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機動戦士ガンダムTHE ORIGIN 愛蔵版 [Kidō Senshi Gundam: The Origin aizōban] #10
Mobile Suit Gundam: The ORIGIN 10: Solomon
Solomon is now in the cross-hairs. With Federation forces moving in it appears as if Zeon's leadership is falling apart from the top down. The tide may be turning in this war, but some members of Zeon are willing fight to their end for their family!
480 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
9 people are currently reading
281 people want to read
About the author
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
375 books39 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 - 19 of 19 reviews
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
June 26, 2015
God, I love this series. Sure, there's a helluva a lot of classic, sci-fi, war tropes, like the idea that if you are married or even think of getting married or, God Forbid, a ring appears anywhere on your person, you're doomed to die in a flaming carcass of metal in the depths of space. Or that any sort of last stand is a worthy cause. Or that psychic anything actually exists. Anyway, terrific volume in a terrific series in a terrific franchise. The ability of Yasuhiko to create humanity in the most exaggerated of human caricatures or to capture the true, desperate nature of a war fought in the unfathomable depths of space through the literal use of darkness and light in text and in illustration is nothing short of fantastic.
For the love of all that is holy, read. This. Manga.
For the love of all that is holy, read. This. Manga.
July 3, 2015
Gains and losses. Political ideals and deals emerge. A new revolution is revealed. There are so many things to love about this series.
January 6, 2025
Two battles reach their nadir: (1) the Earth Federation's space fleet is preparing to mount a decisive battle upon Zeon's Solomon (asteroid base); (2) The Zabi family, compelled through persistent and interlocking greed, ambition, and regret, gradually tears itself apart.
MSG: THE ORIGIN v10 is the staging ground for the manga series' conclusion. Notable characters die, grand battle maneuvers are conducted, betrayals are requested (and granted), betrayals are requested (and refused), and other curious ponderings propel the story forward. When viewing the events of the current volume as the culmination of so many other shenanigans, one cannot help but wonder how some of these characters managed to live for so long despite their obvious penchant for flaunting their arrogance.
The Battle of Solomon is a brief and sad affair. Perhaps one hopes for too much in wanting such a critical, pivotal chokepoint of warfighting to last longer than a single volume, but the garish truth is that several thousands of lives are lost within the span of a single day. White Base joins the Tianem Fleet to mount a heady assault, while opposite them, Zeon seeks to repel their onslaught with numerous cruisers and the MA-08 Big Zam, a truly nasty new development, piloted by Vice Admiral Dozle Zabi himself.
Solomon, as a concept, is exquisitely novel and served the original Gundam narrative well. Many science-fiction stories have since mimicked the notion of asteroid-as-defense or asteroid-as-manufacturing-facility, but few are as remarkable or hold as much potential (and thus historical ingenuity) as Solomon.
More could have been done with Solomon, but alas, there was just too much story to tell and too few pages. After all, on the Federation's side: Mirai's swirling affections for her colleagues runs aground; Amuro's relationship with Fraw truly sours; Petty Officer Hayato Kobayashi suffers a nasty bout of post-traumatic stress disorder; and Lt. Junior Grade Sleggar Law, a fighter pilot, reconciles the impossible demands of the heart with the perpetual obligations of war. Notably, the scene recollecting Hayato's PTSD is equally phenomenal and heartbreaking. Hayato pilots a defective RB-79 Ball during the Battle of Solomon, tormenting himself with comparisons to Amuro and the unasked-for ambition to prove himself worthy of tasks few would honestly demand of a teenager and refugee during wartime. Hayato's quiet moment of self-loathing in the sick bay, and the sympathy Fraw shows in an attempt at kindness, offers a sudden and horrible glimpse into war's eternally common consequences.
But the Earth Federation isn't the only group with trouble on its hands. The Principality of Zeon is deep in the mire as well: Kycilia's self-interest could well doom tens of thousands of lives, including Dozle's; Char, his true identity now known, plays a kind of double-agent (to Kycilia's interests and to his own); and most credulously, nobody has any love left for Gihren Zabi, the Zeon Supreme Commander. Whispers of traitorship slowly wend and wind their way through the ranks, and nobody seems at all surprised. Would an armistice suffice? Will history look fondly on comparisons of the Zabi elite to 20th century despots (who failed)?
For example, consider the telling and dramatic exchange between Degwin and Gihren, in which Gihren is likened to "Hitler's tail end," as "a man who couldn't read the world in the end." Degwin warns his son, sternly, about the dangers of unchained ambition, but his cautions fall upon deaf ears. Gihren's pronouncement that he understands their founder's "ideals" elides both the eugenics-adjacent idealism inherent in the "renewal of man" language and the corruption (ignorance) inherent in he and others' (i.e., Char's) presumption that subservience is the only meaningful path toward harmony.
