Mobile Suit Gundam 

In the war between the Earth Federation and Zeon, a young and inexperienced crew find themselves on a new spaceship. Their best hope of making it through the conflict is the Gundam, a giant humanoid robot, and its gifted teenage pilot.

Creators:

Yoshiyuki Tomino, Hajime Yatate

Stars:

Tôru Furuya, Alaina Burnett, Chris Kalhoon

Cast

Series cast summary:
Tôru Furuya	...	Amuro Ray 43 episodes, 1979-1980
Alaina Burnett	...	Sayla Mass 42 episodes, 1979-1980
Chris Kalhoon	...	Bright Noa 42 episodes, 1979-1980
Michael Kopsa	...	Char Aznable 42 episodes, 1979-1980
Brad Swaile	...	Amuro Ray 42 episodes, 1979-1980
Cathy Weseluck	...	Mirai Yashima / ... 42 episodes, 1979-1980
Eric Schneider	...	Degwin Zabi (English Voice) / ... 30 episodes, 1979-1980
Glen Hopkins	...	Omur Fang 23 episodes, 1979-1980
Sachio Kumagai	...	Omur Fang 22 episodes, 1979-1980

Storyline

It is the year 0079 of the Universal Century. A war has broken out between the Principality of Zeon, a space colony that wants independence, and the Earth Federation. A teenage boy has to pilot the Federation's new secret weapon when the space colony in which he lives is attacked by Zeon mobile suits, gigantic robots piloted by humans. That new secret weapon is called the Gundam, a far more powerful mobile suit. The story follows Amuro Ray and many other civilians around his age who have to take over a Federation spaceship and become soldiers in order to survive the war against Zeon's forces throughout the One Year War.

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Plot Keywords:

shared universe | outer space | gundam | pilot | mobile suit | 

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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:

16 July 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mobile Suit Gundam

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sotsu Agency, Sunrise

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (43 episodes) 30 min (43 episodes)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Similar to Noah taking the animals to safety from the flood in his ark Bright Noa takes the citizens of Side 7 to safety from the Zeon attack on board the White Base.

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Quotes

Narrator: It is the year 0079 of the Universal Century. A half-century has passed since Earth began moving its burgeoning population into gigantic orbiting space colonies. A new home for mankind, where people are born and raised. And die. 9 months ago, the cluster of colonies furthest from the Earth, called Side 3, proclaimed itself the Principality of Zeon and launched a war of independence against the Earth Federation. Initial fighting lasted over one month and saw both sides lose half their respective...

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Alternate Versions

The American (R1) DVD of Television series is in English only.

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Connections

Spin-off Mobile Suit Gundam AGE (2011)

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Soundtracks

Eien ni Amuro
(Forever Amuro)
Ending theme
Performed by Kô Ikeda with Feeling Free
Lyrics by Rin Iogi (Yoshiyuki Tomino)
Music by Takeo Watanabe
Arrangement by Yûshi Matsuyama

User Reviews

Always imitated, but never duplicated

Macross, Evangellion, and Patlabor. All of these series pale in comparison to the original mecha piloted by a young man with a competitive spirit.

Young protagonist Amuro Ray is pulled out of his everyday monotonous life and is thrown headfirst into adventure and war just by pushing a button or two. Amuro must pilot the Gundam to save his friends. Rivals are made, obstacles are presented, and battles are fought, and Amuro through it all becomes a man and a great pilot, but that's only half of this war story. The other half is about the man in red, Char Aznable, the mysterious masked man who is an ace pilot for the fascist Zeon army, who always pilots red mechs, his signature color, hence his nickname "the Red Comet". No one knows where he came from or what his true objectives are, and this is what draws you in to him. His rivalry with Amuro takes center stage in much of the series, and it keeps you on your toes. Just when you think you got it figured out the battle situation changes.

If you are thinking this show is the campy "good guy always prevails over bad guy" cliché, you're in for a rude awakening. The plot and character's features are a staple for future Gundam series, such as Gundam Wing and more recently Gundam Seed. The formula is the same, the main character is a young man thrown into war and finds a bitter enemy in an enigmatic blond masked man. The formula is interpreted differently in both these shows, but Amuro and Char set the standard for an enjoyable plot that can be imitated in many different ways. Always imitated but never duplicated.

Old men tell me War and Peace is something everyone should read, and I tell them Mobile Suit Gundam is something everyone should see. Sure it has giant robots killing each other but behind the machines there are elements of war that are all around the world today. The pitfalls and the possibilities, the consequences of battle and the reason to fight. I rank Mobile Suit Gundam up there with Platoon and Full Metal Jacket since it shows how violent and horrid war can really be.

The definitive anime for 20+ years, Mobile Suit Gundam. Who will survive?