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XGF-01［Ⅱ3］ Gundam Lfrith Jiu

A non-combat prototype that turns out to be one of the most interesting HG builds of the whole Witch from Mercury line.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

［Ⅱ3］ Gundam Lfrith Jiu · 1/144 · 2023

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2023

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I went in expecting a reskin and came out genuinely impressed by how much personality this kit packs into a P-Bandai HG.

The shell unit gimmick on the face, shoulders, and chest actually changes how the suit reads on the shelf, and the Tiger's Hand weapon is a legitimately clever piece of engineering rather than a token add-on. It is not a suit built for combat poses in the show, and the kit is honest about that, but as an object to build and display it earns its price.

Best for: Witch from Mercury collectors and shell-unit gimmick fans who want a display piece with more engineering than a standard HG

The full review

What it is

This is the Lfrith Jiu from the Vanadis Heart side story, a mostly non-combat mobile suit built to test the Vanadis Institute's ideas about human-mimicking movement rather than to fight. The signature feature is the shell unit that runs from the face down through the shoulder and chest armor in smoke translucent plastic, so the kit ships as a visor-faced machine until you apply the small foil stickers that light it up into a proper Gundam face underneath. I liked that this is a real choice you make at the bench, not just a color callout. The Tiger's Hand is the other headline, a huge composite manipulator weapon that is nearly as long as the suit itself and reads as far more distinctive than the usual beam rifle and shield loadout.

The catch

This was a Premium Bandai exclusive, so it is not sitting on shelves and secondary market pricing runs above a typical retail HG. Bandai built in a soft upsell too, since the kit includes stickers for both the shell-activated and shell-deactivated looks but you only get one set to commit to unless you buy a second copy. The suit itself is a support and mobility test unit in its own fiction, so out of box it does not carry a lot of onboard armament beyond the Tiger's Hand, and if you want a straightforward action pose Gundam this is not the aggressive combat frame the Aerial or Calibarn kits are.

Who it's for

Buy this if you are already collecting the Witch from Mercury HG line, if you like kits with a genuine transformation or reveal gimmick, or if the Tiger's Hand as a display piece appeals to you on its own. Skip it if you only want mainline Suletta or Miorine suits, if P-Bandai pricing and secondary market markups are a dealbreaker, or if you want a kit that comes loaded with beam sabers and rifles for dynamic battle poses. For most Gunpla builders coming from the main show, this is a rewarding side purchase rather than a first kit.

What works

The face-to-chest shell unit with switchable activated or deactivated foil stickers gives the kit a real display choice most HGs do not offer
The Tiger's Hand composite weapon is a standout piece, doubling as a backpack booster and a huge hand-cannon style armament with its own articulated fingers
Smooth, adhesive-free HG assembly that stays approachable even though the shell unit parts add a layer most standard kits skip

Worth knowing

Premium Bandai exclusive release means it is not on general retail shelves and resale pricing runs high
Only one sticker set (activated or deactivated) is usable per build, so getting both looks means buying a second kit
As a non-combat prototype suit, it ships lighter on traditional weapons than most Gundam HGs at this price

Sold? Grab it.

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The build story

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

The build itself follows standard modern HG conventions, snap-fit with no cement needed, and reviewers who put it together straight out of the box called the joints solid enough to hold poses without flopping. The extra step here is the shell unit assembly across the face, shoulders, and chest, which uses clear smoke-tinted plastic runners layered under the foil stickers rather than simple painted panels, so cleanup and careful handling around those clear parts matters more than on a typical kit.

Where this kit earns its price is the Tiger's Hand. It is a composite manipulator weapon roughly as long as the mobile suit is tall, with articulated finger joints that let it switch between a two-finger gun pose and a closed rocket-punch style fist, and it mounts either on the back as a thruster pack or the arm as a carried weapon. Color separation on the shell unit sections is handled well for an HG, with the translucent plastic doing real work instead of relying purely on stickers, even though the stickers are still what finalizes the lit look.

Lore & trivia

01The Lfrith Jiu comes from Vanadis Heart, a manga side story to Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury set five years after the main series, following pilot Vilda Miren and her assistant Kiyu Lavot.
02In its own fiction the suit is explicitly a non-combat research machine built to test human-mimicking movement for the Vanadis Institute rather than to fight, which is why it lacks a conventional weapons loadout.
03The mobile suit's designer, Kanetake Ebikawa, also designed the Gundam Gundvölva from the same franchise.
04The Tiger's Hand weapon is implied in-universe to be a repurposed part originally built for an early GUND FORMAT test machine rather than a purpose-made weapon for the Lfrith Jiu.