Plamo-Kyoshiro

Plamo-Kyoshiro (プラモ狂四郎) is a 1982 manga belonging to the Gundam franchise, written by Hisashi Yasui and illustrated by Koichi Yamato. It was published from August 20th, 1982 until December 17th, 1986 in Comic BomBom magazine of Kodansha publishing house, receiving eventual reprints. This was the very first production of the Gundam franchise that showed idea of battles with customized Gundam Plastic Models. This idea has proven to be a very powerful concept, and has been used several times later in other productions of the franchise, such as Gundam Build Fighters, Gundam Build Fighters Try and most recently, Gundam Build Divers.

This work is considered the very first work of the Gundam franchise set in an alternate universe, and is the first derivative of the original TV series.

Concept

 * Plot

The manga is aimed to the audience of Plastic model fans., The story of Plato-Kyoshiro's is about Shiro Kyoda, a young man from Tamiya City and a student of the Bandai Elementary School. Shiro is a great enthusiast of Plastic Models and Plamo Battles. His dream is to become the representative of Japan in the World Simulation Tournament and to be able to fight in the finals in the Battle of Hobby-Topia. In addition to that, the comic had original Mecha designs that gave rise to Mobile Suit Variations and BB Senshi.


 * Plamo Simulation



In Plamo-Kyoshiro, the system of Gunpla Battles is known as Plamo Simulation. (The term Plamo comes from PLAstic MOdel ) The battles take place through a device called the Plamo Simulation Machine. The players put their plamos into the domes of the Machine (See the image below), sit on the seats and put on a specialized helmet. They dive into the virtual battlefield on the unison exclamation of the ‘Plamo Simulation Go!’ command.

The battle is directly imaged in the players’ minds while spectators view it on screens. The damage suffered by the models in battle is replicated on the real life kits by a system of lasers and mechanical arms. if the model is destroyed on the simulation, it will be destroyed on real life. however, this configuration can be changed for training purposes. Modifications done on the kits can affect the battle, like using a different material to build the parts or adding gimmicks like springs and tasers. If the player uses high quality materials the model will have a much better performance and  resistance in the simulation. In the manga some encounters are fought with a time limit.

There is also a system called Judging Machine for stopping the misbehaving parties during the simulation, and there is also a system that stops the opponent machine by placing hands in the simulation screen.

The machine sets the combat battleground randomly. These range from outer space to deserts, (the old west), forests, jungles, and streets of ruined cities, suburbs, metropolitan areas and futuristic environments and even Jurassic times and other unlikely venues. Also, the players can make dioramas and connect the dioramas to the Plamo Simulation Machine and use them as a battleground for the battles.

The presence of the players on batlle is also simulated. These are seen inside the booths of their mobile suits and also outside their models interacting with the surrounding environment. Another aspect that catches the attention is the reaction of the pilots on the models. The emotions expressed by the pilots are reflected in the eyes and faces of the models. If the pilot reacts with awe or surprise these same expressions can be seen on the models.

Players appear in the simulation wearing costumes depending on the circumstances. The players who mostly use Gundams (Shiro Kyoda) appear in the simulation wearing pilot suits (normal suit) from the Earth Federation. Those who use Zakus, Goufs or Doms appear wearing normal suits of the Principality of Zeon. Some of them appear wearing costumes out and in the simulation depending on their personal style or motif.

When players fight using a plastic model of a different anime series, these appear disguised as the protagonist of the series. For example, when Shiro he uses the Scoopdog of Votoms, he appears disguised as Chirico Cuvie. When he uses Dunbine, he appears disguised in Sho Zama's combat suit, and vice-versa.

For the World Simulation Tournament, the Biochip Plamo Controller (BCPC) is used. The BCPC is housed in a huge facility called the ‘Plamo Simulation Center’. It seems to be an extension of the standard simulation, but with an additional biochip which contain the player’s biodata. To win the battle, the biochip which will be hidden in the plamo must be destroyed. In this system, psychic power is used to channel the player’s spiritual energy to control the plamo.



Characters

 * This list is enunciative, but not limitative- there are more characters.
 * The voice actor belongs to the SD Gundam G GENERATION series.

