Kidô senshi Gandamu (1981)

A teenage boy must fight in an interplanetary war as the only available pilot to a revolutionary new giant battle robot.

Directors:

Ryôji Fujiwara, Yoshiyuki Tomino

Writers:

Yoshihisa Araki (screenplay), Hiroyuki Hoshiyama (screenplay),

Stars:

Tôru Furuya, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Shôzô Iizuka

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tôru Furuya	...	Amuro Ray
Hirotaka Suzuoki	...	Bright Noah
Shôzô Iizuka	...	Ryû Jose
Toshio Furukawa	...	Kai Shiden
Kiyonobu Suzuki	...	Hayato Kobayashi
Fuyumi Shiraishi	...	Mirai Yashima, Katz Hawin
Yô Inoue	...	Sayla Mass (Artesia Som Daikun), Kikka Kitamoto, Haro
Rumiko Ukai	...	Frau Bow, Letz Kofan
Shûichi Ikeda	...	Char Aznable (Casval Rem Daikun)
Katsuji Mori	...	Garma Zabi
Yuzuru Fujimoto	...	Degwin Zabi
Hidekatsu Shibata	...	Degwin Zabi (2000 DVD version)
Mami Koyama	...	Kishiria Zabi
Banjô Ginga	...	Giren Zabi
Tesshô Genda	...	Dozul Zabi (2000 DVD version)

Storyline

In the year Universal Century 0079, humans have colonized the area of space lying in between the Earth and the moon. However the ambitious Zabi family, rulers of the Duchy of Zeon (the grouping of colonies furthest from the earth) has sparked a war. Within the first week of this fratricidal conflict, one half of all humans have been decimated. The Duchy, within a month, has invaded and occupied half of the Earth's surface, thanks to the Duchy's ultimate weapon, 60-foot tall, heavily armed and highly maneuverable machines known as "Mobile Suits." The only thing that can save the Federal Forces of Earth is their top-secret "V" Project, based on the loyalist colony Side 7. The aim of the V Project was to build their Mobile Suits for the Federal Forces. As the film opens, Zeon attacks Side 7, sending its top ace, Char Aznable to stop the V Project. 15-year-old Amuro Ray, the son of the chief researcher to the V Project, is struggling to get his friends and neighbors to safety when he runs...

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Plot Keywords:

space | robot | teenage boy | anime | giant robot | 

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Drama | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

14 March 1981 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Mobile Suit Gundam I

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nippon Sunrise, Sotsu Agency, Sunrise

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by Kidô senshi Gandamu: Gyakushû no Shâ (1988)

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Soundtracks

"Cross of Sand"
(Suna no Jûjika)
Lyrics and Music by Shinji Tanimura
Sung by Takajin Yashiki
Courtesy of King Records

User Reviews

A classic anime series

Mobile Suit Gundam, along with "Star Blazers" and "Lupin III", helped push anime toward more adult stories in the late 70s/early 80s. It's influence can certainly be felt in later anime classics such as Macross and Escaflowne. No longer would the mecha Genre center on a spike-haired hero with a mecha sporting super-special attacks and fighting evil scientists from Mars-it would at least aim for some sense of seriousness. Although it retains some elements of it's predecessors, such as brightly colored heroic mecha(Something that in 20 years, Gundam *still* has), Gundam is more serious. The villains are ambigious-it's really hard to tell who's good and who's really evil. The characters are well-fleshed out, from Amuro-the prototype for later milquetoast such as Shinji Ikari-and Sayla Mass, who is torn between duty and her own secrets. Since this is 1979 TV budget animation, the animation isn't the best(It's better than "Superfriends", at least), but the character designs are well done and facial expressions are very good. The musical score is also well done. This motion picture is actually a compilation of the first third of the Television series, so it's sort of condensed, with many scenes cut out. If one wants to see the full series, Cartoon Network has plans to air it next year, although it's dated animation might turn off many viewers.