#Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space

[roseillith]

[kaxtwenty]

YES, MY SWEET, YES MY SWEETEST

I WANNA GET BACK WHERE YOU WERE

ITOSHII HITO YO MOU ICHIDO

YES, MY SWEET, YES MY SWEETEST

I WANNA GET BACK WHERE YOU WERE

DARE MO HITORI DEHA IKIRARENAI

[ceddrawing]

encounters in space but it's the blood debts ending

[sapphirered]

Canadian Theatrical News: Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space

As part of their Anime Expo Cinema Nights program, Iconic Releasing is bringing Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space to Canadian theatres this October. The 1982 feature is the final entry in a trilogy of movies compiling footage from the 1979-1980 television series of the same name. The film encompasses episodes 31 through 43. It was initially given a direct-to-video release in North…

[yurimother]

The 2023 Yuri Guide - Anime

Your ultimate guide to the best Yuri content with over 200 curated titles from every genre and medium.

Adachi and Shimamura

• School • Slice of Life • Romance • Friends to Lovers • Slow burn

Adachi and Shimamura's days of skipping school offer a new world to explore. But as these delinquents bond, unexpected emotions begin to blossom. Now if they could just admit how they feel…

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub/Dub)

BIRDIE WING -Golf Girls' Story-

• Sports • Comedy • Drama

Eve is an underground golfer who supports poor street orphans with the money she makes from illegal golfing matches. But her life is about to change forever when she meets a young golfer who's just arrived from Japan...

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub)

The Executioner and Her Way of Life

• Action • Fantasy • Isekai • Enemies to Lovers

When Menou, an Executioner of deadly interdimensional “Lost Ones,” encounters a Lost One named Akari who can cheat death, she sets out on a mission to kill the unkillable girl — but her newly stirring feelings might get in the way of her blade.

Streaming on HIDIVE (Sub/Dub)

Flip Flappers

• Fantasy • Action • Magical Girl • Love at First Sight

Cocona’s world is turned upside down with the appearance of Papika. They set off on an adventure in “Pure Illusion.” In the pursuit of the “Shards of Mimi,” obstacles arise, and the shards enable them to transform.

Streaming on HIDIVE (Sub/Dub)

If My Favorite Pop Idol Made it to the Budokan, I Would Die

• Comedy • Music • Multiple Couples • Love at First Sight

Two years ago, super-fan Eripiyo was hypnotized by Maina Ichii and her pop group ChamJam. Now Eri dreams of seeing her favorite group make it big, to the Budokan arena! Her passionate desire consumes money and time—but no cost is too high. This is fandom!

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub/Dub)

Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san

• School • Slice of Life • Comedy • Multiple Couples

A mutual friend introduces Yachiyo Inugami, a dog-like girl who loves cats, and Suzu Nekoyama, a cat-like girl who loves dogs. The girls find themselves drawn in by their opposite traits and the most outlandish relationship starts to take form in this wild comedy that will have you barking (and meowing?) with laughter.

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub)

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady

• Fantasy • Romance • Comedy • Isekai 

When noblewoman Euphyllia is unjustly stripped of her title as the kingdom’s next monarch, the buffoonish Princess Anisphia takes it upon herself to right this wrong. Despite being taken for a fool ’cause of her silly antics, Anisphia is a magic genius, and she has a plan to help Euphyllia regain her good name. But little do they know—their encounter will alter the kingdom and the entire world! Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub)

Maria Watches Over Us

• School • Slice of Life • Senpai/Kouhai • Multiple Couples

Students at Lillian Girls’ Academy become “soeurs” to support each other during their time at school. Shy Yumi Fukuzawa never thought she’d attract a soeur like the beautiful Sachiko Ogasawara, but Sachiko has unexpectedly set her sights on Yumi!

Streaming on HIDIVE (sub)

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury

• Sci-Fi • Mecha • Action • School • Drama • Marriage

A.S. (Ad Stella) 122― An era when a multitude of corporations have entered space and built a huge economic system. A lone girl from the remote planet Mercury transfers to the Asticassia School of Technology, run by the Beneritt Group which dominates the mobile suit industry. Her name is Suletta Mercury. With a scarlet light burning in her pure heart, this girl walks step by step through a new world.

Streaming on Crunchyroll (sub/dub)

Otherside Picnic

• Action • Sci-FI • Horror • Slow Burn

Moments from death, Sorawo is saved by the mysterious Toriko in the world of the Otherside. Entranced by its beauty, she discovers that this dimension is inhabited by monsters once thought imaginary. Joining with Toriko in her search for a missing friend, they set out to explore this nightmare realm and maybe make a little money. What they encounter could bring enlightenment—or drive them mad!

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub/Dub)

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

• Fantasy • Magical Girl • Horror • Tragedy • Fated Lovers • Multiple Couples

Madoka Kaname is an average 14-year-old girl who loves her family and friends. One fateful day, this all changes when she has a very magical encounter with a strange creature called a Kyubey. Kyubey have the power to grant one wish to chosen girls. However, in exchange, those chosen must become magical girls and use their powers to fight against witches, evil creatures born from darkness and catalysts of despair. Was this encounter by chance or fate? No matter the circumstance, this will surely change her destiny.

