1991. Over thirty years ago this was a time of transition to a degree. The era of real robot/war mecha anime was winding down for a time, compared to how many were produced during the 80s. Much like the super robot genre, there weren’t too many new properties being developed. Emphasis was more toward older franchises such as Macross, and Votoms. So we have the Gundam franchise. For some folks, there were questions about how this universe was going to be expanded. The theatrical film Char’s Counterattack came in ‘88 and ended one of the biggest rivalries in anime to that point. Sunrise decided to try the OAV (Original Animation Video) format with the painfully excellent Gundam 0080: War In The Pocket, focusing on a little boy who experiences war trauma but never pilots a mobile suit or develops Newtype abilities. The series met with critical success.
Sunrise tried two other projects in 1991. The theatrical film Mobile Suit Gundam F-91 (Formula-91) debuted focusing on a kid with latent NT abilities who just happens to be near a prototype Gundam when a Zeon-like force invades the colony, led by a masked antagonist. Some political dynamics are different but many elements were similar to the Amuro / Char feud that had just concluded in the theaters 3 years earlier. So despite pretty nice animation for it time, F-91 only gained moderate success with its audience and no direct continuations have been animated since then except for Victory Gundam which takes place decades later with new characters.
Then there was the other project that debuted, the focus of this article. Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 Stardust Memory starts in the distant past of the U.C. era. We’re first introduced to General Delaz, a Zeon fleet commander who is talking to his ace mobile suit pilot Anavel Gato during the final battle of the One Year War. They depart looking forward to the day they can rise up again. Three years later, we’re shown a Federation base in Australia where test pilots hone their skills using Fed and Zeon suits. Two such pilots Ensigns Koh Uraki and Chuck Keith are just finishing their session with Lt. Burning when a new modified version of the White Base lands, with Anaheim Electronics engineer Nina Purpleton. She brings along two advanced variations of Gundam suits.
The first one, the GP-01 “Zephyranthes” looks a bit like the one from the original series with some extra padding in a couple of places. The GP-02 “Physalis” is heavily armored, and has a connected shield. Although there’s no rifle for it, it does have an overpowered beam sword, and most importantly a nuclear warhead. Koh and Keith board the ship hoping to get a good look at the Gundams and become their test pilots. Nina and her crews are prepping the suits when a tall officer makes his way past everyone to the cockpit of the GP-02 and climbs in, with Nina yelling for him to get out. Suddenly ace pilot Anavel Gato declares the suit to be his in the name of the Zeons, whose forces attack the base and help escort the GP-02 away. Kou jumps into GP-01 and tries to stop him. Gato’s skills are top notch though and he thrashes Kou, while talking more trash than The Rock.
So the stage was set. Initial promotions touted this would be the first series focusing on two Gundams fighting each other, as opposed to the title mecha against different types of mobile suits. It would set the stage for future franchise installments. As to the characters here, certain archetypes play out here. Kou is the new pilot looking to get better with his mecha while trying to understand what this particular incident is really about. Also, he really wants to defeat Gato who keeps talking down to him in every battle. Initially, he was testing mobile suits during peacetime so he’s having to grow up quickly, but we do see him get some extra development during a couple of side missions as well as his growth from interacting with the crew of the Albion, a base ship he became crew for. Gato is the Zeon ace who fiercely believes in the Zeon cause and General Delaz in particular. Basically, he’s like Char Aznable but without Newtype powers. Delaz has a devastating and complex strategy he looks to execute with assistance from the forces of Zeon’s Madame Cima, an interesting warlord with her own reasons for supporting the cause, (which are expanded upon in the short “Mayfly of Space”.
Directors Mitsuko Kase (She The Ultimate Weapon) and Takashi Imanishi (Gundam MS Igloo) do a good job manipulating animation throughout the many ups and downs of the multi-authored script here, penned in part by Armor Trooper Votoms creator Ryosuke Takahashi. The fight scenes are nicely done with the pilots using good tactics against each other. The final fight between the two Gundams in episode 10 remains a particular favorite, but we see all kinds of weapons thrown out by Federation and Zeon fleets alike. As far as being a general political mecha drama, 0083 is a very solid series in its own right as it fills a crucial plot element in the U.C. timeline between Mobile Suit and Zeta Gundam. However. this makes the show a bit harder to connect with in some respects we’ll discuss in a bit.
The Gundam franchise was a profitable juggernaut in Japan due to model, toy, and animation exposure particularly since the original TV series was re-done as a film trilogy, prior to Zeta being broadcast in the mid-80s and thus joining the trend of real robot shows so prevalent then. However, the franchise would not gain American popularity until the mid-late 90s when Sunrise stopped building the UC Gundam timeline developed in various works and instead switched to various self-contained stories for a while. The first was Mobile Fighter G Gundam, a tournament-based anime. The following show entitled New Mobile War Chronicle Gundam Wing debuted in 1995 and made its way to U.S. airwaves via Cartoon Network’s Toonami segment, which instantly hooked many American viewers onto the franchise. Fans became enamored either with the show or with the model kits which started having advertisements on TV asking ‘What’s your level of commitment?’
This led to video releases coming to the U.S. from Bandai in various formats and incarnations. From Anime Village and the College Connections to Bandai Entertainment to Right Stuff Inc. to Crunchyroll to Netflix, the franchise has evolved through various video formats as more viewers have gained access internationally. Fans could choose any series or film they wished at any point in either timelines. In the case of Stardust Memory, U.S. fans could grab the VHS’s, and DVDs and of the OAV series along with the theatrical compilation movie Last Blitz of Zeon, which debuted in 1993. Alongside the excellent animation, we had excellent opening theme songs in “The Winner” by Miki Matsubara and “Men of Destiny” by MIO. The orchestral-style soundtrack by Mitsuo Hagota had appropriate aural punches. It also utilized a motif in key scenes from the American sci-fi film 2010; in particular a piece called “Linkup Maneuver.” The film omits these aspects entirely as well as the semi-side story Kou goes through, concentrating on the main plots. The U.S. Blu-rays of the OAVs contain the remastered 5.1 audio mix with newer Japanese foley effects and performances but omit the originals for some reason, similar to how the original 0079 Movie trilogy discs were released here. The English dub directed by the late Kevin Seymour remained intact throughout.
Stardust Memory is generally received favorably by U.S. fans alongside its contemporary series MS Team 08. It has a decent bit of world building though the not-so-good romantic subplot could easily have been cut. In recent years there have been different works expanding the UC timeline such as Gundam Unicorn, Origin, Thunderbolt, and Hathaway’s Flash. It’s probably due to the demonstrated success of OAVs such as 0083 and 0080: War in the Pocket that the short video format instead of TV shows has been the best way to expand the UC Gundam timeline.
