Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ
The
anime TV series aired on
Japanese TV from 1986â€"1987, was the third
Gundam series, and a direct followup to
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam. Director
Yoshiyuki Tomino returned to lead the series, and he assembled a new team consisting of character designer
Hiroyuki Kitazume, who had been one of
Zeta Gundam's animation directors, and mechanical designers Makoto Kobayashi, Yutaka Izubuchi and Mika Akitaka.
Gundam ZZ was originally conceived of as a second season of
Zeta Gundam, but it was ultimately decided that the show should feature an all-new cast. Nevertheless, its broadcast immediately followed that of Zeta Gundam and manages to tie up a major plotline from
Zeta that was left unfinished.
As part of Tomino's tendencies to follow up a tragedy with a comedy, this nominal sequel to
Zeta Gundam struck a much lighter, often comical, tone, in contrast to its predecessor's brooding melodrama. For example, in the first episode, Captain Bright is reduced to defending the
Argama by throwing oranges. The whimsical opening theme song
Anime Ja Nai (It's Not Anime) reflected the campiness of the first half of the series. The second half of the series does return to a more serious tone while sporting a more somber opening theme song. It suffers a poor reputation among the serious-minded ranks of Gundam fandom, some even accuse Tomino of deliberately trying to sabotage the Gundam franchise. Also, main hero Judeau Ashta is often mentioned as the most impopular Gundam hero, even facing acccusations of being a
Gary Stu. Despite this, it scored high ratings with the younger, more casual audiences.
As the continuation of
Zeta Gundam, this series once again follows the story of the
Anti Earth Union Group (AEUG) battleship
Argama after
Zeta's final episode. To fight off the Axis Zeon, now called the Neo Zeon, Captain Bright Noa recruits a group of teenage junk collectors led by the loudmouthed but powerful Newtype
Judau Ashta to pilot the Argama's mobile suits. Now sporting a line up of the behemoth
MSZ-010 Double Zeta Gundam and the returning
MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam,
RX-178 Gundam Mk-II and Gundam-like
MSN-00100 Hyaku Shiki, the group is nicknamed the
Gundam Team. As such, this became the first of a number of Gundam series where a team of Gundam mobile suits fight alongside each other regularly.
Out of the major
Zeta Gundam characters, only recurring captain
Bright Noa and Axis leader
Haman Karn make more than cameo appearances in
ZZ;
Char Aznable's planned appearance was canceled when Tomino was given the go-ahead to do the
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack movie.
Yoshiyuki Tomino's original plan for the show which involved Char's return was neither revealed, nor does
Tomino himself remember it.
Openings:Anime Ja Nai (It's Not Anime) by Masato Arai (eps 1-25)
Silent Voice by Jun Hiroe (eps 26-47)
Endings:Jidai ga Naiteiru (The Era is Crying) by Masato Arai (eps 1-25)
Issenman-Nen Ginga (Ten Million Years Galaxy) by Jun Hiroe (eps 26-47)
*
Kazuki Yao as
Judau Ashta*
Tsutomu Kashiwakura as Glemy Toto
*
Yoshiko Sakakibara as
Haman Karn*
Chieko Honda as Elpeo Puru, Puru Two
*
Eriko Hara as Elle Vianno
*
Hazuki Monma as Chara Soon
*
Hirotaka Suzuoki as
Bright Noa*
Kenyuu Horiuchi as Mashymre Cello
*
Kôzô Shioya as Mondo Agake
*
Masami Kikuchi as Ino Abbav
*
Maya Okamoto as Leina Ashta
*
Miki Itou as
Mineva Lao Zabi*
Naoko Matsui as Roux Louka
*
Shingo Hiromori as Beecha Oleg
*
Bin Shimada as Nie Gihren, Niki
*
Chika Sakamoto as Shinta
*
Fumihiko Tachiki as Panpa Rida
*
Hideyuki Umezu as Nelmarsen
*
Hiroyuki Shibamoto as Torres
*
Houchu Ohtsuka as Yazan Gable
*
Jun'ichi Kanemaru as Chimatter
*
Kayoko Fujii as Emary Ounce
*
Kazuyo Aoki as Anma
*
Kenichi Ogata as Dido Kaltoha
*
Kenichi Ono as Ein
*
Kenta Abe as Creyue Oye, Torres
*
Kouji Totani as August Gidan, Gottn Goh
*
Masako Irie as Anna Hanna
*
Mayumi Shou as
Haro, Qum
*
Minoru Inaba as Dune, Magany
*
Miyuki Matsuoka as
Fa Yuiri*
Nobuo Tobita as
Kamille BidanPreceded by (in timeline):
Mobile Suit Zeta GundamFollowed by (in timeline):
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's CounterattackVariation models:
Gundam ZZ Mobile Suit Variations (ZZ-MSV)*http://www.mahq.net
