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is a metaseries of Japanese anime, featuring giant robots, or "mecha", created by Sunrise studios. The series started in April 1979 as a TV series called Mobile Suit Gundam, and later became a franchise name with more sequels, prequels, side stories and alternative timelines, published and aired in various media including TV anime, OVA, manga, novels, and video games.
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Encyclopedia
is a metaseries of Japanese anime, featuring giant robots, or "mecha", created by Sunrise studios. The series started in April 1979 as a TV series called Mobile Suit Gundam, and later became a franchise name with more sequels, prequels, side stories and alternative timelines, published and aired in various media including TV anime, OVA, manga, novels, and video games. Gundam became a collective term for 7 different time lines, all featuring their own story-lines, with a few common denominators and war machines called Gundam.
The original timeline for the Gundam series was the Universal Century (UC) series, which included Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985). Since the 1990s, alternative timelines have been produced and developed, including the Future Century, After Colony, After War, Correct Century, Cosmic Era and Anno Domini timelines.
In the 2008 ranking of average sales figures for anime copies sold in Japan (1970-2008 total sales figures averaged by episode), Gundam series were in 4 of the top 5 places: Mobile Suit Gundam ranked second, with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny third, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED fourth, and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam fifth. Also, New Mobile Report Gundam Wing ranked 18th and Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ ranked 20th.
As of 21 January 2008, the Gundam franchise is a 50 billion yen trademark. Gunpla's (Gundam Plastic model) income is 90% of the Japan character plastic model market's income.
Academic fields in Japan also view the series as a good inspiration in research fields. The Gundam academy, or officially International Gundam Society is the first academic institution based on an animated TV series.
In 2009, the Gundam franchise will celebrate its 30th anniversary. A new series based on Universal Century will be announced as part of the anniversary.
Overview
Concept
Mobile Suit Gundam was principally developed by renowned animator Yoshiyuki Tomino, along with a changing group of Sunrise creators who went under the collective pseudonym of "Hajime Yatate".
During its conceptual phase the series was titled Freedom Fighter Gunboy, or simply Gunboy, because the title included a robot armed with a gun, and the primarily target demographic were shonen (boys). In the early production stages there were numerous references to the word "freedom": the White Base was originally "Freedom's Fortress", the Core Fighter was the "Freedom Wing", and the Gunperry was the "Freedom Cruiser". The Yatate team combined the English word "gun" with the last syllable of the word "freedom", "dom", to form the name Gundom. Tomino then changed it to the current title, suggesting that Gundam signified a powerful unit wielding a gun powerful enough to hold back enemies, like a hydroelectric dam holding back floods.
Most Gundams are large, bipedal vehicles controlled from cockpits by a human pilot. The majority of these "mobile suits" - the description of these vehicles, including the Gundam, in the various series - have a cockpit in the "torso" of the machine, with a camera built into the "head" to transmit images to the cockpit. Rarely, cockpits are mounted elsewhere on the chassis, as in Psyco Gundam, where the cockpit is located in the unit's head.
While most Gundams are non-sentient there are some exceptions; in the side-story Gundam Sentinel, an artificial intelligence called A.L.I.C.E. develops its own emotions, wanting to become human at the very end of the story. In The Blue Destiny, another side-story, four mobile suits (one of them not a Gundam), built with the EXAM System, share a Newtype human soul and instinct which allows them to act exceptionally independently. These are the only canonical and specified plot-related Gundams that contains self-sentience to the main story-line.
Innovation
Mobile Suit Gundam is said to have pioneered the real robot era of mecha anime. Unlike its super robot cousins, Gundam attempts at realism in robot design and weaponry, as well as the thematic and ethical roles of the robots themselves. Zambot 3 was an earlier program by Tomino, where he began developing the ideas in "Gundam".
The inherent motif of all the various Gundam series is the harsh depiction of the atrocities of war. All the machines, including the Gundams, are usually depicted running out of energy and ammunition, or breaking and malfunctioning like all machines do. The technology, at least that of the Universal Century, is practical and is either derived from true science, including Lagrange points in space, the O'Neill cylinder as a living environment, or at least well-explained technology that is potentially feasible, and/or requiring only a few fictional elements inserted into real science to function (Minovsky Physics, as a means of energy production from helium-3).
The necessity of developing humanoid robots is also scientifically explained, albeit fictional. The fictional Minovsky particle is pervasive in Universal Century, and these particles prevented the use of radar. Long-distance cruise missiles, anti-aircraft guns and missiles could not function automatically due to lack of radar control. As a result, all weapons control systems had to rely on human eyes. Warplanes, which largely relied on auto-guided missiles, were useless. On top of that, early warning systems were non-functional. In Universal Century, humans have colonized space. The Principality of Zeon, which rebels against Earth Federation, needed a weapons system that could function outside of the colony in zero gravity, as well as in gravity. The weapons system should be able to open and close air locks, plant demolition charges, engage with enemy tanks and planes. In such a world, what could be most dynamic and thus could inflict most damage is a robotic giant, in the form of mobile suits. Once mobile suits have been developed by one side, the opposing force had to develop a similar system, just as British invention of tanks lead to the development of tanks in Germany, and eventually lead to tank-to-tank battles.
Gundams realistic scientific setting has gained its reputation in the field, as well. On 18 July 2007, as MIT's Astronautics Department's Professor Dava Newman displays her biosuit, the normal suit as seen in the Gundam series was referenced as Mobile Suit Gundam's Normal Suit is now real by various news. On 14 February 2008, as NASA proposed its beginning of the nuclear thermal rocket engine research, Technobahn, a scientific journal in Japan relates it to the Gundam universe, having wide usage of nuclear thermal rocket engines on its mobile suits.
Narrative
The narrative itself revolves around mobile suits and pilots fighting in a war, destruction and dehumanization inherent in war. The series tends to explore all sides of a conflict; each faction has their own heroes and villains, all of which have their own unique motives, failings, and virtues. Political battles are as likely to determine the outcome of a war, as it often is. Gundam also features debate on various important philosophical issues and political ideals, both historical ones, and some of those likely to crop up in the future. Of particular note are the frequent explorations of the nature and meaning of war, the ideal of pacifism, and the continuing evolution - natural or engineered - of humanity and its consequences. These are often framed in the series as a debate between the protagonist and antagonist over the course of a duel, as they try to convince each other of the righteousness of their causes.
Finally, most of the stories are basically structured as "coming-of-age" dramas, where the main protagonist (and sometimes the main antagonist) and most of the cast personalities, points of view, and actions may (or may not) change dramatically, as the events on the series unfold. This makes the plot seem more realistic. In early super robot animated series, the hero and cast usually act in the same predictable manner in most episodes, occasionally seeming to have no connection between episodes. In the various Gundam series, the characters' personalities and actions are transformed/developed by the turn of events surrounding them; some achieve their goals, others are hardened by war, and some even switch allegiances (whether for their own agendas, or following their conscience, after a change of philosophy). The best example of this is how the personalities of longtime rivals, Amuro Ray and Char Aznable, are influenced by their experiences in the Gundam saga.
As it is a coming-of-age drama in robot genre, the story line has a minute fractures and fragmentations in narratives, in pace and story lines. This may be a reflection of unstable teenage sentiments, or that the creator of the series may have wanted to achieve too much. At times the story revolves around fast paced war and up-rooted lives. At times it is about Amuro and his distant father. At one point Amuro runs away, unrelated to his father. Deep philosophical and psychological discussions are made between enemies. Amuro was infatuated with an officer, Matilda Ajan, and find connection with an engineered psychic Lalah Sune from whom he learns about Newtype. Amuro finds likeness in rival Char, but also despises him. Char has his own motives, and his sister Sayla Mass is a shipmate of Amuro. The narrative stays with Amuro most of the times, but at times, it revolves around various side characters as well, which may widen the story, but also detracts viewers with too many topics.
