機動戦士Ζガンダム / Mobile Suit Z Gundam

The best Gundam show IMHO.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) is a 1985 Japanese television anime series, the second installment in the Gundam franchise, and a sequel to the original Mobile Suit Gundam. The show was created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, with character designs by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, while the series' mechanical designs is split among Kunio Okawara, Mamoru Nagano, and Kazumi Fujita. The series was originally aired on Nagoya Broadcasting Network and its sister ANN stations between 1985 and 1986.

The plot is set in the futuristic "Universal Century" timeline, and takes place eight years after the events of the original series. Zeta centers on a new conflict that is formed between two new factions - the Titans, a corrupt task force formed by the Earth Federation, and the Anti-Earth Union Group (AEUG), a rebel group who seek to end the Titans. The show is told through the perspective of Kamille Bidan, a teenage member of the AEUG and pilot of the RX-178 Gundam Mk-II, and later the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam. Several main characters from the previous Gundam series return in supporting roles, including Amuro Ray and his rival Char Aznable, the latter of which returns as a pilot for the AEUG under the new identity of Quattro Bajeena.

New and old characters together for the same cause.

They're against a very human threat.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is, of course, the second installment in the Gundam franchise, so first off watch the original Mobile Suit Gundam beforehand. That should go without saying. Comparatively, this sequel not only lives up to its predecessor, but even surpasses it. Moreover, I think Mobile Suit Z Gundam is perhaps the best Mecha anime from the 80s. Essentially, because it has everything that makes an Anime a masterpiece: Excellent animation, excellent soundtrack, a good story that is not that hard to follow, and interesting characters, and I'm dead serious because I'm a sworn Macross fan. 

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam's tale is set seven years in the future after its prequel, and quite a bit has happened since then. In the One Year War we watched a brutal war between the Earth Federation Forces and the Principality of Zeon. Now, we watch as a tyrannical sect of the Earth Federation, known as the Titans, and the Anti-Earth Union Group, a faction of rebels, duke it out. In the beginning of the series, we're sort of just quickly tossed into the middle of things, but as the story progresses things make more sense and it turns out fine.

Amuro Ray returns.

And so does Char Aznable.

Zeta's story is also a bit more mature, and becomes more developed than Mobile Suit Gundam's. There really is not a centralized antagonist, like Char in MSG. You could consider this a slight downfall, or perhaps even an improvement, because it's questionable whether or not Zeta would have felt a bit too dependent on the MSG story. So maybe you will feel like you're missing something, or you might be glad that it isn't just a rehash. But, as I was saying, the plot gets developed nicely as more obstacles, alliances, secrets, and politics are involved. Speaking of which, Zeta does an exceptional job at building up political battles, that aren't too simple, but that are still easily followable. Overall, Zeta tells a brilliant story that is somehow a more everlasting adventure than it's predecessor which by no means, it's saying Mobile Suit Gundam is a bad anime. On the contrary, Mobile Suit Gundam is one of the most influential mecha Anime of all time!

As above mentioned, and 36 years later the animation quality is remarkable. One aspect of the animation that I really liked the first time I saw. Z Gundam, remains  today as a thumbs up in my book: The nice use of camera splitting, a la Bryan De Palma. It's something that isn't very popular in today's animation techniques I'd say. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's when we have one image on the screen, and then part of it is split to display another image, or something pretty popular is when the screen is just cut in two with different images on top and bottom. Zeta definitely utilizes the best animation techniques available for its time.

Now, the sound is actually outstanding and very impressive. Most of the background tunes are made of magnificent orchestral pieces that capture perfect moods. The sound effects are of course a huge improvement from MSG, and they actually don't sound old at all or anything. The opening and ending themes are similar to the background music; really nicely made instrumental compositions. The voice acting is pretty much standard voice acting.

The best dogfights in Mecha anime history.

The mighty Z gundam.

