Gundam

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Gundam is the name for a Japanese science fiction universe that was initiated by the toy manufacturer Bandai with the television series Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979 and has since been continued by various productions. Part of this franchise is a wide variety of anime television series, OVAs , feature films, model kits, manga, and video games .

In the center of the action are gigantic, humanoid-looking robots, so-called mechas , which are called mobile suits, above all the Gundam mobile suits, which, with their pilots, represent the pinnacle of technological and fighting skills.

The Gundam

The term "Gundam" generally refers to a human-controlled "Mobile Suit" fighting machine that appears in Gundam anime series, OVAs , mangas and movies and has features that are recognizable across all series (exception: ∀ Gundam ). As a rule, Gundams u. a. prototypes or unique fighting machines controlled by the respective hero and have remarkably high performance in combat compared to other mobile suits of the respective story.

The word itself is a backronym that has a different meaning depending on the Gundam universe / timeline and model / area of ​​application: While the original Mobile Suit Gundam and other series in the "Universal Century" era have a Gundam as " G eneral U tility N on- D iscontinuity A ugmented M aneuvering (system) designated as found in Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny the "Cosmic Eras", the term as an acronym for " G eneral U nilateral N euro-link D ispersive A utonomic M aneuver", " G unnery U nited N uclear- D uetrion A dvanced M aneuver (System) "or" G igantic U nilateral N umerous D ominating Am munition "again.

action

Timelines and Universes

A characteristic of the different Gundam series is that the same background story is often used. However, the locations, special conflicts, the characters and the fictional "age" vary. While some Gundam series primarily tell successive stories, others describe incidents that happen in parallel to an existing story, as the periods in which the actions take place overlap. The story produced earlier serves as background information, "historical" events in the respective fictional universe are repeated on the same date, but the main story is told from a different perspective with other protagonists in its own story. There are also several universes with a specially named timeline, the names of which are referred to to identify the respective universe. Unlike the series within the respective universe / the respective timeline, these have no (historical) connection with one another, with the exception of the existence of Gundams.

Gundam timelines

UC ( Universal Century )
This is the original timeline in which, among other things, the very first Gundam series takes place. The UC's best-known storyline is the conflict between the Earth Federation and the Duchy of Zeon. The UC features a number of consecutive series that are considered by many to be the "main story" as they retell the original story. Amuro Ray, the first protagonist, his rival Char Aznable and other characters from the first Gundam series appear in other series of the UC timeline.
FC ( Future Century )
In the Future Century, Mobile Fighter G Gundam plays a kind of martial arts saga. The term "Mobile Suit" is replaced by "Mobile Fighter" (MF) and Gundams have the ability to imitate the movements of the pilots thanks to the so-called "Mobile Trace System".
AC ( After Colony )
In this universe, the Gundam Wing series, which is also known in the western world, takes place primarily . What is striking here is the great superiority of the machines named Gundam compared to their surroundings.
AW ( After War )
A timeline specially created for After War Gundam X , the story of which is hardly related to that of the other series, unless you understand it as the what-if scenario of the Universal Century. During the last war, the space colonies fell to earth, the devastation wiped out almost all of humanity.
CC ( Correct Century )
This timeline includes the series ∀ Gundam ("Turn A Gundam"), which also has no significant contextual connections to any other Gundam series. The designs of the Mobile Suits are highly unconventional compared to almost all other Gundam publications, even the appearance of the Gundam baptized Mobile Suits differs greatly from the proven designs from the other series and films. The discovery of MS units apparently identical to the original Zakus - excavated relics from distant prehistoric times - and the reproduction of images from the so-called Black Age suggest a connection to UC.
CE ( Cosmic Era )
This is where the series Gundam SEED and its successor Gundam SEED Destiny as well as the two bonus clips called Gundam SEED ASTRAY and the miniseries GUNDAM SEED STARGAZER are played.
AD ( Anno Domini )
In our era, Gundam plays 00 . Here the term Gundampilot has been replaced by the German term Gundam-Meister. It is characterized by the fact that many elements appear for the first time within the entire Gundam Universe, for example highly developed alien life forms and the division into two seasons (plus a final film).
AG ( Advanced Generation )
The plot of Gundam AGE spans a period of around 100 years.
RG ( Regild Century )
The thirteenth Gundam TV series Reconguista in G (2014-15) takes place in a separate chronology, which can, however, be interpreted as an interlude between UC and CC.
PD ( Post Disaster )
Another novelty is Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015–17), in which for the first time only ballistic firearms and all sorts of simple striking weapons are in use. The Gundams, all relics from the last war, also serve a historical purpose.

