After almost ten years of giant toys ruling anime, 1979 was the Year of the Gundam. Although 25 years old by now, and cheaply produced at the time, this anime is still very enjoyable and deep. Many are the reasons of its success... some here below:
- No aliens coming to rule the Earth. This is a war for independence. Men against men. Same blood color;
- No good guys vs bad guys. Here everyone fights to survive, it doesn't matter if they agree with war reasons or not. It's everyman fight.
- No giant samurai robot vs. monsters from outer space. Robots in "Gundam" are conventional mass produced weapons as good as tanks or choppers, for both sides. They need energy, fuel, ammo, maintenance, logistic, recover, repair, spare parts. Al these goods are often unavailable in the middle of the battlefield;
- No heroes. Just ordinary people, youths throwed in the middle of a war they didn't want and still can't understand. And, in some of them, Fear will ignite boys' growth to become men;
- no fairy tales. In Gundam people, lots of main characters, dies. Often in ungloryous ways. Often in second rank battles. But they always die for what they think is right. Sacrifice to protect a friend, not to win a battle;
Even being closer to war movie than to Sci-Fi, Gundam is still known as one of the most important and revolutionary examples of Science Fiction. I often ask myself why a good expansive Hollywood adaptation of first Gundam series hasn't still be made...
