If it isn’t obvious with my (almost) monthly “Box Art Extravaganza” posts, I have a good appreciation of packaging art and design, and the possible thoughts that went behind these, even if the latter is mostly my conjecture. With MGEX Strike Freedom Gundam coming out this month, Bandai Namco has released its packaging, which would be a non-Ver. Ka MGEX kit.
And upon seeing it, my OCD was immediately triggered, let me show you.
Contrary to standard Master Grade releases, and following the design of MGEX Unicorn Gundam, we have a great-looking render of the mobile suit as the centerpiece with center-justified text. These include the brand name in bold letters, the “extreme point” for the particular kit, and the actual name on the top. At a quick glance, it doesn’t really show anything peculiar so let me show you this.
I’ve marked the center of the box with a red line, and you will notice that the name of the mobile suit is somewhat off-center — as seen with the text enclosed with a green outline. Below it, I placed the same text but properly center-justified, with a red outline. And this immediately triggered my OCD, especially for a package that’s meant to look elegant and regal, further compounded by the pose of the Strike Freedom Gundam dead center.
This is mainly to accommodate the Bandai Namco logo that’s now mandatory in every product they release, Bandai Spirits or otherwise. This mandate has also affected other lines, particularly how Real Grade kits now have the front RG logo moved from the top right to bottom left. This could’ve been avoided if they made the Bandai Namco logo a little smaller, but I assume they’ve set some block-based branding guidelines that prevent them from doing do, and this is the best compromise they could think of.
And let’s not get started with the HGUC, etc. packaging layout which needs to fit a lot of elements outside the letterboxed layout and the mobile suit illustration — including the kit name, HG logo, series logo, Bandai Namco logo, and Bandai Spirits logo.
Yes, it’s totally a bad case of over analysis on my part.
MGEX Strike Freedom Gundam
November 19, 2022 / ¥14,000
Order via HobbyLink Japan
