Gundam Build Divers is back with a sequel series, Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE, that is just as referential as its predecessor. It would take a keen eye and bottomless Gundam knowledge in order to catch the more obscure references it makes to every corner of the Gundam multiverse. Fortunately, we have Gundam expert Tom Aznable to help.
Welcome back to Deep Dive, Tom Aznable’s reader-favorite column all about catching the more esoteric aspects of the Gundam multiverse that make it into the show. Nothing passes Tom’s eagle eye for spotting this stuff (we suspect Newtype abilities), but this column focuses specifically on rare sightings and deep cuts. Read on to see what you may have missed:
Pezun, MS-X (design series), Mobile Suit Gundam Sentinel (novel)
In jumping back to the mid-season climax of the original Build Divers, that brings us back to the Mass Divers’ base, aka the former Zeon asteroid base Pezun. While it’s never identified in dialogue as such, its appearance is based on its depiction in the Gundam Sentinel photonovel, where it is taken over by the Titans remnant group New Desides.
In my revisiting the original Build Divers episode though, I noticed a continuity error here. In that episode, by the time the tears in the game world start appearing, Pezun has already been split in two.
EMS-TC02 Phantom Gundam, Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam Ghost (manga)
Making its anime debut, the Phantom Gundam from Crossbone Gundam Ghost has been retconned into the Coalition of Volunteers! The Phantom is a Victory Gundam-era MS combining technologies from the prototype F99 Recordbreaker and Jupiter Empire’s unmanned Amakusa mobile suits seen in earlier Crossbone Gundam installments. It’s seen here with its distinctive flame-like “Phantom Light”, a kind of unstable cousin to the V2 Gundam’s own “Wings of Light.”
OZ-07MS Tragos, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (anime)
AMX-011 Zaku III, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (anime)
The Tragos is OZ’s equivalent to the Guntank, though in this instance it’s done up in the original MSV colors of the Zaku Tank. Its red visor eye is also consistent with early MSV art that depicted the usually pink Zeon monoeyes in red. The Tragos is seen here wielding the HGBC Giant Gatling, one of the customization part sets released during Gundam Build Fighters.
The Zaku III in this shot takes its colors from the Messer, the mainstay mobile suit of the anti-Federation organization Mafty which got an HGUC release this month. As an Anaheim Electronics design the Messer actually has its lineage in Neo-Zeon suits, so it’s not entirely inappropriate for something like the Zaku III to sport its colors.
GAT-04 Windam (Phantom Pain Colors), Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (anime)
NRX-018-2 Daughtress Neo, After War Gundam X (anime)
I wonder if it’s just a coincidence that versions of these two mobile suits happen to find themselves among Alus’ forces on Eldora? The Windam in this scene shows up in colors used by teams belonging to Phantom Pain, the de facto military wing of the anti-Coordinator group Blue Cosmos. While a Windam doesn’t appear in SEED Destiny in these colors, this color scheme is also seen on specialized Phantom Pain mobile suits like the Dark Dagger L, the Slaughter Dagger, and Strike Noir Gundam.
The specific Daughtress Neo here actually appeared earlier in the original Build Divers prologue short as part of Team Avalon, piloted by a user named Chambre. The Neo is the New United Nations Earth’s successor to their Daughtress grunt units, part of their attempt to regain power in the post-apocalypse After War period.
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