Kidô senshi Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory

Man, when I first saw this, I was skeptical, because it is about 5 years older then Gundam Wing (which is also one of my favorites.)

I found out this OVA series to be so much more.... The plot of this Gundam series is in the Universal Century timeline, not the After Colony like Gundam Wing. The plot was great and the animation was too. The characters are also very nicely done. Overall, I give this OVA series a ***** (10)-out of *****.

With all the craze over the Gundam Wing and Endless Waltz, people are so swept up in the hype that they don't know that there is another Gundam. Wing and Endless Waltz is an alternate Gundam universe, like when comics to the "what if" issue. 0083 has a collection of romance, action, politics, and amazing music and animation. The Japanese always try to put lots of little stories and elements into one thing. This makes it enjoyable for all. 0083 follows the original Gundam story line and the Gundams in the movie are more realistic than Wing. Wing has all these swords, blades and close combat weapons. But if you think about it Gundams are like big walking tanks. If you were to make a Gundam you would put guns, missiles, and long range weapons as opposed to swords. It starts of right away with test pilots and a secret mission then blasts off in to space. 0083 is a military based story with all of life's inconveniences. Like all anime you see the main character's problems and trials, but through it all you are bombarded with rock music and beautiful animation. The characters in 0083 don't sound like robots in Wing, they have more character and personality. And think about it, why would kids be driving Gundams? Let's get real, if you want Gundam for more mature people that takes a brain to understand it check out Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory. The best so far.

UC 0083, peace has come to Earth and Space after the Federation wiped out the Zeon forces, or so they thought. A remnant Zeon squad known as the Delaz fleet, who is led by the most loyal of Zeon's admirals, plan to steal one of two powerful new Gundam prototypes, the difference? This one is armed with a nuclear warhead!!

The Gundam is taken by ace Zeon pilot, Anaval Gato, who carries the label "Nightmare of Solomon" for the way he was feared on the battleground. It is up to rookie Federation pilot Kou Uraki to master the other Gundam and stop Gato from using the warhead and letting Zeon reform. As the battle progresses, Kou and Gato constantly battle and become bitter rivals, Federation vs Zeon, Gundam vs Gundam, both fighting for their beliefs and eventually for the affection of mobile suit technician Nina Purpleton, who is smitten with both of them, past and present. While the battles ensue, the lines of good and bad becomes blurred, and one has to ask, who is the real dictatorship in this war.

Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 is by far the best spin off of the Universal Century time line ever, bar none, and it explains some of the things that happen in Zeta Gundam that is set 4 years later. The animation is crisp, the story is tight, and the music can't be beat. The rivalry between Kou and Gato is one of the best of the Gundam universe, I'd rate it second only to Amuro and Char from the original Gundam series. For only 13 episodes, this show is very well done. It left me begging for more.

Gundam 0083, Gundam vs Gundam, LETS GET IT ON!!!!!!

From the first episode, I could not get over how unoriginal the premise was, even for its time. It seems that after Amuro stole the Gundam in the first 1979 TV series, having a series premise of "steal Gundam to kick start the story" has become a definite staple that is reused in many of the subsequent Gundam series. Someone is always out to steal a Gundam and in this case it is small band of former ZEON soldiers of the "Delaz Fleet" led by the ace pilot Anavel Gato who intend to use the Gundam GP02 armed with a nuclear warhead to carry out the mysterious "Operation Stardust". To counter this threat, The federation mobile suit carrier Albion, along with rookie pilot Kou Uraki, pilot of the Gundam GP01 is sent to locate and recover the missing unit.

This OVA bridges the gap between the original series set in Universal Century 0079 and Zeta Gundam set in UC 0086 and it does address a number of events like the reason for the formation of the "Titans" enforcer groups and why the Earth Federation has such a strong distrust of the colony inhabitants and "newtypes" in Z Gundam. It even shows the first attempt in this time-line to drop a colony on to an inhabited area, another staple plot device for subsequent Gundam productions.

I am really kind of split on this one. On one hand we have a very well paced Gundam OVA that looks deeper into the inner workings of the regular Federation armed forces. Unlike past Gundam protagonists who were originally civilians drafted into military service who formed a mismatched band of comrades, the main characters here are already regular soldiers, not kids. This lends a greater feel of believability to the series as previous installments (and subsequent ones) had teenagers suddenly becoming ace Gundam pilots. Drama, politics and even a love triangle are mixed together perfectly though there is some mis-placed humor here and there that I did not appreciate. The story touches on many of the themes of the original Gundam series such as teamwork, the blurred lines between good and evil in war, and budding little conspiracies that lend an air of mystery to the plot which manages to move along quickly, never lingering on one particular theme for too long.

The problem is that this OVA presents nothing really "new" unlike the other Gundam OVAs(War in the Pocket and 08th Ms team) that presented war from fresh perspectives. All the themes presented here have already been covered in the previous Gundam series. Aside from that, this series is plagued with some serious pacing problems especially during the more subdued scenes of conversation.

Thankfully, when the action comes around, it comes around hard and fast. The animation in Gundam 0083 is almost movie-like in quality and has by far some of the most impressive mobile suit action scenes in the history of Gundam without resorting to flashy displays of power like in Gundam Seed or G Gundam. The subdued colors used on the mobile suits and vehicles makes everything look believably gritty. Special mention goes to The character designs of the human cast which are on the more realistic side; I liked that as it added to the realistic feel of the show, but others who prefer the typical "wide eyed pretty boy" protagonists of recent series anime might not.

For the casual viewer, Gundam 0083 is sure to impress anyone with its stunning visuals and intriguing, well paced story. It does not require much pre-knowledge of the Gundam franchise to appreciate this show.

For the long time Gundam fan, this OVA would make you a lot more sympathetic to the Federation and maybe even see their almost fascist like actions in Z Gundam in a better light. This OVA can be regarded as either a rehash of popular Gundam plot threads or it can be seen as a journey back to the basics of what made Gundam great. A trip back to Paradise.

Gundam 0083 is one incredible ride, with top animation (Both the character movement and mecha animation is very fluid, and the detail is astounding)music, and mecha design, done both by Hajime Katoki(One of the top designers for Gundam) and Shoji Kawamori(Creator/mecha designer of such anime classics as Macross and Escaflowne). The characters are well-designed and very realistic, avoiding the "big eye" stereotype. The story takes place between the original Gundam and Zeta Gundam. Following events in the original, new Gundams are being developed by the Earth Federation. However, a remnant Zeon force steals one of the Gundams-one armed with a nuke, no less-and it's up to ensign Kou Uraki to take one of the other units and join in a desperate search across Earth and space-before it's too late. As panic grips the Federation, small conspiracies begin to form on both sides, which ultimately culminate in the events of Zeta. The only problems with 0083 are a few plot holes and the general ineffectiveness of the main character.Gundam main characters have a tendency to be losers, but poor Kou goes way over the top.. There's also a romance that feels rather tacked-on. But apart from that, a good show.