Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam)

It is Universal Century 0087, and the One Year War between the Earth Federation and Principality of Zeon is over. The Earth Federation has created an elite task force, known as the Titans, who are responsible for hunting the remaining Zeon forces. However, the power-hungry Titans have shown themselves to be no better than Zeon, spurring the creation of a rebellious faction called the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG).

17-year-old Kamille Bidan lives in the colony Green Noa, home to a Titan base. Kamille gets in trouble after assaulting a Titan officer, an event that coincides with an attack led by former Zeon ace Char Aznable, now known as AEUG pilot Quattro Bajeena. When Kamille steals a Titan's prototype Gundam, he soon finds himself in the middle of the dangerous conflict.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Adaptation:	Kidou Senshi Z Gundam, Kidou Senshi Zeta Gundam
Prequel:	Kidou Senshi Gundam, Kidou Senshi Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory
Sequel:	Kidou Senshi Gundam ZZ
Alternative version:	Kidou Senshi Z Gundam I: Hoshi wo Tsugu Mono, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam II: Koibito-tachi, Kidou Senshi Z Gundam III: Hoshi no Kodou wa Ai
Side story:	Gundam Neo Experience 0087: Green Divers
Summary:	Akai Shouzou: Char, Soshite Frontal e, Kidou Senshi Gundam Unicorn: Episode EX - Hyakunen no Kodoku, Kidou Senshi Gundam: Hikaru Inochi Chronicle U.C.

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Aznable, Char

Main

Ikeda, Shuuichi
Japanese

Bidan, Kamille

Main

Tobita, Nobuo
Japanese

Ray, Amuro

Supporting

Furuya, Toru
Japanese

Karn, Haman

Supporting

Sakakibara, Yoshiko
Japanese

Noa, Bright

Supporting

Suzuoki, Hirotaka
Japanese

Haro

Supporting

Shou, Mayumi
Japanese

Mass, Sayla

Supporting

Noa, Hathaway

Supporting

Hanai, Yasuko
Japanese

Zabi, Mineva Lao

Supporting

Itou, Miki
Japanese

Murasame, Four

Supporting

Shimazu, Saeko
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Yatate, Hajime

Producer, Original Creator

Uchida, Kenji

Producer

Tomino, Yoshiyuki

Director, Script, Storyboard, Theme Song Lyrics, Original Creator

Sekita, Osamu

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

	1: "Zeta: Toki wo koete (Z・刻をこえて)" by Mami Ayukawa (eps 1-23)
	2: "Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete (水の星へ愛をこめて)" by Hiroko Moriguchi (eps 24-50)

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Ending Theme

"Hoshizora no Believe (星空のBelieve)" by Mami Ayukawa

Reviews

Feb 17, 2024

CrumbSteak

Recommended

The original Mobile Suit Gundam (MSG) was something of a sleeper hit, having failed to garner a lot of attention during its initial airing. The successful merchandising of gunpla, reruns, and other factors helped it reach a wider audience by the mid-80s. A sequel seemed inevitable. Yoshiyuki Tomino returned as the director, the legendary Kunio Okawara was once again the mechanical designer, and even Yoshikazu Yasuhiko pushed the project forward with his striking character design. The result is a confident sequel that retains the creativity of its predecessor while throwing in more than a few tricks of its own. The original MSG has been derided ...

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Dec 7, 2023

MizuhoKamui

Mixed Feelings

Zeta Gundam differs significantly in tone from Mobile Suit Gundam, as it has a darker atmosphere. The series has a constant sense of foreboding as if the entire system is on the brink of collapsing into a despotic nightmare. Even the victories earned by the AEUG in the show's early stages feel hollow and Pyrrhic, as they often take one step forward and two steps back.

While the story is interesting, my issue lies with the main cast. Although they have strengths, I must say that they often fall flat. They come across as two-dimensional and overly transparent in their motivations. For example, I had mixed ... feelings when Reccoa Londe's true internal conflict was revealed. On the one hand, I understood her frustration and disgust, but on the other hand, her behavior in the past thirty-something episodes made more sense. However, I found her and many of her co-stars difficult to follow. While immoral or amoral characters can still be interesting, the overemotional hypocrites and irrational malcontents on display in this show simply tried my patience.

Kamille, in particular, is an obnoxious and heavy-handed hero who, even at sixteen years old, cannot come to terms with his girlish name. Even worse, he blames his parents for all of his petty miseries. Although he shows a glimmer of hope in the fourth episode when he forgives Jerid Messa, a crass idiot who caused him unspeakable harm, Kamille quickly relapses into a string of unconvincing melodramas. While comparisons with MS Gundam's Amuro Ray are inevitable, the show often encourages them. Amuro's trials transformed him from a carefree child to a tormented adolescent to a self-aware man, and his confidence grew with his knowledge of the Gundam, creating an endearing symbiotic relationship. On the other hand, Kamille has an unbridled attitude and sees the Zeta as nothing more than a badge to prove it.

One of the things I enjoyed was the return of original characters after the One-Year War. Bright, for instance, is now an experienced officer and a family man, a far cry from the inexperienced officer he was in the original Gundam, tasked with managing a ship full of civilians. On the other hand, Amuro's character is dealing with the war's consequences, including pseudo-house arrest and surveillance by the Federation government due to his Newtype abilities. Nonetheless, the most intriguing character in the returning cast is Char Aznable. It is not a big reveal that Lt. Quattro is the Red Comet himself. Char's character growth is as significant as Kamille's in the series. With the downfall of the Zabi family, Char's focus is no longer on vengeance. Instead, he wants to help humanity by implementing his father's teachings and moving humanity into the vast expanse of outer space.

On a technical level, the show still looks fantastic, even by today's standards. The mobile suit designs are still visually striking, and the animation is improved. Combat is much more fluid, and the battles are generally directed better, though there are still some animation mistakes, such as inconsistencies in rank insignias.

The overall enjoyment of Zeta Gundam is not determined by its outstanding performance, as it doesn't have one. The real question is whether the viewer has the patience to wait for it to get better. I can attest that it does get better during the more focused final act, and die-hard mecha fans will appreciate its sophisticated and complicated narrative.

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Nov 5, 2023

whiteflame55

Not Recommended

Overall, this show was just very messy. While I can say there were some improvements (this series did not start off slow like the 1979 original, getting into the action early and often), it shares many issues with that series and added a few more. Much of the finale felt rushed and too much was built on Kamille's sudden acquisition and use of certain absurd newtype powers. The whole narrative seemed like it was jumping from battle to battle, often with little rhyme or reason, and while the original series clearly was aiming to sell toys and finding any reason to come out with a ... new mech type, this series seems particularly interested in hyping up new models with little or no explanation. It did make some of the fights more interesting, since new tools got pulled out often, but with so much of the series' fights reduced to "who can newtype harder?" I can't say it was enough.

Characters range from frustratingly mired in single-minded character motivations (looking at you, Reccoa and Jarid) to the point that all their more interesting aspects seem to disappear in some form of self-inflicted character assassination to more complex characters that are are so inconsistent that it's hard to appreciate their better moments (e.g. Kamille and Char). The villains weren't very nuanced at all. Bask felt almost cartoonishly villainous despite some scenes suggesting internal turmoil (we never got to see any more than suggestions of it), and Haman beating the Zeon drum the entire time she was on screen didn't give us any insight into her character. Paptimus might be the closest thing we got to a nuanced villain, but we never really got to understand him in any way - he just wanted power and manipulated a lot of people to get it. And the character writing for women in this series is just atrocious across the board. I had my problems with the 1979 series, but this is a grab bag of terrible tropes with only a few points of light. The few times we got character development that looked like it could produce something interesting for the series as a whole (Four, in particular) it was cut abruptly short to facilitate more space battles.

In the end, I find myself liking this one less the more I think about it. If I think about this in the broad strokes, I like Kamille's journey, the political and military elements of this world are intriguing and I'm fond of several relationships in the mix, but the more I dig down into the "why" of those elements, the more I find things that either don't make sense or are mired in so much clunky dialogue that it's hard to appreciate them in their totality. I can find parts I really enjoyed, but they're relatively few given the 50 episode run.

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