Gunpla: The ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior (HG)

Periodically, I wonder if I should give the Gundam SEED universe another go. This was an alternative continuity circa 2004, which more or less functioned as a de-facto remake before going in its own direction. Japan loves it, although the Western fanbase is far less keen, and I'll admit to following the herd on that issue. Truth is, I don't think I ever saw enough of it to have anything more than a gut feeling about its merit. Then again, SEED as a whole was not exactly known for creativity in its mecha designs, and has a genetic engineering theme I find troubling. Case in point: the ZAKU Warrior, a Zaku  remake with no pretence of originality, operated by a faction of GMO teens whose existence and story role has some unfortunate implications. 

Looking back, the Warrior was both a warning sign and a hate sink for the series SEED Destiny. Nobody disputes that Zakus are cool, not least me, but this gave the impression of creative bankruptcy, as Seed already had an obvious Zaku expy. This is best represented by the almost aggressively acronymic arglebargle of its name. Its called the ZAKU warrior, so what does ZAKU mean? So, what does ZAFT armed keeper of Unity. What does ZAFT mean? No, it's not a bathroom cleaner, it means Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty. But wait, there's more! The Warrior has a modular "Wizard Pack" that this kit omits, basically weapon kits, and assorted variants. Depending on which variant and/or weapons it has, this Mobile Suit could gain prefixes and suffixes lengthening its name further. And, in a hopefully unique case, a suffix acronym too. Somebody needed a slap. This could so easily have had its own identity, if only they'd gone for a less stupid naming convention, and possibly different colours. 

Now, I've spent the above 300 odd words badmouthing SEED, and if you're previously familiar with that setting, nothing I've said will be out of the ordinary. So, here I will say something controversial: The Zaku Warrior is more up my street than the Zaku II. Yes, it is so obviously a copy of the original, true, but what changes they make are to remove the more dorky and impractical aspects. This is a "tacticool" Zaku, which is possibly missing the point entirely, but it's still a good look.

Opening the box proved to be a bit of a pleasant surprise. This is a 2006 kit, but colour accuracy is notably good in places, with an unusual effort for the thrusters. Seam and mold lines are a thing, and the knees don't like staying attached, but the plastic presented few problems in the area of stubs, especially the light green. This was definitely a therapeutic build, as nothing clever is being done here, there 's a lot of petty irritations and needless complexity which just aren't present here. This makes for an interesting comparison with its forebear, which came out at around the same time and just didn' t do it for me. As sacrilegious as it is to suggest, the Warrior is more satisfying, because while it does require touch-ups to look its best, what it does require are no-nonsense newb stuff that I can wind down with. At least until we start talking accessories, anyway, which are mainly cast in black and/or require a white trim.

Acknowledging that such details would not be addressed on a HG kit; there are few colours more of a nuisance to work than white, especially when atop black. 

While no wizard pack is present, accessories are more than adequate. The beam rifle has two spare batteries, storing on the inside on the shield, while the rifle can fold to store on a concealed butt port. Articulation is solid if unremarkable, so you can do the poses you'd want for a grunt, with the shield being on a flexible mount, which I love. There is also a beam axe, and 4 decorative grenades, which is about the point where the colour separation runs out. I experimented with a beginner gundam-marker set and other techniques to compensate. This had mixed success, with the white marker behaving like a tipex pen, and the axe ending up in blue rather than the intended fluorescent magenta. (Long story.) Mind you, I left the grenades on the sprue before attempting their trim, and they turned out OK. I can see myself using that marker again, for small details. 

I'm not gonna say the Warrior is necessarily a great kit, see the loose knees, but they definitely put effort where they didn't have to. The shield and thrusters are good examples, and I've seen much worse shortcuts than casting weapons in black. So, yeah. This was kinda fun, and more interesting to talk about than some other kits. Give it a go.