Kimi The Builder

The best Zaku with the worst color scheme

HELLO! We’re back!

In today’s 557th edition of our Let’s Talk Gunpla segment, we’ll discuss one of P-Bandai’s latest Gunpla release announcements. This time, the kit we will talk about is a custom kit from a JDrama. We know it is weird that we’re getting a release from a JDrama, but it makes sense since it is a show about the joys of Gunpla building.

And yes, it’s Gunpla release from the Mass Production Riko JDrama series, and this time, we’re getting an MG kit.

However.

It is one of those releases that might be the worst thing we’ve seen to date.

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

MG 1/100 MS-06J Zaku II Ver.2.0 (Riko’s Version)(MG)

Release Date: December 2024

Estimated price: JPY 4,620 (MYR 134.79* / USD 28.57* / EUR 26.49*)

*The price is subject to change, depending on the situation

For our long-time readers, you’ll know that we’re not just fans; we’re die-hard enthusiasts of the MG Zaku II Ver.2.0. Despite its flaws, this kit has always held a special place in our hearts, and frankly, even with its a, there is still a lot to love here. For instance, its insane level of detail even rivals some of the modern MG kits, not to mention it comes with some of the most impressive articulation ranges on an old MG kit. Also, it’s cheap, and best of all, it still holds up well today.

We have also been getting many fantastic MSV variants from both the retail and P-Bandai sides throughout the years, which we all adore.

But this version? It might be one of the worst ones we’ve seen.

But it wasn’t because of the base design. Thankfully, it still retains all the same features as the J Variant of the MG Zaku II Ver.2.0. Our issue with this release is its color scheme.

Why, you ask? Because the color scheme that we get here inadvertently made it look like a cheap bootleg toy.

Seriously? The yellow, orange, green, and white color scheme on this MG Riku Zaku II is one of the worst color combos you can add to an MG kit like this. The yellow makes some bits of Riko’s MG Zaku II look thin and brittle compared to the rest of the kit.

But the worst part of this kit is the orange bit because it looked like someone decided to use crayons to color this bit. Heck, the whole thing looked like someone took a crayon and started coloring the entire kit with it.

We know we’re being harsh on this release, and we’re aware that this is Rikos’s idea of her version of the Zaku II. But why didn’t she go with the earlier color iteration she chose for her first Zaku II work? That looked a lot better than what we got here. We just do not understand her thought process (or, in this case, the showrunner’s thought process) on why she decided to go with this color scheme.

Maybe we should watch that show to see her thought process and understand why this is the color scheme she wanted on the Zaku II. Hopefully, she would have a compelling reason behind it because we can’t imagine why she decided to make it look like something a three-year-old could come up with.

At least the base kit is good, but we’re not sure that would be enough to convince people to pick this one up. Despite being fans of the MG Zaku II Ver.2.0, we also find this version of the Zaku II hard to justify getting.

The only ones we can imagine wanting this kit are hardcore fans of the show because, honestly, those are the only ones realistically interested in getting this.

The only good thing we imagine coming out of this is that we might get new reprints of the Zaku II. If this is the price we need to pay to get fresh reprints of the Zaku II, then it might not be as bad.

That concludes our 557th edition of the Let’s Talk Gunpla segment. Finally, after a streak of strong Gunpla release announcements from the P-Bandai side, we are happy to see them winding down by releasing something different for once.

However, we do wish that Bandai gave us something more palatable to get instead of this.

Anyhow.

We’ll return in the upcoming segment next Thursday (hopefully) with a new blog post! Yes, we will take the weekend off, but we’ll return with a new blog post next week! So do look forward to that!

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Hopefully, by sharing our love and passion for building and writing about gunplas or other plamos here, this post will inspire all of you to pick up the hobby—or, better yet, reignite your love and passion for the hobby.

We shall see all of you again soon, and we hope all of you here have a splendid day and week ahead! Oh, before we go, please have an excellent time building your awesome gunplas there and until next time.

Ciao!