#gundam analysis

[amalgamasreal]

About Prospera/Elnora...

One interesting thing I noticed in Episode 18 is that we actually see Elnora acting truly motherly to Suletta in the episode:

That's not Eri, that's Suletta as a child, but it made me realize something: she still LOOKS like exactly Eri did before she died here. It makes me wonder if all the love she got from Prospera in her childhood stemmed from being a literal clone of the daughter she'd lost. But once Suletta started aging past this point and started looking more like a darker skinned version of Prospera in her youth:

That it really hit home that Suletta IS NOT Eri to Elnora/Prospera and that made it easier for her to distance herself and focus more on Aerial, where Erict's soul actually resides.

Or I could just be going too far into the weeds.

[yamatonerd2199]

Gundam The Origin Vehicle Analysis- Salamis-class Cruiser

Gundam The Origin Vehicle Analysis- Salamis-class Cruiser

The Salamis-class Cruiser was the workhorse unit of the Earth Federation Forces during, and well beyond, the One Year War. This vessel served as the general-purpose patrol and combat unit of the Federation, carrying out a massive variety of missions. Like their larger siblings the Magellan-class Battleships, the Salamis-class cruisers proved incredibly vulnerable to Zeon Mobile Suits, suffering heavy losses throughout the war. However, unlike the Magellan, the Salamis-class hull proved versatile and easy to refit, and modified versions of the Salamis-class remained in the Earth Federation arsenal as late as U.C. 0153. Due to the large variety of Salamis refit designs and the fact that just about every single anime set in the One Year War has had a slightly different take on the original Salamis-design, I will be focusing on the iteration of the Salamis-class shown in the Gundam The Origin OVAs. Now, onto the analysis.

Propulsion

The Salamis-class is propelled by a single engine of unknown design. This allows the Salamis to move at a respectable speed. For course corrections, a large number of thrusters are mounted throughout the hull.

A number of these thrusters are hidden behind armored hatches until they are needed.

While the Salamis’ engine can propel it at substantial speeds across space, it lacks the power to escape earth’s gravity on its own. For orbital launches, a specially designed booster is attached to the Salamis’ stern.

Armament

The Salamis-class carries a substantial armament for its size. The primary offensive capacity of the vessel lies in six Mega Particle Cannons mounted in single turrets around the hull.

Three of these guns can fire directly forwards and three directly astern, while the side turrets can elevate their barrels enough that four guns can fire along the broadside of the ship.

These weapons are slightly inferior to those of a Musai-class cruiser, but still pack a significant punch.

Along with the Mega Particle Cannons, the Salamis carries a heavy missile armament, with eight missile tubes installed in the bow, an eight-weapon Vertical Launch System behind the dorsal fore Mega Particle Cannon, and two six-missile box launchers behind the side mounted forward Mega Particle Cannons. We never actually get to see the Salamis fire all its missiles on screen at once, but it would be a very pretty sight.

For Anti-Aircraft and later Anti-Mobile Suit combat, the Salamis carries sixteen machine guns in eight twin turrets.

While these weapons were more than sufficient to engage the fighters that existed when the Salamis-class entered service, they lacked the weight of fire to reliably defend against Mobile Suits.

Durability

While the Magellan-class battleships became famous for their extreme survivability, the Salamis-class proved far more fragile. While the vessel could survive one or two hits from a Zaku’s Bazooka or a Musai’s Mega Particle Cannons, the cruiser’s smaller size meant it was substantially easier to destroy than the larger battleships. In some instances, a single bazooka hit in the right place proved enough to take down a Salamis.

Conclusion

While nowhere near as large, impressive, or durable as its larger Magellan-class counterpart, the Salamis-class cruiser’s sheer versatility and adaptability ensured that it remained one of the most successful and iconic warships of the Universal Century for nearly three-quarters of a century past the One Year War. I’ll probably cover one of the two main Salamis refits next, although once again, no promises about when that’s happening.

