If I hadn’t been in such a fragile state that I was terrified at the sight of alcohol I would have played the “Mecha Anime drinking game.” Try playing it next time you watch one of these, I’ll make the full list of rules some time.

Anyway, this series first episode begins on a space station in space that is hosting a massive ceremony over everyone collectively forgetting what year this is and just deciding to start again from zero rather than try to look it up or something. The space station suddenly explodes in a massive ball of fire, hurling the thousands of guests on board into the vacuum of space… Horrifying violence in a cartoon about giant robots, take a drink.

This scene cuts to the rest of the film which takes place ninety six years later and is never mentioned again. Having seen the original series Mobile Suit Gundam I understood the scene… but a series about giant robots should not require you first do research on a thirty year old cartoon in order to understand what the hell is going on.

This episode is the first of six and it lasts a full hour… of which we get to know our protagonist Banagher Links for all of ten minutes during which he meets a mysterious girl called Audrey Burne when he sees her plummeting to her death, he catches her using a little flying robot bubble machine thing. Demonstrating the protagonist can drive a robot in a civilian setting, take a drink.

It turns out there is more to Audrey than the ability to manage to nearly die of falling in a zero gravity environment. She tells Banagher to take her to some old bloke for them to talk politics about a macguffin called the Laplace Box and how they have to prevent a war. As soon as Banagher opens his mouth both Audrey and the old bloke tell him to piss off and stop trying to play soldiers… and Banagher says something that I personally hope was a case of really bad translation… This is taken verbatim from the subtitles.

“…For the first time I saw where I needed to be. I don’t care who you are! Just tell me you need me!”

Whoa… Slow down there boy! You’ve known this girl for all of five minutes! The protagonist creepily latching on to the first girl he sees. Take a drink.

Thankfully this plays out as it should and they tell him to fuck right off. But a minute or two later the politics of this made up world goes pear shaped and war breaks out between two or three factions that we haven’t seen before and haven’t had adequately explained to us. Innocent civilians being mercilessly slaughtered by giant robots to poignant music, take a drink.

During the chaos and backstabbing between characters we don’t know against other characters we don’t know either, Banagher somehow manages to find he’s accidentally wandered in to a hanger containing a prototype giant robot. ‘Prototype’ robot that is magically better than all the others, take a drink. You’d think that if you were building and testing a superweapon you’d put a lock on the door or something. Banagher finds the old man from before, who explains that he is ‘DUN DUN DUUUUUN’, his father. Estranged father who built a giant robot, take two drinks. The old man puts Banagher’s hand against a fingerprint scanner in the cockpit and tells him that it will only obey his orders now. Giant robot can only be driven by one person for a contrived reason, take a drink. And Banagher finds himself thrown into the cockpit. Main character “accidentally” falls into the cockpit of a machine he’s never driven before and is able to drive it because he’s special, finish the bottle. And then there’s some unimpressive fighting and the episode ends a minute later.

The animation is good and the music is beautiful at times, but for a series that has space travel and giant robots it manages to be massively clichéd, the action scenes lack any emotion because we have no idea who any of the characters are and the characters we do know are only in it for a short period of time that is spent on fantasy politics.

This new series adds absolutely nothing to the Gundam franchise that hasn’t already been done. Hell, rather than pay scriptwriters to make up anything new, the villain of the next episode is just a cut and paste of the villain from the first series!

The only reason you could possibly enjoy Gundam Unicorn is if you enjoy something purely on the basis that it’s Gundam. In which case, shame on you! Grow some bloody standards! They’ll never learn if you let them get away with this kind of shite!

Drinks taken in this episode: Seven, and the rest of your bottle. Good luck.

.

The series became a bone of contention, as well as a trend-setter for several years to come. Opinions were sharply divided as to whether it was a thing of amazing depth and complexity or of pompous windbaggery, inscrutable and too complex for anyone other than a dedicated fan to follow, and forever isolating many people from Evangelion for a long time.
Either way, it’s hard not to acknowledge its’ influence on many series that followed, making landmarks in both it’s animation style and artistic direction, the themes it presented, the ideological ideas, it’s plot and design, and many of the other elements.
It also gave the ‘super robot’ genre of mecha anime – as in, the shows with super-powered, super-heroic robots – something of a revival, giving them more complex characters and plots than before after deconstructing and putting a twist on the ‘monster of the week and secret society’ formulas so beloved and staple of those shows.

But despite it’s popularity, both fans and critics alike had problems with Evangelion for it’s immensly dissatisfying ending, which was full of meandering introspection and endless talking heads, rather than any form of real resolution.
This was later improved upon by the release of the theatrical movies ‘Evangelion: Death and Rebirth’ and ‘The End of Evangelion’, which presented a more complete ending, but one that was still esoteric, complex, and required a lot of either background information, or leaps of imagination to make ones’ own conclusion.

As such, the ending was still seen as dissatisfying by many, and while other versions, such as the ‘Platinum Collection’ with remastered sound and other tweaks were released, things went quiet for quite some time, bar rumours of a live-action film, and even some pre-production art, which never came to anything.

However, in 2007 a new project related to Evangelion emerged, in the form of ‘Rebuild of Evangelion’.
Director Hideaki Anno stated that this was to be a complete rebuild of Evangelion, with masses of new animation, retouches and computer additions to the original animation, re-writing of the plot adding new scenes and characters, redesigns of the titular Evangelion (or ‘Eva’) mecha, and the Angel foes, and many other alterations and additions, in order to utilise new technologies available, and to make the series accessible to new fans, and to truly ‘realise his original vision’ of Evangelion.

The Rebuild is envisioned as a Tetrology of films, with the first three being a retelling of the series adding the new elements, and fourth and final movie being a completely brand-new ending to the series.
The first movie, Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone, was released in 2007 in Japan, and has now been released in the UK with an all-new and specifically engineered dub, and a good amount of promotion (I even saw a trailer for it on YouTube!)

As I have been anticipating the release of the Rebuild Movies on DVD since I first heard they were coming out, I snapped up a copy as soon as I could, in order to provide this review, as I picked up the series on VHS when it first came out, and have followed it’s fortunes and misfortunes with great curiosity since.

As soon as the movie began, I could see the differences, and they weren’t small. Cel animation has been enhanced with brighter, crisper definition and colours, flat and plain looking models for aircraft, tanks, ships, and buildings have been replaced with detailed, intricate and beautiful cel-shaded CGI models, creating a world with more depth and beauty than before. And there is also more evidence of the great disaster of the ‘Second Impact’ that befell humanity prior to the show, with cracked pavements, ruined and abandoned vehicles and more – and this is only the first few scenes, mind, and background details.

The plot proceeds the same as I remember, but with new details and elements, new discussions and conversations amongst characters to better introduce them to new fans, and to concede to the shorter 90-minute running time and movie format – but they do not cheapen the presentation. Instead, it keeps things moving, and gives us a more concise insight into Shinji, the main character, and the people around him.

The fights between the Angels and Eva units, when they come, are familiar, yet full of exciting new elements and twists. More emphasis is made on the conventional firepower available, and the sheer amount of it being thrown at the alien and unknowable enemies, which only serves to show how deadly and dangerous they are, before the Evas themselves go into combat – with the fights made more exciting, visually and in terms of plot, by the addition of new animation, new weapons, and redesigns of existing elements.

Most of all, the climax of the movie, where episode 6 of the series would be, Operation Yashima, where the lead character and his Eva unit-01 have to snipe one of the enemy using a gigantic energy weapon, powered by the electrical output of all Japan, is given a lot more emphasis on the sheer mind-boggling amount of support and undertaking needed for such an insane plan to even be attempted, and massive amount of destruction the redesigned angel wreaks on the city and it’s surroundings.
The entire sequence is newly animated, and redesigned, giving more of a dramatic and pulse-pounding excitement, that even knowing the original plot, made me watch eagerly to see the outcome.

