Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Size comparison with HGUC / MG

Upper body close-up

Great color separation on the head.

The massive Hi-Zol Launcher, the signature weapon of the R-2 Powered.

Rear view.

Arms and weapons

Short and chunky legs.

Magna Beam Rifle.

Hands include a flat hand, a fist, and a right hand for holding weapons.

The R-2 Powered body separated from the Powered Pack.

The Powered Pack, consisting of the Hi-Zol Launcher and shoulder armor.

In normal mode, the small shoulder armor pieces fold outward.

The R-2 base unit with the Powered Pack removed.

Leftover parts.

Articulation is around 90 degrees.
Not bad at all given the body shape.

The joints on other parts are solid, but the arm joints tend to pop out a bit easily.

Super Robot War R-2 Powered - Action poses with the R-2 base unit. (1/3)

Action poses with the R-2 base unit.

The weapon mounted on the forearm is a wire-guided Beam Chakram.

Super Robot War R-2 Powered - Beam Chakram in action! Unlike the chakram on the Hückebein, the circular weapon doesn't detach

Beam Chakram in action!
Unlike the chakram on the Hückebein, the circular weapon doesn't detach.

Super Robot War R-2 Powered - R-2 Powered in action. Quite an imposing sense of mass, isn't it? (1/4)

Super Robot War R-2 Powered - R-2 Powered in action. Quite an imposing sense of mass, isn't it? (2/4)

R-2 Powered in action.
Quite an imposing sense of mass, isn't it?

Hi-Zol Cannon firing pose.

Together with the R-1.

Together with the R Series.

The lore has R-1, R-2 Powered, and R-3 Powered combining to form the SRX.

Following the SRX and R-1, the R-2 has now been kitted up as well. The R Series, designed by Hajime Katoki, consists of the R-1, R-2, and R-3, and the SRX is the robot formed when the armament-enhanced R-2 Powered and R-3 Powered combine with the R-1. The R-2 released this time includes the Powered Pack, making it the full R-2 Powered.

First off, the colorful and chunky design looks really sharp, and the color separation on this kit is excellent — a straight build alone reproduces almost all the color combinations. Compared to other Kotobukiya kits, the blue molded color is also notably good, so it doesn't look washed out at all. Overall, joint strength is solid, the build feel is great, and the snap-fit works well too, so you barely need any glue.

All in all, this is a top-tier kit in Kotobukiya's Super Robot Wars lineup — it gives you a build experience closest to a Bandai kit, while also letting you enjoy an extreme level of color separation that you'd rarely get from Bandai. It's hard not to call this a really well-done kit, and the overall quality is a big step up from its predecessor, the R-1.

It's especially reassuring that the articulation and joint strength hold up well despite the chunky body — the arm joints do tend to pop out occasionally, but overall it feels pretty solid. Even among Bandai kits, there are plenty with chunky designs where the joints just can't keep up, yet Kotobukiya — still behind in terms of engineering — has managed to pull off something better than many Bandai kits here. The joints aren't super stiff or rock-solid, but they're tight enough to hold the proportions and keep the kit standing just fine.

Whether Kotobukiya's team poured their heart into this one or it just happened to turn out great, I honestly can't say — but at the very least, this is a kit you can build without worrying about quality. If you want that satisfying feeling from a straight build alone, this one comes highly recommended. :-)

Super Robot War R-2 Powered | 2007. 4 | ¥3,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.