ZETA GUNDAM PART 2 PROPOSAL
A). Background
This series, including Mobile Suit Gundam, will enter its tenth year next year. Historically, we can certainly see it as something of a milestone. Having come so far, what is the meaning behind the proposed continuation of Zeta Gundam? There are many reasons, but one of them is that the proposal is meant to serve as a reminder that we shouldn’t plan our future programs based on the ones previously made. I cannot say that this is solely the result of market-wide research by all parties involved, but what can be said is that the situation involving anime, toys, and plastic models have all led to this decision. This is the blunt fact of the matter.
B). The Meaning of Zeta Gundam
As a television show, Zeta Gundam was daring (took risks). It was an inappropriate time to resume the program, and there was a certain danger that the producers didn’t have experience with Part II. In particular, the era of original anime projects slipped into a cooling-off period, and the production of Zeta Gundam had strong, negative elements. Besides, the first half of the series certainly could have been a lot better, and we need to admit that this is attributable to the producer’s unfamiliarity with Part II. It seems that we were all too eager to make a sequel of the previous work, and this desire was so strong that Part II eventually turned out to be less than ideal – this is what we have been feeling towards Part II. And, for the story of Part II, we have been working hard to dispel concerns that we might end up losing our edge. However, with the advice and cooperation of everyone involved, I am proud to say that the series has grown into something that our viewers will surely approve of.
As it stands, Zeta Gundam has been able to overcome these negative elements. However, if people ask me whether I am satisfied with how it is, I will have to say no. The very reason I would say I am not feeling satisfied with how the anime series is, is also the very reason we need to keep going with the current Gundam series.
C). The Significance of Zeta Gundam Part II
Zeta Gundam, as it is now, at least until recently, has given a good impression of the program as a whole from the popularity of the machines, so I get the impression that the surrounding market has finally blown up. For a sponsor of the series, I imagine that, at this particular point in time, if we can offer our viewers a work that more clearly shows them what there is to love about Zeta Gundam, the work would be the least with which we can show our humbleness to the market, especially now that from now through next year, we will only be faced with more challenges than when Zeta Gundam first started.
The increasing lack of original anime programs, along with a growing closure of the toy market, has made sponsors feel threatened. Some people believe that, at this time, we need to bring life back to the market by offering new anime. However, let’s not forget that ever since Gundam was produced, we have yet to see original works able to surpass it. As such, we have yet to see any programming surpassing Gundam, and we think because Gundam is the program that is meant to take the lead of them all.
It is in times like this that it is difficult to come up with something new.
New works are either frowned upon by grown-ups or appear out of the blue. New things don’t just appear for no reason.
So, at a time like this, it seems prudent for us to support the market by continuing Zeta Gundam, and, at the same time, to use Zeta Gundam as a springboard for new projects. Above all, we adults won’t be able to respond to the market if we continue forward solely with the preconceived notion that this series is a one-year project, as we’d planned.
Instead, we feel that it’s more appropriate to continue with this project until we have a stronger new project in hand once we pass the ten-year milestone of the era.
D). Zeta Gundam Against the Market
There is a consensus that we are seeing signs of change in both the toy and television markets. My assessment is that the question of how to deal with such changes is beyond the level of arbitrary development. The only thing to do at this juncture is market research. So, for this market research, we, in principle, would like to base it on the Zeta Gundam series. At the very least, the market around Gundam has undergone an excessive expansion, with too many works and projects since Gundam. If the new project is simply going to incorporate that, then going down the path of something Gundam would probably be the right thing to do. In particular, there is a valid interpretation that the time has come to expand this series’ path (including series other than Gundam).
I think we need to break free of the conventions where our works only last for a year, sustain the market a little longer, and expanding on Gundam and its name recognition – and for us to come up with a historical milestone for the future of this series, we will need to do all of these, no?
