Kit Review

Straight build + Panel lining + Seals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Various angles (1/6)

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Various angles (2/6)

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Various angles (3/6)

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Various angles (4/6)

Various angles

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Detail shots (1/4)

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Detail shots (2/4)

Detail shots

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - The backpack is big, but if you balance the center of gravity carefully, it can stand uprig

The backpack is big, but if you balance the center of gravity carefully, it can stand upright.
The joints are loose though, so it takes a ridiculous amount of effoooort. -_-
If you really want it standing, it's probably better to extend the beam cannon slightly and use it as a support.

Outer armor removed

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Inner frame shots (1/2)

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Inner frame shots (2/2)

Internal frame

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Frame detail shots. The base inner frame is built on the RG Strike Gundam. (1/5)

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Frame detail shots. The base inner frame is built on the RG Strike Gundam. (2/5)

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Frame detail shots. The base inner frame is built on the RG Strike Gundam. (3/5)

Frame detail shots.
The base inner frame is built on the RG Strike Gundam.

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Body only (1/3)

Body only

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - After detaching the Oowashi pack from the body, you can lower the nose and push it inward t

After detaching the Oowashi pack from the body, you can lower the nose and push it inward to lock it in place.

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - When positioning the beam cannon horizontally, you can plug the locking pin on the movable

When positioning the beam cannon horizontally, you can plug the locking pin on the movable section into the bottom of the backpack to hold the angle.

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Oowashi atmospheric aerial combat equipment transformed into flight mode (1/5)

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Oowashi atmospheric aerial combat equipment transformed into flight mode (2/5)

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Oowashi atmospheric aerial combat equipment transformed into flight mode (3/5)

Oowashi atmospheric aerial combat equipment transformed into flight mode

Underside

Weapons loadout

Shield (Type 71 Prototype Buckler) with great color separation

Type 72D5 Beam Rifle "Hyakurai"

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - The Type 73J2 Prototype Twin-Blade beam saber can be attached to the beam rifle in bayonet

The Type 73J2 Prototype Twin-Blade beam saber can be attached to the beam rifle in bayonet form.

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - The Type 73F High-Energy Beam Cannon mounted on the Oowashi pack can be extended in length

The Type 73F High-Energy Beam Cannon mounted on the Oowashi pack can be extended in length and its grip can be deployed.

7 hands are included.

A clear Action Base 7 is included.

Cockpit hatch open

Shoulder and calf deployment gimmick

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - When storing the beam saber on the side skirt, pushing it in from top to bottom holds it in

When storing the beam saber on the side skirt, pushing it in from top to bottom holds it in place well enough.
To do this, the circular part (E16) that secures the beam saber needs to be inserted in exactly the right direction as shown in the manual.

You can open the top cover of the rear end to expose the stand mounting hole.

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Since it mounts horizontally, if you don't balance the left/right center of gravity careful

Since it mounts horizontally, if you don't balance the left/right center of gravity carefully,
it can tilt to one side like shown above.

Leftover parts

Limb articulation.
If you raise the hip joint too much, the front skirt will fly right off.

The shoulder bend range is excellent.

Waist articulation

Oowashi wing articulation

Using the wing articulation, you can fold them in 2 different ways as shown above.

The beam cannon can be positioned fairly freely thanks to its 2-joint articulated connector.

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Beam Rifle Firing Pose (1/3)

Beam rifle firing pose

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Twin-blade beam saber poses (1/3)

Twin-blade beam saber poses

Poses with the beam saber split into 2

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Bayonet form poses (1/3)

Bayonet form pose

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Beam cannon deployed, charging pose (1/3)

Beam cannon deployed, charging pose

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Beam cannon firing pose. The beam cannon joints are flexible and there's plenty of clearanc

Beam cannon firing pose.
The beam cannon joints are flexible and there's plenty of clearance, so posing isn't too difficult.

Together with the RG Strike Gundam.

