Mobile Suit Victory Gundam

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam or V Gundam (機動戦士Vガンダム, Kidō Senshi V Gandamu) is an anime television program set in the Universal Century timeline. It consists of 51 episodes, and was directed by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino. The series was first broadcast on TV Asahi (and its ANN stations) and later by the anime satellite TV network, Animax, across Japan and later its respective networks worldwide, including Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, East Asia, Latin America, and other regions.

Story

Victory Gundam is set in UC 0153, and succeeds the Federation and Crossbone Vanguard conflict of Gundam F-91. Therefore, it takes place well after the events of the Earth Federation versus Principality of Zeon conflict (which could be said to have ended with Char's Counterattack).

The greatly weakened Earth Federation comes under attack by the BESPA forces of the spaceborne Zanscare Empire; only the AEUG-like League Militaire stands in their way. The mass-produced V Gundam is the League Militaire's secret weapon against the invading BESPA.

Overview

Victory Gundam, the first of four Gundam television series that aired in Japan sequentially from 1993 through 1996 and the second longest Gundam television show with 51 episodes (SD Gundam Force is the first with 52 episodes), features the second youngest protagonist in Gundam anime: the thirteen year old Uso Evin. It is another one of Tomino's "Kill 'em all" series. The main cast casualty rate of the League Militaire (especially the Shrike Team), as well as the Zanscare is extremely high. In a notable scene, two members of the Shrike Team are killed by being vaporized in their normal suits by a beam saber.

According to Tomino, while Victory Gundam was being produced, Sunrise merged with Bandai over his objections. The negative feelings resulting from these events made Victory Gundam his most hated Gundam series. In fact, his interview on the memorial DVD Box's intitial-printing booklet is entitled "Don't buy these DVDs because you should not watch them!!"—similar to an admonition included in the Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam's final DVD volume. (The interview itself explains the above situation.) According to rumors, it was during the production of this series that Tomino suffered from depression.

There is an inside-rumor among Gundam fans that the protagonist, Uso Evin, is the great grandson of late Char Aznable, based on that the last-name of Uso's Mother (Miguel) is the same as Char's last lover, Nanai Miguel (in Char's Counterattack). This series takes place 60 years after the events of Char's Counterattack so this is considered by fans to be very plausible. Even though Tomino officially rejects the rumor, it is also known that the production group considered the idea, just did not implement it (but the last name of Muller "Miguel" stays).

Director Tomino, as with First Gundam and Zeta, had to contend with a great deal of pressure from sponsors and other interested parties. The first episode was originally intended to be episode four, but pressure from a major investor (Bandai) to show the main mecha from the start led to a confusing change to the early episode order. Another pressure came with merchandising interest to put battleships on mid series, while the main stage was on Earth. As a compromise and irony, the strange BESPA battleship/motorcycle mixture vessels that made up the Motorad Fleet made their appearance. Some point out the death rate as mentioned above had a great deal to do with Tomino's depression and frustration while working on the show -- in comparison, his more recent works, such as King Gainer and Brain Powered, avoid large body counts.

Openings and Endings

Openings:

• Standup to the Victory by Tomohisa Kawasoe (episode 1–31)
• Don't Stop! Carry On! by RD (episode 32–51)

Endings:

• Winners Forever by infix (episode 1–31)
• Mouichido Tenderness KIX.S (episode 32–51)

Episode list

1. "The White Mobile Suit"
2. "The Day He Met the Machine"
3. "Usso's Battle"
4. "Why are we Fighting?"
5. "Godzorla's Counterattack"
6. "The Soldier's Glory"
7. "The Sound of the Guillotine"
8. "Fierce Fighting! Attacking Waves"
9. "Departure"
10. "Behold! The Shrike Team"
11. "Shrike Team's Defense"
12. "Smash the Guillotine!"
13. "Arti Gibraltar, an Empty City"
14. "Attack and Defense at Gibraltar"
15. "Space Dust"
16. "Reinforce Ascent"
17. "Imperial Queen"
18. "Battle of the Space Fleets"
19. "Search for Shakti"
20. "Eve of the Decisive Battle"
21. "Strategic Satellite"
22. "The Tiger of Space"
23. "Zanscare Infiltration"
24. "The Battle for the Capital"
25. "Infiltrate the Enemy's Fleet and Land"
26. "Maria and Usso"
27. "The Light of Outer Space"
28. "The Great Escape"
29. "The New Mobile Suit V2"
30. "Mother's Gundam"
31. "Motorad Launch"
32. "Dogoorla Blitzkrieg"
33. "Sea Dwellers"
34. "Operation Giant Roller"
35. "Mother or Shakti?"
36. "Mother Returns to the Earth"
37. "Twin Rad Counterattack"
38. "North Sea Conflagration"
39. "The Song of the Wings of Light"
40. "Under the Super Aerial Attack"
41. "The Battlefield Created By Father"
42. "Fresh Blood Swirls in the Light"
43. "Battlefield Comet Fuala"
44. "A Light at the End of the Tunnel"
45. "Usso Dances with Illusions"
46. "Tassilo's Rebellion"
47. "A Womanly Battlefield"
48. "A Time to Wither, A Time to Bloom"
49. "An Angel Circles Overhead"
50. "Hatred in Confrontation"
51. "Angel's Ascension"

Cast & Staff

Japanese Voice

League Militaire:

• Uso Evin - Daisuke Sakaguchi
• Shakti Kareen - Yumi Kuroda
• Marbet Fingerhat - Ayako Shiraishi
• Romero Marabal - Furin Cha
• Jinn Generham - Ginzou Matsuo
• Tomache Massarik - Tomokazu Seki
• Odelo Henrik - Masayuki Nakata
• Oliver Inoe - Keiichi Sonobe
• Junko Jenko - Yuko Kobayashi
• Peggy Lee - Kae Araki
• Kate Bush - Shinobu Adachi
• Helen Jackson - Rika Fukami
• Maheria Meril - Mari Maruta
• Connie Francis - Satomi Koorogi (Also voiced for Karlmann Doukatous and Suzy Relane)
• Yuca Meilasch - Atsuko Tanaka
• Francesca O'Hara - Hiromi Ishikawa
• Miliera Katan - Narumi Hidaka

Zanscare Empire:

• Chronicle Asher - Toomoyuki Dan
• Katejina Loos - Kumiko Watanabe
• Maria Pia Armonia - Emi Shinohara
• Arbeo Pippinden - Junji Kitajima
• Fonse Kagatie - Kaneomi Ooya
• Duker Iq - Kazuhiro Nakata
• Lupe Cineau - Miki Itou
• Goze Baru - Yukitoshi Hori
• Fuala Griffon - Ai Orikasa
• Tassilo Vago - Hidetoshi Nakamura

See also

Preceded by: Mobile Suit Gundam F91

Followed by (in time line): G-Saviour

• Mobile Suit Variations