■　ゼーター・ガンダム　●　逆襲のシャア　■

ZETA GUNDAM
CHAR’S COUNTERATTACK

PROPOSAL

Sotsu Agency Co. Ltd.
Nippon Sunrise
●
Yoshiyuki Tomino
AI

JULY 1984

Since the “Mobile Suit Gundam” series was created six years ago, we have also made very little progress in the global affairs of our world today. In fact, we may have even regressed as wars have spread, we lack a plan for economic recovery, and our present lives are mired in increasing stress and hardship.

This is a phenomenon that’s also been apparent in the anime-watching generation, and the nature of youth culture today appears to be becoming more and more trivial in substance.

In the current climate, it’s unlikely that anything other than blatantly cheery punchlines and stories about an acceptance of the current state of reality will resonate with the tastes of the audience today.

 Fortunately, “Mobile Suit Gundam” is a title that provides this realistic content. This is how I came up with the idea of writing a story about accepting reality with Char as the protagonist.

If this were to be a story about mechanical robot upgrades, or a science fiction anime with fantastical situations, it would hardly be any different from other mecha genre works and the previous story Part II’s. When writing the sequel, I pictured that the people who survived the events of the wars would be leading difficult lives.

Hypothetically speaking, what if we were to imagine a scenario where the entire human race has evolved into Newtypes…

How would they be living?

What if we were to make a story that addressed a plot from that angle?

I believe these questions are at the heart of the current plans to produce “Zeta Gundam.”

The depiction of an era of chaos and stagnancy depicted could be a mirror of our current state of affairs. This would be a time of overindulgence and starvation. In other words, the people of this era will have failed to recognize that an overabundance of love and affection has hindered the birth of special children with unique deficiencies.

In these times, people would force their love upon one another. Through this series, I hope to illustrate the realistic understanding of people who can temper their own affections, and take no more than what they need to exist as an individual.

I would like to suggest that the Newtypes may be representative of people who think this way.

I would say that this is the true theme of the work.

Put simply, the story in “Zeta Gundam” is about Char Aznable, who has escaped from a Baoa Qu 7 years prior to the beginning of the story. Upon escaping, he overcomes his differences with Amuro Ray, whose freedoms were severely limited by the Earth Federation, to raise a second generation of Newtypes.

The war that took place between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon is referred to as the One Year War, and the current plot takes place 7 years following the end of the war.

What was once Side 7 is now called Green Oasis, and serves as the base and supply depot of the Titans.

There, the Titans have completed the development of a new Gundam model called the Zeta Gundam.

Char sets out to destroy this new suit at the beginning of the story.

A boy named Kamille Bidan is one of the residents of Green Oasis. He resembles Amuro Ray as a child. On the other hand, Kamille has a Jekyll and Hyde temperament because of his effeminate name, so he goes back and forth between being introverted and extroverted at different times.

Char even goes as far as to gather former members of the White Base crew in a resistance movement against the Earth Federation.

At the same time, the Earth Federation has its own champion to battle Char.

His name is Paptimus Scirocco.

While the circumstances of his birth are a closely guarded secret, it is suggested that Paptimus may be a monster borne of modern medicine.

Paptimus is an especially active young man who can consciously call on the latent potential of the human subconscious.

At the same time, his character is also a reminder of how having an inactive subconscious is an essential part of what makes a person human.

Char is defeated by Paptimus Scirocco.

However, the series ends at the beginning of an era involving a second group led by Kamille Bidan.

A soldier that dies without a cause is not a soldier.
A true soldier can only die for the sake of his comrades.
A soldier is only able to give up his life when the preservation of his species is ensured.
This conviction is held until death.
From the perspective of the average person, the soldier’s way of life is sad and fleeting.
This is especially poignant when these soldiers are coerced and manipulated by those in power.
These soldiers are supported by the presence of women.

Women are fundamentally unable to become pilots because their nature is aligned with preservation.

This inherent inclination is also a primary element of survival, and women have no reprieve from this role.

Once born as a female, even if her nature deviates from its natural course, women will either assume this role or yearn for it.

This puts women on equal footing with men.

Women aspire to be equal with men in stature. This aspiration is what separates women from men.

We won’t be debating the validity of this aspiration.

At the same time, it is because of these women that the men, as pilots, are able to face their deaths.

Accordingly, these women serve an important role in conveying what it means to be a pilot.

Women aspire to convey the hopes and desires that will be inherited by their children, and future pilots.

