MGUniversal Century

MS-06J Zaku II Ver.2.0 Katsumi Kawaguchi Produce Version

The already-great MG Zaku II 2.0 frame, dressed in a color scheme designed by the man who built the Master Grade line.

MechaGrade Score

4.2/5

Zaku II · 1/100 · 2008

GradeMG

Scale1/100

Released2008

Runnersn/a

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The verdict

I'd buy this the moment I found one on a shelf, and I mean that as a builder, not a collector chasing a name.

The MG Zaku II Ver.2.0 underneath is one of the best-engineered MG frames Bandai has ever put out, and this Proshop-exclusive Ground Type run just wraps that frame in a distinct color scheme designed by Katsumi Kawaguchi, the modeler credited with shaping the whole MG line. You are paying a premium for a rarer variant of a kit that was already worth full price.

Best for: MG Zaku II fans and Kawaguchi-era Gunpla collectors who want the definitive 2.0 frame in a limited color variant, not a display trophy

The full review

What it is

Strip away the special packaging and this is the MG MS-06J Zaku II Ver.2.0, the ground-type Zaku that most builders consider the high point of the whole Ver.2.0 revision wave alongside the Char's Custom and standard J-type releases. Kawaguchi's version started life as his own entry in an internal Bandai and Sunrise color-scheme competition, and Bandai liked it enough to run it as a Hobby Proshop exclusive with its own water slide decal sheet. Building it feels exactly like building the acclaimed base kit, because it is the base kit, just finished in a scheme one of Gunpla's most respected figures actually designed himself.

The catch

This is a 2008 exclusive, so tracking one down means secondhand listings, inflated aftermarket prices, and no guarantee the box is complete or the decal sheet survived intact. The water slide decals demand more patience than the click-and-go stickers on a typical HG, and if you botch them there's no simple do-over. It's also, underneath the special finish, the same MG Zaku II Ver.2.0 sculpt from 2007, so if you already own a standard J-type or Char's Custom you're paying a premium mostly for the color variant and the story behind it, not new engineering.

Who it's for

Buy this if you already love the MG Zaku II Ver.2.0 platform and want a rarer, design-pedigreed version of it, or if you collect Gunpla history and want a piece tied directly to Katsumi Kawaguchi's name. Skip it if you just want a good Zaku to build and pose, since the standard MG Zaku II Ver.2.0 J-type or Char's Custom gives you the identical build experience for a fraction of the hunting and cost. This is a kit for people who already know they want the Zaku II 2.0 and are chasing the specific version, not a starting point for someone new to Master Grade.

What works

Inherits the Ver.2.0 frame's famous double-jointed elbows and knees plus ball-jointed skirt armor, giving it more pose range than most Zaku kits before or since
A genuinely distinct, design-pedigreed color scheme rather than a simple recolor, since it traces back to Kawaguchi's own competition entry
Comes with its own water slide decal sheet for markings you will not find on the standard-release Zaku II 2.0 kits

Worth knowing

Long out of production, so pricing and availability now depend entirely on the secondhand market
Water slide decals take more care and cleanup skill than the sticker sheets most builders are used to
The build itself offers nothing mechanically different from the widely available standard MG Zaku II Ver.2.0 releases

Sold? Grab it.

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The build story

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

The Ver.2.0 Zaku II runner layout is mature and well-sorted for a 2007-era MG, with gates placed where cleanup barely shows once panel lines go on. Parts seat with confidence rather than the looseness you sometimes get on older kits, and the frame goes together in a logical inner-to-outer sequence that builders consistently describe as satisfying rather than fiddly.

The standout is articulation: the head's mono-eye rides a gear track as it turns, the shoulders swing forward through an unusually generous arc, both elbows and knees are double-jointed for human-like bend, and the skirt armor panels are all ball-jointed so they swing clear during deep poses instead of blocking the hips. The fingers get individual joint movement too, which is a level of hand detail plenty of later MG kits still don't match.

Lore & trivia

01The Katsumi Kawaguchi Produce Version began as Kawaguchi's own entry in an internal color-scheme competition run between staff at Bandai, Sunrise, and Dengeki Hobby before Bandai turned it into a retail exclusive.
02It was sold through Bandai Hobby's Proshop exclusive channel in July 2008, roughly a year after the standard MG Zaku II Ver.2.0 first released in 2007.
03Katsumi Kawaguchi is widely credited as the modeler most responsible for shaping the Master Grade line's design and build standards, and he went on to produce other limited color-variant kits, including an MG Dom Desert Type.
04The kit builds from the MS-06J Ground Type Zaku II, the same base mobile suit that anchors the Zaku II's original appearances defending colonies and bases in the One Year War.