Mobile Suit Gundam

Akira Tsuchida, team leader of E-T-C, emailed me to let me know about a new animation series, Mobile Suit Gundam, which is now being broadcast in Japan on Saturday evenings at 7:30pm.  The plot centers around three space elevators (one owned by the Americas and Japan, one owned by Russia, China and India and one owned by Europe and Africa).  The series website has a plot summary, in Japanese of course.  When you plug the plot summary into AltaVista’s Babel Fish Translator, you get the following:

“Western calendar 2307. The fossil fuel was depleted, but the mankind was obtaining the new energy which is substituted to that. 3 these enormous tracked elevators and the large-scale solar power generating system which accompanies that. But, those where benefit of this system can be obtained were just the large country and that ally of part. Three superpower groups which own three tracked elevators. The United States of America was centered, ‘ the union ‘. China, Russia and India were centered, ‘ mankind reformist union ‘. Europe was centered, ‘ AEU ‘. Each superpower group because of dignity and prosperity of oneself, continues the great zero-sum game. So, being 24 centuries, the mankind was yet can become one……. In the world of the fight which does not have such end, the private armament organization which puts out “the elimination of the war with military force” appears. As for their names which own mobile suit “Gundam”, ??????????. Military intervention to all the war behavior which are according to Gundam starts.”

Akira sent me another translation of the plot summary:

“2037 in Christian era.

The human race was obtaining new energy that took the place of it though the fossil fuel dried up. Large-scale photovoltaic generation system according to tree huge orbit elevator. However, it was only a part of large country and the ally that obtained the favor of this system.

Three super power groups that own three orbit elevators.
 ‘Union’: USA, North and South America countries and Japan,
 ‘Human race reformation league’: China, Russia, and India
 ‘AEU’: Europe and Africa
 
Each super power group continues a considerable zero-sum game with prestige by yourself for prosperity.
The human race had it was not possible to finish uniting into one yet though it became a century the 24th so …….
A private, armed organization to which “Extermination of the war by military power” hangs appears in the world of such an endless fight. Names of men who own movable suit “Gundam” are Sorestalbeing.
 
The military power intervention to all hostilities by Gundam starts.”

There is also a website which has brief snippets of some of the episodes.

The heros seem to be a cross between the Power Rangers and the Transformers.

So, if you have access to Japanese TV, enjoy!

Thanks Akira…

(The pictures are taken from the video clips.  Click on them for a slightly larger version or visit the website to see them in action.)

30DEC07 – Correction.  I received two email comments on this post from “K Elmer” who informed me that “Just to be correct, the name is Mobile Suit Gundam 00. Mobile Suit Gundam was the first series in the franchise in 1979.”  There is a Wikipedia entry for this particular series and it contains a much more coherent description of it’s plot than I provided.  Just to give you a level of detail contained in this Wikipedia entry, here is an excerpt:

“Mobile Suit Gundam 00 follows four mobile suit pilots termed Gundam Meisters ( ????????? Gandamu Maisut??), sided with Celestial Being. The protagonist is 16-year old Setsuna F. Seiei (???F??????), a quiet, taciturn young man who grew up in the Kurdish Republic, and a Gundam Meister for two years. He pilots the GN-001 Gundam Exia, a high mobility mobile suit effective in melee combat.”

I had no idea… 🙂

Thanks K Elmer!

8 thoughts on “Mobile Suit Gundam

  1. Darnell Clayton

    Mobile Suit Gundam was one of the cartoons that helped get me interested in space (or at least living in space with their many orbital space stations).

    Good to see that they finally included space elevators. 🙂

  2. SaigonNezumi (Kevin)

    How interesting that I would read up about the Mobile Suit Gundam anime on your blog 🙂

    If you are interested, you can download Mobile Suit Gundam 00 from this blog with bittorrent:

    http://www.mymenclave.com/?cat=8

    He is up to Episode 13 already. Each show comes with English subtitles. The first episode really does show the future of the Space Elevator 🙂

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