In the year 0068 of the Universal Century, Casval Rem Deikun's life is thrown into chaotic disarray after the assassination of his father, a prolific figure in the crusade towards civil rights for people who live away from the Earth's surface. Casval and his sister Artesia receive aid from soldiers who were loyal to their father, and the siblings are whisked away from their home, separated, and thrown into a twisted fate that sees them come into their own as soldiers and adults.
Years before stealing the name Char Aznable or his "Red Comet" moniker, Casval must contend with the rise of a militarized version of his father's ideology and his own vengeful nature as intergalactic war molds him into a legendary mobile suit pilot.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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CodeBlazeFate
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is an ode to excellence, an art habitually outdoing itself. It is the epitome of what Gundam is and was, and is the type of work only a master can craft. Origin is cinematic brilliance, and one of the finest in modern manga adapting and modern anime storytelling. As such, it is as charming and emotionally evocative as the franchise has ever been, continually asserting itself among the best animated series this decade has to offer. It would be unwise to herald such a title as absolute perfection; there are blemishes in this magnificent work of art. The questionable overrelianceon 3D CGI can be off-putting when non-mechanical objects rendered in such a style look worse than Dozle in a car accident. Additionally, the film series stumbles choppily at first before truly hitting its monumental stride. Some of the ending themes are forgettable and the music takes a while to truly match the scale and magnificence of the series proper. Certain moments regarding character relationships can feel rushed as well. However, in the face of an 18-meter behemoth of passion and glory, these issues the size of a small dent. They exist yet mean little; mere bumps and scratches in the left calf of a machine painted, oiled, and buffed with the utmost care.
The character designs by legendary Gundam veteran and original mangaka Yoshikazu Yasuhiko are absolutely perfect, perfect updates on both the iconic designs of yore and the art redesigns of the manga. The expressions are the liveliest in the entire franchise, striking the perfect balance between character detail and freedom of animation of the models. As for the mechanical designs of the pre-0079 era, they work exquisitely as the prototypes and predecessors of what would become the norm of the One-Year War. The CGI work for these mechs, in particular, is nothing short of commendable, as the clunky experimental designs of the iconic mobile workers --prototypes to the iconic mobile suits-- are capitalized on tremendously. The directing of the action sequences --courtesy of franchise veterans Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and Takashi Imanishi-- is exquisite, most especially in regards to the iconic Custom Red Zaku II Char pilots. One need look no further than the spectacular opening scene in episode 1 or the battle in episode 6 to know exactly how kinetic and monumental these skirmishes are. The smoke effects work wonderfully as well, particularly in regards to the purple smoke and explosions of Federation ships and student artillery. Dare I say, if the CGI were present in the mechanical models exclusively, this would be Gundam’s visual magnum opus! It already achieves such marks from a directorial standpoint.
Even more care was taken to make sure that each development of the characters, narrative, and technology, kept the integrity of the original series intact. Char’s vengefulness was built up perfectly and shown to be as innate to him as humanly possible. Seeing him in a position of power is an absolute treat, whether it be him taking down a Guntank single-handedly as a child, or beating up a spy with his fists and a spiked plank. His malicious tendencies also originated from a place that feels both human and sensible, unlike a more direct counterpart in Anakin Skywalker aka Darth Vader and how the Star Wars prequels attempted to do the same. Additionally, witnessing other major characters from the original series in their younger forms was particularly charming. The biggest standouts were Dozle --the lovable oaf-- and Ramba Ral, both of whom were particular highlights in Origin. Even witnessing a younger Amuro Ray was wonderful, especially when everyone’s favorite troublesome little mascot, Haro began acting like the lovable goof fans know and love. The characters brand new to Origin held up as well and worked wonderfully in their roles, particularly Ramba’s father and the man who would take care of Char and Sayla in the second episode. Every second spent with these characters is wonderful and full of the type of bittersweet pleasantness you never get in anime, especially when you are familiar with where they end up in 0079.
The voice acting held up tremendously as well. Keith Silverstein did a marvelous job playing Char’s teenage and adult self, with just the type of calculated, semi-dominant, and slightly spiteful tinge that truly made up Char as a person up until the end of the original 0079. Kirk Thornton was splendid as a slightly younger but ultimately gravely Ramba Ral, and Doug Stone was splendid as his desperate, constantly stressed, and slightly deranged father. The most interesting casting choice was Mike Pollock -best known for his role as Eggman- whose performance as Char and Sayla’s caretaker, Don Teablo Mass. There are a plethora of other cast members who did wonderfully in their roles as well, such as Liam O’Brien, and other well-known VAs such as Lisa Ortiz and Patrick Seitz make great background character voices. Even Hamon’s singing in the penultimate installment --in both languages-- especially in the context of the original’s story, is as beautiful as it is soul-crushing. Everything melts into a wonderful English dub, lip-syncing issues aside.
There’s a sense of love and passion Origin exudes, a marvelous sense of charisma that exemplifies the joys of cinema. It may not be as thematically rich as Thunderbolt, as visually mesmerizing as Char’s Counterattack, or as inviting as Turn A, but in many ways, this exemplifies the best of what Gundam has to offer. Even when displaying a sense of brutality synonymous with Gundam, this love letter to the franchise never stops bringing a sense of whimsy and evoke visceral emotion to the silver and digital screens. You may need to watch other installments to truly appreciate this one, but in doing so, this is your reward: the absolute pinnacle of Gundam!
Karhu
'Gundam Origin' is the best thing that has yet happened to the Gundam franchise. The series is so different from all the other Gundams, and so successful at what it does that it appears to be more similar to 'Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex' and 'Legend of the Galactic Heroes' than it is similar to other Gundams. This time around our story does NOT center around bunch of kids who fights against each others with super robots, and question their morality after falling in love with enemy kids. And when people lose their families, they do NOT get over it in mere 10 minuteslike they do in the alternative version, the original Mobile Suit Gundam. No. This time our story centers around politics and military tactics, and comes off exactly as mature and realistic as is possible in the animated medium. However, from its core 'Gundam Origin' is character biography. It aims to capture the life of Casval Rem Deiku in a way most similar to Sports series such as 'Major' and 'Hajime no Ippo', but also close to Career series such as 'Glass no Kamen' (actress) and 'Uchuu Kyoudai' (astronaut). I am mentioning these 4 series because they are the only other anime I have ever seen to go as deep into character-centric story telling as 'Gundam Origin'. I am a huge fan of this concept, and never in my life did I think I would see the 5th successful series to achieve this to be This anime. I have been blown away.
The details put on art and animation are insane. These six episodes took three years to make. And while this is not uncommon for OVA series at all, the team didn't exactly spend their days loitering around. This is a work of such high caliber it mainly reminds me of 'Hellsing Ultimate'. Outside of few building scenes, there are practically no scenery that hasn't been animated. Even during debates, there are no scrolling backgrounds to make it create the illusion of animation and movement. During these scenes, almost every side character is in some way reacting to the conversations, be it in forms of expressions, habits or body gestures. It's crazy.
The thing that impressed me the most is the character design, more specifically their faces. Approximately 93% of the 200something characters don't even look like anime characters. For the first time ever, I have been impressed by the animated faces of middle aged men. They have unreal amount of details, separately designed side/front profiles and realistic facial features. The faces have so much depth that it doesn't even stop there. Especially during close-ups, we can see shadows cast on their faces according to their facial features and room lighting. If this doesn't impress you then I have no idea what could. Also, for the first time since 'Gankutsuou' has a goddamn piece of clothing burned in my very soul. I am talking about the onepiece dress seen in episode 2 at Club Eden. Talk about pretty. For the sake of readable length, I won't go further into details, but practically everything has been polished and there isn't much CGI outside episode 6. But even in the finale the CGI is so well done that less experienced viewers won't even realize they are looking at CGI.
The series is, by no means, perfect. One of the side characters, Zabi Garman, can be seen as a plot element who only exists to lead the story in preferred direction. Our main character can be criticized of being a Gary Stu level Jesus who is perfect at everything and anything. Personally, I didn't find any of these factors to be actual "problems" that could ruin the series for me. Rather, I thought they were done well. For example, the expectations others' and Garma himself put on him didn't match his personality, so it was easy for him to get played. Most of the time everything feels like it has been done with high level of self-awareness. The team behind Gundam Origin seems to be well aware of all its flaws and did their best on making it believable, acknowledging its imperfections and weaker sides.
