Mobile Suit Gundam (the Universal Century) // So You Want To Watch
As we mentioned a lifetime ago, Gundam is a complicated beast. Not only has it been running almost constantly since 1979, but the series has multiple different universes and a complicated relationship between those various works as well. The title of most convoluted belongs to the Universal Century, which spans all 40 years of the Gundam franchise and still has works being retconned into the middle of the timeline whenever the owner Bandai feels like it.
Luckily, nearly all of these works are available in some form of English translation officially, and can be found through multiple streaming services if you’d rather stream instead.
As a fairly important side-note, Japan doesn’t really do “canon” the way things are done in the west. Shows are shows, and they all connect together in some way. This doesn’t help Gundam’s timeline, which distorts and contorts itself like tangled spaghetti if you try to apply the western idea of canon.
As with Gundam itself, the Universal Century began back in 1979 with the original Mobile Suit Gundam TV show. In the middle of a devastating war between the Earth Federation and the literal space Nazis of the Principality of Zeon in the year Universal Century 0079, Gundam focuses on the adventures of civilians forced into war. When a neutral space colony (that isn’t so neutral) is wiped out in a Zeon attack, the surviving civilians all gather aboard the top-secret Federation battleship White Base. Aboard the ship, the titular bipedal mecha Gundam. Teenager and socially awkward nerd Amuro Ray finds himself the pilot of the Gundam by sheer chance, and is conscripted by the few surviving soldiers on the White Base.
As the story unfolds, the White Base becomes a hilariously over-the-top magnet for nearly every ace pilot Zeon has. World War II themed ace pilots with fancy color schemes and bleeding edge mobile suits keep coming after it, often as enemies of the week. However, enemy ace Char Aznable certainly steals the show as a foe with charismatic voice actors in both languages, not to mention a penchant for backstabbing friends as often as he kills foes.
The original show introduces all of the themes of “war is bad” that Gundam has become known for, and also brings in the concept of the Newtype. Newtypes are people whose mind has somehow expanded in space, resulting in mental communication, higher reflexes, the ability to predict actions, and even control weapons remotely. The director and head writer, Yoshiyuki Tomino, loves to torment viewers by showing that even enhanced abilities of communication doesn’t prevent misunderstandings or unnecessary deaths, and it really helps keep the show from feeling overly dated.
However, it doesn’t change the quality of animation. Coming from 1979, the show was made on a literal shoestring budget and it shows. Animation is often off-model to incredible degrees, resulting in an entire episode being denied an English translation or dub officially due to the director being embarrassed by it. The show was also cancelled early. This resulted in 43 episodes when most anime received around 50, thanks to low toy sales and ratings. Luckily, the show proved popular enough to get a trio of compilation movies in 1981. The increased budget would allow for re-animated key sequences, trim a lot of the excess plot-fat, and make for a more streamlined experience. Unless you’re into crazy 1970s animation, this may be your choice for viewing.
Please note that the movie trilogy is not officially dubbed, though a hilariously bad dub does exist on the internet. Coming from 1999 VHS tapes, the script shows hallmarks of a lackluster translation and most of the acting is genuinely horrible. A standout is Steve Blum as Char Aznable, although his lines are some of the worst in the trilogy.
2004 would also bring a translation of the novel adaptation Tomino wrote back in the 1980s, which are drastically different. The books are incredibly out of print, but are worth tracking down. The story winds up never touching the Earth, instead focusing on a more “serious” version of a giant robot war between Earth and Space. The translation is a little dry, but it could also be Tomino’s writing.
With model kit and merchandise sales through the roof, and the movie trilogy having more than made back their budget thanks partially to re-using television animation, the new owner of Gundam (Bandai) wanted to go ahead and make a new work. The original crew came back to work on this sequel series, released in 1985. The result would be Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.
