One of the most highly regarded mecha anime ever made is now finally celebrating its 4oth anniversary. Zeta Gundam is still very much a classic.
Released on March 2 in 1985, Zeta Gundam was the then-direct follow-on series to Mobile Suit Gundam. Set 8 years after that series, it dealt with a far more complex political landscape in terms of its narrative.
Following the end of the One Year War, the Federation created a special branch of its military forces called the Titans to deal with Zeon remnants. However, the Titans took that remit too far and became overzealous about who they deemed a threat.
To combat the Titans, a new organization was formed, the Anti-Earth Union Group or AEUG. Backed by the massive corporation Anaheim Electronics, which was also a major mobile suit manufacturer, many of the old alliances and allegiances changed around with the creation of the AEUG and Titans conflict.
In that, characters such as Char Aznable would end up partnering in battle with his sworn enemy, Amuro Ray. Not to mention the resurgence of Zeon in the form of Neo Zeon, the whole of Zeta Gundam had a feeling of a real generational shift over Mobile Suit Gundam.
This was in part due to the narrative, but also the aesthetics. While Kunio Okawara returned for some of the mecha design, much of Zeta Gundam’s visual style was determined originally by Mamoru Nagano. Although, the likes of Makoto Kobayashi also did many notable throughout the series designs.
Not to mention the character design shift from Yoshikazu Yasuhiko to Hiroyuki Kitazume, which created a sleeker and somewhat colder feel to the characterization.
Writer and director Yoshiyuki Tomino also didn’t hold back, as he continued to rack up a substantial kill count for many of the major characters, although the likes of both Ideon and Dunbine obviously surpass Zeta Gundam on that front.
This 40th anniversary is also likely the reason we are getting such a nice Metal Build Zeta Gundam toy this April and why Japanese fans on X partly lost their minds yesterday realizing that Zeta Gundam is now, in fact, 40 years old (shown above).
For many, Zeta Gundam is one of the best entries into the Gundam narrative pantheon. It’s a much darker tale and colder depiction of the Universal Century, and for that reason, it’s garnered a sizable and very dedicated fanbase.
Thankfully, you can watch all of Zeta Gundam over at Crunchyroll, and if you are at all curious you can also check out my Blu-ray review of the series.
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