I'm a bit late to the party, but here finally is the review for volume 24, which was released back in April. In fact, Ensemble Part 25 has just been released and there have been a few sightings over at Mandarake, so I am looking forward to try and put together a squad of GAT-04 Windams, a task that will be quite difficult I imagine. But that is the topic for another day, let's dig into volume 24, the first set of new figures released in 2023, and no I am not counting the 15.5 and 16.5 re-colour packs as new figures.
Part 24 is as usual distributed in either capsule or box form. The capsule variants still make use of that heinous new square-shaped leaflet design which messes up my banners, I much preferred the old mini-booklets. :)
153 : ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam
I must say I did not expect to see the Impulse make an appearance, it is one of those low key centrepieces that instead got outshined by the Destiny and Strike Freedom. It doesn't help that its whole concept is basically a recycled GAT-X105 Strike Gundam but now in Z.A.F.T. colours. Man, Destiny was such a low effort. I'd like to think that the Mobile Suit Ensemble Strike Gundam figure may also have inspired Bandai when they came up with this figure, reusing the concept of Mobile Suit and Striker Pack to fill two boxes. Anyway, the result is a really, really attractive figure with a lot of gimmicks and a strange characteristic, we will be talking about these further down the review.
The Impulse comes armed with its standard beam rifle and a very nicely coloured shield. The shield even has a differently coloured back piece which also helps to keep its shape. And look at that beautiful paintjob on the torso section, someone was feeling inspired when they designed this.
154 : RX-78GP01-Fb Gundam "Zephyranthes" Full Burnern
Ensemble (and Bandai overall in fact) was on a bit of a Stardust Memory spree in 2022 and the Full Burner'n comes at the tail end of this parade, unfortunately it looks like we are out of luck for any grunt type suits including the many interesting GM variants or even the Gelgoog. The Full Burner'n figure is a really typical Ensemble figure and just exactly what you have come to expect. It does the job very well but feels a bit unspectacular on the whole, perhaps I am just spoilt by the many interesting figures we have seen in the series as of late.
The Full Burner'n is the only figure in this set that has to make do with what is in its box; so that means a beam rifle and a shield. The attractively painted shield is of the same bendy plastic as was used on the GP01 which is a bit unfortunate as these things love to bend especially if crammed into a Gashapon capsule. Notice the extra joint pieces on a mini-sprue of their own. These connect the boosters to the backpack and allow them to swivel both horizontally and vertically.
The GP01Fb slots in between the base Zephyranthes from Ensemble Part 21, the GP02A Physalis (which was a pricey EX figure bundled with the Xamel) and the GP03S Dendrobium from Ensemble Part 22. There is of course also the entire Dendrobium mobile armor to purchase if you have a lot of money burning holes in your pockets.
155 : MS-06R-1A Zaku II High Mobility Type
The only army-builder figure in this set is a classic Zaku II in its High Mobility form. Out of all the figures in this set this is the one I had the most trouble finding, even now 6 months later I still only have a single unit in my hand although I managed to intercept another pair last week. Clearly I am not the only collector into squad building.
The figure comes armed with the classic Zaku Machinegun and you will find a couple of other weapon choices in this volume's equipment pack. What is not included however, is an optional upper head section with a commander antenna. This feels a bit cheap, especially since the component is clearly available - it is in use on the Shin Matsunaga figure sold in this very set. Poor effort. I would also like to point out that my experience with earlier Ensemble High Mobility Type figures is that the leg thrusters are very keen to fall off - I had the same experience here. If you hold onto the figure's lower legs when repositioning them for example, the lower thrusters love to fall off. I amended this with some glue.
This comparison with the classic Mobile Suit Ensemble Zaku II type shows just how much is different between the MS-06F and the MS-06R. It is not just a case of slapping a couple of extra thrusters onto the legs and give it a new backpack, pretty much every component has a completely different sculpt. I'm not entirely convinced by the very bright green colour chosen for the new figure - almost pea green - the older figure had a more toned down colour which I think suited the machine better.
The High Mobility Zaku figure is interesting in that it is - unless I remember incorrectly - the first figure to be upgraded from the old Ensemble anatomy with rigid shoulders to the more flexible arm-articulation introduced from Ensemble Part 20 onwards. In spite of the differing anatomy, the new figure looks very much like its older Black Tristars cousin from Ensemble Part 12. But take a closer look and you will notice the different right shoulder section and slightly different leg thrusters between the two figures. The new Ensemble figure highly resembles the MS-06R-1A Test Type concept art except for the back of the lower legs which more closely resemble the MS-06R-2 variant. The style of the shoulder is kind of vague in early concept art and I suspect it might be a carryover from the old Ensemble High Mobility Test Type Zaku that came before it. Either way I am at loss to correctly identify the model (and Bandai cheekily does not mention it on the box cover) but to me this most closely resembles the MS-06R-1A, your opinion might differ.
156 : MS-06R-1A Zaku II (Shin Matsunaga Custom)
Bandai are kind enough to provide us with a colour variation of the HMT Zaku and rather than recycling the Black Tristars we get a mostly white machine in the unmistakable livery of Shin Matsunaga. Bandai have been really good to him as of late, with a box set coming for Gundam Converge next year as a really special treat. But if there is one figure that could really benefit from the "marking plus" treatment it is this one, it begs to have at least one insignia somewhere. In this current form it looks rather bland. I haven't yet decided if I should go through the trouble of trying to panel line it - or to add the number 573 to the shoulder shield - but I think that either action would improve its looks quite a lot. Perhaps I'll wait to see if there is a Part 24.5 somewhere down the line first...
As noticed above, Shin's Machine comes with a headpiece sporting the Zeon commander antenna, but other than that the gear is the same a.k.a. the machine gun. Notice the little sprue with components above the machine gun. These are the lower leg thrusters made of soft plastic that have a propensity for falling off.
Posing once again with the OG Ensemble High Mobility Zaku II figure from Part 12. Matsunaga has piloted all variants of the Zaku II High Mobility Type so this does not aid us in identifying the machine. That old Tristar-figure by the way is quite tricky to find these days; I guess an enterprising builder could consider painting Shin's machine up to look like one. I am still on the lookout for a third unit myself.
157 : ZGMF-X56S/a Impulse Gundam Force Silhouette Flyer
Right, that's the four mobile suits out of the way then. In this set's "vehicle slot" the turn has come to the Force Silhouette support craft. This thing is the dumbest thing in Gundam lore since the G-P.A.R.T.S. system, if you have seen SEED Destiny you know very well what I mean. The idea of sending out your mobile suit in pieces and assembling them in the air, while tossing away components every single time is beyond ludicrous. Having said that, the Silhouette Flyer, basically a white plastic triangle looks really good when the Aile Striker Pa... ehrm, I mean the Force Silhouette is attached to it. Unlike the Earth Alliance FX-550 Skygrasper the Force Silhouette is not a combat aircraft in its own right, but a rather heavy drone with the thankless job of sending out weapon components to an angry Shinn every five minutes. Imagine if Armory One has just built three different mobile suits instead, and sent them all out at once...
Imagine the frustration if you are a kid who just dumped 500 yen into the Gashapon machine, it rattles and clanks, and out comes a capsule with a few measly components. Who am I kidding, kids don't play with Gundam toys, these are bought up by adults with too much money to spend. :)
Let's compare the Silhouette Flyer with the Aile Strike Skygrasper from Ensemble Part 10. Do you see the same thing I am seeing? The new figure is a lot sleeker and realistic looking, it appears as if the entire sculpt is more realistic and less deformed. Compare the size of those beam saber hilts for example. Now just you wait until we take a look at the Impulse Gundam itself in this way.
Yes, you guessed it. The Force Silhouette pack is easily removed from the Silhouette Flyer and attached to the Impulse Gundam, converting it into the Force Impulse form. This figure is nothing short of spectacular and a real highlight of the series. I was never a fan of this rather derivative design but this figure does it justice. Just like with the Strike Gundam figure I doubt we will be seeing the other configurations - Sword Impulse and Blast Impulse - in Ensemble but hey, you never know.
Now, back to this thing about scale again. Check out the Force Impulse parked next to the Aile Strike Gundam. As awesome as the Force Impulse figure is, its proportions are way, way off the typical, dare I say standardized, look of an Ensemble figure. While the anatomy is completely similar and the individual components handle the same when assembling the figure the end result does look a bit off when displayed with the other Ensemble family. Compare also in the last photo of the review how it poses together with the other figures in this set. As attractive as the Force Impulse figure is, I am not a great fan of this scale creep and I hope that we will not be seeing it on the Windam and other suits going forward.
I purchased two each of the Impulse Gundam and Silhouette Flyer packs, this allows you to display a complete family such as above, exactly like how the Ensemble Strike Gundam and G-Self figures functioned.
158 : Equipment Set for Wave 24
In the last box we of course have the Wave 24 equipment pack. I think its contents are a bit on the skimpy side, but then I again I appreciate that the Impulse Gundam figure was probably eating up a lot of the available budget. Still, I think at least a beam saber for the Zephyranthes or the commander antenna head for the Zaku could have been included here. I'm still waiting for Bandai to begin including the open expressive hands in these packs by the way, they have been available in various EX packs for years now.
Most of the effort here goes into the Impulse Gundam's MMI-710 Excalibur Anti-ship Laser Sword. I know it sounds cool and I think it looks really cool but it is still dumb having to attack enemy spaceships in melee combat, but whatever. The weapon is suitable large and has a nice translucent beam effect part. The blade is made of soft plastic and comes in two parts so that it can fit in a capsule which means you might need to straighten it out.
Also tossed in as a little gimmick is the Impulse Gundam's Core Fighter craft, which is a neat thing as far as playability is concerned. The sculpt is really nice too, especially for such a tiny little model. I painted the windows which is a quick way to improve its looks. No stand is included with the figure and it is too small to fit on the regular Ensemble figure base. The stand you see here is borrowed from a Gashapon Warrior NEXT figure, a Ball I believe.
The two Zaku figures get to share a Zaku Bazooka and a Heat Hawk, both classic Zaku weapons and seen repeatedly in Ensemble. It is always nice to get more of these useful all-round types of gear. The heat hawk is still the fully translucent kind which is a bit of a pain, I wish Bandai would modernize this accessory with a separate blade component made from translucent yellow.
Conclusion
Summing things up, Ensemble Part 24 is a great set and very competently executed. While there are some minor niggles, the major one being the suspicious scale of the Impulse Gundam (and a gut feeling that this might well become a new norm), I can easily recommend the figures to bulk up your various timelines with some high-profile mobile suits. get it while it is hot!
