When I built the Real Grade Zeta, I wasn’t yet in the habit of writing on the background and history of all the mobile suits I build. So let’s go over all the usual details for the first time.
This is the part of the intro where I usually quote a few paragraphs from the Gundam Wiki. But the entry on the Zeta is so long, and so chockfull of interesting information, that if I quoted it all the best stuff it’d take up half the post. My advice is to click this link and read up on it yourself. You’ll be glad you did.
But in case you want a TL:DR, here are a few key highlights:
It was the first transformable Gundam, and one of the early transformable mobile suits in general. It’s Wave Rider mode allowed it to quickly move around the battlefield, as well as enter and exit the Earth’s atmosphere (and fly around under gravity). In terms of sheer mobility, this made it extremely versatile.
It has something called a “Bio Sensor”, which is one of the earliest examples of a mobile suit having some sort of technology that seemingly enhances the piloting abilities of Newtypes.
In general, it prioritized speed and simplicity over carrying lots of weapons and accessories. This was emblematic of the trends in mobile suit design during the Gryps War.
Some nice shots of Wave Rider mode from different angles
Weapons and Stuff
The Zeta has the same core armaments as most Gundams, namely a beam rifle, beam sabers, and a shield. And really that’s all it needs, especially considering its rifle is quite powerful.
(It also can double as a beam saber, for whatever that’s worth)
But there a few additional weapons worth mentioning. The first are the grenade launchers built into its arms:
These tend to be used at close range, usually to push an enemy mobile suit back (and possibly destroy them if you’re lucky)
The second notable weapon is the Hyper Mega Launcher:
As the Gundam Wiki nicely puts it, this is basically “a mobile gun platform with no cockpit”, as it has its own generators, thrusters and even landing gear. But really, it’s just a giant, extra powerful Beam Rifle. It was designed specifically for the Zeta, in the sense that it can attach to the mobile suit when it’s in Wave Rider mode, but I don’t believe there’s anything about it that makes it so that only the Zeta could operate it.
The Hyper Mega Launcher in Regards to Gunpla
As you might imagine, most model kits of the Zeta Gundam do not include the Hyper Mega Launcher.
I've seen some fans get heated over this, but in the grand scheme of things it doesn't bother me much. It's such a large and unwieldy weapon that it's not exactly easy to pose with. Not to mention that the Zeta doesn't actually use it all that much.
And for the record, the Ver. Ka Zeta also does not include it, so don't expect to see it in this build.
About The Visual Design
From a purely visual standpoint, the Zeta Gundam stands out. Most Universal Century Gundam designs follow certain patterns when it comes to their basic silhouette, and the shape and proportions of their body parts. You can easily tell that these guys are all part of the same design lineage:
I was too lazy to take the Nu Gundam off its display stand, so here’s an old photo from when I first built it
Even these slightly more exotic UC designs don’t stray too far from that basic silhouette:
The Engage Zero may have an hourglass figure, but she’s still recognizably a Gundam
But then we get to the Zeta:
It still has some of the traditional Gundam traits. It’s got the classic color scheme, the chest vents, the V-Fin, and the basic weapon set. But no other UC Gundam design has legs that are quite that long and blocky. None of them have a face that looks quite so long and dagger-like. And none of them have a backpack that’s quite so big and wide, or a shield that’s quite so narrow, or a rifle that’s quite so long relative to the mobile suit’s body.
Heck, I’d argue that even its successor, the Double Zeta, looks more like a traditional Gundam design:
I haven’t built the Double Zeta, so you’ll have to settle for this lineart
By and large, the Zeta feels like it’s coming from a different place than its siblings - and that’s because it is! Much of its visual design is dictated by the fact that it’s transformable. For example, it’s legs are so big and chunky because they house all the generators, as well as most of the thrusters.
Furthermore, it’s backpack is essentially just the suit’s wings for when it’s in Wave Rider mode. And I even think you could argue that it’s thin, narrow head is shaped the way it is so that it can more easily tuck down into the chest during the transformation.
I’m not going to say that you should love the Zeta - I myself have needed years and years for the design to start to grow on me - but I’ve come to appreciate the fact that it’s an example of form following function.
How the Ver. Ka Approaches the Design
A lot of people tend to assume that Ver. Ka designs “Katoki-fied” reimaginings of mobile suits, but Katoki himself claims that that’s not always the case. Here is a key quote from the kit’s official website (yes, it has its own website):
When looking at the setting illustrations for the Zeta Gundam drawn for the TV series, I noticed that its original design has a unique kind of coolness that vastly differs from the sleek silhouette that modern fans love.
The MS in the setting illustrations has a head and arms larger than what everyone believes what the Zeta Gundam should look like, and the legs have thicker and blockier designs made with sharp lines as though they are made out of paper. However, its overall silhouette has a bulky appearance. Therefore, this Ver.Ka model kit became an opportunity to take on the setting illustrations for the TV series that have been overlooked for so many years.
And here are some additional quotes from Katoki’s notes in the instruction manual:
Even after 30 years, the Gunpla with the closest appearance to the design seen in the EV series is the first 1/100 scale kit. The front of the chest has a steep design and it almost looks like a cliff on the plastic model kit.
The original kit from 1985. Allegedly it could be transformed without any extra parts, which seems like quite the feat for its time
I can clearly tell that the first plastic model kit tried to faithfully recreate the chest block based on the concept art. I remember at the time the animators, illustrators, and modelers were seeking to make the Zeta Gundam look cool even after its design was finalized. As various people drew it, everyone began to believe that the chest should be a gentle slope rather than a precipice
Here’s another one:
Many people tend to think that the Zeta Gundam has a sleek silhouette with a small head and body, and long legs, but looking at the TV series concept art with a modern perspective, that seems to be a misconception. Although it has paper-like sharp/linear elements, its hands are large like classic robots and its head and shoes are large, resulting in a bulky silhouette.
