Yat (Matt/Matthew) Yeung
2024 Arrival, JHS ALT in Iyo City (Futami)
Gundam/Pokémon/League of Legends/Stardew Valley Nerd (cough, cough... specialist*)
G’day everyone! This Matt from Iyo City, Futami. I am entering the second year of the JET programme as a Junior High School and Elementary School ALT. Over the last year, I have participated in many local events, as well as supporting the local community and schools. During my downtime, I usually build (and even paint a bit) GUNPLA, attempt to cook different Japanese dishes and other cuisines, and finally get on the grind for League of Legends. Other hobbies include swimming, browsing plastic models and games (and not impulse buying… 75% of the time) and eating.
*I am a HUGE Gundam fan, however I live by one rule in the GUNPLA building world, NO SCALPERS.
Mecha Anime, usually receiving the least amount of attention due to its very niche and similar story lines, such as politics, “big robots throwing fists at each other”. Although I could admit that it does get repetitive in terms of story lines (oppressive/corrupt government vs underdogs, somehow always teen soldiers), the designs of the models have never failed to impress me (most of the time). One of the models that outshine the rest, despite being a “basic” and “grunt-type” unit that gets destroyed in every episode, outshines majority of the “mass-produced” units, known as the Zaku II.
MS-06 Zaku II
Zak-who?
The Zaku II originated from one of my all time favorite genres, Gundam (さすが), being the commonly destroyed and bullied “mass-production” unit of the Zeonic forces, as I like to call them “the bad guys” (or Space Dictator’s… depends). It was originally designed by the great Yoshiyuki Tomino, however its design was changed (and maybe improved) by Kunio Okawara, giving the modern look we have nowadays.
The name (according to my 100% trustworthy citations, Wikipedia) “Zaku” was derived by 2 main factors. First, it was based on the sound of “marching men”, like a “Za-ku, Za-ku, Za-ku, etc.”, Japanese onomatopoeia sometimes likes being weird, but I guess weird is what makes something more interesting sometimes. Second, the word “Zaku” is a play on the words “Zako” (雑魚), which means the “inferior fish”. To put this into context, Zako (雑魚) refers to “low quality fish”, thus not equitable for fine dining. The Zaku carries a similar meaning, it is not supposed to be an elegant, or exquisite type of unit, just a “low-quality” unit for disposal, the generic “grunt-type” unit. I think this is really well creative and well thought out, given that this could possibly be a “perfect” name for some grunt type unit which also carries meaning (at least they aren’t called something like… “Robot Grunt 1”.
Another cool factor about these mobile suits is that they have Unit Codes for every unit created. “Zaku” is only a nickname given to them. The code of Zaku is MS-06, an abbreviation for “Mobile Suit Mark Six”.
The Development of Zaku
MW-01 Mobile Worker
So now you might be thinking, why is it mark 6? What happened to mark 1 – 5? Why is it Zaku II not Zaku I? Well the simple answer is, for Mark 6 to exist, Mark 1 – 5 must also exist (slow clap… wise words…) The MS-01 started off as a prototype by the “bad guys” to prepare themselves for a takeover, known as MW-01 Model 1 Late Type. The design of it looks more similar to a construction bot, that is because it had its arms replaced, body altered to suit combat purposes. I’ve got to admit, it looks very chunky… and geometric… very geometric.
The MS-04 Bugu is shown in the Gundam: ORIGIN series, piloted by the legendary Ramba Ral and his addiction to the colour blue. The MS-04 Bugu was the first mobile suit shown in the Gundam: ORIGIN series that gave power to the Zeonic forces. It is unexplained (at least in the anime) what happened to MS -2 and MS-03. As you can see in the picture below, it is very slowly shaping into the modern Zaku we know today. This is the first stage of fully weaponizing the mobile suits for combat purposes.
MS-04 Bugu [Ramba Ral]
MS-05 Zaku I
Before the MS-06 Zaku II came to be, there was the MS-05 Zaku I. Once again further developed mobile suit Bugu, the Zaku I has been fitted with extreme fire-power and mobility, becoming the ideal “grunt” type unit the army of Zeon wants to take over. Armed with a machine gun, bazooka and a heat hawk. This model became a reliable unit for the Zeonic forces to take action. Since it was mass-produced to be a grunt type unit, the name of “Zaku” became more relevant. However, based on its design the Zaku I heavily lacks armour to make up for its mobility. Although it may be fast, it is vulnerable and fragile. Just when they thought this was good enough, they never thought they could go a teeny tiny bit further…
The Zaku II would become Zeon’s latest, most efficient model, with high speed, high fire power and basically good all rounder. It made up for Zaku I’s fragileness and bulked up a bit. Similar weapon choices of Bazooka, Machine Gun and all that, but just looked much better than before as well. This is where we have to stop for a while… because Zaku II became such a well-designed model, it kind of just stopped here. Although there is a Zaku III and Zaku IV, let’s not go there… for the time being maybe.