Distinctive characteristics
Gundam is the name or nickname of several mobile suits or mobile fighters, although in some of the related series, such as G-Saviour do not use the term Gundam in the show and presume viewers can tell the difference of Gundam type mobile suits from its general characteristics. The OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO mainly based upon other famous icons from the first series like the Zaku to relate the show with other Gundam series.
The term Gundam is more of an idea instead of a clear image. Each series can show very different design and colouring for the Gundams. Most of the Gundam in various shows normally have a head following the design of the first Gundam, from the design of Kunio Okawara. Some are different from others, like Zeta Gundam using an angular white mouth-piece instead of a squared red one. One of the notable incidents in early history of Gundam design was when Katoki Hajime presented his line art design of S Gundam to the Sunrise officials, they felt that it did not look like a Gundam and rejected the design, yet when Katoki added in the major colouring, red, blue and yellow, to the same design and added a few more pictures displaying the suit from different angles at the next meeting, the same officials found it to look quite like a Gundam. The producer, Masahiko Asano noted in his notes that everyone had their own idea of Gundam, and in the meeting, they were trying to find the asymptotic view for everyone in the meeting.
Meaning in different series
The different series have had different ways of maintaining the tradition, and the only unique feature that all Gundams have in common is the name.
In the Universal Century timeline, "Gundam" is the name of the Earth Federation's (Chikyu Renpo, ????) first experimental general-purpose mobile suit, which is incredibly powerful, compared to most of the mass-produced models eventually used by either side. Afterwards, many powerful mobile suits based on the Gundam's design also carry the name, such as the RX-178 Gundam Mk-II, MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam, LM312V04 Victory Gundam, etc. The Anaheim Gundams, or Greek alphabet Gundams are a series of mobile suits developed by the fictional company Anaheim Electronics, some of them are notably carrying different style heads than other Gundams in the series, like the Rick Dias (Gamma Gundam) and Hyaku Shiki (Delta Gundam).
In the Future Century timeline, the word "Gundam" refers to a space colony's entry in the "Gundam Fight", a competition that determines which colony would rule the Earth for the next 4 years. The pilots who use these Gundams are known as "Gundam Fighters". However, some suits that are called Gundams are not entries in the Gundam Fight at all, with the most operative examples being the JDG-009X (JDG-00X) Devil Gundam and the JMF-1336R (JMF1336R) Rising Gundam.
In the After Colony timeline, the word "Gundam" refers to most mobile suits constructed out of a special alloy called "Gundanium", which can only be mined and produced in space. This alloy gives the Gundams high resistance to conventional weaponry and renders them stealth under radar, due to its nature of absorbing electromagnetic waves. Every Gundam has a unique name that befits the nature of the suit and/or its origins, such as the XXXG-01W Wing Gundam, XXXG-01D Gundam Deathscythe and the XXXG-01S Shenlong Gundam.
The After War timeline is a loose continuation of the Universal Century continuity, presenting an alternate scenario, with many of the mecha designs loosely based on Universal Century suits.
In the Correct Century timeline, the name "Gundam" is given to the SYSTEM ?-99 (WD-M01) ? Gundam "Turn A"/White Doll mobile suit by a specific character, who was originally ace pilot, but placed under suspended animation. The color scheme of the Turn A reminds the character of the Gundam mobile suits from previous eras.
In the Cosmic Era works, Gundams are mobile suits that carry a specific type of operating system, first secretly produced (without the programmer himself knowing what he is programming the system for) by the one of the protagonist's robotics research group, and faced a few upgrades by various factions throughout the story. The acronym of the operating system always spells "GUNDAM", thus, these suits are called "Gundam". However, this is retconned by later toys and scale models tagging the "Gundam", after the unit's own name.
