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機動戦士ガンダムTHE ORIGIN 愛蔵版 [Kidō Senshi Gundam: The Origin aizōban] #8
Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN 8: Operation Odessa
The biggest name in Japanese science fiction— —returns with one of its creators retelling its origins 25 years after the series debuted. Caught in the crossfire of a space civil war, teenager Amuro Ray accidentally finds a new mobile weapon—the RX-78 Gundam.
In the eighth volume of , readers are sent back to the war at hand. The White Base continues to be chased across the Earth by Zeon forces. The story shifts away from the jungles and deserts of the Americas, moving into much more urban settings in Europe.
In the eighth volume of , readers are sent back to the war at hand. The White Base continues to be chased across the Earth by Zeon forces. The story shifts away from the jungles and deserts of the Americas, moving into much more urban settings in Europe.
460 pages, Hardcover
First published October 29, 2003
10 people are currently reading
297 people want to read
About the author
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
372 books36 followersYoshikazu Yasuhiko (安彦良和) is a Japanese manga artist, animator, character designer, anime director, illustrator, and novelist. He was born in Engaru Town, Monbetsu District, Hokkaido, and currently resides in Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
January 30, 2024
Another great entry in the series that I couldn’t put down. Probably closer to a 4.5 star review. While not quite as heavy as the last arc, the battle of Odessa features several strong character moments and shows two great generals of the conflict clashing in the largest scale battle of the series so far, which is drawn with a remarkable level of detail.
The pacing through this arc is quick due to being more action focused, but the story was compelling and I ended up reading all 11 chapters in a single sitting. One thing I appreciate in the series is how it does a great job at showing that not every leader on Zeon’s side of the war is a wholly evil person; a bit of nuance that really drives home how nearly everyone becomes a victim to circumstance during a great conflicts.
The pacing through this arc is quick due to being more action focused, but the story was compelling and I ended up reading all 11 chapters in a single sitting. One thing I appreciate in the series is how it does a great job at showing that not every leader on Zeon’s side of the war is a wholly evil person; a bit of nuance that really drives home how nearly everyone becomes a victim to circumstance during a great conflicts.
March 17, 2015
The (admittedly incredibly good) flashback arc has concluded, and now we return to the White Base - first as they come into port at Belfast, before moving to Gibraltar and the Mediterranean as part of the final push to drive Zeon forces from Earth, with Operation Odessa.
As with the earlier volumes, Yasuhiko's art is incredibly good, and while he's still working from Yoshiyuki Tomino's original framework, with the TV series, he builds on it in ways which do in incredible job of expanding of some of the characters. In particular, M'quve gets some considerable character growth. Miharu also gets some additional screen time, as opposed to basically being a one-episode wonder in the show.
However, after Miharu's arc, the focus of this volume is particularly on action, and the action sequences here are played out brilliantly. We have a tense cat-and-mouse duel in Gibraltar leading up to the fourth battle between Char and Amuro - along with the various parts of Operation Odessa. Yasuhiko does an excellent job basically doing a montage in sequential art. Where the original series budgetary limitations restrained the scope of this larger war, Yasuhiko is able to use the implied gaps in time between panels to let our mind fill in the pieces.
Unfortunately, with the conclusion of combat on Earth, and the next volume likely taking us back to space, this does mean that we won't get my favorite episode of Mobile Suit Gundam - the episode where a Zeon Patrol blunders across The White Base, in the forests of Northern Europe, and hopes that the Feddies will be just as caught off guard as they are, and they attempt a sneak attack. The plan doesn't work - but in the episode the Zeon troops survive, and no one on White Base is killed, so the incident serves as a nice psychological rest break, focusing on the idea that sometimes in war, a lot hinges on luck, not everything goes according to plan, and occasionally you legitimately get moments where you can end up saying "Someday, when all this is over, we'll look back on this moment and laugh."
