Kidou Senshi Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory

This is the story that sets out to bridge the gap between the original Gundam series, and Zeta Gundam. Does it do a great job of that? Personally, yes and no. Yes, because you learn about what happened to the Federation to where it become in Zeta Gundam, and no, because you don’t really get to see what happens to the majority of the original cast from the series such as Amuro and Char, and mostly concentrates on the cast created exclusively for this saga. There are some other previous Gundam characters that will have brief cameos, but if you want to know, watch andfind out. But I say for what it does in an overall sense, it works out pretty well. Kou and Anavel do have good chemistry as rivals, but isn’t really that epic in comparison to that of Char and Amuro. Not saying it’s a bad thing, but you really can’t top that. The cast does ok in standing out, but I just don’t feel they have the kind of impact that an Amuro, Captain Bright, or another cast member from the original Gundam can have. But both Kou and Gato are likeable characters in their own right and you can see things in their points of view. Kou just has something to prove to himself and to his peers, while Gato is doing it for duty and patriotism to his nation. The only thing that bothered me was the Nina and Kou story arc. I felt it was thrown in there too much for convenience and I felt for the sake of giving it an all around story by adding in that element, which I felt was unnecessary. Yes, I will admit that Nina and Kou do have a good chemistry as well, but I just felt it was really useless and doesn’t really advance anything and felt the twist to that relationship was anti-climatic. But anyway, the development is basic and the pace is moderate. I think the art design is really excellent for its time. It represents a certain transition era of how anime is done today to how it was done back then. Like if you’re familiar with my other reviews, I always talk about how in the 1980s, anime was more circular and in the 1990s and now, it’s more angular. Well, this anime was done in the early 1990s and you get a balanced mixed of those styles and they mesh excellently. I say Kou’s circular design really represents he’s still a kid, and Gato’s more angular look shows more dignity and maturity and higher status to him. So I really like that use of those art styles to contrast those two in my personal opinion. The mobile suit designs I think are my 2nd favorite of all time. After all, the great Shoji Kawamori himself does the mechanical designs; you can’t deny his presence and credit. I like how detailed and articulate they are. Though the mobile suits tend to look more packed and bulky, the skills of the pilots that are portrayed justify their agile mobility and fast speeds. The action is explosive, fast paced, and electrifying. Plus, the GP02A like some other Gundams sort of breaks the tradition with the head design of being more rectangular and not having the grilled mouth, which I thought was cool and looked intimidating. I really loved the features all the mobile suits have and you get overall variety. OK, I will state that I have no familiarity with the dub with this anime so I can only comment and score on the Japanese. Forgive me for not mentioning the dub since I have never seen it. I was shocked to learn that Horikawa Ryo, the voice of Vejita from Dragon Ball Z, happens to voice Kou Uraki! In comparison to Vejita with this role, he’s more humble, childish, and developing. I thought he did excellent in portraying such a character. And I also enjoyed Ohtsuka Akio’s performance as Gato. He also voices in Solid Snake in the Japanese Metal Gear Solid and is also famous for playing Batou in the Ghost in the Shell installments. He brings a unique kind of appropriate charisma to the character where you can also feel the passion he his motivations. The majority of the music is also highly energetic and suits the high-octane atmosphere of this series. The opening theme, The Winner is highly addictive and goes along with how I just described the soundtrack and atmosphere in an overall sense. And the first ending theme, Magic, is a unique George Michaels esque love song that is sung in perfect English. It’s about wanting that moment with that girl now and forever and want to always make it special. Gundam 0083 does have some romance, so I felt it was an interesting touch. I say 0083 is more for the dedicated and hardcore Gundam fan. Those not familiar with the Gundam franchise will probably not understand some of the basic concepts such as who Giren and Kycilia are who are briefly mentioned in the intro to the first episode, and about why Sydney is under water. But if you want to watch it for the action, then you’ve come to the right series. Also, if you want to watch cool looking robots, then you still came to the right series. The plot isn’t necessarily the best, but I don’t think it’s flawed enough to be considered bad or below average. Granted some things about it do get annoying, but in the end everything works out. Once again, I still say those who are familiar with the original Gundam, and especially Zeta Gundam are going to understand the story best considering the purpose of this anime.

