HGCosmic Era

Black Knight Squad Shi-ve.A

A gothic knight in gunmetal black that actually kneels, lunges, and swings a blade like it means it.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

Black Knight Squad Shi-ve.A · 1/144 · 2024

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2024

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is one of the better melee-focused HG kits Bandai has put out from the SEED Freedom lineup, and the western-knight styling sells it before you even open the box.

The new SEED Action System frame gives it a waist and shoulder setup that genuinely earns its keep in dynamic poses, not just a marketing label. Black plastic can be a minefield for visible seams and shiny nub scars, but this one handles it better than I expected. I came away liking it more than the standard-issue mobile suit kits at this price point.

Best for: HG builders who want a melee-brawler suit with real waist and shoulder range, not another beam rifle stand-and-pose kit

The full review

What it is

The Shi-ve.A is Shura Serpentine's personal machine and it reads instantly as a knight, not a soldier, thanks to the mantle piece and the visored helmet-style head sculpt. Building it, the thing that stood out first was the waist. Bandai calls it the SEED Action System, and it is not just marketing, the torso genuinely folds forward and to the sides more than a typical HG, which matters a lot on a suit built around a heat blade and twin beam sabers rather than a rifle. The double-jointed shoulders let the arms swing without the shoulder armor blocking the pose, which is exactly where a lot of cheaper HGs fall apart. The soft-plastic mantle with its gradient red printing is a nice touch of color separation you don't expect at this price.

The catch

It's molded almost entirely in black and dark gunmetal, and that combination is historically rough on gate marks and seam lines since there is nowhere for a scuff to hide. Builders report the plastic quality here is better than usual, with nub placement kept out of visible surfaces, but you should still expect to do some cleanup work with a hobby knife if you want it display-clean rather than shelf-clean. The hip joint doesn't get the sliding mechanism some other SEED Freedom kits use, so wide leg-kick poses are a bit more limited than the upper body's range would suggest. It also leans hard into one weapon loadout (blade and sabers), so if you want ranged posing variety this isn't the suit.

Who it's for

If you like melee-suit kits with a design that stands apart from the usual Gundam silhouette, this is worth the shelf space, the knight aesthetic and the action-system waist make it more expressive in poses than its price class usually delivers. It's also a solid pick if you're building out a Gundam SEED Freedom antagonist lineup alongside the other Black Knight Squad releases. Skip it if you specifically want a kit with strong hip-swivel kicking poses, or if you're not into an all-black color scheme and don't want to deal with the extra seam cleanup that comes with it. New-ish builders comfortable with a hobby knife will be fine here.

The build story

What the build is actually like, and the engineering worth knowing about.

Runner cleanup is straightforward for an HG, and the nub placement on the black parts is kept mostly out of sight, which is a relief on a kit this dark. Fit between the mantle and the torso is snug without fighting you, and the beam sabers peg cleanly into the twin-saber connector piece so you're not wrestling tiny parts to combine them.

The standout engineering is the SEED Action System waist and double-jointed shoulders, which let the suit fold and twist in ways most HGs at this price can't manage, particularly useful for a melee-first design. The ankle joints flex enough to support one-foot balancing poses with the beam saber mounted on the instep. Accessory count is solid for an HG: three beam sabers (usable singly or combined into a twin-saber), the Dis Pater heat blade, and the shield-injection alternate configuration give real posing variety within the melee theme.

Lore & trivia

01Shi-ve.A is the personal mobile suit of Shura Serpentine, leader of the Black Knight Squad in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom.
02The kit's western-knight look, especially the visored head and mantle, was a deliberate design choice to set the Black Knight Squad apart from standard Cosmic Era mobile suit silhouettes.
03Its named heat blade, the Dis Pater, is wielded in one hand while the suit can also combine its beam sabers into a twin-saber grip for two-handed melee work.
04The Shi-ve.A was released as part of Bandai's HGCE line tied to the 2024 SEED Freedom theatrical film, alongside other Black Knight Squad machines like the Rud-ro.A.