Nemeses by Destiny: A Tale of Clay, Color, and Heartbreak

There is a unique thrill in bringing a legendary rivalry to life. For this throwback, I wanted to share a pair of handcrafted ceramic tea cups featuring the ultimate anime duo: the RX-78-2 Gundam and Char’s Custom Zaku II.

They were meant to be a perfect match—nemeses by destiny captured in clay. But if you’ve spent any time in a pottery studio, you know that the clay often has its own tragic plans.

The Vision: Bold Colors and High Drama

Unlike some of my more muted, earthy glaze work, this set was all about high-contrast drama. I wanted to capture the dynamic energy of a manga panel.

• The Gundam Cup: Carved with intense cel-shaded lines, featuring the classic bright yellow V-fin, deep red chin, and stark white armor, all framed by a rich black backdrop to make the face pop.
• Char’s Zaku II: Intended to match the Gundam’s intensity with its signature striking crimson and salmon-red hues, complete with a brilliant yellow mono-eye gleaming from the dark.

A repair was attempted to "glue" the broken piece together but it failed.  You can see the painting's layer on this picture.

Original carving and painting of the shoulder was broken off

I glaze fire it anyway to examine the panting result.  Darn I love it!

The machine gun carving that was left

This angle shows a bit of the shoulder armour

The cup is small, just about 4 inches.  But it was crafted 360 all round.

The greenware stage before bisque firing.

The clean greenware stage after carving and design.

They were made quiet perfectly matching in size and design.  Unfortunately, Zaku didn't make it.

The Studio Heartbreak: A Battle Lost in Greenware

The carving had gone beautifully, and the greenware was ready for underglaze. But tragedy struck during the painting phase. The Zaku cup suffered a severe break along the rim and body.

In ceramics, you don’t give up easily. I mixed up some slip, braced the pieces, and attempted a heavy-duty greenware repair (as you can see from the raw, gritty studio photos). I patched it up, smoothed it over as best as I could, and decided to push forward through the firing anyway.

Unfortunately, the ceramic gods weren’t smiling on this one. The structural repair didn’t hold up perfectly to the intense stress of the kiln, leaving the Zaku with a battle-scarred, uneven rim.

Glazed Anyway

Even though the pair wouldn’t emerge as the flawless commercial set I had envisioned, I couldn’t bring myself to throw the Zaku away. I glazed it anyway.

Seeing them side-by-side on the table, there’s a strange poetry to it. The Gundam stands pristine and unyielding, while Char’s Zaku looks like it just dragged itself out of a brutal atmospheric re-entry. They would have been a pristine pair, but instead, they became a testament to the chaotic, unpredictable journey of being a maker.