Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (機動戦士ガンダム), is a 1993 Japanese science fiction anime television series. It consists of 51 episodes, and was directed by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino. The series was first broadcast on TV Asahi (and its ANN stations). It is the fourth TV anime installment in the Gundam franchise, first series in the franchise released in Japan's Heisei period, and the final full series to be set in the Universal Century calendar.
Plot
Victory Gundam is set in UC 0153, and succeeds the Federation Force and Crossbone Vanguard conflict of Mobile Suit Gundam F91. The Earth, still loosely controlled by the greatly weakened Earth Federation, comes under attack by BESPA, the armed forces of the space colony–based Zanscare Empire. Only a ragtag resistance movement, the League Militaire, stands in BESPA's way as they swiftly conquer much of space and start their invasion of Earth, with the advanced mass-produced mobile suit, the Victory Gundam, as the League Militaire's secret weapon. However, BESPA's power continues to grow, using violent means, including public executions with guillotines, to strike fear into those living on Earth.
Living peacefully on Earth in the remote Eastern European town of Kasarelia, 13-year-old Üso Ewin and his childhood friend Shahkti Kareen are soon thrown into the conflict when they encounter ace BESPA pilot Chronicle Asher. Soon, Üso finds himself joining forces with Marbet Fingerhut and the rest of the League Militaire, piloting the Victory Gundam against BESPA, and soon discovering the horrors of war.
Production
Development
Victory Gundam is the fourth Gundam television series and the first of four Gundam television series that aired on TV Asahi and its sister ANN stations in Japan sequentially from 1993 through 1996. In order to attract the younger elementary school age demographic that SD Gundam was popular with at the time, the show featured the youngest protagonist in the Gundam franchise, the thirteen-year-old Uso Ewin, and established a setting within Universal Century that was largely independent of previous Gundam works.[1] Unlike previous Gundam series that started off in space colonies, the show starts off in Eastern Europe before moving to space 15 episodes later. The intent of this was for Tomino to dispel the association between Gundam and space.[2] Nonetheless, the mature themes of the show, as well as the high casualty rate of the main cast, meant that the show would instead attract an older crowd, the young adults who had seen Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
Other media
Novelizations
A series of five novels were written by director Yoshiyuki Tomino and initially published under the Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko label. This adaptation generally follows the plot of the anime but is notable for additional scenes and dialogue that contain graphic sexual references. In addition, the Victory 2 Gundam does not appear in the novel. Instead it is replaced by a Victory-type with a mounted Minovsky Drive. The "Bugs", which were the automatic manslaughtering weapons of Gundam F91, also make an appearance.
Manga adaptations
A more lighthearted manga adaptation of the anime by Toshiya Iwamura was published on the Comic BomBom manga magazine. The serious atmosphere from the show was absent from the manga, replaced by gags, less serious personalities, and more super robot-style action scenes.
A gag parody manga by Tsukasa Kotobuki entitled Go! Go! Our Victory Gundam (いけ!いけ!ぼくらのVガンダム!!) was published throughout 1993 to 1994 in the Media Comic Dyne and MS Saga magazines, and was later republished in 2012 by Kadokawa Shoten, which included two side-stories from Gundam Ace involving Kai Shiden, and a parody story of Gundam Wing.