Kidô senshi Gandamu I (1981)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Directors:

Ryôji Fujiwara
Yoshiyuki Tomino

Writers:

Yoshiyuki Tomino (writer)
Hajime Yatate (writer)

Release Date:

1 January 1981 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Sci-Fi | War | Action | Drama

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Teenage Boy | Space | Robot | Manga | Young Soldier

Cast

Tôru Furuya	...	Amuro Ray
Hirotaka Suzuoki	...	Bright Noah
Shôzô Îzuka	...	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)

Also Known As:

Mobile Suit Gundam I

Runtime:

148 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:PG | UK:12

Company:

Nippon Sunrise

Movie Connections:

Remake of "Kidô senshi Gandamu" (1979)

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.