As with the earlier volumes, Yasuhiko's art is incredibly good, and while he's still working from Yoshiyuki Tomino's original framework, with the TV series, he builds on it in ways which do in incredible job of expanding of some of the characters. In particular, M'quve gets some considerable character growth. Miharu also gets some additional screen time, as opposed to basically being a one-episode wonder in the show.
However, after Miharu's arc, the focus of this volume is particularly on action, and the action sequences here are played out brilliantly. We have a tense cat-and-mouse duel in Gibraltar leading up to the fourth battle between Char and Amuro - along with the various parts of Operation Odessa. Yasuhiko does an excellent job basically doing a montage in sequential art. Where the original series budgetary limitations restrained the scope of this larger war, Yasuhiko is able to use the implied gaps in time between panels to let our mind fill in the pieces.
Unfortunately, with the conclusion of combat on Earth, and the next volume likely taking us back to space, this does mean that we won't get my favorite episode of Mobile Suit Gundam - the episode where a Zeon Patrol blunders across The White Base, in the forests of Northern Europe, and hopes that the Feddies will be just as caught off guard as they are, and they attempt a sneak attack. The plan doesn't work - but in the episode the Zeon troops survive, and no one on White Base is killed, so the incident serves as a nice psychological rest break, focusing on the idea that sometimes in war, a lot hinges on luck, not everything goes according to plan, and occasionally you legitimately get moments where you can end up saying "Someday, when all this is over, we'll look back on this moment and laugh."
January 25, 2015
Some of the battles in this one were a little hard to follow because the battle panels were so.... busy, but the story development was top notch. Great series so far.
January 29, 2022
Amuro matures.
The boy's skill as a mobile suit pilot. The boy's control and mastery of his emotions under stressful conditions. The boy's capacity to balance fear and expectation in the heat of battle. Amuro's maturity has shown steady growth up to the current volume, but in MSG: THE ORIGIN #8, readers witness the full breadth of the young man's earnestness all at once. It comes as a minor shock, considering readers have spent the past three volumes and 1,400 pages sinking their teeth into the life and times of Casval Rem Deikun. But ultimately, the pivot is a necessary one. Amuro's grit, skill, and tenacity are all that rival Char's, and it is here that Amuro's trajectory truly takes aim.
But with Amuro's growth comes a tumultuous reckoning of sorts: Crewmembers new to White Base voice their suspicions about the lineage of Amuro's battle ethos; old foes on the hunt overstep their skillset and jeopardize their units; and then there's that pesky newtype sensation that's been kicking up in the background. Amuro is coming into his own; however, for him to do so effectively, others must step aside, willingly or otherwise.
White Base makes a quick journey from Northern Ireland southward to the underbelly of Europe, passing through Gibraltar, across the Mediterranean Sea, and angling up and toward the Black Sea and Caucuses region. Few doubt Operation Odessa will succeed. The only lingering query, for the Feds, is whether Zeon's numerable spies will throw a wrench into the machine of war.
Curiously, there have always been more Zeon spies in the ranks of the Federation than the other way around. MSG: THE ORIGIN #8 highlights the efforts of a few such spies, from the dispossessed and highly ranked (e.g., Lieutenant Colonel Judock, Lieutenant General Elran) to the tragically lowly and disposable (e.g., Miharu, of Belfast). Miharu's story is emblematic of many tales of the Gundam universe: personal diligence in the face professional petulance, and the sacrifice of peace and family for the sake of institutional dogma too outsized and too ignorant for the quibbles of layperson survivorship.
MSG: THE ORIGIN #8 shows flickering interest in revealing the intricacies of personhood and the effects of war strife. Char's obsessiveness with defeating the Gundam leads to distraction (and, sadly, the destruction of his custom MS-06S Zaku II, an exquisitely beautiful, deep-red, horned mech). The Black Tri-Stars make another appearance; but their gaggle-eyed thirst for revenge leads to their downfall, as a veteran, even-tempered Amuro puts to bed each and every one of those purple-black MS-09B Dom suits, whose all-terrain tactical advantages fall flat against superior piloting. Kai's selfishness boomerangs ferociously, and the young man's ego is unexpectedly wounded far deeper than either he or his comrades could have predicted.
