Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team(Japanese:機動戦士ガンダム 第08MS小隊,Hepburn:Kidō Senshi Gandamu Dai Zerohachi Emu Esu Shōtai,lit.Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Platoon)is anoriginal video animation(OVA)animeseries in theGundamfranchise. Released from January 25, 1996, to July 25, 1999, the 12-episode series details the exploits of an Earth Federation ground unit during theOne Year War—specifically a month after the beginning ofthe original 1979 Gundam seriesand into the final weeks of the war.
The series is set inUniversal Century0079 in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon are fighting a brutal guerrilla war for control of the area and its resources. Zeon's best hope for victory in the region rests with an experimental mobile armor and its pilot, Aina Sahalin. Meanwhile, the Earth Federation Army receive reinforcements in the form of Ensign Shiro Amada, newly named commander of the 08th MS Team. Aina and Shiro know each other from a mutual rescue in space, but when Shiro discovers that Aina is in fact the pilot of the Zeon mobile armor he is arrested for treason.
The Federation offers Shiro one chance at redemption: he must take the 08th MS Team deep into Zeon held territory to find Zeons' hidden base. With the Zeon backed into a corner, and the Federation dependent on Shiro and his team for victory, the star-crossed lovers must decide where their true allegiances lie: with each other, or with their respective sides.
The series first took shape in 1995. The OVA's first episode released on January 25, 1996.After Takeyuki Kanda died suddenly on July 27, 1996,GONZO'sUmanosuke Iidatook over production for the rest of the series. The opening theme isArashi no Naka de Kagayaite(嵐の中で輝いて,lit.Shine in the Storm)byChihiro Yonekurawhile the ending themes are10 Years Afterby Chihiro Yonekura (episodes 1-10),Mirai no Futari ni(未来の二人に,lit.The Future for Both of Us)by Chihiro Yonekura (episode 11), andArashi no Naka de Kagayaite(嵐の中で輝いて,lit.Shine in the Storm)by Chihiro Yonekura (episode 12).
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team Miller's Reportis a compilation film released on August 1, 1998.The film largely focuses on Shiro Amada'scourt martialover his concern towards the enemy. The film mixes footage from the first eight episodes along with new footage. It also introduces the titular character, Alice Miller, anEarth Federationinvestigator assigned to gather additional evidence against Shiro. The ending theme isEien no Tobira(永遠の扉,lit.Gateway to Eternity)by Chihiro Yonekura.Miller's Reportwas not fully shown on TV in America, although the new scenes were all spliced into the eighth episode for the Toonami broadcast.Miller's Reportwas released on DVD in America separately from the main series, but is included as a fifth disc with all 12 episodes (4 discs) in the Collector's Edition Box Set. Bandai Visual released the film on Blu-ray in 2011. The film explains the plot connection between episodes eight and nine by showing the Eledore's return from leave, the court-martial after Shiro's defense of the village, and the team's issuance of new orders.
Mobile Suit Gundam 08th MS Team: U.C.0079＋α, a manga adaptation by Umanosuke Iida, was serialized inMonthly Gundam Acefrom 2007 to 2009 and collected into four volumes.