In the Anno Domini timeline of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, the term Gundam is the generic designation of a line of unique and highly effective mobile units developed by Celestial Being, such as the GN-001 Gundam Exia and GN-002 Gundam Dynames. Distinct from concurrently introduced weapons, suit torsos contain a core generator system known as the GN Drive or Solar Furnace, capable of sustaining independent unit function for an indefinite period of time without needing to refuel. In addition, onboard propulsion recycles the generator's GN particle exhaust for high-speed, virtually unlimited output. The particle exhaust disrupts the use of conventional radar and a range of wireless communications.
The Huckebein series of mecha from the Super Robot Wars series also share many Gundam-like characteristics; not surprising, since its mechanical designer is Hajime Katoki, who has done many redesigns of previous Gundam models.
See also the Japanese article for Gundam Type / for details.
Further development
An interview of Yoshiyuki Tomino in the OtonaFami 2009 February issue, he commented about the lack of planning of Sunrise and Bandai, and pointed out his own view on plans for the next 10, 20, 30 years. He also decided to create concepts suitable for Sunrise and Bandai for the next 100 and 200 years from now. and claims that a good movie needs 3 to 4 years of production time, and thus it is too late for him to do anything for the 30th anniversary of Gundam, yet it is still not too late for the 35th anniversary, and he might do something for that, yet he denies about directing a new Gundam series in 2015. However, he foresees that on next year's(2010) January, he would still scolding Isn't there only 4 more years left? and no action would be taken by the company. His wish is that in the future, a common sentence people will use is Think like Gundam.
Calendar system
The majority of Gundam works, including the earliest ones, occurs in the Universal Century (UC, for short) calendar. Later series are set in alternate calendars or timelines that are mostly unrelated to the UC system. There is a basic premise or back-story common to all the Gundam series: in each timeline, Earth has at some point established space colonies within the Solar System, but eventually engages in an armed conflict against them. On a side note, at least three calendar systems are initially numbered after the year that the series premiered. For example, Mobile Suit Gundam takes place in UC 0079 (it premiered in 1979) , New Mobile Report Gundam Wing in After Colony 195 (a 1995 premiere) and Mobile Suit Gundam 00 takes place in 2307 (with a 2007 premiere). In addition, the initials for the Cosmic Era calendar, CE, is the same for as the initials for Common Era, a designation of the Gregorian calendar.
Mobile Fighter G Gundam takes place in the Future Century (FC). In this timeline, the space colonies have gained the upper hand over Earth, consequently attempting to put an end to the internal power struggles now plaguing the planet. Mobile Suit Gundam Wing takes place in the After Colony (AC) calendar system, referring to the years after the foundation of the first space colony. Unlike the UC and FC, Earth firmly maintains repressive control over its colonies.After War Gundam X takes place in the After War (AW) timeline, referring to the years after the conclusion of the 7th Space War, where the Earth was devastated by massive colony drops. As a result, the story features distinct post-apocalyptic undertones, in addition to the common space war themes.? Gundam takes place in the calendar system, where director Yoshiyuki Tomino intended as the distant future of all previous timelines. The CC sees the colonies becoming much stronger than the Earth, but unlike the FC timeline, takes a more aggressive stance towards it. The English acronym of CC is Correct Century (??????????), in the official Japanese ? guide book.Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, its sequels, and spinoffs take place in the Cosmic Era, with CE referring to the years after the foundation of the first space colonies. This timeline mostly mirrors the UC's balance of power between Earth and the colonies.The latest entry in the franchise, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, is the first series to incur the timeline.
Bandai and Japanese-speaking fans unofficially refer to projects not directly related to the first Gundam series or its staffers (such as Gundam Sentinel and Mobile Fighter G Gundam) as "Another Gundam" stories, and to projects made after 1989 as "Heisei Gundam" stories. On a survey for a video game that would become Gundam: True Odyssey, the Cosmic Era series (including Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray) were collectively referred to as "21st Century First Gundam" (a reference to the original Mobile Suit Gundam series). English-speaking fans have used the term "Alternate Universe" ("AU" for short) as a nickname for the stories that do not take place within the Universal Century timeline, but this is made unofficial for use in Japan.
