MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM I: A Historic First Step in Real Robot Anime

Despite its clear visual and narrative relation to Star Wars, Mobile Suit Gundam’s legacy is similar to that of Star Trek. The franchise was crucial in mecha anime becoming more real than a superhero, but its groundbreaking beginning was rocky. The series was forced into a premature ending, where it looked like Gundam wouldn’t carry into the 1980s. Thankfully, a trilogy of compilation movies released in theaters a few years later revived interest in the saga, making Gundam a quintessential name in anime. So, while the 1979 TV series might’ve been the genesis of this important giant robot saga, the movie version — Mobile Suit Gundam I — was crucial to its lasting success.

Source: Sunrise

The films have also had their hurdles. A lackluster English dub was produced when initially released on American home video. While miles away from anime’s worst dubbed scripts, the mispronunciation of names made him take the helm of a remastered edition. Once more, bucking the Star Wars relationship, these remastered movies preserved what made these films matter most rather than retooling or adding new scenes.

A Rough Start To War

The first film in this trilogy sets the tone perfectly. It gives a brief introduction to the war between the Earth Federation and their fascistic space-living rivals, Zeon. The battle between the people who live on Earth and those who live in man-made space colonies launches when Zeon chucks an entire space station in Australia. Thus begins the One Year War in this timeline, referred to as the Universal Century.

The hero of this tale is Amuro Ray (Tôru Furuya), a spirited yet stubborn tech-wiz teenager living inside a space colony. Although the colony is considered neutral territory, it secretly harbors the Federation’s latest giant robots. This secret attracts Zeon forces, and it isn’t long before the peaceful interior replicating Earth becomes a warzone. Consequences hit immediately as Amuro’s friend Fraw Bow (Rumiko Ukai) watched her entire family obliterate in the crossfire. A frustrated Amuro fights back by jumping into the cockpit of the Federation’s most powerful robot, The Gundam.

Source: Sunrise

Emotions are heavy in the first few scenes, which drives this space opera hard. Amuro’s frustrations with his father and inability to comfort a grieving Fraw spurn his cautions of operating a robot to fight against Zeon without training. Bright Noah (Hirotaka Suzuoki) is a young Federation soldier who finds himself in a similar spot of forced leadership as the new captain of the Federation’s White Base starship. Young soldiers and orphans are forced to take on the responsibility of being the Federation’s only hope against Zeon.

Complex Villains

A big part of what made Gundam so distinct from other mecha shows was that it didn’t present a simplistic enemy. It was easy to boo the sinister aliens and monsters of superhero giant robot shows who only wanted to rule the world with violence. But the Zeon are people and never presented in a manner where they are inhuman. Their ultimate intentions are fascistic, of course, but they also make mistakes, harbor fears of death, and have other concerns besides blowing up the enemy right in front of them.

This humanized aspect is most present with Char Aznable (Shûichi Ikeda), the top mecha pilot of Zeon, referred to as The Red Comet. What starts as an eccentric strategist quickly reveals himself to be someone fighting against Zeon from the inside. This is made clear by how he views his superior, Garma (Katsuji Mori), a young egotist of Zeon’s ruling family who believes he is destined for greatness. Char not only intentionally leads the spoiled Garma into a Federation trap but gleefully laughs about it over Garma’s communication channel.

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Despite Garma seeming like an easy villain for this film, given his presence and demise, he’s not that simple of a character. Yes, he does come from a spoiled and wealthy family of the Zabis, the leaders of Zeon. But he also has a fiancée waiting for him back home. So when news drops of his death, she is not only heartbroken but seeks revenge that ultimately kills her. Defeating someone bound more by passion than ambition just doesn’t sit right. It’s especially bitter when Garma’s death only ramps up Zeon’s fury, perpetuating the cycle of violence.

Amuro’s perceptions of the enemy are further questioned when he later encounters Ramba Ral (Masashi Hirose), an older Zeon soldier with a wife and a jovial approach to life. Amuro first meets Ral during his time as a drifter, and they speak less like enemies. It makes their inevitable meeting on the battlefield tough, especially with Ral deciding to die on his own terms.

Teenage Soldier

Amuro is also posed as a challenging hero. By the time he arrives on Earth with White Base, he’s reluctant to continue fighting in the Gundam, having grown terrified of the position forced on him. He’s inexperienced, as is his superior Bright, whose only pep talk involves smacking Amuro across the face.

While his hatred of war might seem like whining, given the situation, there’s a strong case for Amuro’s position. One of the most dramatic scenes in the movie is when Amuro finds his mother on Earth. She’s in a town where Zeon soldiers visit regularly, and they arrive when Amuro’s mother hides her son in a Federation uniform. Amuro grows anxious and ends up killing the two soldiers with gunfire. His mother is horrified at what her son has become and wants nothing to do with him.

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Those frequent moments of humanity make Gundam much more than another mecha anime. The costs of war are vocal, and there’s rarely a moment where the White Base crew feels satisfied with their many victories. It’s a story that hits close to home for not softening the horrors that come with conflict, even for an anime with giant robots and space colonies. Heavy stakes and valid concerns are constantly questioned as the series and movies progress.

Condensing The Show

As a compilation film, the first Gundam movie has a solid flow. There will naturally be a handful of scenes snipped out of the film. Thankfully, there’s a decent progression where it never feels like the film is zipping by its key moments. In 2.5 hours, Amuro grows from a teenager fascinated with high-tech weapons to horrified at their effect. The film also finds the perfect end point with Ghiren Zabi’s (Banjô Ginga) furious address, which is so brutally fascistic that there’s no missing the connection to real-life politics.

Source: Sunrise

There is something to be said about how the show gives more breathing room for the characters. Part of what drew me to Gundam as a TV series was how it presented war as a grind. There’s the presence of Amuro using his Gundam to fight different enemies in each episode, which is reminiscent of superhero mecha shows with a soundtrack that could pass for that sub-genre. But the corners mounted with each episode, where the lead-up to the war’s end won’t be a simple matter of beating all the bad guys. The dangers of civilians being killed in the crossfire, food supplies running out, and mental states being obliterated are constantly evolving throughout the show. While the film still reflects this core aspect, it leaves less breathing room for the weariness of war.

Conclusion

Mobile Suit Gundam I is still as genuinely entertaining as a mecha war drama as it is a historically significant part of mecha anime history. The animation is better than the TV show, and Tomino’s remastering gives it extra polish and makes it feel grander than dated. For those curious to dip their toes into the realm of giant robot anime, Gundam is easily one of the most important places to start. This first movie of the trilogy establishes itself quickly as being bound by more than its robots and starships. It’s a mecha anime about war, fascism, lost innocence, and being emotionally drained by carnage. And it looks damn good while doing it.

Mobile Suit Gundam I is currently streaming on Netflix and Crunchyroll.