On a larger scale, readers see more of General Revil's perpetual shrewdness on display, as well as its likely trickling down and into the wartime strategy of Bright Noa. For example, when White Base is attacked by several amphibious mecha (e.g., the MAM-07 Grublo, the bulbous MSM-10 Zock, and the delightfully fierce MSM-03 Gogg), Captain Noa repeatedly refuses to diverge from the established plan. Noa's intransigence, however well-intentioned, reifies for readers the dilemma of warfighting among amateurs.
MSG: THE ORIGIN #8 is an entertaining volume for its reliance on using human tragedy to articulate the broad, ignorant musings of intergalactic war. Such is the universe of Gundam. For example, when Master Sergeant Etur Börbache provides a history lesson on Turkey, as White Base skirts Asia Minor, the manga's characters relate to him on an intimate level that belies the man's professional failings, which ultimately do him in. This manga cuts the cloth of a single, large-scale war, on land and in the cosmos, but woven into this single cloth are countless individual battles whose wounds influence the pattern of human history, time and again.
The boy's skill as a mobile suit pilot. The boy's control and mastery of his emotions under stressful conditions. The boy's capacity to balance fear and expectation in the heat of battle. Amuro's maturity has shown steady growth up to the current volume, but in MSG: THE ORIGIN #8, readers witness the full breadth of the young man's earnestness all at once. It comes as a minor shock, considering readers have spent the past three volumes and 1,400 pages sinking their teeth into the life and times of Casval Rem Deikun. But ultimately, the pivot is a necessary one. Amuro's grit, skill, and tenacity are all that rival Char's, and it is here that Amuro's trajectory truly takes aim.
But with Amuro's growth comes a tumultuous reckoning of sorts: Crewmembers new to White Base voice their suspicions about the lineage of Amuro's battle ethos; old foes on the hunt overstep their skillset and jeopardize their units; and then there's that pesky newtype sensation that's been kicking up in the background. Amuro is coming into his own; however, for him to do so effectively, others must step aside, willingly or otherwise.
White Base makes a quick journey from Northern Ireland southward to the underbelly of Europe, passing through Gibraltar, across the Mediterranean Sea, and angling up and toward the Black Sea and Caucuses region. Few doubt Operation Odessa will succeed. The only lingering query, for the Feds, is whether Zeon's numerable spies will throw a wrench into the machine of war.
Curiously, there have always been more Zeon spies in the ranks of the Federation than the other way around. MSG: THE ORIGIN #8 highlights the efforts of a few such spies, from the dispossessed and highly ranked (e.g., Lieutenant Colonel Judock, Lieutenant General Elran) to the tragically lowly and disposable (e.g., Miharu, of Belfast). Miharu's story is emblematic of many tales of the Gundam universe: personal diligence in the face professional petulance, and the sacrifice of peace and family for the sake of institutional dogma too outsized and too ignorant for the quibbles of layperson survivorship.
MSG: THE ORIGIN #8 shows flickering interest in revealing the intricacies of personhood and the effects of war strife. Char's obsessiveness with defeating the Gundam leads to distraction (and, sadly, the destruction of his custom MS-06S Zaku II, an exquisitely beautiful, deep-red, horned mech). The Black Tri-Stars make another appearance; but their gaggle-eyed thirst for revenge leads to their downfall, as a veteran, even-tempered Amuro puts to bed each and every one of those purple-black MS-09B Dom suits, whose all-terrain tactical advantages fall flat against superior piloting. Kai's selfishness boomerangs ferociously, and the young man's ego is unexpectedly wounded far deeper than either he or his comrades could have predicted.
On a larger scale, readers see more of General Revil's perpetual shrewdness on display, as well as its likely trickling down and into the wartime strategy of Bright Noa. For example, when White Base is attacked by several amphibious mecha (e.g., the MAM-07 Grublo, the bulbous MSM-10 Zock, and the delightfully fierce MSM-03 Gogg), Captain Noa repeatedly refuses to diverge from the established plan. Noa's intransigence, however well-intentioned, reifies for readers the dilemma of warfighting among amateurs.