Movies Beginnings and Eternal retell this legendary and dark fantasy story with new and retouched animation and voice acting. The sequel film Rebellion follows Homura, unable to let her memories die, the magical girl continues to fight alone in the world that Madoka left behind, dreaming of meeting that nostalgic smiling face one more time...

TV - Streaming on Crunchyroll/Hulu (Sub) Films licensed by Aniplex of America

Revue Starlight

• School • Action • Drama • Weak Yuri

Childhood friends Karen and Hikari promised that they would one day become the next theatrical stars. Years later, the two finally have their chance during a mysterious audition, but they are not the only ones who have trained for this moment.

Streaming on HIDIVE (Sub/Dub)

Riddle Story of Devil (Akuma no Riddle)

• School • Action • Enemies to Lovers • Multiple Couples • Love at First Sight

Twelve female assassins are sent to a prestigious boarding school to compete against each other in a secret killing game. The winner will be granted anything her heart desires, but only one girl can come out on top. The mission is simple: send fellow student Haru Ichinose to an early grave. The task should be easy for heartless assassin, Toukaku Azuma – but everything changes when she finds herself strangely drawn to her naive target. Her decision to use her lethal skills to keep her new friend alive will raise the stakes of the game and push the girls closer together as the other beauties threaten to tear them apart.

Streaming on Funimation (Sub/dub)

Sakura Trick

• School • Slice of Life • Comedy • Friends to Lovers • Multiple Couples

Best friends Haruka and Yu are about to take their relationship from friendship to something more when they share a kiss! But when one kiss becomes two and three, how will their relationship change?

Streaming on HIDIVE (Sub)

Strawberry Panic

• School • Drama • Romance • Senpai/Kouhai • Multiple Couples • Love at First Sight

Nagisa has just transferred to a prestigious all-girls school that happens to share a campus with two other elite academies for young women. The new surroundings are overwhelming but Nagisa quickly adapts to life in Strawberry Hall with the help of her new friends. However, when Nagisa catches the eye of the mysterious Shizuma, the respected representative of all three schools, both their lives are forever changed. A bond beyond mere friendship develops between the two ladies amidst a chaotic school year full of heated conflicts, petty jealousies, and crossed boundaries.

Streaming on Crunchyroll/RetroCrush (Sub)

Sweet Blue Flowers

• School • Romance • Drama • Friends to Lovers

Fumi Manjoume enters Kamakura's accelerated high school - Matsuoka All-Girls High School. While waiting at the Kamakura station on the day of her entrance ceremony, she runs into an old childhood friend whom she had not seen in 10 years: Akira Okudaira. As their friendship is rekindled and they start falling back into the rhythm of friends again, it starts a delicate love story...

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub)

Volicia of Pluto

• Action • Indie • Sci-Fi • Mecha

In 2006, Akiko Hoshigami’s dreams of track-and-field stardom are dashed after a leg injury. She enters high school with her best friend, Ayano Umisoe, and between club activites and meeting new friends, the empty Akio begins to resember her former self. Until one day, Ayano suddenly dissapears.

Streaming on YouTube (Sub)

Yurikuma Arashi

• School • Drama • Sci-Fi • Enemies to Lovers • Multiple Couples

In a world divided between humans and hyper-intelligent, man-eating bears, Kureha attends an all-girls school and holds onto a simple wish—to spend the rest of her life with her classmate and soul mate, Sumika. But after a secret rendezvous ends in tragedy, Kureha vows to never back down on her love and put a bullet in any bear she meets.

Streaming on Funimation (Sub/Dub)

YuruYuri

• School • Slice of Life • Comedy • Multiple Couples

Four students decide to occupy the room of the defunct tea ceremony club, dubbing it the ‘Amusement Club.’ While the Student Council does its best to eliminate this club, their endless energy, happiness, and comedy will keep audiences smiling all season long!

Streaming on Crunchyroll (Sub)

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[g-witchsulettaneedsahug]

Been wanting to scream about this for a while now, figured now is a good as ever time to do so.

So Gundam: Witch From Mercury really leans heavily into the whole witches and witchcraft theme, which is interesting for a sci-fi show. Not to say that they don't do it gloriously tho and in this post I will be pointing towards some of the symbolism that I noticed in the show.

The series starts with the first witch we see inside a Gundam Mobile Suit, none other then our dearest Elnora Samaya, also now known as Prospera Mercury. During the prologue, before anything else, we see her and once she exists the dark of the cockpit its revealed that she has fiery, blood red hair.

(Source: prologue G-witch)

Historically, witchcraft has been associated with red heads because of the many prejeduces against them. Red heads are a minority who have been associated with a lot interesting figure, from Judas who betrayed Jesus to the depictions of Lilith. This has given redheads a negative connotations in the Western World.

Next we see that the head researcher leading this project on GUND-format is also a woman, an older woman at that. Dr Cardo Nabo is the visionary leading this project, dedicated to the cause of making the GUND-format work in conjunction with humanity, in order to improve their lives and perserve their future. She knows that humanity, if it wishes to expand further into space and continuenits next steps into exploration and living outside of Earth, will need technology in order to aid their bodies in order to survive and thrive.

Older women involved in a form of medicine is an other motif in witchcraft and witch stereotypes. Witches were often involved in medicine and care. Cardo is the italian way of refering to a thistle, a purple green prickly flower that was said tp have medicinal properties in the middle ages.

(Source: Prologue G-witch)

During this prologue and later in the show it is revealed that the reason why the Vanadis Institute, of which Dr. Nabo was the head of, was doing resesrch into the GUND-format in conjunction with Mobile Suits because that was the primary way to get access to money for further research. Military funding through Ochs-Earth, an Earthian military company, would allow the Institute to further their goals and to show the viability of the GUND-format.

However, they encountered difficulties during their research. Mobile Suits are far larger and more difficult to control then prostethic limbs. The higher the permet score used by an individual to control more of the suit, the more the chance of death grows. Anything higher then score 3 caused deaths to the user because of, presumably, a data overload caused by the Permet link.

This caused a lot of ethical debates and strife, presumably, where the GUND-format was cast into a dangerous and even inhuman light because of its potential to not just kill others but also the users themselves. This led to the eventual forceful suspension of the project by the council, during which Cathedra used the Dominicus Forces to attack and kill all those present on Fólkvangr, the asteroid where the Vanadis Institute was located. Those present on Fólkvangr were both staff of the institute as well as their family. Everyone who was involved or related to the development of the GUND-format were killed in what is essentially a witch hunt.

Fólkvangr is an other reference to witchcraft, as in Norse Mythology this is a heavenly field in the afterlife ruled over by Freyja, a goddess of many things including magic (to see and influence the future). An other name for Freyja is Vanadís. Once again, this is a reference to paganism and witchcraft within the G-Witch universe thats quite obvious. Ochs also may or may not be a reference to the Old English word for "Oak" (not too sure about that one), if this is indeed true then this may be a reference to Thor, god of Thunder and Lightening as well as a warrior. I considered connecting oaks to Yggdrasil, the world tree, but that is an Ash tree, not an oak.

During the discussion in which the Mobile Suit council werebdeciding the fate of further development of Gundam Mobile Suits, Delling came forth and said that they had to "Wield the hammer of witches" in order to put a stop to the development of Gundams. The "hammer of the witches" is a reference to the Malleus Maleficarum, a 15th century guide on hunting and persecuting witches.

During his speech at the conference, he also calls the fact that gundams kill not only other soldiers but also their wielders a curse, once again a reference to witches. Prior to saying this he also says however that humans should kill humans, instead of humans being killed by just technology (really simplifying this) but essentially what he is saying is that the Gundams killing their wielders is unnatural and goes against the normal way of things.

(Source: Prologue G-witch)

The irony of this is also the name of these organisations. Cathedra is a literal reference to the throne upon which a bishop sits, Dominicus means "of the Lord/Lord's". Both are a reference towards christianity and its opposition to both withcraft and paganism.

Now we have established whom exactly this show calls "Witches", these are the people involved in the manufacturing, research, development and piloting of the GUND-format and Mobile Suits using said format, be it for medicinal or war uses. If you are associated or sympathize with the use of this technology, you are considered "a witch".

Putting this into context, we can now also look at the name "Witch From Mercury". Who does this refer to? I've seen people argue that this might be Aerial or Prospera, but I sincerely disagree. As of the knowledge we have come to learn of in both the short novel as well as everything from episode 16/season 2 episode 4 onwards, we can assume that Suletta was the only one actually raised on Mercury and who feels any connection to the planet at all. Suletta, as both a pilot of a Mobile Suit using the GUND-format as well as the daughter of a witch (Elnora/Prospera), is a witch.

(Source: G-witch teaser announcement)

Now onto my FAVOURITE part: the 2nd ED Red Birthmark. Oh boi this baby has some of the more blatant witch references, I absolutely love it ngl. Starting with the name itself, historically one of the methods to hunt for witches was to check for birthmarks/skin marks. Having strange birthmarkings or an insensitive patch of skin was basically proof enough of you being a witch, again a part of the witch hunt theme.

The song, which I am convinced is from Miorine's perspective (tho maybe/perhaps Aerial, tho thats a small maybe), makes references to seeing into the future, not liking whats in it and changing destiny yourself. Once again, these are themes of clairvoyance, the sort of magic Freyja is associated with (aka Vanadís). Witches were often said to be able to look into the future and change things as well.

Next we have the visual parts if the ED. I'm sure we all ate utterly in love with.

From 0:44 to 1:00 we have this beautiful sequence of Suletta dancing and conducting GUN-bits.

First Suletta creates a stylized version of the Triple Goddess Symbol, a well known pagan icon amongst both witchcraft practitioners as well as wiccans. The symbol contains 3 moons in different phases; waxing, full and waning. The symbol represents the 3 phases of the goddess; the maiden, the mother and the crone. This is both the life lifecycle of a girl as well as the eay that wisdom is often bestowed upon a person, from the elderly to the adults to the children. You could even argue that this could represent Dr. Nabo, Elnora/Prospera and Suletta.

(Source: G-witch 2nd ED)

Following this we have 5 Suletta's dancing together in which one can assume is a circle dance. Circle dances bave historically been associated with both witches, pagans and cultists. Something ritualistic.

Anyway I'm tired now but there are like way more witchcraft references in the whole show that I can't get into right now cause I'm tired lmao. Anyway have fun with the above, peace.

[jjr1971]

My half-Japanese ex-girlfriend was the one who pointed out to me that the iconic Mobile Suit Gundam shares the same basic red white blue gold color scheme as Sailor Moon (Usagi Tsukino). In my limited experience with Gundam, the hero's Gundam always hews very close to this original, iconic design. My first Gundam series was Gundam Unicorn when it was streaming for free (with ads) on Sunrise's YouTube channel. It was even on Netflix for a time. No longer and it is of course out of print on physical media. I don't recommend it as a first Gundam show. Probably the best would be the original 1979 Gundam with the Canadian dub currently streaming on Crunchyroll. My first real Gundam series that I watched from start to finish was Mobile Suit Gundam: the Witch From Mercury, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I had watched some MSG: Iron Blooded Orphans here and there but never stuck with it. I just finished Gundam Seed some time ago and enjoyed it and also the 3rd compilation movie of the OG Gundam franchise, Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space from 1982 which I saw subbed at my local AMC theater. I went back and am currently watching original Gundam on Crunchyroll with the Canadian dub as well as Gundam Wing, also with a Canadian dub. I also binged the short CGI series Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance, which is 6 episodes long and looks photo-realistic, like a videogame cut scene....it's a little uncanny valley but you get used to it. Since it's told from the perspective of the Zeon forces, it plays out like a horror movie, with the iconic Mobile Suit Gundam suddenly showing up and cutting them down, stalking and killing them relentlessly and looking cool AF doing it. The Zeon Zaku units look really cool, how they might look in real life or in a movie like Pacific Rim. The identity of the Gundam pilot is not revealed until the very end and it is every bit as heartbreaking & tragic as you can imagine. I'm still not a hardcore Gundam fan and I'm not interested in Gunpla, but I'm enjoying slowly getting more immersed in the Gundam franchise in my own way. I'm watching Mobile Suit Gundam Seed and Gundam See Destiny because I really really like Hisashi Hirai's character designs, his distinctive style that is consistent across different anime properties. His characters look especially innocent and appealing, puppy-dog eyes, etc. I'm enjoying original Gundam as well as Gundam Wing but for now I'm focusing on finishing Gundam Seed Destiny before I finish Gundam Wing and original Gundam.

[derpycon]

DerpyCon is saddened to learn of passing of Doc Harris this week at 76. Best known among our audience for his Narration work for Dragon Ball Z, Mr. Harris began his career in radio broadcasting in Canada in 1966. He was known by names such as “Gil Harris” and “Doc Holiday” before he took on the moniker of Doc Harris. Mr. Harris also voiced other characters in the Dragon Ball Z dub, along with roles such as Grogar in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and voices in Monster Rancher, Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters in Space, Aegis Defenders, Ninjago, Hulk: The Video Game, and Captain N The Game Master. Our condolences go to his family and fans.

[toyota-supra]

I told this to Winter before but I’d like to post abt it for a bit

I think a lot about how Mobile Suit Gundam is a show about distance in the same way that Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is a show about the lack of distance.

Spoilers for both shows after the read more.

In Gundam, there are only two factions at play, both acting at the ends of human-habited space. Their enemies barely show contact with each other, as they rarely exchange communications between battle.

In the White Base, it is a whole ordeal to for its crew to even get contact or support with the rest of the Federation at all.

Char, the Red Comet, first real enemy of the White Base, disappears from the show for a very long time, with barely any news of him, leaving both characters and viewers unsure of his return.

One of the biggest aspects of drama in the show are a pair of siblings, separated for years, struggling with their own sides in this war.

The most notable exchange of touch between two characters happens in the last episodes of the show, between rivals that had violently fought each other countless times before, barely knowing the face of one another for that entire time.

Even in the figurative sense, Amuro’s journey is all about separation. From his home, his father, his mother, and everyone that’s ever cared about him. It is only near the end that he truly holds onto that connection that he has with people, after he’s lost so much already because of that distance. Some of this show’s most powerful episodes were at moments when someone straight up left their friends behind when they shouldn’t. Some of Amuro’s worst regrets were at a time when he was separated by a locked door from everyone else that could help him.

The conflict in the show is called the One Year War, damn it. It’s all about a long time, a long travel, a long way from home, etc.

Now think about Zeta Gundam.

The show starts with Kamille watching two of the closest people die in front of him.

The two rivals from before, 7 years without hearing from each other, now exchange words and drinks in person.

Now all the factions fight over smaller territories, instead of the larger encompassing space of the one year war. And they do this with Mobile Suits that actually talk to each other. Strong enemies in battle, instead of barely seeing each other as people, intimately know how who they’re fighting against look and sound like. They often meet outside of their Mobile Suits. They exchange punches, kicks, and sometimes even words of understanding.

Something I noticed from the first few episodes is just how narrow the corridors in those ships are. I never noticed this in the other show, but in Zeta, most corridors shown are barely two people wide. It is physically impossible to go past someone without some kind of dodging around them.

Because of this, intimate encounters in the hallways are also very common. Kamille and Fa, the only people in the show who would be at each other’s side no matter what, when or why, hold each other like it’s as natural as breathing. A strong embrace, something that in the previous show was a season-ending scene, was now just a small piece of the lives of these two.

People in Zeta don’t die in explosions, their bodies never found. They die in their comrades’ arms, outside of their Mobile Suits, and their hopes and dreams move on to help their friends not fail at living.

The final death of Mobile Suit Gundam is when a man shoots someone he’s hated for his entire life from afar with a rocket launcher. The final death of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is when a boy flies his ship directly into the chest of the man who doomed him and all of his loved ones that day.

I have nothing else to say here, I think. Just wanted to get that out there.

[paxesoterica]

Some Thoughts About the First 3 Episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam [0079] Part 1

*There are spoilers for 0079 (obviously), but also a few for The Witch from Mercury as well, so bear that in mind.

*For folks who have only watched The Witch from Mercury, and no other Gundam shows, you should be aware that in 0079, the space colonies are rebelling against the rule of Earth, and that the Gundam in this show does not have systems that hurt its pilot.

*The opening is "Tobe! GUNDAM", and while the lyrics and tune are obviously different, the music has an anthemic quality that reminds me of the GUND-Arm, Inc. promo video, and I wouldn't be surprised if the former inspired the latter.

*“A half century has passed since humanity began moving…its burgeoning population into space. These gigantic space cities orbiting the Earth…became a second home to humanity…where people were born and raised…and where they died.”

*I think the opening for Mobile Suit Gundam is strong, and still holds up well today, though I wish it wasn’t repeated in future episodes (it’s understandable though as a cost-saving measure).

*The space colony cities in the show are based on O’Neill cylinders; they, and a lot of Gundam’s other space colonization concepts, such as Lagrange points, are based on the work of physicist Gerard K. O’Neill and his book The High Frontier: Human Colonies in Space (written in 1976, so about 3 years before MSG).

*The Principality of Zeon, who initiated the war with Earth and committed multiple atrocities, are mentioned as being headquartered in Side 3, which is located at Lagrange 2, behind the moon; while it's not mentioned in the wiki, this is also where Quiet Zero is located in The Witch from Mercury (and I'm sure that's definitely not a cheeky reference to it being the 'dark side' of the Moon/ sarcasm).

*We start in space, with three mobile suits headed toward Side 7 to conduct a raid (a stark contrast to Suletta's start in The Witch from Mercury). These suits are of the MS-06 Zaku II model, and bear a resemblance to the MD-0031 Dilanza, both in terms of appearance, and in the sense that they're the 'grunt' suits of the show.

*You may have heard that MSG has some...interesting name choices, and this is already shown with two of the Zaku pilots being named 'Slender' and 'Denim'. Regardless of how silly they might sound, it does make them a bit more memorable than you might expect, given that one of them ends up dying at the end of the episode.

*The civilians of Side 7 have mostly evacuated, with a few exceptions.

*This is Fraw Bow, Amuro's friend, who will end up joining the White Base crew soon. Unlike some of the characters in 0079, I haven't encountered any major spoilers on her, so all I currently know is that she's both concerned about Amuro, but also exasperated by him.

*Also, it's Haro! (I had no idea they could do that). Haros are to Gundam what Chocobos and Moogles are to Final Fantasy; in the OG show, this one was invented by the main character, Amuro Ray. Speaking of...

*So, Amuro's the first Gundam pilot, which means that you'll see a lot of spoilers about him if you hang out long enough in any Gundam fandom space. All you need to know about him right now, is that while yes, he will become a famous pilot, at this time, he's a technical genius (with a strong interest in mechanics), who has no piloting skills, and a very messy room. So, basically the opposite of the latest Gundam protagonist, Suletta...but *very* similar to another character...

*It's been mentioned by others before (@daisukoth in particular, has done multiple posts about it) that Amuro and Miorine have a number of qualities in common, so I'm making it a point to note whenever I observe similarities between the two, such as not being very observant of their surroundings when they're focused on work (Miorine is *very* lucky that she's not *quite* as disastrous as Amuro is in terms of love, but we'll get into that more later on).

*This is Hayato Kobayashi. I know even less about him than I do about Fraw, but he'll also be joining the White Base crew. He might have some resentment toward Amuro, since Amuro's dad is a military engineer working on a secret project that's attracted hostile attention from Zeon soldiers. And since we're talking about Amuro's dad:

*Yup. Amuro and Miorine both have distant fathers who are bad at communicating with their child. I'd *like* to believe the elder Ray isn't as bad a father as Delling, but we'll get into that next time.

...to be continued in Part 2

[roseillith]

[bagea]

hiiiiii bage i keep having devious thoughts about games to a series i've never watched

fromsoftware made a gundam game that looks really cool but it was JP only and i can't find it anywhere (mobile suit gundam unicorn), very sad

ah? dynasty warriors.. i don’t really care for that series of games, i’ve explained why before, encounters in space is pretty good though, it’s in the same vein as blue destiny and missing link, one of those oyw side stories that made sense before everyone was making a side story about oyw.

i’ve heard about that unicorn game as well, i don’t know too much about it though, it looks cool..

[rayar32]

I figured I might as well make a Foldletta master post here because this AU eats away at my brain from time to time; technically her name is Suletta Pulone Du Noc, but it's mildly easier to call her Foldletta, Ericht's 13th clone that ended up as a memoryless orphan on Earth after displaying "failures" in her genetic code. Suletta is the only name she remembers, so she starts calling herself that.

Terrorist found family is a very important dynamic that's core to the Foldletta canon. Sophie found Suletta abandoned on the streets and took her into the Fold as sister, eventually introducing her to Norea and forming an ever deeper bond between the three of them.

Foldletta still has the kind and caring personality of Suletta, it's just that she's got a lot of reasons to hate other people (Spacians) and is a lot more direct and ruthless about using violence as a way to keep her family and friends safe.

Another important dynamic is Suletta (Pulone Du Noc) going to Asticassia with Nika and despising Suletta (Mercury) when they first meet for very obvious reasons; having her face, what she believes to be an easier childhood, and a Gundam that doesn't hurt her feeds into Pulone's jealousy, especially because Mercury is capable of being kind and accepting to anyone, no matter if they're Spacian or Earthian, something that Pulone struggles with daily.

Both Sulettas are like the Sun and Moon, and Pulone hates that Mercury is able to still be as shine as much as she does even after going through all sorts of horrible experiences, especially because they are both clones of the same person. She does eventually warm up to Mercury, but still feels vastly inferior to her and ultimately undeserving of her kindess.

After their first meeting, Earth House (and pretty much everyone in Asticassia) starts having to differentiate between Sulettas by using their surnames.

And the last dynamic that's core to this AU is Suletta and Nika, childhood friends separated by circumstances outside of their control but reunited by a chance encounter at a Permet space elevator heading for Asticassia. She takes the Lfrith Fehu along with her in the pretense of "being ready for an operation" so she can enroll in the piloting course and stay together with Nika. Y'know, the things friends do.

In this canon, the Lfrith Fehu is the third Gundam-type mobile suit built alongside the Lfrith Ur and the Lfrith Thorn. It's main design cues were used in the Gundvölva's development, and the unmanned mobile suits had details altered based on the Fehu's combat data obtained in Asticassia's duels. It's distinct weapons are the Tempest Blade, a rifle-saber, and the Beam Repeaters, a pair of automatic hand-held weapons. It's also equiped with the standard-issue Ochs Earth shield on it's right arm, and the Phased Array Cannon like the Ur and Thorn.

The Fehu is colored red, thus making it three times as fast a normal Gundam /j

Hopefully having THIS up leads me to not forgetting details from time to time...

[quattro-bacheema]

MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM X MASS EFFECT CROSSOVER PROJECT

By the UC 360s the Solar Sphere Congressional Armed Forces were well aware that their aging fleet of Crisis-Era ships and mobile suits just weren't going to cut it in the long term.

Enter the next generation of mobile suit development:

The M-22-A Gunspecter (alternatively refered to as the Specter Gundam). A machine which combined over 300 years of Minovsky physics knowledge and Prothean Mass Effect technologies. The Specter featured an exponential jump in performance compared to its predecessors.

Thanks to the combination of a Minovsky flight system and Mass Effect Field Generators, the Specter Gundam's performance in land, air, and space was unparalleled. Coupled with the advanced RAM coating and Minovsky based sensors jammers, this machine had the potential to turn battles all on its own. In the hands of a trained pilot, it was a menace. In the hands of an ace, it was nigh unstoppable.

After initial rollout, new 'low visibility' color schemes were introduced to make better use of its stealth capabilities.

If you want follow the crossover project, you can find it in Ao3 or FFNet with the links below

https://archiveofourown.org/works/49180963/chapters/124091914

[tinyozlion]

Addressing the Troubles: Part 2 / 3

A Brief History of Gundam in Japan and the USA:

Here is my go-to analogy: The Gundam franchise is to Japan what Star Trek is to America. And Gundam Wing is to the Gundam franchise what Deep Space 9 is to the rest of Star Trek.

Wing was part of an experimental phase in the franchise’s history; when they were intentionally trying to break away from the usual modus operandi. Wing, along with the earlier G Gundam, was intended to boost flagging viewership and sell model kits– like, expressly, openly, just to sell model kits. The plan was to start from a blank slate that would allow new viewers to hop on board, without having to be caught up on the sprawling canon of the UC timeline (Universal Century).

