Gundam

 ( Mass Media Franchises Introduced In 1979 ) 

''Gundam Series'' is a Japanese military science fiction [[media franchise]]. Created by [[Yoshiyuki Tomino]] and Sunrise (now a division of Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or [[mecha]], with the name "Gundam".  The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ''Mobile Suit Gundam'', a [[TV series]] that defined the "[[real robot]]" [[mecha anime]] genre by featuring giant robots called mobile suits (including the original titular mecha) in a militaristic setting. The popularity of the series and its merchandise spawned a franchise that includes 50 [[TV series|Television show]], [[film]]s and OVAs as well as [[manga]], [[novel]]s and [[video game]]s, along with a whole industry of [[plastic model kits|plastic model]] known as [[Gunpla]] which makes up 90 percent of the [[Japan]]ese character plastic-model market.[https://web.archive.org/web/20081207100050/http://www3.jetro.go.jp/jetro-file/BodyUrlPdfDown.do?bodyurlpdf=05000892_001_BUP_0.pdf Flow of the Japan toy industry (日本の玩具産業の動向)], Japan Economics Department, Information section (日本経済情報課)
     

Academics in Japan have viewed the series as inspiration; in 2008, the virtual Gundam Academy was planned as the first academic institution based on an animated TV series.

As of March 2020, the franchise is fully owned by Bandai Namco Holdings through subsidiaries Sotsu and Sunrise. The Gundam franchise had grossed over in retail sales by 2000. By 2022, the annual revenue of the Gundam franchise reached Japanese yen101.7 billion per year, Bandai Namco Fiscal Year 2022 Financial Statement ¥44.2 billion of which was retail sales of toys and hobby items.

---

Overview

---

Concept by Hajime Katoki]] Mobile Suit Gundam was developed by animator Yoshiyuki Tomino and a changing group of Sunrise creators with the collective pseudonym of Hajime Yatate. The series was originally entitled Freedom Fighter Gunboy (or Gunboy) for the robot's gun, with teen boys as the primary target demographic. Early production had a number of references to freedom: the White Base, the casts home and ship, was originally "Freedom's Fortress", the Core Fighter was the "Freedom Wing" and the Gunperry was the "Freedom Cruiser". The Yatate team combined the English word "gun" with the last syllable of the word "freedom" to form the portmanteau Gundom. Tomino changed it to Gundam, suggesting a unit wielding a gun powerful enough to hold back enemies like a hydroelectric dam holding back water.Gundam Archives, production notes

In keeping with the concept, Gundams are usually depicted as prototypes or limited-production with higher capabilities than mass-produced units, which are often referred to simply as mobile suits. Most Gundams are large, bipedal, humanoid vehicles controlled from a cockpit by a human pilot. The cockpit is regularly located in the torso with some notable exceptions, while the head serves as a camera to transmit images back to the cockpit. Throughout the series of shows, movies, and manga, a variety of different suits named Gundam appear with different designs and pilots specific to each series.

---

Genre & Innovation Mobile Suit Gundam reportedly pioneered the real robot subgenre of mecha anime. In contrast to its super robot cousins, Mobile Suit Gundam attempted realism in its robot design and weaponry by running out of energy and ammunition or malfunctioning. Its technology is derived from actual science (such as Lagrange points and the O'Neill cylinder in space, and the use of helium-3 as an energy source) or feasible technology requiring only a few fictional elements to function (such as Minovsky Physics)."Gundam Science, the High Frontier - G.K. O'neil's Space Colonization Plan, Gundam Century", Out special edition, Renewal Version The series itself has also been described as a space opera for its broad plots revolving around politics.

Chris Stuckmann (2018). 9781633537330, Mango Media Inc.. . ISBN 9781633537330

However, there is a secondary element to many series that runs counter to this image. Most of the series' protagonists are something called , genetically advanced humans adapted for space. Newtypes have psychic abilities that enable them to do a variety of superhuman feats that differ from series to series. These range from an ability for instant understanding of other Newtypes' thoughts and desires, an enhanced sense perception that is regularly tied to piloting skills, and the capacity to utilize special mobile suits and weapons that tap into these newtype senses.

