Bandai Announces Winner of Rockman X Giga Armor Contest

Back in November, it was announced that as a part of the revival of the Rockman X Mega Armor Series of action model kits, now upgraded to the “Giga Armor” series, Bandai of Japan would be holding a contest in which fans of the series (who lived in Japan) could submit their own designs. The winner would get to see their entry used for an exclusive phone wallpaper and rendering by none other than fan-favorite Rockman X manga artist Yoshihiro Iwamoto.

The deadline was January 12th, and the winner has been announced as the following entry, the Energen Armor:

Energen is the food, lifeblood, and even occasional currency of the Transformers — wait, no, that’s Energon. Let me try that again:

Energen are the crystals introduced in Crystal Snail’s stage in Mega Man X2 that are used as a power source for Reploids and other machines throughout the Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, and Mega Man ZX series. It also happens to be the name of an “oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.”

Huh, the more you know. Maybe someday they’ll be the ones to discover and name the crystals?

But in all seriousness, back to the armor. The description (via Google Translate) says it places the survival of the player/X, though it apparently doesn’t offer resistance to spikes. The large crystal on X’s arm can be used to store energy, which can then be tapped as one would a Sub-Tank to recharge one’s life meter.

The armor pieces break down as follows:

• Head parts: “Efficiently collect life energy (increase recovery amount)”
• Arm parts: “Distant attack of obstacles ineffective,” plus the energy storage
• Body parts: Reduces damage, but also reduces strength by half
• Leg parts: “Knockback invalid”

The “Comment from Jury” reads as follows (again, via Google Translate):

Amidst a lot of equipment with increased attack power, the interest of the idea of quipment for raising own survival rate glowed.
Busters that can attack the enemy by penetrating the wall and the effect of increasing the amount of recovery are set, and it was a convenient “I see!” Armor with all the judges.

In addition, the clear armor with a crystal motif is “mega mission” “giga armor”, and it was a work that matched this contest, so I made it the best work!

The booklet that’s a part of this whole to-do is still underway, but a peek at the Iwamoto-rendered version of the winner’s armor is provided:

There are many other cool entries into the contest, and you can check them out here by scrolling to the bottom and going through the seven pages of entries.

Thanks to Nico for the tip!

LBD "Nytetrayn"

David Oxford, or “LBD ‘Nytetrayn’,” as he is sometimes also known, is a freelance writer of many varied interests who resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you’re interested in hiring him, please drop him a line at david.oxford (at) nyteworks.net.

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