Gundam franchise
Animated/live-action series and films
In order of release:
Mobile Suit Gundam (also known as the "First Gundam", it is the nickname used by Japanese fans, once sequels appeared. "Gundam 0079" has also been established for use, as a nickname derived from its spinoff manga and games used by the international community.)- TV: 1979 - 1980
- Compilation movies: 1981 - 1982
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam- TV: 1985 - 1986
- Compilation movies: 2004 - 2006
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZMobile Suit Gundam: Char's CounterattackMobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the PocketSuper Deformed Gundam- Movie: 1988 - 1989, 1991, 1993
- OVAs: 1988, 1990
- TV: 1993
Mobile Suit Gundam F91Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory- OVAs: 1991
- Compilation movie: 1992
Mobile Suit Victory GundamMobile Fighter G GundamMobile Suit Gundam Wing- TV: 1995
- Compilation OVAs: 1996
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team- OVAs: 1996
- Compilation movie: 1998
After War Gundam XNew Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz- OVAs: 1997
- Compilation movie: 1998
Turn A Gundam- TV: 1999 - 2000
- Compilation movies: 2002
Gundam the Ride: A Baoa Qu- Amusement park attraction movie: 2000
G-SaviourGundam Neo Experience 0087: Green Divers- Specialty format movie: 2001
Gundam EvolveMobile Suit Gundam SEED- TV: 2002 - 2003
- Compilation specials: 2004
Superior Defender Gundam ForceMobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOOMobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny- TV: 2004 - 2005
- Compilation specials: 2006 - 2007
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: StargazerMobile Suit Gundam 00- TV: 2007 - 2008
- TV(Second Season): 2008 - 2009
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: The Movie
Original design series and variations
Due to the sheer popularity of the Gundam franchise, especially the mobile suit design, several "Original Design Series" were published. These series are drawings and precise specifications for additional mobile suit units not found in the original animated material:
Gundam Century was a book published in 22 September 1981. At first it is an unofficial anime guide of Mobile Suit Gundam, published by Minori books(?????) as an extra appendix of the monthly magazine ??OUT. The book served as the basics of all the technology and realistic demonstration of Gundam, in which at publish, it is a collection of fan material along with interviews and off-time works from the original Gundam creators like Yoshiyuki Tomino, Kunio Okawara and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. Also collected various real world space exploration science and referenced scientific journals like L5 News, Science, Physics Today. The settings in the book has since then been adopted and endorsed by the official company Sunrise and Bandai. Although most of the numbers and history has since then been changed a few times, (for example, the One Year War started in November 0079 instead of the current official timeline January 0079). the book is regarded as the pioneer of the realism of the Gundam franchise, and is acknowledged in Gundam Official and is republished by as an official publication in the year 2000, named as Gundam Century Renewal Version.
- Mobile Suit Variations (1983)
- Also known as "MSV", these variations exist from the One Year War, and considered to be official and canonical in the Universal Century timeline.
- Mobile Suit X (1984)
- Also known as "MSX", these are new models for a proposed, but never produced new animation series, and considered to be official and canonical in the Universal Century timeline.
- Z-MSV
- Variations from the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam series.
- ZZ-MSV
- Variations from the Mobile Suit Double Zeta Gundam series.
- CCA-MSV
- Variations from the Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack movie.
- Kunio Okawara's MS Collection (M-MSV)
- F91-MSV
- Variations from the Mobile Suit Gundam F91 movie.
- V-MSV
- Variations from the Mobile Suit Victory Gundam series.
- SEED-MSV
- Variations from the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED series.
- SEED Destiny MSV
- Variations from the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny series.
- 00V
- Variations from the Mobile Suit Gundam 00 series.
Manga and novels
The manga narration of the original series is published in English in North America by a variety of companies, such as Viz Media, Del Rey Manga, and TOKYOPOP, among others. Gundam-related manga is also published in English in Singapore, by Chuang Yi.
Video games
Following the popularity of Gundam, various video games feature original characters previously not found in other media. Some video games have been converted into comics or novels.
