Kimi The Builder

My very first RE100 kit. 

Admittedly, I would say that I’m not the biggest fan of the RE100 series. 

Why? Well, it’s because most of its releases haven’t been able to impress me, and not to mention, I fail to see the point of having the RE100 kits when they could use the same effort of designing RE100 kits to have them focus on making more MG kits. 

So as a fan of the War in the Pocket OVA series, I admit that I’m not happy to see my favorite Zaku II design getting the RE100 treatment when they could give it the proper MG treatment that the Zaku II FZ deserves. It’s not like the Zaku II FZ is an unlikeable MS design, and the Zaku II FZ is one of the main character’s MS too!

So it boggles the mind seeing this not getting the MG treatment. 

But I know that as a Gunpla writer I know that I should give every Gunpla lineup a chance, even despite what I feel about it. 

So, I decided to get the RE100 Zaku II FZ as my first RE100 kit. To finally experience the whole point of having a RE100 lineup for myself. 

So today, I’ll be doing an Unboxing of this kit and writing about my first impressions of it. 

So, without further ado. Let us get into it, shall we? 

The Packaging

Although I’m not a fan of the RE100 series, the one thing that I can give the RE100 team credit for is the RE100’s boxart illustrations. Almost all the RE100 releases boxart are beautiful badass masterpieces, and I would go as far to say that some of them looked as good or better than their MG counterpart. 

So it comes as no surprise to me that this kit comes with one of the best artwork that I’ve seen printed on the front of the box. 

The illustration of the Zaku II FZ made by Yuta Otani here does manage to capture the badass final stand action that the Zaku II FZ is engaged in here. Although I’m not sure how accurate the illustration is shown on the boxart here when I compare it to the finished kit, however, when I look at the promotional materials, I’d say the illustrator got it pretty close to the finished thing.

But what makes this boxart even more interesting for me is that the illustrator made it to compliment the MG Alex Ver.2.0’s boxart.

So if you put them side by side, you’d see cues of their acknowledgment of each other’s existence. 

The other bit that makes for a great compliment is its side section promotional materials. I had a lot of fun going through all the side section reading materials that I got from the RE100 Zaku II FZ’s side section box packaging. 

As ever, I have to compliment Bandai’s RE100 team for their stellar work on the promotional materials that they used here. Why do you ask? Because, in almost all the shots that I see here, they made the RE100 Zaku II FZ look absolutely fantastic. Shot without any flaws, unlike its release announcement materials. 

Honestly, looking at it, I can understand why most all that laid their eyes on this RE100 kit got this. 

The Parts

Even though I did find myself thoroughly enjoying my time staring at the badass RE100 Zaku II FZ’s boxart, admittedly, I still didn’t have high expectations of its insides. Because honestly, from what I see from its release announcement, I personally do not like what I see. 

So, when I opened it, well, safe to say that I wasn’t disappointed with what I saw inside. 

Because honestly, it looked like how I expected it to be, a kit that comes with parts that reminded me of its HGUC version. Well, more precisely, if you give the Zaku II FZ that modern HGUC kit treatment while at the same time, you make it on a 1/100 scale. But then again, until I start working on this, I can’t say for sure if the whole building experience itself will match those of what I experience with modern HG kits or will it be better than it.  

But from only looking at the parts, I’d say that I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole thing feels like building a modern high-tier HG kit. On a 1/100 scale, of course.  

But despite that said, I do admit that the level of detail on some of the parts does look as good as I would see on modern MG kits, so I do get why Bandai said you could pair it with your MG kit if you so wish because the parts looked as detailed as what you get on an MG kit. 

But then again, they could’ve just given us an MG version instead of this. It’s frustrating to see that they’re making a valiant effort in designing the detail of the parts to end up only wasting all that effort on a RE100 kit instead of an MG kit.

I know, I know, I’m getting ahead of myself again. Maybe I’ll change my mind after seeing the RE100 manual? So, let us move on to that now, shall we? 

The manual

Again, just like my experience looking at the parts, I find the RE100 Zaku II FZ’s manual to be something quite familiar. I remember seeing this manual format back when I worked on the HGAC Leo a few years back. 

The only difference between the two manuals that I can see here is that the HGAC Leo’s manual visuals are printed in color, while the RE100 Zaku II FZ’s manual’s visuals they made in black and white. But regardless, the whole format remains the same. 

So I can already imagine that, at the very least, the manual will make life easier for everyone that works on this.

The only thing that turns me off from the manual is that there isn’t a lot of lore in this. I mean, I’m not expecting lore as elaborate as what you would get with them MG kits, but at the very least, more than a page worth of lore. 

Even the HG kits I worked on have more lore in their manuals than what I get here with the RE100 Zaku II FZ. I admit that I do find that to be quite surprising. Because honestly, I was expecting Bandai to use the RE100 manual to chuck in more lore in it. I mean, they most definitely could, but ultimately and disappointingly, they didn’t. 

Honestly, it’s quite a shame because this manual would’ve been a brilliant platform for them to do so. 

Unboxing and First Impressions – Final Thoughts

Overall, I admit that I’m not that impressed yet by what I see here. But, strangely, I’m still looking forward to starting work on this RE100 kit. 

And I have a good reason for that too. 

That is because, yes, I might not be impressed now, but I feel that maybe I’ll see the point of this kit as soon as I start work on it? Better yet, maybe by then, I’ll understand why this kit is rated highly by most Gunpla builders that I have conversations with on and offline. 

Not to mention, this is as well my very first RE100 kit too. So yeah, there is that angle too. Haha. 

But ultimately, I do hope that this would make for a perfect introduction for me to the RE100 series. 

That concludes our Unboxing and First Impression post on the RE100 No.013 MS-06FZ Zaku II FZ (REBORNONEHUNDRED). Not the best first impressions I’ve written to date. But I’m still quite optimistic about what is to come when I eventually get to it. Haha. 

Anyways, we will be back again this coming Tuesday. Yes, I’ll be back again on the coming Tuesday. Why? Well, to make it up to you all for the lack of new content last Thursday. So do look forward to that! 

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Anyways, we shall see all of you again soon, and we as well hope that you all here have a splendid day and week ahead! Oh as well, do have an excellent time building your awesome gunplas there and until next time.

Ciao!