Shiro Kyoda is the protagonist of the series. He lives in Tamiya City and is a student of the Bandai elementary school. He is the classic shonen protagonist with an exuberant and passionate behavior, as well as being characterized as a real otaku, willing to do anything to grab the last gunpla on the market and customize it according to its personal tastes. He began to take an interest in Plamo Simulation thanks to the owner of the Craft-Man Model Shop, which he is a loyal customer, and in a short time, would be noticed among the most talented and skillful "modellers" in the country, who will not hesitate to challenge him and his gunpla at every opportunity. Shiro usually uses more or less customized Gundams as his favorite means. Among his most famous "creations" are the Perfect Gundam, the Musha Gundam and the Red Warrior.
 * Shiro Kyoda (京田四郎, Kyōda Shirō)  (Voice - Rika Matsumoto)

Plamo (Mobile Suits)
(this list is enunciative, but not limitative- there are more models-)

Plastic Models of other Franchises
Trivia:The Gunpla Battles only Focuses on 'Gundam Models'. The Plamo Battles focuses in all types of plastic models no matter the origin. That's why the comic has shameless appearances of models from other series / franchises. To enrich the reader, here is a list of models of other non-gundam series/franchises that appear throughout the comic. Most of the models that appear in this list are actively used in battles, while others are only shown in one or two pages otutisde of their boxes or just only on the box.

The models are the following:

Notes:


 * 1) The Walker Machines Gallop Type, Dugger Type and Crab Type also appear. The Robot Walker Gallia also apears.
 * 2) The ATH-14-ST Standing Tortoise and the X-ATH-02 Strike Dog also appear.
 * 3) The Soltic H8RF Kolchima Special also appears.The CrabGunner and the DesertGunner also appear.
 * 4) The FAM-RV-S1T Torunfam, The FAM-RV-5 Neofam and The ARV Round Vernian Type Recon also appear.
 * 5) The Fighting Platform Fou and the Aura Battler Bozon also appear
 * 6) The SPT's Daljuan, Gashlan, El-Darr and Dankova make appearance. The main Robot SPT Layzner does not appear.
 * 7) The Heavy Metal Auge an the Heavy Metal G.Roon also appear
 * 8) Omoroids G-Rot and Z-Bar also appear.
 * 9) The Junior A mini-sub is shown in one page.

Production Notes


(reference 1 here). (reference 2 here)

Plamo-Kyoshiro was written by Hisashi Yasui and illustrated by Koichi Yamato. In October 15, 1981, Kodansha had released the first issue of its magazine Comic Bom Bom. Mobile Suit Gundam was extremely popular at that time. Although the Gundam boom was centered at the higher age group, the fire slowly spread to the lower age group in the form of gunpla and thus it was decided to mainly publish gunpla content. At that precise moment, the publisher was planning to launch a manga adaptation of the Mobile Suit Gundam movies, but the publisher was unable to get Sunrise's authorization on time. As an alternative plan, the publisher contacted Hisashi Yasui to create a new series. That's how Plamo-Kyoshiro was born.

In 1979 was released Mobile Suit Gundam, the first series of the Gundam franchise. In 1980 The toy company Bandai began to penetrate for the first time on the sale of plastic models, a hobby quite widespread in the world, but hardly known in Japan at that time. To publicize this new product, Bandai sponsored events and specialized magazines (SF Plamo Magazine, Hobby Japan Magazine) in the hobby of Plastic models along with other advertising techniques. The Plamo-Kyoshiro manga was created as a tool to publicize the plastic models that Bandai was launching at the time.



The story of the Manga and the idea of Plamo Battles were concepts specially designed to arouse the interest of the readers for the hobby of Plastic models. In the manga, the characters appear buying plastic models of Gundam Series and from other famous anime series, TV series and feature films, as well as models of airplanes tanks and other models of vehicles to use them in the simulation. In addition, the characters appear customizing and creating their own original models of  Vehicles and Robots. Apart from this, the characters can be seen using branded products from companies dedicated to the Plastic model industry and numerous references to famous companies, products and people related to this hobby.

The producers of the comic also gave the opportunity to real people to appear caricatured in the manga. editors of modeling magazines, illustrators of hobby magazines, prominent employees of model making companies and young practitioners of this pastime also appeared caricatured in the comic.

Here we have another example to enrich the reader:

The point of all these was, of course to arouse the interest of the reader for the hobby and and promote industry, companies, key people, magazines and the plamo culture in general.

the comic, besides showing implicit tutorials, there were also magazines like SF Plamo Magazine and (images above) that also had tutorials. In the images above you can see Kazuzo Ozawa caricatured explaining how to build models and images of Shiro Kyoda.

Impact of This Work
The original edition had 15 volumes and was in publication from August 20, 1982 until December 17, 1986 in Comic Bom Bom magazine by Kodansha. In 1989 a Single Volume was published entitled Plamo-Kyoshiro-Musha Gundam Version; This volume deals with the episode in which the Musha Gundam appeared. In 1990 a second edition of 11 volumes was launched. In 1999 a 6-volume Deluxe edition was published. Between 2002 and 2004 an Economic Version of 13 volumes was published and in the year 2008 a paperback edition of 10 volumes was published. All the Plamo-Kyoshiro publications, from the original 1982 until the last of 2008 have all been published by Kodansha The manga has also received several sequels and derivatives:
 * Manga

Derivatives
Musha Gundam (武者 頑駄無 Musha Gandamu?) are Gundam units modelled after samurai, ninja, or other forms of feudal Japanese warriors. Musha Gundam first appeared in Plamo Kyoshiro. the Musha Gundam is an original Gundam created by Kyoshiro for a showdown with Shigeru (antagonist).

The Musha Gundam has led to a successful Gundam Sub-franchise and is the most extensive of the Gundam SD series

Publication History
The volume numbers can be confirmed on the cover
 * Original Issue, 1982-1986 (15 Volumes)


 * SPECIAL ISSUE
 * Plamo-Kyoshiro Musha Gundam Version


 * SPECIAL ISSUE
 * Plamo Kyoushiro Summary Competition


 * REPRINT 1990  (11 Volumes)


 * 1999 PRINT DELUXE EDITION -
 * KODANSHA COMICS BOMBOM DX  (6 Volumes)


 * Reprint 2002 (13 Volumes)

The volume numbers can be confirmed on the cover
 * REPRINT OF 2008
 * KODANSHA MANGA BUNKO (10 Volumes)

Derived Publications
Is a small comic included in the assembly manual of the model MG Perfect Gundam that came on the market in 2003. In this emanga I can see Shiro and several of his friends turned into young adults.
 * Plamo Kyoshiro MG Perfect Gundam

Anime
Plamo Kyoshiro has never been adapted into an animated series, but some anime productions of the gundam franchise show references and tributes to this manga.


 * technically the whole concept of Gundam Beggining G, Gundam Build Fighters Gundam Build Fighters Try and Gundam Build Divers has been copied from Plamo kyoshiro. (Plastic model battles, Plamo School clubs, customization, befirnding the plamo stor owner... plamo advisers...)
 * A Giant Musha Gundam Appeared in the very first episode of Gundam Build fighters Try sTV series.

Related Products
In this section and in the other sections below is intend to make an extract of products that have paid homage or reference to the series.

Plastic Models

 * NO GRADE


 * MASTER GRADE


 * SD Gundam BB SENSHI

Toys and Figures
This series combines classic Gundam characters in SD form with ‘cloth’ armor representing their iconic Mobiles Suits. This was the seventh release in the series. it was launched in 1989.
 * SD GUNDAM CLOTH MUSHA GUNDAM MKII

Video Games and Table Games

 * SD Gundam G Generation Series
 * SD Gundam G Generation F (PlayStation)
 * SD Gundam G Generation F-IF (PlayStation)
 * SD Gundam G Generation NEO (PlayStation 2)
 * SD Gundam G Generation SEED (PlayStation 2)


 * Another Century's Episode Series
 * Another Centurys Episode 3 THE FINAL (PS3)


 * Gundam Extreme Vs. Series
 * Gundam Extreme Vs. Full Boost
 * Gundam Extreme Vs. Maxi Boost


 * Gundam War
 * Gundam War :Colectible Card Game