Its chest also has a crisp appearance and the yellow ducts are extremely thin and point down. It was difficult to develop a Zeta Gundam that incorporated elements that had been overlooked until now, and I even hope that this kit, based on the concept art, seems slightly off.
The hands were enlarged to their limit while maintaining a size that enabled transformation. It's a Zeta Gundam with unusual design modifications, and I think people will find it interesting
So yeah, Katoki’s mission with this kit was actually to make something that’s as faithful as possible to the original design, rather than putting his own spin on it.
Is Katoki Right?
Is he though? Is he right that the design of the Zeta has deviated from its original lineart?
It’s never something I considered before, but now that I look at it … yeah, I think he’s spot on.
Let’s look at the lineart again. Zoom in on the head:
Is it taller than usual? Yes, I think so. But is it smaller relative to the rest of the body, or more narrow?
No, it actually looks quite big on the body. Or at least regular sized.
Now let’s move to the chest:
It does slope down quite steeply, at a near vertical angle.
And how about the hands?
They look pretty big and chonky.
Once you see these things, you can’t unsee them, and they really do give the Zeta a distinct, slightly Super Robot-y flair.
Now let’s see if this design carries over to other, later interpretations.
Here is the CG art from Gundam Battle Operation 2:
You can immediately see all the changes that Katoki complained about. The head and hands are much smaller, and the chest juts out, rather than sloping downward at a sharp angle.
Furthermore, here is a shot of the hands on the original Master Grade, which are just standard sized holding hands:
The hands on the Real Grade kit are basically the same, so this MG is not some sort of one-off. Most Zeta kits seem to use normal sized hands
Granted, these are just two examples, but it wouldn’t be hard to find others as well. I’m excited by the fact that the Ver Ka kit recreates all these classic flourishes. Perhaps it will change my opinion of the Zeta for the better.
Chest Slope
In the manual, Katoki does point out that one reason why the slope of the chest is often modified is because it is easier to accommodate the transformation feature that way. Basically, if the slope is too steep, there's less room inside the chest, and thus there's less room for the head to tuck in.
So it wasn't always a change for the sake of aesthetics, but often has/had a real world, practical purpose.
Appearances in Media
Obviously the Zeta Gundam appears in the Zeta Gundam TV show, though because it’s the midseason upgrade, it’s only there for roughly half the story.
I tried getting some screen grabs, but Zeta DVDs are very old and poorly mastered, so most of them came out looking like garbage. Suffice to say that it shows up in a lot of battles and destroys a lot of mobile suits.
Miraculously, it even manages to survive the final battle (although it is heavily damaged), and thus remains in service throughout the entirety of the events of ZZ Gundam.
Indeed, not only does it continue to serve during ZZ, but it remains a powerful weapon in the AEUG’s arsenal. While the Double Zeta may have more raw power, it isn’t nearly as fast as the Zeta. There are situations throughout the story in which one or the other MS is the right tool for the job, and so the Zeta is still featured prominently throughout ZZ.
Sadly, however, it also doesn’t survive the show. During the final battle against the Queen Mansa, it suffers crippling damage:
In the end, it’s pilot is able to use the disabled MS to take out the Queen Mansa with one final shot:
But at that point the Zeta had to be abandoned in order to escape the battlefield before everything exploded.
This may have been the end of the line for the original mobile suit, but it’s legacy lived on.
Sort of
Zeta’s Legacy
There are a lot of transformable mobile suits post-Zeta, but most of them aren’t actually based on the Zeta itself. For example, technically you can say the Re-GZ is a Zeta variant:
But it doesn’t replicate the full transformation gimmick, instead using a special backpack to do the job.
But those are based on the transformation system of the Methuss, rather than the Zeta.
Then there is the matter of the Delta Plus, which does transform, but I’m not actually sure if it’s based at all on the Zeta, or if it has some other, unique transformation mode:
Really, one of the only mobile suits that’s a true successor to the Zeta that we actually get to see (briefly) on screen is the Zeta Plus
But even that’s a special case, since it’s modified to only operate on Earth.
Setting aside some obscure variants that exist in videogames, manga, or MSV books, there never were any true successors to the Zeta Gundam that can do all the same things in all the same ways. For as iconic and powerful as it was, it was kind of a developmental dead end.
About the Pilot(s)
The Zeta is, of course, most prominently associated with its original pilot, but I’ve never really liked that guy.
In ZZ Gundam, however, the suit is piloted by multiple members of the Gundam Team, but is perhaps most notably helmed by the show’s Best Girl, Roux Louka:
In addition to being a solid pilot, Roux is an entertaining, and just plain well written character (AKA she’s an adult who’s written like one, instead of being an angsty and emo kid pilot). And who doesn’t love that custom, Rainbow Brite-looking pilot suit?
(Fun Fact - Roux is the one piloting the Zeta at the end of ZZ, and is the one that makes the final shot against the Queen Mansa. If that makes you want to consider her the true hero of the show, you won’t see any complaints from me):
Anyway, in my headcannon, my Zeta Ver Ka is going to be piloted by Roux.
Other Thoughts
Technically speaking, the Zeta doesn’t look different between the original show and ZZ, but I feel like it’s drawn slightly differently in ZZ. The colors are a bit bolder, and the lines a bit thicker, and it’s this interpretation of the mobile suit that this Ver. Ka kit reminds me of.