Taking place eight years after the original show, in UC 0086, the Earth Federation has become decadent and corrupt forces have grown from within. Calling themselves the Titans, these elites slaughter civilians and treat their Earth Federation comrades cruelly in the name of wiping out the remnants of Zeon. When his family is slaughtered by the Titans, young teenager Kamille Bidan winds up joining with the rebels fighting against them: The Anti-Earth Union Group, or AEUG.
One thing Zeta does extremely well is feature the surviving characters of the previous Gundam show in supporting roles. Captain Noa Bright of the White Base joins the AEUG as their ship commander, while Amuro Ray takes a supporting role in the background when he shows up. Most importantly, Char Aznable has taken the notoriously paper-thin disguise of Quattro Bajeena, ace pilot of the AEUG, and also acts as Kamille’s mentor character for much of the series.
Zeta is a little more down to Earth than its predecessor. The Titans, while comically over the top, are believable fascists in their deeds, especially in 2021. The fact that the Titans eventually find themselves teaming up with actual remnants of Zeon is a wonderful use of political hypocrisy that echoes many problems of the modern day. However, characters often make decisions that can only be defined as “boneheaded” with the story hand-waving it because the character is a Newtype, or giving literally no explanation for a character defecting. It also has one of the most relentlessly depressing endings in the franchise, with characters dropping dead often enough to earn the creator the nickname “Kill ‘em All Tomino.”
Zeta Gundam has a place of worship among much of the fandom, acting like the Empire Strikes Back of Star Wars. While the quality of the show is debatable, it was worshipped enough to receive a 20th anniversary compilation movie in 2005, subtitled A New Translation.
The only downside is that this was a set of compilation movies, not complete remakes. As such, the intercutting of 2005 movie animation vs 1986 TV animation can break some viewers. They also lack a dub, which may be another breaking point for viewers.
Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam is a direct sequel to Zeta Gundam that literally aired the following week. With the Titans utterly destroyed, the AEUG exhausted and undermanned, and the Earth Federation still not giving a crap, the remnants of Zeon decide to start up the war again. With Kamille himself out of commission, it’s up to Captain Bright’s Argama, war orphan Judau Ashta and his friends to fight the Neo Zeon menace.
Due to the relentlessly depressing ending of Zeta Gundam, Tomino swung the family friendly meter back the other way. Hard. The first 17 episodes are crammed full of antics, slapstick comedy, and some truly bizarre decisions made by cast and crew. For viewers worn down by Zeta Gundam’s grind of death, destruction, and more death, it comes as a literal breath of fresh air. However, a lot of international viewers who expected “Zeta Part 2” became immediately disgusted with the show’s lighter tone.
However, the show does move itself back into a more serious tone once it moves from space to Earth. The action slowly moves to a civil war between factions of Neo Zeon, brings in literal child soldiers, and even examines how the remnants of Zeon have survived on the Earth in the almost decade since the original war. While the characters may not take things nearly as seriously as their previous counterparts, their inexperience often lends to the drama and impact of war.
ZZ is definitely a different experience, but it completes the story introduced by Zeta, and does have a solid conclusion that acts as a satisfying ending… until Tomino got to make another Gundam work, anyhow.
Yoshiyuki Tomino had been working on a series of novels while ZZ was in production. What he had written was the final showdown between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, set after the events of ZZ Gundam. When Bandai got word of this, they began throwing money at Tomino to turn it into a motion picture. Tomino also had a second script treatment that got shot down, which he turned into a second novel series, leaving Gundam fans in Japan with Hi-Streamer (the prototype), Beltochika’s Children (the rejected script that was later novelized), and the movie Char’s Counterattack.
Set in UC 0093, Char Aznable has assumed control over the remains of Neo Zeon and reshaped them in his image. Amuro Ray and Noa Bright both have formed the Earth Federation elite force Londo Bell, and don’t believe Char’s promises of peace. Considering Char’s history of backstabbing anyone whenever it became appropriate, they’re right to do so. When Char decides to drop an asteroid on Earth and threatens global winter, it’s up to the Amuro and the Nu Gundam to save the day.