Super Robot Wars
The Gundam metaverse makes regular appearances in the Super Robot Wars series by Banpresto. In fact, there has not been a single non-Banpresto Original title which has not featured at least one Gundam series and characters. Some series come and go, but Amuro Ray, often in his RX-93 "? Gundam", is a regular character and has actually never missed a single game. This all changed in Super Robot Wars Judgement for the Game Boy Advance and Super Robot Wars W for the Nintendo DS. So far, almost every single major Gundam series has made at least one appearance in the series.
The mobile suit units are considered the representing unit in the "real robot" type of mecha. The games' units are often separated by being "super robots", powerful mecha that often have near-limitless powers and technology, but have a shorter range of movement, and real robots, mecha that are physically weaker, but possess a wider range of movement and accuracy. There have been so many mobile suit units that it is impossible to tell a distinct style, however, mobile suits are extremely agile and have an enormous variety of weapons.
Series based on Gundam models
Although not directly related to Gundam, these series incorporate Gundam models as part of the stories. It is also noted that Genshiken and Sgt. Frog were created by subdivisions of Bandai, Media Factory and Sunrise, respectively:
Merchandise
Bandai, the primary licensee of the Gundam trademark, makes a variety of products for the Gundam fan. Other companies produce unofficial toys, models, t-shirts, etc. Categories of products include the "Mobile Suit In Action" ("MSiA") action figures, and Gundam Model Kits in several scales and design complexity. Generally, each series listed above will have its own set of products, although the MSiA and models lines, such as Master Grade and High Grade Universal Century, may extend across series. The most popular line of action figure in recent year; however, is the "Gundam Fix" series. This line of figures include the mecha shown in the animated series/manga/novels, but also included new accessories to create a more updated version.
Internet
Bandai maintains a number of sites to promote various Gundam projects. Most prominent amongst these is "Gundam Perfect Web", the official Japanese site. Its English language counterpart is the US maintained "Gundam Official". For a brief trial period in 2005, the site hosted the "Gundam Official User Forum". These forums were based on the existing fan forum, "Gundam Watch", and made use of many of its staff. When the project was retired, Gundam Watch was reborn, before passing the torch onto "Gundam Evolution", which maintains many of the same traditions and staff.
A number of series specific websites have been produced. These are often available for a limited time, usually to promote a DVD release. Common content includes character and mecha listings, lists of related merchandise and pay-for-download content. "Special" pages are also frequent, often presenting downloadable wallpaper or a small game. The Superior Defender Gundam Force site, for example, offers a game where players take the role of the villain, attempting to blast its minions with its weapons. After completion, users are rewarded with a papercraft of the Ark fans featured frequently in the show's second half.
As a cultural icon
Gundam is a popular cultural icon of Japan, it is a 50 billion yen business of Bandai Namco (projected 50 billion yen income of the company and reached a highest number of 54.5 billion yen in 2006). Not only were stamps published, an employee of the Agriculture Ministry was reprimanded for contribution to Japanese Wikipedia Gundam related pages , the Japanese Self Defense Forces code-named its developing advance personal combat system as Gundam and the Fire department used Gundam to promote the future of fire fighting developments. A tram station stood a monument of the original Gundam and used the main theme of the first Gundam anime as its departure melody and other businesses like Mitsubishi not only created a test-type simulator for concept cars with a version of Gundam cockpit, it also held recruitment seminars using "How to make a Gundam" as a demo of what their development process is and based their Lancer Evolution design on Gundam. Isuzu also used a Gundam to model the VX2. A conference as a preparation for the "International Gundam Society" (????????) was held on the 24 August in Hiroshima, using Gundam as the main topic to discuss about the relationship of the science and technology in sci-fi anime and the real world.
Fire fighting poster
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The RX-78-2 Gundam and 2 Medea transport planes were featured in a fire fighting poster in Japan. The RX-78-2 was equipped with water spraying equipment instead of weapons.