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit - Together with the HG Oowashi Akatsuki Gundam released in 2006. The RG obviously wins on loo

Together with the HG Oowashi Akatsuki Gundam released in 2006.
The RG obviously wins on looks, but the HG has much better joint strength.. T_T

Straight build

The Oowashi Akatsuki Gundam from Gundam SEED Destiny has been released as an RG. True to its reputation for golden brilliance, it comes with a stunning three-tone gold coating. The black and white parts even get a gloss injection finish on top of that, giving the whole kit an absolutely top-tier visual quality.

The biggest selling point of this kit is, without a doubt, the gold coating — it's a three-level combination of deep gloss / light gloss / semi-gloss. The coating quality is A+ grade; both the shine and the sense of depth are really satisfying. And true to the RG line, the refined sculpting and excellent color separation deliver a near-perfect color combination. The shoulders and legs feature a deployment gimmick I hadn't seen before, and the cockpit hatch opening and Oowashi pack transformation are both well reproduced.

The beam rifle, shield, and beam sabers included as weapons also show excellent sculpting and functionality, and the beam cannons on the Oowashi pack even have a deployment gimmick built in. The beam cannons are connected via two-segment articulated joints, offering flexible positioning along with solid hold. Thanks to that, it's relatively easy to pull off a two-handed beam cannon firing pose.

The side-mounted beam saber attachment — one of the chronic weak points of SEED-series kits — has also seen some improvement here. In the early days, beam sabers would fall off easily regardless of grade. On this kit, the E16 part that holds the beam saber is directional, so if you insert it the right way, you can plug the beam saber in from top to bottom and get a solid hold. At a glance the top and bottom of the E16 part look identical, but look closely and they're slightly different, so be careful not to put it in upside down.

So visually and functionally this is a really outstanding kit. The problem is RG Strike Gundamthat it reuses the frame and joints from the RG Strike Gundam, and joint strength concerns have been ongoing since release. The RG Strike came out in 2011 and being an early RG, the frame joints weren't all that tight. On the base body alone it's manageable, but with a large backpack like this kit has, things get pretty wobbly.

It's not completely floppy like a wet noodle, but there's no sense of sturdiness either — the whole thing just feels loose. Standing it upright is tricky, and I had quite a hard time getting straight-standing shots myself. -_- You could extend the beam cannons on the Oowashi pack slightly and use them as a support, but trying to shoot with the beam cannons raised up for review purposes was a real ordeal. Even when I barely managed to get it standing, gravity would slowly tilt the waist backward.

That's probably why a clear Action Base 7 is included in the box — putting it on that helps somewhat, but that's got its own issue: the stand's fixing pin goes in horizontally rather than vertically, so it doesn't feel all that secure. Especially when you spread the arms and legs out for a pose, if the left/right center of gravity is off it'll tip to one side. So whether you set it on the floor or put it on the stand, there's just no sense of stability. T_T

Since it's a SEED-series mobile suit, reusing the Strike frame kind of makes sense, but the 13-year gap really shows here. If they'd designed a completely new frame from scratch, this could have been an absolute masterpiece — it's hard not to feel a bit let down. That said, writing it all out like this might make it sound like a completely floppy kit, and it's not quite that bad. It's just that unlike recent RGs that lock together cleanly, no matter how you set this thing down it feels like a kid left out near the water — you're always on edge.

This combination of jaw-dropping visuals and disappointing joints brings to mind the case of the RG Sinanju. All sorts of joint fix solutions (-_-) are already being announced for sale alongside the release. (Maybe it needs some glucosamine or something...) Then again, the visuals are so insanely high quality that it's hard to just write it off over the joint issues — it's a kit that leaves you with mixed feelings. Anyway, just keep in mind that the joints aren't particularly tight, and if you do some reasonable joint reinforcement, this could genuinely be a plated kit that's worth every penny. :-)

RG Akatsuki Gundam Oowashi unit | 2024. 12 | ¥8,000

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.