Mobile Suit Gundam - The Battle Begins Vol 1 (Uncut Edition)
It's difficult to believe that the initial run of Yoshiyuki Tomino's landmark mecha seriesMobile Suit Gundam(1979) was cancelled early due to poor ratings. The recut episodes (with some added animation) were released as three theatrical features in 1981 and 1982, sparking a craze that has lasted for decades. Tomino's vision of "mobile suits"--anthropomorphic robots that suggest a cross between an elaborate space suit and a one-man space ship--transformed the mecha genre. Set in the year 0079 of the "Universal Century," the first five episodes establish the parameters of theGundamuniverse and introduce the main characters. A rebellion among the enormous orbiting space colonies that house much of humanity pits the Principality of Zeon against the Earth Federation. During a Zeon raid on his home satellite of Side 7, Amuro Ray stumbles into the cockpit of the Federation's top-secret weapon, the Gundam Mobile Suit RX-78. He successfully guides the giant robot and ignites a rivalry with Zeon ace pilot Char Aznable, a.k.a. the Red Comet. The character designs look very American and very dated with crumbly Xerox lines; purists will object to the lack of Japanese dialogue and the rather stilted English dubbing (at the end of each episode, the narrator intones ominously, "Who will survive?"). ButGundamfans will want the program that launched Tomino's vision and one of the longest-running franchises in anime history. This is ground zero for all theGundamseries, movies, and OAVs. Rated 13 Up, but suitable for viewers three to four years younger; violence largely restricted to robot versus robot.--Charles Solomon