Mobile Suit Gundam
In the future mankind has developed the technology allowing the colonization of outer space. Living in giant colonies called "Sides," this new era is dubbed the Universal Century. In the 79th year of the Universal Century, Side 3, the "Principality of Zeon" is at war with the Earth. When Zeon forces attack Side 7, the Earth Federation’s newest weapon, the Gundam, falls into the hands of a young teenager named Amaru Ray. Drafted into military service as the pilot of Gundam, young Amaru will face the horrors of war and help change the course of history.
On July 23, 2001, at 5:00 pm, the first Gundam series created became the second to air on Toonami. Although digitally remastered, the 21 year old series’ animation did not prove popular with Toonami’s audience. Following sagging ratings, the war story Mobile Suit Gundam was pulled from the Toonami lineup on September 12, 2001 following the tragic events of the preceding day. On December 31, 2001, Mobile Suit Gundam made one final appearance on Toonami when the final episode of the series aired as a part of the then annual "New Year’s Eve-il."
On June 8, 2002 Mobile Suit Gundam was again given a chance by Cartoon Network, this time as part of the Adult Swim lineup. Fairing no better in the ratings on Adult Swim than it did on Toonami, Mobile Suit Gundam was again pulled before being allowed to complete it a broadcast run of all its episodes.
On July 23, 2001, at 5:00 pm, the first Gundam series created became the second to air on Toonami. Although digitally remastered, the 21 year old series’ animation did not prove popular with Toonami’s audience. Following sagging ratings, the war story Mobile Suit Gundam was pulled from the Toonami lineup on September 12, 2001 following the tragic events of the preceding day. On December 31, 2001, Mobile Suit Gundam made one final appearance on Toonami when the final episode of the series aired as a part of the then annual "New Year’s Eve-il."
On June 8, 2002 Mobile Suit Gundam was again given a chance by Cartoon Network, this time as part of the Adult Swim lineup. Fairing no better in the ratings on Adult Swim than it did on Toonami, Mobile Suit Gundam was again pulled before being allowed to complete it a broadcast run of all its episodes.
.:Episode Guide
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1: Gundam Rising 2: Destroy Gundam! 3: Vote to Attack 4: Escape from Luna II 5: Re-Entry to Earth 6: Garma Strikes 7: The Core Fighter's Escape 8: Winds of War 9: Fly Gundam! 10: Garma's Fate 11: Icelina's Love Remains 12: The Threat of Zeon 13: Coming Home 14: Time, Be Still 15: Cucuruz Doan's Island (lost episode) 16: Sayla's Agony 17: Amuro Deserts 18: Zeon's Secret Mine 19: Ramba Ral Attacks 20: Hand to Hand Combat 21: Sorrow and Hatred 22: The Trap of M'Quve 23: Matilda's Rescue |
24: Black Tri-Star 25: The Battle of Odessa 26: Char Returns 27: A Spy on Board 28: Across the Atlantic Ocean 29: Tragedy at Jaburo 30: A Wish of War Orphans 31: A Decoy in Space 32: Breakthrough 33: Farewell at Side 6 34: A Fateful Encounter 35: The Glory of Solomon 36: Big Zam's Last Stand 37: The Duel in Texas 38: Char and Sayla 39: The Newtype: Challia Bull 40: Lalah's Dilemma 41: Cosmic Glow 42: Space Fortress A Baoa Qu 43: Escape |
.:Misc.
- Much like it’s cancellation on Toonami, Mobile Suit Gundam wasn’t a success story in Japan at first either. Initially planned as a 52 episode series, low ratings forced the show to end on episode 43. Series production was given advanced warning and the series writers restructured the planned ending to accommodate the shorter episode run.
- Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator of Gundam, novelized the original Gundam story in a series of three novels. Because these novels were written before he was given the chance to create Gundam’s sequel series, the novel’s ending differs greatly from that of the television series. The novels have since been translated into English and collected into a single volume collection: "Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation" (available in book stores).
- Mobile Suit Gundam premiered on Toonami alongside two Gundam OVA series, 08th MS Team and Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket as part of a "Gundam 8’s" media blitz by Bandai Ent. Featuring the Gundam Universal Century "One Year War."
- When remastering the TV series, Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino purposely kept the original 15th episode "Cucuruz Doan’s Island" out of the North American release because he felt the episode was unimportant to the series as a whole and was not up to the standard set by the other episodes. The episode has been included in Japanese releases of the show.
- The DVD release of Mobile Suit Gundam in North America is a "dub only" release. Bandai Ent. was unable to secure the Japanese language track as at the time there was no Japanese DVD release of the series and Sunrise feared reverse importing of the North American DVDs.
