T5W#451-Top 5 Moments from Mobile Suit Gundam

This Saturday marks the official 45^th birthday of the Anime that changed Mecha Anime forever.  First aired on April 6, 1979, the Mobile Suit Gundam series became revolutionary for being the first Anime to feature Giant Robots used not to defend Earth from an Alien invasion but instead in a bloody civil war between the Earth and Human Space Colonies.  While not a mega hit when it first aired, subsequent reruns bolstered its popularity and ensured Gundam wasn’t just a one off.  For all the successes that have followed from Zeta Gundam to Gundam Wing to The Witch from Mercury, none of this would be possible without the wins scored by the title that started it all.  Seeing as how we’ve finally kicked off reviews of The Witch from Mercury, we’re paying homage to Yoshiyuki Tomino’s legendary epic on Top 5 Wednesday today with my Top 5 Moments from Mobile Suit Gundam

 
#5-Breakthrough to Side 6

Following the Battle of Jaburo, the White Base is assigned a rather risky mission: to distract Zeon’s space forces so the Earth Federation can deploy it’s fleet for Operation Star One.  The White Base virtually solos an entire Zeon battle group and shows just how far they’ve come as a well oiled machine.  No longer at they civilians and low level officers but seasoned veterans.  And then, of course, there’s Amuro tearing through Mobile Suits and even Battleships solo, etching into history just how feared the name “Gundam” will become throughout the Universal Centruy.
 

#4-The Kids save Jaburo

While mostly used as comic relief, Katz, Letz and Kika do have their moments where they prove they can be otherwise.  During the Battle of Jaburo, the trio discover Zeon operatives have planeted bombs in a hanger containing the Federations new mass produced GM Mobile Suits.  Not thinking twice about it, the kids work to collect the explosives and even drive them as far from the hanger as they can.  The older crew members do arrive to save them from blowing themselves up in the progress but this still proves, Katz, Letz and Kika aren’t annoying tag alongs, they’re vital members of the White Base family too.

 
#3-Gundam Rising

Few moments in the entire franchise are as iconic as Amuro’s first sortie in the Gundam.  As Side 7 comes under attack by Zeon, everything that can go wrong is going wrong for the Earth Federation.  Then a lone civilian, Amuro Ray, hops into the cockpit of a Mobile Suit and, with the manuel in his lap, proceeds to activate it and set to work dealing with the Zeon threat.  The fact that Amuro is the son of the man who designed the Gundam doesn’t even play a factor at all.  The moment the Gundam stands up and its eyes glow, this is the moment that changed not just the Universal Century, but Anime itself forever.
 

#2-Char ends the Zabi’s

Everyones favorite Gundam bad boy, Char Aznable, is driven by one single goal throughout the original series: the elimination of the Zabi Family.  Believe it or not, out of the five central members of that family, Char only kills one with his own hands.  And what a kill it is.  As the final Zabi, Kycillia, attempts to escape the falling fortress of A Bao A Qu, Char breaks off his fight with Amuro Ray to catch up to her.  Just to make sure Kycillia isnt escaping his vengeance, Char grabs a Rocket Launcher and proceeds to line up a shot on the bridge of Kycillia’s ship…and take her head off.  Honestly, the bridge of the ship blowing up feels like an uninteresting afterthought compared to Char’s Call of Duty like accuracy with a BFG.
 

#1-Amuro vs. Char-The Final Battle (for now)

The final battle of the One Year War, the Battle of A Bao A Qu, also marks the end of the first chapter in the decade plus long rivalry between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable.  Every fight they’ve faced against each other and separately has led to this showdown which sees Amuro in his Gundam fighting Char’s immensely powerful Zeong.  From battling amongst the colliding Federation and Zeon forces to ditching their Mobile Suits and engaging in a sword duel, all bets are off.  This duel also includes the final battle of the original RX-78-2 Gundam and that iconic parting shot of it’s headless body firing one last blast into the sky like a defiant titan.  No wonder people keep coming back to this fight to relive it over and over again.