MSG: THE ORIGIN #8 is an entertaining volume for its reliance on using human tragedy to articulate the broad, ignorant musings of intergalactic war. Such is the universe of Gundam. For example, when Master Sergeant Etur Börbache provides a history lesson on Turkey, as White Base skirts Asia Minor, the manga's characters relate to him on an intimate level that belies the man's professional failings, which ultimately do him in. This manga cuts the cloth of a single, large-scale war, on land and in the cosmos, but woven into this single cloth are countless individual battles whose wounds influence the pattern of human history, time and again.
April 16, 2020
I can't stand the Naz- er, the Zeon army. Not that the Federation is any better. Here we go into Operation Odessa wherein the Federation makes a last ditch attempt to send all the Zeon forces scurrying off the planet and trying to regain control of the Earth sphere. I won't say how it went, though if you're a fan of the original series, I'm sure you already know. Our usual gang of heroes is still fighting on The White Base, running their Gundams and mobile suits into battle despite personal tragedy striking at them again and again. The story doesn't ramp down, quite the contrary Yasuhiko-sensei keeps the action coming and manages to throw in some surprises as well, all of which is fun and exciting and makes for an awesome yarn.
Whatever my personal dislike of Zeon, the author actually makes me fall in love with General M'Quve. In a scene out of history, much like German General Dietrich von Choltitz in Paris, M'Quve refuses to follow an order from high command to destroy any large Federation cities as they retreat, stating that, "For me, the Zeonist ideal isn't worth a single porcelain masterpiece."
Pretty cool commentary from a defeated general who refuses to destroy earth history in a pointless war. [All war is pointless, don't argue this.] He's easily my favorite Zeon character, yeah I hate Char despite his very tragic childhood and traumatic life.
The art as ever is crisp, clean and beautiful. Amazing to see what a master mangaka can do with a few brush strokes. The end of the book also contains some very beautiful color pieces in gouache and watercolor of the characters and the different mechas in the story. And a very touching if sad tribute to a fallen character by Makoto Yukimura. A nice little tribute and a better end note than that in the last volume which read as sycophantic chicanery by another master mangaka.
All in all this series simply gets better and better in adding more nuance and gentle portraits as well as more rounded characterization to a story you might already be familiar with having watched the anime and its retellings. The art is gorgeous, the story still amazing and I highly recommend this manga to anyone who is a fan of a good story, war stories, or just plain science fiction. You don't have to love gunpla or anime to read this as a brilliant war story and appreciate it for its gorgeous art and brilliant storytelling.
Whatever my personal dislike of Zeon, the author actually makes me fall in love with General M'Quve. In a scene out of history, much like German General Dietrich von Choltitz in Paris, M'Quve refuses to follow an order from high command to destroy any large Federation cities as they retreat, stating that, "For me, the Zeonist ideal isn't worth a single porcelain masterpiece."
Pretty cool commentary from a defeated general who refuses to destroy earth history in a pointless war. [All war is pointless, don't argue this.] He's easily my favorite Zeon character, yeah I hate Char despite his very tragic childhood and traumatic life.
The art as ever is crisp, clean and beautiful. Amazing to see what a master mangaka can do with a few brush strokes. The end of the book also contains some very beautiful color pieces in gouache and watercolor of the characters and the different mechas in the story. And a very touching if sad tribute to a fallen character by Makoto Yukimura. A nice little tribute and a better end note than that in the last volume which read as sycophantic chicanery by another master mangaka.
All in all this series simply gets better and better in adding more nuance and gentle portraits as well as more rounded characterization to a story you might already be familiar with having watched the anime and its retellings. The art is gorgeous, the story still amazing and I highly recommend this manga to anyone who is a fan of a good story, war stories, or just plain science fiction. You don't have to love gunpla or anime to read this as a brilliant war story and appreciate it for its gorgeous art and brilliant storytelling.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2020
Recently I have been in a balance with remembering enough of the details in the previous volumes in order to follow the current one I am reading, and I have to say that Volume 8 of Yasuhiko's "Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN" was the most successful in that retention so far!
War is never the solution, as we see in this series and in this volume in particular. There is no gain worth the lives lost when an eye for an eye leaves us all blind. I can tell that the characters on both ends of the fight are starting to see and acknowledge this outcome of their choices, and their lifelong effects on themselves and those around them. Yet, here we are decades later, still debating the ethics of war when artists (among many trades) continue to show why we should never allow this course to occur in the first place.
Hopefully by the conclusion of the series our characters can settle this horror once and for all in their world, as we still try to do in our own.
As I have stated time and time again, I know by watching the series as an anime that I will bridge those divides that have occurred since my break between volumes. I look forward to the visual spectacle of the battles and interactions between characters and their environments that are equally as rich as the illustrations in the print copy of the series. The color palate should also prove to be alluring and satisfying in all the ways the book has been able to do so.
Now comes the waiting game of Volume 9, and it is a game I adore playing with each series I collect!
War is never the solution, as we see in this series and in this volume in particular. There is no gain worth the lives lost when an eye for an eye leaves us all blind. I can tell that the characters on both ends of the fight are starting to see and acknowledge this outcome of their choices, and their lifelong effects on themselves and those around them. Yet, here we are decades later, still debating the ethics of war when artists (among many trades) continue to show why we should never allow this course to occur in the first place.
Hopefully by the conclusion of the series our characters can settle this horror once and for all in their world, as we still try to do in our own.
As I have stated time and time again, I know by watching the series as an anime that I will bridge those divides that have occurred since my break between volumes. I look forward to the visual spectacle of the battles and interactions between characters and their environments that are equally as rich as the illustrations in the print copy of the series. The color palate should also prove to be alluring and satisfying in all the ways the book has been able to do so.
Now comes the waiting game of Volume 9, and it is a game I adore playing with each series I collect!
July 17, 2024
Whereas the previous volume focused on the Battle of Loum, the past, and character development, Operation Odessa, reflecting its larger than life role in the Gundam worldbuilding, focuses on the plot and the future, and delivers.
Now that I think of it, while following the same broad strokes as the original series, The Origin moves around some individual events, which means that even veterans of the series can expect to recognize changes. In any case, Kai is the "sub-star" in this volume, receiving a short arc which forces upon him character development he never would have wished for. Char begins to suffer from character decay, as his grudge against the Gundam begins to cloud his clear thinking.
However, the real star of the show is everything involved in Operation Odessa. Canonically the major Federation counteroffensive aimed at driving Zeon off the planet, it was the largest ground battle of the One Year War and a major turning point in the entire story. The manga delivers on this aspect, depicting the beauty of a full-scale battle the likes of which haven't been seen since Kursk. In many ways, this is the most straightforward volume so far, as the character development is less center stage than the plot itself. Yasuhiko-sensei makes the grim battle a thing of beauty to appreciate, while the Generals in charge, Revil and M'quve, do quite well for themselves in the field, demonstrating a stubborn warrior nobility.
With this, the battle shifts to space, with the obvious recommendation that the reader continue this series!
Now that I think of it, while following the same broad strokes as the original series, The Origin moves around some individual events, which means that even veterans of the series can expect to recognize changes. In any case, Kai is the "sub-star" in this volume, receiving a short arc which forces upon him character development he never would have wished for. Char begins to suffer from character decay, as his grudge against the Gundam begins to cloud his clear thinking.
However, the real star of the show is everything involved in Operation Odessa. Canonically the major Federation counteroffensive aimed at driving Zeon off the planet, it was the largest ground battle of the One Year War and a major turning point in the entire story. The manga delivers on this aspect, depicting the beauty of a full-scale battle the likes of which haven't been seen since Kursk. In many ways, this is the most straightforward volume so far, as the character development is less center stage than the plot itself. Yasuhiko-sensei makes the grim battle a thing of beauty to appreciate, while the Generals in charge, Revil and M'quve, do quite well for themselves in the field, demonstrating a stubborn warrior nobility.
With this, the battle shifts to space, with the obvious recommendation that the reader continue this series!
May 12, 2025
✨Writing a grouped review for the whole series and copy and pasting ✨
Mobile Suit Gundam is my first venture into more mechasuit sci-fi stories and to it I have had a rather mixed experience. I'm not the biggest of sci-fi readers in general but I now know this is not really my niche. I read it after multiple people had recommended to me both the manga and the anime and I am glad I have read it.
The series does an ok job at setting the plot and developing it's characters; with some satisfactory moral conclusions. However, a lot of it is pretty convoluted and hard to follow. I wouldn't say this is necessarily beginner friendly for readers not used to the genre.
If sci-fi and specifically mechsuits are more your thing, you could definitely find enjoyment here. Just not for me
Mobile Suit Gundam is my first venture into more mechasuit sci-fi stories and to it I have had a rather mixed experience. I'm not the biggest of sci-fi readers in general but I now know this is not really my niche. I read it after multiple people had recommended to me both the manga and the anime and I am glad I have read it.
The series does an ok job at setting the plot and developing it's characters; with some satisfactory moral conclusions. However, a lot of it is pretty convoluted and hard to follow. I wouldn't say this is necessarily beginner friendly for readers not used to the genre.
If sci-fi and specifically mechsuits are more your thing, you could definitely find enjoyment here. Just not for me
December 31, 2023
This is a great volume of a great manga. The story of Operation Odessa is not as well-to-do as the Miharu story, but there is a magnificent commentary on the sorrow of war and a struggling hope told over multiple color (watercolor!) pages. I've really not seen it in other manga or medium. It is so striking. I poured over it for a while, flipping back and forth between the pages, drinking it all in, which really is one of the particular joys of reading manga and other visual-narrative literature. How magnificent
June 25, 2020
It’s incredible how vividly and beautifully Yasuhiko reanimated, so to speak, this decades-old story. I don’t normally compare shows to manga/novelizations, but it has to be said: this story arc was forgettable in the anime and yet somehow it is powerful and brutal to behold here in this tome. Each of these books is a brilliant joy to behold, and this one is a masterful accomplishment of storytelling and visual art.
February 2, 2023
Yes back to my old White Base friends! The Belfast battle is terrible because of Kai and Miharu. I’m not even a big fan of Kai but seeing him so devastated and the crew not knowing who he is talking about really got me.
May 23, 2024
The return to the present, albeit a present with a different chronological order than the original Gundam series. The volume ends with an alternative rendition of Odessa’s battle and an earlier demise for one of Zeon’s major characters.
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December 18, 2017
Char killing feds out in the wilderness was so interesting. I could’ve read a whole novel on just that bit.
June 11, 2025
The fights here got rather more brutal than in the anime. And it's nice to see Amuro's newtype abilities blooming much earlier and more gradually. Overall, nothing but approval.
July 6, 2025
A finely rendered treatise on the cost of war. Intrigue, hope, sacrifice, loss—all wrapped up in the battle of Odessa.
July 15, 2025
Now that Yoshikazu Yasuhiko has run out of space for his extended flashback to fit into, the main narrative can settle back in for new settings, characters, and combat maneuvers to leave the leading children with nightmares. Granted, those new settings are still bursting with familiar antagonists. And the new characters are quickly squashed in order to produce those same nightmares. And after the cataclysmic colony drop of the previous volume, topping things off with the threat of some standard nukes to the heart of the Federation's command really doesn't seem like it would do much to change the status quo. Oh well, at least Char Aznable is feuding with Amuro Ray again, and not just shadowboxing with his own imagined destiny in some Zeon black site.
February 3, 2016
The White Base travels toward the city of Odessa in support of the Earth Federation's first big counterattack against the Zeon occupation forces.
The volume begins with the ship's layover at Belfast, and Kai's dalliance with Miharu, the Zeon spy. This story is virtually unchanged from the original TV episode, which is fine with me, since it is a classic Gundam story. From there, the story again diverges from the anime series, featuring an inconclusive one-on-one duel between Char and Amuro on top of the Rock of Gibraltar. The actual Battle of Odessa comes late in the book, but it is given more attention and detail than in the anime, with the tension ratcheted up a few notches, and more attention paid to the mecha "footsoldiers" fighting and dying in their hundreds and thousands. M'Quve's story arc is altered, also, making him look more like an actual military leader, rather than just a weird effete art lover. His Gyan mobile suit even manages to come off as looking cool in the Odessa battle scenes, which is quite a feat.
The volume begins with the ship's layover at Belfast, and Kai's dalliance with Miharu, the Zeon spy. This story is virtually unchanged from the original TV episode, which is fine with me, since it is a classic Gundam story. From there, the story again diverges from the anime series, featuring an inconclusive one-on-one duel between Char and Amuro on top of the Rock of Gibraltar. The actual Battle of Odessa comes late in the book, but it is given more attention and detail than in the anime, with the tension ratcheted up a few notches, and more attention paid to the mecha "footsoldiers" fighting and dying in their hundreds and thousands. M'Quve's story arc is altered, also, making him look more like an actual military leader, rather than just a weird effete art lover. His Gyan mobile suit even manages to come off as looking cool in the Odessa battle scenes, which is quite a feat.
November 21, 2016
I wrote a more comprehensive review of the first volume here.
This volume returns to the main plot-line, picking up with the arc with Miharu. Miharu's story is beautifully done, and even more moving with the opportunity to expand it. The art continues to be gorgeous, and I especially loved the color pages of the underwater fights. That, and this volume also has a ton of different Gundam models, with extended action scenes to show them all off. M'Quve also gets more screen time, and as a result comes across as a more impressive enemy.
This volume returns to the main plot-line, picking up with the arc with Miharu. Miharu's story is beautifully done, and even more moving with the opportunity to expand it. The art continues to be gorgeous, and I especially loved the color pages of the underwater fights. That, and this volume also has a ton of different Gundam models, with extended action scenes to show them all off. M'Quve also gets more screen time, and as a result comes across as a more impressive enemy.
January 17, 2015
Long story short, Yasuhiko creates a world where the tragedies of war are just as palpable as the glory of the battlefield. Notable in this volume is the Miharu and Kai arc, which is one of the best and most tragic story lines in the series thus far, and scene where Char literally leaps out of his Zaku and on to a passing plane. If you're a fan of robots fighting or a relatively realistic portrayal of the tragedies of war, this is for you. Seriously, buy this entire series.
March 19, 2016
I particularly loved this addition to the series because all the action took place on Earth. Made for a nice new setting and made everything engaging in a way that is different than epic battles in space/on space stations. When you see giant robots tearing up Ireland, it means something deeper. As always, awesome art. So great!
October 9, 2015
Back to the main storyline with this final earthbound volume. I think Kai has gotten a better portrayal throughout this adaptation of the story, but this volume includes one of his defining moments with the story of Miharu.
December 1, 2015
Enjoyed it except for the typical Manga way of handling women as incompetent objects. Even women in high levels acts as though they have no clue. Very strange.
Otherwise I enjoyed the story and have the first four on reserve.
Otherwise I enjoyed the story and have the first four on reserve.
June 9, 2016
Another excellent volume. The Miharu stuff is great of course, and this might be the best version of the Battle of Odessa storyline. Yasuhiko even work in references to Battleship Potemkin, and even has a panel depicting the famous Odessa Steps!
May 3, 2015
wow, just wow... the sorrow, the emotions that it woke in me. This is how gundam has to be
March 19, 2016
As good as the other volumes, has many moments of action and some of random Character moments. Nothing new of you remember the original anime.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews