HGUniversal Century

MS-05 Zaku I (Char Aznable)

The suit that made the Red Comet a legend, done up with MG-grade tricks in an HG shell.

MechaGrade Score

3.9/5

Zaku I (Char Aznable) · 1/144 · 2017

GradeHG

Scale1/144

Released2017

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

This is one of the best HG kits Bandai has put out for the price, full stop.

It takes the humble, first-generation Zaku and gives it real engineering: double-jointed arms and legs, a ball-socketed waist and shoulders, and a torso that actually leans into a pose instead of just standing there. I went in expecting a basic early-war grunt suit and came out with something that holds dynamic poses better than kits twice its price line.

Best for: Origin-line collectors and anyone who wants a genuinely posable early Zeon suit without stepping up to MG money

The full review

What it is

This is Char Aznable's personal MS-05 from the Battle of Loum, the suit he was piloting when he earned the Red Comet name by sinking five Federation battleships in one engagement. Bandai built it as part of the Gundam The Origin HG line, and it shows. The mono-eye swivels via a switch under the head, the shoulders raise and swing on ball joints, and the front and side skirts articulate just enough to stay out of the way of big leg poses. I was not expecting a first-generation Zaku to out-pose kits I have built from later, pricier lines, and it did.

The catch

It is still an HG at heart, so molded color carries a lot of the paint job and there is at least one printed marking rather than a sticker for the eye, which some builders like and others find flat if they were hoping for full paint. It is also, as one longtime Origin-line reviewer put it, another HG Zaku, meaning if you have already built several of Bandai's Origin Zaku variants the novelty of the shape wears thin even though the engineering underneath keeps improving. The parts count stays modest for an HG, so detail-hunters coming from MG kits will still notice the simpler panel lines and lighter texturing on the torso and legs.

Who it's for

Grab this one if you want a UC-era Zeon suit that actually holds a pose on the shelf, or if you are chasing the Origin Char lineup and want his Loum-era machine to sit next to the MS-06 he flew later in the war. It is also a smart pickup for anyone building up a One Year War diorama on a budget, since the double-jointed limbs make dynamic battlefield poses easy without extra work. Skip it if you already own two or three of Bandai's other Origin Zaku I variants and want something visually different, or if full painted color separation matters more to you than pose range.

The build story

What the build is actually like, and the engineering worth knowing about.

The runners are laid out cleanly with gates in easy-to-clean spots, so this goes together in an evening without any real fighting. Fit is snug across the joints, nothing loose or wobbly, and the double-jointed elbows and knees click into place with a satisfying bit of resistance rather than falling out of pose. Skirt armor pieces have just enough give to swing clear of the hips during big leg poses instead of jamming up like older HG Zakus tend to.

The engineering is the real story here. Ball-and-socket shoulders that also raise horizontally, a torso that tilts on an L-shaped frame with the shoulder blocks swinging forward for extra reach, and a rotating ball-socketed waist all stack up to articulation that punches well above its HG price point. Weapon loadout covers both heat hawk states plus the Zaku I's belt-fed machine gun, and interchangeable hand parts mean you are not stuck with one grip for every pose.

Lore & trivia

01This kit depicts Char Aznable's personal MS-05 from the Battle of Loum on January 23, U.C. 0079, the fight where he sank five Federation battleships and earned the nickname Red Comet.
02The MS-05 Zaku I was the first mobile suit ever mass-produced by the Principality of Zeon, built around a compact fusion reactor derived from Dr. Minovsky's theories.
03It entered combat at Loum alongside the more advanced MS-06 Zaku II, fighting as part of the same assault regiment that turned a numerically hopeless battle into a decisive Zeon win.
04Bandai released this kit in March 2017 as part of the Gundam The Origin HG line, which reworked several early Zeon suits with articulation closer to MG-level engineering.