[gundamexplored]

Kurosawa’s influence on Gundam

analyzed on Mobile Suit Breakdown --excellent Gundam podcast

[yamatonerd2199]

Gundam Vehicle Analysis- Magellan Class Battleship (Origin Version)

So I decided to make more of these, now that finals are finally letting up. I’ve been watching a lot of Gundam, so I decided to do some ships from the Universal Century. Now, there are a lot of different takes on the Magellan class over the various UC shows. Almost every one, be it the original show, Igloo, or the Origin OVAs, has slightly different armaments, hull lines, and sizes. I’m going to the Origin OVA version because it’s the one that most recently appeared on screen, and because it’s the prettiest variation IMHO. With that out of the way, let’s begin!

Introduction

The Magellan-class Space Battleship was the primary heavy capital ship of the Earth Federation during the One Year War. While superior to just about every warship in the Zeon arsenal except for the Gwazine-class battleship and the massive Dolos-class mobile fortress, Magellans were highly vulnerable to attack from Mobile Suits, which greatly limited their combat effectiveness. Despite this, Magellans served throughout the One Year War as the Federation’s main heavy strike unit, spearheading assaults and serving as flagships for fleet commanders. Unlike its counterpart the Salamis-class cruiser, the Magellan’s hull proved difficult to easily upgrade to meet the demands of Mobile Suit combat, and Magellan-class vessels were phased out of service by UC 0087.

Propulsion

The Magellan’s main drives consist of four engines of an unknown type mounted on the rear of the ship. While these drives are more than sufficient for maneuvering in space, they lack the thrust to propel the vessel out of Earth’s gravity. When launching into space, a specially designed booster stage is attached to the rear of the vessel. Once orbital or escape velocity is reached, the booster shuts down and detaches and the Magellan’s main engines engage.

For course corrections, the Magellan carries a large number of thrusters mounted around the hull. These thrusters are concealed behind armored hatches until they are used.

Armament-

The Magellan-class battleship is extremely heavily armed. The main armament of the vessel consists of two different calibers of Mega Particle Cannons. The heavier caliber of cannon is mounted in two turrets on the bow of the vessel, above and below the nose.

The smaller caliber of Mega Particle Cannon is mounted in five dual turrets. One is positioned on the dorsal side of the hull just in front of the bridge.

The other four turrets are mounted on the flanks of the ship, two to each flank.

In addition, the Magellan carries a quartet of bow torpedo tubes.

A eight-weapon battery of Vertical Launch Missiles rounds out the Magellan’s suite of offensive weapons.

If it comes under attack by fighters or mobile suits, the Magellan is not completely defenseless. Close-in defense consists of sixteen dual AA machine gun turrets mounted on either flank and two quad turrets mounted behind the bridge.

While these weapons are sufficient for defense against conventional fighters, they lack the accuracy and weight of fire to successfully engage Mobile Suits.

Durability

The Magellan class is extremely tough. At the Battle of Loum, these vessels proved to be the greatest obstacles for the Zeon forces to destroy. While the Salamis-class cruisers or Lepanto-class frigates could be dispatched in one or two missile hits, Magellan-class vessels remained functional despite extreme damage. 

Although they could not reliably hurt Mobile Suits, those same Mobile Suits lacked the firepower to reliably kill the Magellans without support from the Mega Particle Cannons of the Zeon Musai-class cruisers. Even then, a kill was far from a sure thing. General Revil’s flagship, the Ananke, remained functional despite taking direct hits at point-blank range from Dozle Zabi’s flagship Valkyrie, which possessed heavier Mega Particle Cannons than the average Musai.

Variants

The Magellan class possesses one major variant in the Origin timeline. Generals Revil and Tianem commanded from a specialized variant of the Magellan. These vessels, most notably the Ananke and Titan, replaced the Vertical Launch System of the standard design with an additional secondary Mega Particle Cannon turret.

That’s all I have for the Magellan. I’ll probably make the Salamis analysis post next, although not gonna make any promises about when that’ll happen.

[gundamexplored]

Great connections made by Mobile Suit Breakdown podcast on how the Zeon amphibious mobile suits are modeled after wrestlers

Check it out!