---

Timelines Most of the Gundam animation (including the earliest series) is set in what is known as the Universal Century (UC) calendar era, with later series set in alternate calendars or alternate future. Many UC shows were directed by series creator Tomino, especially throughout the 80s and 90s. However, many new Gundam stories are told in their parallel universe with independent timelines (giving jumping on points for newer generations of kids). The original UC storyline continues to be popular, with new installments frequently produced in and around the other established stories. Nostalgia for the oldest Gundam shows (and its status as a pop-culture icon in Japan) is a factor in its continuing success.[2] 機動戦士ガンダムは、同じくバンダイグループの（株）サンライズが制作し、1979年4月～1980年1月にテレビシリーズ第1作が放映されて以来、テレビシリーズ8作品、劇場用映画9作品などが公開され、20年以上にわたり人気を保っています。米国をはじめ、ヨーロッパ、アジアでも作品が放映され、各地で高い人気を得ています。

Other notable timelines include the Cosmic Era, (Gundam Seed, Seed Destiny, and Seed Freedom), Anno Domini (00, 00: Awakening of The Trail Blazer) and many others. These act as much more self contained narratives, re-adapting and playing off of many of the series core tropes in more modern ways built for the times in which they were released in.

---

Spinoffs SD Gundam, a spinoff of Gundam which began during the mid-1980s, features super deformed designs and emphasizes comedy and adventure. Model Suit Gunpla Builders Beginning G, Gundam Build Fighters, and Gundam Build Divers feature contemporary settings and use Gunpla as plot elements.

---

Media

---

TV series, films, and video Except for Mobile Suit Gundam 00, which follows the Common Era albeit three centuries in the future, all Gundam series are set in a fictional era, with a new calendar adopted after a drastic event or chain of events and typically involve a major conflict involving Earth and space colonies (and in some cases the Moon and Terraforming planets). An exception is the Gundam Build timeline, which is set in an alternate present time where all other Gundam installments are fictional.

Mobile Suit Gundam	TV series: 43 episodes	1979–1980	Universal Century (UC) 0079
	Compilation movies: 3	1981–1982
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam	TV series: 50 episodes	1985–1986	Universal Century (UC) 0087
	Compilation movies: 3	2005–2006
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ	TV series: 47 episodes	1986–1987	Universal Century (UC) 0088
	OVA: 2 episodes	2009
	Movie	1988	Universal Century (UC) 0093
Mobile Suit SD Gundam	Movies: 5	1988, 1989, 1991, 1993
	OVA: 9 episodes	1989–1991
	Compilation TV series: 8 episodes	1993
	OVA: 6 episodes	1989	Universal Century (UC) 0079–80
Mobile Suit Gundam F91	Movie	1991	Universal Century (UC) 0123
	OVA: 13 episodes	1991–1992	Universal Century (UC) 0083
	Compilation movie	1992
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam	TV series: 51 episodes	1993–1994	Universal Century (UC) 0153
Mobile Fighter G Gundam	TV series: 49 episodes	1994–1995	Future Century (FC) 60
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing	TV series: 49 episodes	1995–1996	After Colony (AC) 195
	Compilation specials: 4 episodes	1996
	OVA: 12 episodes	1996–1999	Universal Century (UC) 0079
	Compilation movie	1998
	Special	2013
After War Gundam X	TV series: 39 episodes	1996	After War (AW) 15
	OVA: 3 episodes	1997	After Colony (AC) 196
	Compilation movie	1998
Gundam: Mission to the Rise	Short film	1998
Turn A Gundam	TV series: 50 episodes	1999–2000	Correct Century (CC) 2343–45
	Compilation movies: 2	2002
G-Saviour	Live-action TV movie	2000	Universal Century (UC) 0223
Gundam Neo Experience 0087: Green Diver	Specialty format movie	2001	Universal Century (UC) 0087
Gundam Evolve	OVA: 15 episodes	2001–2007
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED	TV series: 50 episodes	2002–2003	Cosmic Era (CE) 71
	Epilogue OVA short	2004
	Compilation specials: 3 episodes	2004
Superior Defender Gundam Force	TV series: 52 episodes	2003–2004
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED MSV Astray	Promo OVA shorts: 2 episodes	2004	Cosmic Era (CE) 71
	OVA: 3 episodes	2004	Universal Century (UC) 0079
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny	TV series: 50 episodes	2004–2005	Cosmic Era (CE) 73–74
	TV special	2005
	Compilation specials: 4 episodes	2006
	OVA: 3 episodes	2006	Universal Century (UC) 0079
	ONA: 3 episodes	2006	Cosmic Era (CE) 73
	Compilation OVA: 1	2006
Mobile Suit Gundam 00	TV series: 50 episodes	2007–2009	Anno Domini (AD) 2307–08, 2312
	Compilation OVA: 3 episodes	2009
	OVA: 3 episodes	2008	Universal Century (UC) 0079
Mobile Suit Gundam Battlefield Record: Avant-Title	OVA	2009	Universal Century (UC) 0079
Ring of Gundam	Short film	2009
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn	OVA: 7 episodes, 1 special episode	2010–2014	Universal Century (UC) 0096
	Compilation TV series: 22 episodes	2016
SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors	Movie	2010
	TV series: 51 episodes
	Movie	2010	Anno Domini (AD) 2314
Model Suit Gunpla Builders Beginning G	Specials: 3 episodes	2010	Our Century
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE	TV series: 49 episodes	2011–2012	Advanced Generation (AG) 115–164
	Compilation OVA: 2 episodes	2013
Gundam Build Fighters	TV series: 25 episodes	2013–2014	Our Century
	Specials: 3 episodes	2014
Mobile Suit Gundam-san	TV series: 13 episodes	2014
Gundam Reconguista in G	TV series: 26 episodes	2014–2015	Regild Century (RG) 1014
	Compilation movies: 5	2019–2022
Gundam Build Fighters Try	TV series: 25 episodes	2014–2015	Our Century
	OVA	2016
	OVA: 6 episodes	2015–2018	Universal Century (UC) 0068, 0071, 0074, 0077, 0078, 0079
	Compilation TV series: 13 episodes	2019
	TV series: 50 episodes	2015–2017	Post Disaster (PD) 323, 325
Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt	ONA: 8 episodes	2015–2017	Universal Century (UC) 0079
	Compilation movies: 2	2016–2017
	ONA: 6 episodes	2017	Universal Century (UC) 0096
	Compilation movie	2017
Gundam Build Fighters Battlogue	ONA: 5 episodes	2017	Our Century
	ONA	2017	Our Century
Gundam Build Divers	Prologue ONA	2018	Our Century
	TV series: 25 episodes
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative	Movie	2018	Universal Century (UC) 0097
SD Gundam World Sangoku Soketsuden	ONA: 10 episodes	2019–2021
	ONA: 26 episodes	2019–2020	Our Century
	ONA	2020	Our Century
Mobile Suit Gundam G40	ONA	2020	Universal Century (UC) 0079
Gundam Build Real	Live-action net drama: 6 episodes	2021	Our Century
SD Gundam World Heroes	ONA: 24 episodes	2021
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway	Movies: 3	2021–TBA	Universal Century (UC) 0105
Gundam Breaker Battlogue	ONA: 6 episodes	2021	Our Century
	Movie	2022	Universal Century (UC) 0079
	Prologue ONA	2022	Ad Stella (AS) 101
	TV series: 24 episodes	2022–2023	Ad Stella (AS) 122
Gundam Build Metaverse	ONA: 3 episodes	2023	Our Century
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom	Movie	2024	Cosmic Era (CE) 75
Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom	VR movie	2024	Universal Century (UC) 0096
	ONA: 6 episodes	2024	Universal Century (UC) 0079
Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX	Compilation movie	2025	Alternate version of Universal Century (UC) 0079, 0085
	TV series: 12 episodes
	Movie	2025	Post Disaster (PD) 323
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom Zero	TBA	TBA	Cosmic Era (CE)

---

Live-action film At the 2018 Anime Expo, Legendary Pictures and Sunrise announced a collaboration to develop a live-action Gundam film. Brian K. Vaughan was brought in to write and serve as an executive producer for the film. In April 2021, it was reported that the project had landed at Netflix and that Jordan Vogt-Roberts had been hired to direct. In October 2024, it was announced that Jim Mickle would be the new director and writer, and that Netflix is no longer involved. In March 2025, Deadline reported that actress Sydney Sweeney is in talks for a role.

---

Manga and novels Manga adaptations of the Gundam series have been published in English in North America by a number of companies, such as Viz Media, Del Rey Manga and Tokyopop, and in Singapore by Chuang Yi. Notable entries include Gundam the Origin, written and drawn by original series character designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. It is a retelling of the first series with additional flashbacks surrounding one of the series main character's Char Aznable.

---

Video games Gundam has spawned over 80 video games for arcade, computer and console platforms, some with characters not found in other Gundam media. Some of the games, in turn, inspired spinoff novels and manga.

---

Gunpla Primarily made of plastic, but sometimes paired with resin and metal detail parts, hundreds of Gundam scale model, aka Gunpla, have been released. They range in quality from toolless-build children's toy kits (Entry Grades) to hobbyist and museum-grade models, and most are in common scales such as 1:35, 1:48, 1:60, 1:100 or 1:144 scale. Various Grades exist to target hobbyists, ranging from smaller sized kits such as High Grade and Real Grade, to larger Master Grade and finally Perfect Grade model kits. The Real Grade (RG) Gundam series combined the Master Grade's detailed inner structure with additional colour separation, making the 1:144-scale series complex in design and compact in size, with the final goal of retooling a Gundam to what they might would look like in real life, similar to the real-life Gundam Front Tokyo RX-78-02.

Promotional 1:6 or 1:12 scale models are supplied to retailers and are not commercially available. For Gundam 30th anniversary, a full-size RX-78-2 Gundam model was constructed and displayed at Gundam Front Tokyo, in the Odaiba district; it was taken down on March 5, 2017. A new statue of the Unicorn Gundam was erected at the same location, now renamed The Gundam Base Tokyo.

---

Other merchandise Bandai, Gundam primary licensee, produces a variety of products. Other companies produce unofficial merchandise, such as toys, models and T-shirts. Products include Mobile Suit In Action (MSiA) action figures and Gundam model kits in several scales and design complexities. Each series generally has its own set of products, MSiA and model lines such as Master Grade and High Grade Universal Century may extend across series. The most popular action-figure line has been the Gundam Fix series, which includes the mecha in the animated series, manga and novels and accessories to create an updated version. In addition to Master Grade and High Grade Gundams, Bandai released a 30th-anniversary series of Gundam models in 2010. After the introduction of the RG Gunpla line, Bandai released the Metal Build series in March 2011 (beginning with the 00 Gundam).

---

Internet Bandai maintains several websites to promote Gundam projects; Gundam Perfect Web is the official Japanese site. Its English-language counterpart is the US-maintained Gundam Official. In 2005, the website hosted the Gundam Official User Forum. The forum was based on the existing fan forum, Gundam Watch, using many of its staff. When the project was retired, Gundam Watch was reborn and became Gundam Evolution.

A number of series-specific websites have been created, often available for a limited time (usually to promote a DVD release). Common content includes character and mecha listings, lists of related merchandise and pay-for-download content. Special pages are frequent, often presenting downloadable wallpaper or a small game. The Superior Defender Gundam Force website has a game in which players take the role of villain Commander Sazabi, attempting to blast his subordinate with weapons.

---

Global spread Since 1980, Gundam has also appeared in the following countries and regions:

1980

1981

1982

1983

1987

1994

1997

---

Impact Gundam is a Japanese cultural icon and a multi-billion-Japanese yen annual business for Namco. Annual revenue for the franchise reached ¥54.5 billion by 2006,Nekkei BP mook, Otona no Gundamu Perfect (Gundam for Adult's Perfect), Business & History+Character+Mechanic, Nekkei Entertainment, by 2014, and by 2024. Stamps have been issued, an Agriculture Ministry employee was reprimanded for contributing to the Japanese Wikipedia Gundam-related pages, and the Japan Self-Defense Forces has code-named its developing advanced personal-combat system Gundam. Based on a December 16, 2023 survey conducted by Nikkei Entertainment, the fanbase of Gundam within Japan has an average age of 42 years, and a male-to-female ratio that skews 90:10.

The impact of Gundam in Japan has been compared to the impact of Star Wars in the United States.

---

See also

• Bandai Museum
• Mobile Suit Gundam
• Gundam (fictional robot)

---

External links

• Official Gundam website
• Gundam at the Mecha Anime Headquarters website'
• Gundam Perfect Games
• Bandai Visual's Gundam minisite

Categories: Mass Media Franchises Introduced In 1979, Fiction About Asteroid Mining, Bandai Brands, Bandai Namco Franchises, Bandai Visual, Mass Media Franchises, Military Anime And Manga, Military Fiction, Military Science Fiction, Sunrise, Space Opera Anime And Manga

Post Comment