Mobile Suit Gundam, also known as First Gundam, Gundam 0079 or simply Gundam '79, is an anime television series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network and its affiliated ANN stations on April 7, 1979, and lasted until January 26, 1980, spanning 43 episodes. It was the first Gundam series, which has subsequently been adapted into numerous sequels and spin-offs. Set in the futuristic calendar year "Universal Century" 0079, the plot focuses on the war between the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation, with the latter unveiling a new giant robot known as the RX-78-2 Gundam piloted by the teenage civilian mechanic Amuro Ray.
In science fiction, mecha or mechs are giant robots or machines typically depicted as piloted and as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword 'mechanism' or 'mechanical', but the meaning in Japanese is more inclusive, and 'robot' or 'giant robot' is the narrower term.
Gundam is a Japanese military science fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise, the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with Mobile Suit Gundam, a TV series that defined the "real robot" mecha anime genre by featuring giant robots called mobile suits in a militaristic setting. The popularity of the series and its merchandise spawned a franchise that includes 50 TV series, films and OVAs as well as manga, novels and video games, along with a whole industry of plastic model kits known as Gunpla which makes up 90 percent of the Japanese character plastic-model market.
Yoshiyuki Tomino is a Japanese anime director, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist best known for creating the Gundam anime franchise.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack is a 1988 Japanese anime science fiction film directed and written by Yoshiyuki Tomino. It is set in the Universal Century timeline of the Gundam franchise. Featuring the talents of Shūichi Ikeda, Toru Furuya, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Maria Kawamura, Nozomu Sasaki, Kōichi Yamadera, among others, it focuses on Char Aznable's attempt of genocide on the planet Earth by pushing the asteroid called Axis into a collision with the planet. As a result, Char's rival from the Earth Federation Amuro Ray tries to defeat him in combat and avoid a slaughter in the process.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is a 1985 Japanese television anime series, the second installment in the Gundam franchise, and a sequel to the original Mobile Suit Gundam. The show was created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, with character designs by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, while the series' mechanical designs are split among Kunio Okawara, Mamoru Nagano, and Kazumi Fujita. The series was originally aired on Nagoya Broadcasting Network and its sister ANN stations between 1985 and 1986.
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, is a 1993 Japanese science fiction anime television series. It consists of 51 episodes, and was directed by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino. The series was first broadcast on TV Asahi. It is the fourth TV anime installment in the Gundam franchise, first series in the franchise released in Japan's Heisei period, and the final full series to be set in the Universal Century calendar.
Turn A Gundam, also stylized as ∀ Gundam, is a 1999 Japanese mecha anime series produced by Sunrise, and aired between 1999 and 2000 on Japan's FNN networks. It was created for the Gundam Big Bang 20th Anniversary celebration, and is the eighth installment in the Gundam franchise. It was later compiled in 2002 into two feature-length films entitled Turn A Gundam I: Earth Light and Turn A Gundam II: Moonlight Butterfly.
Char Aznable, born Casval Rem Deikun and also known as Édouard Mass, is a fictional character from the Gundam franchise. He is originally one of the main antagonists in Mobile Suit Gundam working for the Principality of Zeon, named after his late father Zeon Zum Deikun, with the honorary title of "The Red Comet" during Gundam's One Year War. Despite having opposed Earth Federation soldier Amuro Ray several times, in the sequel Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam he becomes Quattro Bajeena, an Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG) pilot fighting alongside the series' main characters against the elitist Titans. In his final appearance in Char's Counterattack, he assumes leadership of the Neo Zeon movement, and becomes the titular antagonist of the film.
Amuro Ray is a fictional character introduced in Sunrise's 1979 anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. Amuro is a mechanic who becomes the pilot of the mecha known as RX-78-2 Gundam to protect himself from the Zeon forces invading his space colony during the war. He becomes an Earth Federation pilot in the war as well as the first Newtype, a type of human with special awareness which gives him great skills when fighting. The Gundam franchise explores Amuro's involvement in the wars piloting the titular mecha. He returns in the sequel, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam as an older retired soldier afraid of his past, and the 1988 feature film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack where he takes part in new conflict against his rival Char Aznable. The character was present in several adaptations related to Gundam as well as video games.
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket is a six episode 1989 Japanese science fiction original video animation series. It is the first OVA series in the Gundam franchise. It was directed by Fumihiko Takayama, written by Hiroyuki Yamaga with character designs by Haruhiko Mikimoto.
The RX-78-2 Gundam is a fictional manned robot (mecha), introduced in 1979 in Yoshiyuki Tomino's and Sunrise's anime series Mobile Suit Gundam. In the series, it is a prototype weapon for the Earth Federation when it falls into the hands of Amuro Ray, the son of its designer in story, who goes on to pilot it in the Earth Federation's war against the Principality of Zeon.
Casshan, also known in Japan as Neo-Human Casshern, is an anime series created by Tatsunoko Productions founder Tatsuo Yoshida in 1973.
Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash also known as Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway, is a novel series created and written by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Officially part of the Gundam metaseries, it was first published by Kadokawa Shoten under the Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko label from February 1, 1989 to April 1, 1990 with a total of three volumes. The story revolves around Hathaway Noa, who now goes by the name Mafty Navue Erin, as he starts a terrorist group to stop the abuses of the Earth Federation. The novel was notable for being the only semi-canonical Gundam work by Tomino. A three-part theatrical film adaptation was formally announced by Bandai Namco Filmworks as part of the "UC NexT 0100" project. The first film was released on June 11, 2021.
Brain Powerd is a Japanese anime television series created by Sunrise. It was directed and written by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino and features mecha designs by Mamoru Nagano, character designs by Mutsumi Inomata, and music by Yoko Kanno. The 26 episodes of the series originally premiered on the satellite channel WOWOW between April and November 1998. The series was also aired across Japan on the anime network Animax, which also later broadcast the series across its respective networks worldwide, including its English language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia. Animax aired Bandai Entertainment's localization, the series' English language television premiere. The anime series was licensed by Bandai and distributed across the region on DVD under the title Brain Powered.
Mecha anime and manga, known in Japan as robot anime and robot manga, are anime and manga that feature robots (mecha) in battle. The genre is broken down into two subcategories; "super robot", featuring super-sized, implausible robots, and "real robot", where robots are governed by realistic physics and technological limitations.
The giant robot anime franchise Gundam is a popular culture icon in Japan.
Gundam Reconguista in G, also referred to as G-Reco (Gレコ), is a 2014 Japanese science fiction anime television series and the thirteenth installment in Sunrise's long-running Gundam franchise.
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative is a Japanese animated mecha science fiction film produced by Sunrise and distributed by Shochiku. Released as part of the Gundam franchise, it is based on the 11th Gundam Unicorn novel, Phoenix Hunting. It was directed by Toshikazu Yoshizawa and written by Harutoshi Fukui, with character designs by Kumiko Takahashi, Sejoon Kim, Hajime Katoki, and Eiji Komatsu. The film was released in Japanese theaters on November 30, 2018.
"The Beyond" is the twenty-first single by Japanese rock band Luna Sea, released on April 29, 2020. Despite receiving a limited production amount, it became the band's first in over 20 years to top the Oricon Singles Chart.