[gundamexplored]

Mobile Suit Breakdown: the Gundam Anime Podcast

A Gundam podcast for new fans, old fans, and not yet fans. One Gundam first-timer and one long-time Gundam fan watch, analyze, and review all 40-years of the iconic sci-fi anime mega-franchise Mobile Suit Gundam in the order it was made. We research its influences, examine its themes, and discuss how each piece of the Gundam canon fits within the changing context in Japan and the world, from 1979 to today. by MSB Team

All Gundam fans gotta check this out!!

[pulseofthestars]

The Red Comet of Zeon, Char Aznable

Char Aznable is one of the most feared aces in the One Year War, most well known for single handily destroying five Federation ships at the Battle of Loum in his red painted Zaku II which was reputed to go three times faster than a normal Zaku. With his helmet and mask Char proved to be one of the most enigmatic members of the Zeon military with few ever understanding his goals. However before he was the feared Red Comet he was once Casval Rem Deikun, son of the late Zeon Zum Deikun. In his childhood Casval and his sister Artesia lost their father to mysterious circumstances but one of his staunchest supporters, Jimba Ral, constantly hammered in his belief that the Zabi family had a hand in the late Zeon’s death.

With help from Jimba’s son Ramba Ral and the latter’s lover Hamon the two siblings and Jimba escaped from the Zabi family and fled to Earth. Taken in by Don Teabolo Mass Casval and Artesia spent time in relative peace though Jimba would constantly talk with Casval about the concept of Newtypes and about how the Zabi family had poisoned Zeon to kill him and seize control of the Republic of Zeon, reforming it into the Principality of Zeon. During this time Artesia had taken on the new identity of Sayla Mass and Casval taking the identity of Edouard Mass. Sadly the peace would not last and an attempt was made on the lives of Casval, Artesia, Jimba, and the Don along with everyone in his mansion. While the siblings and Don survived the attempt with Casval even managing to succeed in killing their assassin Jimba had been killed and the three would end up going to the Texas Colony of Side 5.

It was here where they would live with the Aznable family and meet their son, Char Aznable who looked almost completely identical to Casval except that Char had brown eyes and Casval had blue. Eventually Char was so swept up in Gihren Zabi’s propaganda that he decided to enlist in the Zeon military with Casval going under the pretense of looking after his friend. Learning of Casval going back towards Side 3 Kycilia Zabi behind her brother’s back plans to have Casval killed. Before they can head off on their flight however a pistol and fake explosives (Most likely planted there by Casval) are found in Char’s bag and, after some convincing by Casval, they swap clothes with the real Char taking the name Edouard Mass and Casval becoming Char Aznable with “Edouard” going to his flight and “Char” being detained overnight. However the ship would explode killing everyone on board and, now wearing sunglasses to hide his real eye color Casval was reborn as Char Aznable and enlisted in the Zeon military academy.

During this time he would meet and befriend Garma Zabi, youngest of the Zabi siblings. This in itself was part of Char’s scheme to get revenge on the Zabi family for the death of his father and the attempts on his and his sister’s lives. Beginning to make a name for himself with his drive, charisma, and sheer audacity Char would eventually receive the mask during his time in training that would become part of his iconic look into the One Year War. He would go on be among the first mobile suit pilots, piloting first a Zaku I and then an early production of the Zaku II with a red color design and, just before joining in the Battle of Loum showed his usual daring by challenging the three ace pilots the Black Tri-Stars to try and outperform him in the battle. Through the battle Char moved with three times the speed of the other Zakus and Gaia of the Black Tri-Stars was the one to comment that he was like a red comet during the battle, an epitaph that stuck with Char for the rest of his life and just the mere mention would have even seasoned Federation officials about ready to go get a new change of pants.