In Japan, audiences were already familiar with the general premise of A Gundam Show; rather than spend any extra time re-establishing details that an already Gundam-savvy audience would know, it skipped right to explaining on how this particular series was departing from the established material. In this case, the noteworthy information was that Wing takes place in the After Colony timeline, and is set wholly in its own universe– we have a different sinister organization with a ‘Z’ in its name, a different mysterious blond man who wears a mask, a different conflict between Earth and Space, and no mention of Newtypes. 

Perhaps the most significant difference between Wing and its predecessor was its tonal shift. In the original Mobile Suit Gundam (if seasoned fans will pardon my oversimplification), the good guys are a relatively wholesome bunch or reluctant civilian heroes coming together to survive, a found-family supporting each other and trying their best to protect the vulnerable. It’s just ONE Gundam, and a crew of overworked, under-supplied misfits. It’s still very much a complex narrative about the horrors of war, but like, there’s a goofy side-kick robot! Kids run around White Base causing shenanigans! The more the UC timeline progresses, the more complicated it gets, but the point is, it’s a different style of complicated. There's a relatable and familiar flavor to its protagonists and their struggles. 

Pan over to Wing, where we are served right away with the spiciest plate of the spiciest feral murder boys, possibly the LEAST reluctant people ever to get in a mecha and cause harm.

The protagonist pilots are remorseless teenagers who were robbed of their adolescence before the show even began, and thrown into the meatgrinder of revolutionary violence– not the most relatable bunch, and not one audience surrogate amongst them (that honor goes to Relena). None of them work together, everyone is morally ambiguous, and they’re all hyper-competent elite soldiers from the get-go. In MS Gundam, Amuro spends his first fight in the Gundam trying to learn to walk and shoot using a manual. 

Some Gundam fans were quite put off by this change, but in the USA, we had no basis for comparison. Gundam Wing was the only Gundam show we had, and furthermore, it was one of the first “serious” “cartoons” introduced to mainstream television. And it blew. Our. Fucking. Minds.

--I cannot stress enough how influential that early 2000’s Toonami programming block was in introducing anime to American audiences, and by extension, American television producers and toy companies. I recommend checking out this IGN article about the history of GW’s debut on Cartoon Network, and the effect it had on the industry at large: How Gundam Wing Found Its Home On Toonami 20 Years Ago Today . For another take on the phenomenon check out: Found in Translation: How Gundam Wing Became A Global Phenomenon (Opinions are those of the article writer, not mine.) 

For those of you who are of that Toonami-block generation who never encountered the original series: MS Gundam is truly gripping and powerful, and if you’re not already a Gundam fan but found that Wing tickled your fancy, the original line up of shows will probably be right up your alley too. Be prepared for a very different overall experience from Wing though– for one thing, you may be surprised to discover that the original series, with its earlier animation style and dated anime tropes, is absolutely fucking brutal.

Fundamentally, the original Gundam is a series that is steeped to its core in a very somber, distinctly post-war Japanese melancholy that Wing, for all its lofty philosophizing, lacks. I don’t mean to make that a criticism of Wing– it had a much, much shorter run to make its point, and it was intentionally trying to do something different from its parent series.

Gundam Wing may at one point had a reputation for being Gundam’s dark, broody, edgy cousin, but Wing is also as chaste as a Victorian romance novel, and obscures most of its violence in clean, bloodless explosions. In the first episode of MS Gundam you will be treated to first-hand mass civilian death. In the movie and at various points of the shows there are scenes deliberately and uncomfortably reminiscent of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Zeta Gundam, you'll get to explore a wide selection of Horrible Ways To Die In Space that I suspect would have the same effect on a child as accidentally watching Watership Down (1978) thinking it was a Disney movie. (That's right: It makes you a more interesting person with good taste!) There's also like, nudity. And adults, with messy, adult relationship problems.

The U.C. timeline is just a lot more, I want to say, earthy as a rule. The characters are normal people and they have a wide range of interests and relationships to each other. Even when it’s reaching those philosophical high-notes, the focus is closer to the ground level; you see the day to day struggles of the crew, of civilians, of couples, you see their private lives, watch them evolve over the course of many years, how they fall in love, eat burgers, hook up, make friends, and make bad decisions. It’s a rich, diverse world filled with believable, complex people; the world building has more time to fill out, with its roots firmly in the soil of classic science fiction writing and space exploration; and it does what it sets out to do, which is deliver a gut-punch of an anti-war story.

If you take anything away from this, it’s that developing a tolerance for older mediums and long-term relationships with particular stories will give you access to some of the most rewarding experiences possible. And that’s true of many things, but especially of stories that have had lasting cultural impact and serve as time capsules for the struggles of their era. It’s true of The Iliad, it’s true of Lord of the Rings, it’s true of Akira, it’s true of Gundam. 

“Just Make Us Five Gundams” – Wing’s Famously Troubled Production & Why You Should Read Episode Zero

Gundam Wing was created flying by the seat of its pants from start to finish. 

