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The one over the waist your looking at is part of the flexible bodysuit, I think. The main armored components of the Mindy 4 would be the chest/ribcage, shoulders, forearms, thighs, calves and legs.
The new Hinomaru and the battle damage picture are good examples of how a wearer still has a good range of maneuverability through their armored torso, and both prove that the plates likely aren't welded together at their seams thus leaving the suit with some flex. In the former, the wearer has her torso/crotch angled forward, while Masumi's battle damage in the latter depicts her back arched and her belly out.
Moreover, the article itself says that the M2-4 has "more parts than previous Mindy armors." Just because there aren't little lines detailing all of those parts does not mean they're not there.
Well, the Hinomaru image is abstract, but the image of Masumi looks somewhat neutral and not necessarily flexing or bending at the waist. I'd expect it to be since she's drifting after getting shot, and it looks more like her legs are bent at the hip. Though, I think Mad's idea is best. It makes a lot more sense to have several small, articulated waist hoops, in this case, behind the yarvex bodysuit. If @Wes likes the idea, I can definitely update the article to include that.
@Primitive Polygon Is Tugs' ditty part of a canonical song element? I didn't find anything on the wiki when I tried searching for phrases from the bit I read. I'd join in, but I'm terrible with rhyme and lyrics. >_>;;
I'm reminded of someone fresh out of college that goes into a work place and starts questioning why the employees don't know about the theories created by their professor.
I mean, I'm hamming it up here for the sake of entertainment rather than logic, but I don't really know how to take all that. Effectively all I've been having her suggest is "keep your head down and take a sidearm". >_>
Oh, I'm not meaning to say she did, or trying to be critical. Junko focuses on specifics, rather than big picture like Tsuguka is trying to do. It sticks in her mind as a thing that'd be seen a problem in concrete terms.
I'll edit it out for ease of everyone involved. Tsuguka is doing a Good Job, just a difference of perspective.