Mobile Suit Gundam
Mobile Suit Gundam is the original wartime fairy tale. Set against the futuristic backdrop of the year 0079 Univeral Century (UC), MS Gundam begins in the midst of a war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon. One side fights to uphold an Earth-based unity throughout the cosmos, while the other struggles to gain its independence. The Federation wants its outer space colonies to be a loyal part of its integrity, but the Principality — once called a Republic — wishes to break off and exercise its right to self-determination.
Caught in the midst of this are all kinds of people, soldiers and civilians alike. One civilian, the son of a brilliant scientist working for the military, is our would-be hero. His name is Amuro Ray, a genius like his father, hot-blooded about the new technology blossoming on the battlefield: Mobile Suits. These walking, flying giant suits of armour are the new face of war, helping to revolutionise combat on both a practical and psychological level. Zeon was the first to develop advanced forms of mobile suits, their new staple being the Zaku, a tankish, bully of a vehicle. The Federation, desperate to counter Zeon, are hard at work on a new prototype which just might swing the war in their favour: The Gundam.
By mistake, by accident, perhaps by fate, the colony on which the Gundam is being secretly developed comes under attack by the Zeon, and the young Amuro Ray becomes its pilot. As two Zakus reign havoc within the colony, Amuro brings the Gundam to life and extinguishes the threat to his home. In this single moment, history is made, and Gundam begins.
Real Mecha
From here, I’m going to assume that you have sufficient Gundam knowledge to follow me when it comes to characters and events. If you don’t, take a moment to read this.
Done? Good.
Being that Gundam’s pedigree is so enormous, spanning almost 30 years of sequels and spinoffs, it’s difficult to even call its fandom any one thing. There are UC fans, AU fans, Wing fans, SEED fans, general mecha fans, etc. There is a general divide between the UC fans, who most would describe as champions of the “old school”, and AU fans, whom are decidedly “new school”. The fight has been largely one-sided, with the UC attacking the AU fans over the years, right up until the time when SEED came to pass. Then the AU found itself at odds with itself, Wing fans attacking SEED fans and vice versa. Suffice to say, the fandom likes to argue.
But the UC has always stood “united”. The only chink in its armour tends to be F91 (which no one talks about) and the first half of ZZ (which can be forgiven due to its second half). Yet I’ve always been sceptical of the platform. Why? Because there is an inordinate amount of reverence for the original Gundam, and yet very little talk of its actual qualifications.
When I tried to watch the original MS Gundam, I couldn’t believe this was the show that had borne such fandom. This was realistic? This was acceptable for reverence? Nonsense. Of course, my attitude quieted itself when ideas of context asserted themselves. As Wildarmsheero pointed out, “…the medium of Japanese animation was still coming into itself as a means of storytelling…”. Unlike him however, I prefer Yamato to Gundam, only because Yamato doesn’t try to pretend that it’s anything beyond a silly space opera.
In context, Gundam was the first “realistic” shot at a giant mecha series. It dealt realistically with the effects of war, widespread death, etc. Yoshiyuki Tomino is notorious for mass slaughter in his works, and MS Gundam is an example of his sadism. 3 billion people are wiped out in a single week.
My mind eventually made the connection of why the One Week War is so important. In its day-to-day events, Gundam presents very little that charms me, but the far-reaching consequences of its wartime backdrop are what draw people in. The One Week War was Hiroshima and Nagasaki all over again, a nightmarish reminder that struck a chord with the Japanese viewer. I can feel no such horror, but I can imagine. It’s events like these which punched viewers in the gut and made them feel it.
The characters are overall likeable, but sometimes I have to wonder why anyone even remembers Amuro Ray. He’s a washout, an emo kid with a defeatist attitude. Zeta Gundam’s Camille isn’t much better, but he becomes infinitely more interesting once he’s past that stage. If not for Lalah and Char, I’m not sure Amuro would have made much impact at all.
Char is of course, the meat and potatoes (or fish and rice) of the story. He’s one of the most popular anime figures ever created, and for good reason. Char is an example of what Gundam does best, across the board. He’s a double-crossing idealist, whose morals remain ambiguous and yet you can’t help but cheer him on. Char is an in-story personification of the war at large, and gives the viewer a real sense of how greyscale those circumstances can be. One knows that Giren Zabi is little more than a Hitler clone, but you don’t have to like him to sympathise with the Zeonic wish for independence. On the other hand, the Federation often plays dirty, but as an Earth native of the real world, there’s a loyalty you can’t escape. This is why UC Gundam is so great.
Is MS Gundam great? We still haven’t answered that question. Events within it are, and they have a very strong connection to the audience. But the day to day events need to match up as well. They don’t. Gundam is very, very boring when it’s not in the thick of the action. What’s more, a lot of the characters suffer from that overtly cartoonish look of the 70’s. Hayato for instance is… Well, a dwarf. Look at this poor bastard:
What kind god created him? By comparison, Zeta and ZZ Gundam are wholly more humane:
I realise that Gundam was created in 1979, and so the art suffers, but it’s hard to lose oneself in the war story when the characters look so cartoonish. Even by comparison, Yamato is not nearly so strange.
By and large, I think Gundam’s main issue is that it tries to appeal to children as well as teenagers. There’s a “cuddly” factor to some of the characters, and even machines like the Guntank and Guncannon can be described as “adorable”. The RX-78 Gundam itself however is another matter. Bearing vestiges from the days of the samurai (helmet features, sabre, etc), its towering figure versus that of the tank-like Zaku are clearly meant to appeal to an older audience, and here is where a dichotomy emerges.
On the one hand, you have moments designed specifically to appeal to the older crowd. Degwin Sodo Zabi and his son Giren, both leaders of Zeon share a moment, where Degwin accuses Giren of being much like Hitler. Amused and even complimented, Giren accepts his father’s words as a reinforcement of his vision. It’s a horrible moment, and everyone knows just how sadistic Giren is.
That’s not a moment for kids, and the show branches off quite heavily there. By comparison, Kai Shiden, Hayato, Frau Bow (and her adopted troupe of children) try to appeal to the younger crowd, and by doing so confuse the whole presentation. Suffice to say, MS Gundam has a lot of weak links which mar is ability to deliver the war story it wants to.
Thus, is MS Gundam good? Yes. But it’s not great. It is the foundation upon which greatness can be built, and it sets the stage for far better productions like Zeta and 08th MS Team. Its world is great, and that is its true value, but as a show it’s a rather frail being that can’t quite decide what it wants to be.
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