Gundam Gundam Discussion Thread

[Thunderscourge]

Since we have some Gundam fans around I figured we should have a thread to discuss it if need be.

For those new to Gundam, hello, it's great and you should totally see it! There are plenty of Gundam series out there that touch upon various ideas/subjects/genres, so depending on your personal tastes there is pretty much a Gundam series out there for everyone. Feel free to ask for suggestions if you want to give it a shot.

I've run Gundam Let's Plays, RPGs, write Gundam stories, am working on a Gundam fan game, and am a mod on one of the Gundam Discords out there so if anyone ever wants to know stuff about the series just let me know and I'll help you out however I can!

 

[FriedCFour]

I want to take a moment to talk about the unsung heroes of The Federation for a moment. The unsung heroes that are the pilots of the RB-79 Mobile Suit.

The RB-79 is a refit of an initial civilian model construction pod with little done to improve it but slapping a 180mm gun on top of its head. It had paper thin armor for a Gundam so virtually any hit from a distance is fatal and if the gap is closed a pilot was near completely defenseless in close combat as the manipulator arms were simply for lifting and placing girders and materials and are near useless for fighting. The gundams were also among the first mobile suits rolled out by the federation as during the one year war as thousands of these guys were rolled out in desperation.

Imagine being a forklift driver, and one day your country breaks out in war. Then you are told your forklift needs to be used in war, so they slap on a bit of armored plating and a recoilless rifle and tell you you gotta go duke it out with some tank battalions. Thats these guys, they did it, they were expendable, known as "mobile coffins", and their blood and sacrifice was instrumental in defeating Zeon by keeping the federation alive in the early days of the war. Like the PT Boats of WWII, they were expendable. So to me, the real hero isnt the guy who can step in, pilot some hotshot one of a kind mobile suit with top of the line weapons, armor, and specs, its the guy who willingly steps into a tiny suit not even meant for war with a single gun facing off against designed weapons of war, ready to give his all for his country. So salute the Ball Gundam, and its brave pilots who fought and died to save The Federation.

 

[FriedCFour]

Also they are cute as fuck.

 

[Thunderscourge]

It had paper thin armor for a Gundam

The gundams were also among the first mobile suits rolled out by the federation

Thin armor for a Mobile Suit, not a Gundam 😋

All Mobile Suits are not Gundams, all Gundams are Mobile Suits. Square/Rectangle thing. The Ball can be considered a Mobile Suit, but it is far from being a Gundam.

The closest to a Gundam a Ball has ever been was this, a fake Gundam that's actually just a Ball made to look like one's head.

 

[Harlock]

I liked the type with the twin machine guns from 8th MS Team

Spoiler

Also huge fan of the Jesta

Spoiler

Like some sort of Special Forces mech

 

[Thunderscourge]

Also huge fan of the Jesta

The Jesta gets points for being basically one of the most interesting GM variants, as most GMs are painfully generic and boring.

I tend to favor Zeon suits for their interesting appearances, with one of my favorites overall being the Hygogg.

 

[SableCold]

Thin armor for a Mobile Suit, not a Gundam 😋

All Mobile Suits are not Gundams, all Gundams are Mobile Suits. Square/Rectangle thing. The Ball can be considered a Mobile Suit, but it is far from being a Gundam.

The closest to a Gundam a Ball has ever been was this, a fake Gundam that's actually just a Ball made to look like one's head.

A Mobile Weapon, you mean. SUIT's (yes, this is an acronym) are generally considered to have anthropomorphic shapes. Everything else that doesn't should be called Mobile Armors, but for some reason this term is not applied retroactively to Balls.

That said, Balls are badass. They'll never match up one to one against a Zaku, but if they're fighting at that ratio it's all gone to hell anyway.

 

[Thunderscourge]

That said, Balls are badass. They'll never match up one to one against a Zaku, but if they're fighting at that ratio it's all gone to hell anyway.

Depends on the pilot. I do remember 08th having a Ball tie with a Zaku...though that's mostly because Aina is a bad pilot while Shiro is alright at it.

 

[SableCold]

Depends on the pilot. I do remember 08th having a Ball tie with a Zaku...though that's mostly because Aina is a bad pilot while Shiro is alright at it.

Their otherwise unarmed transport had wandered into the site of a battle. That fits the definition of 'gone to hell' in my book.

Besides, did you not even see the literal plot armor allowing Shiro's ball to tank 120mm shells without any breaching or even cracks on his forward window?

 

[Thunderscourge]

Their otherwise unarmed transport had wandered into the site of a battle. That fits the definition of 'gone to hell' in my book.

Besides, did you not even see the literal plot armor allowing Shiro's ball to tank 120mm shells without any breaching or even cracks on his forward window?

I kind of can't take plot armor seriously in Gundam anymore since it is so inconsistent. I am a stats guy, I love having everything be consistent in terms of how strong/tough stuff is, and watching Gundam gives me a headache on that front since they write what they want rather than what makes sense.

