#00 sky

Is what I said to the always friendly person working at the front counter of my local hobby shop when I walked in earlier today. And, in all fairness to me, I DID buy a couple cans of primer while I was there. It’s just that I also bought. . . well. . .

This comment from @themunofprovidence was made the other day, and I’ve been meaning to comment on it because I’m still thinking about things relating to it-

Trans-AM Infinity: 00’s Trans-AM + Destiny’s Wings of Light.

Frankly, what the fuck even /IS/ “””Trans-AM Infinity”””. We’ve seen mobile suits, Gundams, etc, just up and have boosted energy swords- even long-lasting beams that were swung around like swords- All of these still kill shit in the same way with no real difference in how it accomplishes it’s goal, outside of it’s presentation/appearance/etc. Granted, we’ve also seen Sky outright replicate Age 2 Magnum’s finisher move by turning Mag into its own sword, but again, that’s not any different from how this gimmick normally worked.

The -ONLY- exception to this trick is that it can sometimes nullify an entire attack, at the cost of overheating Sky and rendering it immovable, and I’m still trying to register how that’s any bit effective, because your opponent can just fire again.

Although Morbius Moebius has those green energy rings that kinda’ block attacks and kinda’ up its speed, that isn’t a thing Trans-Infant does, that’s more of a gimmick that Moebius naturally can do. So…. I don’t know what to tell you.

Ever seen Fight Club? It’s a movie about a main character who’s physically and emotionally broken through adversity to as a means of forcing them to break out of their comfort zone and emerge as a vastly stronger being(or some shit like that).

For the most part, a lot of gunpla that Divers(not Re:Rize) showcases are pretty basic customs, and nothing really elaborate- It’s more of an allegory to how beginner friendly GBN is/Riku’s starting journey through it- Despite sounding elitist it’s also a breeding ground for low-effort, because GBN is more about the spectacle and less about the serious combat that Build/Try glorified.

The thing is, Tsukasa generally wants what’s best for GBN, from a creative perspective, despite his blunt views of it; he openly mocks everyone for how “safe” the entirety of it is, and as a result it’s not the kind of system that warrants real challenge to its players, and a consequence to this is that players won’t seek out meaningful improvement if their machines don’t live up to better standards.

This is why the No-Name is such a vastly superior machine to 00 Diver in every way- It’s gone through hell and back and became something uniquely it’s own; it even goes so far as to reject having ‘Gundam’ in its name. Sure, Diver “””wins””” against it, but the outcome of the match doesn’t matter; To the No-Name, that’s just Tuesday. But with Riku it’s a different story.

After 00 Diver gets its ass handed to it, this ends up being the driving factor as to why 00 Sky goes on to become such a strong machine within GBN, because much like the Astray No-Name, it’s practically built from the ground up and had more thought/effort put into it(something that even, Shahry, Tiger, etc, also bring up on occasion). Through its hardship and struggle, it became stronger in a meaningful way.

Wiki, on Trans-Am Infinity:

A system unique to the 00 Sky, it combines the 00 Gundam's Trans-Am System and Destiny Gundam's Wings of Light. The wing units of the Sky Drive Units accelerate the release rate of highly-concentrated GN Particles during Trans-Am mode, temporarily creating an explosive boost to the Gunpla's capabilities that surpass normal Trans-Am. As with normal Trans-Am, the 00 Sky turns a reddish hue during Trans-Am Infinity.

While it’s easy to write off Build Divers as going off “playground rules”- because it practically does- I feel that there’s some methods to it’s madness: