Mobile Suit Gundam

I am not what people might call a "long time fan". My first Gundam show was "Gundam Seed" for crying out loud. I have heard the outcry of many fans as to the unoriginality of Gundam Seed, hence i decided to "go back to the source" and check out the original 1979 Gundam series: The legend that started it all. My chance came when it was shown on local TV for a while(too bad it never completed its run and was replaced by the 3rd rerun of Gundam seed again) "Oh the horror!". My thoughts exactly as i sat through the painfully campy opening theme song. As i shook my head in disgust over the horrendously childish lyrics that sounded like some rejected theme song from Tetsuwan Atom(Astro Boy to you guys in the west), i prepared myself for the worse disappointment in my life.

And i was so proved wrong.

Gundam's story was anything BUT childish or campy. I presented a very real and very engaging war story about a gifted youngster and his friends thrown into the heat of combat by circumstance.

The story goes that "The Principality of Zeon" wages war with the Earth Federation over authority in the outlying space colonies. The war soon spreads to the colony "side 7" where our main character, Amuro Ray, resides. Following an unprovoked attack on the colony, Amuro and his friends stumble across the prototype Federation mobile suit called "Gundam". A series of events lead up to our unlikely heroes landing on board and becoming drafted as the crew of "White Base", a powerful Federation space carrier commanded by the then ensign Bright Noa. This motley gang soon learn to work together and in due time, they and Gundam come to play a pivotal role in the war.

I was at first impressed by how The drama and inter character relationships and interactions play out as good as some live action TV shows and they manage to engage you on an emotional level that many anime fail to. You get a sense that the characters really grow and evolve as the story moves along, never falling too far into the usual stock character stereotypes. Aside from some well developed characters, I like how the story manages to weave in some underlying philosophies and thought provoking points of view on war. It lends an edge to the show that makes it a whole lot "smarter" than your average shonen adventure or super robot series.

I actually found myself more interested in the ZEON side of the conflict. There was a subplot of political backstabbing and "power-play" among the ruling party of ZEON. Very intriguing. What was more intriguing was the mysterious Char Aznable. Aside from being a highly skilled mobile suit pilot and "rival" to Amuro Ray, bits and pieces of his past and ulterior motives are revealed little by little in such a way that makes you want to know more about him. He is easily my favorite character among all the characters from various gundam series.

True to the hype, the numerous battles in Gundam are done so much more realistically than the more recent Gundam Seed and Gundam 00. Also, there is a greater emphasis on teamwork between Amuro in the Gundam, the weapons and support team on White Base and the other pilots in the other mobile suits. The inexperience of the crew and the vulnerability of the Gundam make each battle a true nail-biter with a greater sense of true peril than battles in the recent Gundam series.

Admittedly, this is not an easy series to get into, mainly due to its age. Already mediocre compared to other anime series that came out in the late 70s and 80s, the animation style is painfully dated compared to today's fare. But I urge all you people who are hungry for some well thought out war drama to look past the superficial aspects and embrace the essence of what Gundam is.

Look past the dated animation, skip the opening theme song if you must, and you will find out why MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM is such a well respected and influential anime classic.

PS: Why is Gundam Seed's picture there? This is supposed to be the original Gundam, not Gundam Seed.

In fall of 1979, Kidô Senshi Gandamu (Translated as Mobile Suit Gundam) premiered on japanese television to low ratings and general disinterest among japanese youth. The main problem is that most of the kids who watched Giant Robot animé were used to the thin plots and superheroic meka of the older shows, most of which were little more than thirty minute long toy commercials. They didn't know what to make of the complex plot and deep characters. So the show was canceled, and ended nine episodes early.

However, some months later, something unusual happened. While Gundam toys were gathering dust on the shelves, highly detailed scale model kits based on the show's Mobile Suits were selling incredibly well. And while the japanese networks were offering 'more of the same' in first run broadcast, this little known and seemingly unpopular series was gathering a huge fan following in syndication...

Now, 20 years later, we in the US finally are going to get to see what started it all. I can't believe that such shows as Macross (Robotech: The Macross Saga) and Armor Trooper Votoms, which are the direct line decendants of Gundam in storytelling and portrayal of realistic mecha, would be brought to these shores years ago, while the show that started it all would be left to languish until now.

The way was paved by 1995's visually beautiful, but ultimately empty Gundam Wing. While this was a wise business choice for Bandai, knowing that the spectacular visuals would capture the attention of the 'all important' kids's market, we dedicated fans can't help but wish that the original had been the first one released. Wing, while visually spectacular, is little more than a muddled and overly preachy and pretentious pastiche of the Universal Century saga (Gundam,Zeta Gundam, ZZ Gundam, and Gundam: Char's Counterattack) with out the cohesion of plot that the original shows contain (Although with ZZ, cohesion of plot can be argued.)

Yes, I know that the animation doesn't stand up to Gundam Wing. However, what do you expect? The show was made over 20 years ago. If you want eye candy, go watch Wing. If you want a truly outstanding story and characters, join me to watch the original Gundam, the most influential and important animé of all time, or, if you don't have Cartoon Network, at least watch the compilation movies (Sub only though, as poor Neil Nadelman was for some reason forced to use Star Trek doubletalk in the script for the dub.)

I had the fortune to ignore New Mobile Report Gundam Wing when it came out for the first time in America. The next year the original Mobile Suit Gundam aired on television for the first time and I was attracted by its complexity and depth. All the characters are likable Federation And Zeon.

Completely detailed so to be considered a universe of its own, MSG, apart from the misadventures of the young White Base crew and the obsession of Char Aznable to follow the White Base (carrier ship), is more in the war genre than science fiction. History repeats itself like in World War II when the Germans ceaselessly looked for the perfect machine to defeat Allied Forces, the Zeon ceaselessly look for the perfect mobile suit to combat the Gundam. The determination of winning the war at any cost makes the Zeons meet their own demise at the end of the One Year War. Amuro Ray pilots the Gundam. He and many other crewmates never had any combat experience before being attacked at their own space colony. As they experience the horrors of war, they have to learn to stay alive when Zeon persecutes White Base through space, the earth and back to space again.

Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, The 08th MS Team, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and Char's Counterattack are the only series and movies directly related to the original Mobile Suit Gundam. The rest of the Gundam series are alternate versions, or alternate universes.

Mobile Suit Gundam gave new depth to anime from the end of the 1970's well into the present.

I was quite surprised after watching this cartoon. This is not a usual 20 minutes long toy commercial. In fact, the gundam itself doesn't appear too much in every episode. The plot is more focused on the characters. It's not repetitive, there are no reused animations for battle scenes or any scenes and the place actions are constantly changing from space to Earth, from air to water, and of course, orbital stations. Hell, it even has a side-story! In other words, this anime is way before its time.

It's a story about war and how cruel and pointless one can get. People are dying all the time. Every now and then we get to know some new characters and at the exactly same point we start to like them they get killed. This anime is not for kids. It's for all ages. Its influence on some other cartoons is huge (Transformers, Macross, Neon Genesis Evangellion,...). You should definitely check this one out.

Until this story came out, animated story was considered one for kids. This story talked about a war for the very first time. There were no good guy or bad guy who would confront each other. There were two different justices for both sides and not only just simple purpose as "justice", but also there were intrigues, doubts, treacheries, and personal grudges in both sides. Since this story talked about a war, it also covered for civilian casualities which lead to an uncountable number of orphans, refugees, minors who were forced to fight, and painful separations of such minors and their families.

After this, story like simple confrontation of good and evil is considered one for really small kids.