by A blinding weapon? A beam weapon?
As already announced, in the fifth episode of the TV anime “Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuX” broadcast on May 6, 2025, Gaia and Ortega, who made their name as the “Black Tri-Stars” during the One Year War, appeared for the first time in a long time and showed off a battle scene in a Rick Dom.
With this broadcast as an opportunity, we would like to draw your attention again to the distinctive equipment of the “Dom.” What was the mysterious equipment on the left chest of the heavy mobile suit “Dom” that appeared in “Mobile Suit Gundam”?
The Zeon army’s MS, Dom, first appeared in the 24th episode of the TV anime Mobile Suit Gundam. The head features a cross-shaped mono-eye rail, and the solid form of the Dom, resembling a samurai wearing hakama, has not gone out of style. Many plastic models and derivative MS have been released since then.
The Dom’s primary weapons are the “Giant Buzz,” which is powerful enough to sink a space battleship, and the “Heat Saber,” which resembles a long, thin bamboo sword. However, there is another piece of equipment that should not be forgotten. It is a mysterious weapon mounted on the left chest. This equipment was first used in the 24th episode of the TV anime “Mortar Attack! Triple Dom”.
In the scene where the Black Tri-Stars launch their second jet stream attack, the light emitted from the left chest of Gaia’s Dom did not damage the “Gundam” but was used as a blind before the attack. At this point, it was depicted more like a flash than a beam weapon. However, in the following episode, 25, “The Fierce Battle of Odessa,” the depiction changes dramatically. The same diffusion beam cannon is suddenly depicted as a directional beam weapon like a beam rifle. Some viewers may have been confused by the inconsistent depiction.
Furthermore, in the movie “Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow,” released after the TV anime broadcast, it was again depicted as a blinding weapon by episode 24. In the setting of the “Gundam World” that followed, the depiction from the movie version was adopted, and Dom’s diffusion beam cannon was established as a blinding device like a camera flash.
The depiction in episode 25 of the anime is treated as an exception, and it is not depicted as a destructive beam weapon. In the popular game “Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon,” released in 2001, the diffusion beam cannon is also implemented as a sub-fire for the Dom, but the range and power are almost zero.
However, if you hit it well, you can stun the opponent and connect it to a consecutive attack, faithfully recreating the blinding function. According to the setting that was later dug deeper as the Gundam world expanded, this device was initially developed as an energy supply for beam weapons. However, due to delays in the development of beam weapons and insufficient power, it could not exert sufficient power and ended up functioning as a dazzling device.
This kind of setting change is a phenomenon seen in the Gundam world, which is becoming more sophisticated. The Dom is set as a heavy mobile suit that fires a bazooka while moving in a hover, and if it had a built-in beam weapon, it would have been inconsistent in terms of performance with the technology level at the time. After the movie trilogy, the Gundam world, which has established a setting rich in military and science fiction elements, has been refined to emphasize realism.
The “weapon-like” nature of the early “toy-like” nature has been prioritized. As a result, the diffusion beam cannon can be seen as being redefined as a realistic piece of equipment that is simply a blinding device. The diffusion beam cannon mounted on the left chest of the Dom symbolizes the changes in the Gundam series’ settings over about 45 years.
