I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more G Gundam models:
I’ve mentioned the Nobel Gundam quite a few times in the past (including very recently, but now I finally get to build it. And not just any version of the Nobel, but its special Berserker form.
About the Mobile Suit (Watsonian Version)
Here is what the Gundam Wiki has to say:
This unit was developed by Neo Sweden for the 13th Gundam Fight. A mobile fighter with a female design wearing a sailor suit and high-heeled shoes. Although it is delicate in appearance, it shows high fighting ability that incorporates the movement of Allenby's rhythmic gymnastics.A unique feature is the Berserker System, which amplifies the pilot's abilities greatly, but reduces thought to the one objective: defeating the opponent no matter what. This system requires a transmission device outside of the arena to be activated, so the pilot has no control over it.
The bows on the chest and back of the suit are actually ducts and thrusters respectively. The "hair" is actually a set of cooling fins. Another interesting note is that the hair is spread out in Berserker Mode, giving the Nobel Gundam a slightly wilder appearance as opposed to the ladylike appearance in its Normal Mode.
And then there’s this additional blurb further down:
The Nobel Gundam was created as Neo Sweden's entry into the >13th Gundam Fight. The Nobel Gundam featured a deceptive facade: the image of a Japanese schoolgirl's uniform. However, this innocent appearance was contrasted by the incredible agility and power of pilot Allenby Beardsley, the only female Gundam Fighter in the tournament. The Nobel Gundam's light frame made it incredibly agile, putting Allenby on the same level of agile fighters like Master Asia, Domon Kasshu, Schwarz Bruder and Sai Saici.
So it seems that it’s small frame had a dual purpose - to throw off its opponents and make them underestimate her, and to make the unit light and fast.
(as for ths stuff about its pilot, we’ll get to that later)
About the Mobile Suit (Doylist Version)
There are a lot of female-coded mobile suits out there. I’ve built quite a few of them over the years.
But not only was Nobel Gundam the first, but I think it’s safe to say that it’s the most female coded of them all. It doesn’t simply cut a feminine figure - it is, quite literally, a robot version of Sailor V:
Even Nobel’s signature weapon - a pair of beam sabers that can turn into the shape of gymnasts’ ribbons - is strongly similar to Sailor Venus’ Love Chain:
So what’s the real life explanation for all this. Why did they insist that the Nobel look female? Why does it specifically look like a Sailor Senshi? And why did they give this design to the champion of Neo Sweden of all places?
Answer - I don’t know! But I have some guesses. TL:DR I don’t think it’s all that deep.
First, it probably looks female because there’s a long standing trope that women pilot fembots.
Second, I’ve encountered many unsourced claims online that one or more people on the G Gundam staff wanted to make a Sailor Senshi-looking Gundam. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was true; at the time, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon was still on TV, and was very popular. It’d be a smart ratings ploy.
As for why they gave this mobile suit to Neo Sweeden over any other country, I’m guessing it was probably arbitrarily. Maybe they did so because Sweden has a lot of blonde people, but if that were the case then Nobel Gundam’s pilot would also likely have been made blonde as well (and that is very much not the case).
Berserker Mode
In terms of performance, the best way I can think of to describe Berserker Mode is that it’s the G Gundam equivalent to Dragonball Z’s Kaio-Ken technique:
Like with Kaio-Ken, not only does Berserker Mode greatly enhance Nobel’s power, but it also causes it to glow reddish-pink:
But whereas Goku is in full control during the Kaio-Ken, Nobel Gundam and its pilot are transformed and brainwashed into avatars of rage and anger and aggression. They are quite literally out of her mind, going all out on their opponent and not stopping until they’re down for the count.
This is also represented visually on the Nobel Gundam itself; when in Berserker Mode some of its individual strands of hair separate from each other and flare out, which is a common trope when a character goes crazy or is possessed
Cutting Myself Off
I was planning on writing a whole bunch more, specifically about Nobel Gundam’s pilot, all of Nobel’s appearances in G Gundam, and later references to them them other shows. Ultimately I decided against it.
The problem, quite simply, is that these introductory posts that I write are getting increasingly too long and encyclopedic. I’m not convinced that all this info is necessary or useful, and even if it is, I find that it’s taking me way too long to put it all together. Any given intro post involves writing, doing research, combing through Blu Ray discs for screenshots, taking the photos, cropping them, etc.
I like writing about my builds, but not enough to turn it into a second job.
So for now I’ll just say this: Nobel shows up for a bunch of fights in the second half of the show, including one in which it goes Berserk and gives God Gundam a serious run for its money.
(Unfortunately I don’t have a good screenshot of this moment, because after going into Berserker Mode, Nobel Gundam moves so quick that there’s never a moment where you it and God Gundam on screen at the same time)
Also, there are moments were its drawn like God Gundam’s clingly girlfriend:
There’s also a bunch of still shots where they, um, draw it with very obvious Gundam boobies, despite the fact that these don’t exist in either the lineart or the Gunpla model:
I guess sex sells, even for mecha.
About the Model Kit
This is a color and parts variant of the regular High Grade Nobel Gundam (in fact, the kits came out the same year). The two models have different hair of course, and additionally the Berserker version doesn’t come with a Beam Ribbon, instead replacing it with a pair of traditional beam sabers (which I don’t recall it ever using in G Gundam, but whatever).
And of course, since it’s in Berserker Mode, all of the parts are recolored to have a reddish hue. That means the white parts are now pink, the blue parts are now purple, etc. They even gave some of the plastic a metallic sheen, to really sell the idea that it’s in a special state.
On a final note, the kit also comes with a display stand. Sometimes Bandai does this for transformable mobile suits, or when an MS is generally known for fighting while airborne. But that’s not really the case for the Nobel.
I’m guessing this may be a case where the model is so small and slight that they needed to throw some extra plastic in the box to justify selling it at a regular retail price.
Other Thoughts
I got this at a local Barnes and Noble, and there’s a bit of a funny story behind it. The website said they had it in stock weeks ago, but I couldn’t find it in-store. Even Mrs. Wolfe stopped by to check one day, and she couldn’t find it either.
So I said “Screw it” and did an online order for in-store pickup, just to see if it would work.
Somehow it was ready in less than 30 minutes. Maybe it was in the back the whole time?