The 2020-2021 Film Journal Entry #16: "Mobile Suit Gundam (1981)"

2020-2021 Film Journal Entry #16

by Xavier E. Palacios

"Mobile Suit Gundam (1981)"

3.5 out of 5

Directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Ryôji Fujiwara

Premise: In this first compilation film chronicling the original titular show, humanity is spread amongst Earth and colonial space structures called "Sides" in the year 0079 of the Universal Century. The Principality of Zeon, from Side 3, has declared a war for independence against the Earth Federation. The new tools of war are the destructive mobile suits: colossal, mechanical, and human-shaped vehicles. After the initial fighting decimates half of humanity, the war enters a stalemate, but not for long. On Side 7, the Federation is completing work on a new Mobile Suit, the "Gundam", which can turn the tide of the war. Now, Zeon forces, led by the enigmatic and deadly Mobile Suit pilot, Char "the Red Comet" Aznable (voiced by Shûichi Ikeda), hunt down the Gundam, piloted by the troubled teenager, Amuro Ray (voiced by Tôru Furuya), aboard the Federation vessel, White Base. Fleeing to a secure base on Earth, the starship is unavoidably crewed by Side 7's just-orphaned, teenage refugees: humanity's last true hope for peace. The classic anime is surprisingly well-presented in this compiled piece, serving as a strong introduction to the tale for newcomers and a very entertaining review for fans.

"No Rating"

My Thoughts

Military science fiction is a distinct sub-genre I strangely find so compelling and affecting. Popularized by Robert Heinlein's 1959 novel, Starship Troopers, I know the style from all sorts of books, films, television shows, video games, and manga. The sub-genre can be considered in many ways. Imperialist nonsense from the past updated for the future, where wooden boats and old rifles conquering islands and coastlines are replaced with star cruisers nuking distant planets. Like prose and poetry about the Vietnam War, tales of comradery, both naïve and heartfelt, between squads of fighter pilots, marines, engineers, and officers, each trying to return home from interstellar conflict. Young soldiers embarking on a cruel adventure and or quest of war and becoming more honorable or corrupted adults; always irrevocably changed.

While many of these elements can apply to fantastical military fictions such as the anime series Attack on Titan or the G.I. Joe comics, military science fiction, which the Gundam franchise falls under, is a multi-layered niche of sci-fi I cannot help but hold in positive regard. Maybe waking up early as a boy to catch episodes of the doomed and beloved Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles cartoon brainwashed me to see some exclusive nobility to war tales where characters face certain death together. Or maybe I am fascinated and transported by technical jargon and realistic strategy, seen in David Weber's excellent first Honor Harrington novel, On Basilisk Station. Or these interstellar conflicts are free of the socio-political trappings of Earth yet allow me to see this planet's fighting with new eyes. I do not know exactly why I feel a kinship with this sub-genre.

This anime film had me reflecting why I have been long drawn to these stories and what their great value may be. While I cannot justly explore that consideration in this entry alone, I believe Mobile Suit Gundam (1981) provides a foundational response as to why military science fiction interests me: they are stories of group survival in humanity's oldest sin. In my experience, the goal of a military science fiction cast is to survive a brutal conflict together so they can return home, with the mysterious frontier of the cosmos and sci-fi technology being metaphorical instruments traditional war narratives cannot similarly use. Showcased in this film, these stories let me better understand those who fight and die so that, as one of the untraumatized living, I can have the strength and wisdom to avoid the same mistakes that create war on this planet and beyond. They are thrilling, problematic at times, and haunting. A survival tool for humanity.