My first exposure to the Rozen Zulu was of course it's introduction in the 5th episode of the Gundam Unicorn OVA.This huge gayish killing machine destroys a whole team of General Revil's ReZeLs with it's Incom Triple Mega Particle Cannons (yeah, that's what the arms are called), shows off it's iField generator and still has the time to make this sinister gesture to his captain Full Frontal in mere 30 seconds and stole my heart in May 2012 ...or was it earlier? I seriously can't remember how long it has been since Episode 5 has been released.
I was sure a Gunpla would eventually be released after such a cool introduction, and I was pretty hopeful that it would be a MG.Apperreantly Bandai didn't agree with me, and released the Rozen Zulu as a HGUC 1/144 scale kit in December 2012.I was disappointed, but that wouldn't stop me from getting my copy of this strangely beautiful suit.
Out of the box
The Rozen Zulu comes with 4 full scale runners, 5 half scale runners, 2 transparent half scale runners for the satellites of the incom particle cannons, a PC runner, 2 set of wires for the cannons, a sticker foil for the white stripes all around the suit and of course the manual.
First problem you'll notice with the Rozen Zulu is the fact that, the color scheme is wrong, very wrong. While expecting a Purple/Pink suit, we are given a Very Dark Maroon/Pink suit.I was so mad at Bandai about the color scheme I nearly decided not to build it at all.Of course, I couldn't help myself and I got used to the strange colors while building the suit and now I am almost grateful for this weird choice.The maroon allows the white stripes to show off the well designed curves of the Rozen Zulu, while any lighter color would probably hide them.
The Assembly
Building the Rozen Zulu is a breeze.At every step you can tell, the Bandai engineers did some seriously good job at designing this model.Even the otherwise would be tricky parts are easily assembled by a few smart ideas they installed on this model.Nothing confusing, even for beginners.
If you enjoy the foil stickers it gets even easier.The stickers are numerated in numbers instead of strange Japanese symbols.The manual shows which number goes where, and their respective places are molded onto the model, so you can tell what-goes-where easily even without following the manual.
If you enjoy a little painting, I'd advise you to do it while the parts are still on the runners to make things easier.I used the White Gundam Marker for the white stripes all over the suit, then covered my mispaintings with the Black Panel Liner and I am pretty satisfied with the results.Only the Zeon Logo on the chest looked troublesome, so I didn't risk my mental health and went for the foil sticker.
Posability
The upper body of the Rozen Zulu is pretty solid.It will allow you to do any pose you wanna go for without creating any trouble.The arm/shoulder joints are strong and they will carry themselves strongly even after the satellites of the incom cannons are attached.The backpack joints are easy to move but hard to sag and they will surely stay at any pose given to them.
It's sad to say the legs fail to do their job most of the time.For such a bulky and heavy suit, Angelo and Bandai gave us light/long legs with PC parts as joints combined with high heels.At least %80 of the time the legs will fail to carry the weight the upper body puts on them and Rozen Zulu will fall down.I strongly recommend you to use an action base to get %100 efficency from this guy/gal.
Armaments
Since Rozen Zulu doesn't have hands, it doesn't come with regular weapons.Do not expect rifles, swords or even beam sabers with it.But no worries, it makes up for it very very strongly.The Incom Triple Mega Particle Cannons on both arms come with their satellite parts, wires to connect them to the arms and their own little display stands.Spending a little time with them, you can create very impressive poses.The Rozen Zulu also carries a pretty large shield that has an iField generator, courtesy of Apple!
Final Thoughts
Color Scheme : 5/10
Dark Maroon instead of purple might be unforgivable for some builders.
Engineering : 6/10
Smart ideas make building process a breeze.But posability issues are annoying.
Fun Factor : 6/10
Posability issues turn this menace into a scultpure rather than a Gundam Kit.
Armaments : 8/10
Huge Shield, Satellite Cannons, Huge Claws, Rose Shaped Thrusters in one little HGUC kit.Nuff said.
Difficulty : 10/10
Newbie friendly design, but I can see how a veteran builder can carry this baby to new horizons.
Overall : 7.5/10
If you can ignore the posability issues of the legs and the odd color scheme for the upper body, this menace will be a very beautiful addition to your display.
