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Suit Z-Gundam Vol-1: Disc 1 (1985)
Released by: Bandai
Animation Production: Sunrise
Running Time: 250 Minutes
By Jeffrey
Couto
Introduction
I still remember when I first read the announcement
of Mobile Suit Z-Gundam’s official release in the U.S.
It was one of those licensing announcements you hope for,
but never really expect to see go through. Despite its popularity
with fans of the Gundam franchise the series was an older
one, bearing all the hallmarks of classic mid-80’s anime
and lacking all the fancy visual effects that are commonplace
with newer anime shows. For an industry that has until very
recently shunned anything that was made prior to the 90’s
this made Z-Gundam an unlikely candidate for a domestic release,
especially when some of the more modern entries in the series
remain unreleased (as of this writing), such as a A Turn Gundam
and Gundam X.
Somehow though the stars aligned themselves in the anime cosmos
for one brief moment and the result of that phenomenon was
the official release of Z-Gundam! At first released only as
a complete boxed set, the show is now finally available in
individual volumes for fans who for some reason or the other
missed out on the initial premium offering. Today we take
a look at volume one.
Please note that this review is for disc one of the 2-disc
set included with volume one of this release. I have decided
to break up the reviews like this so that we can more easily
break down each one.
Story
"After the One Year War and subsequent
wars with the last renmants of the Duchy of Zeon, the Earth
Federation formed a special military force to prevent space
colonies from revolting against the Federation. Thus, the
Titans were born. Eight years have passed since the end of
the One Year War and now the tables have turned. The once
good Earth Federation is now more corrupt than ever and will
turn the other way even when its special force, the Titans,
commit atrocities like gassing millions of civilians to their
deaths. Because of this abuse of authority the Anti-Earth
United Government (AEUG) is formed from the breaking off of
many Federation politicians and military who oppose the Titans,
and they will ally with former members of the Duchy of Zeon,
who dislike the oppresion and tyranny towards the space colonies.
This where the story begins." -- DVD Box
Review
This 1st volume in Bandai’s release
of Z-Gundam features episodes 1 through 10 in the series.
Disc 1 includes:
Episode 1: The Black Gundam
Inside a non-descript space colony the AEUG discovers the
existence of new Gundam Mobile Suits. Plans are put into action
to take these Mobile Suits out of the space colony and discover
their secrets. Meanwhile a young boy named Kamille gets into
trouble with the local authorities and members of the Titan
team.
Episode 2: Departure
AEUG forces are inside the space colony and now they find
themselves in a desperate fight to steal the new Gundam prototypes
that they found inside the orbiting city. Kamille may end
up becoming the deciding factor that determines the fate of
the Gundams, but which side will he choose?
Episode 3: Inside the Capsule
With the Gundam Mobile Suits having been stolen the Titan
team decides to take drastic action and is holding Kamille’s
parents hostage. If the AEUG forces don’t give back
the Mobile Suits Kamille’s parents are done for! What
can they do now?
Episode 4: Emma’s Decision
The Gundams are back with the space colony forces, but a disagreement
within their ranks may lead to a rebellion that will once
more put the Gundam’s in the AEUG forces’ hands.
Episode 5: Father and Son…
Kamille’s father has taken one of the AEUG’s Mobile
Suits! Can Kamille and the rest of his team help stop him
and bring him back?
This series starts somewhat similarly in structure to many
of the other shows as we travel deep inside one of the most
recently constructed space colonies only to discover that
new Gundam-type Mobile Suits are being tested inside. When
this is discovered by Quattro, a Mobile Suit pilot for the
AEUG he is quick to take photos and gather intelligence, all
in an effort to then mount an operation to take the Gundams
for further study. Running parallel to all this is our introduction
to Kamille a bright and very promising student whose Achilles’
heel a terrible temper. Through a series of events Kamille
ends up teaming up with Quattro and the AEUG forces, helping
them steal the new Gundam Mobile Suits.
From there the series begins a long process
of transforming itself into a complicated drama full of military
intrigue, character driven drama and great mobile suit action.
With these early episodes most of the stories are of an introductory
nature with a lot of screen time being devoted to introducing
us to each of the factions involved in this conflict, their
main players and what they stand for. The outside (of sorts)
through all of this is Kamille, the young man who ends up
joining up with the AEUG based on his hatred towards the Titans
onboard the space colony that has been his home. Through his
eyes we see different events unfold that will encourage his
emotions and enable him to act on them.
Generally speaking it is helpful to have some
knowledge of the events that transpired before this series
takes place (this show takes place 7 years after the One Year
War), but not necessary. Where it does prove useful is in
having an idea on which side is which and why they for some
reason or the other fail to get along, but outside of that
this series is extremely easy to get into. You do need to
pay attention to it though as a lot of little details are
put forward in a surprisingly fast fashion so if you blink
you could miss on any of a number of important plot points.
As a Gundam show, this one has all the hallmarks
of the legendary series. From the realistic, gritty military
atmosphere to the detailed mechanical designs and space battles
this is what Gundam is all about. The only downside to this
is that it does share many elements with several other entries
in the series (including some of the newer ones), which may
make it seem repetitive or familiar, but with these episodes
this is more the result of the setup/introductions than anything
else.
All in all this was an enjoyable collection
of episodes to watch over the course of the afternoon and
having been so long since I’ve seen this series it surprised
me how well it holds up against more contemporary releases.
The story is well written out, the universe of Z-Gundam is
captivating, the characters are interesting and driven by
the story and events, rather than unexplained angst, etc.
There is so much here that works on so many levels it would
take a while to go over it, but suffice to say that the entire
package delivers.
On the production-side of things this anime
delivers as much punch as it does on the narrative front.
The animation, circa 1985, has that unmistakable 80’s
look and feel with the animation having a lot of rawness and
liveliness to it. It’s interesting that despite doing
everything by hand the animation team chose to go with a very
complex set of mechanical designs and backgrounds that while
beautiful to look at and surprisingly smooth in movement must
have taken a lot of time and effort to pull off. I give those
guys a TON of credit for making Z-Gundam look as good as it
does. The color palette is for the most part well balanced
with lots of colorful scenes inside the Space Colony being
contrasted against the darker space battle sequences. Visual
effects are limited to lighting effects for the weapons, but
everything overall looks amazing.
On the music front the opening and ending
themes are solely missed (especially the very rocking opening
theme song), but the instrumental choices made by Bandai Entertainment
do a surprisingly good job at filling in the void. As far
as the in-show BGM soundtrack goes it is strikingly beautiful
and a pleasure to listen to. The voice actors here are lively
and do an amazing job at bringing their characters to life,
especially Kamille’s voice actor.
On the DVD front this is another nice release
from the folks at Bandai Entertainment featuring terrific
video and audio transfers of the show, given how long ago
this one was originally released. There are no in-disc extras
to really speak of outside of a reversible cover, but with
10 episodes you'd be hard-pressed to find anything wrong with
this release.
Final
Thoughts
If you’re a Gundam fan, there are no
excuses, you HAVE to add Z-Gundam to your collection. This
highly regarded series is considered a classic by anime fans
worldwide and there is a reason for that, this is an amazing
series at every level. Even if you don’t follow the
Gundam franchise, but are interested in a good military/sci-fi
anime series, this show is highly recommended.
Z-Gundam gets our highest recommendations!
Jeffrey
Couto
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