GunPlaWhale Posted January 26, 2024 Report Posted January 26, 2024 (edited) This thread will have a narrowed purpose as a knowledge base in helping IPMS members to understand the lore from which Gundam model kits draw their source material and how you can use that to to foster events for your Gundam community. Note that this is not intended to be a hyper detailed series because there are lots of articles about Gundam and Gundam model kits, but they are generally more for the casual person on the street and not the model community, as such there will be aspects that will not be comprehensive but hyper focused. Since there's no save draft feature, I will be continuously adding to this with images and what not. What is Gundam? Gundam is a sci-fi anime franchise that began in 1979 with the Mobile Suit Gundam TV series. It has spawned numerous sequels, prequels, spin-offs and alternative content in video games, manga, novels as well. While all the content does feature giant piloted robots fighting, the characterization of how the robots are portrayed whether as proxies for traditional military vehicles like tanks/aircraft or super robots varies with the themes and content of the specific Gundam series it's from. Within the Gundam franchise, the giant piloted robots are referred to as Mobile Suits , and a Gundam being a special type of Mobile Suit. A Gundam could be a one off prototype, special performance experimental machine, cobbling of spare parts or whatever as needed to make it to special to the plot for its respective story. The studio that created Gundam, Sunrise, was acquired by the Japanese Toy Manufacturer Bandai in 1994, but it did not fully acquire the full Gundam IP rights until it bought the other controlling IP owner, the advertising and media agency Sotsu in 2020 which it could only do so when Bandai merged with video game company Namco in 2005. Sunrise, (now called Bandai Namco Filmworks) is a fully owned company of the Japanese Toy Manufacturer, videogame and entertainment group Bandai Namco and holds the complete rights to Gundam on their behalf. An important distinction to note is that Gundam is not a catchall term for any Japanese anime robot. There are hundreds of other unique Japanese robot series out there and those subjects would get lost if just unceremoniously lumped in together with Gundam. You would be doing the equivalent of confusing Star Trek and Star Wars. What is GunPla? GunPla-Gundam Plastic Model Kit Those of you familiar with the term Brunch know it's a portmanteau of Breakfast and Lunch and so GunPla is one of Gundam and Plastic Model kit (Plamo, is also itself a portmanteau interestingly for Japan). Officially, it collectively refers to anything within the Gundam franchise that is an injection model kit produced by the Hobby division of Bandai Spirits, a company of Bandai Namco. For fans, GunPla means any model kit from the Gundam franchise including unlicensed stuff made by no name companies, bootleg copies of official products, fan made models that are made of other materials like 3D Print or Resin, or even assembly toys produced by other divisions of Bandai. It will be quite common to encounter differences between officially used terminology and those that have been interpreted differently by fans. This is due to a combination of language use and also lag time when someone may have been exposed to Gundam depending on when Bandai started offering products and content officially in your country. As such you will have fans that learned things on their own via word of mouth and Internet camping vs those who may have encountered official marketing materials by Bandai. Edited January 27, 2024 by GunPlaWhale
GunPlaWhale Posted January 26, 2024 Author Report Posted January 26, 2024 (edited) Factions and Timelines in Gundam In human history, we use different calendar systems such as BC and AD. Gundam consists of series that encompass different timelines or eras that represent our supposed future and have different calendar systems to differentiate those eras. Due to the lopsided amount of content in one timeline, called the Universal Century (abbreviated UC), categorizing Gundam various series has led to the distinction of being UC or not UC. The other Gundam series not connected to the Universal Century continuity are officially referred collectively as Other Centuries . English speaking demographics, however refer to these as "Alternate Universes". Why is it important to know the existence of different timelines? Because the way mobile suits and Gundams are portrayed and used differ greatly, which affects their placement in competition due to aesthetics. While a majority of the Universal Century treats them as military vehicles, there are many other Gundam series where the mobile suits have the appearance of mechanical summons from a fantasy setting or are such an extension of its pilot that the Gundam itself visually could be mistaken as the hero on an adventure instead of the actual pilot inside. One of the most popular designs within the Gundam franchise is the Wing Gundam Zero (EW). It has angel wings, and this is normal for that particular setting. If you compare it against the FAZZ, there is a distinct difference in what modelers will intend to do with customizing their kits. But if you are unaware, as a judge you may negatively react to why a giant robot has bird wings, thus unkowingly impacting that entry's score. Universal Century (UC) The main and most expansive timeline of Gundam. The original Gundam series Mobile Suit Gundam takes place in the year UC 0079 and encompasses a conflict known as the "One Year War" (OYW) between the government of the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon, a cluster of space colonies who declared independence from the Earth sphere. From this first series numerous sequels and side stores were produced, either taking place during this particular period or father off into the future. The following are factions seen during major points in the Universal Century. Earth Federal Forces-(referred to as EFF, the Federation, the EFSF), the military of the Earth Federation- UC0079-to UC?? Zeon -Can refer to the Principality during the OYW, refugees from when the war ended, remnants of the Zeon faction in further eras of UC-(UC 0079-UC 0100) Neo Zeon/Axis Zeon-upon the collapse of the principality of Zeon leadership after the OYW, many different flavors of Zeon would appear each proclaiming they were the true group to bear the Zeon name that was continuing the fight for independence or represented the true spirit of what Zeon wanted (UC 0087-UC 0096) Titans-an elite autonomous counter insurgency group within the EFF intended to fight against Zeon remnants and terrorists that grew to immense power after UC 0083 that became itself an antagonistic force due to political corruption and Earthnoid supremacist agenda. (UC 0083-UC 0087) AEUG-(Anti Earth-Union Group)-a group within the EFF, and also former Zeon soldiers and spacenoid sympathizers created to oppose the tyranny of the Titans, prompting the civil war within the EFF of AEUG vs Titans known as the "Gryps Conflict". The AEUG would also face off against Axis Zeon/Neo Zeon in what would be the first Neo Zeon War while the EFF was trying to reorganize itself from the civil war. (UC0086-UC0089) The Sleeves -the remaining forces of Neo Zeon after the events of the Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack movie (called Char's Rebellion for the in-universe lore), they feature unique ornate markings on the uniforms and also on the mobile suits. (UC0094-UC0096) Mafty-a terrorist organization intending to fulfill the failed mission in Char's Rebellion of forcing humanity off earth to allow its biosphere to heal from the repeated conflicts and pollution. (UC 0105-) Crossbone Vanguard-the private military force of the Ronah Family that was created to be the force that protected the future nation of Cosmo Babylonia, a nation state ruled founded old era aristocracy traditions. It would fight the EFF in Gundam F91 and later have its name be appropriated and used by the heroic Crossbone Vanguard Pirates. (UC 123) League Miltaire-a force created from current and former EFF and civilians to fight the Zanscare Empire that had invaded earth (UC 0149-UC0153) BESPA/Zanscare Empire-a space-noid nation that in UC 0149 declares war against the EFF to completely eradicate the Earth's ineffectual government (UC 0149-UC0153) The image below represents the list of animated Gundam works and year in the Universal Century that story took place. Compilation animated works that summarize or re-interpret their original source material have been omitted to avoid confusion. Other Centuries and Meta Works The "What ifs" of Gundam for alternate timelines and continuities. Depending on on how you were exposed to Gundam, you have heard these referred to as Alternate Universes. Because of the sheer amount of content in the Universal Century, it can be extremely difficult for a new person getting into watching the various animated works, especially since so many of them draw upon the One Year War from the first TV anime that aired in 1979. And so these other Gundam series were created to reach new audiences for the Gundam franchise, requiring no previous viewing of other Gundam works and are unrelated to each other (unless it's a direct sequel to one of these alternate series of course). Many of them are alternate takes of events that happened in animated works of the Universal Century, but could also vary wildly as various other parts of stories were explored such as What if the opposing faction had Gundams? What if the good guys were the bad guys? What if the Gundam was a machine to organic human interface to fight rogue AI machines? What if the story of the One Year Wars was just simply remade with different characters? What if Gundam was a mafia show? What if the OYW ended in a mutually assured destruction scenario with no side winning? What if instead of world wars there was a tournament to decide which country ruled Earth every x number of years? etc. etc. Currently Other Centuries have these independent works, that may or may not have a sequel or some side stories: Mobile Fighter G Gundam New Mobile Report Gundam Wing After War Gundam X Turn A Gundam Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Gundam Reconguista in G Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Mobile Suit Gundam Age Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans Mobile Suit Gundam The Witch from Mercury (example of a Bandai Decal set featuring some emblems from various Other Century Gundam Series) Gundam "Build" Series (Meta Works) A more recent category appeared in the 2010s that is centered around believe or not, people building Gundam models. These meta works often feature tongue in cheek references and meta humor to both Universal Century and Other Century works as if the characters were like you and me, experiencing the fun of building and enjoying the nerd fights of being a fan. The one difference is that in these meta works, the characters are building a model that can be 3D scanned or coated with special particles allowing them to move, essentially building your dream Mobile Suit/Gundam and being able to pilot it virtually. Edited January 28, 2024 by GunPlaWhale
GunPlaWhale Posted January 26, 2024 Author Report Posted January 26, 2024 (edited) Scales and Product Lines (Grades) Reserving Space for explanation and pictographs later... Ver. Ka- officially pronounced as "Version Katoki" or "Version K.A." Series of items produced and supervised by mechanical designer Hajime Katoki. He himself is a modeler and will take CAD printed designs and further refine them by hand utilizing epoxy putty to be used as the master from which product injection molds will produced. His name carries a heavy weight within Gundam fandom as many popular mobile suit designs have been created by him and also he has supervised interpretations of other iconic designs into commercialized items. His name carries the same weight as a designer for fashion labels, but for the character model kit community. Edited January 28, 2024 by GunPlaWhale
GunPlaWhale Posted January 26, 2024 Author Report Posted January 26, 2024 Reserving Space for Content
Neo Posted March 5, 2024 Report Posted March 5, 2024 A bit of trivia: Gundam is actually an acronym for General purpose Utility Non-Discontinuity Augmentation Maneuvering weapon system. What all that means I haven’t a clue. The “suit” in mobile suit makes a lot more sense: Space Utility Instrument, Tactical. I can’t remember what the acronym for mobile armor was, but it was probably wacky, like GERWALK from Macross: Ground Effective Reinforcement of Winged Armament with Locomotive Knee joint(!!!). And from Sentinel Gundam, VMSaWRS (“vimsaws”) is Variable Mobile Suit and Wave Rider System. But the most sensible acronym from Gundam is AMBACS: Active Mass Balance And Control System. This is the control software that uses the entire body of a mobile suit to effect maneuvers in space, to conserve limited propellant as well as enhance agility. It also helps mobile suits from falling over in gravity environments. And now that the scale guys have melted their brains, we return you to your regularly scheduled program.
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