And I’m not talking about the Korean idol group. I’m talking about the XS-07 Black Sarena, a unit you often see in Super Robot Wars games and comes from the movie Martian Successor Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness. It will also be released as a MODEROID kit after releasing the Aestivalis kits last year.
While I’m aware of several pre-assembled and pre-painted figures of this design, I’m not exactly sure if there have been model kits prior to the MODEROID release. Regardless, if you’re not willing to spend that much on the figures or if you just prefer building a kit of this design, then Good Smile Company has you covered with this MODEROID Black Sarena kit. It stands 160mm in head height and 190mm in overall height so if you have the MODEROID Aestivalis kits, this should totally fit in your collection and display.
Its color layout is relatively simple, with mostly black and red highlights on the external armor. It does have some ornamented design elements on the shoulder armors and I do hope these would come in the correct colors rather than painting them, same is true for the head crest. I do expect some painting for the smaller red parts like the chest vulcans or the exhaust parts.
And while the underlying kit is quite posable, I’m also expecting more limited articulation once the armor is on, though you still have some range of motion for those dynamic poses.
Another signature design element of the Black Sarena is the long tail-like stabilizer. Looking at these CG images, I don’t think this would have articulation at each segment though the attachment point to the main body likely is. So, you might need some shelf space to display this kit.
The large armor pieces also has extra functionality. These include the side armors that have hidden thrusters when opened. Same is true with the shoulder binders with even larger thrusters inside. The shoulder binders can also store the handcannons when not in use.
But of course, the most notable feature is being able to purge the large armor pieces to reveal the core Aestivalis unit inside.
This would allow you to display the Black Sarena in different configurations where the certain armor pieces are being purged, providing more display options.
This is how the core Aestivalis unit within the armor looks like, and it does share the same color layout as the Ground Battle Frame variant as you can see below.
Though the overall details between the two machines are quite different, with the Black Sarena’s core being more blocky and angular. It also sports a pair of wing binders at the back, along with a different head unit design.
Without the constraints of the Black Sarena armor parts, you are able to put the Aestivalis in more dynamic poses with the help of the included accessories. It can also replicate poses for the Distortion Punch attack, which requires the use of replacement hand parts.
Here’s another interesting point about this kit. If you’ve been reading these posts for a good while, then I’ve once or twice mentioned my preferences on getting multiple copies of a kit instead of going through some rigorous transformation process, that could involve significant disassembly and reassembly. Or if I want to display the different forms simultaneously.
Unfortunately, with the price of this kit, that’s a luxury that’s too impractical. But it looks like I don’t even need to consider that as, besides the modularity, the kit will include parts to build a dummy frame that you can put the Black Sarena armor onto. Granted the dummy frame is in all gray parts, but with the forearms as the mostly exposed part, you can easily paint the pink parts to match the intended colors.
I also can’t say how articulated the dummy frame is until the kit is released, but at least it looks good when used with the armor parts and allows the display of both kits without getting multiples.
While I haven’t built my MODEROID Aestivalis Ground Combat Frame, I am still looking forward to getting the Black Sarena as it’s like the mid-season upgrade to the former, at least in terms of visuals. Especially after knowing the inclusion of the dummy frame to display both the core unit and the external armor separately. So yes, I’m getting one, not multiples.
MODEROID Black Sarena
December 2024 / ¥9,800
Order via HobbyLink Japan