This is the primitive expression of the “species.”

This is a future when this natural course has become warped…

This is the age of “Zeta Gundam”, and the pilots who lived in this era.

(These 2 items are expanded upon from the outline of “Mobile Suit Gundam”)

It has been seven years since then…

• Spacenoids

A collective term for the people living in the space colonies. Their total population is 40 million (10 times that of the Alpha era).

Largely forgotten by the Earth Federation, they ascribe to the teachings of Zeon Deikun as law and are willing to stake their lives for his teachings.

“Mankind must coexist with nature. In order for people to reach a consensus on this principle, they first need to develop an objective, wide-spanning perspective. That being said, the people on Earth have asserted dominion over the planet, and continue to contaminate the planet through ceaseless construction. Why can’t they simply leave nature to work its natural, self-sufficient course?

At this rate, the planet stands no chance of survival. People are the only creatures who possess both intelligence and the ability to set firm principles that account for the environment. Accordingly, all people should become Spacenoids and emigrate to space, preserving the Earth by leaving it to its natural course.”

• Side-7（Noa Renamed Green Oasis）

In order to achieve a precession of the equinoxes of the L7 Colony, the Earth Federation built another colony of equal scale. Although both colonies were functional, one of the colonies remained exactly as it was 7 years ago.

The colony remained unchanged during this period because the Earth Federation was unable to raise the necessary funds to expand the infrastructure of the colony.

Being preoccupied with the reconstruction following the One Year War, the Earth Federation was initially unconcerned about the Spacenoids. When a new revitalization of the former Zeon movement began gaining momentum, the Earth Federation formed a counter-insurgency group in response.

The organization was formed in the name of defending the interests of the 4 billion people living on Earth.

The L-7 colony was named Green Oasis in order to divert the public’s perception of the location as a military base and supply depot.

They also conducted the development of the Mk-II Gundam mobile suit at this base.

Contrary to existing colonies, Green Oasis is the only colony inhabited by second and third generation Spacenoids. (the constructed colony is inhabited by later generations of Spacenoids)

These particular circumstances would eventually cause unexpected problems for the Earth Federation.

• Sweetwater (Space Colony at L-2. Island 1 Type)

This colony serves as the base of operations for the rebel forces.

The Earth Federation’s search for Zeon soldiers is only a pretense.

One of the major setbacks is a letter that exposes problems with the bureaucratic system in the colony. The letter describes how an overreliance on computer systems has exposed certain vulnerabilities in the system.

The loss of the family registry data is a good example. Every component of the system, from the central core to the terminal ends was destroyed by microwaves, thus permanently destroying all stored data.

Although several contingency measures had been implemented to prevent the loss of data, these were unable to protect the data from the devastation caused by the events of the “One Year War”.

On the contrary, the war demonstrated that paper filing systems were a far more effective means of storing written documentation.

Due to this loss of data, it became incredibly easy to fabricate an identity from the family registry.

Since a large portion of the Earth Federation military’s records of personnel was also lost, former Zeon soldiers were easily able to assume the identities of Earth Federation soldiers who had died in combat to enlist in the Earth Federation Army.

Kamille Bidan

At first glance, Kamille gives off the impression of a slightly irritable adolescent. This temperamental aspect of his personality is tempered by the fact that his pupils always appear damp.

He has a natural affinity for athletics and machinery. That being said, these interests are motivated by his complex about his birth name.

As a 17-year-old adolescent, he struggles with a sense of self-loathing about his effeminate name. This is the underlying cause of his occasional spurts of introversion.

His swings in temperament invoke a drastic change in personality that resembles Jekyll and Hyde.

Both of his parents work for the military. Born on Earth, he came up to the colonies in order to participate in the development of the Zeta Gundam.

While parents of every era have been guilty of citing work as a reason for leaving their children on their own, Kamille’s parents took care not to spoil him and raised him with the strict discipline of Western tradition. As a result, he grew up to be a courteous, well-disciplined young man.

Fa Yuiran（花　園麗）

Kamille’s best friend. That being said, she doesn’t have a significant role in the series. She becomes the face of the refugees and wandering people in the series. Although Kamille does end up reuniting with her at one point, his relationship with her is that of a first love, and he sees her as a person from a life he left behind. She is the kind of person who will stake her life for the cause against the Earth Federation rather than for Kamille. She is fundamentally pure at heart.

Mezun Mex

Captain of the karate club and one year ahead of Kamille in high school.