Now where to start with our Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam characters. This time the story follows a young man by the name of Kamille Bidan. He becomes a member of the AEUG aboard the Argama ship and is a valuable Gundam pilot. Like Amuro Ray, he is a Newtype. In the beginning he is somewhat of a whiny and foolish kid, but, no doubt about it, this boy suffers much more than Amuro did as an assortment of tragedies occur throughout the series. I'd say his character as the lead protagonist gets better developed than Amuro's as well. Speaking of Amuro, just about every character from the White Base crew have appearances. Some are more important than others, but it is nice seeing how the crew has all matured. Bright Noa and Char Aznable, better known as Quattro Bajeena (four vaginas? WTF?!) in Zeta, are main characters as well, and Char himself gets much more developed as well. The characters of course deal with deaths, relationships, switching alliances, intense battles, and the like. However, there are minor moments where this Anime shows its age, like the way women behave, and other obsolete concepts of family, coming of age and manning up. Still, a fantastic upgrade that has all that "dark and gritty" feeling some older fans of anime used to describe some of these shows from the 80s. 

The "newtype" concept seeing in the original Anime is now expanded and somehow juxtaposed  to the "Cyber-newtype" new race of artificially enhanced humans ready for space travel and most importantly, ready for space combat. The dogfights in Z Gundam are perhaps the best you'll see in a Mecha anime from the 80s.

 

New magnificent mecha.

Newtypes prefer blondes.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is praised by fans of the Universal Century sect of the franchise, with many lauding it for its bleak tone, character development, and its complicated expression of war. However, the series has also been criticized for being overtly depressing, and frequently exhibiting a directionless plot. Even the series' director, Yoshiyuki Tomino, has expressed not liking the show, finding in retrospect much of the hostility and abuse inflicted upon characters to undermine any realistic depiction of war.

The review website Mania.com gave the anime an overall 'B+' rating, regarding it as "one of Yoshiyuki Tomino's greatest works." They stated that the "lack of an A/A+ is that this is recommended for fans who are already familiar with the Universal Century storyline," recommending that audiences view "the original movie trilogy" first before watching Zeta Gundam. The reviewer Chris Beveridge of Mania.com gave certain volumes of the series a full 'A' rating, describing the last ten episodes as being "the huge payoff episodes" where "you can almost feel the characters being rushed around a bit and moved through the paces. But at the same time, it all comes so fast that it's simply enjoyable to watch so much happen and change so quickly."

Beveridge would later review the Blu-Ray releases of the series for The Fandom Post, giving both sets of Blu-Rays a 'A-' rating. Beveridge writes in the review for the first set, "It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost ten years since I last saw this series as you realize just how much anime you consume. But it also makes you realize which ones truly stand out over the course of time and this one is definitely one of them." Beveridge found the second half of the series weaker, though still claims that the show "hits most things right".

 

Gorgeous mecha from the 80s.

While reviewing for the Blu-ray release of the series, Ollie Barder of Forbes gave the show a rave review, even titling it as "Possibly The Greatest 'Gundam' Series Ever Made". Barder praised the series' more realistic approach to war and its striking designs for the many different robots, though did find the transforming mechas out of placed in Zeta's more grounded reality. Lauren Orsini of Anime News Network also praised the series in a review for the first Blu-ray release, giving the dub for the first set a 'B', praising it for its powerful storytelling. Orsini was more critical of the second half of the series, finding the plot too chaotic and calling it Gundam's "awkward coming-of-age". But Orsini still praised the second half for its mecha designs and strong emotional payoffs, ultimately giving the subtitle version of the series a 'B'.

In the NHK's 2018 mega "All Gundam Poll", Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam was place as the second best anime in the Gundam franchise, only behind the original 1979 Gundam show. The NHK reported that there was a total of 1,740,280 votes in the poll, with 46% of the votes for Zeta coming from voters between the ages 40 to 46.

 

The giant Psycho Gundam.

Legendary heroes.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam absolutely does not disappoint in enjoyment. Every episode is action-packed with awesome mecha and space warfare. It is a superb and fun watch all the way through, and it totally lives up to the greatness of its prequel. It is a joy to follow and gets seriously epic at the right moments.

Overall, it is remarkable how well Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam was pulled off after the spectacular Mobile Suit Gundam. Pulling off another marvelous show that not only lives up to, but surpasses the first is hard to do, but here it is incredibly done.

 

Now let's move on to our video section:

 

Opening 1:

 

Opening 2:

Ending 1:

Ending 2:

 

DVD vs Blu-Ray box set comparison: