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The Origin of Gundam: The Origin




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LightningCount



Joined: 04 Mar 2018
Posts: 228
PostPosted: Wed May 15, 2019 2:54 pm Reply with quote
Good piece to get folks up to speed, Lauren.

Two things to note: One, The Origin manga (which the OVA and now TV series are based on) goes so far developing aspects of the characters and world that some actually contradict what's seen or said in the original 1979 Gundam 0079 TV series that follows. So, while it greatly enhances a number of aspects of the viewing experience, you have to overlook some of the incongruous changes. This is a result of the manga series not only telling the backstory, but retelling the entire 0079 series, something the recent anime adaptation didn't do.

Second, I took a glance at the first episode of the new TV adaptation, and it made a shocking change right off the bat. Whereas the OVA series starts with a "flash-forward" featuring arguably the best-animated, most jaw-dropping sequence in the entire OVA series, the new TV series seems to follow a more chronological order, beginning with Char and Sayla as kids, which is the second scene of the OVA version. I wonder...spoiler[does that mean that amazing action sequence will be deleted from the TV series, since it clashes with a retelling of the scene from OVA 6 (back when OVA 6 wasn't going to be made), or will OVA 6's Battle of Loum be recut to include the more dynamic actions of Char seen in OVA 1? To me, if it's permanently deleted, it hurts the wow factor. I hope they get creative with the editing there.)]
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8452
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Wed May 15, 2019 4:28 pm Reply with quote
How odd to do an article all about the original Mobile Suit Gundam (after a fashion) without even once mentioning the creator, Yoshiyuki Tomino. Sure, The Origin is a Yas work, but the article seems to imply Yas was more instrumental in the series than he really was (though he did do a lot for the compilation movies).

I'm still not sure how I feel about the original Char Aznable spoiler[just being a kid who for some reason coincidentally looks just like Casval Daikun.] There's narrative conveniences, and then there's just bizarre nonsense.
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John Thacker



Joined: 28 Oct 2013
Posts: 1006
PostPosted: Wed May 15, 2019 4:36 pm Reply with quote
LightningCount wrote:
Good piece to get folks up to speed, Lauren.

Second, I took a glance at the first episode of the new TV adaptation, and it made a shocking change right off the bat. Whereas the OVA series starts with a "flash-forward" featuring arguably the best-animated, most jaw-dropping sequence in the entire OVA series, the new TV series seems to follow a more chronological order, beginning with Char and Sayla as kids, which is the second scene of the OVA version. I wonder...spoiler[does that mean that amazing action sequence will be deleted from the TV series, since it clashes with a retelling of the scene from OVA 6 (back when OVA 6 wasn't going to be made), or will OVA 6's Battle of Loum be recut to include the more dynamic actions of Char seen in OVA 1? To me, if it's permanently deleted, it hurts the wow factor. I hope they get creative with the editing there.)]


Interestingly, my wife actually hates that one scene that the OVA series starts with, because she just doesn't like the 3DCG look of the mechs.
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pajmo9



Joined: 24 Feb 2005
Posts: 630
PostPosted: Wed May 15, 2019 5:29 pm Reply with quote
penguintruth wrote:
I'm still not sure how I feel about the original Char Aznable spoiler[just being a kid who for some reason coincidentally looks just like Casval Daikun.] There's narrative conveniences, and then there's just bizarre nonsense.


That's a Tomino thing. If memory serves, that's what he used in his novelization. He also used it again in Turn A.

I've always considered Yasuhiko to be an excellent visual artist, but I've never cared for his storytelling or characterization. The Origin is no exception on either account. I know this isn't the popular opinion, but I still prefer the movie trilogies and what they implied about the backstory over The Origin. That being said, I definitely recommend The Origin as a highly entertaining Standalone piece.
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Blackiris_



Joined: 06 Sep 2013
Posts: 535
PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2019 4:00 am Reply with quote
Insightful article, thank you. I’m enjoying The Origin a lot at the moment, though if I had access to the movies right now, I would probably watch them instead.

Quote:
This April, Gundam: The Origin came around in its latest form, a 13-episode TV series. It arrives in the wake of the poorly-received Gundam Unicorn RE:0096, a 2016 anime that compressed the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn OAV collection into 26 episodes.


Can you or anyone explain the "compressed" part? (And I think it was 22 episodes, not 26.) I have seen the TV cut of Unicorn and wasn’t too happy with it either – but probably more due to my lack of knowledge of the Universal Century timeline.

TV = 22*22 = 484 minutes
OVAs = 6*55 + 90 = 420 minutes

So can this really be called "compression"? Or is it rather an awkward transition to a different distribution format?
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TexZero



Joined: 25 Oct 2017
Posts: 581
PostPosted: Thu May 16, 2019 5:33 pm Reply with quote
Blackiris_ wrote:
Insightful article, thank you. I’m enjoying The Origin a lot at the moment, though if I had access to the movies right now, I would probably watch them instead.

Quote:
This April, Gundam: The Origin came around in its latest form, a 13-episode TV series. It arrives in the wake of the poorly-received Gundam Unicorn RE:0096, a 2016 anime that compressed the Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn OAV collection into 26 episodes.


Can you or anyone explain the "compressed" part? (And I think it was 22 episodes, not 26.) I have seen the TV cut of Unicorn and wasn’t too happy with it either – but probably more due to my lack of knowledge of the Universal Century timeline.

TV = 22*22 = 484 minutes
OVAs = 6*55 + 90 = 420 minutes

So can this really be called "compression"? Or is it rather an awkward transition to a different distribution format?


Did you account for the ~4minutes per episode of OP/ED that aren't actually part of the story that don't exist on the OVA's ?

Also, from watching both (Unicorn and RE:Unicorn) it was a very jarring jumpcut and compression that often missed key story elements. Origin is doing very much the same thing.
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Goldenself



Joined: 20 May 2019
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Mon May 20, 2019 12:21 am Reply with quote
LightningCount wrote:
manga series not only telling the backstory, but retelling the entire 0079 series, something the recent anime adaptation didn't do.

But how I wish it did... The OVA really captures the feel of the original movie trilogy so well while also updating it. Or more to the point, the feel of a grand historical epic. I hold out hope someday they'll continue and remake the whole MSG based on its portrayal in the Origin manga. A lot of the changes make a lot more sense. For example, tying up Sayla's story... At all. Which MSG and subsequent shows totally fail to do.

Nevermind that the way Yas does that totally messes with the rest of the UC shows, but not wrapping things up for Sayla really is the Gundam Original Sin, so it can't be helped. In a perfect world they would continue from there and remake Zeta and ZZ with that in mind as well, with updated animation and storytelling nuance...and model kits of course Smile

Well, it's a nice dream...

I've been watching the TV cut and so far I find the OVA is definitely paced in a more compelling way. It has a very deliberate cinematic quality that's been lost, so the TV cut feels arbitrary by comparison. Recently, also, the fate of Char and Sayla's mother as well as the spaceport security scenes were made less sensible by cuts for time.

I might have been tainted by seeing the OVA first, though. Maybe it feels fine to someone who doesn't have the comparison to make.

I think we'll probably still see the opening battle from the OVA, just where it is chronologically toward the end. Probably cut from the beginning for time.

pajmo9 wrote:
That's a Tomino thing. If memory serves, that's what he used in his novelization. He also used it again in Turn A.

If that's true, it really solves the biggest problem I have with the Origin. Because, freaking Tomino. There are also plenty of indicators that could lead the Zabis to put two and two together about Char with this origin. But God of Newtypes do I not want to have to read that novelization to confirm. Razz
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