If there are downsides to be pointed out to the new movies, they come from the dubbed cast – some of the characters sound flat or unconvincing, but they do not distract from the overall goings-on of the plot.
Some elements could do with a little more explanation, but this could also be seen as setup for the next movies in the series – but also as an oversight. Some elements of Shinji and other characters’ lives could also have been pleasant to see – such as his first days at school, meeting his classmates and their situations, and more time spent on introducing secondary characters could also have been appreciated. But, given the faster pace of the movie and it’s efforts to focus on the main characters in greater detail, again this could be a conscious choice.

The movie keeps much of the series’ humour as well as it’s drama, and it will be interesting to see how the next one comes, as it features all new characters, and the introduction of the redesigned Evangelion units and more angels. The plot is set to diverge further from the series in the second movie also, and this will also be a further source of excitement.

Unfortunately, as the second film only came out in Japan in October 2009, there will likely be a significant wait – but hopefully not as long as the first one!
I suggest Evangelion: 1.0 to anyone who either liked the original series, but found it unsatisfying, or anyone who has been interested in Evangelion, but never managed to get into it, as well as anyone simply looking for a good anime movie that is exciting, as well as something to think over once they’ve watched it – but be prepared to have patience for the next installment.

The shorts are all animated in different styles, each indicative of their animation production studio – and the roster is pretty impressive
There’s production I.G., who made both of the Ghost In The Shell movies, Bones, who created Fullmetal Alchemist, Studio 4 degrees C who are responsible for many music videos, as well as the animation for Transformers: Animated and Spriggan, and Toei animation who are one of the largest studios in Japan, and created work such as Dragonball, Mazinger, and other well-known series. In addition, the anthology is overseen by Shinji Aramaki, who directed and created both of the recent Appleseed CGI movies.

So, the production talent is without question, that much is obvious, but the real question is really whether it’s any good or not?
With 7 different movies, all of which are about different subjects and set in different time periods in the Halo Universe, the answer is a ‘yes, but…’

Of the seven different shorts, some of them are stunning, be in in terms of animation or story, and actively add something to the background and universe of Halo as a franchise. Some are simply okay, and are somewhat forgettable, and there’s only really one which is disappointing or not very interesting.
The seven short films are:

Origins 1 & 2 -
Cortana, the AI from the Halo games, reviews the information she has learned about the Ancient Forerunner race, and the overall state of the Halo Universe to the point she and the Master Chief find herself in at the end of Halo 3.
This is a good pair of episodes, as they set in concrete a lot of information that was conjecture before, and link into dialogue in the games, firmly establishing themselves as Canon to the series. They’re also very pretty, and show a lot of exciting moments from different perspectives.

Homecoming
A female Spartan aids in the extraction of a Marine platoon, while reminiscing about an event in her early life, and comes to terms with the realities of the Spartan program

This episode has the least exciting animation, and the story seems a little slow and cliche, compared to some of the others – although it does remind you of the darker side of the Spartans

The Babysitter
A squad of ODST Helljumpers are assigned a Spartan for a special sniping mission, relegating the Team’s sniper to a backup position, much to his disgust.

This one is probably a little ‘typical’ and somewhat disapointing. The twist is somewhat obvious, and the story nothing special, but there are some exciting moments, and the animation is mostly good, with a few glaring faults.

The Package
The Master Chief and three other Spartans are assigned a time-critical mission to recover an important ‘package’ aboard a Covenant vessel in the midst of a fleet, by using small, heavily-armed ridable spacecraft.

This is sadly, the most forgettable and tedious of the group, despite being jam-packed with action, and having advanced CGI animation, and being directed by Shinji Aramaki
The characters lack any real depth, and it’s hard to care about the ones who die as a result. It’s also far more style over any real substance, and is a tad disappointing.

Prototype
A marine sergeant named Ghost must come to terms with his own humanity, as he protects a base in retreat, by using an extremely powerful prototype armoured suit.

One of the better ones, with outstanding animation, a fast-moving and exciting plot that has some genuinely interesting character moments

The Duel
At the beginning of the Sangheli (The aliens know as ‘Elites’)  induction into the Covenant in the past, a General known as ‘The Arbiter’ disagrees with their goals, and refuses to step in line. He must be made an example of, and is drawn into a trap by a scheming prophet.

