If you were an Ensemble collector in 2022 chances are you had a very stormy relationship with the brand. On the retail side we had four figure waves (which is the typical pace) but the focus continued to lie strongly on the Premium side with 10 releases, none cheaper than ¥5000 and several going into the five figure range. The mantra for the year seems to be bigger is better and there were some really huge figures released in the latter end of the year. I assume that to some extent the premium releases subsidize the continuation of the retail side but I know from my own reaction that it may be time to step down a bit.
Anyway, today we are looking at the last retail set of 2022, part 23 which released in the beginning of October. The wave is one of the rare sets that feature only mobile suits of wich there are four really strong releases. Let's see how they perform.
143 : XVX-016 Gundam Aerial
Ah yes, of course, the Aerial. She is in everything right now - the last set of Converge, the January wave of Gframe as well as the latest wave of Gashapon Senshi Forte. Milk it while it is hot I guess, but how about the Ensemble figure? Not bad, not bad. The design itself is a bit 00 mixed in with G-Reco and the figure has some neat detail on the torso and head. Do mind the tiny components in that area, especially the translucent component on the forehead which is very easy to lose, consider using some glue. The rest of the figure is very white and could definitely benefit from some panel lining.
The figure comes armed only with its beam rifle. The most important accessory is of course the transforming Bit Stave system which has been hidden away in the equipment pack. One nice touch with the figure is that the two beam saber hilts are removable from the backpack and it sucks that Bandai didn't choose to include a full beam saber with either figure or equipment pack.
144 : ASW-G-08 Gundam Barbatos (4th Form)
Next up is another fresh face debuting for Iron Blooded Orphans in the Ensemble line-up. The main problem I tend to have with these types of figures is that Bandai rarely releases any companions or rivals for them to duke it out with. The Barbatos will at least get the Graze to play along with but I really do wonder if the Aerial will have any friends, seeing how outlandish the other Witch designs are but you never know. Gashapon Senshi Forte will be doing a couple at least so there is hope.
The Barbatos figure is everything you expect it to be. The torso and shoulders are nicely painted but the lack of colour on the legs and backside is disappointing, especially the iconic red insignia on the knees. I'd consider panel-lining them if I had a really fine red pen. The face is made up of several tiny components and just like with the Aerial the topside of the head introduces some tiny and loose components you have to be extra careful with. On the accessory side we have to do with the katana-like sword. That's fine I guess.
145 : RMS-099 Rick Dias
I really did not expect to see the Rick Dias in Ensemble any time soon and my first thought was "hmm... how can they possibly do a black one as well?". There just is no pleasing some people I guess. :) On that topic, the half-digit releases were not seen at all in 2022, the last release was 7.5 in 2021. I imagine this is mainly because of the trouble of finding a retail wave where it makes sense to reissue every last figure. I still wish Bandai would take more interest in colour variants, custom machines and additional equipment options to already existing figures. Surely this could help keep the development costs down as well.
The Dias is a bulky figure which of course greatly limits articulation but it is a real thing of beauty. Note however that the feet are painted in a matte gray and so will have very ugly marks on the heels. Perhaps the sprue could have been designed differently with this in mind. The figure comes with no hand-held weapons save for the two beam pistols which you would normally just plug onto the backpack.
The Ensemble/Karaba line-up is getting really solid now. I will continue to hope for a black Rick Dias somehow finding its way into the figure line before Ensemble collapses. The only notable gaps otherwise are the Methuss, a figure which just released in Converge, and the GM II, neither of which seems very likely to be produced. We already have a Zeta Plus figure in the range so a premium re-colour in Karaba colours would certainly raise my pulse but it seems very unlikely.
146 : EB-06 Graze
Ensemble wave 23 is gracing us with not one but two army-builders. The fourth slot is usually reserved for a more or less successful vehicle, mobile armor or suit accessory pack but is reserved here for a full mobile suit. The Graze is the Iron Blooded Orphans stand-in for the Zaku II, filling the same shoes as the Geara Doga, Zulu, Leo or Tieren might do in another series. I am still waiting for Ensemble to produce a Leo we have suffered through a Wing Gundam figure already and the Leo would not only be something for it to spar with but the proportions of that suit would be ideal for an articulated Ensemble appearance.
The Graze is a pretty unique looking design but build-wise it features the same anatomy as your average Ensemble figure. The small feet combined with a large binder pack on the back could signal balance issues but you have a large 12 cm rifle to help keeping it on its feet. The design of the rifle by the way, with its two magazines makes it a bit clumsy to wield and you may have to remove a clip to get the figure to pose the way you want it to.
The Graze's helmet opens up and has a compartment for a little monoeye, a must-have for all Gundam villains. The upper half of the head is made in hard plastic of a slightly darker tone than the bottom half. There is no particular support for the open face mode so you can choose the angle of the opening yourself as long as the component doesn't fall out.
147 : Equipment Set for Wave 23
The equipment pack generously has a little something for everyone, with - to no one's surprise - the most effort spent on the Aerial's component defensive system.
I have yet to dive into the technology of the Witch From Mercury series so suffice it to say that the Aerial has a transformative component support system which can be configured into this nice looking shield right here. The figure simply is not complete without this colourful accessory that adds to it attractiveness a great deal. Enter Bandai to frustrate you by splitting up the components in two different boxes. Happy hunting!
The Bit Stave component system can also dismantle and stow on the suit's shoulders, arms and back skirt. This is if I get it correctly, the "Bit on Form"-mode which somehow increases the suits mobility and defense. Yeah, yeah, whatever it is it looks quite nice as well. You can take out the two black bits on the back skirt and stick them on the beam rifle to make it slightly longer and improve its performance. I couldn't be bothered to pull these components apart but you get the idea.
I originally planned to sell my spare Aerial figure but decided to hold on to one of each so as not to have to mess around with disassembling the shield to transform the figure between its two modes.
The Barbatos has its most iconic weapon hiding in the equipment pack, the large mace. The weapon is actually made up of three parts. The main body of hard plastic is flat and two of the spiked sides are made of softer plastic which are inserted into the main section. There are a lot of things you can do with the Barbatos in regard to its generational development with things such as optional shoulder pieces and gear options with clawed shields and the like. Ensemble did something of that caliber with the AGE-1 and it could well have been a Barbatos option parts kit of its own.
The Rock Dias receives its missing Clay Bazooka and is now complete. There aren't a whole lot of signature weapons used by it - for squad building purposes you may want to salvage a beam saber from somewhere to liven things up a bit. This particular green saber is borrowed from the HCM Pro 1:200 scale Rick Dias figure.
The Graze has two additional components here which help with squad building although they are both small enough to have been shipped with the figure in the first place but whatever. The figure receives its melee option battle axe and the alternate head top section with the commander antenna. Yeah, the Graze is a Zaku II through and through... Bloody cool figure though I really hope Bandai gives us at least one of the Gjallarhorn commander variants although it seems unlikely. I'm not expecting any more IBO suits to be frank but there is always hope.
Conclusion
Wave 23 is a great set with four well executed figure designs, two of which I was happy to collect squads of. The Aerial appears to be in high demand right now, but it is way easier to find in Ensemble form than its Converge counterpart which has skyrocketed in price, at least in the short-term, I would expect its availability to improve over time. There isn't much Universal Century stuff in this wave beyond the Rick Dias which might disappoint specialized collectors but other than that I would recommend this set to all other Ensemble-fans out there.
