Animated Space Adventure Television Series Codexery

Mobile Suit Gundam

The anime that redefined mecha and war storytelling.

Last updated

In contrast to his earlier projects where antagonists were extraterrestrial beings, Yoshiyuki Tomino's Mobile Suit Gundam marked the initial occasion where he depicted people as the opposing force.[1]

Last updated 2026-10-01 from the source article.

Making and release

Sunrise ordered the titular Gundam changed from grayish white to white, red, blue and yellow.[2] Tomino showed great disgust at the color change and later called the design unrealistic.[3] An English dub premiered on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on July 23, 2001.[4] Bandai Entertainment re-released the English dub on DVD on May 30, 2006, without a Japanese audio track.[5]

The 1959 novel Starship Troopers provided the inspiration for the powered armor that became the "Mobile Suits."[6] While employed on two Sunrise television programs, Tomino encountered Kunio Okawara, a mechanical designer, and subsequently invited him to work together.[7] Italy became the initial nation outside Japan to broadcast Mobile Suit Gundam, which occurred in February 1980.[8] In October 2014, Sunrise announced a partnership with Right Stuf Inc. to handle distribution; the series was subsequently released on Blu-ray and DVD in North America during October 2015.[9][10]

What the cited sources add

In a 2009 interview, Tomino stated that the term "Mobile Suit" differentiated Gundam from robot stories for children.[11] Tomino explained that toy manufacturers required a new mobile suit and new weapons each week.[11] The concept of Newtypes was created to explain how a young person like Amuro could pilot the Gundam.[1] The episode "Cucuruz Doan's Island" was never officially released in English at Tomino's request.[12]

Tomino wrote the first novelizations of the series in 1979 while the anime was airing.[13] The novels were published as a trilogy and included major changes, such as Amuro already being a Federation member at the initial Zeon attack.[13]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Q&A with Yoshiyuki Tomino", Anime News Network, September 14, 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gundam Century Renewal Version, Kishosha, March 15, 2000,; Gundam Century Renewal Version, Kishosha, March 15, 2000, (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Newtype magazine 1989 April Issue (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pope, "The Edit List - * Edit List Special - Cartoon Network Interview", Anime News Network, March 4, 2002 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mobile Suit Gundam Vol. 1: The Battle Begins (1979)", Rotten Tomatoes; "What is GUNDAM? The Yoshiyuki Tomino Interview", Anime Jump!; Otona no Gundam, Adult's Gundam, Nikki Entertainment (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tomino, "Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation", Stone Bridge Press, 2004, p. 8; "Q&A with Yoshiyuki Tomino", Anime News Network, September 14, 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Mike Toole Show Super Robot Island: Final", Anime News Network, November 18, 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "AntonioGenna.net presenta: IL MONDO DEI DOPPIATORI - ZONA ANIMAZIONE: "Gundam" / "Mobile Suit Gundam"", antoniogenna.net (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sunrise Partners With Right Stuf to Release Gundam Franchise Stateside", Anime News Network, October 11, 2014; "Right Stuf, Sunrise to Release Original Gundam TV Anime on Blu-ray Disc", Anime News Network, July 3, 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. "Sunrise Partners With Right Stuf to Release Gundam Franchise Stateside", Anime News Network, October 11, 2014. facts only, no text reused. animenewsnetwork.com
  11. "Q&A with Yoshiyuki Tomino", Anime News Network, September 14, 2009. facts only, no text reused. animenewsnetwork.com
  12. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tei, "Yoshiyuki Tomino Panel – the daddy of Gundam!", Anime on DVD, September 28, 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Mobile Suit Gundam" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tomino, "Mobile Suit Gundam", Stone Bridge Press, 2004, p. 11 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Mobile Suit Gundam (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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