In MSG alone we have: Gundam immune to Magella, Gundam later not immune to Magella. Gundam vulnerable to small explosives on it, Gundam immune to an army of massive explosive mines. Gundam vulnerable to beams, Gundam immune to beams.

Please pick one writers. Please.

 

[bullethead]

There may be a stream or something tonight (EST - midday tomorrow Japan time) about Build Divers Re:Rise. Not 100% sure on this, due to the tweet I originally saw the info being deleted.

 

[Thunderscourge]

On the subject of streams and Gundam, in preparation for its upcoming Western release I have been learning how to play Gundam Battle Operation 2 and have been streaming my progress on Twitch. If anyone wants to check the game out, I'll be streaming tonight so feel free to drop by and ask any questions you may have about the game!

 

[bullethead]

Well, we got cast/OP info and an actual date for the new Build Divers show to air:
Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE Anime Reveals Cast, Theme Song Artists, October 10 Debut

The official website for Gundam Build Divers Re:RISE, Sunrise's new Gundam Build franchise work, revealed on Sundya that the anime will stream on Sunrise's new "Gundam Channel" YouTube channel starting on October 10 at 8:00 p.m. JST. The website also revealed the show's theme song artists and main cast.

The anime will star:

• Chiaki Kobayashi as Hiroto
• Masaaki Mizunaka as Kazami
• Mai Fuchigami as May
• Mayu Minami as Parviz
• Ai Kakuma as Freddie
• Inori Minase as Eve
• Shion Wakayama as Hinata Mukai

Spira Spica (Ao-chan Can't Study!, Gundam Build Divers) will perform the show's opening theme song "Re:RISE," and Sudanna Yuzu Yully will perform the ending theme song "Magic Time."

 

[Nitramy]

Also huge fan of the Jesta

Spoiler

View attachment 6View attachment 7

Like some sort of Special Forces mech

Man of culture spotted. Jesta IS besta.

Also I got a P-Bandai MG Amazing Exia ready to build, but I need to make the time.

 

[Thunderscourge]

need

I need to make my new Hygogg and Zaku-I Sniper...hoping to paint the latter so have been holding off on it, but looking forward to it when I can do so. Don't want to be one of those plastic modelers with stacks of unmade models!

 

[bullethead]

Here's what Gundam stuff is going to be at Tokyo Game Show:
www.reddit.com/r/Gundam/comments/cxxs6y/gundam_at_tokyo_game_show_sep_11_15_in_the_useu/

Since there's a bunch of Gundam games that'll be showing up at Tokyo Game Show, I figured I'd post the schedule info (courtesy of Gematsu: Bandai Namco announces TGS 2019 lineup, stage schedule - Gematsu):
Games that'll be there:

• Mobile Suit Gundam: Battle Operation 2 (PS4) – Trailer
• SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays (PS4, Switch, PC) – Playable, Trailer, Live Stream, Stage
• Gundam Battle: Gunpla Warfare (iOS, Android) – Playable, Trailer
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans App (iOS, Anrdoid) – Trailer, Live Stream, Stage <= This should be Urd-Hunt, but it could also include some non-game stuff
• Super Gundam Royale (iOS, Android) – Trailer

Stage Events:
September 14 (in Japan, the 13th in the US/EU) - 11:00 to 12:00 – Gundam Game Special Stage (YouTube, YouTube English, Periscope) – Featuring Hikaru Midorikawa (Heero Yuy voice actor), Masakazu Ogawa (Sunrise Beyond), Yasunori Fujiwara (Bandai Namco Entertainment), and Kensuke Tsukanaka (Bandai Namco Entertainment).

 

[bullethead]

Here's an out of left field comparison - Gundam Build Divers and the XFL:


The argument that they're both attempts to cash in on super popular things (the NFL/Build Fighters) without understanding what made the originals good is fine, it's just some of the other stuff like the episode where Tsukasa and Riku fight being metacommentary on the show itself that's dubious.

To be honest, I think this show started as an isekai thing and then had video game stuff bolted onto it, although I will admit most isekai stuff has oddly out of place game-like mechanics.

 

[Nitramy]

They already fumbled it with Build Fighters TRY, IMO.

Also Gunpla Warfare better have the ability to scan QR codes of gunpla you own, dammit.

 

[Thunderscourge]

dammit

On the Gunpla Warfare Discord I manage there has been buzz about this becoming a thing in time, but it would have been better to launch with it I feel. The launch was quite horrible even by Gacha standards...

 

[bullethead]

Here's a random non-anime/non-Gunpla thing:
Crunchyroll Announces Expansive Gundam Licensing Partnership with SUNRISE & SOTSU

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise, and Crunchyroll is getting in on the celebration. The party rolls on as Crunchyroll announces an expansive partnership with SUNRISE INC. and SOTSU CO. LTD to manage the merchandise rights for five of the Gundam franchise's biggest titles across North and South America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

The series included in the partnership are the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, and Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans. Some of the merchandise fans can look forward to will arrive in the form of everything from apparel and bags to accessories, home decor, furnishings, lifestyle items, food, and more.

Also, Gundam Battle Operation 2 is out on US PSN, so there's that too.