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Mobile Suit Gundam

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Mobile Suit Gundam (機動戦士ガンダム?) is a novel series based on the Mobile Suit Gundam TV series, written by Yoshiyuki Tomino. It was first published by Asahi Sonorama from 1979 to 1981, then reprinted by Kadokawa Shoten in 1987 with minor revisions.

This novelization was intended to be more mature than the TV series and as such has several revisions and changes to the story. All three volumes of the 1979 release were translated into English by Frederik Schodt and published by Del Rey Books in September, 1990 as "Awakening", "Escalation" and "Confrontation". This translation was subsequently revised in 2004 and compiled by Stone Bridge Press into a single 476 page edition titled Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation. A second edition was printed in 2012. The English compilation features an introduction written by Mark Simmons.

Synopsis[]

In the year U.C. 0079 the Principality of Zeon has declared its independence from the Earth Federation, and subsequently launched a massive war of independence which rages on in nearly every space colony and lunar settlement. Zeon has the upper hand through their use of a revolutionary new type of weapon, their humanoid mobile suits. When a Zeon recon team disobeys mission orders and begin attacking Side 7, pilot Sergeant Major Amuro Ray stumbles across the Federation's latest weapon: the Gundam. With the aid of Earth Federation soldiers stationed aboard the MS carrier Pegasus, the newly formed crew of refugees set out to change the course of the war.

Chapters[]

Volume 1: Awakening[]

Chapter 1: Side 7[]

The novel opens to a Core Fighter training exercise on Side 7, with Lt. Ralv barking orders at military cadets Ryu Jose, Kai Shiden, Hayato Kobayashi, Sean Crane and Amuro Ray. Meanwhile, the White Base-class ship Pegasus is on its way to dock at Side 7 to pick up six experimental Federation Mobile Suits. Back on Side 7, Amuro reminisces about his time growing up there and his childhood friend Fraw Bow, however his lack of focus combined with an earlier mistake during training earns him four times from an angry Lt. Ralv, who then sends the cadets to lunch. Ryu remarks to Amuro that he should try a little harder to stay out of trouble.

The perspective then shifts to a Musai cruiser heading away from Luna II, commanded by Char Aznable. Char and his subordinate Dren notice The Pegasus (which the Musai crew refer to as the "Trojan Horse"), leading to Char deciding to send Zakus to scout Side 7, due to suspicion that the Earth Federation is up to something.

As Lt. Denim and Ensign Gene approach Side 7 in their Zakus, they find the entrance hatch hanging open, and, after remarking that the Federation wouldn't be able to do anything against two Zakus even if it was a trap, they head inside. Once inside they see a large elevator carrying a red Mobile Suit and another Mobile Suit with uncannily human-like eyes on a trailer nearby. Feeling that this is his chance to prove himself to Char, Denim decides to destroy the new mobile suits.

As The Pegasus prepares to receive the new mobile suits, Captain Paolo Cassius remembers noticing a Musai on their tail earlier, but is not too worried. At that moment, news of an attack from inside the colony breaks out. Denim and Gene in their Zakus have begun attacking the Mobile Suit holding area, igniting a battle between them and the Federation forces there. Amuro, who has boarded the Pegasus, notices two of their Core Fighters launch before both are swiftly shot down by Denim.

Ryu leads Amuro and the other cadets into the colony where they notice the red mobile suit, the Guncannon, does not have its legs attached yet. On the way, a Core Fighter flying above crashes into a nearby hill, which causes debris to fly off of it and kill Sean, dyeing Amuro's suit with blood, but the cadets keep running. Meanwhile, Amuro again thinks about Fraw and this area being the place that he once lived. Amuro and company eventually make it to the evacuation capsule, witnessing more death on the way and running under the legs of one of the Zakus. Amuro looks for Fraw among the escaping civilians but doesn't see her, and the group decides to keep moving towards the Mobile Suit area. After Amuro falls into a small crater and sees the hand of a child blown away above him, he decides to climb into the Mobile Suit lying in the trailer nearby, the Gundam. He uses his simulation training experience to ready the Gundam to fight and after a brief battle, destroys the Zaku piloted by Gene.

Denim laments his failure, overconfidence, and loss of a subordinate (along with his Zaku). He recalls Char's warning "Remember Denim, it's a scouting mission..." and leaves alone.

Chapter 2: Escape from Side 7[]

Chapter 3: The California Crush[]

Chapter 4: Newtypes[]

Chapter 5: Zeon[]

Chapter 6: The Texas Zone[]

Chapter 7: Lalah Sune[]

Chapter 8: The Beginning[]

Volume 2: Escalation[]

Chapter 9: Escape[]

Chapter 10: Kusko Al[]

Chapter 11: Prelude[]

Chapter 12: People[]

Chapter 13: Contact[]

Chapter 14: Premonition[]

Chapter 15: The Attack[]

Chapter 16: The Elmeth[]

Volume 3: Confrontation[]

Chapter 17: Power and Ambition[]

Chapter 18: Dozle Zabi[]

Chapter 19: Retreat[]

Chapter 20: A Stirring[]

Chapter 21: Test Firing[]

Chapter 22: A Baoa Qu[]

Chapter 23: Zum City[]

Characters[]

Earth Federation[]

Principality of Zeon[]

Civilians[]

Mechanics[]

Earth Federation Forces[]

Mobile Suits[]

Mobile Armors[]

Support Units[]

Principality of Zeon[]

Mobile Suits[]

Mobile Armors[]

Support Units[]

Production[]

English translation[]

At the time, there were no officially recognized romanizations of character and mobile suit names, and a variety of different spellings were being used in the English-language fan community. For example, Frederik Schodt wrote the name "Char" as "Sha." "Sha" is a transliteration of the Japanese pronunciation, although Mr. Tomino later confirmed at Anime Expo New York 2002 that the name was originally based on the name of French singer Charles Aznavour. It was later elaborated in the 2004 edition of the English translation that Schodt felt that the "Char" rendering "seemed too close" to Aznavour's name, and thus Schodt opted for "Sha".

Schodt also rendered "Zaku" as "Zak," and (after consulting with Tomino) "Jion" as "Zeon," instead of "Zion," which was in use in some fan circles. Some North American fans, already attached to particular spellings, disapproved of Schodt's official renditions.

Many years later, when the Gundam series was finally licensed in North America, the rights holders created a unified list of "official spellings" for English-language materials, and some of these spellings include Schodt's renditions, as well as the renditions to which certain North American fans were attached.

In 2004, Frederik Schodt revised his original translation of the books, which had been out of print for nearly a decade. What had been a three volume set in the 1990 Del Rey edition was re-released by Stone Bridge Press into a single 476 page edition titled Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation.

By this time the rights holders in Japan had created a unified list of romanized character and mobile suit names, which Schodt used in this 2004 edition.

Release[]

The initial release in 1979 saw success, selling over 500,000 copies of the first two volumes. Although there was initially concern over high school students being uninterested in books, the concurrent airing of the TV series helped boost its popularity.

Notes & Trivia[]

  • The English translation is the first time Zeon is referred to as the "Principality of Zeon", as translator Frederik Schodt didn't want to use "Zion" as that could make readers think of the Zionism ideology.
  • This novelization marks the first appearance of the RX-78-3 G-3 Gundam, Char's Rick Dom, Trafalgar-class ships, Coral-class ships and Tomahawk fighters.
  • Unlike the TV series, the entire novelization takes place in space, with the only ground battles taking place in colonies. For that reason, some of the series' atmospheric aircraft are changed to spacecraft, like the Gaw or the Fly Manta.
  • Oddly, the White Base has its naming reversed - instead of the Pegasus-class White Base and White Base II, it is the White Base-class Pegasus and Pegasus II.
  • The standard Mobile Suit height is 16 meters tall, instead of the anime's average of 18 meters.
  • No model numbers are given in the novel with the exception of the Ball, which is changed from "RB-79" to "VX-76".
  • Some Mobile Suits and Mobile Armors use different weapons: GMs are equipped with beam rifles, Guncannons carry shields, the Ball has a hyper bazooka instead of a low-recoil cannon, the Rick Doms use beam bazookas and beam sabers, some of the Elmeths' Bits carry nuclear warheads instead of mega particle cannons, and the Big Zam's only weapons are 16 mega particle cannons.
  • Kycilia Zabi's personal warship "Swamel" erroneously changes between novels from a Zanzibar-class to a Gwazine-class ship.
  • Unlike in the anime, the conflict between the Earth Federation and Zeon lasts well into UC 0080, effectively making it the "Two Years War" rather than the One Year War.
  • The Earth Federation's production of mobile weapons is very limited, consisting in total of 90 VX-76 Balls, 40 GMs, 3 Guncannons, and 3 Gundams (only a Gundam and 2 Guncannons survive Char's attack on Side 7, but the 13th Autonomous Corps recieve a new Gundam and Guncannon at the Federation's Look Home base after losing one of each earlier). On the other hand, Zeon's mobile weapon deployment consists of an unspecified number of Zakus and Rick Doms, 2 Elmeths, 1 Braw Bro, and 1 Big Zam.

Gallery[]

Editions[]

External links[]


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