Mobile Suit Gundam (1979)

The ever-iconic opening theme. Fly, our Gundam!

04/04/2026 –– To be perfectly honest, I’ve never actually seen the TV version of the original Mobile Suit Gundam in full. I consider myself to be familiar with the story, as I watched all three compilation movies as my introduction to Gundam about 4 years ago. For a long time, I considered that to be perfectly acceptable and had never really planned to watch the original TV run. This was until roughly a year ago, when online discussion around the differences between the two gave me the idea to give it a proper shot. I suppose this phase isn’t much of a rewatch, then.

Episode 1 -- Gundam Rising :

==> The first thing I noted on while watching this (aside from the orgasmic sound design) was the striking resemblance between Char Aznable’s helmet, and that of the eponymous Gundam, something I had briefly acknowledged before but never properly digested (much like most of what I’ll be talking about, I assume). This being the first similarity between the two sets the scene for a lot of interesting parallels between Char and Amuro Ray, our main character, as well as their relationship with mobile weapons.

Note the forehead "crest" and "fins", the mask and its blank eyes...

==> Char and the Gundam both wind up as propagandized figures of their respective faction, while their weapons and pilot (respectively) stay out of the limelight. As far as the One Year War goes (and arguably beyond that), you don’t ever hear a Zeon soldier applaud the arrival of the Red Gelgoog, nor does any Earth Federation citizen cheer after Amuro as he chases his father through Side 6. The Red Comet and The White Devil being held to this same legendary status forces them to meet on common ground which I initially assumed has no grounds to exist. After all, Char is a person with his own set of human flaws (ego, misplaced purpose, repression, misogyny, repression but gay) and, the Gundam is a temporary weapon with uniquely mechanical problems (soon-to-be outdated tech, parts breaking, you know). But upon further pondering this, I came to a conclusion.
The defining common point between Char and the Gundam is that, by the end of the war, they’ve been reduced to laggards. The Gundam has long been outclassed by other mobile weapons, with Amuro being the only reason it hasn’t been put out of commission (there is something to be said about how Amuro needs the Gundam as much as it needs him, but that’s neither here nor there until the second episode) due to his powerful piloting skills and Newtype abilities, a considerable step up from the beginning of the show, when he could hardly grasp how to make it move (which was still better than a lot of people could have managed). Comparatively, Char has been unable to take out Amuro since the beginning of the war, which could be blamed on his own Zaku lagging behind at first, but as he is given deadlier, more advanced and specialized mobile suits, he never manages to close the initial gap. This gap even widens as the show goes on and Amuro’s abilites awaken, even with the constant upgrades Char is given. Only by the end of the show does Char match his opponent, and even that fight ends in a practical draw. I have more thoughts to share on the dénouement of this arc, but I would rather talk about it when the finale is reached. I’ve already allotted too much attention to this! We’re still on the first episode! But to end things on a quick, more relevant note to the beginning of the show, I’d like to briegfly talk about how the Gundam is humanized early on.

From its first appearance alone, it’s easy to tell that its likeness to humans outweighs that of the Zaku, particularly its face.

I mean

==> But the important part to me is how Amuro’s emotions are reflected through the Gundam’s mannerisms. They outright say it looks like it’s quaking in fear at the sight of the enemy. This is a clear indicator of the beginning of fleshing out the Gundam as an extension of Amuro’s character, growing to be more than a weapon, affecting Amuro and vice-versa.