Mobile Suit Gundam

TV anime
Mobile Suit Gundam 機動戦士ガンダム Kidō Senshi Gandamu
Directed by	Yoshiyuki Tomino
Produced by	Hobuyuki Okuma, Wataru Sekioka, Yasuo Shibue
Written by	Hiroyuki Hoshiyama, Kenichi Matsuzaki, Yoshihisa Araki,Yoshiyuki Tomino, Yu Yamamoto
Music by	Takeo Watanabe, Yuji Matsuyama
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	Bandai Entertainment
Network	Nagoya Broadcasting Network
Original run	April 7, 1979 – January 26, 1980
Episodes	43

Mobile Suit Gundam (機動戦士ガンダム, Kidō Senshi Gandamu, also known as First Gundam, Gundam 0079 or simply 0079) is a televised anime series, created by Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network between April 7, 1979, and lasted until January 26, 1980, spanning 43 episodes. It was the very first Gundam series, which has subsequently been adapted into numerous sequels and spin-offs.

The series was later re-edited for theatrical release and split into three movies in 1981. Yoshikazu Yasuhiko did the character designs and Kunio Okawara was responsible for the mechanical designs, including the titular giant robot, the RX-78-2 Gundam.

The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1979 and the first half of 1980. By the end of 2007, each episode of the original TV series averaged a sales figure of 80,928 copies, including all the different formats it was published in (VHS, LD, DVD, etc.). The first DVD box set sold over 100,000 copies in the first month of release, from December 21, 2007 to January 21, 2008.

Synopsis

Set in a fictional universe in the Universal Century year 0079, the Principality of Zeon has declared independence from the Earth Federation, and subsequently launched a war of independence. The conflict has directly affected every continent on earth, also nearly every space colony and lunar settlement. Zeon, though smaller, has the tactical upper hand through their use of a new type of humanoid weapons called mobile suits. After half of all humanity perish in the conflict, the war settled into a bitter stalemate lasting over 8 months.

The story begins with a newly deployed Federation warship, the White Base, arriving at the secret research base located at the Side 7 colony to pick up the Federation's newest weapon. However, they are closely followed by Zeon forces. A Zeon reconnaissance team member disobeys mission orders and attacks the colony, killing most of the Federation crew and civilian in the process. Out of desperation, citizen boy Amuro Ray accidentally finds the Federation's new arsenal—the RX-78 Gundam, and neutralized the situation. Scrambling everything they can, the White Base sets out with her newly formed crew of civilian recruits and refugees in her journey to survive, and unknowingly, change the course of the war.

Concept and Development

Tomino's original concept for the series was considerably much more grim, with Amuro dying halfway through the series, and the crew of the White Base having to ally with Char (who is given a red Gundam), but finally having to battle him after he takes control of the Principality of Zeon. The original concept found expression in a series of novels written by Tomino soon after the show's conclusion, and elements of the storyline weaved themselves into Zeta Gundam and Char's Counterattack.

The reason that the episode "Kukurus Doan's Island" was removed from the English-Language version of the series was that it was cut at the request of Yoshiyuki Tomino himself. He felt that the episode's story was substandard. On the other hand, Doan appears (possibly also the plot episode) in the game SD Gundam G Generation Advance. You can also fight Doan in his Zaku II, in the video game Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation Vs. Zeon. Also, this episode was not withheld from the Japanese box set that was released in December 2006.

The final episodes (encompassing the battles of Solomon and A Baoa Q) were originally planned to be more elaborate, with exotic Zeon mecha defending the fortresses. Budget cuts scrapped the episodes (and the designs) although at least two (the Dom-like Dowdage and Gelgoog-Like Galbaldy) do become resurrected for Zeta Gundam and Gundam ZZ.

Reception

Gundam was not popular when it first aired, and was in fact cancelled before the series was intended to end. The series was originally set to run for 52 episodes and was cut down to 39 by the show's sponsors, which included the original toymakers for the series. However, the staff was able to negotiate a one month extension to end the series with 43 episodes.

When Bandai received the licensing to the show's mecha, however, things changed completely. With the introduction of their line of Gundam models, the popularity of the show began to soar. The models sold very well, and the show began to do very well in reruns and even better in its theatrical compilation. Audiences were expecting another giant robot show, and instead found MS Gundam, the first work of anime in an entirely new genre, the mecha drama or the 'real robot' genre as opposed to the 'super robot' genre.

Mobile Suit Gundam was also later aired by the anime satellite television network, Animax, across Japan, with the series continuing to be aired on the network currently, and later its respective networks worldwide, including Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and other regions.

Hoping to capitalize on the success of airing Gundam Wing the previous year, Bandai Entertainment released a heavily edited and English-dubbed version of the series premièring on Cartoon Network's Toonami across the United States on Monday, July 23, 2001. However, the series did not do as well as Gundam Wing and Cartoon Network would pull the show after it had finished airing. Following the pattern of its initial airing in Japan, it was later cancelled before the entire series was shown. When the September 11 occurred, the series was almost over (there were only six episodes left). Immediately following the attacks, Cartoon Network and many other stations, began pulling war-themed content and violent programming as well. Although Cowboy Bebop came back before too long, Mobile Suit Gundam did not. However, the series finale were shown as part of Toonami's "New Year's Eve-il" special on December 31, 2001. It is sometimes stated that MSG was cancelled "because" of the September 11, 2001 attacks. This was verified by a Toonami producer in a March 4, 2002 with Anime News Network.

On Saturday, June 8, 2002, the series was given another chance by Cartoon Network in their late-night Adult Swim block, but it was again pulled before completing its run because of low ratings.

On May 30, 2006, Bandai Entertainment re-released the English dub of the TV series in a 10 volume DVD set. There was no Japanese audio track included, apparently because Yoshiyuki Tomino felt that the original mono mix was in too poor of a condition to use. However, in 2007 the original series was released on DVD in Japan, which sold over 100 thousand copies within a month's time from December 21, 2007 to January 21, 2008.

In both American TV showings and on the American DVD release, episode 15 (Kukurus Doan's Island) was cut out. Tomino remained silent as to why the episode was cut and it remains a mystery, the episode becoming a "lost episode" of sorts, never being dubbed. The episode remained on the Japanese DVD release. This episode also has an error in continuity at minute 19 when the Gundam's weapon is suddenly changed.

Compliation movies

Following the success of the Mobile Suit Gundam TV series, Yoshiyuki Tomino returned in 1981 and reworked the footage into three separate compilation movies. The first two movies, Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam: Soldiers of Sorrow, were released in 1981. The third movie, Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space, was released in 1982.

Each of the three movies is largely composed of old footage from the TV series, however Tomino felt that some things could be changed for the better. Tomino removed several aspects of the show which he felt were still too super robot-esque for the real robot series he intended Gundam to be, such as the Gundam Hammer weapon. The G-Armor upgrade parts were also completely removed and replaced in the narrative by the more realistic Core Booster support fighters, and Hayato receives a RX-77 Guncannon at Jaburo to replace the disadvantaged RX-75 Guntank. The third movie also includes a substantial amount of new footage expanding on the battles of Solomon and A Baoa Qu.

In the late 1990s, the three compilation movies were first released for directly to VHS dubbed in English with a different vocal cast from the later English dub of the TV show, which makes them among the first Gundam works released in English. The movies were released again in North America on May 7, 2002 in DVD format, available separately or in a boxed set. But these are available only with Japanese audio with English subtitles. This DVD boxset is identical to the 20th anniversary release of the movie compilation DVDs. The original voice cast members rerecorded their lines with the exception of those who were deceased. The 20th anniversary release is digitally remastered but many of the sound effects are replaced, most notably the futuristic gun sounds being replaced by louder machine gun sound effects. Also, the music soundtrack, while not remixed is rearranged and in some cases removed from some scenes. The vocal songs are rearranged also, especially in the closing credits of the second and third movies.

Bandai Visual has announced the re-release of the Mobile Suit Gundam movies on DVD from new HD masters and with the original, theatrical, mono audio mix. This box set is scheduled for release in Japan on December 21, 2007.

Characters

Earth Federation

Further information: see main article Earth Federation

• Amuro Ray
• Bright Noa
• Fraw Bow
• General Revil
• Haro
• Hayato Kobayashi
• Kai Shiden
• Matilda Ajan
• Mirai Yashima
• Ryu Jose
• Sayla Mass
• Slegger Law
• Tem Ray

Principality of Zeon

Further information: see main article Zeon

• Char Aznable
• Crowley Hamon
• Degwin Sodo Zabi
• Dozle Zabi
• Garma Zabi
• Gihren Zabi
• Kycilia Zabi
• Lalah Sune
• M'Quve
• Ramba Ral
• Black Tri-Stars

Weapons and support units

Main article: List of Military Units in Mobile Suit Gundam

Opening and ending songs

Opening:

• Tobe! Gundam (翔べ! ガンダム, Tobe! Gandamu, Fly! Gundam)
  • Lyrics: Yoshiyuki Tomino (as the pseudonym "Rin Iogi")
  • Composition: Takeo Watanabe
  • Arrangement: Yuji Matsuyama
  • Artist: Koh Ikeda

Ending:

• Eien ni Amuro (永遠にアムロ, Forever Amuro) by Koh Ikeda (TV series)
• Suna no Jūjika (砂の十字架, Cross of Sand) by Takajin Yashiki (Movie I)
• Ai Senshi (哀 戦士, Soldiers of Sorrow) by Daisuke Inoue (Movie II)
• Meguriai (めぐりあい, Encounters) by Daisuke Inoue (Movie III)

Interlude

• Char ga Kuru (シャアが来る, Shaa ga Kuru, Here Comes Char) by Hori Koichiro
• Kirameki no Lalah (きらめきのララァ, Kirameki no Raraa, Shining Lalah) by Keiko Toda
• Ima wa Oyasumi (いまはおやすみ, Now is Good Night) by Keiko Toda

Cast

Character	Japanese Actor	English Actor (Series)	English Actor (Movies)
Amuro Ray	Toru Furuya	Brad Swaile	Michael Lindsay
Char Aznable	Shuichi Ikeda	Michael Kopsa	Steven Blum
Bright Noah	Hirotaka Suzuoki	Chris Kalhoon	Wheat St. James
Mirai Yashima	Fuyumi Shiraishi	Cathy Weseluck	Leslie Buhr
Sayla Mass	Yō Inoue	Alaina Burnett	Olivia Bardeau
Fraw Bow	Rumiko Ukai	Kristie Marsden	Melissa Fahn
Kai Shiden	Toshio Furukawa	Richard Ian Cox	Eddie Frierson
Hayato Kobayashi	Kiyonobu Suzuki	Matt Smith	Richard Cansino
Ryu Jose	Shōzō Iizuka	Ward Perry	Ward Perry
Lalah Sune	Keiko Han	Willow Johnson	Lia Sargent
Gihren Zabi	Banjo Ginga	Hiro Kanagawa	Doug Stone
Garma Zabi	Katsuji Mori	Brian Dobson	Unknown
Kishiria Zabi	Mami Koyama	Michelle Porter	Bambi Darro
Dozle Zabi	Daisuke Gouri	French Tickner	Peter Spellos
Degwin Zabi	Hidekatsu Shibata	Chris Schneider	Elliot Reynolds
Ramba Ral	Masashi Hirose	John Payne	Michael McConnohie
Crowley Hamon	Yumi Nakatani	Lenore Zann	Dian Andrews

Legacy

Despite being released in 1979, the original Gundam series is still remembered and recognized within the anime fan community. The series revolutionized mecha anime, introducing the new Real Robot genre, and over the years became synonymous with the entire genre for many. As a result, for example, parodies of mecha genre commonly feature homages to Mobile Suit Gundam, thanks to its immediate recognizability. Furthermore, John Oppliger observes that the characters of Amuro Ray, to whom the young Japanese of that time could easily relate, and Char Aznable, who was "simply [...] fascinating", made a major contribution to the series' popularity. He also concludes that "in many respects First Gundam stands for the nostalgic identifying values of everything that anime itself represents".

American musician Andrew W.K. released an album called Gundam Rock on September 9, 2009 in Japan. The album consists of covered music from the Gundam series to celebrate its 30th Anniversary.

External links

• Official Websites: Japanese, GundamOfficial
• Mobile Suit Gundam at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia