Differences between Nu and Hi-Nu Loadout

[Underrated GM Custom]

I have a friend who got into Gundam via some of the newer games that came stateside, so Dynasty Warriors Gundam and Gundam Versus. He asked me what the differences were between Nu & Hi-Nu Gundam. For the Nightingale and Sazabi the designs are very different whereas the Nu and Hi-Nu are very similar. Here's an excellent synopsis.

Thread: https://mechatalk.net/viewtopic.php?p=3 ... e7#p357094

In Beltorchika's Children, the Nu Gundam is still called the Nu Gundam, even though it does use a mega bazooka launcher at one point. That's why the cover shows the standard anime Nu Gundam - it's supposed to be the same thing.

Aside from the Newtype magazine illo that balofo posted, the original source of images for these guys is in the mecha profile section at the beginning of the Beltorchika's Children novel. The Psyco Doga isn't pictured in this section, and aside from the Nightingale, all the mecha are listed with the same names and specs and model numbers as the movie versions. (At this point, the movie specs had smaller head heights. That's why everyone says the Hi-Nu is 20 meters; the book just listed the standard specs for the Nu Gundam, and at that point they were saying the Nu was 20 meters tall.)

So if the Nu Gundam is just called the Nu Gundam in Beltorchika's Children, and they listed the standard Nu specs and description, where the heck does the "Hi-Nu" come from?

Well, in the book's mecha section, designer Yutaka Izubuchi took some liberties with his designs and drew them all a bit differently. What we now call the Hi-Nu started out as, simply, "that cool version of the Nu Gundam that Izubuchi drew in the mecha section of Beltorchika's Children." It was only later that this cool doodle got its own name and back story and was recognized as a distinct mobile suit. The "Hi" prefix, confusingly, seems to be an homage to the original Hi-Streamer novels.

Of all these guys, the only one that was reasonably fully depicted and clearly identified as a unique machine was the Nightingale. It's named that way in the Beltorchika's Children novel (unlike the Hi-Nu), it's depicted in the mecha profile section (unlike the Psyco Doga), and Izubuchi drew nice pictures of it for Newtype and B-CLUB magazines. The one thing it didn't have in the mecha section, unlike the other features machines, was a model number.

Whew! That's pretty long and detailed, but I've seen people getting this mixed up for decades, and I keep hoping that if I explain it one more time it'll stick.

-- Mark

Izubuchi's Hi-Nu: https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/robosoku/im ... fa578f.jpg
1990 Hobby Japan 1/120 scratch build Hi-Nu: http://pmt-scorpius.cocolog-nifty.com/p ... hi02_3.jpg

So at one point the Nu and Hi-Nu were essentially the same thing, but over time the aesthetics of Hi-Nu became very popular and it got its own Gunpla and even model number. The Hi-Nu has a slightly different loadout than the Nu, here's what I've identified as key differences, please let me know if there are any others that I missed.

1. Same beam rifle, bazooka, and beam cannon in the Shield.
2. Same number of funnels but the funnels have different placements. Also the funnels on the Hi-Nu are able to be recharged (energy and/or propellant) which is something the OG Nu could not do.
3. Additional propellant tanks on the back.
4. The beam saber on the Nu is able to do a short beam projection on the opposite side, this projection is much longer on the Hi-Nu. Additionally the Hi-Nu has more beam sabers tucked away in the wings.
5. It has a Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher stored on the Ra Cailum.
6. Arm mounted gatling gun. It's unclear to me whether this is a solid shell firing weapon or a beam weapon. As I recall it's shown in the SD Gundam games but those aren't exactly an authoritative source.

[Mafty]

I'm not as skilled technically as some of the other posters, but it seems the Hi-Nu is bulkier than the Nu Gundam itself(particularly in the CCA-MSV version), also the funnels seem more attached to the unit (there doesn't seem to be any lineart of the Hi-Nu without the Fin Funnels attached). On a much more minor note the color differs. The Hi Nu is White and Purple , whilst the Nu is either Black (in the Movie) or Navy Blue (everywhere else).

Also interesting that it's technically the same unit with different names for the adaptation, if you want to see something really different, look at the Hi Streamer mechs, they are very different, and there isn't actually lineart of them anywhere.

