Mobile Suit Z Gundam (the Z is pronounced "Zeta") is a 50-episode
Japanese television show which aired every
Saturday from 5:30 to 6:00 PM, from March 1985 to February 1986. Z Gundam was the first of many sequels to the
phenomenally popular 1979
sci-fi anime series
Mobile Suit Gundam, and is considered by many fans of the saga to
be the best.
Chronology:
The original Mobile Suit Gundam told the story of the apocalyptic One Year War between the Duchy of Zeon and the
Earth Federation, and the eventual victory of the Federation in UC 0079. In UC 0083 a terrorist action by remnants of
the Zeon military (detailed in Gundam 0083) spurred the Earth Federation
Space Forces (EFSF) to create a special anti-insurgence task force known as the Titans, to which it granted unprecedented powers to preserve the peace. Under the leadership
of Jamitov Haiman, the Titans grew into a formidable force, largely independent of the rest of the military. In UC
0085, Titans commander Bosque Ohm ordered his troops to pump G-3 nerve gas into Side 1's 30-bunch colony
cylinder in order to quell an anti-government rally being held there. All 30 million inhabitants were killed. Space
colonists were outraged by the event, and, in response, joined defecting EFSF officers to form the Anti Earth-Union
Group, or AEUG. As the Titans and AEUG geared up for conflict, the majority of the EFSF, nettled by the Titans'
usurpation of power and threatened by the AEUG's radical politics, decided to sit back and watch. It is in this
political climate that Zeta Gundam begins.
Plot:
Camille Bidan is a rash, irresponsible young man who lives in Side 7's Green Noah 1 colony. Camille's flash
temper and instinctual distrust of authority get him into a scuffle with a Titans officer who mocks his feminine
name; things escalate from there, and before you can say "convenient plot device" he's stolen a
brand-new Gundam Mark II prototype and joined the crew of an AEUG cruiser, the Ahgama. There, Camille is taken
under the wing of a thinly-disguised Char Aznable, and initiated into the war as one of the Ahgama's top
Newtype pilots. Despite his entry into the conflict essentially on a whim, Camille will mature rapidly, and grow to
understand that he fights not out of hatred for his enemies, but out of love for his friends.
Review:
Zeta Gundam's reputation as the best of the Gundam series is richly deserved. It retains the excellent writing and
direction of the original series, while raising the production values to a new standard. Admittedly, this is a 1985
standard, and anyone expecting truly modern animation will be dissapointed, but nevertheless it is an improvement
over its predecessor. The characters remain compelling, the battle scenes intense, and the mecha fascinating. Zeta
continues to explore many of the social, political, and emotional themes of the
original, while expanding on the idea of Newtypes and presenting a new perspective on the Universal Century's
perpetual civil war. The downside to Zeta is that its appeal depends in large part on the viewer's prior knowledge
of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. It's also extremely depressing. I reccommend it to all Gundam fans, and
fans of mecha action in general, with the caveat that seeing the first Gundam series (or first 3 movies) will
probably be necessary in order to enjoy it to the fullest. Getting into the whole Gundam thing takes something of a
committment, but I think it's worth it.
Crew:
Writer: Yoshiyuki Tomino
Director: Yoshiyuki Tomino
Character Design: Yoshikasu Yasuhiko
Mecha Design: Kunio Okawara
Mamoru Nagano
Kazumi Fujita