More than 40 years have passed since the Gundam series first appeared in this world, but it has not lost its luster. The appeal of this pinnacle of Japanese animation can be fully appreciated by watching the works we are about to recommend, and you will also gain a lot of necessary information for watching other Gundam works.
Mobile Suit Gundam(TV anime)
In the year 0079 of the Universal Century(U.C.0079), Side-3, which is located farthest from Earth, calls itself the Principality of Zeon and declares war on the Earth Federation for their independence. After the introduction of practical weapons called “Mobile Suits” by the Zeon side and a campaign called the “Colony Drop,” the war was in a stalemate for more than eight months.
Amuro Ray, a civilian boy living in Side-7, is caught up in the ravages of war when he accidentally boards the Earth Federation Forces’ mobile suit “Gundam” aboard the newly-built White Base and is forced to throw himself into the war. He fights against Char Aznable and other ace pilots of the Zeon army, and through the deaths of those he has shared his heart with and the many difficulties he faces, he grows as a warrior and as a human being.
Enjoy the power and depth of the “Native” Gundam
It’s great to see that the Mobile Suit Gundam TV series is now readily available in a variety of media, including Subscription, remastered DVD boxes, and individual DVDs.
This Gundam, also known as “First Gundam,” depicted a space colony’s war for independence and is still hotly debated as the original 40 years later. However, there is a problem here.
It seems that it is the “movie version” of Gundam that is recognized by the public as “First Gundam”.
The movie version is a re-edited version of the 43 episodes of the TV series, consisting of three parts of about two hours each. These are tuned to the TV series by bundling some of the developments into a single story and supplementing them with new cuts.
In other words, this movie version is clearly the one that is more neatly organized as a work. The TV series, on the other hand, has many scenes and depictions that seem a little strange to us when we look back on it now. The reasons for this were the limitations of TV animation technology at the time and the fact that Gundam was so innovative that the production staff was unable to thoroughly understand the direction of the work.
The inconsistencies in the drawings were commonplace, and especially after episode 34, when the animation director Mr. Yasuhiko stepped down due to illness, there were also inconsistencies in the settings and direction of the characters and mobile suits.
Looking back now, this was a transitional period for anime, and Gundam played a leading role in it. In other words, we can think of Gundam as a condensation of the turbulent transition period of anime.
In addition, this anime consists of 43 parts of 25 minutes in length, which is the so-called “original work”. Therefore, you can enjoy all the gaps between the lines of the drama that were omitted in the movie version. As a result, you may discover some surprising facts, and the inheritance with the succeeding series such as Z Gundam will become clearer.
In this way, the TV series possesses powerful energy unique to the original work that is often forgotten in later works such as the movie version. In the English-speaking world, the term “native” is used to describe this unaltered, so-called “genuine” version.
Yes, this Gundam is not the First Gundam, but the “Native” Gundam.
Mobile Suit Z Gundam(TV anime)
In U.C.0087, seven years after the end of “the One Year War”, the Earth Federation, which had won the war against the Principality of Zeon, gradually became corrupt and corrupt, and created the Titans, an elite force that forcibly sanctions space immigrants. In order to oppose the growing power of the Titans, “the Aueg(A.U.E.G.)” was formed. Among them was the former Zeon ace pilot, Char Aznable, who changed his name to Quattro Vageena.
The story revolves around the conflict between the Aueg and the Titans, which later turns into a complex conflict involving the Earth Federation Forces and the remnants of the Zeon Army, “the Axis”. Kamille Bidan, a young boy who became a Gundam pilot as a result of being caught up in these battles, eventually awakens the ability to be called the best “Newtype” in history.
A meaningful work that made Gundam a long seller
The period from the ’70s to the ’80s is said to be the beginning of Japanese animation, and in addition to Gundam, many other masterpieces were created such as “Space Battleship Yamato”, “Galaxy Express 999”, and for families, “Heidi, Girl of the Alps”.
Among them, Gundam is one of the rare ones that has continued to produce works for more than 40 years. The factor that made Gundam such a long seller was the “uniqueness” of Z Gundam.
It was nothing but the existence of a paradigm change that transformed this Gundam into an epic story. As a result, Native Gundam, which should have been completed in 43 episodes, was replaced by a part of an epic story.
The peculiarity of this story is that 1985, the year Z Gundam was aired on TV, was seven years after Native Gundam, but the setting of the story was also seven years after Native Gundam. In other words, the story was parallel to the flow of time in reality.
With the appearance of “Z Gundam”, the Gundam series made the historical background of the story, which had been only a part of the setting, into an important element that was as important as the characters. This element played an important role in raising the appeal of subsequent Gundam works.
The Works
Mobile Suit Gundam TV Series
Media type: DVD-BOX
Language: JP (Subtitles: EN / CN)
Availability: CDJapan
Mobile Suit Z Gundam TV Series
Media type: DVD-BOX
Language: JP (Subtitles: EN / CN)
Availability: CDJapan
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