E). Zeta Gundam as a Program
a). Let’s just say that Part 1 took place during a time when it was necessary for it to be recognized in order for it to continue Gundam. Depending on future developments, I’m proud that the drama contains elements that can tap into new markets and viewers.
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- Zeta Gundam has taken on a vintage style, which allows us to experiment with a sequel series, something that has not been seen in past anime. In other words, it’s possible to constantly transform the program to meet the needs of newer markets that are changing with the times, to popularize it, and try and establish it as a staple, which convinces me that this too lends to the uniqueness that is Gundam.
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b). Several designers have been involved with the mechanical designs, and fans are recognizing their accomplishments. This fact means that Gundam now has the groundwork to try out a variety of things. Through these designs, we like to proceed with the development of different types of mobile suits – including those that can transform – and seek ways to commercialize them in the future. (This strategy is an element that will be imitated in subsequent/future new projects)
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- Given our expectations that it will be necessary to use name recognition as an anchor while we carry out experiments during the turning point, we would like to carry out these experiments in Part 2.
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F). Specific Plans for the Work
a). In order to broaden the market for anime programs, the age of the main character in Zeta Gundam should be lowered by two or three years. By making the story feel close to something like a one-shot storyline, it will be easier to understand, thus broadening the audience.
b). Striving to create programming with close connections between the drama, characters, and machines. This will help to foster a closer relationship between the viewer and the program.
c). Of course, we will strive to continue expanding the audience for anime programs, all while carrying on the feeling of Gundam and Zeta Gundam.
d). Transform it into a work suitable for the power of the feelings of the children who are alive today (hobbies like playing on the Famicon, a mom-and-pop candy store taste). We’re convinced that the more frustrated children are, the more they’ll crave the above feelings. Zeta Gundam is a stark reminder that we forgot that portion and created a work according to the logic and convenience of adults. However, we also believed that without Zeta Gundam, there would be no discussion on which to base the next work.
To summarize the above, we believe that the second part of Zeta Gundam will:
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- Broaden the age range of its viewers.
- Break free of a locked-in market and, through brand recognition and teamwork, seek to broaden the product range and a path toward popularization.
Appendix). Reflections on the Zeta Gundam series and Guidelines for the Next Production (reflections written by the current author)
Japanese children today are probably special in that they do not have a specific enemy (sense of crisis). Having this group of children as our audience, we need to immediately address the lack of a clear enemy and, more importantly, the lack of a clear purpose for which the characters are fighting, in particular.
Paradoxically, children, in reality, also feel uneasy about their own lack of sense of crisis. They see their lack of sense of crisis as something weird, and they want to do something about it. It is probably safe to say that they feel anxious about becoming full-fledged adults because they know that the “real world” has its ups and downs that they must deal with.
It seems to me that the Tigers Phenomenon is a manifestation of this sense of anxiety and that the Tigers Riot happened as a way to rid the children of their anxiety. It is also, even more paradoxically, a manifestation of the children’s desire to be heroes. That is, the children wanted people to know who they are and where they stand as a way to rid themselves of the anxiety that they felt.
We need to come up with things to satisfy and purify the impulses and desires that these children have. In practice, we need to come up with a protagonist that can sub in for them. Next, we also need to show the children that the world of Gundam and its universe is not just some sort of fantasy – but rather, a part of their life and that that is where they want to go.
More dramatically, we must make the series so that, watching the series, the children would feel scared about the universe and feel a sense of crisis, and then they will see why the Gundams are fighting to protect the universe. In a way, we can see Gundams as megaphones with which people use to shout and cheer at baseball games. People wouldn’t be able to cheer out loud without megaphones, but if they do, they can do just both of those.
People would be able to do the same through Gundams, which is why we should put Gundams out there. As an expression of its direct “function,” I feel we should publish a work called Gundam.
On top of that, the story is wrapped up in a drama that goes back to the roots of action stories.
There is a strong enemy, and we have an ally to fight against the enemy alongside us. We need to work hard to win the fight.
I believe this sort of storyline is essential.
People said that they were expecting the Zeta Gundam series to be a story about Char turning Kamille into a pawn for evil.
The actual anime series, however, didn’t live up to that expectation.
If the anime series did fail to live up to the audience’s expectations, it was due to the ego of the author, who was too focused on making Part II a sequel to Part I. This desire of the author’s resulted in a work that failed to live up to the audience’s expectations.
In the pre-Gundam era, Char was not just an enemy but the voice of logic for the existence of the enemy, the “constitution” of the “enemy,” and the universe in which the enemy “existed.”
These are facts that we need to remind ourselves of.
Furthermore, if the universe is also real for the younger audience, we must come up with the series in such a way that the universe would appear to be something that the protagonist must win back and protect.
Char from the Zeta Gundam series may have wanted to make things easier, and this is something that the author needs to reflect upon.
And we would guess that the future Gundam universe will be the same as the current American one.
That is, people will grow and become more powerful. They will impose forceful measures on others, get tired, lose to weaker countries, and then fight back again.
We should portray the universe as a symbol of such authority and corruption.
Such is the existence of the “universe” of the Gundam world.
We would like to make it an anime series that portrays how the new protagonist uses and masters the Gundam to bring about peace and love.
★ZETA GUNDAM PART 2★
■STORY■
Yoshiyuki Tomino
■ The story follows Judau Ashta, a thirteen-year-old boy who grows as a mobile suit pilot as he encounters remnants of the Titans and the Manivaling unit dispatched by Haman Karn. He eventually becomes the first Newtype and leaves a message to the people of Earth before departing for Mars.
○ PREFACE
The conflict between the Argama, Scirocco, and Haman has come to an end, with Scirocco’s demise. With the nexus of the Titans now gone, the Earth Federation Forces were in total disarray, though they were coming together and uniting under the AEUG. Haman Karn’s fleet retreated to the outskirts of the Moon’s orbit and used the remainder of Axis as a base to target Earth.
Char, who was missing in action during the previous battle, remains unaccounted for.
Critically wounded, the Argama limps its way to the colony of Shangri-la in Side 1. However, post-war poverty in the colony left its inhabitants living in miserable conditions under the tyrannical rule of the Colony Public Corporation. Despite Bright and Emma’s best efforts, it was extremely difficult to procure the necessary materials to repair the Argama at Sangri-La. Kamille was transported to a hospital in the colony, accompanied by Fa.
Enter Judau Ashita, a mischievous young boy from Shangri-la. He tags along with a bunch of hot-rodders known as “Giger.” When they come across the wounded soldiers of the Argama, they consider commandeering the ship with her sparse defenses. Then, Judau steals the Zeta Gundam, brushing off the resistance of both Bright and Emma.
In the meantime, men from Haman’s Manivaling unit, in a bid to quickly win over the colony, attempt to lay the groundwork for the destruction of the Argama. Haman comes to the decision that it will be necessary for her men to get acclimated to the Earth Sphere as she only has young staffers. Judau is initially swayed by the persuasiveness of the Manivaling’s members and briefly looks at destroying the Argama, but Fa and Emma convince him to protect the ship from Manivaling instead. Nonetheless, to the amateur boy’s distress, even though he’s piloting the Zeta Gundam, things to not fare well for him.
Shinta and Qum are extremely attached to Judau and, wanting to turn Judau into a force to fight with, they cooperate with Judau.
After several attempts from the Manivaling to sabotage the Argama, Judau soldiers on, bringing in his friend from the Giger into the fold. “Running a warship is so much fun!” he says.
However, after realizing that staying in Shangri-la was no longer feasible, Bright tries to reach out to another colony for assistance. But the system that is the Earth Federation Forces were in such disarray that no matter which colony he turned to, his efforts to repair the Argama were unsuccessful.
