Kit Review

Straight build + Stickers + Panel lining

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Various angles

Detail shots

Just like the renewed Char's custom unit, you can swap in a soft-material skirt.

With the soft skirt swapped in.
You can still notice a subtle difference in material texture.

HGUC Zaku II - The weapon loadout, commander head, and mono-eye rotation gimmick are all carried over as-is. (1/3)

The weapon loadout, commander head, and mono-eye rotation gimmick are all carried over as-is.

Leftover parts are identical too.

The articulation is excellent, as expected.

"Picking up a coin" pose made possible by the soft skirt

Action poses

HGUC Zaku II - Alongside the previously released HGUC Char's Zaku II renewal version. The only difference is the backpack ver

Alongside the previously released HGUC Char's Zaku II renewal version.
The only difference is the backpack vernier detail.

Together with the HGUC Zaku II released back in 2003.

HGUC Zaku II - The Z Zaku, built by applying a Zaku head to the Club G exclusive HGUC Zeta Gundam [U.C.0088]. Since the lore

The Z Zaku, built by applying a Zaku head to the Club G exclusive HGUC Zeta Gundam [U.C.0088].
Since the lore has the modified Zeta that appears in ZZ Gundam sporting a Zaku head,
using the U.C.0088 version of the Zeta lets you recreate an accurate Z Zaku.

Following the HGUC Char's Zaku II renewal, the mass production type Zaku II has now gotten its own renewal release. It comes out as HGUC No. 241, but the product name is still just "Zaku II" — so there's no way to tell it apart from the 2003 release by name alone. Without any additional label like "Revive" or "Ver.2," the naming policy pretty much guarantees confusion. In a physical store you can just check the box art or the number, but you'll want to be careful on online shops where only the product name shows up.

Originally, Char's Zaku and the mass production Zaku had no visual differences apart from the backpack, and that's still the case here — only one backpack part has been swapped out, with everything else being identical. That means the excellent articulation, weapon loadout, and soft skirt are all the same as well. The one changed point, the backpack, has had the upper verniers removed and the lower verniers made slightly smaller. It also comes in a more accurate mass production color compared to the 2003 HGUC Zaku II, which was a bit too bright.

It's still a fantastic action figure-style kit that can pull off a wide range of natural poses. Sure, it's a straightforward color variant, but a Zaku is a Zaku — this feels like the definitive new HG Zaku worth recommending to every Gunpla fan. :-)

HGUC Zaku II | 2021.12 | ¥1,600

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.