Fresh from the first weekend after Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe opened in Japanese cinemas, official sources are already spoiling some key plot details from the film via new mobile suit reveals. And new mobile suits almost always translates to new model kits. Come Monday evening, Bandai Spirits had an online stream to showcase these upcoming kits and other announcements. Some of them were totally expected while some came out of nowhere. I’ll link that livestream at the bottom of this post for anyone who didn’t catch it.
Literally the largest reveal from this livestream is the upcoming HGUC 1/144 TX-ff104 Alyzeus. I’ll redirect you to this post to know more about this behemoth of a mobile suit but yes, it is getting a regular retail release. Before delving deeper, here’s the promo video they released yesterday to show the features and gimmicks of this guy.
The video highlights three main points for this kit.
First is the Flight Form transformation, which is similar to the Penelope but is more complex due to its nature as a development unit. The kit uses clear parts for the multitude of plasma reactors embedded all over its body with the absence of a proper Minovsky Flight System.
The Alyzeus is also notable for utilizing multiple shelf nozzles. This technology was first seen in Crossbone Vanguard mobile suits from Gundam F91 so there’s definitely lore-building to see the origins of this technology as early as the U.C. 0100s.
The second point deals with the sheer volume this kit has. While not going to the realm of one-off behemoths like the Psycho Gundams, the Alyzeus belongs to the U.C. category of Fifth Generation Mobile Suits. They’re primarily characterized by the integration of the Minovsky Flight System, which contributes to their volume. The HGUC Alyzeus stands at 250mm, making it taller than most 1/144 scale kits, and even some 1/100 ones.
The third point, and is likely the reason why many are excited for this kit, is the inclusion of the RX-94 Mass Production Type Nu Gundam as the core unit of the Alyzeus. To those unfamiliar, this variation belongs to M-MSV or Missing Mobile Suit Variation which is also known as the Kunio Okawara Collection. As the name implies, it’s an attempt at mass producing the Nu Gundam, capturing 80% of the performance level of the original.
The M-MSV version differs slightly from the one seen in the second Gundam Hathaway film, with the intent to bring its look closer to the original and trigger some trauma within Hathaway.
As for the kit itself, I don’t think this is just a retool or the original HGUC Nu Gundam, which I built recently. There’s a lot of color separation needed in this kit to to get all those thrusters accurate, not to mention the engineering needed to combine it to all the Alyzeus armor parts.
For added display options, you can mount several shelf nozzles on its back, further bringing the silhouette close to the Nu Gundam Amuro Ray piloted, for all the trauma triggers. In addition, the right front armor can be equipped with an armor piece similar to one seen in the HWS configuration, including a sub-arm to wield a beam saber.
If the sheer volume and cost of this kit isn’t an issue, then I would want to purchase two copies, just to keep one as the Mass Production Type Nu Gundam. But that isn’t the most practical thing to do with how massive this thing is, not to mention its price tag. Some folks are also speculating that we might get the M-MSV version of the MP Nu Gundam given the mold is already there. But I won’t hold my breath for such announcement.
HGUC 1/144 Alyzeus
April 2026 / ¥12,000
Order from HobbyLink Japan
The geniuses over at Bandai Spirits have come up with a way to conjure up a reason to release a minor retool of the HGUC Xi Gundam specifically based on it’s appearance in The Sorcery of Nymph Circe.
I wanna say you can surely build the vanilla Xi Gundam from this new version, but it comes with the additional parts seen above. Chief among them are parts to build the damaged shield which, initially appear to be via the use of waterslide decals. But during the demonstration from yesterday’s live stream, the folks over at Bandai Spirits emphasize how these are separate parts and use different materials from the usual KPS.
There also are added parts for the Beam Rifle Barrel Holder, extra connectors and manipulators, and a peculiar-looking face part.
Towards the end of the film, the head of the Xi Gundam gets damaged coming from the battle with Lane Aim. Some accounts say that the damage reveals a more conventional Gundam face plate, while some say this is after the face is repaired. Either way, the film ends with the Xi Gundam looking a little closer to the Katoki redesign used in the G Generation games. I’m inclined to think the third film will require the Xi Gundam to have a major upgrade which will turn it to the blue and white mobile suit many are more familiar with.
But that’s just my theory.
I wanna say I’m thinking of getting this guy just for those new parts, which is a waste of the 7,000 yen price tag this kit is commanding. But if you’re already spending that much with the HGUC Alyzeus, then getting this also makes sense?
HGUC 1/144 Xi Gundam (Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe)
April 2026 / ¥7,000
Order from HobbyLink Japan
In 2015, and towards the end of Gundam Build Fighters Try, Bandai Spirits released the HGBF Gundam Leopard da Vinci. There ain’t that many Gundam X kits released this time, but the Gundam X and Airmaster lineage already got kits. So it did make sense to think that we were closer to having a modern version of the Gundam Leopard as a possible retool of the Leopard da Vinci. Boy, we’re we naive as this can’t be farther from the truth.
They also did the same stint with the Jiyan Altron and the actual Altron though the wait was shorter. The wait might’ve been longer for the Leopard but that wait is about to end with the announcement of the HGAW Gundam Leopard!
This kit is still very much in development since they were only able to show a gray prototype during the live stream. That said, I am curious on how the Inner Arm Gatling will be implemented. To those unfamiliar, the primary weapon of the Leopard is this massive Gatling Gun that basically wraps around the entire left arm of the mobile suit. They were able to implement the feature in the older kits, but this severely limited the articulation once deployed.
I do hope that this isn’t the only thing, besides the Figure-rise Standard Tiffa Adill, to be released to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Gundam X. But we’ll have to wait once the actual anniversary celebration commences.
HGAW 1/144 Gundam Leopard
August 2026 / ¥2,200
I won’t delve much into this one announcement, but they also revealed the next MGSD kit, the Kshatriya from Gundam UC. I can imagine folks wanting a Master Grade of this mobile suit to be completely disappointed with this choice. They did mention that this is the first non-Gundam entry in the line, which does open to more. But still, no MG.
If you weren’t able to catch yesterday’s live stream, I’ve included it below.
