Search - Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, Vol. 1 on DVD

Not your average Gundam fare

Daniel Cowden | USA | 12/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket" is one small offering in the Gundam multiverse, and it's also my favorite. Rather than glorifying combat, the military, and war itself, which the majority of Gundam's ten TV series, ten (soon to be thirteen) theatrical movies, and four direct-to-video series do (sometimes inadvertently), these three episodes are the first half of what is definitely Gundam's greatest anti-war statement (and perhaps the greatest one in all anime).

"Gundam 0080" is not an action-flick disguised as Science Fiction, as better-known Gundam titles like "Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory", "Gundam Wing", or even "Gundam: The 08th MS Team" are. This show is completely character-driven, though when battles are depicted (this is Gundam, after all, so there are battles, they simply aren't the focus for a change) they are among the best planned and animated fight sequences in Gundam's 25 year history, and the five-minute opening battle is one few fans can forget. But the show has only four mobile suit battles in six episodes, so if all you want is Big Guns and flashy explosions, try "Gundam Wing", "Z Gundam", or "Gundam SEED".

Although released in 1989, "Gundam 0080" remains one of the finest sections of the Gundam multiverse. No prior knowledge of any Gundam series is needed to enjoy this series, though having seen the original "Mobile Suit Gundam" TV series or Movie Trilogy certainly helps. There are no direct tie-ins with other shows set in Gundam's original Universal Century setting, "Gundam 0080" is a stand-alone.

This DVD covers the first half of the series, introducing the 11-year-old protagonist Alfred, hapless Principality of Zeon pilot Bernie, and Al's recently returned grown-up next door neighbor Chris, who has come back to her home space colony on business for the Earth Federation. Also introduced are the members of the Cyclops Team, a crack Zeon special forces unit on a mission to destroy a new Mobile Suit being secretly tested in Al's colony."