Moving Armor Gundom
From IBWiki
Moving Armor Gundom is a popular anima from Japan. The original series follows the "Trojan Horse" battleship White-Base in the far future. The story centers on a conflict between the "Lunites," or people living in various space stations, versus the "Feddies," or citizens of the Global Federal Republic. The war that begins between them is due to two reasons: the Lunites believe they are nothing but cheap labor for the Feddies back on Earth, and belief that they should, in fact, rule both space and Earth, so much so, that when they did declare war, within 5 minutes, the Lunites had dropped a space colony on Sednir, Australasia, and used nukes against the Feddies bases near their "homeland." However, the Feddies outnumber the Lunites, so the Luna-noids begin using "moving armors," or large, two-to-three story tall Kawars, which turn the tide of battle against the Feddies.
The story begins 10 months after the declaration of war by the Lunites, who now occupy most of space, most of the Americas, Africa, and large areas of Eurasia. It starts on the neutral colony of "Side 4," "Asimov." There, the Feddies have just completed their prototype moving armors (or MA), the Gundom, Tankdom, and Blastdom. However, the Lunites have found out about this and attack the colony. During the chaos of the attack, a high schooler by the name of Roya Ameru, finds himself near the Gundom with the pilot nearby dead. He climbs in to protect his friends from the Lunites.
Impact and Criticism
The series was originally a near failure because the shows sponsor went against the design teams original plans and oriented it towards children, even though the storyline is very adult in nature. It received almost universal distaste, and was cancelled halfway through, though it had been completely drawn and finished.
About five years later, though, the shows was becoming an underground hit, so much so that it was re-released and shown in its entirety.
The deep and complex storyline is now a staple of the series, which has spawned numerous sequels and spin-offs. Its characters are now archetypes in many shows, especially the mysterious masked villain with a hidden agenda (known as "the Sharr archetype").
Series
- 1980 - Moving Armor Gundom (known to fans as "0080", after the year system of the future.
- 1985 - Moving Armor Gundom: Armor Theta (set in 0085)
- 1986 - Moving Armor Gundom: Armor Theta-Theta (Double Theta) (set in 0085, just days after Theta)
- 1988 - Moving Armor Gundom: Untold War (set in 0080, tells the story of the average soldier in the war on both sides)
- 1990 - Moving Armor Gundom: Sharr's War (0090, wraps up the conflict between Sharr and Ameru)
- 1993 - Moving Armor Gundom Gaiden (set in an alternate universe from the original series, based around Gundoms that fight in a tournament that spans the Earth)
- 1995 - New Initiative: Gundom Wing (set in an alternate universe from both the original and Gaiden, is renowned for is deep story and character designs)
- 1996 - New Initiative: Gundom Wing the Movie (set one year after Gundom Wing, wraps up the loose ends [for the most part] of the series. Only series were all Gundoms are destroyed)
- 2000 - Gundom Turn V (attempt to make all the Gundom series into one cohesive timeline. While renowned for it's original story, the series is considered a larger "black sheep" than Gaiden)
- 2005 - Moving Armor Gundom: SEED (Alternate universe known to fans as Common Century [CC], uses a story similiar to the original, but with it's own twists and characters. Widely praised)
- 2006 - Moving Armor Gundom: SEED Manifesto (Set in same universe as SEED, follows the story of the characters during another disasterous war)
- 2007 - Moving Armor Gundom: 00 (currently in production, is slated for an early 2008 release. Is to be noted as the first series to use computers extensively. Will be set 200 years in the future and will follow a group of Gundoms of an organization called "Heaven's Sword")