He later becomes a mechanic and works closely with Kamille. Mezun is the type of individual who can accurately assess his own ability and those who have strengths greater than his own.

These second-generation Spacenoids are characters whose allegiances are on the fringe between Earth and space. They are also a root cause of the Earth Federation’s problems.

Reccoa Londe

As a member of the anti-Earth Federation elements at the Sweetwater colony, she collaborates with Char for some time.

Yet at the same time, she begins to have doubts about Char’s ideology-driven way of life. That being said, she still sympathizes with Char as he struggles to oversee the anti-Earth Federation government. But, she falls in love with men like Kamille, who struggle to cooperate with others because they can’t assimilate.

Her elder sister-like personality arguably conflicts with Char’s. Despite that, she holds a lifelong grudge against Char for laughing at her while he mocked her by saying, “You run off to a little boy and still call yourself a woman.”

Commodore Blex Forer

Leader of the anti-Earth Federation elements at Sweetwater.

A good-natured old man who sports an impressive beard. A mild-mannered soldier.

However, as a former high ranking official of the Earth Federation Government Forces, he suspects that the government is mistreating Spacenoids.

Abu Dabia

A Lieutenant Commander with the Earth Federation Government Forces. Arab descent. 34 years old.

Though not as emotional as Blex, he is a liberal who is angry with the way the Federation government operates.

Emma Sheen（日系九世）

She was initially a member of the Titans. She has also once met Amuro Ray on Earth despite her affiliation with the Titans.

She decides to cooperate with Char because of this encounter with Amuro. She feels that Fa Yuiran has also gained something similar to herself while on Earth.

She is responsible for Kamille and Fa growing apart from one another.

Haman Karn

A female Newtype affiliated with Minerva Zabi’s faction, she is radical in her ideology.

Her entire, slender physique has an elasticity as though it were made entirely out of springs because of her physical training in an environment with a gravity higher than Earth.

She feels a strong sense of antipathy about her life spent in the dark asteroid belt.

Melanie Hue Carbine

He is effectively the leader of the Anti Earth Union Group. At the same time, while he is known to produce various rumors, he never leaves behind any evidence that can be traced back to him.

While the AEUG itself is a fake organization, he was able to fleece his enemies into believing its existence.

He is the head of Anaheim Electronics which has production plants in the city of Granada.

He is Jewish.

He is the mastermind who is said to have had connections with both Zeon and the Earth Federation government.

At the same time, he is not particularly gifted in any sense and is one of the many activists who pushed for the colony movement in order to fulfill the ultimate goal of the Jewish people.

This is very similar to the way the Jewish people control Hollywood.

In other words, they intend to send all of the people on Earth up into the colonies in order to reclaim the holy land of Israel for the Jewish people.

He is really little more than an entrepreneur who plays a small role in this racial movement.

These details should never be addressed in the television series.

Bright & Mirai Noa

Although they had two children together, they became tired of living under the strict supervision of the Earth Federation.

The overbearing surveillance was evidenced by how the couple couldn’t even purchase property deemed inappropriate for monitoring purposes by the Earth Federation. They would also have orders canceled by contractors as a result.

As such, there was no way for them to be in contact with Spacenoids.

This was the same for all of the former members of White Base.

Accordingly, Bright immediately decides to cooperate with Char’s resistance movement as soon as he finds out about it. He also looks to capitalize on any opportunities he can find to contribute to his resistance activities.

Bright’s wife Mirai is in support of his actions.

Hayato Kobayashi

His wife, Fraw, is pregnant during the series. Being placed under surveillance by the Earth Federation, they are forced into a life of luxury but accept the circumstances of the situation as their fate.

The couple has adopted Katz, Letz, and Kikka, and Fraw has resolved to accept her fate of living out her life on Earth since deciding to be with Hayato.

Spurred on by the events of the series, Hayato chooses to take action. Fraw is both torn and excited by this prospect. Hayato fails to keep up with Amuro and is continually defeated in battle before he dies. Fraw tells her children that Hayato led a courageous life.

Their children are also likely to grow up with a sense of pride in their late adopted father. Fraw eventually gets the opportunity to go up into space near the end of the events in the series. “This place, with all the stars, is where your father fought. It’s the home where you were born…“

Fraw will likely give birth to her child in space.

Amuro Ray

Amuro can only make an appearance in this story because he met with a peculiarly receptive girl named Emma Sheen a few years before the events of Zeta Gundam.

