Mailbag 7: Heavy Metal Tomino Action

Posted May 26, 2005

It's that time of the week again. Let's have some Mailbag fun.

Eric Stephan asks:
I have a question for you. What scale are MSIA Advanced figures? Are they 1/144, the perfect scale to tango with my HGUC beauties? Or are they just another odd-scaled Gundam toy? The fate of my wallet depends on your answer! ;)
Chris responds:
I've seen AMSiA and read a lot about them, and my impression is that it's a problem-filled toy line that's worth staying away from. The skeletal frame with attachable armor seems like a nice gimmick, but from what I understand it severely impacts poseability. Judging from what I've seen along with the regular SEED MSiA, I'd say they're noticeably smaller than 1/144.

Erik Tang asks:
1. SE-DJ-1R Dijeh SE-R (from Z-MSV)- Is there ANY background info or even reliable specs for this MS? I fell in love with this sucker since it made a cameo in SRW 3, but I have yet to find any info besides line art. Not to mention it's weapons payload appears to change from cameo-to-cameo in the various SRW and G Gen games. Is there some little-known Japanese spec manual out there that gives more info?

2. My Japanese is pretty bad, so this copy of Advance of Z (Vol 2) I have is nothing more than cool looking pictures to me, unfortunately. Could I get a quick run-down as to the background of the Hazel units as well as any guesses as to where the GM Kai High Mobility type falls in the Fed-grunt-unit hierarchy? (i.e. better than a GM II, worse than a GM III?)

3. Heavy Metal L.Gaim- I've noticed that in this series, a lot of the Heavy Metals get pegged by a beam launcher shot, but oftentimes there's minimal damage. Is this all plot-related for dramatic flair, or am I just spoiled by UC Gundam's physics and expect all beam weapons to be near-OHKO's?

Chris responds:
1.What little I've read suggests there isn't much info available about the Dijeh SE-R. Finding info on a 20 year old MSV suit isn't going to be easy.

2. I don't have that volume, and unfortunately my rudimentary understanding of Japanese places me in the same situation as you.

3. I can't fully comment on L.Gaim because I've only seen the first episode. However, one constant I've noticed in all mecha series is that mecha are damaged only as the plot requires. A prime example is MSG, where the Gundam survives the series mostly intact until it's trashed by the Zeong. As for L.Gaim, you'll probably see some comments on that subject when Brian Shea's reviews for the series are premiered.


Luis Banuelos asks:
I've been visiting GameFAQs recently, and I found out that there is a game for the Nintendo DS  - Gundam SEED. I ended up looking at the message board or forum for the game, and lo and behold, the board was split between those who loved SEED and those who think that it was a rip-off. I thought about this. SEED does have some recycled stuff such as mech designs and even part of the plot. Then I thought about SEED: DESTINY ; it has more rehashed mech designs, and it seems that its plot is following that of SEED's (which of course is veiled by new characters..).

I think that Bandai and Sunrise have successfully rehashed older series and repackaged them as newer ones (well, at least most of SEED and DESTINY). This bothers me, but what bothers me more is what the future of Gundam will be. If Bandai and Sunrise were able to rip-off and still make money, won't that mean that they'll be doing this again for a new Gundam series in the future?
Chris responds:
First and foremost, Gundam is a commercial franchise that is Bandai's biggest cash cow. It's also a multi-generational franchise with fans in many different age groups. Right now, there are kids watching SEED who probably weren't even born yet when shows like Wing were on TV ten years ago. To them, SEED is their first exposure to the franchise and their entry point for Gundam. Likewise, in 2015, there will be another generation of kids watching Gundam who weren't alive yet to see SEED/DESTINY. As long as Gundam remains profitable for Bandai, they will continue to recycle the same ideas and repackage them for the masses.

Constantine Koutsoutis asks:
I have a question I've been thinking about regarding the UC Gundam world. What's your opinion on the basis for the Newtype "phenomenon" in UC?  Is it just something the original writers came up with? Or, like so much of the rest of Gundam's science, is it based in reality? I personally think it has to do with spacenoids needing a more evolved sense of spatial awareness, but that's just me. Your thoughts?
Chris responds:
I think that the idea of Newtypes is Tomino's way of exploring humanity's neverending conflicts brought about by differences. Throughout human history, wars have been fought over ethnicity, territory, religion, etc. The idea of the Newtype shows that even after moving into space, humanity is still in conflict. Instead of Christianity vs Islam or democracy vs communism, its Newtype vs Oldtype. As for its basis in reality, there's no way for us to know now. In Gundam, Newtypes emerge after humans have been living in space for several decades. In the present, astronauts usually don't spend more than six months in space. It's certainly possible that humans will evolve after living in space, but I think it would take far longer than a few decades.

Sang Gyu Lee asks:
1. I heard this rumor that Tomino has working on Live Action Gundam Movie collaborating with one of the studio in Hollywood. It is supposed to be based on First Gundam. Some says this info came from ainitcool.com. Is this true? or is this just info based on G-Saviour?

2. In the Gundam movie 1, why did Amuro decided to become a soldier for White Base? At first, he is just normal teenager who liked to work on mechanics, but in the end of the movie, he is officially a pilot for the Gundam. Was he being self-righteous against the Principality of Zeon, or was he feel sympathy for his friends and feel pity for White Base for lack of skilled pilots? Also, why did Amuro's friends and other guys stayed in White Base? They could've just left there along with civilians when they arrived to Earth.
Chris responds:
1. That's an old and debunked rumor. It did indeed come from Ain't it Cool News. I'd note that Harry Knowles doesn't seem to know much about anime, so he'll tend to post whatever garbage people send him in regards to anime. When it comes to Gundam rumors, the most reliable source of information is Gunota Headlines.

2. I don't think there's a simple answer for why Amuro stays on as the Gundam's pilot. The most obvious answer is, where would he go? Earth is consumed by war, and it follows Amuro even to his hometown. Also, he probably feels an obligation to Fraw and his other friends on the ship. There's more to it than that, though. Mostly, I think Amuro stays on the White Base because the Gundam gives him power. At the start of the series, we see he doesn't have a happy home life and feels powerless when Fraw's family is killed. With the Gundam, Amuro can protect his friends and take on his enemies. I think the same applies to Kamille Bidan in Zeta Gundam. When he steals the Mk II, the first thing he does is terrorize the Titan officer who beat him up so that he could get some payback. As to why Amuro's friends stayed on the ship, watch the TV series. When several refugees decided to leave, they were shot by Char as soon as they were out of the ship.

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