The colonies

The colonies are kilometer long cylinders, mostly so-called O'Neill colonies , the walls of which partly consist of windows, partly (on the inside) support the land of the colony. Large reflectors collect the sunlight and cast it through the windows onto the colony's land. Landscapes, bodies of water and cities were laid out on this soil. By rotating the cylinders around the longitudinal axis, the centrifugal force acts as an artificial gravity within the colony. The space stations and large laser weapons are located at the ends of the colony cylinders . The colonies are positioned at the Lagrangian points . In addition, in extreme cases, the colonies themselves are used as weapons by deliberately causing these huge stations to fall to earth ( colony drop ), creating craters hundreds of kilometers in diameter and devastating entire stretches of land.

Anime

TV Shows

  • Mobile Suit Gundam (series) (43 episodes, April 1979-January 1980)
  • Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (50 episodes, March 1985-February 1986)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (47 episodes, March 1986-January 1987)
  • Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (51 episodes, April 1993-March 1994)
  • Mobile Fighter G Gundam (49 episodes, April 1994-March 1995)
  • Gundam Wing (49 episodes, April 1995-March 1996)
  • Gundam X (39 episodes, April 1996-December 1996)
  • Turn A Gundam (50 episodes, April 1999-April 2000)
  • Gundam Seed (50 episodes, October 2002-September 2003)
  • SD Gundam Force (52 episodes, 2004, super deformed style)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny (50 episodes, October 2004 – October 2005)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (2x25 episodes, October 2007 - March 2009)
  • Kidō Senshi Gundam Age (49 episodes, October 2011 – September 2012)
  • Gundam Build Fighters (50 episodes, October 2013-March 2014)
  • Gundam Reconguista in G (26 episodes, October 2014 – March 2015)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2x25 episodes, October 2015 – April 2017)
  • Gundam Build Divers (25 episodes, April 2018-September 2018)

OVAs

  • Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (6 episodes, 1989)
  • Mobile Suit SD Gundam Mk III (6 episodes, 1990)
  • SD Gundam Sidestory (4 episodes, 1990/91)
  • SD Gundam Musha, Knight, Commando (2 episodes, 1991)
  • Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (13 episodes, 1991/92)
  • Gundam Wing: Odd & Even Numbers (4 episodes 1996)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (12 episodes, 1996-1999)
  • Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (3 episodes, 1997)
  • Gundam Evolve (15 episodes, 2001-2005)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO: The Hidden One-Year War (3 episodes, 2004)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO: Apocalypse 0079 (3 episodes, 2006)
  • Kidō Senshi Gundam MS IGLOO 2: Jūryoku Sensen (3 episodes, 2008)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (7 episodes, 2010-2014)

Web anime

  • Mobile Suit Gundam SEED CE 73: Stargazer (3 episodes, 2006)

cinemamovies

  • Gundam 0079 1-3 (1981/82, summary of the original series)
  • Gundam: Char's Counterattack (1988)
  • Super Deformed Gundam's Counterattack (1989, parody of Char's Counterattack)
  • Gundam 0123: Formula 91 (1991)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Zion no Zankō (1992)
  • Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz (1998)
  • Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team - Miller's Report (1998)
  • Gundam Neo Experience 0087 - Green Divers (2001)
  • Turn A Gundam I: Earth Light (2002)
  • Turn A Gundam II: Moonlight Butterfly (2002)
  • Gundam 00 Movie (2010)

Actual films

Web links

Commons : Gundam  - collection of images, videos and audio files