Plamo Paradise Reviews - Brave Battle Warriors Kousonsan Ez8

About a year ago, I bemoaned the concept of SD Gundam Sangokuden Sidestory. As I stated at the time, the line looked to be an awkward lane change for the genuinely successful line with the only real plus being that storywise we’d be getting characters to give unseen areas of the story a bit more depth.

In a pleasant surprise, Sidestory turned out to not be a sad final lap for the line (Bandai even listened to one of the larger criticisms and gave some of the later kits extra parts to address proportions, including spares to give to the earlier ones). Whilst Sangokuden did indeed end late last year, it was actually succeeded by a direct reboot.  This retelling, titled Brave Battle Warriors, acts in the same way the source material ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’ did to actual historical events; the first go around (told through comics) were the actual events, whilst this time (told in 15 minute animated episodes) we’re getting a ‘romanticised’ retelling, based on the legends the actual events inspired. Official reports say this strategy is working well for Bandai, though it likely helps that the majority of line is just re-releasing all the previous kits with minor tweaks (generally new eye stickers and a new accessory). However, the other benefit as that this allows them to spend some of the saved cash on giving us kits of characters that they skipped last time. The Sangokuden story has an incredible number of characters and although it gave us some surprises (such as Musha Serpent Custom!) more often it tended to stick to the more famous and Gundamy designs. The chance to rectify that is certainly a good thing. One of the first to benefit is Kousonsan Ez8.

 

Some characters have gone in slightly different directions in Brave Battle Warriors but Kousonsan has generally stayed the same thus far. His historical counterpart is noted to have made a few ill advised power grabs but this being a youth aimed property sees Kousonsan given a more clearly heroic character. He serves as a ‘cool older brother’ figure to central hero Ryuubi Gundam, a long time childhood friend who balances out Ryuubi’s own sometimes childish and naïve nature whilst inspiring him with his skills as a warrior and leader. Of course if you’re familiar with these kind of stories, it should come as no surprise that in comics Kousonsan was killed off by enemy forces to further deepen Ryuubi’s personal resolve.

Cool as the character is, what will likely attract most people is his design basis- the Gundam Ez8, the effective starring mecha of 08^thMS Team. In one of their countless retcons to make more money off the original series, Bandai/Sunrise created the notion that a limited number of other Gundams were fighting on the frontlines all along. The titular 08^thMS Team are lucky to get three of these but so rare are they that when lead character Shiro Amada trashes his in combat, the base mechanics have no choice but to perform a patch job. The result is the one of a kind Gundam ‘Extra Zero Eight’, an appealing design which is still recognizable as a Gundam but replaces most of the super robot elements with more hard military (including replacing the iconic ‘V-fin’ with a more standard communication antennae). Sangokuden has been generally good at turning futuristic mecha into historical characters (elements such as turning bulky fuel pods into decorative tassels and such) but Kousonsan is easily one of the designs to best make the transition. The Ez8’s armoured design transforms well into a suit of armour befitting a front line commander, with a nice chain mail style pattern covering most areas. A noticeable element that separates him from the original Ez8 is a decorative cape, serving as a visible sign of his status of command. Bandai have had plenty of attempts at capes in the past, ranging from paper to fabric. Kousonsan gets a plastic cape like most Sangokuden characters but it’s a step beyond what we’ve seen before. Whilst most characters have simple decorative scarves & tassels or capes doubling as existing mechanical detail (like Sousou Gundam’s elaborate cape mimicking the Gundam Double X’s massive satellite panels), Kousonsan’s is all about damatic flair. The cape itself is made of three pieces, a large central piece and two smaller ones which plug into opposite ends. This construct in turn connects to a rod atop his backpack, allowing for a roughly 90 degree fixed movement. The two smaller sides can in turn be rotated out or folded in, allowing the cape to strike a good range between sitting casually at rest or billowing dynamically in the heat of battle. I’m usually opposed to such obvious articulation but here the concept works well in adding some flair to the kit. It’s especially effective given Kousonsan’s standard role as cavalry, allowing you to combine him with the also available generic Sangokuden horse unit and create a heroic image of him charging into battle atop his trusted steed.

 

In addition to the awesome cape, Kousonsan has a range of general articulation- a ball jointed neck, ball jointed shoulders x2 (a shoulder block plugs into the body and the arm in turn plugs into this), a swivel waist, ball jointed wrists, ball jointed hips and ball jointed ankles. Admittedly the range of motion on these is limited (the hands in particular are liable to pop off if you get too dynamic) but there’s enough there to get some decent poses going.

 

Near every Sangokuden kit has some piece of removeable armour. The stated gimmick behind this is to allow kids (and big kids) to mix and match pieces to create their own original designs. However, as the line continued this concept seemed to fade into non existence and at most characters would have a removable helmet and shoulder armour. Kousonsan is lucky in that he bares a removable helmet, chest armour, backpack/cape, shoulder armour and forearm guards. The helmet resembles an American football helmet with a guard running across the chin. It remains stable via an inner tab which plugs into a slot in the top of Kousonsan’s head…ow. The shoulder armour is made of three pieces; front, back and side guard. The chest armour, backpack and forearms guards are all single pieces that slot into pre-existing grooves on the main kit. Snug enough to firmly fit but also easy enough to remove.

 

Aside from armour Kousonsan comes with two hand held accessories. The first of these is a..stick…thing..with a plume. I’m sure these things have an official name but danged if I know it. It basically serves as a symbol of his status, used to gesture dramatically when giving orders. The second accessory is his weapon- a sword. Sangokuden has had all kinds of crazy weapons, from chain swords to full artillery platforms (!). Cool as those are, sometimes it’s nice to just have a no nonsense bit of tradition. The sword is the kind of thing you’d have seen most soldiers wield in ancient China, generic but effective. It also shares aesthetic touches with the swords wielded by Ryuubi, hinting at their shared origin. The sword itself can also plug onto the side armour skirts for storage, a rare but welcomed feature.

 

The world of SD Gundam is often very murky for newcomers. I myself had little interest until SD Gundam Force came along and gave me a point of reference for understanding the story concepts. That said, I think Sangokuden/Brave Battle Warriors is very friendly to newcomers. Sure there are some references to past stories for long time fans but all you really need to know is ‘Super deformed mecha with a semi-samurai style air’. Even if you don’t care about the character’s backstory, Kousonsan is a nice variation on one of the most popular Gundams from a generally popular series. He might not be the most inventive or wacky design, but he does his job well.

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