Kit Review

Straight build
+ panel lining + decals

Size comparison with a cigarette pack

Front & rear close-up shots

J.Ridden's Zaku II's signature thick leg armor.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - The yellow spike armor unique to J.Ridden's Zaku II. True to the 2.0 name, it's achieved wi

The yellow spike armor unique to J.Ridden's Zaku II.
True to the 2.0 name, it's achieved with perfect color separation.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - The elbow section is different again from the high-mobility type. It's been lowered slightl

The elbow section is different again from the high-mobility type.
It's been lowered slightly in height, and a red sticker is used to represent the detail.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - The highlight of J.Ridden's Zaku II — those thick leg armor pieces. They attach as addition

The highlight of J.Ridden's Zaku II — those thick leg armor pieces.
They attach as additional armor over the existing high-mobility type legs.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - To connect them to the high-mobility type legs, a variety of new connector parts have been

To connect them to the high-mobility type legs, a variety of new connector parts have been added.

Outer armor removed

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Inner frame. (1/2)

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Inner frame. (2/2)

Internal frame.

Upper body frame, front & rear

High-mobility type backpack frame detail.

The high-mobility type's signature thick thighs. Same as the Black Tri-Stars version.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - High-mobility type leg frame. If you look closely, there's something like an additional arm

High-mobility type leg frame.
If you look closely, there's something like an additional armor mounting frame on the rear legs that wasn't on the Black Tri-Stars version.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - The additional armor is attached using various locking parts/frames like that, but the atta

The additional armor is attached using various locking parts/frames like that,
but the attachment method is multi-step, so it's surprisingly a bit complex.
If you're planning to remove the armor, make sure to follow the manual and disassemble in reverse order — doing it wrong risks breakage.
The attachment itself is, thankfully, quite solid and secure.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Dry decals are also applied to the spot where the backpack frame is removed. It's just a ti

Dry decals are also applied to the spot where the backpack frame is removed. It's just a tiiiny bit tricky to apply;

Frame articulation action shot... but the pose looks a bit hunched over, doesn't it?

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Same deal as the high-mobility Black Tri-Stars version, but J.Ridden's Zaku II has even thi

Same deal as the high-mobility Black Tri-Stars version,
but J.Ridden's Zaku II has even thicker legs,
so even in frame-only state the maximum bend angle doesn't reach 90 degrees. OTL

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Weapons shots. There's one weapon change to note — the 320mm Giant Bazooka that came with t

Weapons shots.
There's one weapon change to note — the 320mm Giant Bazooka that came with the Black Tri-Stars version
has been upgraded to the same 360mm Giant Bazooka as the Dom.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - The three bazookas used by the Zaku. The 280mm comes with every Zaku 2.0 kit, the 320mm is

The three bazookas used by the Zaku.
The 280mm comes with every Zaku 2.0 kit,
the 320mm is in the Black Tri-Stars High-Mobility 2.0,
and the 360mm is in this J.Ridden's Zaku II.

The difference between the 320mm and 360mm. The size difference is pretty obvious.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - This time alongside the MG Dom's 360mm Giant Bazooka. Both are the same model, but the one

This time alongside the MG Dom's 360mm Giant Bazooka.
Both are the same model, but the one included with J.Ridden's Zaku II 2.0 is a newly designed version.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - They're fundamentally the same weapon, but a big difference is that J.Ridden's Zaku II, bei

They're fundamentally the same weapon, but J.Ridden's Zaku II, being based on the Zaku 2.0,
has bazookas that are all single-piece parts with no seam lines.

Sad leg articulation T_T
With the armor on, it only bends about 45 degrees;;;;

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Machine gun action (1/3)

Machine gun action

Looks tough in red, doesn't it?
Honestly it looks even more menacing than Char's custom.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Being a space-use unit, a stand really suits it. I deliberately used the red Char's custom

Being a space-use unit, a stand really suits it.
I deliberately used the red Char's custom Action Base.

Double bazooka power pose.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - 280mm Zaku Bazooka action (1/4)

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - 280mm Zaku Bazooka action (2/4)

280mm Zaku Bazooka action

Recreating the box art.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - 360mm Giant Bazooka firing action. (1/5)

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - 360mm Giant Bazooka firing action. (2/5)

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - 360mm Giant Bazooka firing action. (3/5)

360mm Giant Bazooka firing action.

Heat hawk action

Together with the MG Zaku II v2.0 High-Mobility Black Tri-Stars.

On J.Ridden's Zaku II, the shoulders, forearms, and legs have been changed.

The shoulder change.
The spike armor is larger and the spikes have been changed to yellow.

The thickened leg armor

Three forms of Zaku II: MS-06, MS-06R1, and MS-06R2.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Together with the Char's Zaku 2.0 in the same red color scheme. The pilot's charisma is obv

Together with the Char's Zaku 2.0 in the same red color scheme.
The pilot's charisma is obviously overwhelmingly Char's,
but honestly, the vibe the unit (= kit) gives off — J.Ridden's intense red just looks more powerful.

Let's compare these three Zaku IIs on a base body basis.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Differences in shoulders and forearms. Only the R2 has a different shoulder, and if you loo

Differences in shoulders and forearms.
Only the R2 has a different shoulder, and if you look closely, the elbow sections are each different too.

The leg armor gets progressively thicker going from 06 -> 06R1 -> 06R2.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Comparison with the MG Zaku II v1.0 J.Ridden's Zaku II. If you look closely, it's not just

Comparison with the MG Zaku II v1.0 J.Ridden's Zaku II.
If you look closely, it's not just the molded colors that differ —
you can see the coloring concept is very different in areas like the chest/skirt and body color, knee covers, feet, and forearms.