With its masterful balance of action-packed battles, intense drama and a touch of romance, Gundam 0083 is required viewing for any anime fan. Story Gundam 0083 gets started with a bang in the very first episode and the momentum carries through all the way to its dramatic end. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep you hooked and waiting for what's to come. Both drama and action are given equal screen time and presented with equal intensity. Art For an OVA from 1991, the animation quality in this series is simply amazing. In fact, Gundam 0083 still shines by today's standards. The design of the artwork itselfis also a highlight with great detail being put into backgrounds and things such as uniforms. Sound There is quite a bit of the typical background music you'd expect to hear in a war story. However, also included are some well-composed atmospheric pieces that set the mood for certain dramatic scenes. The opening themes are upbeat and catchy, with the second in particular being a highlight with it's brilliant guitarwork. Both endings are slower ballad type numbers. The contrast works well here as it fits with the anime's ability to balance dynamics. In terms of voice acting, the main vocal cast cast does a great job conveying the emotions of their characters. The English dub is also surprisingly well done and on par with the original. Characters We are the shown the perspective of both the Zeon and Earth Federation with the main focus being on Anavel Gato and Kou Uraki, respectively. The characters of Gundam 0083 are all adult which makes this series stand out from most other Gundam stories. Don't take that mean there ins't as much room for character development though, as plenty of growth occurs during the course of the OVA. Enjoyment As the series progressed, I was drawn in more and more by the characters and found myself torn between the two warring sides. Every episode left me in anticipation of the next. Overall As someone who isn't extremely fond of mecha series in general, Gundam 0083 was able to keep me entertained and make me wish there were more shows like it. 9.5 out of 10

Gundam 0083 is the absolute pinnacle of cel-shaded animation, rivaled only by Gunbuster. It also has a great 80s-era soundtrack, certainly one of the better ones among Gundam series. The only problem is it uses that animation & soundtrack to tell one of the most dogshit Gundam stories I've ever seen. One half of the show is every character making the worst, most nonsensical decisions possible. Like the equivalent of your mortal enemy dropping their gun and you picking it up and handing it to them and saying you're sorry that happened to them. The other half is every male character being over-the-top horny (but not enoughto be funny) for the blonde white lady character, and the other female characters acting like giddy middle schoolers about it. There is no perceptible depth to anyone in the show, and no real reason to care about any of them. I mostly just want to yell at them for being complete dipshits all the time. The one exception is Mora Borscht, who has a terrible name but is an absolute queen and the only character with any personality. It's really unfortunate, not only because of the animation & sound, but also because it has Hajime Katoki's mecha designs, which are some of the coolest in all of Gundam. I'm rewatching it right now and even though I hate it, I'm continuing to the end just to see Neue Ziel in action. If you're a Gundam freak or a completionist, then you'll have to watch this. But if you aren't compelled by an obsession or other mental disorder to watch every UC Gundam, skip this one. Or maybe just watch the first and last episodes.

Preface: This OVA disappointed me. It had started off fairly well, it was good enough and a solid 7/10, but halfway through it took a complete nosedive. Apparently, folks are saying that this is due to a change in director. You can really tell. It was as if someone beat every character upside the head with a mental pipe halfway through the show, and they had to continue with severe brain damage. The Good: It's fairly easy to get the good parts out of the way first. The sound design was nice, and the art was fairly good as well. The premise itself was also quite intriguing. Also,in all fairness, i believe the show started off enjoyable enough. The Bad: 1-The mobile suit designs are...either boring or ugly. The unit 1 is fairly bland and vanilla, the unit 2 looks stupid, and the worst abominations i think i have ever seen are units 3 and the Neue Ziel. They might fit the tastes of some folks, but for me they simply looked ridiculous. It's a "Mobile Suit" without any mobility. 2-Timeline inconsistency. The events in this show are supposed to occur between the events of MSG and Zeta Gundam, and is supposed to provide context for the formation of the Titans and the Federation becoming "evil". Yet, there is absolutely no mention of any of these events in Zeta or ZZ. The only link between this show and Zeta is a brief glimpse of Haman, and the mentioning of a few characters key to the formation of Titans. They try and explain this by saying that the ending was covered up by the federation, but that makes absolutely no sense. How do you cover up a colony drop and a nuclear missile wiping 3/4ths of your entire fleet? 3-The characters are for the most part uninteresting. Protagonist is vanilla as hell, no particular motivations, he's just kinda there while stuff happens around him. The supporting cast is somewhat redeeming, primarily Keith, Burning, and Cima. However, that all goes out the window in the second half, as most of these characters disappear an are forgotten until the final sequence. The Ugly: (Ending Spoilers ahead, but i don't consider the show worth watching anyways) What in gods name happened in the second half? So you have Nina. She's a somewhat boring engineer character, designer of Unit 1 and 2, and Kou's "supposed" love interest. She was mostly out of the way in the first half, but the new director decided that she wasn't getting enough screen time. So, he retroactively created a love triangle between her, the main antagonist, and the protagonist. How do i know that it's retroactive and not intended? Because in the very first episode, the main antagonist, Gato, walks right past Nina, steals her precious Gundam unit 2, and walks away and they don't recognize each other at all. Yet, in the second half it turns out they were lovers before the the war, and that she's completely obsessed with him. This sudden bombshell and giant plot hole signals the start of Nina's complete irrationality. After this point, none of her behavior makes any sense, and the only justification we get is her saying "YOU GUYS DONT UNDERSTAND" repeatedly. Her behavior becomes completely emotional, irrational, and nonsensical. She single-handedly derails the show. This leads us to what i consider the absolute worst scene in this entire show. Gato, Nina, and Kou on the colony as it's about to drop. Kou is going to kill Gato, but then Nina picks up a gun to protect Gato and threatens to shoot Kou. Instead of stopping Gato from dropping a colony on Earth, she lets him do it, and then threatens to kill Kou. She chooses Gato over Kou. The same Gato who nuked the fleet, same Gato who is about to drop a colony on Earth. Despite this being a huge blow to the viewers, and a complete 180 in the characters behavior, and a totally irrational move, i don't think it's that bad. What's bad is what comes next. So, Gato dies to the fleet, we don't even get the pleasure of seeing Kou kill Gato. Nina also lives, despite me praying and HOPING that the directors have enough sense to kill her off. Kou doesn't die. Had Kou died, then we would have had a nice moral about someone not being able to choose one lover and ends up losing both. Nope. You can't have that. Kou lives and goes to prison for a year, then when he's let out, guess what happens? Yup. He's greeted by Nina and the ending implies they run into each other's arms. Excuse me? What? Who the hell wrote this garbage? The main character is a total door mat that gets stepped on and treated like trash from the start of the show until the end. Had he showed any sign of development in that final scene, had he rejected Nina, had he done anything to imply that his character had grown and developed then i would have been able to let it slide. Maybe i would have given this show a 5 or 6 and a soft recommendation. But there is absolutely no payoff for the viewer. You leave this show feeling disappointed. If you're going to shift focus to a more character based story in the second half, then the least you can do is make your characters motives sensible or rational, and develop and grow your characters, OR AT LEAST give us some form of cathartic payoff seeing the characters we hate get what they deserve. But as this show does none of that, it's not worth watching. Don't waste your time. You can skip this entry in the franchise since it has no impact at all on any other show or narrative.

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