The animation and overall feel of this story are reminiscent of Samurai dramas, due to the music, and a special filter applied that makes the animation appear to be a watercolour come to life. It is a beautiful piece of animation, and gives the Elites some depth and background they are sorely lacking. One of, if not the, best story in the collection. It also has moments of intense action and a little humour to boot.

Odd One Out
In this non-canon tale, Spartan ’1337′ is accidentally dropped on a planet inhabited by dinosaurs and some abandoned children after falling out of the back of a Pelican dropship. The Covenant send their most powerful warrior, the bestial Brute named ‘Pluton’ to deal with him.

A parodical non-canon story by Toei, Odd One Out is sheer comedy all the way through, and is extremely silly, while being extremely fun. It’s a gentle ribbing of the Halo universe by way of Dragonball, and is a good addition to the other episodes.

Overall, Halo Legends won’t be of any great interest to anyone who’s not a Halo fan, and it’s those folks who’ll put out the price for the disk.
Casual fans may be interested by the extra stories and background the shorts provide, but would be better served by a rental on Xbox Live than buying the disk.
Duel and Prototype are worth a look online, rather than shelling out for the full disk or rental, and are certainly a good way to spend the ten to twenty minutes that the animation runs for.

It’s an interesting addition to the Halo fictional universe, but it’d be much greater to see a full-length animated story, and the shorts prove only that there are characters other than the Master Chief that can tell interesting stories – so somebody get cracking on it!

Many of the best-regarded of the Studio Ghibli movies come from the mind of Hayao Miyazaki, who is head of the studio, as well as being one of it’s most prominent creative forces.

Ponyo, or to use it’s full title, Ponyo: On The Cliff By The Sea, shows the hand of his work, and indeed, he was the main creator for the newest film.
Ponyo is very much a fairytale, full of magic, bravery, love, and excitement, and is squarely aimed at children – but it’s hard to imagine adults won’t enjoy something about it.

The story follows a ‘princess of the sea’, who is in the form of a goldfish-like creature, as she escapes from her father, who lives under the sea. She meets a young boy names Sausuke who lives with his mother in a small town by the sea. He names the strange fish he finds washed up on the shore ‘Ponyo’ and quickly realises she is a lot more than she seems – but he is thrilled, fascinated, and caring for her automatically. When she talks to him, he knows that she’s very special, and vows to look after her and love her – but then her father takes her back.
Ponyo decides she wants to be human, and escapes again, but as she is the daughter of the ‘Goddess of the Sea’, and is very magically powerful, she accidentally upsets the balance of things.

Adventure follows after, as Sausuke and Ponyo have to find Sausukes’ mum, as well as overcoming all the challenges before them, and it’s an adventure of the imagination as much as of the characters, in true Ghibli fashion.

All of Miyazaki’s trademarks are present in the movie too – a love for the diversity of nature and it’s gorgeous backdrops. The sheer detail in some of the surroundings and scenery, young protagonists, and strong female characters, as well as a softly-pitched environmental message and moral content.

The last point is probably the biggest difference between a Ghibli and Disney movie – the subtlety of the moral message, pitched gently and not repeatedly shoved in the face of the audience.

The film’s strongest points are it’s beautiful artwork, and the imaginative freedom and absolute fun and joy of it’s story. Even when dangerous and potentially sad or scary moments are happening, it still maintains an air of excitement, fun, and wonder that capture the mind of a child in it’s whole, and remind older viewers what it’s like to see the world through the eyes of a child again – and all without talking down to them.

The fact that Ponyo received a general cinema release is worthy of note – as all of Studio Ghibli’s releases are now distributed by Disney – and without any cuts or alterations to the content, as part of their agreement – it seems like they are finally being taken seriously, and getting the treatment they deserve, by getting full cinema releases.

By comparison, when Spirited Away, which was later selected as the Oscar Winner for best animated film that year, was released in cinemas, it received showings for only a day or a week, at many cinemas, where as Ponyo is showing nationwide, and is still showing after I viewed it more than a week ago.
Hopefully this film will receive as much attention and reward as it’s stablemates, as it certainly deserves it for being an exciting, imaginative, and beautiful to watch piece of cinema, that while simple in it’s storyline and unchallenging, is nonetheless joyful, uplifting and simply fun to watch.

Of course, being anime, there are a shit-ton of different series, all of which seem to have names designed to deliberately confuse you. So here are some quick pointers to seeing what all the fuss is about.

Mobile Suit Gundam:

This is where it all started back in the seventies. As a series, this one is incredibly simple compared to the others because the franchise became an arms race to top each previous one with more and more ornate and powerful robots. If you were generous you would say that the artwork hasn’t aged gracefully… But I’m not generous, and the graphics are terrible. And the less said about the writing and voice acting the better. Characters seem to be awkwardly narrating the action as it unfolds, explaining the plot every step of the way… it’s hideous… but I’m still watching it fifteen episodes in! Why? I don’t know. Is it because the plot manages to be simple but interesting, is it because it actually shows the horrors of war even when giant robots are flying around? Is it because the story unfolds as an intelligent battle of wits between the protagonist and the heroic antagonist, resorting to increasingly dirty military tactics rather than being the one that screams loudest in their cockpit.

Whatever it is, there are better ways to try the series on for size, both in quality and in the amount of time required. But if you like Gundam, you may well enjoy this.

Gundam Zeta:

This is the first direct sequel to the series. Avoid this one if you haven’t watched the first because you’ll just be confused. And the first episode is nowhere near as interesting as the original series.

Gundam 00:

The first episode starts so promisingly with child soldiers running for their lives from giant robots in a war-torn city during a holy war. But suddenly everything is made magically better by four stupidly overpowered robots. As soon as the leader of the four robots declared that they were a mercenary group devoted to stopping war, I literally shouted at my monitor and closed the video. This is pointless saccharine fantasy and it is not worth your time when there are better shows available.

Gundam Seed:

An interesting start to the series, with extremely good visuals and a few nice touches here and there. But it took way too long to get started, the protagonist doesn’t set foot in a giant robot until the end of the first episode, and I can’t even remember his name. It may pick up later, but for some reason I’m actually choosing the first series over this.

War In the Pocket and The 8^th MS Team:

I was told that these would be available as well. But I haven’t been able to find them yet, which is a damn shame because they’re the two best things to ever emerge from the franchise. The 8^th MS Team follows a group of soldiers fighting in a jungle environment similar to Vietnam, where the hero, Shiro Amada meets the love of his life… Problem is she’s on the other side. What follows is a very nicely told Romeo and Juliet story with interesting characters on both sides and excellently animated action sequences in only twelve episodes.

But that’s nothing compared to War in the Pocket. Which follows the 11 year old Alfred Izuhara. He lives on a neutrally aligned colony in the middle of war and is desperate to see some of the soldiers he’s heard of and idolises, he gets his wish when he catches a team of spies who were sent to steal information on the secret weapons being built there. The youngest of the spies is ordered to humour Alf in order to avoid having to kill him, because when a child disappears, people come looking. While they bond and learn from one another, things get progressively worse. The series is only six episodes long and it’s one of the most heart rending, poignant pieces of cinema I have ever had the privilege of seeing. If there is anything with Gundam in the title you should watch, it’s this!

Why Gundam? A lot of anime fans dismiss Gundam easily – I’ve heard plenty of people say it’s ‘boring’ or that ‘it’s all the same’ or, as an actual legitimate excuse, that it’s very confusing and they don’t know where to start. With 20+ years of series, manga and video games, and much longer of established continuity, it’s a pretty fair argument to say it’s confusing.

But there’s one hell of a rich and varied wealth of series to be exploited and enjoyed in the multitude of Gundam productions, and it’s certainly something that shouldn’t be ignored. So, in order to ease your confusion, and pay tribute to an Anime phenomenon, allow me to take you on a tour of the anime franchise that’s been termed the ‘Japanese Star Trek’, and give you a bit of an education about the first family of Giant Robot anime.

