Introduction to the Gundam phenomenon

    Mobile Suit Gundam is a science fiction anime series, originally produced by Sunrise Entertainment, which was first shown on Japanese television in 1979. It was one of the first TV series to replace a plethora of heroes by realistically drawn giant robots. Additionally, each of the pilots or protagonists of the series had their own beliefs and convictions, giving each of the characters a complex enough mentality to give them realistic personalities. As a result we cannot distinguish between the true “good” and “evil” characters. There are good and bad people on both sides and it’s on this basis that the rest of the Gundam series followed too. Since 1979, Mobile Suit Gundam has essentially been one of the major works of Japanese animation, as well as a revolutionary piece of Japanese science-fiction.

    The UC saga is set at an undetermined time in the future, where the Gregorian calendar has been replaced by the Universal Calendar (Universal Century). In the Universal Century, ¾ of the world’s population has moved to seven Space Colony, each one composed of 40 stations, orbiting around the Earth on the Lagrange points.

    Although the storylines and characters vary from one series to the other, a general trend emerges from the different chapters of the saga: the battles staged by the inhabitants of the colonies, the Spacenoides, are for their independence from the federal government of Earth.

    To this end – the Spacenoïdes began, at different times, a variety of battles ranging from large to small that extended to both the Earth and space.

    The very first of the Spacenoïdes came from colony Side-3, the self proclaimed Duchy of Zeon. This war has already been raging for 9 months when the series Mobile Suit Gundam begins.

    The success of the first series gave rise to three films which summarised and added elements from the first series. From there came several more series and movies – all dependant on the original story but - little by little – the Gundam universe evolved. Today the Gundam Universe, in its entirety is composed of various periods, comparable to various universes or times, confronted with the problem of corrupt people and increasingly powerful Mobile Suits entering the battlefield.

    At this time, after more than 20 years in existence, there are currently six distinct universes. The Gundam saga is composed of nine TV series, four OVA series, ten films, an indefinite number of mangas and several video games. A single element remains unchanged in all its various incarnations: battles are fought by incredible machines called Gundams, piloted by true heroes.

A very rich timeline :
from Mobile Suit Gundam to Mobile Suit Gundam Seed

    Strengthened by the success of the three films, Yoshiyuki Tomino created a follow-up in 1985: Mobile Suit Z Gundam. The series presented viewers with a new assortment of characters, partly formed by characters from the first series, in a new political context which breaks down quickly into all-out war. Due to its dark and melancholy atmosphere, the series was a total success and to this day remains one of the most popular series in the saga. Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, the direct follow-up to Mobile Suit Z Gundam, was only a mitigated success though due to the differences between it and Mobile Suit Z Gundam.

    In 1988, the film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counter Attack was released in cinemas, and was the first original film in the Gundam saga. Char’s Counter Attack was a conclusion to the first Gundam universe, telling of the fate that befell the two heroes, Amuro Ray and Char Aznable.

    However, the undeniable popularity of the saga didn’t end there.


    In 1989, Sunrise created Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 : War in the pocket directed by Fumihiko Takayama (WXIII Patlabor) who travelled back in time in the UC saga. Whilst the previous series had run in chronological order, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 returned to the past before the events of the first Gundam series and was a short OAV series (a series designed to be released straight to home video) that was six episodes long. Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 carried on the tragic themes from Mobile Suit Z Gundam, thus producing another very emotional series in the Gundam universe.

    In 1991, Yoshiyuki Tomino tried to remake the Gundam universe starting with Mobile Suit Gundam F91, which was a departure from the UC saga and set far in the foreseeable future. Using the same ingredients that made the first series a success, but sadly this series was not to be a success; the fans and the general public were more interested by Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. Stardust Memory was an OAV series over 13 episodes again going back to the past, this time between Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Z Gundam.

    This series broke sales records and even gives rise to a movie, Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: The Afterglow of Zeon, a compilation of the 13 episodes in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory.

    Finally, the last OAV to date, Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team was made in 1996 and was another return to the first timeline of the first Gundam series.

    Despite the false start that was Mobile Suit Gundam F91, Sunrise decided to try choosing a new path for the Gundam universe by exploring alternative universes that were not associated to the UC saga. This led in 1994 to Mobile Fighter G Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing in 1995 and After War Gundam X in 1996. In 1999, Turn A Gundam came about then in 2002.