He 24 years of age during the series. This is the median age taken between his age listed in the novel and the TV series. Although single, he has also been given a chateau-like residence.

He works in the underground base of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) as a member of the now-defunct Space Fleet Command Center located in Cheyenne Mountain (altitude 3,000 meters), Colorado Springs. He is in charge of the maintenance at the base. His work involves little more than a single, monthly meeting with the personnel manager.

Amuro steels himself to carve out a new destiny for himself at the time of Char’s attack on Jaburo, but, the Earth Federation then puts him under house arrest. His interaction with Emma Sheen leads him to break out of his house arrest and reunite with Char.

Once reunited, he is sapped by a sense of defeat because he feels weighed down by his ties to Earth. “Hayato got it right. He was able to leave behind his will in Fraw’s womb…”

Kamille may have foreseen his own destiny as a Newtype in seeing how Amuro turned out.

Char Aznable
(Or, Lieutenant Quattro Bajeena of the Earth Federation Government Forces)

He believes that humanity is doomed to go extinct with a legacy of folly unless the entire population manages to achieve the kind of Newtype awakening.

“Though this may be idealistic thinking, our current era demands that we find a way to blow everything up once.”

At the same time, he also acknowledges the Earth Federation’s stance.

“Our population has been cut down. There is no need for people to live in space. We live in a New Earth Era.“

“Now we can’t just forgive the short-lived memory of the people who did nothing more than leech off of the people who lost their lives in the One Year War, can we…“

Char felt he had to find a way to put an end to this cancerous cycle of history.

“That’s what Newtypes should be for.”

As a character, Char can be described as being laughably stubborn about his goals. At the same time, Char has begun to notice that his Newtype sensitivities are starting to dwindle.

“Age, huh…Was I only able to do those things because I was still young then…?“

Char is tempted by the possibility of regaining the powerful, moving sensations of his past if he were to thrust himself into the front lines again. Perhaps this is the hope that draws Char into battle…?

“Now while this may be a dangerous habit…I want to believe in my senses as a Newtype. I’d rather not believe that those things I felt were just part of a delusion.“

Because they’re trying to snuff out the principles of the people, in other words, “Certain people are doing everything they can to try and oppress Newtypes…“

Char is aware of the malice these people feel about Newtypes, but he is transfixed on doing a better job of realizing his father’s dreams. Char feels that a more drastic means, such as assassinating all of the key figures in the Earth Federation, is needed to prevent further contamination of the planet.

“Even if I wasn’t serious about that, man has finally come out into space, and yet we still continue to regress.“

At the same time, Char is aware that his greatest obstacle is in the fact that mankind’s soul is inevitably weighed down by Earth’s gravity.

“I could also try becoming a politician, but by then, it would be too late…“

In addition to his philosophy of Newtypes and principles, Char may also believe in Shakti.

At the same time, this faith could be indicative of his age and decline.

(Former) Admiral Anmu Hyman

He is the president of the Continental Restoration Corporation and also the president of the International Management Corporation.

His positions effectively give him complete control of the gambling industry. He is the principal antagonist and mastermind of the current Earth Federation government.

His half-hearted convictions pose a severe threat to the people of Earth.

Captain Bask Om

While still quite young, Bask is bald. It is suspected that this could be a symptom of radiation. He is, however, a man of robust health.

Bask is a field officer for the Staff Headquarters of the Earth Federation Government Forces and the leader of the Titans. He believes that members of the Titans are what he calls the “Right Staff” (chosen people), and is under the mistaken impression that all of their actions are justified. This has solidified in his mind as a definitive elitism.

His philosophy is arguably a byproduct of the trauma from having lived through the One Year War.

Jared Messa

(Indegenous) A well-intentioned delinquent from the South, his straightforward personality has settled him into an Earth-based mindset (Earth doctrine).

A straightforward man. He gives off the impression of a good soldier because of this straightforward personality.

His inability to ever see things from a broader perspective blinds him from the dangers of tunnel-vision.

He carries a lifelong regret about Emma Sheen’s defection from the Titans.

Rizalda Goldy

(City) A woman who might be a machine transfixed with an ideology of pan-supremacy that resembles the Catholic church of old. Sharp in many ways.

Lila Milla Trazare
Katricon Cacooler

They are both astute soldiers.

Paptimus Scirocco

While the circumstances of his birth are a closely guarded secret, it is suggested that Paptimus may have been a monster borne of modern medicine.

