There’s no better time than today to enter the wild and wacky world of building mecha model kits. Besides the usual players like Bandai Spirits or Kotobukiya, there are also increasing numbers of Chinese companies releasing Gundam-adjacent model kits or totally original designs. While most of these Chinese kits are 1/100 scale, or larger, we’re now starting to see more kits enter the smaller 1/144 scale. The latest in these is from company Venus-Toy and their 1/144 睚眦, which is “Yazi” or “Yazhen” when passed through Google Translate.
I don’t think there’s any media attached to this design, but I always appreciate it when they create a backstory. Yazi is supposedly a mythical creature from a different realm who looks like a jackal with the head of a dragon. Once Yazi reached our realm, it took the form of a humanoid machine, a manifestation of our most powerful weapons.
The kit itself looks really good. It has a mainly organic aesthetic with the muscle-like panels, especially on the torso. The use of clear plastic on the upper areas breaks the monotonous aesthetic while the way the internal frame is visible with the external armor evokes the same aesthetic as the Strike Gundam. And of course, the kit is spiky though not as extreme as the other 1/100 Chinese kits.
Despite being 1/144 scale, Yazi is still taller than your average High Grade kit at 15cm, though that’s to the top of the rear binders. It also has a complete inner frame just like Thunder Grace Incise, though I’m not sure if this would pre-assembled or you’ll build it yourself just like modern Real Grade kits.
Based on this preview, Yazi appears to wield a single composite weapon with blades made from the same clear red plastic as the other parts on its body. Furthermore, the weapon can split into several components, one of which is a bow that also comes with its own set of effect parts for the arrow. The rest of the composite weapon appears to be two swords that can combine to form a dual-bladed weapon.
While I’m not the biggest fan of all the spikes in these kits, I do appreciate that we’re getting more on the 1/144 scale. With most of them being original designs, or at least Gundam-adjacent, those wanting something different now have even more options. Venus-Toy has yet to provide release and price information for this kit.
