Manga Review: Gundam: The Origin, Vol 10 by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko

Ah, Mobile Suit Gundam…after Robotech/Macross, this is one of my favorite “classic” Anime/Manga series - so coming across this book on the shelves of the Cypress Hills branch was a special treat. I’m a little rusty on my “Universal Century” history, but this appears to be close to the original’s plot – Earth Federation’s White Base starship battles rebellious space colony “Principality of Zeon” (with my main man Char!) across Earth and space to protect it’s cargo: the secret super-weapon, the Mobile Suit Gundam. Will White Base be forced to use the experimental weapon to protect itself from Zeon’s marauding Mobile Suits? (Hint: hell to the yes!)

The ink-heavy, thick-lined art is very “old school”, very “rounded-off” in that classic 70’s style, made all the more surprising due to the fact it came out in 2003; due to the art style and the subject, I had originally though that I was dealing with a modern reprint of a 70’s/80’s comic! There’s heavy use of screentones, and the colored introductions are painted with water color (to good effect, I might add – I wish more artists used watercolors in comics). At times, the art resembles “western comics”, with characters that have less stylized features than many mangas, as well as fight sequences that have little of the ever-popular “action lines”.

So what do we got going on in this volume, eh? As the White Base heads over South America, Amuro and the rest of the crew are confronted by a Zeon detachment. Despite his best efforts, Amuro is soundly defeated by the nefarious and skillful Lt. Ranba Ral, and only the intervention of a fellow crewmember can save him. Racked with shame and angry at the rumors he’s to be replaced as lead Gundam pilot, Amuro flees with the Gundam into the countryside. After hiding the giant Mech, he enters a nearly deserted town in search of food and water only to be confronted by Lt. Ral himself!