Mobile Suit Gundam: Through the Sea of Stars
Posted in anime, movies on 02/20/2009 11:19 pm by Wes
The Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy is, I think, the Japanese equivalent of Star Wars. The analogy works on all sorts of levels — Gundam is a set of three movies; Star Wars is a set of three movies (the original series, anyway). Each advanced the genre of sci-fi thematically and visually — Star Wars affected an entire generation of moviegoers, and the iconic design of the RX-78 Gundam can still be seen echoed in anime to this day. Both trilogies were spawned in the closing years of the 1970s, although the film version of the 0079 saga saw release in the period of time between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi’s run in theaters. Finally, both managed to tell a story that is epic in scope and yet deeply personal, balancing the fate of billions with the struggles of a select few. Ultimately, this is what makes them timeless.
Tracing Gundam’s history will, unsurprisingly, bring up another similarity to the Star Wars saga. The fact that the latter trilogy ended up becoming a key piece of cinematic history was fairly miraculous, considering the myriad production problems it faced and the sheer inventiveness required for its groundbreaking special effects. Gundam’s road to existence was, perhaps, longer and rockier — the original series, broadcast on television in 1979, didn’t exactly set the ratings board on fire. It was canceled 9 episodes short of its intended 52-episode run. But that wasn’t the end. Thanks to the success of Gundam models in 1980, interest picked up, and the series was reconstructed for a theatrical run. The second and third entries in the series, entitled Soldiers of Sorrow and Encounters in Space, contained a significant amount of newly-animated footage. The end result is a trilogy that is even more sobering, serious, poignant, and focused than its television counterpart. Though its mecha combat may always be Gundam’s lasting legacy, it is the characters and their message that will endure. From within its disturbingly cold depiction of war as a senseless, hellish slaughter, the desperately hopeful ideal of Newtypes emerges as a powerful, novel concept.