Hideyuki Tomioka, executive producer on Wing, was still early in his career when he was cut loose on a new Gundam series with minimal oversight.

“Just make us a show with FIVE new Gundams”, Bandai said. “It’ll sell model kits!”, they said. “It’ll be fun!”, they said. And they laughed, and laughed. 

But Tomioka agreed, and set out to assemble his creative team– notably, Masashi Ikeda (series director), Katsuyuki Sumisawa (series composition / head scriptwriter), and Shuko Murase (character designer). Many of his chosen production crew had never worked on a Gundam show before, but everyone knew their stuff, and had been selected for their outstanding work or for showing promise in their respective fields. 

--Please, pour one out for them now.

The production schedule for Wing was apparently one of the roughest in Sunrise’s history. In a 2017 interview, producer Tomioka explains: “With Wing, we delivered the episodes to the TV network a week early. All of them. I was told by the producers at the network that there would be hell to pay if this next Gundam wasn’t delivered a week early like clockwork, and I said sure. I also told Mr. Ikeda and the company that we would maintain a one-week-before-air delivery schedule, and we delivered every single episode a week before air.” 

Head scriptwriter Sumisawa recalls camping in the Sunrise studio and working all night without sleeping in order to turn in scripts on time (something I vividly recall doing with my senior thesis). 

Despite the entire staff being burnt out from the continuous workflow, the team apparently met every single deadline, and still consider Gundam Wing to be some of their best work. 

However, Wing’s trouble didn’t end with just the frantic schedule.

Significant, under-the-table leadership changes at the studio level made a bad situation worse. Just before the production of Wing, parent company Sunrise had sold the Gundam franchise to Bandai, apparently in secret, leaving their creatives and producers like Tomioka in a lurch. The sudden change in sponsors led to an attitude change that would filter through the company, causing significant friction and splintering within the organization.

In fact, creative control of the series was tossed in the air at multiple levels:

 When series director Masashi Ikeda was hired for Wing, he was coming off a few rocky dismissals / resignations from earlier projects due to his disagreements with sponsors. He was new to Gundam, but was known for being a talented, if contentious, storyboard artist / director. Right away he took Wing in an unexpected direction, apparently derailing the series from its original trajectory after only 10 episodes. Signing off on these provocative decisions may have painted a target on his back, but it certainly made Wing stand out from its predecessors! Perhaps predictably, Ikeda either “abruptly resigned” or was fired from the project after Episode 29, and was substituted by Gundam franchise veteran, Shinji Takamatsu. Takamatsu would ultimately finish directing the remaining half of the series, though he was left uncredited.

Sumisawa too withdrew as a the lead scenario writer. He reports having to cope with curve balls thrown in the script by different writers who hadn’t run their decisions by him first, leaving him to struggle with reworking episodes at the last minute in order to accommodate the unsupervised changes. 

All the crunch and chaos, the impossibly tight schedules, the directorial and creative control changing hands mid-series, led to many of the important plot points and connective tissue that had been slated for reveal at the midpoint of the series being severely truncated, or scrapped entirely.

--And this, friends, is why there are so many instances in the early episodes of Wing where characters make reference to events and concepts that simply never show up in the series– the material got cut for time, and the unexplained anecdotes were left to dangle. 

This includes by far the most unfortunate omission in the series: the pilot backstories. In the postscript of “Gundam Wing: Episode Zero”, the manga prequel released seven years after the series first aired– scriptwriter Sumisawa makes this plea:

“[...] I would like to make a request of those who have read this book. I would like you to watch the entire TV series and Endless Waltz again. By so doing, I think you will be able to fully appreciate the work, Gundam Wing. This series of stories of the past was requested of me by Director Ikeda, and it was supposed to appear in the to the p20the TV series after episode 27. However, it was pigeonholed roduction schedule being the worst ever, and the fact that I withdrew ws scenarist. When I returned to the show, there was no chance to fit in the past, and we had no choice but to table it indefinitely (though we did try in episode 31, The Glass Kingdom). It was able to become a graphic novel through the kindness of the editors at Anime V Magazine and Mr. Kanbe's (artist) cooperation. As one of the co-creators, I am extremely grateful, and this has become a very emotional work.”

In one interview, Sumisawa laments: “Nobody wants to write recap episodes. Episodes 27 and 28 were recap episodes.” Producer Tomioka notes that “Everybody worked some serious miracles for part two. We never would have been able to do part two [of the series] if we hadn’t put in those recap episodes. It really was rough.” 

--This Is why I recommend that people read Episode Zero around the time they get to the mid-series point in the anime, where the backstories were always meant to go. Many, MANY questions and frustrations that I hear from first-time watchers will be cleared up.

It’s a damn good collection of stories, too! As you can see, my own copy is nearing a level of decrepitude that ought to make it Nursery Real at this point. I took it everywhere with me in my school bag as a comfort item.

–A link to the manga can be found in the Bookshelf section!

[neptuneartblog]

Mobile Suit Gundam III- Encounters In Space (1982)

(audio from Code Ment Episode 15)