Now, the image above is the original
design sheet for J.Ridden's Zaku as it appears in MSV,
and as you can see, the 2.0 version of
J.Ridden's Zaku released this time has the colors that match the original design.
Back in the 1.0 days,
they restructured the kit by reusing runners as much as possible without splitting them, which meant the coloring was changed arbitrarily.
With the release of J.Ridden's Zaku II 2.0, it's finally a case of the original design being faithfully reproduced.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - Differences in shoulders and forearms. Since the v1.0 had no color separation, the yellow p

Differences in shoulders and forearms.
Since the v1.0 had no color separation, the yellow parts were hand-painted.
The forearm differences are also worth noting.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 - The leg armor. It doesn't feel dramatically different in terms of detail, but the quality o

The leg armor. It doesn't feel dramatically different in terms of detail,
but the quality of the molded colors between the 1.0 and 2.0 is worlds apart.

The feet are a different size too, and the coloring is the complete opposite;

Straight build

As expected and right on schedule, J.Ridden's Zaku II has arrived as a variation of the Zaku 2.0. Designated MS-06R-2, it's a slightly different unit from the Black Tri-Stars' high-mobility Zaku, the MS-06R-1A. I went into this build thinking "well, it was bound to come out eventually"... but it really made me go "yep, this is 2.0 alright!"

First off, the (old) J.Ridden's Zaku that came out back in the MG Zaku 1.0 era had a color scheme that was quite far off from the design specs. There were way too many differences — the chest, waist, skirt, forearms, knee covers, feet, and more. As you can see from the comparison photos with the 1.0 and the original design sheet above, the 1.0 version had its design specs forcibly altered and released as-is because they didn't want to bother matching the color scheme. With the 2.0 era re-release, J.Ridden's Zaku finally follows the original design colors cleanly.

In particular, the yellow spike armor on the shoulders — which had zero color separation in the 1.0 and required hand-painting — is now perfectly color-separated in the 2.0. The forearm section, which was structurally impossible to color-separate in the 1.0, has also been perfectly split in true 2.0 fashion.

J.Ridden's signature thick leg armor is also well-reproduced, using a variety of somewhat complex-looking connection gimmicks to layer it on top of the existing high-mobility type legs like additional armor. This extra armor locks on solidly and never comes loose, and the parts are cleverly split so that seam lines are hidden from view.

The red molded color parts in particular are a work of art. As you probably know, red plastic tends to look cheap and toy-like at the slightest misstep, due to the nature of the pigment used. J.Ridden's Zaku II 2.0's red is a calm, beautiful shade with a subtle matte feel — it looks genuinely premium. So even when displayed next to the MG Char's Zaku 2.0, which is known as the original red Zaku, J.Ridden's intense red gives off an even more powerful and imposing presence than the three-times-faster Char's Zaku.

The overall characteristics follow almost exactly the same base as the Zaku 2.0 and the High Mobility Zaku (Black Tri-Stars) 2.0, and the additions/exterior changes that came with J.Ridden's Zaku II are as follows.

- Left shoulder spike armor changed
- Forearm detail/color combination changed
- R2 armor added to the legs
- The 320mm Giant Bazooka included in the original High Mobility type has been upgraded to a 360mm version.

As you can see, there are quite a few more changes than it might appear at first glance, and you can tell they made an effort to offer something beyond a simple molded color variant. The particularly surprising highlight is the bazooka upgrade — it's been swapped out for the new 360mm Giant Bazooka used by the Dom. Unlike the one that came with the original MG Dom, this is a brand-new mold, and true to the 2.0 trend, it's been reborn as a weapon molded in one piece to completely eliminate seam lines. (See the comparison photos in the review.)

However, just like the MG High Mobility Zaku kit, the added leg armor does hurt the articulation a bit. J.Ridden's unit in particular has even thicker legs than a standard High Mobility type, so the knees can't even bend 45 degrees, let alone 90. For a Zaku 2.0, the articulation is honestly pretty sad T_T. But the sheer presence it has more than makes up for it, I think..

Anyway, even if this is just another Zaku 2.0 variation following the expected lineup, it's great to see that they stayed true to the 2.0 spirit and didn't just lazily slap on a different molded color — they clearly put in the effort to bring something new to the table. ㅋ

The beautiful, vibrant red molded color combined with the imposing R2 design itself gives this kit arguably the strongest presence of any Zaku 2.0 out there. Sure, the leg articulation is pretty rough since they were going for looks over poseability, but the overall proportions and sheer presence are strong enough to more than compensate. There are bound to be plenty more Zaku 2.0 variations down the road, but if they keep up this level of quality, I'll happily welcome every single one of them. :-)

MG MS-06R-2 J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0
Category	Rating	Analysis
Seam Lines	★★★★★★	The greatest single-piece slide mold wizardry ever.
Molding Color / Color Separation	★★★★★	Perfect color separation on a completely different level from the 1.0.
Proportions	★★★★★★	Intense color, the Zaku 2.0 with the strongest overall presence.
Articulation	★★★☆	The worst leg articulation of any Zaku 2.0.
Joint Strength	★★★★★	The ankle area, which was a bit iffy before, seems further improved. Excellent overall.
Internal Frame	★★★★★★	Takes the already-perfect 2.0 frame and pushes it one step further.
Detail	★★★★★	Feels simpler compared to the 1.0, as expected, but still excellent.
Weapons / Accessories	★★★★★	Comes with the standard weapons plus an upgraded Giant Bazooka.
Parts Count / Price	★★★★★	382 parts total. 84.9 parts per ¥1,000. Definitely worth the money.
Uniqueness	★★★★★★★	A charisma that overshadows the Char's Zaku. The strongest presence of them all.
Dalong's Point : 107 pts.

MG J.Ridden's Zaku II v2.0 | 2008. 9 | ¥4,500

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.