Mobile Suit Gundam
If the name confuses you, you should know that this anime is also called Gundam 0079 or First Gundam. It is the first Gundam series produced by Sunrise, and the start of the Gundam legend. Mobile Suit Gundam premiered in Japan on April 7, 1979, on Nagoia Broadcasting Network, and it ended on January 26, 1980, after 43 episodes. 31 years later, the Gundam Universe (I hate calling it a franchise) has spawned more than 30 anime TV series, OVA and films, one live-action (G-Saviour) and countless manga, making Gundam one of the most loved and prolific Japanese popular culture symbols and an excellent cultural export. Wiki says that on the Japanese toy market (or character plastic model market), the Gundam toys dominate with no shame, with more than 90% of total sales. Amen to that.
Mobile Suit Gundam takes place in a timeline called Universal Century (UC), with several alternative timelines existing in the Gundam Universe (Future Century, After War, Anno Domini and so on). Is like the alternate Earths that exist in the DC Comics Universe, if there is something to relate to. It is a way to keep at bay the chaos generated by different TV series, films and OVA.
I started to watch this anime because I bounced off Zeta Gundam. It was a waste of time, really. Although not a bad anime ( I loved the style of the animation), it was a story mostly driven by the angst and rages of a teen in a Gundam suit. Take in consideration that half of the mobile suit fights were pointless, and you have a half baked anime. Its a classic, sure, but cut half from each episode and you get the clear essential anime that Zeta didn’t become. And Amuro Ray (the hero of Mobile Suit Gundam) is a heroic name, isn’t it? While Kamille (Zeta Gundam) isn’t.
Gundam RX-78-2 is the essential Gundam design, the primordial soup of any future mecha designs. And although is not the first giant robot in anime, is with no doubt the most influential one. This original design is clean, simple, and the head is one of the best designed elements in the Gundam universe. This design, with some subtle touches, can make the object of a modern Gundam anime anytime! Id put a sculpture of this Gundam in any art gallery, if you would ask me. And the air vents from the chest! All inspiring.
And think about the colors of the Gundam. Blue, red, yellow, white. The colors of a toy, not the cold and grey steel of a war machine. It was a good thing for Gundam action figures sales, which sold in huge numbers and gave the anime figures industry a strong boost. Japan showed their love and appreciation (commercial and emotional) for the RX-78 by building two Gundam statues. The giant 18 meters Gundam model from Odaiba island (see video bellow) and the smaller statue (link) from Kamiigusa station. These kind-hearted investments paid off, as they already attracted millions of tourists.
Mobile Suit Gundam suffers from the problems typical for the year it was produced. Most of the static animation scenes look drawn by a 5yo old with a crayon, fuzzy backgrounds and sometimes sub-par animation. But given the time it passed since this anime was made (almost 31 years), its impossible not to find it without faults. And like the majority of the Japanese anime produced after 1977, Mobile Suit Gundam is also heavy influenced by Star Wars. Which is not a bad thing to start with. Its enough to mention Gundam’s beam sabers, which are practically some huge lightsabers.
The anime is set in the Universal Century, year 0079. The principality of Zeon, eager to gain its independence, declares war on the Earth Federation. Although smaller in numbers, Zeon forces have the upper hand in technology by using their new mobile suits called Zaku. These new weapons, in the form of huge humanoid robots that mimic the movements if their human pilots, give Zeon a huge advantage, both in terrestrial and space battles.
The main technology behind the mobile suits is the Minovsky fusion reactor, which gets mentioned in about every episode. To explain it a bit, this is a reactor that functions on fusion reaction, by compressing particles and releasing them in a degenerate state, with a much higher energy output. Well, I hope you understand that this is anime science and while for us sounds cool, for a scientist it may be something totally wrong.
So, as I was saying. To keep with Zeon, The Earth Federation soon starts to develop its own mobile suit, the RX-78 Gundam, which is sent to Side 7 colony to be picked up and tested by the White Base ship. But Zeon finds out abut the existence of the prototype and sends a Zaku mobile team which almost destroys Side 7. But by luck, or fate, a kid, Amuro Ray, finds the RX-78 prototype and fights the Zeon forces on his own. The he gets picked by the White Base and they start a dangerous journey towards the Earth Federation space, on Earth. All way round, they are hunted by the Zeon forces led by Char Aznable, simply know as Char.
Ok, so now you know (in general) what is the story. But being such an old anime, why would someone watch it? Being the first Gundam anime wont do it alone cause some are not interested in old anime. Well, this is not an easy anime to watch, after all. It doesn’t have the epic storytelling of Gundam 00 and its intricacies. Its plot is simple, its animation dated and many characters are handled superficially. The mecha designs that were considered cool in 1980 are not so cool and good looking nowadays. Take also into account that it has 43 episodes and you get only a handful of people that might want to watch it. Practically, you will watch it (or try to) if:
-you are a Gundam freak and you MUST see it
-you are interested in Gundam’s origins
-you like old anime a lot
-you want to re-watch it after 30 years (that means you are a really old dude with a passion for anime) and you will probably cry or get mushy at the opening song
-you are in the Sunrise staff
-you want to write an article about Gundam and you want to watch it but you give up at half (me)
Actually, I couldn’t watch either this or Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam up to the end. There is only five years distance between them so they have common traits and faults. Which took me straight to Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, which I am watching right now, and I have no intentions to dump. And now I guess I could go ahead to make comments about the teenage pilots present in every Gundam anime and what this thing means and its social implications and so on. Or about one of the best anime villains of all time… Char. But it would defy the purpose of this article, which should be a cold article about this funky old anime called Mobile Suit Gundam. Bad or good, this anime was the beginning of a momentum in anime and we should be grateful to Sunrise for making it. They made our Gundams!
If you want to watch all the episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam, plus other Gundam series, you can find them in HERE. All legal and with the blessing of Sunrise.
In the end, you should watch these three videos, some of the best that Youtube has available on Gundam, in my humble opinion. You wont be sorry. Its Gundam time! Enjoy, have fun!
When I watched GUNDAM at first I was moved. Especially, dialog is cool. I like “have you hit me? Though I have never been hit by my father!”.
By the way, I write a blog in japan and send information of Japanese anime and manga. What kind of information do you want, if you visit my blog?
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