It is redesigned by Kunio Okawara based upon the earlier draft by the series director Yoshiyuki Tomino, in which only the name was kept.
The MS-06 Zaku II is still a major force in Gundam, with almost every new side story in the Universal Century adding a new variant to the basic frame.
The original concept of the Zaku was a disposable underling, with its name derived from the sound of a huge man (or many soldiers) marching and the Japanese term zako (雑魚, lit.
While in previous manga and anime giant robots tended to be the tools of protagonists or villains (often in a monster of the week format), the Zaku was portrayed as another weapon, such as a tank or fighter plane, assigned to pilots.
Hard Graph line of plastic models made by Bandai, which resemble actual battlefields.
[6] The popularity of the first batch of models spawned the "Mobile Suit Variations," where the mecha designer Kunio Okawara started designing variant mobile suits that could perform different tasks or adapt to different combat zones (for example, a Zaku specialized for underwater operations).
Its descendants continue to appear even in manga, like the OMS-06RF RF Zaku used by the Mars Zeon faction in Mobile Suit Gundam F90.
The Zaku II design has also been included in storylines outside of the Universal Century, in the Cosmic Era series of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny where the director Mitsuo Fukuda requested the mecha designer Kunio Okawara to add his Zaku into the story.
The name was then officially endorsed, and all subsequent publications by either Sunrise or Bandai were referred to as Zaku II.
It was a single pill-shaped body and head with a drawn mono-eye, with rope-like limbs and a "mouth" like an octopus.
Near the end of the One Year War, the Zeonic Company introduced an upgraded version of the MS-06F Zaku II, called MS-06F2 or Type F2.
This upgraded model featured improved armor around the cockpit and a new Minovsky fusion reactor approximately 4% more powerful than the regular F-type's.
It was also lighter than the previous model, making it more fuel efficient and giving it a longer flight time and overall improved performance.
The United Maintenance Plan was an effort by the Zeon military to simplify the production of their different types of mobile suits by standardizing parts and systems where possible.
Due to the MS-06FZ Zaku II Kai's late introduction into the One Year War, only a handful of the units were produced.
Originally, the OVA staff for Gundam 0080 intended for the FZ to be a Retcon Revision to the Zaku II.
The J-Type Zaku II was explicitly built for terrestrial operations and thus lacked space-specific equipment, greatly reducing its overall mass and cost.
A worker variant appears in Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, created by Kimitoshi Yamane.
As the One Year War dragged on, the Zeon forces desperately needed replacement parts for their mobile suits and other weapons.
When the Earth Federation Forces captured the Pezun asteroid, they obtained the designs for the Action Zaku, and the concept of magnetic joint coating.
However, the Zaku Minelayer requires a particular loading area on a Musai-Class Light Cruiser to reload, launch, or land.
w:ja:ザクIIのバリエーション First appeared in the anime OVA Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, designed by Mika Akitaka.
While in exile these renegade fleets slowly built up their forces, plotting to renew their conflict against the Earth Federation.
There were little supplies available to the Zeon remnants, so to build up their forces, the Dra-C was built from salvaged parts and mobile suit components (notably the torsos and arms of Zaku II F2s).
The Zaku II "Stutzer" was enhanced with winch units, which were able to launch wire-guided arm parts that could entangle enemy machines with wire, or throw hand grenades at them while the mobile suit itself remained hidden.
In the Mobile Suit Gundam Novel by Yoshiyuki Tomino, Zaku fingers contain Laser Touch to burn its way through obstructions, and its boosters can bring it to jump to a height of 800m.
[22] Sharp have released (through Softbank Japan) a 913SH G Type-Char cell phone with an MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type (Char's custom) head as the battery charging compartment.
The red Zeon symbol in the front cover of the cell phone will serve as the eye of the Zaku when placed inside.