The visual framing of these events and others charge MSG: THE ORIGIN v10 with a primordial energy that speaks poorly of the egos so eager to manipulate a solution whereupon so many others have failed to properly or ethically engineer. Hayato's PTSD episode feels tight, claustrophobic, and inescapable. Char's confrontation with Amuro feels creepily intimate. Lala' Sune's use of the MAN-08 Elmeth, as the first newtype to officially stride into battle, is truly haunting. Dozle's last stand, as the asteroid base crumbles, is bold, heroic, and yet, also incredibly lonely. MSG: THE ORIGIN v10 tells a remarkable, complex story with numerous characters at numerous inflection points . . . If only it were longer.
MSG: THE ORIGIN v10 is the staging ground for the manga series' conclusion. Notable characters die, grand battle maneuvers are conducted, betrayals are requested (and granted), betrayals are requested (and refused), and other curious ponderings propel the story forward. When viewing the events of the current volume as the culmination of so many other shenanigans, one cannot help but wonder how some of these characters managed to live for so long despite their obvious penchant for flaunting their arrogance.
The Battle of Solomon is a brief and sad affair. Perhaps one hopes for too much in wanting such a critical, pivotal chokepoint of warfighting to last longer than a single volume, but the garish truth is that several thousands of lives are lost within the span of a single day. White Base joins the Tianem Fleet to mount a heady assault, while opposite them, Zeon seeks to repel their onslaught with numerous cruisers and the MA-08 Big Zam, a truly nasty new development, piloted by Vice Admiral Dozle Zabi himself.
Solomon, as a concept, is exquisitely novel and served the original Gundam narrative well. Many science-fiction stories have since mimicked the notion of asteroid-as-defense or asteroid-as-manufacturing-facility, but few are as remarkable or hold as much potential (and thus historical ingenuity) as Solomon.
More could have been done with Solomon, but alas, there was just too much story to tell and too few pages. After all, on the Federation's side: Mirai's swirling affections for her colleagues runs aground; Amuro's relationship with Fraw truly sours; Petty Officer Hayato Kobayashi suffers a nasty bout of post-traumatic stress disorder; and Lt. Junior Grade Sleggar Law, a fighter pilot, reconciles the impossible demands of the heart with the perpetual obligations of war. Notably, the scene recollecting Hayato's PTSD is equally phenomenal and heartbreaking. Hayato pilots a defective RB-79 Ball during the Battle of Solomon, tormenting himself with comparisons to Amuro and the unasked-for ambition to prove himself worthy of tasks few would honestly demand of a teenager and refugee during wartime. Hayato's quiet moment of self-loathing in the sick bay, and the sympathy Fraw shows in an attempt at kindness, offers a sudden and horrible glimpse into war's eternally common consequences.
But the Earth Federation isn't the only group with trouble on its hands. The Principality of Zeon is deep in the mire as well: Kycilia's self-interest could well doom tens of thousands of lives, including Dozle's; Char, his true identity now known, plays a kind of double-agent (to Kycilia's interests and to his own); and most credulously, nobody has any love left for Gihren Zabi, the Zeon Supreme Commander. Whispers of traitorship slowly wend and wind their way through the ranks, and nobody seems at all surprised. Would an armistice suffice? Will history look fondly on comparisons of the Zabi elite to 20th century despots (who failed)?
For example, consider the telling and dramatic exchange between Degwin and Gihren, in which Gihren is likened to "Hitler's tail end," as "a man who couldn't read the world in the end." Degwin warns his son, sternly, about the dangers of unchained ambition, but his cautions fall upon deaf ears. Gihren's pronouncement that he understands their founder's "ideals" elides both the eugenics-adjacent idealism inherent in the "renewal of man" language and the corruption (ignorance) inherent in he and others' (i.e., Char's) presumption that subservience is the only meaningful path toward harmony.
The visual framing of these events and others charge MSG: THE ORIGIN v10 with a primordial energy that speaks poorly of the egos so eager to manipulate a solution whereupon so many others have failed to properly or ethically engineer. Hayato's PTSD episode feels tight, claustrophobic, and inescapable. Char's confrontation with Amuro feels creepily intimate. Lala' Sune's use of the MAN-08 Elmeth, as the first newtype to officially stride into battle, is truly haunting. Dozle's last stand, as the asteroid base crumbles, is bold, heroic, and yet, also incredibly lonely. MSG: THE ORIGIN v10 tells a remarkable, complex story with numerous characters at numerous inflection points . . . If only it were longer.
August 29, 2024
In contrast to the previous volume, this one revolves entirely around its namesake battle, the Battle of Solomon. The most significant character development is focused on a support character, Mirai, who has been in a bit of a mental funk due to the many issues she has confronted over the past nine volumes. However, that's not the focus here, but the Battle of Solomon and its key players. Unfortunately for Dozle, the most straightforward of the Zabi Family, he is in command of Solomon, while his sister and brother, Kycillia and Gihren, are busy playing political games that have no place in a war. It's unfortunate, but those two should never have been given military commands, as they are not soldiers first and foremost the way Dozle is (and Garma was). Dozle does a great job humanizing Zeon, as he is a doting father and devoted husband, adoring his baby Mineva and loving his wife Zenna (who pulled a gun on him way back when they were at the Zeon Military Academy as part of her job in keeping him busy while Garma and Char wrecked the Federation garrison on Side 3. Love at first bullet?). It's what makes his outrage during the battle hit stronger, as he is speaking not as a puppeteer, the way his siblings do, but as a soldier holding the line against the encroaching darkness. The aforementioned political games ultimately determines the conclusion of the battle .
The character focus is still present, but not as prevalent given that events are accelerating beyond the small rivalry between Char and Amuro and into the greater future of the Universal Century. As such, there is more focus on the big players and the politics that are determining the fate of the White Base crew. Amuro is still the protagonist, but this volume quietly begins to warn readers how whatever his contributions, what comes after the war won't be decided at his hands, but of others. And so it goes, with only two volumes left, and the climax waiting.
The character focus is still present, but not as prevalent given that events are accelerating beyond the small rivalry between Char and Amuro and into the greater future of the Universal Century. As such, there is more focus on the big players and the politics that are determining the fate of the White Base crew. Amuro is still the protagonist, but this volume quietly begins to warn readers how whatever his contributions, what comes after the war won't be decided at his hands, but of others. And so it goes, with only two volumes left, and the climax waiting.
September 12, 2020
As the intergalactic war continues to reach its climax, and those we have come to know continue to pass in the name of glory, pride, and unity, "Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin Volume 10: Solomon" by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko begins to question and hint at answers of the obvious: When all is said and done, what next?
Volume 10 shows the sparks of when history begins to repeat itself, on or off the earth's surface. Generations after those who used violence to 'purify' the world of what apparently troubled it there is still this pursuit for a symmetry and superiority that often causes the leaders of those quests to their demise.
It seems like that will be what awaits those who made it past the midway point of the series, and of this volume.
Given how much the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have seen in terms of powers and ideologies rising and falling, before and during their time, you think we would try our damned hardest to truly never let it happen again.
And yet, 'here we are' generations into the future (in the case of Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin) where it still divides us rather than unites us.
While the world continues to be contrary to my beliefs, I feel that one day (hopefully by the time Amuro and Lalah arrive) we will not need stories like this to remind us of why we need to stop war; we use these stories instead to remind us how far we have come from not having a reason for war with anyone who we are not eye to eye with.
I hope that day comes, and that it comes soon.
Volume 10 shows the sparks of when history begins to repeat itself, on or off the earth's surface. Generations after those who used violence to 'purify' the world of what apparently troubled it there is still this pursuit for a symmetry and superiority that often causes the leaders of those quests to their demise.
It seems like that will be what awaits those who made it past the midway point of the series, and of this volume.
Given how much the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have seen in terms of powers and ideologies rising and falling, before and during their time, you think we would try our damned hardest to truly never let it happen again.
And yet, 'here we are' generations into the future (in the case of Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin) where it still divides us rather than unites us.
While the world continues to be contrary to my beliefs, I feel that one day (hopefully by the time Amuro and Lalah arrive) we will not need stories like this to remind us of why we need to stop war; we use these stories instead to remind us how far we have come from not having a reason for war with anyone who we are not eye to eye with.
I hope that day comes, and that it comes soon.
September 28, 2017
The Federation fleet continues its advance into Zeon space mounting a massive assault on the Solomon space fortress. My complaint with some of the previous battle scenes in this series is that the art was sometimes muddled and difficult to interpret visually. There is no such problem in this volume, the battle and mecha scenes are beautifully and clearly rendered. This volume has the unfortunate distinction of featuring two of the weirdest Zeon mobile armors, the Zakrello and the Big Zam. However, I would say they look pretty good in the artwork here, managing to overcome their bizarre basic designs. The Zakarellos even manage to look menacing, like a swam of angry bees. Char's new Gelgoog mobile suit is rendered spectacularly, featuring in several of the color pages. If the goal was to sell tie-in merchandise, it's working, because I want to build a model of that Gelgoog.
The space opera is well balanced with the personal drama we all expect from Gundam, too. Lieutenant Sleggar and Mirai declare their feelings in the middle of the battle, with predictable results. The Gundam gets its magnetic joint upgrade, and barely survives the process. Amuro and Lalah face off in their weird Newtype psychic battle, and the Zabi family does what they do best, stab each other in the back. Dozle gets his heroic (albeit futile) last stand.
The space opera is well balanced with the personal drama we all expect from Gundam, too. Lieutenant Sleggar and Mirai declare their feelings in the middle of the battle, with predictable results. The Gundam gets its magnetic joint upgrade, and barely survives the process. Amuro and Lalah face off in their weird Newtype psychic battle, and the Zabi family does what they do best, stab each other in the back. Dozle gets his heroic (albeit futile) last stand.
July 24, 2025
As far as the art goes, the watercolor artists took a step up in this one - it's definitely dazzling to read, which is helpful given the large-scale battles happening in the volume. Story-wise, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko delivers more of the teenage soldier angst and horror, more of the warring regimes crashing into each other with new and exciting weaponry, and more of the emerging psychic powers being used to pilot giant mecha.
More than anything, this entry in the manga series serves as the final rush to the end, where the tension builds up to snap and you can see the pieces falling into place. What does make it stand out is the sheer number of young women in it who are suffering for the plot: Whether they're being yelled at by the boy they're trying to manage the emotions of, getting kissed by a pilot who slapped them in the previous volume and who then goes off to die in a fiery explosion, or being turned into a weapon of mass destruction because of some magical destiny as a member of the newtype master race. Someday I might write an essay about the ways trauma is inflicted upon the men and boys in this manga as opposed to the women and girls - the series itself points out the differences in treatment between genders occasionally - but I'm not doing it today, I'm too tired. Suffice it to say that in its few attempts to critique gender disparities, Mobile Suit Gundam instead falls into tired tropes that do little more than highlight the pain involved in sending kids to die in the space wars.
More than anything, this entry in the manga series serves as the final rush to the end, where the tension builds up to snap and you can see the pieces falling into place. What does make it stand out is the sheer number of young women in it who are suffering for the plot: Whether they're being yelled at by the boy they're trying to manage the emotions of, getting kissed by a pilot who slapped them in the previous volume and who then goes off to die in a fiery explosion, or being turned into a weapon of mass destruction because of some magical destiny as a member of the newtype master race. Someday I might write an essay about the ways trauma is inflicted upon the men and boys in this manga as opposed to the women and girls - the series itself points out the differences in treatment between genders occasionally - but I'm not doing it today, I'm too tired. Suffice it to say that in its few attempts to critique gender disparities, Mobile Suit Gundam instead falls into tired tropes that do little more than highlight the pain involved in sending kids to die in the space wars.
March 15, 2018
Love and loss punctuate this volume as the Battle of Solomon reaches in conclusion. Highlights include Dolze's last stand, the subtle machinations of Kycilla, Sleggar and Miria's brief love and Amuro and Char's heart to heart. This series continues to show why the original Gundam series holds such a high place in Japanese pop culture.
May 23, 2024
The best volume so far. The battle of Solomon becomes even more dramatic and the betrayal that costs Dozle his life more explicit, some other aspects are closer to the Gundam’s novelization than the original anime, and Kycilia comes off as a different character - just as cruel as Gihren and not so devoted to her father.
June 17, 2019
Two volumes left of this and I am not ready.
March 7, 2023
Incredible art as always and some fun story improvements - Hayato in a BALL! Justice for BALLS.
I'm docking a star for unnecessary Sayla nudity. Bleh.
I'm docking a star for unnecessary Sayla nudity. Bleh.
June 26, 2025
Despite the budget cuts and cancellation, I regard Gundam's final stretch quite fondly. I think they pulled it off well, all things considered. The comic's continuing to do justice to the story.
December 27, 2015
I really like how Yasuhiko-san put together in the manga how Newtype communication works - something trippy and consciousness expanding, freaky and wonderful all at the same time. It also really shows just how much Lalah and Amuro have bonded - making the ultimate fate of their relationship all the more tragic.
March 31, 2016
The Newtypes are the focus of the newest attacks. Lalah reaches out to Amuro with her powers. What are they planning? Meanwhile, Admiral Dozle Zabi is doting on his family, humanizing the bad guys. War is a terrible thing for both sides. Lots of emotion and action in this one!
July 20, 2015
So many death flags flying here, you'd think it was the Olympics.
October 11, 2015
The war in space escalates leading to more death and destruction. Meanwhile the plotline of the Newtypes continues to develop as well. The adaptation of this story nears its conclusion.
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December 18, 2017
Poor Dozle.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews