Creator Yoshiyuki Tomino introduced the world to Mobile Suit Gundam as a television series in 1979. Though he’d been working in anime long enough to have created multiple series, here he created an unflinching vision that discussed war and how it affected both humanity and the youth of the world.

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Two years later, Mobile Suit Gundam found it’s way to theaters as an adaptation of a trilogy of films that split the story up into three parts. This series condensed the actual story down, but saw a massive increase in popularity that made Gundam into one of the largest franchises of all time. These films didn’t change very much of the story, but Tomino did get a chance to make multiple significant tweaks to better suit his original story idea.

3 Mobile Suit Gundam

An image from Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.

The very first Gundam movie is titled simply, Mobile Suit Gundam, and premiered two years after the original television series in 1979. It was a compilation movie meant to cover the first third of the Gundam series, with a runtime of about two hours and sixteen minutes. This film is forced to cover a ton of ground very quickly, starting with the introduction of Amuro Ray who gets caught up in the war between Earth Federation’s Forces and the Zeon when the Zeon attack Side 7.

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The Zeon find themselves looking for the Earth Federation’s first prototype mobile suits, and in the midst of the destruction there, Amuro manages to get in and pilot the RX-78-2 Gundam. Unfortunately, Amuro piloting the Gundam brings him into contact with the legendary Red Comet, Char Aznable, one of the best ace pilots of the Zeon army.

Very quickly, Amuro has to learn how to match wits with this pilot for the sake of his survival, with only the help of the young crew around him for guidance. Of course, Char has his own storyline running in the background, thanks to his own reasons to hate the Zabi family that’s in charge of running the Zeon operations. This film re-creates much of the tropes that were responsible for making the original Gundam popular, while also toning down a lot of the super robot elements such as the unnecessary melee weapons like the “Gundam Hammer” from the television show.

2 Mobile Suit Gundam: Soldiers Of Sorrow

Anime Mobile Suit Gundam Char Aznable Worried

The second Gundam film is where the storyline of Gundam really gets into gear, and it covers roughly from episode 16 to episode 30 of the main series, pushing things into the second third of the TV show's arc. This is where fans are able to see the greater focus on character compared to the Super Robot storylines of the past eras. One of the biggest moments of this film involves the commander of White Base, Bright Noa, taking the Gundam away from Amuro. Without a purpose on the ship, Amuro sinks into a deep depression, with viewers forced to realize this teenage boy has centered his entire self-worth on his ability to pilot a robot.

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But that’s not the entire focus of the film. Developing the Zeon forces allows the viewer to feel for them, which results in the tragedy of Ramba Ral and his wife, a pair of fundamentally good people caught on the wrong side of a war. The action is also kept up though, as Amuro winds up facing off against the powerful Black Tri-Stars in the latest weapon from the Zeon forces: The mighty Dom. The film builds towards another showdown with Char Aznable, after the character was forced into the sidelines because the higher-ups believed he “allowed” his superior Garma Zabi to be killed by White Base, even though the truth was Char himself was responsible for destroying Garma.

1 Mobile Suit Gundam: Encounters In Space

Lala Sune, Amuro Ray, Mobile Suit Gundam

The last film in the Gundam trilogy is Encounters in Space, which released in 1982, roughly three years after the original television series. It covers everything from episode 31 until episode 43 of the television series. At this stage in the series, the Federation Forces have all but defeated the Zeon army, thanks to their performance at Jaburo and victories elsewhere. Ultimately, the One Year War is drawing to a close and all that’s left is getting the Zeon to surrender.

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But there’s still some twists and turns left, as the series introduces the concept of NewTypes: Special humans evolved thanks to spending time out in space. This would wind up being the driving force of multiple series going forward in the Gundam universe, as Amuro Ray and Char Aznable would both develop NewType abilities and push them to the limit in battle against one another. Char would find himself outclassed, but still find a way to create a burning hatred between him and Amuro thanks to his actions surrounding Lalah Sune, a young woman that Amuro falls in love with who helps both Char and Amuro understand the power behind becoming a NewType.

Unfortunately, Lalah falls in battle against Amuro, causing him to lose the woman he loves the most. This all leads to a final battle between Amuro and Char at A Baou Qu, the last scene of the One Year War. While the other two movies are largely just compilations, Encounters in Space had a significant amount of additional content that was added to the film, developing the Battle of Solomon and A Baou Qu to bring them closer to Yoshiyuki Tomino’s vision.

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