Sup,There's alot to cover in 0079. Here goes...
"It is the year 0079 of the Universal Century, a half century has passed since the Earth began moving it burgeoning population into gigantic orbiting space colonies. A new home for mankind, where people are born and raised, and die. Nine months ago, the cluster of colonies furthest from the Earth called Side Three, 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 side loose half there respective populations. People were horrified by the indescribable atrocities committed in the name of independence. Eight months had passed since the rebellion had begun, they were at a stale mate."
And so begins the first ever episode of Mobile Suit Gundam.
So it's 1979 and kids are sat in front of their TV screens waiting to watch the latest mecha anime series. 1978 had been a home to series such as Battle of the Planets (Kagaku ninja tai Gatchaman), Space Pirate Captain Harlock, and Daitarn 3, another mecha anime directed by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino. Now it was 1979, and the age of the Gundam had arived.
The TV screen flickers to life, and we see a picture of the Earth being surrounded by a beam of light. We hear dark and brooding music begin and then... and then the most horrendous opening theme I have ever heard opens the show. If I hadn't seen other Gundam series before I watched 0079, I wouldn't of stuck with it. Ok, granted that it's the seventies, but it's no excuse for this. And it's one of those songs that plays games with you, you think it's finished but oh no, let's carry on with verse two.
Ok, yeah, I do think it's a cool opening, but only because it's stupidly retro and it's Gundam. I mean the pictures are fine, we're seeing different mechas, people jumping into core fighters, and waves of Zaku forces preparing to fight, but that song is just dreadful. It's the stuff that nightmares are made of.
You want to see how a 70's opening should be done? Check out Space Pirate Captain Harlock.
Ok, so the show opens with Zeon forces sneaking into the Side 7 colony and discovering an Earth Federation base. Along with the the base they also uncover the 'V-Project', the Earth Federation's top secret Mobile Suit (MS) project. The Zeon attack and 15 year colonist Amuro Ray takes it upon himself to jump into a MS and defend the colony. The MS he decides to take is the brand new weapon, Gundam. He defends the colony with the help of the Gundam's 'instruction manual' (a definite WTF! moment) - and due to his inexperience, he blows a hole in the side of the colony. He joins forces with the new Federation Battleship 'Whitebase' (which looks like a flying 2 car garage), and there you have it, Amuro Ray, a civilian with no MS piloting skills has become the soul pilot of the Federation's most powerful weapon.
The series basically follows the crew of the Whitebase and Amuro as they continue the struggle against the Zeon forces. Along the way Amuro must learn how to use both his Gundam and his 'Newtype' abilities. I'll get to what a Newtype is later.
Now as with nearly everything ever, and mecha anime is no exception, for every hero there is always 'the evil nemesis'. It's that old 'good verses evil' chestnut. The evil antagonistic force in 0079 is the tyrannical Zabi family headed by the super fat Degwin Zabi, a man who wants nothing more than independence for those who live in space, and so he declares war with his 'Nazi-like' Principality of Zeon.
The Zeon to Nazi hints are subtle, but they're there. The Zeon uniform is the most obvious. In one of Degwin's final scenes he refers to his eldest son, Ghiren, as a self styled Adolf Hitler. There are five main Zabi's: Degwin, Ghiren, Kacillia, Dozle and Garma. We also get a small glimpse of Minerva Zabi as a newly born baby. Minerva plays a large part in MS:Zeta Gundam and MS:ZZ Gundam.
The Zabi's are memorable, and I think they play there part as the 'big in your face' antagonists well. However compared to the series main antogonist, Char Aznable, the Zabi's are nothing.
Char Aznable is the most well known villain in the entire of the Gundam universe, and is most definitely my favorite character throughout the entire series. Char, unlike many of the characters in MS:G actually has a reason to fight. His real name is Casval Rem Deikun. Char Aznable is the alias he uses while in Zeon. His main goal is to over throw the Zabi's and get revenge for his father, the founder of the Zeon Empire, Zeon Zum Deikun, who was murdered by the Zabi's. He is also known among both the Zeon and Federation Forces as 'The Red Comet', on account of him being an ace pilot, and his MS are always painted red. This also reminds me of the whole Nazi thing, as in WW1 the Germans had an ace pilot nicknamed 'The Red Barron'.
Both Char and Amuro are 'Newtypes'. The next evolutionary step for humans. Basically a newtype can sense other Newtypes on the battlefield, and they have exceptional piloting and mechanic skills. As I said in my brief Gundam history, a Newtypes 'powers' work in a similar way to the force.Also, Char takes a young apprentice named Lalah Sune under his wing. She is also a Newtype. While fighting in the Mobile Armor Elmeth against Amuro, she is killed. Both Amuro and Char become haunted by her spirit.
Ok, I feel like i'm starting to ramble. If you've seen the series you know just how massive is its, and how impossible it is to put it all in one blog, but i've managed to cover some of the main points and characters in this review. I can't even begin to try and summarise 43 episodes in one blog, it's impossible.
To summerise; Gundam: 0079 is an old school anmie. The story isn't perfect and the animation can look really dated at times. But with memorable characters, retro mecha and definite re-watchability, it's pretty awesome. If your new to Gundam then its a great starting place, if you can get over the 70's style animation, and the opening credits that is.
Score out of ten? 9/10 - It's the original Gundam series, nuff said. Not my favorite series, but in my top three Gundam shows.
Right, thats it for my first Gundam summary/review/overview. If you've bothered to read this far then cheers, thanks for reading. I don't know what the next review will be, but since I just got Dynasty warriors: Gundam 2, it might be that.
Thanks for reading
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