MS-06F Zaku II
(The “F” in the code signifies the sixth design of the base model, MS-06. The F version is designed for space use)
The Red One
MS-06S, Char’s Zaku II [Red Comet Version]
I’m sure if you have heard of the original green Zaku, there is almost zero chance you have not come across the red-horned one. It has all the features of a regular Zaku, but the model code is slightly altered to MS-06S. This specific alteration of Zaku is specially designed for the famous Char Aznable, whose signature color is Red. The red instead of green makes the Zaku stand out among not just the other green Zaku’s, but also among the stars. As it flies through the battlefield, it leaves a red trail behind, hence acquiring the name of Char’s Zaku II, the Red Comet.
Arguably, this could be one of the most iconic models ever made in Gundam history, as even non-gundam watchers know the name of Char and his Zaku. This also displays how much a mass-production type unit can do alone, and that strength does not come in numbers, but it comes from oneself.
Zaku here, Zaku there, Zaku’s everywhere!
The Zaku, undoubtedly rose to fame after the first release of Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, with Char Aznable coming in as the “bad guy” of the story and giving the main character a BIG, FAT Torso Kick. It has caught the eye of many people (including mine of course), and artists have started going in all different directions for the Zaku, such as recoloring, weapons customization and so on. If some of you are aware, we even have one sitting at the bottom of Matsuyama Castle on a manhole!
[Manhole Zaku]
[BIG FAT Torso Kick]
Over the past year (for me), my love for Zaku has grown very slowly, all because ONE extremely complicated build on a Zaku, made me appreciate the potential that this specific model can have in the creativity field. Despite being a mass-production unit used for disposal of war, I have to admit the design of it perfectly displays it as “bad guy” or “something menacing”. The main feature Zaku has to make it a “little” more menacing is the usage of its shoulder pads, lower leg features, headgear and sometimes… the backpack. Below I have a few variations of Zaku’s that may look the same, but have small details that distinguish them quite a bit.
Each Zaku shown above has a slight variation from one another, which also makes them unique in a special way. Like a “normal army” setting, the Zaku is no different having differently designed models for different purposes, but it’s just special how a simple design can have many variants, and are the same thing in a different way. The noticeable difference from all the Zaku’s would be the shoulder pads, and the lower leg boosters, each one different painted and have their own specialties. I particularly like the High Mobility Surface type, which comes with a desert camo design and an inverted horn that points outwards instead of inwards, alongside the modified machine gun and the heat rod on its back. This change makes it stand out among the other Zaku’s and unique, although they are technically all the same thing.
MS-06GD Zaku II High Mobility Surface Type (EGBA)
MS-06 Zaku II 21st Century Real Type Commander Type
The several ways Zaku is portrayed really reflects the name in an interesting way. As previously said, Zaku is derived from the sound of marching soldiers (being Za-ku, Za-ku, Za-ku…), as well as the literal meaning of “Low-Quality fish” derived from Zako (雑魚), the fact that it can evolve into something that can have such diverse designs and functions kind of contradicts the Zako idea that it originally had. In this modern day, Zaku is no longer seen as the “low-quality” unit that gets blown up in every episode to make the audience cheer, but as an iconic model that has its own spotlight.
Because of the diversity Zaku can have, many people across the world (myself included) have been using the Zaku as the ultimate customization model, creating one truly unique to oneself. For my first ever, self-customized model, I did choose the Zaku, creating the Battle-scarred Zaku II.
MS-06 Zaku II [Matt’s Battle Custom]
Conclusion
In my opinion, without a doubt, Zaku is probably the one of the best designed robots of the generation. The overall model is so simple, yet contains a complex meaning and details that makes it so variants of it can maintain its original silhouette, yet have its own unique features. Not all “grunt-type” characters end up with such fame among them, and Zaku is definitely one (eyed) of its kind.
“Everything’s rather red… I think I like it”
~ Char Aznable
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Best, Justin
