Now that we’ve been primed, it’s time to build my first Reborn-One Hundred model, the Den’an-Gei from the film Gundam F91:
About the Mobile Suit
F91’s new villain faction, the Crossbone Vanguard, uses two main grunt suits. The first is the Den’an Zon:
This model was intended for use inside colonies, as it’s main weapon, the shot lancer, was designed for close quarters combat and to minimize interior damage.
The other unit is the Den’an-Gei:
Both the Gundam Wiki and MAHQ describe it as being for “hit and run guerilla tactics”, but I think it’s more appropriate to say that it’s simply a more traditional design, for when the Crossbones need heavier firepower and/or don’t care about collateral damage. Rather than the shot lancer, it comes with a standard beam rifle, shoulder mounted missiles, and vulcan cannons.
And of course, since this is F91 we’re talking about, these are both miniature mobile suits. In fact, they’re arguably the first miniature mobile suits to be mass produced by any military faction. That makes them pioneers of a sort.
Appearances in the Film
As a grunt, the Den’an Gei shows up all throughout F91, starting with the opening moments of the film:
During battle, sometimes it manages to do well, such as the iconic scene where one kicks the head off a Jegan:
And sometimes it gets its ass kicked, like the other iconic scene where the F91 effortlessly slices one in half in its first sortie:
That’s grunt suits for you!
It also shows up in a scene where the Crossbone Vanguard are having a military parade:
Just look at how small they are relative to their pilots. I appreciate the fact that the animators didn’t forget that these are miniature mobile suits.
I’ll wrap this up with a few other notable screens and scenes featuring the Den’an Gei. First, here’s a scene where it’s actually firing its shoulder mounted missiles:
And here’s a moment where we see that its big, goggle shaped eyes can light up like giant oscilloscopes (or maybe giant LED panels):
This was obviously done because it looks cool, but it makes me wonder if, in-universe, this is intended to transmit or display data of some sort.
About the Model Kit
Since this is my first RE/100, I have no idea what to expect, but we’ll find out soon enough once I crack open the box and get to work.
About the Visual Design
There is no doubt that the Principality of Zeon was based at least partially on Nazi Germany, and so some of the early Zeon mobile suit designs, like the Zaku, evoked the imagery of helmeted German shock troops from both World Wars.
But over the years Zeon’s design aesthetic went in a different direction; by the time we get to ZZ Gundam, it’s less “Space Nazi” and more “over the top-looking robot knights”. Now to be fair, that’s a good aesthetic, and my love of ZZ era mobile suit designs has only grown over time, but there’s something to be said for having designs that look flat out evil. It lets us know that not only is the faction not to be trifled with, but that they are not very good people. I understand that a lot of Gundam fans want the franchise to depict all conflicts through a morally grey lens, but sometimes you just need some Capital-B Bad Guys, espcialy in something like F91 that has to fit into the length of a feature film.
And that’s exactly what we get with the Den’an-Gei. It looks like a gas masked stormtrooper, full stop. And that’s exactly what it needs to be. It’s a simple but effective “back to basics” approach to mecha design.