The Origins of Gundam – Super Robots and Real Robots

In the 1970’s, anime featuring giant robots was far from unknown. Many shows had been produced, but they had all followed a template – a protagonist, usually a young boy or teenager, receives a giant robot from an older patron or relative, and then uses it to fight the monster of the week – the stereotypical, run of the mill, predictable and samey ‘Super Robot’ show.

Such copy-pasted, cloned series rarely featured any meaningful character development, or any real continuity between episodes. They rarely showed any consequences of the fighting, mass destruction, and property damage they caused in their battles on a weekly basis, (let alone the bills to the construction companies) and the working gubbins of the heroes or villains robots featured were not mentioned or thought about.

Their weapons as well as the robots themselves were fanciful, flashy, and virtually magical in nature (sometimes out-rightly so), rather than being realistic machines, and often the names of their attacks or weapons were called out prior to use – all familiar and common elements of the Super Robot genre. And it didn’t hurt that all of this of course made it all much, much easier to sell lots of shiny toys.

The original Gundam TV series took a bold and different direction in order to stand out from the crowd of its predecessors and do something completely different to the legion of carbon-copies before it.

The creator of Mobile Suit Gundam, took a leaf out of Starship Troopers’ playbook (the novel, as the shitty movie hadn’t even been made at this time), and a look at real life, and considered a revolutionary idea – what if the giant robots featured were weapons like any other?

Mass produced and part of the military, like any other, rather than flashy superhero–like devices.

And, what if they were in the hands of real pilots, rather than kids? (Had I been there, I would have applauded). And, what if the war was humans, against humans, for political reasons, rather than monsters of the week? (again, applause).

Yoshiyuki Tomino’s ideas were pretty far out there at the time, to his colleagues at Sunrise animation studios, not to mention their financial backers.

To you and I, it probably sounds pretty straightforward, but with the revolutionary ideas, they were worried that it wouldn’t take off, that it wouldn’t sell and would be too ‘different’ from what had come before.

Oh, and the one or two of you out there who think it’s boring? Get your coats.

I’ll wait.

Gone? Good.

Anyway, such a revolutionary idea wasn’t allowed to sail through unchecked. Some changes had to be made to let the show go into production. At the demands of the toymakers, the titular robot, the ‘Gundam’ was changed to utilitarian and practical grey in colour to brightly coloured and eye-catching (and very toy like…) white, red and blue, and numerous additional ‘support vehicles’ were added, to make more toys available and draw in younger viewers. Extra weapons were also added for the same reason – and to draw in existing super-robot viewers. With that, the show went into production.

Themes and Concepts – War is Hell

The Gundam robot – or mobile suit – in the show was very different to its heroic predecessors. While it was very powerful and effective, it was not infallible, and was frequently damaged, or broke down, or suffered other mechanical problems – like a real machine would. And it required a lot of skill and practice to operate effectively, unlike just dropping into the cockpit and off you go. In fact, in the first instance, Amuro Ray, the hero of the show, piloted the Gundam with the manual open on his lap. And he almost lost too – very unlike a Super Robot show.

He also didn’t call out the names of every attack – instead, he piloted like a fighter pilot, or other military vehicle. Very unlike its predecessors to say the least…

The enemy robots were also just as different – mass produced, and mostly effective machines (with one or two strays into very odd machines, which once again showed the influence of the interfering toymakers and studio bigwigs), they were not giant robot-beasts, and were instead troops-of-the-line for the most part.

The cast of the show were also another diversion from the norm. While they were teenagers, they showed human sides and failings, and acted like teenagers would.

They lost their tempers, were moody and unlovable sometimes, were spiteful, argumentative, didn’t get along, and often, through the terrors and horrors of way they faced, suffered psychological and emotional shocks. A bit more in-depth than your average robot show, to say the least.

One of the most shocking developments, and one which Tomino would later become famous for (leading to his cheery nickname of ‘Kill ‘em all Tomino’), was the death of main characters throughout the course of the show – driving home the fact that yes, this was a WAR, and not everyone survives a war. And wars are horrible, taxing, and deadly, and not clean and sanitised events.