He wanted to return to Granada, but he was not confident that ARGAMA could navigate that short distance on its own.
○ BUILDUP
Haman Karn’s organization, Manivaling, has even infiltrated the Colony Public Corporation, and the Argama is being driven into a position where it has no choice but to withdraw. In the midst of all this, Judau, struggling desperately and floundering through one hard fight after another, gradually becomes able to handle the Zeta Gundam.
But ultimately, the situation escalated to the point where mobile suit combat erupted inside the colony itself, and Bright was forced to pull the Argama out of Shangri-La with its repairs still incomplete.
It was then that the supply ship La Vie en Rose appeared.
She could operate in tandem with the Argama, they were told. However, the La Vie en Rose was equally vulnerable to enemy attack. Her crew had been whittled down to a dangerously thin number.
A girl stationed there, Roux Louka, took a liking to Judau, whose one redeeming quality was his raw energy, and offered to help him. But Judau rejected her outright.
He did not trust women. There was also the matter of having been spurned by Emma. And he carried the lingering sting of having been talked into submission by Fa.
There is also a latent maternal longing in him, which could be understood as manifesting as a reflexive rejection of young women.
To make matters worse, having begun to develop confidence in piloting the Zeta Gundam, a budding sense of pride took root, and Judau charged headlong at Manivaling with reckless abandon.
Emma chided him and provided backup in the Gundam Mk-II, but he was beyond anyone’s control. He was just a child, and yet he strutted around like he owned the place.
But in the open void of space, Manivaling’s cunning attacks left Judau wounded.
He plummeted into a crisis of confidence.
During that time, Emma held the line in the newly refurbished Gundam Mk-II, defending both the Argama and the La Vie en Rose.
When engineers at Anaheim Electronics in Granada learned of the Argama’s movements, they developed a late-production variant of the Zeta Gundam and delivered it to the ship.
“I hear you’ve got a kid with some real fire in him? Word is he might be a Newtype, we’ve got high hopes.”
That engineer, Elbow Smash, said this to Emma with a beaming grin.
Judau climbed into the new Gundam (not without a tug-of-war drama with Emma over who would pilot it) and sortied against the enemy, but the handicap of his injuries, still not fully healed, only resulted in damage to the new Gundam.
Elbow Smash wailed and screamed and tore Judau to shreds over it.
And so the Argama’s flight continued, swallowing whole the internal friction between the original crew and the Gigers members as it went.
Roux Louka aboard the La Vie en Rose offered no help either.
“You’re all so cold!” Judau screamed.
Thanks to the La Vie en Rose pouring every resource into maintenance (though in truth, the La Vie en Rose’s crew had devolved into little more than a pack of children like Roux, making the repair work nothing short of tragic. Elbow Smash spent every waking moment turning a deeper shade of pale.), and even after Emma sorties in the new Gundam on top of all that, when outnumbered so hopelessly, not even the new Gundam could turn the tide.
Emma may die in the midst of that sorrowful battle.
○ THE ENEMY & THE ARGAMA
Having restored Axis, Haman Karn was convinced that she had no choice but to press forward with full force, installing Mineva as figurehead and achieving the restoration of the Zabi family.
“It is people whose souls are dragged down by gravity who wage these idiotic wars. Why will they not obey the convictions of the Zabi family, who speak for a far nobler spirit? If they would only submit, humanity could find happiness.”
To Haman Karn, who says this, Bright responds with stern, unyielding clarity:
“Forcing your ideology on others, you know full well it only ends in stripping people of their freedom!”
With unwavering resolve, he rejected Haman’s doctrine outright.
Judau, witnessing this, thought for the first time that he might actually come to like Bright.
During these times, the Argama and the La Vie en Rose lay hidden in the shoal zone of Side 4.
As a result, a suffocating war-weariness permeated the Argama, and Judau finally snapped.
“Get the hell out of here! All of you!”