Since I haven't spoken anything about the sounds yet, I suggest you head to your closest youtube and copy-paste the following song title "Crowley Hamon - Don't Say Goodbye" and enjoy. I let this piece speak for itself.
When it comes to enjoyment, I can't speak on the behalf of Gundam fandom for the reason that I am not a fan of Gundam series in generally. Thus far the only ones I have really enjoyed were Vietnam, Hamburger Meat and Nice Float (08th MS Team, 0080 War in the Pocket and Unicorn - in case you are not up to date with hottest Gundam memes). I can still speak as a fan of mature anime series, as a fan of character portray, and as a fan of anime in generally. The levels of mature and realistic are -ironically- almost unrealistic, the characters are far better than anyone could expect, and the art kept constantly impressing me. I will call Gundam Origin an obligatory view for all anime fans.
Rikuson1
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin/機動戦士ガンダムTHE ORIGIN Review Story (10/10) Masterpiece The main purpose of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is to setup the origin story to not just the Gundam but the entire Universal Century's story and all of the characters, protagonists and antagonist that play major roles in the 1979's original Gundam anime which kickstarts the whole Gundam franchise in the first place. With that being said this 6 episode OVA I felt did a wonderful job at introducing the whole of Universal Century to the viewer. But obviously coming from myself a person who is already quite knowledgeable to the universe damn near everycharacter that was introduced I already knew about and just getting more backstory on them is just a treat for someone and people like me. As far as it's pacing, explanation and plot I thought everything was perfectly executed considering this as an Origin Story to the lore of UC Gundam I felt nothing important was left unexplained your typical origin story.
Art and Animation (10/10) Outstanding
The artstyle approach taken in Mobile Suit Gundam Origin is one that is quite reminiscent to the old school artstyle of yesteryear. It definitely showcases that this art style definitely (at least to me) still has it's own charm to it in the modern day of today's frequent and quite similar art style we see across many popular anime series. The animation smooth and crisp across every scene and at first and definitely around episode 3 or 4 we get to see a decent amount of CG that is used on Mobile Suits, Space crafts and other machinery. At first I was not too fond to it but by the end of episode 6, I'm not going to lie this is some of the best CG I've seen to be put forth on a series that includes it on mechs especially basically every scene that has the Red Zaku in it, if CG is done it should be done like this.
Sound (10/10) Superb
The sound effects, background music and (english dubb) voice acting you and can definitely tell (especially if you are a fan of Gundam and English Dub voice acting) was treated with the utmost care. Keith Silverstein (who also voiced Full Frontal) can do the most ambitious, passionate and most charismatic Char Azanable voice you will hear amongst the many different english voice actors that have done him in the past, by far my favorite thus far and I hope he voices him from hear on out.
Characters (10/10) Outstanding
The amount of characterization and backstory care we are given to many key characters of the original Gundam series is outstanding especially Casval Rem Deikun. Characters I cared not for because to be honest they get introduced and killed in the original series so quick that you don't really have a chance to know who these people are, are given great backstories that should make a newcomer care a bit for them before they most likely bit the dust in the original series. Many of those characters you get to understand their ambitions and motives through these 6 episodes than you ever did in the original and I fairly enjoyed it and thought it was handled perfectly.
Enjoyment (10/10) Superb
As a Gundam fan I had a fucking blast with The Origin. As a newcomer I can see if one might think that this could be a bit too much of an info dump to the Universe since it may feel like this Origin story wants you to remember all of these many key characters that will definitely appear in the original Gundam series. That might be where a newcomer might be overwhelmed and turned off especially since there is no actual presence of the Gundam in this Origin story even though that is the name of the OVA. One could also say they were better off calling it Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin of Universal Century as that can be read as a more accurate representation to what is present in this OVA, this could easily hinder a newcomer's enjoyment and I completely understand if it did. Some might even say it might be better to watch the original series and then go back and watch this, but I feel if you are someone who can get ahold of majority of what this origin story brings to the table it will serve as a great introduction into a great space war story.
Overall (10/10) Masterpiece
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I feel accomplishes what I think it was trying to do and that is setting up the Universal Century's lore perfectly. I honestly hope they decide to make a remake of 0079 Gundam using this OVA's animation, artsytle and voice actors. But I'm not too sure seeing as though they seem to be working on another Unicorn Gundam Anime and then a Hathaway's Flash anime which are both welcomed but were not asked for as much as a 0079 remake (or hell Crossbone!).
If you are a returning fan of Gundam you should be most pleased
If you are a newcomer you better pay attention because their a lot this OVA demands you.
literaturenerd
Like everyone else on MAL, I also enjoyed Gundam: The Origin. The CG looks great. The action set pieces are amazing. It's a series made by Gundam fans, for Gundam fans. In other words, this is fanservice done right. At the same time, I do feel it's become a tad overrated. A lot people are calling this the best Gundam series and it's really not. I might not receive many helpfuls for doing this, but I feel like I HAVE to say some of this or else I'll go insane. First we need to go into a little background. Gundam is one of anime's most belovedand influential franchises. However, its sheer size and the number of different entries and alternate continuities make it a very daunting franchise to get into. Sort of like anime's Dr. Who in that regard. Where do I even start?
First, we need to go back to 1979. The original Gundam started out as a glorified toy commercial for robot model kits, but was turned into a beloved classic by the sheer dedication of Yoshiyuki Tomino. Mr. Tomino is a WEIRD man whose autism power level exceeds even my own. However, he's also a creative genius. He introduced hard science fiction concepts like Lagrangian points, space colonies, and even added a layer of politics to make Gundam less of a super robot show and more of a Space Opera like the 1977 blockbuster, Star Wars. Tomino blurred the lines between Saturday morning cartoon and hard science fiction like Robert Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". We get so absorbed into the world of Gundam that we forget that there's zero strategic reason why mobile suits would be humanoid in shape or why the Zakus score so many kills with their karate kicks and cute little axes.
Everyone assumed that Gundam was made as an anti-war drama. However, Tomino said that the series is meant to be interpreted as a metaphor for growing up. A message especially intended for the otakus that collect Gundam models. The Earth forces represent the peaceful security of childhood and the space Nazis of Zeon represent the scary world of adulthood. The New Type mutants and their psychic powers were Tomino's way of saying that people don't listen to each other and need to start doing so. When you consider that this franchise was created to sell robot toys, Tomino's messages and ambition were incredibly bold and respectable. He could have just phoned it in, but he went WAY above the call of duty to make an all time classic!
After the HUGE success of the original Gundam, we reach the 2nd phase of the Gundam franchise. At this point, it's more than just a toy commercial and expectations are higher. With Zeta Gundam, Tomino expanded the politics of the original Gundam and transformed Char from a revenge obsessed, cool villain to a beloved anti-hero. The OVAs like War in the Pocket and 8th MS Team decided to go all out with the anti-war themes and make Gundam more serious. These 3 entries are generally regarded as the pinnacle of the Gundam franchise. They basically stretched it to its limits.
Now we have the 3rd phase of the Gundam franchise. Shit that looks cool and tries to recapture the lightning in the bottle. This is where we get G-Gundam, Gundam Wing, Thunderbolt, Seed, and yes, Gundam: The Origin. Some people might get mad that I just compared Origin to Wing and G-Gundam, but hear me out. Was Origin trying to teach an important lesson to depressed Otaku? Was it trying to expand the character psychology of beloved characters or take Gundam to new heights as a serious political drama? HELL NO! Origin is just a feel-good handjob for Gundam fanboys that wants to celebrate how fucking cool Char is. It is EXACTLY would you would expect if Star Wars fanboys were given 200 million dollars to make a Boba Fett movie in 1996. There is a scene in Origin where Char is playing basketball for no reason and dunking on fools like he's Lebron James. Because OF COURSE Char would be able to do that! He's fucking Char!
