Bandai Shokugan/Candy made several announcements for their Shogugan Modeling Project lineup recently, which included the usual variety of Super Sentai and mecha offerings. I am gladly passing most of the announced kits but one came out of left field.
This black insect-looking robot is Zearth and it comes from the Bokurano, a manga that got an anime adaptation in 2007. It tells the story of fifteen children who agreed to a contract where they need to pilot Zearth and win fifteen battles to save their universe. I won’t spoil the story further, but let’s just say that Bokurano is really beyond the robot action, hence my surprise that the folks over at Bandai Shokugan decided to pick this one for the SMP line.
I like that they used this particular background just to convey the scale of this guy, because it’s really massive. Zearth clocks at 500 meters and while this kit isn’t in scale, it will still be tall at 230 mm to the top of its head or 250 mm to the top of the shoulder armor. Actually doing the math makes this kit roughly 1/2000 scale.
If you’re not turned off by the insect-looking design, then the next question you might ask is whether this thing can actually stand given its disproportionately small foot print. Obviously, the kit will come with a display stand, which we’ll check with the other accessories, but if you want to replicate these realistic images for creative purposes, like myself, then manipulation is definitely needed.
Speaking of stands, it only comes with one, so if you want to replicate this attack where parts of the arms are launched towards the enemy, then you’ll have to supply your own additional supporting stands.
Another display option is to put Zearth on all arms and legs like how it appeared in the first episode.
Like other SMP releases, Zearth comes with pre-painted parts for the head when fully activated. They also noted in the Bandai Candy staff blog that a sticker sheet depicting the lights from the face fading out will also be included.
Let’s go to the accessories, starting with this white sphere which is the cockpit of whichever robot Zearth fought. I’m not sure if the cockpit part itself is detachable so that you can still have an open arm for poses.
The last couple of accessories is where things get interesting. First is “Dung Beetle,” the mascot-like character that heartlessly guides the fiften children to their ultimate fates. Then, there’s the device that set the contract into motion. Both are 1/12 scale pieces so you can use them with your other 1/12 scale of 6-inch figures to create interesting displays.
I only got to watch a few episodes of Bokurano and decided to drop it since I found the story too depressing. That’s not saying it’s bad, it’s just not for me. What might be for me, though, is this SMP kit as this is truly one of those designs that you don’t expect representation in any form. And I also think building this kit shouldn’t be much of an effort.
SMP [Shokugan Modeling Project] Zearth
June 2024 / ¥6,800
Order via HobbyLink Japan
