HGUniversal Century

RX-77-02 Guncannon (Cucuruz Doan's Island Ver.)

A stubby cannon-armed brawler that moves way better than its old-school silhouette suggests.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

Guncannon (Cucuruz Doan's Island Ver.) · 1/144 · 2023

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2023

Runnersn/a

Check price on Amazon

Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The verdict

I came into this expecting a chunky, stiff nostalgia piece and walked away genuinely impressed by how much this kit moves.

The double-jointed elbows and knees, the 360 degree waist, and a head that both swivels and pivots back give you real dynamic poses, cannons braced on the ground, crouched firing stances, none of which I expected from a suit this boxy. It is priced above a normal HG for what you get, but the molded-color accuracy and the two-in-one Kai/Hayato build option earn a lot of that back.

Best for: Universal Century fans and Guncannon loyalists who want a display-quality take on a suit that usually gets ignored for Gundam and Zaku kits

The full review

What it is

This is Bandai's HG reimagining of the RX-77-02 Guncannon as it appeared in the Cucuruz Doan's Island film, the only Doan's Island unit to get a proper retail release. The box gives you parts for both the Kai Shiden loadout (low-recoil cannons) and the Hayato Kobayashi loadout (missile launchers), so you are really building two versions of the same suit and picking your favorite, or building both over time. The proportions keep the classic Guncannon top-heaviness, wide shoulders, stubby legs, twin barrel chest, but the detailing and molded color work modernize it without losing what makes the silhouette instantly readable as Guncannon.

The catch

The price sits noticeably higher than a typical HG for what is still a fairly small, fairly simple part count kit, and that gap bothers some builders more than others. Because the color separation leans on molded plastic rather than a big sticker sheet, you do get a scattering of small decals for panel markings and cockpit details, so you are still breaking out tweezers. Like any HG with bright and dark plastic in the same runners, careless nub clipping near the shoulders and cannon housings can leave visible marks if you rush the cleanup.

Who it's for

If you like Universal Century mobile suits beyond the headline Gundam and want a display piece that actually holds ground-combat poses, cannons braced, torso hunched, this is a satisfying build. It also rewards anyone who wants to build the same kit twice with two different personalities, since swapping the backpack and cannon assembly gets you a genuinely different-feeling suit. Skip it if you are shopping strictly by price-per-part-count, since a standard HGUC Guncannon or Revive-line release will get you a similar silhouette for less. This one is for people buying the character and the film tie-in, not just the mold.

The build story

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

The build moves quickly and the fit is confident throughout, no notable sink marks or awkward joints. Where it slows you down is the same spot every HG slows you down, close nub clipping on the shoulder blocks and the twin cannon housings where bright plastic meets dark plastic and any leftover nub is obvious under light.

The engineering standout is the articulation package: a head that swivels on a ball joint and also hinges back, shoulders that swing forward before the arm even raises, and double-jointed elbows and knees that let it crouch and brace a cannon on the ground convincingly. You get a beam rifle, both manipulator hand styles including a trigger-finger right hand, and the choice of low-recoil cannons or missile launchers, which is a real amount of loadout variety for an HG.

Lore & trivia

01This is the only mobile suit from the 2022 film Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island to get a dedicated retail Gunpla release.
02The kit lets you build either Kai Shiden's Guncannon (low-recoil cannons) or Hayato Kobayashi's Guncannon (missile launchers) by swapping the backpack and cannon assembly.
03In the film's story, Doan's island is relocated to the Canaries rather than the Pacific setting of the original 1979 TV episode it adapts.
04The film adapts episode 15 of the original series, an episode long notorious among UC fans for its rough animation quality from outsourced production.