HGAnno Domini

GN-001 Gundam Exia URAWA REDS Ver.

The same fun, fast-building Exia frame, dyed head to toe in J.League red and white.

MechaGrade Score

3.3/5

Exia · 1/144 · 2020

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2020

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is a genuinely likable HG wearing a fun costume, and I think that's exactly what it should be judged as.

It's the familiar 2007 HG Exia molding recolored for Bandai's 2020 collaboration with the J.League football club Urawa Reds, and the sculpt underneath is still a light, quick-building kit with real charm in its legs and silhouette. I would not buy this one for the plastic alone. I would buy it because the crossover novelty of a Gundam wearing team colors is exactly the kind of oddball kit that makes a shelf interesting.

Best for: Exia fans and J.League/gunpla crossover collectors who want a fun variant, not builders chasing the sharpest possible HG Exia build

The full review

What it is

Underneath the paint job this is the same HG00 Exia that's been around since Gundam 00 season one, so you get the same light part count, snap-together build, and lean, athletic proportions that made the original a favorite entry kit. The URAWA REDS version swaps the usual white, blue, and GN-green color scheme for Urawa Reds red and white, with team branding worked into the decal sheet in place of the standard Celestial Being markings. Building it feels exactly like building the regular HG Exia, quick, satisfying, low-fuss, but every time you clip in a red part it reads as something new. It's a strange, fun little crossover piece and I had a good time putting it together.

The catch

This is a fifteen-plus-year-old HG mold, so the elbows only get a single bending joint and can't match the double-jointed reach of later kits or the RG version of the same suit. The kit leans on stickers for a lot of its color work, including the shield face and the small green GN-particle windows, and the green pieces don't glow through the clear plastic well without extra work. Because this was a limited J.League event exclusive sold at Urawa Reds games in 2020, it's harder to find at retail than the standard-issue Exia and tends to carry a collector premium when you do track one down.

Who it's for

If you already like the HG Exia's proportions and build feel, or you're a J.League fan who wants the novelty of your club's colors on a Gundam, this is a fun, low-effort pickup. If you're chasing the best possible built Exia for posing and detail, put your money into the RG or MG version instead and treat this one purely as a display curiosity. I'd skip it if you can't find one near a reasonable price, since the value here is entirely in the color scheme and collectability, not in any upgrade to the underlying kit.

The build story

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

Assembly moves fast because the part count is low and the runners are simple HG-grade plastic, nub cleanup is quick and gate placement is unobtrusive on most parts. The single elbow joint is the one spot where the build shows its age, it bends to roughly ninety degrees and no further, so sword and saber poses need some creativity. The waist rotates fully and the shoulders swing well, which keeps the overall pose range better than the arms alone would suggest.

Color separation is handled through molded plastic in red and white where it can be, but the shield face, some torso details, and the small GN-particle windows are stickers rather than painted parts, and the clear green pieces need light behind them or a coat of paint to really pop. Weapon loadout carries over from the standard Exia: GN long sword, short sword, beam saber hilts, beam dagger, and the switchable GN sword/rifle, all of which mount cleanly onto the redesigned waist adapter.

Lore & trivia

01GN-001 Gundam Exia is the mobile suit piloted by Setsuna F. Seiei in Mobile Suit Gundam 00, one of four Gundams fielded by the private armed group Celestial Being.
02This URAWA REDS Ver. was released in 2020 as part of a Bandai Spirits collaboration with Japan's J.League football association, timed to Gunpla's 40th anniversary, with different Gundam kits recolored for different J.League club teams.
03It was sold as an event exclusive at Urawa Reds games rather than through normal retail channels, which is why it's scarcer than the standard-issue HG00 Exia.
04The kit's GN long and short swords can both mount onto an adapter on the waist skirt for storage, a detail carried over unchanged from the original 2007 HG Exia release.