#heavy metal l-gaim

[nyaa]

[YASHIMA]

[arcadebroke]

link

[roseillith]

[wanderersrest]

An Abbreviated History of Mecha Part 3.3: Kill 'em All (Tomino From 1981-1993)

Spoiler Warning: This post contains mild spoilers for Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, Space Runaway Ideon, and Mobile Suit Victory Gundam.

The Wanderer, he is a Char!

Welcome back to An Abbreviated History of Mecha! Last time we covered the latter half of the 80's, where we saw a lot of major entries in the canon of mecha make their appearance. You might have been asking yourself though, "But Wanderer, why aren't you talking about Dunbine or Zeta Gundam?"

Well, dear reader, that's because Tomino in this era would release quite a few entries that are worth mentioning on their own. And I'm not saying this to hype up Tomino; the man had been working on various shows in the years after Ideon. So for today's post, I will be going over the breadth of works Tomino worked on from 1980 to 1993. This way, as I said before, we will also be able to bridge the gap to the 90's by using Tomino as a metaphorical bridge between decades. So move on, shall we?

Also, if you have about 10+ hours to spare, I'd highly recommend Argonbolt's On Gundam series if you want to learn more about Gundam and Tomino. It's a pretty comprehensive dive into the Amuro-Char saga and all of the behind-the-scenes stuff that went into making the series.

Combat Mecha Xabungle/Blue Gale Xabungle (1982)

Released in 1982, Combat Mecha Xabungle serves as a great foil to Space Runaway Ideon. Just like how Ideon proved that the classic robot stories could handle grim war stories, Xabungle would also prove that the more grounded and "realistic" robots could be used to tell silly stories. Xabungle is also worth mentioning due to the fact that this is the first time Tomino would work with one Yasuhiro Imagawa, a name that will be coming up in the near future.

Aura Battler Dunbine (1983)

Aura Battler Dunbine, released in 1983, would be one of the first so-called "isekai" anime. Dunbine is also known for its unique mechanical designs, trading out the more traditional robot designs in favor of mecha that are more insectoid in appearance. As it predates Panzer World Galient by about a year, Dunbine would also technically be the first fantasy mecha to reach the mainstream. Dunbine and Galient are equally important in my opinion, as both series would influence many mecha stories that feature fantasy-styled mecha stories in the future. Dunbine would also be the reason why the fairy companion would become such a big thing in later media *cough*Ocarina of Time*cough*.

Heavy Metal L-Gaim (1984)

1984's Heavy Metal L-Gaim would mark the first time that Tomino would work with Mamoru Nagano as primary mechanical designer. The two were rather close, as Nagano was, to my understanding, one of Tomino's many disciples. It would be L-Gaim specifically where you see Nagano's mechanical designs shine, so much so you can see how it would inspire him to when it came time to make the Five Star Stories.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985)

In 1985, Gundam would make its big return with Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. And not only would Zeta make a big splash with its debut, it would also go on to be the single most popular Gundam series after the original. More importantly, Zeta Gundam would also be the series where we see a lot of major industry people working on this series, including (but not limited to):

Yasuhiro Imagawa (Storyboard), who would go on to direct the Giant Robo OVA and G Gundam among other things.

Mamoru Nagano (Mechanical Design, specifically for the Hyaku Shiki), who would eventually leave Sunrise to work on the Five Star Stories.

Makoto Kobayashi (Mechanical Design, specifically for The O, the Baund-Doc, and the Marasai), who would go on to work on Dragon's Heaven among other things.

Shinji Takamatsu (Cultural Setting), who would go on to direct The Brave Express Might Gaine, After War Gundam X, and the first two seasons of Gintama among other things.

Zeta Gundam would also become infamous for its ending, which ends with most of the main cast dead. Granted it's not to the levels of something like Ideon or Victory Gundam, but it is generally the first example people point to when explaining why Tomino was nicknamed Kill 'em All. Not helping things at all at this time was the fact that Tomino was rumored to have been suffering from depression.

Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986)

Following off of the success of Zeta Gundam came Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (pronounced Double Zeta) in 1986. As a sequel to the darker Zeta Gundam, ZZ's legacy is one that's a bit more contentious due to its sudden shift into comedy. ZZ would also mark the first time that Gundam wouldn't be the smash hit of the year, and that may have been an inspiration behind the creation of Metal Armor Dragonnar.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack (1988)

ZZ under-performing would have a silver lining though, as it would give Tomino and company more time to work on the first non-compilation movie in the Gundam Franchise: Char's Counterattack. Char's Counterattack should be known for a fair bit of things, with one that I'll mention here is Char's Counterattack would feature a young Studio Gainax as one of the supporting studios during production. This movie would mark the official end of the Amuro-Char saga started in the original Mobile Suit Gundam, though this wouldn't be the end of the overall Universal Century.

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (1991)

In 1991, Tomino and company would return to work on a new Gundam television series. During the production process though, it would be changed at the last minute to be a movie instead. And thus was Mobile Suit Gundam F91 born, dragging the Universal Century into a new era of conflict. And remember how I said F91 was supposed to be a TV series at first? You can actually tell where an "episode" would end as you watch F91. That's how last-minute the change to a movie was.

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (1993)

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam would release in 1993. In the middle of production for this series, the toy company Bandai would buy out Sunrise. The executive meddling that would occur would cause Tomino to get so fed up with Bandai that he would leave Sunrise.

It should also be known that Victory Gundam is, with the exception of Ideon, Tomino's single darkest work. Characters will get killed off with little to no fanfare. It's also not surprising that there are rumors that Tomino does not like Victory Gundam.

It's not all bad though. Victory Gundam is the reason we have Daisuke Sakaguchi.

Conclusion

And it is with that somber note that we will leave behind the 80's. Going into the 90's will be interesting, to say the least. It is in the 90's where we will see some of the most iconic names of the mecha canon arise. The 90's are also a time of economic hardship in Japan, the effects of which would ripple all throughout the decade.

I can see it now though, reader! This post has been powered...

WITH THE HELP OF KYOOOOOOJI!!!!

[hotwaterandmilk]

Series: Juusenki L-Gaim Artist: Kitazume Hiroyuki Publication: ‘Light Pink - Hiroyuki Kitazume Art Collection’ (03/1988) Source: Scanned from personal collection

[kingofjuglans]

A mecha 50x50 every day until the next SRW game is announced:

I missed yesterday’s, so to make up for it, today’s is animated!

Day 16 - L-Gaim

[glorioblog]

A Very GLORIO 2023: I don't know what I expected.

Last year, I wrote about how almost everything on my anime shortlist was an adaptation or reboot and highlighted how various shows did or did not adapt their source material well, and what that even means. Much of that still holds true this year (fall season’s discussion has centered around Pluto, an adaptation of an adaptation), and it got me thinking about why exactly that is. Rather than any…

[shanopng]

L-Gaim my beloved

[yanchagraffiti]

Heavy Metal L-Gaim

1984 Bandai Hobby Creation Catalog

[drawncyclone]

i am once again seized with the compulsion to make things i like into robotmasters

[anhilliator1]

It's may 4th so I might as well take this moment to push a show that is basically Star Wars with mecha

[roseillith]

[laboitediabolique]

Cover of "SD Club", Issue 3, Bandai, December 1988

[paxesoterica]

Fans of both heavy metal music *and* the anime Magic Knight Rayearth, I got bad news for y'all