When people hear about Origin, they hear that it's the prequel to the original 1979 Gundam. This is the place where most new fans start now. Well guess what? It's not actually a prequel! Origin makes SOO many retcons that Sunrise admitted that it takes place in its own timeline! This was after fans pointed out that Origin basically torpedoes the plot of the original. An extremely important plot point in the original Gundam is the Antarctic Treaty. The reason nuclear weapons aren't a factor in Gundam is because both sides agreed to stop using them after they were massively used to devastating effect in the battle of Loum. In Origin, nuclear weapons were never used at Loum. Instead, Zeon just used their cool toys to STOMP the Federation with extremely minimal casualties. Origin includes the famous "Zeon is exhausted" speech from the original, but in the context of The Origin it doesn't make any sense! Zeon WAS exhausted in the 1979 series because they won the battle of Loum at heavy cost, largely due to the use of nuclear weapons that offset Zeon's initial advantage in robotics. While Zeon won at Loum, they lost a ton of men and weren't able to keep up with the Federation's wartime production after that battle. Loum in the 1979 series was basically if the Japanese had won the battle of Midway while still losing 4 carriers. They needed it to end the war and once it didn't they were fighting a losing battle due to differences in population and manufacturing power.
One bold decision that Origin made was to cover in greater detail Zeon's genocidal operation that killed half the human population. In the original series, it happened prior to the start of the series and the casualties are kind of vague. Origin leaves no doubt that Gihren Zabi is the most pants on head insane, evil bastard in human history. His own father calls him "a grotesque parody of Adolf Hitler". There's a dramatic scene where Ramba Rall quits the Zeon army after witnessing the sheer depravity of Zeon's plans. So I guess his fight with Amuro never happened in the Origin timeline, which creates its own string of issues. My point is that Origin directly draws attention to one of the biggest issues in Gundam. Zeon's leader is SO insane and unbelievably evil that it becomes a joke to portray any Zeon soldier sympathetically. Any person with any shred of human decency would defect or lay down arms after the unprovoked slaughter of 5 billion people! Most of the Zeon colonists still had relatives on Earth. There wasn't enough time for their society to see everyone outside of Zeon as completely sub-human and ingrain this ideology in every single one of them!
Do you know what Origin REALLY wanted to focus on though? How cool Char is! We don't actually learn anything new about Char. He's a man who sold his soul for revenge against the Zabi family. He fights for evil in order to eventually claim revenge on the people that killed his father. Oh and then he fights for the independence of Space people...then he just cares about his pissing contest with Amuro...then he wants to kill the Zabis again. Simply put, Char has never been a perfect character even before Tomino ruined him with Char's Counter-Attack. So why do we like Char? Because he looks cool! He kills all his opponents with ease while making snarky remarks. He outsmarts his enemies, backstabs his allies, and scores with all the ladies. Char is a male power fantasy that embodies how we would like to see ourselves. He's confident. He's in charge. He's fucking BADASS! Even Tomino soon realized that he loved Char WAY more than the hero Amuro and started thinking about sexy new girlfriends for Char. According to Tomino, it's very important that we ALL know how often Char gets his dick wet. Origin takes this Char worship to the laughable degree you would expect. Char is Japanese Boba Fett meets James Bond meets Conan the Destroyer. Personally, I think Gundam is at its best when it's tackling themes or challenging us emotionally like War in the Pocket. I don't JUST want to jerk off to Char all the time!
So where does this leave us? If you're a Gundam fan, I would still highly recommend that you watch Origin. It's very fun and it looks spectacular! I'll happily add this to my extended favorites, where it can hang out with Wing and G Gundam. I didn't write this review to say that I dislike Origin! However, I just read a review that Origin transcends the other Gundam series and is more like Galactic Heroes than a mere Gundam! This frankly just makes me laugh. Origin is not this 300 IQ masterpiece that just shits on all the other Gundam series. It's a very enjoyable, good Gundam series that has become a little too overrated IMO. Still recommended!
gravediggernalk
PSA: This is a prequel; please watch AFTER you watch the original series As far as how it adapts the story, it does a very good job adapting the prequel story-pieces of the manga adaptation, "The Origin," and I definitely recommend it to anyone who has seen the original series, especially if they're about to re-watch it. If you consider the early-UC timeline to be "The Story of Amuro Ray and Char Aznable," then this sets the stage perfectly: It takes you from "before their time," through their childhood and adolescence, and finishes you off perfectly with all of the main players taking their placesfor the beginning of the first episode of the original series. It definitely focuses more on Char than it does on Amuro, but, looking at the early-UC timeline, Char IS the character whose story affects the world the most while his past is the one least explained.
I'll put it bluntly: the animation flips back and forth between "cheap horseshit" and "a little bit more than above average," and that definitely detracted from it. If none of the CGI had been used (or if any actual effort had been put into the CGI), then this would not have been anywhere near as big of an issue. It's embarrassing that something that was supposed to be this huge production ended up with scenes that looked as bad as this did.
The sound design, on the other hand, is absolute perfection -- It's everything I could've wanted. The Japanese voice acting was what it was, to be expected, and the English dub was pretty good, though I would've liked it more if more of the original series cast had been brought back (especially for Amuro, Char, and Bright).
Like I said: If you've seen the original series, watch this, especially if you're about to re-watch it. But do NOT watch this before watching the original series.
Gundroog
Gundam Origin to me is close to being a perfect prequel. Before someone gets up in their arms about Origin technically coming from a manga that’s a full on retelling of the MGS 0079 story and therefore being more of a spin-off than a prequel, I think they decided to cut it off before the events of the TV show because that’s where some more noticeable deviations start. However prior to that it roots itself strongly in the material people already know with only minor deviations that in my opinion don’t undermine what it adds to the universe. As such, in this review I’ll treat itas a proper prequel rather than AU or a spin-off.
Origin opens up with a in the familiar 0079 with a few minutes long space battle where Zeon mobile suits completely dominate over EF spaceships, that’s the Battle of Loum an important point in One Year War which led to signing of the Antarctic Treaty, Char making a name for himself as a fearsome MS pilot and Zeon gaining tremendous momentum over Earth Federation.
However after the few minutes of explosive action we get to what this OVA really is about. Origin takes the viewer over a decade back in time, to 0068 when tensions just started to escalate to tell a more thorough story of how everything happened and how the characters we know from the original TV became the way we know them.
First episode heavily focuses on the setup, starting with the death of Zeon Zum Deikun right before he was to declare independence of space colonies. This sets off a turmoil, people who have seen the original show know how this will turn out but its nonetheless engaging to see the different political forces pull their strings to take advantage of the situation. From the get-go it’s an incredibly dense narrative that despite very coherent and simple presentation manages to interweave many elements together that start building up on top of each other.
Zabi family in particular gets an incredible re-introduction that establishes the personality and goals of all of its members and while they weren’t exactly one-dimensionally evil in the TV show, I feel like Origin goes an extra step to make sure you understand what drives their actions. This applies to many other characters present in the OVA, as you get to know and understand them it helps to add some nuance to their many interactions later on, cause you know why they do the things they do without it having to be explicitly stated. There’s great many examples of this to go through but one of them is Gihren trying to stop the development of Zeon mobile suit his brother tried to keep secret. He doesn’t go too much as to why but since you understand the man if very focused on the colonies being superior he doesn’t want any resources going towards a futile effort. He points out a critical flaw of these mechs and is about to leave before Minovsky himself assures him that the he’s not the first one to notice the said flaw and that it will be fixed in the future prototypes. After realizing what mobile suits are capable of, Gihren lets the project continue but with a deadline that coincides with the start of the conflict Gihren felt coming
The real star of the show is Char (Casval doesn’t stick as well) however, even if it’s hard to overstate how much Origin does to build up the characters and the world. We get to see his journey pretty much all the way through. From his harsh childhood where his hate towards Zabis took root, to his teenage years showing how became to adept at pretty much everything he does to his more or less adult years when the Battle of Loum took place. I have to admit here Char often comes off way too capable for his years but that might just be in contrast to what you’d expect from a normal person. Origin doesn’t forget to hint that Char is a newtype so multiple scenes throughout the OVA remind us of his supernatural and at times superhuman capabilities when he removes limiters from his mobile suit in spite of that being way too taxing on human body or scares people shitless just by looking at them. While first episode is mostly the establishing the whole premise. Episode 2 and most of Episode 3 give major focus to all of this until the scale starts rising at the end of Episode 3 and transitioning to the beginning of war in Episode 4 that is divided between many different perspectives.
[Warning - some gravitational spoilers in this paragraph]
Final two episodes are a climax of the show in more ways than one. First of all it covers some of the most impactful events in UC timeline but more than that it also gets us closer to people participating in it. Original show already does a good job of presenting them in a way that feels like you’re watching a historical documentary of sorts but Origin also helps you feel for the people that took part in it. Colony drop in particular is given much more attention than I think it ever did. Before their final moments we get to actually get a look at the hopeful people of Hatte colony, evacuating to their shelters without realizing that the mobile suits outside are preparing to pump lethal gas into their colony and then use it as a weapon against Earth Federation, leading to yet more tragic events. Within Zeon we get to see the multitude of reactions such event caused. From Dozle trying not to lose his mind by trying to rationalize the horror he just committed to Gihren almost giddy with zeal thinking of the how hard of a blow his plan dealt to the Earth Federation.
Even on a personal scale episode five has a few smacks in the face (in a good way) when we revisit the Eden club shown in earlier episodes as a small but comfy underground bar where everyone can enjoy some alcohol and music away from the tension of the world happening outside. Yet in episode 5 it’s empty. The few people still there packing up cause they were drafted in the war and Hamon sings there for the last time, the song appropriately titled “Don’t say Goodbye”. Not for a bar full of happy, drunken patrons but for nearly empty room with only two other people in it. One is Ramba Ral, laying in a couch, possibly reflecting on all the terrible things that he saw and all the things that yet to happen and Tachi O’Hara now working for Zeon intelligence but previously a peppy lieutenant helping out as a bouncer for the club cause he was in love with Hamon. Just moments after this the episode goes to show the Battle of Loum to cap off with this tragic episode with an appropriate highlight.
Episode 6 after this climax feels more like a wind down. What’s going to happen is not exactly unpredictable if still engaging and even though there’s not too many new developments you instead get to see how all the lines that has been going on since episode 1 or being added as the story went along tie together nicely to leave on a bittersweet ending of the kids who we’ll see later fighting on the White Base and a title card “And now, Gundam begins…”.
I honestly wish I could go on and on about many things I think the narrative of Origin gets right but then this would be less of a review and more of a masturbation diary entry.
When it comes to the more technical aspects this OVA isn’t a slouch either. Animation is spectacular throughout. I don’t know the particulars behind it but it feels like Sunrise dumped some blood diamonds into production or just allowed the staff to have their time but there’s a consistent, high quality animation throughout the show. I think most people are used by now that scenes without some flashy action or specific need for expressive movement like skating or dancing will look relatively cheap and just show characters flapping their mouth with occasionally doing so from a different angle but Origin says fuck this and gives almost every scene a lot of love. What that means is that people talking will have them actually behave like people and accentuate their speech with body language and facial expressions and director won’t have to try to think of clever work around to excuse cheap production like in 70s when people played magic tricks with reused footage or shaking stills. As such I don’t think there are many moments throughout the Origin that feel like a drag, there’s always something for you to look at instead of just reading the subs, or, if you’re a remote mountain hermit that actually took the time to learn Japanese, listening to characters talk.
To many mecha fans, or at least old school mecha fans it will likely be a red flag to hear that mech action in Origin resorts to using CG. If you can't accept that in any form then I'm sorry but you'll probably be disappointed with this decision but if you can accept CG as long as it's done well there's some bombastic stuff waiting for you here. If you want to check out the level of CG mech action in this show all you need to do is check out literally first few minutes of the first episode. Personally I think they did a great job as it doesn't feel jarring when you see 2D and 3D come together, let alone when you get to see the space battles. The models are well made and shading applied to them gives them a more cartoony look instead of shooting for realism which normally just leads to the animation aging poorly. The camerawork during 3D scenes takes full advantage of that so you get to see movement that does a great job of capturing both the chaos, scale and impact of mech combat. The only weak point to me are the occasional explosions that look a bit too rough around the edges but aside from that it does everything to do the action justice. There's no dumb attempts to recreate the framerate of 2D animation that makes everything look choppy and there's no clunky animations that make it look less like a fight between two war machines and more like some invisible kid smashing his plastic models together. So, as long as you can accept some 3D in your anime I think you'll be pleased.
What adds to that is excellent pacing. Shows with a lot of talking tend to drag and shows with aim to adapt a lot of content tend to rush through things. I’m happy to say that Origin suffers from neither. It feels like there’s always a very neat and proper structure to every scene, nothing stays on the screen for any longer than it needs to for you to take in the information and the switches of perspective and locations never feel jarring or random. It’s all natural and seamless to a point where hour long episodes go by in a flash.
Music and sound are well done too. It’s a mix of old and new compositions perfectly used to both underline the tone and mood of the scenes they’re used for but also add another layer to it, possibly only for people who have seen the original. When you watch all these characters and locations when the music from 0079 comes on and you hear the classic sound effects it just feels so right.
Can’t say that about some of the voice acting however. While the performances are still stellar you can definitely feel that there was a large time gap between when these characters first got their voices and when Origin came out. For example I think teenage Char sounds a bit too old for how he looks and you can feel that Amuro’s VA aged quite a bit too even though he does a stellar job of trying to sound the way he should. This isn’t a problem with the characters that are already adults but yeah, when it comes to younger generations I was taken out of the show for a few seconds.
Overall, as I said, Origin is a nearly perfect prequel. There are some deviations from the show that I’m sure someone can summarize better than I could but I’d strongly argue that wast majority of what is shown to you is a perfect tie for what you will or already saw in the original TV show. I saw a question pop up at times whether you should watch this first or the TV show and honestly I think both work just fine. If you watch this first it will add a lot to your experience when watching the continuation but if you already seen the original there is a sense of dramatic irony to this whole prequel that when couples with attachment to the characters can make fore a more emotionally resonant ride. Either way, I hope you watch this.
KungSour
SS Review – Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (Short and Sour) Before I start this review I would like to give my stance on Gundam, in other words where I am with the series and how familiar I am with it. I have next to no knowledge of this franchise…I have not watched anything Gundam related besides Gundam Build Fighters which I watched on a dare from a friend. But I don’t consider that to be anything really "main series" Gundam related seeing as it’s based solely on Gunpla which is model Gundams. With that knowledge I decided to watch this as it’s a prequel to theoriginal series and it has more modern animation so it was easier to watch for me. (Nothing against old animation just some series don’t age very well and are harder to watch now than they used to be for me, Dragon Ball Z is a good example of this for me)
The story is based mainly around two siblings; Casval Rem Deikun and Artesia Som Deikun, it centre’s around their youth mostly. It tells the story of their family, what happened to their family and what happens up to their late teens. I don’t want to talk too much about the story because I’ll be giving a lot of it away, there’s a war between two factions and Casval places himself in the centre of it while his sister tries to live a normal life. For the Gundam fans it talks about the rise of the Red Comet.
There are other important characters but the OVA centres around the Daikun siblings mostly, towards the end (last 2-3 episodes) it show’s briefly what the main character of the original Gundam series is doing at the time. The Zabi family are a big focus of this OVA too. That’s all I have to say on the characters, I find personally the more you talk about the characters the more stuff you spoil. I like to be surprised on how the characters personalities play out.
Art is great, it’s like a mix between old style animation and modern style CGI (the fight scenes anyway). OST is good as well.
I really enjoyed this OVA and it was a good look into the Gundam series for me, I might watch the compilation films next as I couldn’t watch the whole series personally. Either way pretty good for a start on Gundam for me.
7/10
Noahboy
This is a beautiful love letter to fans of the original Gundam series, and as such you should be familiar with that series before watching this one. This series does so much to develop the characters and setting of Gundam, I am amazed at how every member of the Zabi family in particular are given more depth as characters, this applies to most of the cast as well but the Zabis stood out to me the most. The animation is also very good, there's a lot of CG used, but it fits very well and I rarely found it to be distracting. This being anseries of OVAs, the pacing is absolutely on point, it's never boring and never throws too much at you too quickly. I really like how much of the brutality that made the original Mobile Suit Gundam stand out to me is present here as well, the war isn't romanticized and isn't afraid of showing you some really dark stuff. The political side of the story is also very interesting, both the Zeon and Federation sides have their flaws and are morally pretty grey, allowing you to understand them without feeling like you're supposed to pick a side as a viewer. I struggle to come up with anything resembling a complaint, this series just had that movie magic that made it an amazing experience throughout. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is a must watch for anyone who likes the original Gundam series, if you're unfamiliar with the original series you can probably still enjoy this, but I don't recommend you start with this one.
SlaceTheDark
Welcome to my third review. After the first 2 I am finally giving a review to something outstanding. This review is about the ONA 'Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin'. MSG: Origin is animated by the well-known studio Sunrise who have been very successful with the Gintama series and Gundam series which this ONA is part of. The ONA consists of 6 episodes who at the start circle around half an hour and later jump up to around and hour and 20 minutes or runtime. Story: As the name already suggests this ONA depicts the origin of Gundam that we know of, specifically the birth and backgroundof the first Gundam as well as the birth of iconic Gundam character Char Aznable.
The story revolves around the siblings Casval and Artesia Rem Deikun, children of Zeon Zum Deikun who wants to make humans living in outer space colonies and who have been thus named Spacenoids independent from Earth. During a speech Zeon dies, presumably by poison. His children and his wife have to run from opposing parties are. Casval swears to take revenge on the ones who poisoned his father and made him, his sister and his mother suffer.
The story is very dramatic and action-packed. Even if you are not accustomed to the Gundam series, such as myself, you will still appreciate the story and how well it is written.
Art: It's beautiful. That pretty much sums up the quality of this ONA. Not only does it include great camera movements but also outstanding and good CGI. (The CGI refers to the spaceships and vehicles).
Sound: Great compositions used in both the credits of each episode and in the battles. The music during the battles, especially the space battles makes your blood pump. All around great quality.
Characters: The strongest point of this series, maybe added with the plot. There is no character who acts annoying, I can't and don't want to go into spoilers but the main characters and iconic Char Aznable show outstanding performances (as animated characters). Dialogues are not dry, each and every character is written perfectly. I can't praise it enough.
Overall: Jup, we have a 9. Why not a 10? Because it's only a piece of the whole structure. As a whole the Gundam series and story surrounding it is indeed a masterpiece, and one of a size only very very few can match. This ONA in particular shows the power anime stories can have. This is what modern anime lacks in tons. I myself call such anime 'true anime'. Those are anime that make you feel like you watch an ANIME and not yet another show this season. There are not a lot of true anime, or epic anime (epic as in the plot and the world is described as an epic or an epic world) and I hope we will receive such a time when epic anime and true anime appear again. Shows that make you feel the essense of anime and what makes anime stand out from the rest of fiction. Those who deny the impact Gundam had on the anime industry and Pop culture in general is ignorant, and wrong. Even as someone who hasn't seen a lot of Gundam and is just now slowly starting to go through the franchise it is a great experience. Great drama great characters, great action. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this ONA and I actually can't wait for the next Gundam that I will be watching some time in the future.
Well, that's it for this review. I think I said everything that I wanted. Onto the review and even further beyond!
_Lazaroth_
(LAZAROTH REVIEW - LONG - NO SPOILERS) This anime is both Brilliant and Disappointing. "Mobile Suit Gundam: Origin - Advent of the Red Comet" is a prequel anime to the first ever Gundam anime from 1979. However, the anime sometimes fails to feel like it is in the same universe. Story/Action/Characters: The anime sometimes completely goes against everything its retro sequel stood for. The tone and vibe are sometimes all over the place and feels so starkly different from the original Gundam to the point of absurdity. The contrast is INSANE at times, something that you just CANNOT do when you are a direct prequel. Consistency iskey, lest they feel utterly alien to each other. This anime uses a lighter, sometimes even childishly comedic tone, that does not mesh well with the tone conveyed in the original anime. I get whiplash when a tough man booms about ordering the killing billions of people in the worst war crime imaginable only for him to get comedically shocked by electricity with a stupid face. The subject matter does NOT match the vibe they are setting, to the point of parody. It is by far the most egregious thing this anime does. To make matters worse, the tone and vibe bounce up and down often like a yo-yo, rather than being consistent, leading to the anime feeling like it has a lack of identity and integrity. This problem does thankfully lessen the more episodes you watch, but it is still a problem even later in the anime. As much as I hate to say it, these two shows feel nothing alike. Especially if you watch them back-to-back like I did. It goes without saying, but this anime fails to achieve the same atmosphere that the original anime conveyed so brilliantly. It does manage to do so in some points, however.
The pacing is also extremely fast. You can barely wrap your head around one plot point before another three have already happened. It damages the immersion that the 79' anime had. Yes it is unfair to compare a long running anime to a one-off season of 13 episodes, but even for a 13 episode or 6 OVA episode series, it still feels very tight. Perhaps an extra few OVAs and episodes would help alleviate the tight pacing issue. Just like the tone contrast problem, this contrast between the original anime and the prequel is also egregious as it further alienates the two. A prequel should feel like an proper extension or beginning to its sequel series, but these two feel like they are set in two entirely separate universes. The fast pace harms the plot because nothing is built up properly, nor is there enough jumping between perspectives like how the original anime showcased the POVs of both the Federation and the Zeon Empire. This anime may be focused on the Zeon side, which I will praise later, but I still wanted more Federation viewpoints to immerse myself deeper into the conflict between the two sides.
I love that we got more backstory, this was exactly what I wanted from the original anime. However I just wish it was longer and properly paced to fit with the original anime. Still, the awesome reveals and the catalyst events that led to the start of the one-year war were brilliant and answered a lot of questions while changing my opinions on many characters for the better. Speaking of, a lot of characters feel either very similar or identical to their sequel counterparts, which I really enjoyed seeing. Alas, some characters are completely different, like Kycillia. She was a scheming femme fatale in the original anime, whether as she is an overbearing, female badass with an overwhelming aura of masculinity in this prequel. They don't feel like the same character, though this may be intentional as it is hinted she adopted her more submissive persona in order to curry favour with Gihren in order to sway things in her favour that she could not do while she remained in her aggressive and butch demeanour. If this is the case, then that is genuinely brilliant, however if it isn't, then I dislike that the two characters feel so different from each other, as it seems like lack of artistic integrity.
Char's excellent and fun to watch mindgames and intellect are on full display in this anime and I love it. He's an amazing and iconic character, but I still feel like I wish there were at least some mystery to his character. I loved every moment he was on screen after he fled his home and grew up. The anime's first episode might just be one of the worst episodes of anime I've ever seen (more on this later), however things REALLY begin to pick up after Casval adopts the identity of Char Aznable. The extra dimensions this anime gives many of its characters are great and totally put into perspective many of their actions in the sequel, which is also why I really liked the dynamics some characters had with each other in this anime, particularly the dynamic between Char and Garma. The reveal of what sparked the one year war and subsequent dooming of half the human population was incredible, it feels like it's actually built up like an real world war would be, and is one of the things that doesn't suffer from the build-up problem that this anime has. The implications it has on the character that was a catalyst for it and the emotions and burden they must be feeling for being responsible for such a heavy act totally puts into perspective the utter lengths that this character will go to in order to achieve their goal. It is one of the best things this anime does and is in keeping with the themes of the original anime.
One of the BEST things this anime does is portray the Federation in a bad light, or rather, in a an unbiased light. It tells a side of the war that the original anime did not, because we were biased by viewing it through the lens of the Federation army. The way this anime shows that there are no good guys in war and conquest is reminiscent of some of the themes from the original anime, while actually being a unique aspect we hadn't seen until now. It does suffer from the tone problem this anime presents because such atrocities are often muddied by extremely obvious and unwarranted comedic relief. The comedic relief in the original anime was subtle and few and far between, fitting for a war story. The way this anime handles comedic relief despite its abhorrent setting reminds me of a quote from Tim o' Brien:
"If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue."
In a show where I just watched half of humanity die in front of my very eyes, I should not expect the creators to be trying to make me laugh.
War has no good guys. And the way this anime portrays that fact is one of the only ways this connects it to its father anime in terms of atmosphere and theming. I found myself rooting for the "bad guys" (Zeon) over the "good guys" (Federation). Sure, when the villain or antagonist is the main viewpoint of a piece of media, like the criminal you play as in "Grand Theft Auto" games, you don't typically root for the police or other standard good guys, do you? However despite the two sides being bad guys, the Federation are the lesser evil in this universe. Although I think it was an brilliant idea to have us root for the Federation's comeuppance by the Zeon Empire. Despite the Zeon's dictatorship and over-the-top evil nature, the Gundam universe has shown us definitively that at the end of the day, they are all human, and ultimately, that's the root of evil. Unlike animals, we don't act on instinct, we have the ability to freethink, and hence, evil is a human creation.
The "Origin" of many things in this anime are awesome. Full stop. Especially the Mobile suits. While it could've been longer, the introduction of the Mobile Suits into this universe was splendid. You can feel their impact immediately as humanity realises that the scope of war has now changed forever. Char's scenes with the mobile suit, despite seeming out of the blue that he has sudden mastery over it with no military Mobile Suit training realistically, are at least very epic.
The action is decent but mostly unmemorable, barring one or two amazing moments. The final battle is genuinely great however and features some incredible choreography. I don't have much to say on it honestly, It's just decent with some banger moments here and there.
Animation/Art/Music:
For someone who just came off of the 1979 original anime, the anime was instantly far too "clean" for me due to the contrast. But that's also just a problem that I have with modern anime in general. The contrast is my own fault for watching them back to back, but I still wished we had some sort of film grain in our anime these days to make it look less plastic. Alas, onto this section we go.
2D animation is just average, with some very small snippets of good animation here and there.
The CGI is not the best, particularly for a modern show. The worst thing about the Mecha genre after the late 2000's was the switch from 2D to CGI mechs. I cannot fathom why they would downgrade like this for no reason. It shows a lack of backbone. The crowd CGI is laughably bad, but at least the Mecha and vehicle CGI are pretty decent to actually good at times, but nowhere near as good as other shows like Chainsaw man or 86, though that may be a slightly unfair comparison since they came out a few years later. Still, the CGI can actually take away from the designs of the Mechas, particularly the "one eye" the Zeon Mobile suits have, as they are no longer shrouded in black, and instead, the CGI clearly shows that the "eye" is just a camera on a swivel, lessening the scary and oppressive design.
Music is either painfully generic or just painful, full stop. Some tracks are actually grating and insulting to the scene and audience with how poorly they are placed and composed to the point of parody. Many tracks fail to sell the scene, particularly the song at the end of episode one with the confrontation between Char and Kycillia, one of the reasons why I DESPISE that episode. There are VERY few tracks that are good. Considering how memorable the music from the original anime was, I see this as a massive downgrade.
The cinematography is usually really tight. So many scenes are just very close up shots that make it seem like characters are not even in the same room as another, or just standard camera work that loses the subtle brilliance of the camerawork did in the original anime that I forgot to mention in my review of that anime until I saw the juxtaposition from this anime. It's hard to explain, but when you watch the two side by side, you will see it too. The 79' anime gives so much more room for the characters to breathe, whether as Origin has usually claustrophobic camera work. Some of the battles have amazing choreography however.
From what I've seen, the anime adapts the manga pretty much page for page visually. I just wish they had stuck to the tone of the original anime in order to be more fluid and consistent.
Overall:
"Mobile Suit Gundam: Origin - Advent of the red comet" often doesn't feel like a direct prequel to the original anime, leaving me disappointed. However there are some brilliant aspects and moments in this anime that I am thankful I watched it for. The backstory and origin of so many things being revealed such as Char, the one-year war, and mobile suits, are incredible. But I don't think I can recommend this to anyone who isn't that attached to the Gundam franchise already. It's a good supplemental show, but I don't think it's strong enough to stand on its own, or even be enjoyed by someone with only fleeting interest in the franchise. Still, I'm glad I watched it, even if I couldn't stand some small parts of it and only found it to be highly decent overall.
Bonus:
This is my second GUNDAM anime, I watched it right after the original anime from 1979: "Mobile Suit Gundam". If I had watched this FIRST, I may have enjoyed the '79 anime less, because I'd go into the anime thinking that the franchise was supposed to be lighter in tone and vibe and to expect comedic relief despite the subject matter being so atrocious. So people's opinions on this anime may be different from mine depending if they saw it first or second, but most people would've seen it after the original anime.
I am not going to let this speedbump slow me down on my GUNDAM franchise binge! I really like this universe and find it promising, especially after the perfect character work of the original anime and my boy Char being a brilliant character. This anime had its moments, but it was a disappointment with some brilliant aspects to it.
Yes I uploaded this review twice, one for the TV version and one for the OVA version.
Animation: 6/10
Music: 3/10 (The OPs and EDs seem great though!)
Characters: 3-8/10 ( flip flops at the beginning :/ )
Plot: 8/10
Action: 6-7/10
Ending: 8/10
Overall: 6.6/10
Gatsu-chan
Alright! This series was my introduction to Gundam, as recommended by many people. Before watching this I had no view or idea of what Gundam was and what was in store for me. I am happy to say I am overjoyed after watching this. The animation and everything was amazing and very enjoyable. I can say after viewing this OVA I am now a fan of Gundam. I am very impressed with the OVA's ability to capture the viewer, and make me go," Whoa!" I found myself quickly becoming attached to the cast and caring about what happens next and what is planned to happen.The awesomeness of Gundam is captured excellently with this series and I would recommend watching this to any anime fan!
Thedude3445
Really shows the limitations of directly adapting a manga series, having all the best and worst moments thrown in together with no regard as to how it's going to play out in a new medium. Someday Japanese anime companies are going to realize that 100% faithfully adapting a comic into TV format doesn't actually always work, because one medium has sound and motion while the other has panel spacing and static imagery. Really, there were so many moments in these six Gundam: The Origin movies where they could have messed around with the pacing, or ignored the narration in favor of visual storytelling, or justdone something creative with the fact that this is no longer a comic book.
That aside, these movies are great because Gundam is great. As a prequel series (don't watch this unless you've seen the original series, obviously), it does an amazing job of building up the stakes for a huge cast of characters on all sides of the war. Ramba Ral will become your favorite character in all of Universal Century, and seeing characters like Sayla and Amuro grow up in the face of growing conflict and war is a really interesting sight. The political machinations are incredible and the series hits hard at the military-industrial complex and rabid nationalism, among other real-life concepts that Gundam's always been a critic of.
Also, yes, we do get to see the Colony Drop for the first time in Gundam history, that fateful colony drop to end all colony drops. It's... impactful. .....I'll leave.
Char is ruthless, the Zabi family is the worst ever, and finally seeing the mobile suits fight for the first time is really awesome. If you like Gundam, you'll like this series a lot.
Manthors
[Edit] The only other Gundam that I gave the highest score was Iron-Blooded Orphans. Now I must give to Gundam: The Origin, too. As a Gundam fan, I watch everything Gundam-related, but few get the highest score. This is an outstanding OVA series, with an amazing story. I`ll tell you all about bellow, but I already warn you that you must be familiar with the Universal Century from Gundam, to get the full experience. Story: First, I must tell you that you need to know about the Universal Century (UC) storyline from the Gundamverse. If you are not familiar with the UC, you can still enjoy,since this is basically the first part of the whole story (not by release, but chronologically). However, if you are familiar you will get the full experience, instead of just a basic enjoyment, you will remember who each character is and their role in the UC timeline, adding more depths to them. I think that only those who know the UC will agree with my highest score. Anyway, the story has an organic fell about it. Everything makes sense, it is well developed, perfect pacing, with a great balance between the political, the military, the action, and the characters stories. I fell that The Origin is everything that Gundam Unicorn tried to be, but couldn`t. I am extremely pleased that they decided to create this OVA series because the story is perfect in so many aspects that the only thing I can say is: watch, is just to damn good. But be warned, you will only fully enjoy if you know the UC of Gundam. Otherwise, it will feel has regular anime for you.
Art & Sound: Even better than Unicorn, in my opinion, in terms of art. And Unicorn is supposed to be the Gundam with the highest budget. My only complaint is that there is only one OST that I remember. Moreover, the mechas' art is superb in The Origin.
Character: Damn, they are all good. It is a surprise actually because all Gundam has at least one damn annoying character at some point. But hey, not here! All characters are great, or at least funny. After I saw The Origin I have a whole new appreciation for Char Aznable, the famous all-time antagonist of the Gundamverse. If you don`t know, Char is the reason all Gundam has a guy in a mask at some point. Char development is great. Actualy, it is so great that after this OVA series he became the most developed characters in the history of Gundam. The other characters like Dozle, Artesia and other secondary characters are all extremely well scripted. Thus, it is a surprise that no character felt out of place, or is compelled to make stupid choices. They...are...all...good. I am just happy about this, you have no idea. So, don`t worry, you will not be disappointed here.
Mechas: Not much variety here, you will mostly see Zakus. Nevertheless, the art for the mechas is OUTSTANDING. In The Origin, you will fell what made Gundam be known as Real Mecha Genre. The mechanical aspects are realistic, their movement is on point and it's like you can see how heavy they are. Amazing. If the mecha art of Gundam: The Origin became the standard for all Gundam, I would be a happy man.
Overall, this is one of the best additions to the UC story I saw so far. The Origin makes Unicorn looks like a kid eating a bottle of glue in the corner of the class. Char became even more interesting after these OVA and everything is well scripted in this series. Don`t miss, just don`t miss it.
ss25690
Before I truly start with this review I must say that Char Aznable is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction and before I watched the last two episodes, I was ready to tear this show to shreds because of it’s awful portrait of the Char Aznable character, fortunately the last two episodes were so good that the show went from a 4 to a 7. Story and Characters: MS Gundam:The Origin is the tale of the beginning of the One Year War and the rise of “the Red Comet” Char Aznable from his childhood till mere minutes before the beginning of theOriginal Mobile Suit Gundam. When it comes to the first objective of the anime, which is to show the start of the One Year War, it definitely accomplished this objective. There were so many things to cover, like the creation of the mobile suits and the murder of Zeon Deikum, and the anime was able to show us those events eventhought there were some flaws (like the terrible portrait of Zeon Deikum and Ramba). The objective in which the anime completely fail(at least in the first 4 episodes) was to show us the story of Casval Deikum and how he became the smart and fearsome Char Aznable that all the old school UC Gundam fans love. Honestly, the Casval/Chars that I saw in the first four episodes was not the real Char, he was a absolute garbage of a character, a dumb and egocentrict kid, and stupid psychopath teenager that had absolutely nothing to do we the Chars I know. So many of his decision made no fucking sense (like talking trash to Kycilia Zabi or beating the crap of some random guy in a bar). But it wasn’t only the character, the events surrounding Casval were also not interesting at all, I was more entertaint everytime the anime was focused in the Zabi family instead of Casval. And also, the way he stole the Char Aznable name was way too convenient. Thank god that in episode 5 and 6 we finally got the true Char Aznable even if his change was almost out of nowhere. The scene where he earns his nickname of “The Red Comet” was really well done.
Animation and Art
Just like Gundam Unicorn, the art and animation of The Origin is top tier, by far the best of Studio Sunrise. Man, if tell could just remake the entire OG Gundam anime with this quality...
Soundtrack and Sound
The soundtrack is ok, nothing special but I had no problem with it. The sound on the other hand was amazing, the sound of the mobile suits, the explosions and everything else was top tier.
Score
Overall this anime barely got the 7 score, the last two episode saved the Origin from becoming the worst Gundam anime from the Universal Century. If you are new to the Gundam franchise you are probably going to enjoy this more than I did, but for an old school UC Gundam fan like me, this like watching the Prequels of Star Wars combined with a little bit of A New Hope.
EpicBlargman
I was extremely impressed with Gundam: The Origin. I was always curious to know what happened before the start of the main story in the Universal Century timeline in the Gundam Series. This review is spoiler free and I will be short and sweet in regards to each aspect of the anime. What really made this anime for me was the fact that its a prequel origin story (origin story's and prequels being my favorite when it comes to shows and writing) the anime delves into every single character and in-universe event before the 1979 anime starts; it also gives characters more depth than before especiallywith one of the main focuses of the anime: Char Aznable
The anime uses a mix of 2D art & animation while also using 3D animation. The 2D backgrounds look so good & characters are drawn akin to their old style anime artwork from 1979 which is amazing. I was actually surprised by the 3D CGI, usually I'm not a fan of 3D stuff especially when it comes to mecha but everything in the anime had a cel-shaded vibe and the animation framerate was very fast and fluent, a very nice surprise.
When it comes to sound design it was seriously on point throughout the anime. From the use of the old style sounds to brand new realism style sound effects, it was great to hear them. I was even more shocked that Sunrise went the extra mile to even remake some of the old OST tracks from the original 1979 series soundtrack, bravo. I also have to note how amazing the voice acting is in both Japanese and English.
This is seriously a must watch for Gundam fans including myself, the depth of the writing and characterization as well as the art, music and sound design is all on point. This has to be one of the best anime origin story's to an anime series and for a character like Char Aznable he's definitely up there in my top ten favorite anime characters of all time.
Sigmazyal
An amazing work of art, I want Gundam 0079 and Zeta Gundam rebooted in this style, with this quality, oh how I want the entire Gundam Origins manga brought into life like this. The story is political, complex and the characters fit really well into it. The context is full of layers, so anyone not interested in any complex storyline could get a bit bored, however, it's very interesting to watch it develop, it's very worth it taking time to understand the world Gundam Origins has to offer. The animation is outstanding, the CGI is very well used and the art of the characters, of the ships,of the mobile suits, of the space...flawless, it's beautiful to watch.
The sound effects and voice acting are great, as well as the music and the OSTs and I won't score it higher only because I think they could have used some stronger and deeper music, to make the impacting events feel even more intense.
The characters: I believe it's the best aspect of Gundam Origins. The way we get to comprehend Char and see his story is very satisfying and I'm sure Gundam fans really wanted that for quite some time since Gundam 0079. The anime is full of antagonists and they were worked in a very interesting ways, with strong personalities and many layers as well.
I had a very good time watching it, of course, it's not a happy show to make you laugh and have fun, it has a deep, heavy aura around it and it's a true work of art, a gift for Gundam fans, specially those who loved the original series back in the 80's, but it can be very enjoyable and interesting for those who don't know the Gundam franchise yet.
The_Namer
The Universal Century Gundam timeline has always had an air of Game of Thrones in space (or more accurately the other way around, since Tomino was doing this decades before Martin). Nowhere is this more clearly felt than in Gundam: The Origin. By setting the bulk of the story in a time of relative peace, we see the political machinations, plotting, and betrayals come to the fore. It's riveting stuff, sprawling across an interplanetary stage. While Casval/Edouard/Char/Quattro (seriously, how many names does this guy have?) is the main focus, plenty of time is spent fleshing out many other familiar faces from the One Year War.It's nice to see some of the women finally have their time in the spotlight too, especially Sayla and Hamon, who were somewhat underserved by the original series and receive some memorable scenes here. And more Ramba Ral is always a good thing.
The one thing that confused me a bit was the tone. The screenplay could easily be played deathly straight in classic Tomino fashion, but the character animation is strangely theatrical, with the Zabis chewing the scenery like pantomime villains. This is primarily the case in the first chapter, and is toned down in later chapters, which instead offload the humour to more minor characters to better effect. I get the impression that the director realised they'd overdone it in that first chapter and quickly course-corrected.
When war finally breaks out, it does so in epic fashion. Seeing a fleet battle where only one side has mobile suits makes it clear what a disruptive technology they are, and why ships keep to the rear in most subsequent engagements. These are some of the best large-scale battle scenes in anime, right up there with Yamato 2199/2202 and Legend of Galactic Heroes.
Prequels can feel redundant sometimes, but The Origin never suffers from this problem. It's essential viewing for anyone with an interest in Gundam.
algoPotaku
Very good prequel, the animation is of movies in each episode of the eggs, it is beautiful. The character development he gives and the continuity he gives to the main story of gundam is incredible. I would have liked to see these eggs before because I hardly remember the first season of gundam. The animation, the very good soundtrack and the excellent character development. I found the new character design really cute. If vite mobile suit gundam I recommend it to you, right now you start to see it because it has no waste. En español: Muy buena precuela, la aniamcion es de peliculas en cada episodiode los ovas, es hermosa. El desarrollo de personaje que le da y la continuidad que le da a la historia principal de gundam es incrible. Me hubiera gusatdo ver estoos ovas antes porque casi no me acuerdo de la primera temporada de gundam. La animacion, la banda sonora muy buena y el desarrollo de personajes excelente. El nuevo diseño de los personajes me parecio re lindo. Si vite mobile suit gundam te la recomiendo, ya mismo comenza a verla porque no tiene desperdicio.
KrenZane
*Begin in the future* ~~ Modern animation for a story almost 40 years old already, and a prequel at that. One can't help but be in awe at the longevity seemingly exhaustless for the Gundam franchise. I get spawning shows casting different characters from different timelines or Sides, or another sort of universe if there are (I wouldn't put it past them) across the years due to the inherent expanse of the series, but revisiting the origins from such a long time ago and amassing more important details so as to increase its breadth is quite simply a power move. A fresh new look for the ancestralnarrative, The Origin offers vibrance (at times coming off as comical, thus out-of-place) and clarity for the fleshed-out history of the One-Year War.
The Principality of Zeon always had that air of intrigue around them solely for the sinister halo encircling the Zabi family. That Char and Sayla both also hail from Zeon adds further substance to that party. Of course, not to forget Ramba Ral and Hamon, too, who were both blessed by elucidation. That is to say, Zeon has been far more interesting than the Earth Federation, and I am glad that they were given special focus here. It is proper as well to approach the prequel like that, for it makes more sense to present the origin of the conflict in the eyes of the antagonistic element, so to speak.
The Origin made it clearer that even the common people of Side 3 disagrees with the colonizers; there is always a different perspective in conflicts. Succeeding then were the plans of the Zabi family to ascend as rulers utilizing the voices of the masses, winning their hearts with resistance, though not without underlying motives of their own. Tides have stirred and we're made witness to political dramas during sensitive times.
One thing that had me satisfied with this season is the inclusion of "war guilt". As Vice Admiral, Dozle assumes one of the authoritative positions commanding a large population of soldiers. I always thought he had the purest heart among his family of snakes and glory-blind immatures, like the trope of a large brute with a soft heart. Indeed, sentimentality was in him when he was the only one who had shown vulnerability enough to have a family of his own amongst his siblings. As a sort of climax to his character was his guilt after carrying out Gihren's plan, that Side 2 catastrophe which killed half of the population. He showed extreme signs of regret, hesitance, doubt in the humanity of the plan. But right after that breakdown, in the majesty of his kid, he was made to be convinced that war is about protecting families by crushing others, that fault shall not be found in the blood of his hands but in the blood of the fallen. Somehow or another, he had to reconcile with the fact that he was also responsible for the greatest disaster of mankind to date, and his brain distorted his views to block out feelings of guilt by equipping such a mindset.
See, I am glad for that showcase of guilt. It was something so essential within the Zabi family, for it shows that there is still that common humanity found somewhere from at least one person in that unit, though it did become inevitably spoiled. The theme of how family must be conserved is evocative in Gundam, more so it must be in the Zabi family. To Dozle, this war is to protect his family, thus he abides in the theme in a twisted way. It is quite the same with Zeon's Sovereign; he treats his children with love, especially Garma as the youngest, and laments at the unfolding of Gihren's sullied heart endangering the country with his god-complex-powered whims, Zeon being deemed as Degwin's family himself too. Kycilia, well, she's still enigmatic to me. Though she's in cahoots with Gihren in many schemes, and presumably instigated the murder of Sasro their brother, she deemed it the pits of despicableness that Gihren had no care for the life of their father, moving her to kill her eldest brother in Season 1. Lastly, Garma, well he wants to be validated as a child of nobility, taking tunnel-vision means outside morality to childishly preserve his family's honor.
Outside the Zabis, there is natural love for one's family in the likes of the Deikuns. It extends to found affectations for Teabolo, the Aznables, and even one's own pet. The relationship of Amuro and Tem, too, was given emphasis as one sort of rough in quality time. There is warmth, then there is loss, opting Sayla to eventually realize that Zeon and the Earth Federation are madmen no different from one another. Everyone is taking away something important to them.
On the topic of the Deikuns I should finally talk about Char, who is actually not Char because Char was only someone else that looks like him. Casval Rem Deikun, Edouard Mass, Char Aznable--many identities for a standout character.
I want to highlight his character arc as a soldier of Zeon. It makes Char more mysterious when we aren't granted access to his inner thoughts in his interactions with the Zabi family, specifically Dozle and Garma (and for that matter I don't think the creators ever showed what was going on inside his mind explicitly). Especially during the times he was close with Garma, there were snippets radiating suspense, the tension felt by the viewers unaware for the prey. Such direction heightens intrigue on the true motivations of Casval. What did he feel being under the command of Dozle, being praised as the hero of Zeon? His countenance showed no sign at all of the deep-seated hatred he must have on his family. Instead, he was obedient, no fang bared.
About that, I just had some misgivings when as young Casval he declared to Kycilia that he'll make the Zabis bow down to him, but he himself was absent in the deaths of Degwin, Gihren, and Dozle. He seemed less of a vengeful spirit because of that. Well, though he offed Kycilia and Garma in one way or another through his involvement, "letting them bow down" is different from taking their lives, for the former preserves the objects' existences only for the sake of subjugation. I guess I'll need to watch Zeta and the following UC seasons first to truly understand his actions. I guess Newtypes really are first and foremost for him.
Some other things I want to write out just in bullets.
- I mentioned earlier that sometimes the anime was comical, making it out-of-place. The attitude of character movement seemed out of a slice-of-life comedy which made victim even lieutenants of the army. I'm just more used to the army being rigid that this fluidity unnerved me to the end. We have high-ranking officials acting like caricatures, and the majority of others following suit in almost cartoony fashion. I don't know, I just couldn't get used to this in Gundam. It's like it didn't take itself seriously. The vibrance permeates throughout, which I'm glad of as it makes it an easier watch--I mean everything is lively and expressive in times of joy and grief, making it a more emotional show giving a breath of fresh air to the dreariness of Season 1, and adding grandiosity to the likes of Gihren sells him out surely, but still I can't justify for the team need of its affixing to the general cast.
Another gripe from a passing thought: why does the EFSF not have a Char, or someone similar to him? I get that he's a prodigious Newtype, and we have Amuro, sure, but really they have no other notable pilots. Zeon has the Tri-Black Star at the very least. Earth has Amuro of course, then I guess Hayato, Kai, and Sayla? Maybe they should count. Tianem and Revil aren't pilots, so I'm excluding them. That is to say, names are more glorified on the other side. The sheer number of the EFSF must harbor some big names. Eh, it doesn't really matter.
These don’t really take away a lot of my enjoyment, just a bugging discomfort.
- There is much implication of spirituality in the series. Deikun was spouting a lot of arcane things in his first appearance, and he really is treated as if he had a divine possession. He mentioned Gaia, which is a primordial god in mythology. There is Gihren and his god complex. There is Degwin mentioning Cain and Abel. There is Char saying that the second act of the war after Revil intervened in the Antarctic peace talks is one without God. Newtypes have a very transcendental hue to them. I'm interested in what they have in store for this.
Sayla's consecutive losses was just sad. She's such a strong girl, more than she is given credit for.
And I guess that's it.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin fulfilled its duties decently. There were no plotholes I have noticed--the team truly was meticulous in seamlessly threading together the narrative despite the large gulf between the years. Due respect was given indeed. I had fun with this, it is always a joy knowing how the story unfolded in reverse chronology. I got answers, the civilians were given focus, and still some questions, though they serve as magnetic entities luring me to the next phases of my watch experience.