The multitude of sequel series to Gundam followed the same template for the most part anyway – There were never any aliens, or monsters – at least, not bug eyed, non-human ones, humans always fought humans on or around the Earth, usually over possession and desire for the right to live on the Earth or to become separatist nations

in orbiting habitats called space colonies. These political and philosophical ideas form the background for the various series’ wars and conflicts, and are often the driving forces for the individual characters too, or leading to a rivalry between the lead character and an enemy ace, and showing their parallel or wildly divergent points of view.

One recurring aspect of these enemy aces is that they often wear a mask, hiding their identity both from their allies, as well as their enemies, in a complex plot to gain revenge or regain their original standing, or for other personal reasons.

Char, the original template for these characters, was actually better liked than his counterpart by fans. However, this wasn’t surprising, since Amuro Ray was kind of a dick in the first Gundam show – but his changing personality and nature are something that are shown in great detail through the multitudes of Gundam sequels and productions. Likewise to Char’s equally changing personality, due to his holding onto his ideas.

But following in Char’s footsteps, the Enemy Ace is a noble and likable character, often coming to the heroes’ aid, and respecting more than hating them, and proving a face to the enemies’ ideals and goals.

There was also some, at least vague, basis in real science and concepts for the Gundam series as well. Things like Space Colonies were based on real ideas and concepts, rather than ‘just because’ and there was no ‘warp drive’ to power the space-craft. Only a few fictional ‘sci-fi’ elements were introduced to make things work, and even then, they were religiously stuck to in order to maintain some level of reality within the show – at least within the original timeline of the ‘Universal Century’, which was the ‘home’ universe of the Gundam shows.

Gundam also explored, in most of its incarnations, the powerful theme that one cannot live through a war, much less fight in it, without coming out a changed person on the other side. Almost every character experiences loss and death, either first hand or through a close friend or relative, or their own relatives end up changed. Even the most optimistic of series or characters are often dealt a huge blow for the worse, and not left unaffected (aside from in Gundam Wing, anyway).

Making a Name

So Gundam had become a breakthrough for the genre, a template for the Real Robots that followed it, and a trend-setter. But it wasn’t always the genre-master, trend-setting original it’s become now.

It flopped on its first showing.

Of course – so did the original Star Trek TV series, but look how that’s done. And it eventually became popular in the same way – through re-runs, where it drew a huge audience. This underground popularity soon exploded into the mainstream, and Gundam became a household name, as well as establishing what has become known as the ‘Real Robot’ genre, and spawned a legacy of imitators.

The popularity of the re-runs lead to Sunrise commissioning three movies to be made by re-cutting the original Gundam series. Much of the toy-inspired sillier

content was removed, and instead new animated sequences were added, also clearing up some of the worse-animated sections. The movies were a run away success, and from then on Gundam was king of the robot genre.

With its name established, sequels were only a matter of time in coming, and there was no lack of them, to say the least. The original conflict of 0079, the ‘one year war’ where the original show took place, was revisited from many angles in later years by spin-off and sequel OAV series, even as late as 2009 with the CGI series ‘MS IGLOO’ (No, I have no idea why it’s called that).

The developing plotline of the Universal Century eventually spanned into hundreds of years of conflicts, all following on from events and precedents set down in previous series as it follows a developing society through the years.

The plethora original TV series are followed by movies, OAV series, manga, and more, all of which serve to expand and embellish and develop the fictional world – realising it as fully as an non-animated series has ever done – again, something that has never really been replicated or followed by any other anime franchise since in such detail, and again, very much comparable to Star Trek, with it’s different cast from series to series, and different mobile suits every time as well. And without all the bumpy-headed aliens, but unfortunately with just as many embarrassing fans.

Of course, there’s not just the Universal Century – as the time rolled on, new ideas were wanted and floated, and new directors came and went – with the desire to do new things. And one timeline wasn’t enough to contain all of them, so new and different things had to happen.

New ideas were needed and wanted, and the Universal Century could not contain them all – so join me in part two, where I’ll delve into the myriad of parallel worlds and series, and also look at the other powerhouse of Gundam – merchandising, and especially Modelling!

Until then. I leave you with this.