Anime: Mobile Suit Gundam

[SMAXZO]

Down to defending with sasuages and nobody can shoot Char.

Poor dumb Amuro? Well, not really yet, maybe if we get to Zeta.... I do like the discussion about war, since Gundam does often go into these themes in a pretty riveting fashion. Well, at least until Tomino goes crazy again (and that's a lot)

Don't you know, Char's pink space suit gives him +70% to his evasion stat.

[animalia]

Fun fact about Gihren...when Papa Zabi compared him to Hitler, he took it as a compliment. Then again, Papa Zabi ain't exactly a saint considering he...well, I'd be spoiling the Origin if I said too much. Let's just say Char has a damn good reason for hating the Zabis.

Also, another fun fact...one of the many attempts Garma has to impress his sister? Start a research on Newtype Monkeys. That no one ever found out until 50 years after the One Year War and by that time, Zeon is nothing more than a memory.

I love Gundam The Origin but does anyone know how cannon it is? Especially considered it is based on flashback from a decidedly non cannon manga? I suppose it POSSIBLE that it's canon as the flashback parts (which are the parts that get animated) don't contradict the main timeline. But I just thought It worth bringing up here.

[TGLS]

Random Thoughts:

-> When the woman lieutenant brought up psychic powers the first time I thought it was a joke.
-> I honestly can't remember Char's sister being on the space colony.
-> I remember the whole Mayor's daughter subplot going by so fast it bordered on parody. I blame the compilation movie format.

[Deukish]

I love Gundam The Origin but does anyone know how cannon it is? Especially considered it is based on flashback from a decidedly non cannon manga? I suppose it POSSIBLE that it's canon as the flashback parts (which are the parts that get animated) don't contradict the main timeline. But I just thought It worth bringing up here.

After the Zeta trilogy came out and completely re-wrote the ending Sunrise came up with a statement and basically said that if its animated, its "official", either as a way to make both contradictory stories their own separate canon, or simply to pick and choose what parts you want and ignore contradictions. A significant portion of Origin contradicts the original series (big one being the fact that the federation had the guntank/cannon before the war), so it's really up to the individual to decide on it.

[MithrandirOlorin]

A lot of Origin is reconcilable plot-wise, but I hate it's characterizations of a lot of character. Zeon Zum Daikun should have stayed someone we never actually met.

[MixedDrops]

Been waiting for this one a long time since he said it was happening in the 0080 review. Low key disappointed Chuck didn't stick with the Mr. Roboto theme for all Gundam-related works.

For those not really in the know, as far as the Super/Real Robot thing goes, it's not really an intentional subgenre and it isn't really useful to anyone to classify shows as Super/Real Robot other than in a general sense. Another show Chuck has reviewed, Evangelion, is difficult to classify and you'll get different responses depending on which mech-head you're asking. The technology in Evangelion is so fantastic many people might classify it as Super, but it's applied realistically and so are the story/characters (generally speaking), so some might consider it a Real Robot.

It is true though that militarization and more realistic portrayals of mechs and characters was a huge trend in the 80s after MSG exploded in popularity, and it reflected in the sequel (Zeta) as well as other shows of that era (which includes the other giant Mecha show, Macross aka Robotech), probably culminating most in the show VOTOMS. However the Super/Real Robot classification largely got popularized by the Super Robot Taisen games, and there it was more of a way to classify unit types for gameplay purposes than anything. As far as the shows themselves, there are many, many mecha shows which straddle the line, including shows under the Gundam franchise.

I am amused that Chuck bothered to look up stories about Yoshiyuki Tomino and his eccentricities. Although as far as I know there's a lot of apocryphal tales about the guy out there so it's hard to separate what's real and what's not since some of the odd tales about him are true. I look forward to about 15 years in the future when Chuck ends up reviewing Victory Gundam or something else from Tomino's deep depression years where he cranked the insanity in his work up to 11.

As for MSG itself, I think the line that sticks with me most from the work is still Amuro's "you don't love me anymore" line to his mother. It's a horrible thing for him to say, but it also really hit home for me how emotionally vulnerable he was at that point, and he couldn't even find comfort in the one person one would think they always can.

[Chaos Sepher]

Boy if Chuck ever reviews Zeta, he would have to keep tally of how many random punches and slaps happen to the point of it being hilarious.

Random Thoughts:
-> I remember the whole Mayor's daughter subplot going by so fast it bordered on parody. I blame the compilation movie format.

I do remember the Mayor's Daughter subplot having a bit more to it in the full anime. In which after Garma's death she went with a Zeon assault trying to get revenge, ending in her tragic pointless death.

[SMAXZO]

Wasn't that Mayor's Daughter subplot also includes Kai? I think it was her death that led Kai into becoming the Universal Century version of James Bond in Zeta Gundam?

EDIT: Never mind, upon further inspection, that was some other lady...sorry.

[K.E. Schwartze]

Been waiting for this one a long time since he said it was happening in the 0080 review. Low key disappointed Chuck didn't stick with the Mr. Roboto theme for all Gundam-related works.

For those not really in the know, as far as the Super/Real Robot thing goes, it's not really an intentional subgenre and it isn't really useful to anyone to classify shows as Super/Real Robot other than in a general sense. Another show Chuck has reviewed, Evangelion, is difficult to classify and you'll get different responses depending on which mech-head you're asking. The technology in Evangelion is so fantastic many people might classify it as Super, but it's applied realistically and so are the story/characters (generally speaking), so some might consider it a Real Robot.

It is true though that militarization and more realistic portrayals of mechs and characters was a huge trend in the 80s after MSG exploded in popularity, and it reflected in the sequel (Zeta) as well as other shows of that era (which includes the other giant Mecha show, Macross aka Robotech), probably culminating most in the show VOTOMS. However the Super/Real Robot classification largely got popularized by the Super Robot Taisen games, and there it was more of a way to classify unit types for gameplay purposes than anything. As far as the shows themselves, there are many, many mecha shows which straddle the line, including shows under the Gundam franchise.

The term wasn't in use till the games, but there is a clear separation of the two styles, even though Gundam has a few of the trappings of a super robot show (father built it, mid-season upgrades etc.) Some later Gundam shows are pretty much Super Robot, but the central path from the original is robots as tools, which leads to Macross and Votoms. The other clue you are definitely dealing in Super Robots is the unique one-off monsters/opponents and a standardized format for fights. This marks out Eva as a Super Robot show (with realistic psychology and the occasional nod to physics). As is Gunbuster (which has the trappings of "real" around a "super" plot, it's not just the robots that make a "Real" Robot show, the villains are just as important. E.g. Pacific Rim is super robots, faceless enemies coming through one at a time.

The other interesting split is Macross Versus Gundam. Macross is Humans versus Aliens (usually with "friendly" aliens on our side eventually). Gundam is ALWAYS man versus man.

[K.E. Schwartze]

Fun fact about Gihren...when Papa Zabi compared him to Hitler, he took it as a compliment. Then again, Papa Zabi ain't exactly a saint considering he...well, I'd be spoiling the Origin if I said too much. Let's just say Char has a damn good reason for hating the Zabis.

Also, another fun fact...one of the many attempts Garma has to impress his sister? Start a research on Newtype Monkeys. That no one ever found out until 50 years after the One Year War and by that time, Zeon is nothing more than a memory.

I love Gundam The Origin but does anyone know how cannon it is? Especially considered it is based on flashback from a decidedly non cannon manga? I suppose it POSSIBLE that it's canon as the flashback parts (which are the parts that get animated) don't contradict the main timeline. But I just thought It worth bringing up here.

I don't much like getting into Canon/non canon arguments. But since Yaz did the manga, and has suggested through his other works, e.g. Venus Wars, that as well as doing the character designs, he had a hand in shaping the political plotting I'd consider it pretty official (especial the Char Origin stuff). The parts of the manga that parallel the movies/TV show seem to exist to further flesh out the supporting cast and further smooth the story out.