As the One Year War began and pressed on Char would continue to make a name for himself while silently planning to eliminate the Zabi family. During one particular moment Char would go after Side 7 on reports of a Federation project, this would lead to a fateful encounter with the RX-78-2 Gundam and its young pilot, Amuro Ray. From then on the two would become fast rivals. Char would pilot several mobile suits during the war, along with the Zaku models he would pilot a red Z’Gok (An amphibious mobile suit with powerful claws and beam weapons) the Gelgoog (A powerful mobile suit with a double bladed beam sword and prototype beam rifle) and finally the Zeong (a fast, powerful suit with detachable hands and head connected with wires that contain mega particle guns with enough power to severely damage even the Gundam). And after meeting the young girl and Newtype Lalah Sune he would begin to awaken to his own Newtype power though he never would be a particularly powerful Newtype. Known for his ruthless cunning and piloting skills Char would through the course of the series indeed see the Zabi family fall and after the fall of Zeon at the end of the One Year War Char would disappear only for a mysterious shades wearing blond named Quattro Bajeena to appear eight years later during the events of Zeta Gundam.

Char would be a major influence on future Gundam main antagonists even gaining the trope of Char Clone with characters who would either be blond with blue eyes, enigmatic, develop a fierce rivalry with the main character, pilot red mobile suits, or any combination of the above appearing in later shows in the franchise. And as a villain and character there is little doubt that Char earned his place as one of the most popular and iconic characters in the franchise.

“Now let’s see how good that new Federation mobile suit really is.”

[pulseofthestars]

Mobile Suit Gundam Character Analysis #1 The Boy from Side 7, Amuro Ray

[As a side note certain characters who appear in more than one series will have these profiles focus only on their development in that show so for a later show they appear in I’ll have more to talk about]

Amuro Ray is son of Tem and Kamaria Ray, little did either of his parents anticipate that one day Amuro would become the Federation’s top ace and pilot of the fearsome RX-78-2 Gundam. From a young age Amuro showed little interest in social interaction, preferring to look over various electronics. This behavior only grew into his teens as he would often forget to eat and would sit around wearing nothing but his underwear however his technical skill cannot be denied and while he had few friends he did show he cared about them though he was also quite paranoid though more often than not his paranoia is well founded.

In the beginning Amuro piloted the Gundam to fight off the Zaku mobile suits attacking Side 7. Following this for several major battles he was hesitant and sometimes even attempted to outright refuse to pilot the Gundam forcing Captain Bright to use gentle persuasion (In the form of the classic move, the bitch slap) to convince him to fight. Indeed in the beginning he had trouble with the aces of Zeon due to being an untrained, green kid and often had to go back to the Gundam’s powerful beam weapons and incredible durability to stay in the fight (In one fight Zeon veteran and badass Ramba Ral even cited that Amuro only won because of his mobile suit, not through any combat skill of his own.) and one of the key developments is seeing Amuro grow not just as a person but as a soldier.

Despite this Amuro is quite an unorthodox fighter in mobile suit combat. He has used the Gundam’s shield as a distraction multiple times, both by tossing it or leaving it behind after an explosion had enveloped the Gundam in order to take his enemy by surprise. He also isn’t afraid to simply utilize the Gundam’s immense strength to pummel enemy mobile suits into submission. At another point in time against the Zeon aces the Black Tri-Stars Amuro had used one of their mobile suits as a springboard to jump and dodge a shot from a second.

Another key facet of Amuro’s development is his growth into what is known as a Newtype, a next step in human evolution. As a Newtype Amuro can detect hostile intent directed towards him which gives him the ability to uncannily react to attacks at times before the opponent has even begun to perform the action. Newtypes also often times will connect with other Newtypes as what happened between Amuro and another Newtype, Lalah Sune. As we’ll see in later parts of the franchise Amuro’s Newtype power would lead to impressive feats.

By the end of the One Year War both Amuro and the Gundam were feared by Zeon forces. Amuro would earn the epitaph of White Shooting Star to contrast with Zeon’s Red Comet, Char and in their final battle of the series he managed to defeat his rival in a sword duel after they had damaged each other’s mobile suits to the point where they could no longer function. Amuro had shot down a total of at least 130 enemies onscreen and possibly many more off screen as well. Amuro would indeed set a standard for future main protagonists of the franchise and cemented himself as a truly powerful pilot and example of the potential in humanity.

All in all I enjoy Amuro as a character and on a scale from F to A I would rank him as an A.

“I can pilot the Gundam better than anyone!”