Japanese stamps
The RX-78 Gundam was recognized as a culturally significant subject by the nation of Japan on 23 October 2000, with the inclusion of the suit and of the main pilot on two stamps in the 20th Century Stamp Series.
Additionally, this mobile suit and other notable mecha from various Gundam series were recognized in the second set of "Anime Heroes and Heroines" stamps, released in 2005. It was one of only four franchises to be given the honor; the others were Pokémon, Galaxy Express 999, and Detective Conan.
Japan Self-Defense Forces
The code name for the under-development Japan Self-Defense Forces advanced personal combat equipment is "Gundam". On the display exhibition on 7 November 2007, the equipment of the set contains infra-red camera and scope that can verify the incoming target is friend or foe, along with a monitor display that can browse the internet. The equipment has a total weight of 9 kg and the powered suit can run for 8 hours. The testing team consisting of troopers claims that the major improvement should be focused on increasing the battery life of the system. The researchers are also aiming for funnel type systems including missiles that can stay/hover in air and mini scouting robots.
Tram station monument
On 23 March 2008, a RX-78 Gundam monument in the south exit of the Kamiigusa Station, and an original Gundam head mark will be on display on the Seibu Shinjuku Line train until 4 April 2008. The music of the train departing is also changed to the melody of the opening theme of Mobile Suit Gundam. The event also featured free Gundam eco-bags. The monument pose is directed by Tomino, the original creator of Gundam, and featured a pose of Gundam pointing its hand towards the sky symbolizing paragenesis and hoping for the future. According to the director, it corresponds to the title of the first episode of Gundam, ?????????!!, and carries a meaning of from Earth.
Isuzu VX2
The concept of Isuzu VX 2 is inspired by RX-178 Gundam Mk-II as concept design arts released in the Jan/Feb 1998, as seen in issue no. 71 of the magazine Axis published in Japan.
Mitsubishi
Test-type simulator
Mitsubishi has cooperated with Bandai to create a simulator for concept cars, which will show up in various places including car shows and factory sites for visitors to test run different cars. The simulator features an up to 0.5G simulated acceleration, a 100 inch screen with 24 bit digital sound and accommodation for 4 people in a 2 line formation that the front seaters will control the simulated vehicle. Although the commercial release will be a car simulator, the test-type of this simulator will be decorated like the Gundam cockpit and become a simulation theatre in the Toyota theme park, Mega Web, located in Tokyo.
Seminars
As part of MHI Jobcon 2005 (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Job Convention 2005), a recruiting event of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, seminars were held in six Japanese cities. The topic of these seminars was "Mobile Suit Gundam Development Story"; which indicated the requirements and processes that Mitsubishi would have to implement if the company had been required to build an RX-78 mobile suit.
Lancer Evolution
According to Gundam-san 4 koma comic, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution appearance is influenced by the RX-78-2 Gundam.
Lucky Star
Gundam became a plot discussion in the Lucky Star anime episode 19 for about 1 and a half minutes, V, W, X are mentioned and shows like Gundam serial killing event or Detective Gundam are proposed to see if fans will watch them. Amuro Ray, Bright Noa and Haman Karn are mentioned to be compared to the age of the main character, all look much older than the 18 year old Izumi Konata of the show, the plot continued to have a parody of M'Quve's pot.
Ink and wash painting
In 2008, the ink and wash painting of Gundam drawn by Hisashi Tenmyouya in 2005 was sold in the Christie's auction held in Hong Kong with a price of US$600,000.
International Gundam Society
On 24 August 2008, a conference was held in Hiroshima with hundreds of academic professionals in different fields joining together to discuss about the relationship of anime science and technology with the modern world, including military, economical, linguistics, possibility of the Universal Century (human colonizing space) and beam weaponry in the Gundam world. Many envisioned the science in Gundam is not far from our time. One aeronautics expert in the project said Thermal nuclear rockets and spherical helper bots should be pursued.
See also
Bibliography
External links
Gundam in North America * at the Mecha Anime Headquarters website at Wikia
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