Darth Bathrobe

01-06-2005, 12:04 AM
Ok, as a long time Gundam grognard, I am required to chime in on this, or turn i
n my newtype ID card, including where they take place in the timeline. I'm going
to concentrate on the Universal Century timeline, as I'm not particularly famil
iar with the others.
First of all, you need to start with the original Mobile Suit Gundam, either the
series (preferable) or the three compilation movies. This establishes several k
ey concepts of the Gundam universe. The story picks up late in the One Year War,
and focuses on the White Base, under the command of novice Captain Brite Noah a
nd his crew of reservists and civilian refugees. The only advantage that the Whi
te Base has is the first Federation Mobile Suit prototypes, the GunTank, GunCann
on, and (most importantly) the Gundam, along with their ace pilot Amuro Ray, a y
oung man who may be a 'Newtype.' Opposing them are the Zeon forces, including 'R
ed Baron' style MS Pilot Char Aznable. As the series continues, the White Base a
nd her crew become an important part of the Federation forces, as Amuro's Newtyp
e powers begin to mature. (Universal Century 0079, September to December)
Mobile Suit Gundam: 08th MS Team: This side story, set on Earth near the end of
the One Year War, is often described as Platoon meets Gundam. Focusing on the ex
ploits of a squad of Mobile Suit pilots based in SouthEast Asia, and fighting ag
ainst Zeon forces developing an experimental Mobile Armor, this isn't specifical
ly required for the storyline, but is pretty good, especially the first half. Th
e second half isn't as good, due to the death of the original director and the r
esultant production delays. Still worth watching. (UC 0079, October through mid
summer 0080)
Gundam 0080: A War in the Pocket: The best of all the Gundam OAVs (in my opinion
,) 0080 tells the story of ten year old Alfred Ihuzura, and is exposure to the t
rue horrors of war during a Zeon covert operation in the neutral colony of Riah
in Side 6. Al befriends a member of the Zeon team, a rookie MS Pilot named Berna
rd Weisman, and helps them in their efforts to find and destroy a new Prototype
Gundam mobile suit developed as a replacement for the Federation's Newtype ace,
Amuro Ray. During the course of the six episode series, Al witnesses the truth o
f war, and how pointless it really is. A MUST WATCH in my opinion. (Universal Ce
ntury December 0079)
Gundam 0083: Stardust Memories: Gundam flavored technothriller focusing on a gro
up of Zeon remnants, the theft of an Atomic capable Gundam protoype, and the pur
suit and efforts to recover it by the Federation Mobile Cruiser Albion. 0083 is
visually spectacular, but suffers from some of the worst characterizations in th
e entire saga, with a male lead who's whinyness is only exceeded by Shinji of Ev
angelion, and a completely contrived love triangle involving the hero, his Zeon
ace pilot rival, and a completely unlikable heroine. The storyline is designed t
o lead into the events of Zeta Gundam, but does so in such a way that it leaves
a plot hole you can drop a space colony through. (UC 0083 September through Dece
mber, tag in April of UC 0084)
Mobile Suit Z-Gundam (Zeta Gundam)
The first actual sequel to Gundam, Zeta takes place seven years afterward, and f
ocuses on a resistance group fighting against an ultra-conservative, neo-facist
branch of the Earth Federation government known as the Titans. Featuring a cast
of both new characters and old favorites (Amuro Ray, Char Aznable, Brite Noah, H
ayato Kobiashi, and Kai Shiden from the original series are all major characters
,) Zeta revisits the setting, and looks at the aftereffects of the One Year War,
and the complacency and corruption of the Earth government. This was a long awa
ited title, which has only just recieved it's release in the US within the last

month, and is only currently available as a ten disk deluxe boxed set. It is the
darkest of ALL the UC Gundam titles, and is one of the titles (along with Cosmi
c Runaway Ideon and Aura Battler Dunbine,) that earned director Yoshiyuki Tomino
his nickname of "Kill 'em All Tomino."(UC 0087)
Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam
Immediate followup to Z-gundam in which the remnants of the AEUG (now officially
once more a part of the Federation Forces) rally to defend the earth against th
e threat of Hamman Kahn's Neo Zeon forces. Following the darkness of Zeta, Tomin
o tried to lighten the tone in this, and overcompensated, giving the first half
of the series a rather silly tone. This however vanishes by the mid point. (UC 0
088) Not available in the US.
Char's Counterattack
At the end of Zeta Gundam, Char vanished, and was presumed dead. But in the wake
of the first Neo Zeon conflict (as seen in Gundam ZZ,) he reappears, and rallie
s the remnants of Neo Zeon, developing a plan to render Earth uninhabitable by c
reating an artifical ice age as a result of asteroid drops. The only real line o
f defence is the Lond Bell force, led by perennial Captain Brite Noah and Char's
old enemy, Amuro Ray. Char's Counterattack represents the culmination of Yoshiy
uki's original storyline, climaxing in a battle with a bodycount rivalling that
of Zeta Gundam and the final encounter between Char and Amuro... (UC 0093)
Mobile Suit Gundam: F-91
Thirty years after the final encounter between Amuro and Char, a new threat appe
ars. The Crossbones Vanguard, led by the aristocratic Ronah family, attacks the
Frontier side, in order to bring forth their dream of Cosmo Babylon. Different p
eople, same old thought. The best defence against them, a group of young civilia
ns on the Mobile Carrier Space Ark, and the newest Gundam prototype, the F-91. O
riginally intended to be the beginning of a series, F-91 suffers from being rest
ricted to a two hour movie. However, it also has a very upbeat ending for a Tomi
no Gundam story, as the majority of characters survive. (UC 0123)
Mobile Suit V (Victory) Gundam
As the Earth Federation government continues to collapse under it's corruption a
nd apathy toward the colonies, the Zanscare Empire chooses to invade Earth, ruli
ng through terror. The weak and useless Federation forces are unable to defend a
gainst them, leaving only the League Militaire as the only resistance. Easily th
e darkest Gundam since Zeta, it is also one of the fan favorites. (UC 0153) Unav
ailable in the United States
G-Savior
Following the conflict with the Zanscare Empire, the Earth Federation government
finally fell, replaced by the even more corrupt Congress of Settlement Nations.
This corruption has led to massive famine among the colonies, and a new resista
nce movement has formed. This is a live action film, produced in Japan and Canad
a. Unfortunately, it's rather unsatisfying, although still not bad looking, as t
he CG Special Effects are fairly good considering the film's budgetary constrain
ts. (UC 0223)
As I said, I'm not going to go into detail about the Alt Universe Gundam titles.
SeeD is currently being broadcast on Cartoon Network (friday night/Saturday Mor
ning at 1 AM) and is generally pretty good, although a bit of a pastiche of the

original.
For further information, may I suggest http://www.gundamofficial.com
Terminology Glossary
Newtypes: Posited as the next stage of human evolution, Newtypes seem to have an
uncanny awareness of themselves and their environment, making them incredibly g
ifted combatants. They seem to also have some limited telepathic abilities.
Sides: A side is a cluster of Space Colonies placed in orbit around the various
LaGrange points. There are a total of seven sides. A fully completed side can ha
ve as many as two to three hundred colony cylinders. Side 7 in the original Gund
am and Frontier Side in F-91 are incomplete, each only containing a few colonies
... For more information on the Sides, go to http://www.dyarstraights.com/msgund
am/frontier.html