Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 OVA - War in the Pocket

UC 0079, the One Year War is almost at an end. A neutral colony of Side 6 has been targeted by Cyclops, a Zeon task force. Their target, a new Gundam being built exclusively for Newtypes (supposedly built for Amuro Ray from the original Gundam saga) inside. When little boy Al Izuruha, a fan of Zeon MS, encounters a Zaku after battle breaks out in the colony, he befriends newbie MS pilot Benard "Bernie" Wiseman. The two become good friends, Al is treated as an honorary member of the Cyclops team. Through the show, Bernie acts as a father figure to Al (whose real father is always working) and seems to be taken with Federation pilot Christina McKenzie, but eventually they must meet....in battle. Al soon learns that war is not child's play and Bernie must choose to make the ultimate sacrifice to complete his mission.

For only 6 episodes, Gundam 0080 is a well done show. The mobile suits are extremely well designed, and the animation may look dated but really shows emotion in the characters. If you liked 0083 then check this one out, or if you are new to the Gundam world, this is a good show to start with. If you look to a show for drama and character development, this is the one for you, it focuses more on that then mobile suit battle. I would rate it more of a drama than action.

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080, War in the Pocket.

Sometimes you have to lose to win.

From the first episode I was deeply engaged (yes a full grown adult pushing 40 years) You don't need to be a Gundam fan to appreciate this, all you need is patience and a little imagination, the series will carry you through. I have not seen such storytelling in years, its right up there with the best and all in a plausible, believable way.

Sincere and non judgmental, this story focuses telling as is the perils of war without imposing views or stigmas, gets you drawn in wanting to see how the story unfolds. It blurs the line so well between good and perceived evil that you will be rooting for the Zeon forces that is conventionally deem as the bad side.

I watched the original Gundam, Zeta Gundam and ZZ Gundam series but this little gem that I circle back to after learning that in terms of Gundam time-line it follows immediately the original Mobile Suit Gundam series, was a real rare find that kept me mesmerized and touched.

If you are looking to lots of shooting and body counts you will be sorely disappointed, but everything else....you will not regret the time spent on this series and the memories that will stay with you.

Epitome of forward thinking (space colonies/technology) and humanity embodiment in a beautiful graphical tale (no this is not a cartoon/anime)considering the age of this production, it is light years ahead of its time.

Watch it!

Compared to Hayao Miyazaki's GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, War In The Pocket is short on action and high on sentimentality, which sets it apart from many of the other Gundam shows. Don't worry, there are some very well-animated action scenes in this series, and some great mecha designs(By PATLABOR'S Izukicki) which update a lot of the old-school Gundam designs, and also feature some nifty original designs like the Kampfer and Gundam Alex. Anyway, this series is one of the most emotional Gundam series. It's the last few days of the One Year potrayed in the original series, and a new Gundam prototype has been discovered at a supposedly neutral space colony. A team of Zeon commandos is sent to destroy it, however things get a little thrown off when one of the commandos befriends a civilian boy and starts unsuspectedly becomes friendly with the Gundam pilot herself. BTW, mecha fans might be interested in the fact that the character designer of this series is Haruhiko Mikimoto, who also did Macross(AKA Robotech Part I). This is the first of four Gundam OAVs. Over the course of the 90s, Gundam 0083(1991) 08th MS team(1996) and Endless Waltz(1997)

The first time I saw this series, I absolutely hated it because it feels less like a Gundam than a "watch how this one guy's events ruin everyone's lives" kinda show. I then decided to watch this show after I watched 8th MS team and IgLoo and the show ages a lot better. The second watch will get you to appreciate the subtle tone and how messed up the world was. If you love Gundam for the story and less for the cockpit deaths, this is the show for you.

The first "side-story" in the universal century Gundam universe presents a refreshing new look at the war between earth and the space colonies. The focus is no longer on a small group of individuals who would go on to play pivotal roles in the conflict, but on the everyday civilian population and how the war is seen through their eyes.

The story does contain some Gundam staples, its premise being the attempts by a ZEON squad to capture an experimental Gundam, but it the execution of the plot that made this show so interesting to watch. This series focuses on the experiences of a young boy named Alfred and the relationship between his neighbor, Christina Mckenzie who is secretly a Federation pilot and a newbie Zeon pilot named Bernie Wiseman. Alfred develops a sort of "brotherly love" for Bernie while our young Zeon pilot also falls for Christina.

"War in the Pocket" proves that you do not need a sweeping epic tale about special individuals to make for a good war story. There are no uber ace pilots or large scale fleet battles to be seen here. This short 6 episode OVA focuses a lot more on character emotional drama over other themes like politics or philosophy and i love how realistically portrayed the characters are. Alfred is your typical everyday kid who plays violent computer games and thinks the armed forces is cool. He is then given a crash course in the horrible realities of war. The unlikely friendship and bonding between Bernie and Christina, each not knowing the fact that they are soldiers on different sides of the war, is played very real without going overboard with the romance drama stuff. Same goes for the endearing relationship between Alfred and Bernie. That being said, i would not want to spoil much of the story here, but it makes it a whole lot more heart wrenching to watch the tragedies that unfold as the show moves along all the way to its emotionally devastating twist ending.

Despite its lack of action, this show never falls into the category of "boring". The characters are just that engaging enough to carry the whole show. Not to worry as there are a number of mobile suit action scenes scattered here and there. Each are beautifully animated on a level that surpasses that of an OVA and are sure to satisfy the craving for some "mandatory" mobile suit battles in a Gundam series.

Normally watching anime in Japanese or English, i would leave up to personal preference. But in this case, i strongly recommend the English voice track over the Japanese one. Not only do the characters, whom all except Alfred are caucasian, sound more believable in English but the performances of the English voice cast are on par and even surpass the Japanese one, instilling each character with such realistic emotions and intonations that they sound just the acting in some live action TV dramas.

In short, this show does not try to impress the audience. What it does is conveys numerous heartwarming themes that hit closest to home especially the death of innocence on the battlefield and the horrors of war through the eyes of a child. A truly moving little story that deserves more credit than it is being given.