Before 2021 ended, Good Smile Company and its mecha sub-brand Good Mecha Smile have been promoting Mecha Smile Impact, an event which they promise would excite and bring impact to the mecha modeling world. They promised to reveal tons of upcoming model kits and figures from both the MODEROID and The Gattai lines. They had the video presentation of all reveals yesterday and, yep, it was very impactful with almost 40 new items across multiple series and franchises.
With that much new items, they decided to categorize each reveal so for the first batch, we have the isekai and magic robots category. These are kits from titles that involve isekai (i.e. another world) stories or robots that are magically powered. Please note that I will not cover everything they revealed and just those that I’m interested.
First up are the three upgraded forms of the protagonist machines form Mado King Granzort. These are Super Granzort, Super Aquabeat, and Super Winzert. I previously covered these three from a Megahouse’s Variable Action MINI line. But given that Good Smile Company already has their base forms as MODEROID kits, it would make total sense to have their upgrades as well. With the original kits slated to a reissue this June, I am expecting that these upgrades would be available around the same time as well.
MODEROID Super Granzort
TBD
MODEROID Super Aquabeat
TBD
MODEROID Super Winzert
TBD
Outside of Mashin Hero Wataru and its sort of sister series Mado King Granzort, there are also other magical-SD mecha series in the 80s. One of these is Lord of Lords: Ryu Knight which I’m not the most familiar compared to the previous two. But it also has interesting designs, including the Ryu Knight Zephyr, the main protagonist machine. The kit stands at 110mm but don’t the smaller stature fool you as the kit has great sculpted details coupled by great articulation as well.
MODEROID Ryu Knight Zephyr
TBD
In 2019, the fantasy SD mecha genre returns with a mix of magical girl elements added in Granbelm which pits seven of these magical girls to pilot these machines called “Armanox” and fight a battle royale for the title of “Princeps Mage.” They’ve also revealed that both White Lily and Voila Katze, the Armanox of the two main protagonists, are in development. Not much is revealed though White Lily would likely include clear pink parts for those jewel pieces while I’m hoping the green stripes on Voila Katze react to black light, sort of.
MODEROID White Lily
TBD
MODEROID Voila Katze
TBD
I find it really cool that Good Smile Company is aggressive in taking these magical SD mecha properties and giving them modern model kits. Now if only Bandai Spirits wouldn’t be competing amongst their internal divisions and just release a single line for all the Wataru stuff.
On the topic of final forms, we also have the Combined Rune God Rayearth from Magic Knight Rayearth. To those unfamiliar, this is basically the combination of the three Rune Gods Rayearth, Selece, and Windam. This kit will stand at 180mm, taller than the three MODEROID Rune Gods. Its feather-like wings are also deployable, and it comes with its sword and shield. I’m not sure if the tail is articulated though. Either way, given that I’m getting Rayearth, it’s a no brainer that I should also get this one.
MODEROID Combined Rune God Rayearth
TBD
The last entry in this category is also the one I’m least familiar with. It’s apparently from The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel, an RPG developed by Nihom Falcom and is part of the Trails series, which is then part of the larger The Legend of Heroes franchise. The kit the revealed is that of Valimar, an Erebonian Divine Knight apparently. And while it looks beautiful, the design totally gives me Sinanju vibes with those ornamental trims in gold. I’m hoping these would be separate plastic pieces, but I’m not too optimistic. In any case, fans of the game should really look forward to this one.
MODEROID Valimar, the Ashen Knight
TBD
And that’s just the first of many upcoming kits Good Smile Company has in the pipeline. I really like how they the focus the more obscure properties which the larger companies tend to brush aside. To watch all the announcements that includes this category, just play the video I’ve included below.