[MythSearcher]

I have a friend who got into Gundam via some of the newer games that came stateside, so Dynasty Warriors Gundam and Gundam Versus. He asked me what the differences were between Nu & Hi-Nu Gundam. For the Nightingale and Sazabi the designs are very different whereas the Nu and Hi-Nu are very similar. Here's an excellent synopsis.

Thread: https://mechatalk.net/viewtopic.php?p=3 ... e7#p357094

In Beltorchika's Children, the Nu Gundam is still called the Nu Gundam, even though it does use a mega bazooka launcher at one point. That's why the cover shows the standard anime Nu Gundam - it's supposed to be the same thing.

Aside from the Newtype magazine illo that balofo posted, the original source of images for these guys is in the mecha profile section at the beginning of the Beltorchika's Children novel. The Psyco Doga isn't pictured in this section, and aside from the Nightingale, all the mecha are listed with the same names and specs and model numbers as the movie versions. (At this point, the movie specs had smaller head heights. That's why everyone says the Hi-Nu is 20 meters; the book just listed the standard specs for the Nu Gundam, and at that point they were saying the Nu was 20 meters tall.)

So if the Nu Gundam is just called the Nu Gundam in Beltorchika's Children, and they listed the standard Nu specs and description, where the heck does the "Hi-Nu" come from?

Well, in the book's mecha section, designer Yutaka Izubuchi took some liberties with his designs and drew them all a bit differently. What we now call the Hi-Nu started out as, simply, "that cool version of the Nu Gundam that Izubuchi drew in the mecha section of Beltorchika's Children." It was only later that this cool doodle got its own name and back story and was recognized as a distinct mobile suit. The "Hi" prefix, confusingly, seems to be an homage to the original Hi-Streamer novels. :-)

Of all these guys, the only one that was reasonably fully depicted and clearly identified as a unique machine was the Nightingale. It's named that way in the Beltorchika's Children novel (unlike the Hi-Nu), it's depicted in the mecha profile section (unlike the Psyco Doga), and Izubuchi drew nice pictures of it for Newtype and B-CLUB magazines. The one thing it didn't have in the mecha section, unlike the other features machines, was a model number.

Whew! That's pretty long and detailed, but I've seen people getting this mixed up for decades, and I keep hoping that if I explain it one more time it'll stick.

-- Mark

Izubuchi's Hi-Nu: https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/robosoku/im ... fa578f.jpg
1990 Hobby Japan 1/120 scratch build Hi-Nu: http://pmt-scorpius.cocolog-nifty.com/p ... hi02_3.jpg

So at one point the Nu and Hi-Nu were essentially the same thing, but over time the aesthetics of Hi-Nu became very popular and it got its own Gunpla and even model number. The Hi-Nu has a slightly different loadout than the Nu, here's what I've identified as key differences, please let me know if there are any others that I missed.

1. Same beam rifle, bazooka, and beam cannon in the Shield.
2. Same number of funnels but the funnels have different placements. Also the funnels on the Hi-Nu are able to be recharged (energy and/or propellant) which is something the OG Nu could not do.
3. Additional propellant tanks on the back.
4. The beam saber on the Nu is able to do a short beam projection on the opposite side, this projection is much longer on the Hi-Nu. Additionally the Hi-Nu has more beam sabers tucked away in the wings.
5. It has a Hyper Mega Bazooka Launcher stored on the Ra Cailum.
6. Arm mounted gatling gun. It's unclear to me whether this is a solid shell firing weapon or a beam weapon. As I recall it's shown in the SD Gundam games but those aren't exactly an authoritative source.

There's also this fun thing, Mamoru Nagano's design for the position of Nu was named Hi-S, from Hi-Streamer.
And the more commonly known S Gundam got the letter S because Katoki and the Sentinel staff at the time got information about CCA's main mecha being Hi-S(and that is pretty much the only info they get), thus stepped down and called their's S, without the High part of it, to mean it is an earlier thing.

About the Fin Funnels, Nu and Hi-Nu ones are the same, the rechargeable function came from the Funnel pod Hi-Nu has. The Nu was rushed to roll out and thus unfinished and the FFs were just hanged there without the funnel pods.