As a motion picture, this is some of the best animation that Gundam has had. Highly detailed and wonderfully scored with a full orchestra, the movie is an all-out assault on the senses. The story is, unfortunately, abbreviated to fit in the two hour run time, but what story the viewer is treated to becomes an examination into what some fans have nicknamed “Char’s Midlife Crisis.” Unfortunately, thanks to Char’s sheer popularity in Japan, some of the other non-Char characters do suffer as a result in lack of screen time and characterization.
The movie does not require seeing Zeta or ZZ Gundam to understand the main story, something Bandai counted on when releasing this movie before either work internationally. However, the movie acts as a great endcap on the “early” Universal Century shows by giving a final answer as to the Amuro/Char rivalry.
1991 would bring a troubled production limping across the finish line. Yoshiyuki Tomino had attempted to bring a new television show into being, set in UC 0123. However, various issues would freeze the production after 13 episode scripts had been written. As a ton of time had been sunk into the project, Mobile Suit Gundam F91 would instead become a motion picture.
Seabook Arno, engineering student on space colony Frontier 4, and his girlfriend Cesily Fairchild are thrust into the middle of a war between the Earth Federation stationed on the Frontier colonies and the Crossbone Vanguard. A new force of literal elite rich people wanting to restore royalty, the Crossbone Vanguard are also run by Cesily’s grandfather. As they’re a group of potentially corrupt fake royals, the military is also headed by Cesily’s insane father, now known as Iron Mask. When it turns out Seabook’s mother was working on a new top-secret Gundam, he and Cesily are drawn to one another despite being on opposing ends of the conflict.
Like Char’s Counterattack before it, F91 is a beautiful movie. There are tons of details both hidden in the background and shoved in the viewer’s face, and the level of intricacy is astounding. However, the movie being made of 13 half-hour episodes also results in some really bizarre and janky pacing. Character development rushes across the screen for minor characters like Annamarie, who betrays the Crossbone Vanguard in minutes for no tangibly-defined reason. The movie also ends without an actual resolution between the Earth Federation and the Crossbone Vanguard.
The other downside is that Yoshiyuki Tomino also did make a sequel to F91… in a manga. Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam has Tomino teaming up with manga artist Yuichi Hasegawa to tell a story about pirate-themed Gundams around Jupiter. The art is dramatically different, but it gives nearly everyone a conclusive ending. Tomino also wrote a novel set about F91, but it only expanded on the movie itself… and no one’s translated it into English.
The last of the main Gundam TV shows released in the Universal Century timeline came in 1993, when Yoshiyuki Tomino was in the middle of a deep and dark time. A lot of his personal projects had been changed beyond his original intent, and rumors say he had run into a lot of actual personal life issues. However, he still wanted to write a Gundam show that would get past the original One Year War that fans had latched onto so hard. Victory would be set in UC 153, almost 75 years past the original conflict, and focusing on the 13 year old Uso Ebbing as a boy caught between private military organization BESPA and the rebels of League Militaire.
However, Bandai would mess with the show, forcing the initial four episodes to be aired in a way that was simultaneously out of order and also a massive flashback. Firefly fans can empathise, but the show does quickly improve as it goes. However, Victory is also relentlessly dark, with named characters dropping like flies on both sides throughout the series. In order to set up those deaths, those same characters will often make the worst and dumbest decisions to set up those deaths, and it can wear on a viewer hard.
Victory has a lot of issues, to say the least. However, it has some really enjoyable characters outside of the stupid ones who die, and the mecha designs are incredible. The animation eschews the shaded style of the era in favor of smooth animation, which can seem off at first. However, it is generally pleasing to the eye, and makes the action stand out nicely.
Whenever we return with Gundam in So You Want to Watch Anime, we’ll focus on the original video animations made for the Universal Century. Someday!
