Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

Release: 1985

Director: Yoshiyuki Tomino

Rating: *****

Now we reach the meat of the pie as it were. After the original Mobile Suit Gundam was cut short, Yoshiyuki Tomino continued having little luck creating a hit mecha show. Once Gundam started to obtain followers, and shows like Macross proved you could stick a high production value on a TV anime and turn a profit, Tomino was ready to try again. This time he would succeed. 

Zeta Gundam is set eight years after the conflict in UC0079. After Zeon loses the war, the Earth Federation goes to great lengths to keep the colonies in line. An elite faction called the Titans was created to impose it's grip on spacenoids, quelling any call for equal rights. The only opposition to the Federation's complete domination of space is a rebel group called the Anti-Earth Union Group, or AEUG. This small faction is helmed by some of the veterans of the previous war. Gone is Amuro from the pilot seat this time. In his place is Kamille Bidan, a young, hot tempered teenager who builds a personal grudge against the Titans. 

Zeta Gundam marks a huge increase in art and animation quality compared to the original show. While the original Gundam was a product of the 1970s with it's bright colour palette, Zeta is a product of the 1980s. Most of the tones are darker, with less goofy designs by comparison.

While the mecha in the original series moved like a person in a costume, Zeta feels much more realistic. The continuity of sound effects are present and they still sound great today. The music is also some of the best in the whole franchise.

The show is not without some problems to note. It is a sequel to the original Gundam and as such, it's really suggested that you see that show first. It's not a requirement but it really helps flesh out so many of the characters who return for Zeta. Also, something you will find to be a trend for the Gundam universe is that it sort of just drops you in the middle of it all. If you don't go with the flow early on, you'll be asking questions that the show is not prepared to answer yet.

Some of the series tropes are first created in Zeta. This is the first Gundam series where the pilot gets a mech upgrade during the show, something that happens in nigh on every main Gundam series after this. This also is the first to do a faction role reversal. While you spend the whole time watching the original Mobile Suit Gundam on the side of the Earth Federation, Zeta portrays the second half of the coin. This is also something that happens reasonably often in Gundam.

Finally, Zeta Gundam grows to be incredibly dark in tone. I won't spoil the show needless to say, it was not something that people did when writing a mecha anime at the time. 

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is the anime that cements the Gundam franchise into Japanese pop culture. While there are many great Gundam shows to come, it's difficult to say if it ever got better than this. Most anime are flawed and I throw this word around for very few of them but Zeta Gundam is perfect. I would not change a thing about it.

Mobile Suit Gundam

Release: 1979

Director: Yoshiyuki Tomino

Rating: ****

In 1979, Yoshiyuki Tomino created a enormous divide in the Giant Robot or Mecha genre. Largely filled with flashy super hero robots, Tomino envisioned a future with realism. Gone were the rocket punches and special move names and in their place we have warfare tactics and more contemporary weapons. This change allowed for a story that focused more on political and ideological struggles as opposed to weekly good versus evil arenas. Fans refer to these now sub genres and Super Robot and Real Robot. This new change breathed life into the almost stagnating Mecha genre and most of the famous Mecha shows we have today are thanks in no small part to Tomino's work.

Gundam takes place during the new calender of Universal Century 0079. UC marks the first steps into space colonization from the necessity to preserve the ecosystem of the Earth. The rich and privileged primarily live on earth while the majority of the human race live on giant space colony clusters called Sides. The conflict between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon continues at an almost stalemate as the young boy Amuro Ray stumbles upon the Federation's new mobile weapon Gundam while his colony of Side 7 is being attacked. Being the best choice for piloting the Gundam he soon finds himself having to look at his life through a bigger lens.

The Gundam franchise is a space opera and as such is largely about the characters. Sure there are tons of set pieces and battles but seldom do battles ever take place just for the sake of it. One thing to note going in is that Gundam is quite old for it's kind and I would be hard pressed to say it doesn't show. The animation cannot compare to Macross which came out only shortly after. The original Gundam also suffered poor ratings during it's first run and as a result had to be cut short. This causes the ending to feel somewhat rushed compared to some later Gundam shows. It wasn't until the model kits or “Gunpla” came out that the fanbase for Gundam really started to expand.

On the surface, the show looks rather unscientific for something trying to portray realism in robots but with a little reading you will see a fantastic wealth of mechanics and very little use of “magic energy” such as warp drives. If you don't know what a minovsky particle is or you don't know the difference between a Zaku and a Dom. Don't worry, it all comes with a little time. The problem is, at even the shortened length of 43 episodes, it's quite a lot to sit through unless you're really committed to watching dated looking shows. Thankfully the whole series was compiled into 3 movies and I hear they basically get you though the original show without missing anything important. Alternatively to even that, there is a faithful manga called Gundam The Origin which retells the events of the original series but using updated Mecha designs. If you want something a little bit different and far more dark, I recommend the Novel by Yoshiyuki Tomino which is a very different version of the story.

Ultimately Gundam was a revolution for anime and it's effects have gone even so far as the recent Pacific Rim. Without Gundam there would be no Macross, no Evangelion, No Votoms. That being said. The original Mobile Suit Gundam is not the best the franchise has to offer but it makes a great opener to the next series. Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.