There is a backstory for Paptimus’ past, but it is not explained in this work. His character cannot be defined with a simple explanation, such as his being a cyborg. Paptimus is undoubtedly a human being of flesh and blood. Paptimus is nothing more than an especially active young man with the ability to draw from the subconscious’s latent potential consciously. At the same time, his character is also a reminder of how the existence of an inactive subconscious is an essential part of what makes a person a human being.

He makes his appearance later on in the series.

While he acts independently, Paptimus alone is capable of matching the entire Titan’s organization, and his military accolades are commensurate to this reputation.

The Earth Federation had planned to assassinate him after he carried out the mission they had given him but failed in their attempt to do so.

This could either cement his position as the primary antagonist of Kamille and his group or set the stage for the next potential war.

He is nicknamed the Comet from Jupiter.

He completes two mobile suits, the Palace-Athene and Palace-Typhon on his own.

The success of the first operational Gundam is attributed to the development of a magnetic, metal gundarium alloy used in the hyper fusion reactor and radiation shielding.

After the war, the Earth Federation Government Forces began the development of a Mk-II type Gundam.

At the same time, surviving Zeon engineers succeeded in making improvements to gundarium alloy itself.

Since these refinements were carried out in four stages, they named this new alloy, Gundarium Epsilon. The new Gundarium was not only lighter and harder, but could also flex when subjected to large, external forces.

Char sold this technology to the anti-Earth Federation Government faction.

The improvement of the GE alloy alone drastically boosted the performance of new mobile suits made with it. The prototype of these models is called the Epsy Gundam.

In the second half of the series, Char and his group successfully complete the Zeta Gundam, merging the Mk-II and Epsy technologies.

This new creation is befitting of its description as a super mobile suit.

The Zeta Gundam is just short of 15 meters tall.

The cockpit core is located in the center of the body. The cockpit is also equipped with an escape pod, and the motion controls of the “floating design,” powered by the linear drive, protect the pilot by absorbing gravitational (G) forces from every direction.

The beam rifle of the Zeta Gundam has been linked to the main reactor, drastically boosting its range and improving its instantaneous firepower.

The backup radar system used during Minovsky particle interference has also been improved, and the peripheral sensors made it possible to zoom in and out on the cockpit screen.

That being said, since the electronic interference caused by Minovsky particle interference would appear on the lens, footage on the screen would also still be affected. This deficiency was also resolved with the implementation of a system that used a computer to reconstruct an accurate visual image if the target data had been stored beforehand.

The Zeta is also equipped with a feature that had been unsuccessful in the Gundam, called a Wave Rider mode.

In this mode, the suit would transform into a form optimized for flight in an atmosphere with low air resistance, also improving the suit’s gliding capability.

Although it had been technologically impossible to integrate a function that could transform the frame without interfering with the working parts of the joints while also limiting the weight of the frame, the performance improvements to the gundarium made both of these things possible.

In other words, the Gundarium Epsilon provided the necessarily divergent properties of durability and flexibility for a metal that could be used by the moving parts.

The Zeta Gundam would have been riddled with regular moving parts failures without the breakthrough in this material.

When you sit and think about it, there is no way technological innovation can happen in seven years.

But, there was a revolution in the short period from the end of World War II to the Korean War from propellers to jets.

It wouldn’t be wrong to assume that there would be such a transition during these times as well.

Simply put, I would like to clearly design the functions of the mobile suit as a mobbing object while following the concepts of the previous mobile suits.

• Changes or Improvements

a) Introduction of the concept of moveable frames: In order to make specific transformations appear more clear-cut.

b) Equipped with a cockpit escape function, as shown in the Gundam section: Improve usability by introducing seats or cockpit cores.

c) Power-up of additional particle cannon that draws power from the main engine.

• Following the success of the Zaku, Dom and Gundam in terms of function, while developing a form that suits the new era

a) Since then, small-scale experiments have been tirelessly conducted on Green Oasis to coincide with the development of the Gundam Mk-II. This means that a group of engineers from the Earth Federation government has recognized the usefulness of Zeon systems. It is assumed that this caused many types to be released experimentally.

b) Throughout the entire series, I would like to introduce 10 to 12 models other than the Zeta. There may be cases where mobile suits from the previous times plan an active role. However, they have all been improved and tuned up according to the individual characteristics of each pilot.

• Proposed Names
  • Dias Type
  • Barzam Type
  • Messala Type
  • Kiwaji Type
  • Loto Type
  • Gyarom
  • Bam