Pederson Watched an Anime Once: Some Thoughts on Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin's First Episode (Blue-Eyed Casval) A Retrospective

Let's be honest for a second, Mobile Suit Gundam is for men (and some women) in their thirties and forties what the entire Magnolia Network is for about 90% of American women. It's a hobby, a dream, an escape, and a reminder that you don't have as much money as you dreamt of when you were a kid. So let's stop talking about how building Gundam models is the most unattractive thing a man can do, and let's focus instead on why you want to fill a jar with rocks and call it a coffee table decoration, or the insane amount of money you're willing to spend on a buffalo checkered blanket because it came out of the Magnolia section at Target. At the end of the day, Char Aznable is way cooler than Chip and Joanna Gaines, who can't even pilot mobile suits, by the way.

Speaking of Char Aznable, back in 2015, Sunrise released an anime adaptation of a manga called Gundam: The Origin. It was originally announced as a four episode OVA series that was supposed to cover the origin of the conflict between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon as seen in the events of 1979's Mobile Suit Gundam. However, it didn't so much cover the origins of that conflict as much as it covered the origins of some of the main characters, factions, and the events that eventually led to the One Year War and subsequent conflicts that followed. As for the series itself, they eventually finished it off with two more episodes in 2018 and 2019, totaling the OVA series' episode count at six episodes. However, a thirteen episode recompilation was later put together, and it aired in August of 2019 under the title Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin - Advent of the Red Comet. This is the version that is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll, both dubbed and subbed. If you want to watch the original six episodes as they were intended to be seen, you have to purchase the blu-rays or find another way. I originally watched the six episode version on Hulu a few years back, but when you have kids, you're never truly watching something, especially Gundam. You're more just noticing some things happening on the screen and telling your kids not to hit each other with toy brooms. Recently, however, I did sit down and start watching the thirteen episode version on Crunchyroll. So without further delay here are some thoughts on Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin Episode 1 - The Blue Eyed Casval.

The Deikuns

Just to prepare you, I'm about to fire a lot of background story at you through a metaphorical firehouse. Somebody (who definitely isn't me) can probably write several encyclopedias on the complexities of the Universal Century and the factions involved in its wars. Okay, let's start with one of Mobile Suit Gundam's most famous characters, Char Aznable. Char is a man with many names. He's been known as Edouard Mass, Char Aznable, Quattro Bajeena, but his birth name is Casval Rem Deikun, son of Zeon Zum Deikun, a philosopher and political leader who strongly believed in an extreme form of Environmentalism and Space Nationalism. All of Char's motivations for who he later becomes are shaped by his father's beliefs and his father's death.

While at one point, Zeon Zum Deikun did push for peace between the space colonies and the Earth Federation, he eventually came to the conclusion that the Earth is sacred and should be free of mankind's destruction. What better way to accomplish that, than to destroy all life on Earth. He also believed that the space colonies should have the right to govern themselves, without the Earth Federation's involvement. He is responsible for the development of the Newtype Theory, which stated that once humans left the earth, they were capable of using parts of their brains they couldn't access before, thus giving birth to a sixth sense that allows mental communication. This is one of the foundational pieces of the entire Universal Century Timeline and every Gundam story that's been told since the '70s.

Char also has a younger sister named Artesia, who also plays a part in things to come. Once Artesia and Casval escape Side 3, she takes on the name Sayla Mass, a name she later wears into the events of Mobile Suit Gundam. While Sayla eventually gets relegated to one of those infrequent side characters, her presence in the series helps push the narratives of certain characters forward. She does have a more important role in the manga, but for whatever reason, her role in the anime is somewhat diminished.

As for Zeon Zum Deikun, when we first see him in the opening episode of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, he is having somewhat of a mental breakdown, fearing that he is going to be assassinated. The next day, during his speech to declare the Autonomous Republic of Munzo's independence from the Earth Federation, he dies suddenly of a heart attack. The writers are incredibly vague about whether he was assassinated or not, but his death creates a power vacuum that kickstarts the war between the colonies and the Earth Federation, as Degwin Sodo Zabi, Deikun's "friend" rises to power, and creates the perception that the Earth Federation is responsible for the death of Zeon Zum Deikun.

The Zabis

Next, we have the Zabi family, a group of people you should definitely not trust with anybody's best interest except their own. The head of this family is Degwin Sodo Zabi, a - and I use this term loosely and with sarcasm - great friend and ally of Zeon Zum Deikun and his family. Conveniently, with Deikun out of the way, he was able to rise to power and have ultimate control over the space colony republic. The Zabi family is credited with founding the Principality of Zeon, and they're responsible for the decisions and escalations that led to the One Year War.

This side of the board has a lot more players than Deikun's. First up there's Gihren Zabi, who is the oldest son in the Zabi family. He schemed both with his father and against his father, seeking ultimate power over the Principality of Zeon. He eventually kills his father with the Solar Ray Cannon in order to keep the war going. He is later killed by his own sister, who we'll get to in a minute.

Next up, we have Sasro Zabi, who is Degwin's second son. Just like his brother, Sasro is also very skilled in the art of manipulation, and uses that skill as the director of the National Campaign Department, where he uses the media to shape public perception and build hate towards the Earth Federation. His ultimate aim was to use the grief people felt towards the death of Zeon Zum Deikun and shape it into a sword of rebellion. Sasro dies in a car bombing that was labelled a terrorist attack, but it's strongly hinted at that he was killed by his sister Kycilia as a form of revenge for striking her and belittling her earlier on.

Dozle Zabi is the third son of Degwin, and probably the most human son in the family, as he cares little about accumulating power and more about making his family happy. He was in charge of Zeon's Space Defense Military Academy before being put in charge of the Space Strike Fleet in the One Year War. He eventually meets his end at the hands of Amuro Ray in Mobile Suit Gundam.

Kycilia Zabi might the most demented of the bunch, and is also the inspiration for attire Char wears later on in the series. She is the fourth child and only daughter of Degwin. She is the commander of the Munzo State Security Police, and it's her job to maintain public security and protect government officials. It's because of her, whether by design or accident, that Zeon Zum Deikun's family was able to escape the Zabi family's clutches. She is blamed for the death of Sasro, but we know for sure that she is eventually responsible for the death of her brother, Gihren. Her death is one day met at the hands of Char Aznable.

Garma is one of the more well-known characters from the Zabi family, as his death is a particular highlight in the 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam series. He is the youngest child of Degwin and was often used as a poster child for the family, as people despised them, but they all really liked him. He dies about half way through Mobile Suit Gundam, no thanks for his alleged friend, Char.

The next important character from the Zabi family is Mineva Zabi. We don't see much of her in this series, as she is an incredibly important character that later comes to her own in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. She and Banagher Links eventually release the truth of Laplace's Box, which contains the original UN charter that was supposed to give spacenoids more say in the federation's decisions, making the two sides equals.

The Rals

The final important faction in this series, and the ones responsible for the rise of Char Aznable is the Ral family. The head of this family is Jimba Ral, who was a close associate and immensely loyal to Zeon Zum Deikun. It was because of him and his son, Ramba, that the Deikun family was able to escape the Zabis, who feared that Char would one day rise to dethrone them and return power to the Deikun family. This is the first time he's been given any significant backstory outside of the flashbacks we see from the perspective of Char and Sayla in the Mobile Suit Gundam series.

The other important character in this family is Ramba, the son of Jimba. While he does consider his father to be an old fool, he sees the corruption put forth by the Zabi family and shares his father's loyalty to the Deikuns. It's because of him and his associate, Crowley, that both Casval and Artesia were able to escape Side 3 and make it to Earth. Ramba is one of the only characters in the entire Gundam Universe with a strong sense of morality, and because of this, his current status is seemingly unknown in the greater Universal Century timeline.

What is the First Episode About?

Now that you know all of the players, I can get into what this first episode is actually about. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin begins with a long introduction to the hostilities between the Earth Federation and the Space Colonies. Sadly, they don't really explain how it all started, as much as they explain what is currently happening at that moment in time, which I think is somewhere in the UC '70s. The episode officially begins with the death of Zeon Zum Deikun, who appears to be about to make a declaration of war before his untimely passing. From here, the Zabi family takes control of the space colonies, marking their official rise to power and the secondary spark that ignites the One Year War. Throughout this episode, the Zabi family is seen plotting their eventual war, while also eliminating any potential opposition to their plans, which includes the remnants of the Deikun family and anybody loyal to them, mainly targeting, Casval, Artesia, their mother Astria, and the Rals. Much like in real life, there's a lot going on behind the bureaucratic red tape that the public isn't aware of, because their perception of things is being shaped by the people in power. In this case, the Zabi family is trying to eliminate the remaining Deikun family, and they plan to blame it on the Earth Federation, much like they did with Zeon's death.

Knowing what the Zabi family is up to, the Rals will stop at nothing to protect the Deikuns. Meanwhile, Casval becomes a particular target for Kycilia Zabi, who seems to constantly go out of her way to try to scare and intimidate him. Eventually Casval, Artesia, and Astria are sent to the Deikun family mansion, where things are even more strange and uncomfortable. It's here that we're introduced to Roselucia, a cruel old woman in a wheel chair, who also happens to be Zeon's Zum Deikun's first and legal wife (whatever that means). However, because she was too sick and frail to give Deikun any children, Deikun ended up falling in a love with a bar singer named Astria, who he also married and had two children with, Casval and Artesia. Being Deikun's legal wife, once Deikun was dead, there was nothing holding back Roselucia's malice towards Astria, and she ended up locking Astria away in a tower. Before doing this, however, she allowed Casval and Artesia once last night with Astria, before she was never allowed to see them again. That's okay, because Astria had a plan. Having already put a plan together with the Ral family to get her kids to Earth, she uses her last night with them to tell them that they're leaving, but she won't be going with them. The last stretch of the episode sees Ramba Ral's friend, and I think love interest, driving a gun cannon mobile suit across Side 3 to the space port. It's here that we find out the true Zabi family plan. Much to the dismay of Dozle, they want the kids dead. Meanwhile, Casval takes some of his anger out on the Earth Federation forces standing in their way.

The episode ends with Casval, Artesia, Artesia's cat, Lucifer, and Jimba Ral heading to Earth in a cargo ship. Back on Side 3, Kycilia has cornered Ramba Ral and Crowley, who go into custody willingly. Major deaths include Zeon Zum Deikun himself, and Sasro Zabi, who was blown up in a car bombing, apparently, but never confirmed, by his sister Kycilia.

Should You Watch This?

While the animation is absolutely beautiful in this OVA series, and the voice acting is top notch, there's a lot of debate about whether or not this show is a necessary watch in the greater UC Gundam continuum, with many people on the internet debating whether it's actually cannon or some sort of parallel universe. If you have story OCD like I do, you'll probably watch it just because you have to. Fortunately, as far as the anime goes, the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam series, outside of dialogue and a few flashbacks, didn't focus a lot on the events prior to the start of the series. I think Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin was a great opportunity for them to not just give you a reason to invest your time into the Universal Century, but they also showed you just how much they love these characters that some people have been following for over forty years. If anything, this OVA series is a love letter to the franchise and its fans. Whether or not we will ever see Char Aznable and Amuro Ray again after the events of Char's Counterattack remain to be seen, but this series is a reminder of why we all love Gundam, and if you're not a fan, why you should be. One day, I am not just going to write about why the Gundam franchise is so important in the greater fabric of modern pop culture, but also why the stories it has to tell are important to the world and the people living in it. Just like the cautionary tales we learned from fairy tales and parables as kids, the Gundam franchise has plenty to teach if people would stop stereotyping its fans long enough to listen.

Overall this was a strong first episode in the series. Maybe watching it in the original six episode format, as opposed to the thirteen episode format would make the story feel less like an explosion of exposition and more of a well paced narrative. That being said, people tend to assume that Gundam stories are all about robots fighting in space, but they're so much more than that. The stories are infinitely complicated as they explore themes of politics, war, and how it's children who ultimately end up inheriting the sins (and fallout from those sins) of the generations who came before. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin Episode 1 - The Blue-Eyed Casval is absolutely worth the time it takes to watch it. Who knows, you might even show up for this episode and stay for the rest of the series. Before you know it, you'll have forty plus years of Gundam continuity to catch up on.

Rating: 8/10