Mobile Suit Gundam Part 1 Episodes 1-6

Universal Century 0079.  The One Year War between the Earth Federation and the Dutchy of Zeon rages on across the stars and on planet Earth.  But the war is about to take in an interesting turn when a Zeon strike force discovers a secret Federation Mobile Suit project on the colony of Side 7.  A surprise attack cripples the Federation forces there and leaves one of its latest weapons in the hands of a young civilian named Amuro Ray.  Together with a crew of trainees and fellow civilians, Amuro finds himself thrust into the middle of a conflict that has decimated the human race.  Unknown to him, Amuro himself might be the last hope of turning the war around for the Federation.  The future is in his hands and the hands of the Mobile Suit he now pilots…the Gundam.

Welcome everyone to the start of Year 6 here at the Gundam Anime Corner.  And we’ve got the perfect title to kick things off with.  After all, this is the month that is the birthday of the franchise this blog is named after, the Anime that kept me into Anime along with Dragon Ball Z and Ghost in the Shell.  So to celebrate it’s 40^th Anniversary this year, April belongs solely to Mobile Suit Gundam.  So, how does the legend begin?  Both pretty standard and pretty well actually.

It's hard to look at Mobile Suit Gundam and not think about all of the stories that have come after it.  What one must remember is that the typical tropes we see in other Gundam tales began right here.  You have the young civilian thrust into a war without much time to think about it.  You’ve got a civil war between humans living in Space and those still on Earth.  There’s the confident and cool bad ass rival with the mask.  There’s a colony attack, a crew of civilians and trainees stepping up to fill missing ranks.  There’s even those annoying 5 minute intros that repeat the same thing for like 7 episodes straight when we already know what’s going on after Episode 2 (here’s looking at you on that one Gundam Wing).  And, of course, there’s the Gundam making a grand entrance.  Everything you’ve seen in Gundam Seed, Gundam 00, Gundam AGE and others is all right here.  Like I said, it’s standard for most Gundam fans coming into the beginning like this but there’s a reason those tropes continue to be used in other shows today.

Like many other Sunrise mecha scifi shows of later years like Outlaw Star and The Vision of Escaflowne, the first six episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam are basically a non stop, edge of your seat chase sequence.  From the moment the first bullet is fired by a Zaku in a colony, things get crazy quickly.  They do get a bit repetitive, following a routine of quick breather, Char attacks, Amuro cries, Char’s repelled, repeat and maybe tweak it from time to time.  But its more power to the writers and animators that these six openers are paced as well as they are.  You’ll almost forget you watched them all in a row.  I would say in that regard that sometimes the middle episodes were so similar you could have just merged them cause between Episode 3 and 4, EP3 could have either been jettisoned or folded into EP2 or EP4 as a result.

As for our cast, who are our legends to kick off the franchise?  Well there’s a lot of characters and everyone gets a moment to stand out and establish themselves.  Characters like Mirai and Kai stand out quickly, one for being a caring voice of reason and the other for being a cowardly survivor.  There’s tough girl Sayla, the first girl of Gundam who has a confidence about her that’s undeniable, even allowing her to get away with snide remarks with Bright.  Speaking of, Bright freaking Noa is the man even in Gundam’s beginning.  He does have his moments of doubt, being thrust into command cause he’s the highest ranking surviving officer.  But he kick ass and doesn’t take crap from his crew or any higher up who questions what he and his people can do.  It’s not all smooth sailing as Bright does have to admit he needs help from his new subordinates like Mirai and Sayla to make plans.  But Bright’s not a one not hard ass.  He has room to grow and im not just saying that knowing where he is in later Gundam entries.  One cast member who sadly gets the short end of the stick is Captain Paolo, the original Captain of the White Base.  He manages to give some command advice even in his seriously injured condition.  However, he dies before I feel he can make any great impact on the crew.  Yes, he’s the last of the main command staff and that means the young crew are more or less on their own.  But I wish Paolo would have been given some more time to spend with Bright, Amuro and a couple of others before he kicked the bucket.

No review of Mobile Suit Gundam would be complete without a look at our first big hero and villain of the franchise.  Amuro Ray and Char Aznable.  Their names are as synonymous with Gundam as the Mobile Suit itself.  From the beginning though, it can be hard to see why Amuro is one of those names for the right reasons.  Early days Amuro is a brat who believes that once he reads a manual, he is capable of taking on Zeon all by himself.  And yet he whines when he’s told to help out and be the first line of defense because he’s in charge of the Federations most powerful weapon.  He’s a spoiled brat who is easy to dislike even if he can do some amazing things with the Gundam, like spearheading an all out rampaging attack on Zeon ground forces.  On the opposite end, Char lives up to the hype.  Even when his cool is shattered by multiple defeats, Char remains wise and respected.  He’s a lot more kind to his men than id suspect a guy with a Darth Vader-esque mask would seem.  Char feels like the kind of person who could do damaging things if he ever got a Gundam Mobile Suit of his own.  Still, he seems right at home with his Red Zaku and, if Amuro’s one of the least great things about any episode, Char always stands out.

Oh and don’t let the 70’s animation fool you, the action is still a highlight of every Gundam episode.  From the immortalized first skirmish of the Gundam in Side 7 to White Base’s reentry into Earths atmosphere to the aforementioned Gundam charge against Zeon Ground Forces, each action scene is exciting and pretty heavy.  There’s no shortage of images of dead bodies and delicate seconds dedicated to a terrified pilots final moments before their cockpit explodes.  As some may know, Mobile Suit Gundam was the first Anime Mecha series to feature a giant robot conflict strictly between humans, rather than humanity fighting aliens.  It makes the sadness all the more real, everyone who dies is a victim: Federation, Zeon or Civilian.  And yet there are a few Super Robot tropes still peaking into the mix, such as when the Gundam gets a chain link battle mace to use against Zeon Zakus.  Whenever the Gundam finishes a sortie, you know why it’s still one of the most recognized robots in all of Anime.

I’m getting chills finally getting the chance to review this one.  Mobile Suit Gundam is off to a great and promising start after six episodes.  Yes the lead character has a lot of whinning to get out of his system.  But the very real war story, the mecha, the action and a much more impressive cast shine on continuously.  Keep expecting two reviews a week until we wrap things up at the end of April (our normal Monday review plus a second on Friday).  This’ll be a long one but it’s a Gundam experience I hope you’ll all enjoy as I go through it.  It has begun ladies and gentlemen.  See you back here Friday for more Mobile Suit Gundam.