Ali Al-Saachez's ENACT Custom Agrissa Type

The ENACT is a mobile suit [not a Gundam, it doesn't have the V-fin and the red chin thing] from the first season of Gundam 00. By itself, it's pretty awesome, but after actually watching Gundam 00 I can safely say I like the Custom ENACT a lot more. Ali himself is a lot like Domon Kasshu in that the only way to solve problems he's aware of is by fighting until he finds the answer [and then fight some more].  I think that Ali's crimson ENACT is pretty cool, so without further ado, onto the review~

The ENACT mobile suit is normally a cobalt blue color, but I suppose Ali wanted his ENACT to match his hair, thus the crimson red :P. It comes with three hands [two "grabbin' stuff" hands and one "creepy Sephiroth fingers" hand, but the latter is only for the right arm] and doesn't have much in terms of armaments, but more on that later. As the mobile suit itself goes, it's a pretty skinny looking thing. In Gundam 00, everything has a tendency to be skinny as hell [ENACTs, Flags, 3 of Celestial Being's Gundams] or ENORMOUS [Tierens, Gundam Virtue]. Personally, I think that the more skeletal-looking suits [and Gundams] look way cooler, though Virtue did win me over by the end of the show...

Compared to the show, though, this mobile suit isn't all that mobile. The dynamic depiction of the ENACT suits loses a lot of interesting posability when translated into something tangible. The shoulder movements are restricted by the gigantic shoulder armor plates, and the legs are on a bizarre ball joint that allows the legs to move very well from side to side, but not a lot of forward/backward action. And the feet are pretty much stuck in one position [but that's because, other than standing up, this suit is meant for air combat]. The two sets of wings can swivel up and down, and the top set can fold in [I don't quite understand why they can do this, but that's ok! :D].

Attach the ENACT Custom to an action base, though, and the posability for this HG skyrockets. Because you don't have to worry about balancing it on its teeny-weeny feet anymore, you can pretty much do whatever you want with it. Obviously, the arms are still a bit hindered by the shoulder armor [and the arm with the defense rod on it will have issues with the top set of wings], but everything else becomes so much more posable that it totally makes up for the static-ish arms. And, I mean, they still bend at the elbow and can move at the wrist. Lack of full shoulder posability isn't the end of the world, right?

And since every mobile suit in Gundam 00 has some sort of gimmick, I present you with the ENACT Custom's flight mode!

Basically, you lean the upper body back, push the legs back, slap the rifle on his crotch and fold the arms down and you're done. It's not super creative or anything, but this isn't Transformers. Obviously, it's not meant to be very posable since it's A PLANE but it still looks pretty damn cool.

If you have other HG ENACT kits or a HG Exia and another action base, you could re-create some awesome Season 1 fight scenes between Ali and Setsuna too [before Ali steals the a real Gundam]. But in all honesty, there isn't much to say about the mobile suit's flight mode because planes aren't really meant to do much besides, in Ali's case, fly around, shoot stuff, and transform.

~*~ACCESSORIES~*~
The ENACT Custom comes with a few armaments, because otherwise it'd be beyond useless.

First up is the standard ENACT-issue...um...gun-sword thingy. I have no idea what to call it, but that's not the point. In rifle mode, it looks like a pretty standard laser gun blaster thing. It does sit a bit loose in his hand, though, which makes me sad :(

And since transforming seems to be the magic word in Gundam 00, let's just go ahead and shout HENKEI!!

As a sword, which is embarrassingly short, the rifle handle is left down [not that it has anywhere else to go] and the ENACT now holds it in a similar fashion to a briefcase, which I find pretty funny. It seems like the sword mode is really supposed to be used in close combat situations, which I'd think would be avoided by a fragile flight-type mobile suit.

Next up is the plasma sword, which is supposed to have a blue blade, but I don't have the paint and while it does look much cooler than his rifle gun thingy, it doesn't have anywhere to be stored on either mode, so I tend to just leave it neglected in the box. The plasma sword is the mobile suit's equivalent to the beam saber [because I guess only Gundams are allowed to have beam weaponry in general]. It looks pretty cool and very toothpick-like, but I just can't be helped to use it in poses unless I get myself a HG Exia [so they can battle :D ]

The final piece of battle equipment of the ENACT Custom is a defense rod, which is used on ENACTs and Flag mobile suits. The concept behind it is that it's a non-restricting shield; that is, it rotates to block incoming fire [and it's a pretty cool concept too!]. It doesn't really do all that much other than block bullets [sometimes] and restrict arm movement a little bit.

~*~FINAL VERDICT~*~
I'd have to say that the ENACT Custom Agrissa Type is a pretty cool HG kit, and a very good one for anyone who's just getting into gunpla. It's incredibly inexpensive [~$10], relatively simple and the end result looks fantastic. And best of all, it really doesn't require any detailing at all [I panel lined mine though, because I feel I can do at least that much for my HGs]. If you do get one of these guys, though, I highly recommend picking up an action base too, since that will give you a nigh-infinite amount of posability and you won't need to worry about the ENACT Custom just sitting there while it's in flight mode. He's a pretty spindly fellow, which seems like a theme of Gundam 00, but they really make the lanky look work with the ENACT kits. And that, my friends, is all I have to say about the HG Ali Al-Saachez's ENACT Custom. Until next time~