Ultimate Mark

Once upon a time, I ran an information site at gundam.anime.net devoted to the Japanese animated sci-fi series Mobile Suit Gundam. I closed it in early 2002 to focus on the official English-language site, gundamofficial.com, which in turn shut down at the end of 2012.

Despite this legacy of defunct websites, I still get the impulse to delve into Gundam arcana every now and then. Here you'll find some random musings on aspects of the Gundam saga, updated whenever I feel like it.

Special Collection: Data Evolution

In the main Data Evolution article, I've attempted to track the development of Gundam's Universal Century world setting as it was gradually fleshed out from 1978 onwards. This includes full or partial translations of some original source material, including the following items:

Special Feature: Specs Comparison

A historical survey of the various technical specifications for the original Mobile Suit Gundam series, and its MSV and MS-X spinoffs, that have been published over the years.

Recently, I've been devoting most of my research effort to documenting the real-world development of individual Gundam works. These features also include lots of rare production art, setting materials, and interview excerpts.

Production History: Process Glossary

An introduction to the process by which anime works (including Gundam series) are developed and produced, the various credited roles, and the exact nature of their jobs.

Production History: Mobile Suit Gundam

The origins of the original 1979 TV series, from its earliest incarnations as "Freedom Fighter" and "Gunboy" to its early cancelation and rebirth in movie form.

Production History: Mobile Suit Z Gundam

The launch of the long-awaited 1985 sequel series, in which director Yoshiyuki Tomino gathers a new staff of young talents and the Gundam world develops in unexpected directions.

Production History: Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ

The controversial 1986 continuation of Z Gundam, famous for its attempt to introduce a lighter tone and for the offscreen drama surrounding its robot designs.

Production History: Mobile Suit Gundam F91

In which, after concluding the original storyline with the 1988 film Char's Counterattack, director Tomino reunites with the creators of the first series to begin a new era of Gundam. At least, that was the plan...

Special Collection: Production Reference

And here's some supplemental production history reference. This includes a variety of creator interviews and essays, behind-the-scenes accounts of the production of Mobile Suit Gundam and Gundam F91, and notes on the first draft of Akinori Endo's Gundam ZZ Finale.

Recommended Links: Production History

While I slowly work through the production history in chronological order, some other folks have been doing excellent documentation on more recent Gundam works. Here are a couple that you might want to check out, focusing on Turn A Gundam and Reconguista in G.

The following items are older essays from 2005~2006, preserved here for historical purposes. They haven't been updated to reflect new information and I'd probably have entirely different theories now.

Special Feature: Universal Century Timeline

Formerly an interactive timeline of the Universal Century. I haven't maintained this, because the official timeline is frankly a bit of a mess at this point. When time permits, I'll build something new from scratch.

Column One: Musai's Discrepancy

How many Zakus can you cram into the teensy tiny hangar deck of the stalwart Musai-class space cruiser? Okay, now how many of those hefty Doms? And can they stand upright, or what? The answers may shock and surprise you! Hey, you never know.

Column Two: Mysteries of Zeon

Was Zeon Deikun a narcissistic carpetbagger? Did Degwin Zabi make his fortune toting bales of moonrock? Join us for some scandal-mongering speculation about the founding figures of the Principality of Zeon.

Column Three: Power Crazy!

Everything you ever wanted to know, plus lots more, about the nitty-gritty details of mobile suit power generation and energy distribution. Why is the Gundam so mighty? What's with all those cables? Read and learn!