Mobile Suit Gundam the 08th MS team is an OVA series produced between 1996 and 1999 by Sunrise which falls in to the Universal Century time line of the Gundam franchise, this time line spans a multitude of series leading from the original 'Mobile Suit Gundam' to in many ways the latest series 'G no Reconguista', rather than getting in to the specifics of this time line however we shall primarily focus on this OVA.
This series is set during the 'One Year War' depicted in the original series between the Earth Federation and the opposing Principality of Zeon, however what this series focused on was not your typical young boy finds a super weapon trope that is apparently in the majority of Mecha related Anime, but it chose to follow the 'average' solider during this war and the struggles that came with it, there are no plot armoured protagonist Mobile Suits in this series, but a general ground combat suit designed to look like the original Gundam in order to strike fear in to the enemy.
At the time this was quite new for the franchise as it never seemed to focus much on the grunt units or the behind the scenes aspects save for side story mangas and audio dramas that may have been released during a series run, and it is fair to say now with examples such as 'Gundam Unicorn' that
lower or grunt units to get their time to shine a lot more often perhaps thanks to this series showing off that fans really can appreciate units other than the power houses they are used to seeing. (And of course showing Bandai that people such as myself will buy as many grunt suit models as they need).
This series consisted of 12 episodes released between 3 years and remains to this day a popular choice amongst Gundam fans as a series not only to recommend but also revisit, however how does this series fair now, lets take a look in to this deeper. The 08th MS Team had always been one of my favourite series within the Gundam franchise, perhaps due to the fact it was one of the first I had watched after getting in to the series a number of years after 'Gundam Wing' aired on UK television, or perhaps because the tone of if is rather different from the other series I had watched, regardless I decided to re-watch this OVA series recently to see if it still held up in my mind, unfortunately it did not, but why is it that my opinion of the piece could change?
Good points:
With most OVA's it is expected that the animation quality will be top notch for it;s time, and this series does not disappoint in that department, although now it is not anything to be in awe of the animation quality presented is quite charming and does set the tone for the series with the darker colours representing the grittiness of the battles ahead and the type of terrains they will be fighting on. The animators also make it a point to show the weathering effects on the machines rather than having them typically looking brand spanking new every battle, we see clear indications of rust, dirt and battle wearing on more or less all of the suits in some for or another, something we generally do not see in other series, movies or OVAS surrounding this franchise.
The battles themselves are also a great factor in this series, with the MS being a lot slower, clunky and ill equipped compared to what we see in more modern series, these units had to rely primarily on shell ammunition rather than the beam weapons we're used to in Gundam, team work, planning and above all tactics, as we see in one episode where the gang are camped out in camouflage in the Dessert (hiding a robot can be tough!), or when they team use their support vehicle to listen in to the radio chatter of the enemy and spring an ambush on them, sadly this kind of combat is absent from the latter half of the series which we will get to other than one particular battle where we see how and ace of the enemy does things.
My personal favourite part of the entire OVA is that of the fight between the 08th Team and Norris Packard's Gouf Custom (Seriously youtube this shit), In which it is an entire grunt unit against a single and powerful Ace unit, although the team had planned for such an assault they did not account for Norris' own tactics in which he would rappel from building to building, hide behind debris and know exatly where to hit the enemy in order to take out vital parts of their machine such as the main camera, I personally thought he should have won the battle and left the team limping however with him being the enemy and up against the main character this wasnt very likely.
A particularly great moment in this battle is when the Gouf Custom leaps upon a tank unit and impales it with its sword, splattering the oil housed within the unit all over the facial area of the attacker almost as if it were a hunter catching its prey.
Honestly I have not actually watched the Japanese release of this series and have always gone to the English Dub, now I don't want to argue which is better overall but generally the dub for this series is very good, I have no complaints with any of the performances and in fact thing the VA for Norris in particular was pretty great. While the OST is nothing to write home about overall both the Opening and Ending themes for the series are great and something I always seem to be humming, the Opening in particular is pretty great at giving you an idea of what you're in for visually too, so be sure to check that out.
Bad Points:
One slight flaw I found with the series was that it never truly goes in to why each character joined the war and what their motivations were save for a few off hand remarks or in the case of Shiro a very short flashback to the gassing of a colony (Also depicted in Gundam 0083 Ova) that he may or may not of lived on and his horror at what the Zeons had done. We only get this flashback after the Director change and again it only seems to be Shiros we see, perhaps the original director wanted to keep their reasons hidden as they were just 'cogs in the machine' or maybe it was just another case of Federation = Good, Zeon = Bad that we've seen in most of the Universal Century time line. Personally I could have done with some look in to the past of the major characters in a little more detail as Shiros motivation to stop Zeon did make some sense, however this goes out of the window with the Romance sub plot.
I think what one of the major problems surrounding this OVA series was its focus on Romance as a sort of sub plot that eventually with the change of Directors halfway through would take center stage, this romance between the protagonist Shiro and a Zeon solider Aina was the typical 'Romeo and Juliet' story we're all familiar with in which two members from opposite and often fueding sides come together in one way or another and falling in love. In this case it is a member of the Federation and a member of the opposing Zeon who have been fighting a war as depicted in the original 1979 Gundam Series.
This romance begins rather suddenly when the two are locked in a small skirmish during the first episode in which Aina is testing the abilities of a new MS, as these two become locked in battle they eventually both wind up without MS and alone in the remains of a battleship, thinking they may die before rescue eventually comes from them, they put their differences as soliders aside and begin to help each other until they are saved, eventually they get to know each other and Aina leaves Shiro with a watch to remember her by. Shiro is pretty smitten with her but believes they will never meet again.
It is only closer to the director change that these two do meet again but this time with Aina testing a Mobile armour, which in Gundam terms is a giant Mobile suit capable of mass destruction. The team again have a few skirmishes with Aina and she begins to realise that it has always been Shiro and his troops that have been standing in her and her brothers way during the war, but this does not change the way she feels. Only closer to the end of the series with the climatic battle between the team and the Ace unit pioleted by Norris, Ainas close friend and at times father figure that the two begin to get a bit over the top with their feelings.
One examples being that Shiro begins to scream he loves Aina and will marry her whilst beat the tar out of the enemy unit with the lopped of arm of his own MS, and with Norris' death Aina goes full depression mode and decides all the federation need to be wiped out, until of course her brother does the same thing and she then decides its wrong because she knows Shiro is an alright guy during the final battle. Eventually these two become M.I.A after the last battle and it is only during the end of the final (and mostly filler) episode that we see these two have been living in a shack and are expecting a child, which is actually the best ending any couple have had in Gundam. It's fair to say their relationship had it's oddities.
A lot of these decisions can be linked to the change in director from Takeyuki Kanda (Eps 1 - 6) to Umanosuke Iida (Eps. 7-12), although this was not something that was an executive decision by Sunrise as unfortunatly Kanda passed away during production. At this point the show became focused more on the Romance sub plot, moving away from characters who were not Shiro and Aina and also attempting to make the show slightly more 'flashy' in terms of Mobile suit combat, which was not necessarily a bad decision as it did bring one of the greatest battles in the franchise with the 08th team being pitted against a single ACE unit, but it is rather clear when watching the OVA when the directors were changed.
Overall I think this series does still hold up and is a great place to begin if someone is looking for a well animated and short introduction to the Gundam series and more specifically the Universal Century time line, as it does introduce you to the key elements of the Feds Vs Zeon Campaign albeit from a perhaps more misinformed perspective of the ground troops who never saw the major battles set in space during the original series. It also goes well with another OVA series set around the same war but from a civilian perspective (Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket (1989). I would say that to me however the series ended with episode 11, as episode 12 just feels like filler with some of the side characters searching for Shiro and finding him right at the end with a now pregnant Aina, but you guys may enjoy that episode.
The series really does show you that War in these circumstances does have its effect on the characters, it shows you how important team work can be in these situations and it shows you a lot of tactics used as well as the downsides of Mobile suit Combat such as having to use spare units parts for your own MS and having to routinely clean the machine do it doesnt get clogged, it's something I wish other series would take note of, how many times do you hear about what maintenance needs to be done of the titular robot, how often do you even see the mechanic team doing anything?
There is a lot mecha series could take from this OVA both in terms of what they could focus on and what they could avoid but again this series does still stand on its own and is a relatively short series at 12, 30 min episodes for anyone regardless of their knowledge to enjoy, I would strongly recommend you check this out if you are curious about Gundam or just want to see a new spin on Mech anime.
Thanks for giving this a read, it's a little rough around the edges but hopefully you'll give me some pointers and come back for more if I ever get around to it
Perhaps next time I'll review 'War In The Pocket'.
Seed Destiny > ucturd
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