Yonex Astrox 100ZZ VA review: the Axelsen edition against Kurenai
Volume Cut Resin instead of Black Micro Core makes the VA a lighter-swinging 100ZZ. Measured builds, shaft hardness, and whether Kurenai is still worth it.
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Overview
The Astrox 100ZZ VA is sold as Viktor Axelsen's edition of the 100ZZ, and the reasonable assumption is that it is a paint job with a signature on it. It is not. Yonex changed a frame material, and the change is large enough that the VA and the standard Kurenai 100ZZ ask different things of the player holding them. I have played the regular 100ZZ, the Kurenai and the VA. My honest summary after all three: the VA is the one I would put in most people's hands, and the standard 100ZZ is the one I would warn them about.
What Volume Cut Resin actually changes
The difference is in the resin system. Kurenai and the navy 100ZZ use Black Micro Core, which stiffens the carbon matrix to limit how much the frame deforms at contact. That is what gives the marquee 100ZZ its sharp smash speed and its precise placement, and it is also why the racket punishes you when your timing slips. The VA replaces it with Volume Cut Resin, which trims and redistributes resin to take weight out of the frame while keeping the structure intact. The point of it is swing weight rather than stiffness. Everything else is the same racket. Frame shape, head size, grommet pattern, shaft diameter and shaft length are all unchanged, so this is not a different frame wearing a name — it is the same frame with mass removed from where it costs you the most.
The numbers behind the feel
Measured 4U builds with the base cap removed put the VA at about 88.7 g and a 309 mm balance, against roughly 89.7 g and the same 309 mm for the Kurenai. A gram is not a story on its own; where it comes off the racket is. The shaft difference is smaller than the marketing implies. Machine hardness readings, where a higher number means a softer shaft, gave the VA 8.23 against the Kurenai's 8.09. That is a real gap and a narrow one, and it matches how they feel: the VA loads slightly earlier, not dramatically earlier. Yonex lists the VA in 4U and G5 only, with a tension range of 20 to 28 lb and a catalogue balance of 305 mm. The underlying platform is unchanged from the rest of the line — the 6.2 mm Hyper Slim solid shaft, 205 mm of shaft length, 674 mm overall, and the E.B-CAP PLUS cone that adds 5 mm to the handle and pulls your grip forward.
On court
What the lighter swing weight buys is the first three shots. Front-court drives, push and pounce, defence and passive returns all come easier on the VA, and in fast men's doubles that is the difference between being in the rally and watching it. The regular 100ZZ is very demanding but surprisingly fast, and very repulsive when you time it. It also needs good timing, and it is tiring over full matches — that is the part buyers underestimate. The VA keeps the head-heavy, hard-driving DNA and lowers the load required to get at it. What it does not do is turn into an easy racket. Rear-court attack is not obviously weakened, and the drive threshold is still demanding. If you cannot load a 6.2 mm shaft cleanly when you are tired, the VA will not rescue you; it will just fail slightly later in the evening than the Kurenai does. Ranked against the other 4U attack frames worth comparing it to — AxForce 90 New, AxForce 100 Gen II, the new-colour 88D Pro and the Kurenai — the Kurenai is the hardest of the group on swing weight and shaft, the 90 New is the most approachable, and the VA lands closest to the AxForce 100 Gen II for front-court drive and rear-court continuity, with firmer feedback than that racket gives.
Where Kurenai still wins
Black Micro Core exists for a reason. On paper the stiffer matrix and the higher swing weight should return clearer feedback and a heavier smash, and in a straight swap that theory holds up — but only just. Alternating the two rackets, the output difference is subtle unless you are generating serious power. Below that level you are paying for a harder racket and receiving a harder racket, not a better one. The players who should still take the Kurenai are the ones who can feel it: strong singles players, and rear-court doubles players who already drive the standard 100ZZ without their technique degrading late in a match. If that is you, the Kurenai is the more precise instrument and the VA will feel slightly loose by comparison. For everyone else, the VA is the 100ZZ that stays usable in the third game.
Stringing
The platform responds well to setup, and the setup should follow your game rather than the racket's reputation. Flat-drive and rear-court attackers get on best with BG-80 around 28 lb, which suits the frame's crispness. Control-first players do better with BG-66UM near 27 lb, which softens drop slices. Aerobite in the 25 to 27 lb range is the compromise that helps most in flat exchanges. The temptation with a stiff attack frame is to string high and chase more bite. On the VA that mostly spends the forgiveness you paid extra for.
Who should buy it
Buy the VA if you like what the 100ZZ does but have found it punishing — that is precisely the gap Yonex built it for, and it is the honest recommendation for most competitive club players. Buy it if you play doubles and need the frame to keep up at the front as well as threaten from the back. Skip it if you are new to the Z line entirely; the drive threshold is still real, and the 88D Pro or the AxForce 90 New will do more for you at a lower price. Skip it too if you already drive the Kurenai well, because then you are paying more for a racket that gives something back.
Verdict
The VA is a lighter, slightly softer Astrox 100ZZ rather than a fundamentally different racket — and that is the compliment, not the criticism. Same frame, same shaft, same attacking character, with the swing weight cut where it was costing rallies. Against the Kurenai it trades a barely perceptible edge in smash and placement for a clear gain in speed and stamina. For most players that is a straightforwardly good trade, and it is why the VA is the version of this racket I point people toward first.
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