. :-)

Overall, the joints are solid and the articulation is great, so it pulls off action poses really well — but the biggest selling point has to be achieving a full transformation at the HG level. In terms of overall quality, it's easily among the top of the HG 00 lineup. Transformation kits usually come with all sorts of worries beforehand, but the HG Arios Gundam is a genuinely well-crafted kit with nothing to complain about in terms of quality. ^^

HG Arios Gundam | 2008. 12 | ¥1,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.