The Arm mount vulcan existed on its right arm and the left arm is a beam sabre. But whether it is beam weapon or not, well, we have conflicting accounts.
From the 1st MG(2007), it just says Vulcan in the text about arm unit, and we know if no "beam" is attached to it, it is just a shell firing one.(for example F90IIIY says beam vulcan.)
HG(2009)/RG(2021) called it the Arm Machinegun. Yep, again, different naming but also no beam.
Both not a gatling and got a magazine looking thingy attached to the back.

From the MG Ver. Ka(2014), it says Beam Gatling, which is pretty clearly different from the above two.

So, basically only Katoki's version has a beam gatling(or even a gatling at all), and the notes says the weapon can be changed and there's at least also a beam tonfa version.(likely carried over from Unicorn's settings)
The answer to the question is simple, it's both. It can be a shell firing weapon, or it can be a beam firing weapon. Just depends on which one it is equipped with.

[DragoMaster009]

Well I can also think of one similarity that both mechs also share: They both have upgrades in the form of Heavy Weapons System Type armaments.

[Underrated GM Custom]

Excellent, thanks for all the help so far!

I remember when I first saw the Hi-Streamer designs by Yukinobu Hoshino I thought they were wild, even more exotic than Syd Meads take on Turn-A Gundam.

Good to know on the Funnel Pods. When the funnels are detached on Hi-Nu are those pods used for maneuvering propulsion? If so that would seem to give it a slight edge on mobility if I had to guess (along with the extra propellant tanks). I like your answer on the arm vulcan/gatling/machine gun, it's a solid shell or beam depending on who designed it hahaha. I wouldn't have guessed a beam tonfa option though, I'm assuming that detail was added after the release of Unicorn?

I'm not too familiar with the Heavy Weapon Systems of both, but the artwork looks nearly identical. It looks as though the Hi-Nu HWS comes with sub-arms just like the Nightingale though.

[MythSearcher]

Excellent, thanks for all the help so far!

I remember when I first saw the Hi-Streamer designs by Yukinobu Hoshino I thought they were wild, even more exotic than Syd Meads take on Turn-A Gundam.

Yeah, those are the publisher's response to the mess Bandai/Sunrise created with Nagano Mamoru.
We don't know how much they know about the incident, but they surely don't want to mess with both sides(Tomino wanted Nagano's designs, other Sunrise designers at the time and the higher ups don't), so the publisher took the third path, get someone completely unrelated to do new designs. Happens to be Hoshino XD
Oh, legendary Hoshino. I like his Professor Munakata series.
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encycl ... p?id=11830
But the semi-fake historian mangaka somehow is also a pretty prominent SF writer as well.
Tells really good stories and the hypothesis gave in the Professor Munakata series actually sounds plausible but if you talk to real historians they will laugh so hard about it.

Good to know on the Funnel Pods. When the funnels are detached on Hi-Nu are those pods used for maneuvering propulsion? If so that would seem to give it a slight edge on mobility if I had to guess (along with the extra propellant tanks). I like your answer on the arm vulcan/gatling/machine gun, it's a solid shell or beam depending on who designed it hahaha. I wouldn't have guessed a beam tonfa option though, I'm assuming that detail was added after the release of Unicorn?

Yes, the MG Hi-Nu Ver. Ka(and the first Ver. Ka of this) was released in 2014, which is after Unicorn.
Maybe someone can try to check on games and see if the beam version is after this?

I'm not too familiar with the Heavy Weapon Systems of both, but the artwork looks nearly identical. It looks as though the Hi-Nu HWS comes with sub-arms just like the Nightingale though.

The Hi-Nu HWS was created for the MG Hi-Nu Ver. Ka. It has never appeared anywhere before that. Appearance wise it is your typical Katoki, takes the design(Nu's HWS) and refined it.
If you use Dalong.net for the pictures(both of the MG HWS kits are under Club-G's page, which I guess is the Korean version of Premium Bandai?) You can see that they share pretty much the same parts.
Hi-Nu has a smaller S Parts but more extra parts for the backpack, while Nu has a bigger(new) S parts but less backpack parts.