He kicks off the Argama’s spineless crew members. The former Gigers members alone seized control of the ship.
Shinta and Qum try to smooth things over, but it is no use.
All of the Argama’s personnel leave for the La Vie en Rose.
That was when Roux Louka from the La Vie en Rose came storming aboard to pick a fight. (This, of course, happened while Bright was away.)
○ THE BATTLE TO RECLAIM SHANGRI-LA
In order to drive out the Colony Public Corporation officials controlling Shangri-La, Bright dispatched spies from the Argama and orchestrated a purge.
(The intent is for Char to be operating behind the scenes of this operation, ensuring its success. A final courtesy as a former member of the Argama’s crew. After this, he may become an enemy.)
Judau was then sent in to mop up the remaining holdouts.
As a result, the Argama managed to secure a base within the colony. But Shangri-La was, at the end of the day, a colony pushed past the point of exhaustion, restoring its industrial capabilities would take considerable time.
Still, the colony served as a psychological stabilizer for the Argama’s crew.
However, with the Earth Federation government itself lacking any will to fight, the situation showed no signs of improving.
It was beginning to look like the Argama and Shangri-La stood alone in this war.
Kamille went missing, and Fa returned to the Argama.
○ THE EARTH FEDERATION FORCES
Bright resolves to descend to Earth in order to negotiate directly with the highest ranks of the Earth Federation Forces.
Judau goes with him.
At the Federation government, Bright laid out the situation in space and warned them of the threat Haman Karn posed. But the response from the Federation’s leadership was dismissive.
“She says she’ll be satisfied if we simply hand over one of the Sides.”
They refused to take the matter seriously. And so negotiations had already begun, with Side 3 slated to be ceded to Haman Karn.
“That is the Side where the Zabi family originated!”
“Char will keep watch over Haman Karn.”
Those words struck Bright and Judau like a thunderbolt.
“What did you say?”
For Bright, if Char had survived, then it was conceivable. He could imagine it.
“He must have resolved to infiltrate the enemy, eliminate Haman Karn, and on top of that, purge the obstinate people of Earth…”
But Judau, unable to comprehend the machinations of adults, lashed out and struck the Federation officials.
Judau was thrown into confinement.
Amuro, Hayato, Beltorchika, and others launched an operation to break him out.
While there, they received word that Kamille had been spotted wandering through Hong Kong.
But there was no time to pursue the matter.
Bright and Judau returned to the Argama, only to find themselves hunted by the Earth Federation Forces.
Haman Karn laughed at Bright’s plight.
○ HAMAN’S FORCES
The colony under Haman Karn’s dictatorship had, just as Bright had warned, subjected its people to brutal oppression.
Every person who had previously lived there was conscripted and entered into training to serve in an operation to seize control of Earth.
Judau and Roux infiltrated the colony and witnessed the reality of it firsthand. The shock was overwhelming.
There was no trace of Char’s presence whatsoever. All that could be seen was the misery of a colony under the heel of Haman Karn’s self-righteous tyranny.
(The intent is to convey life within the colony through a string of melodramatic episodes.)
“She’s planning to attack Earth as soon as tomorrow!”
On Judau’s judgment, an operation was devised to abduct Mineva.
It ended in failure, but therein lay the melodrama. The heroic efforts of the colony’s people who risked everything to help Judau would be told through tears.
And then, the advance of Haman’s army, centered on Axis, began.
The panicked Earth Federation Forces found themselves pleading for rescue from the very space fleet they had branded as rebels, the Argama among them.
Or rather, it was the goodwill of those so-called rebel forces that sparked the defensive war against Haman’s army.
The sheer absurdity of being obligated to save them sent Judau into a rage.
But fight he must.
Here, Fa may step into the role that Emma once filled.
Meanwhile, the reason Char had not moved against Haman Karn was this: while the world’s eyes were turned toward space, Char had been commanding a unit tasked with assassinating the Earth Federation government’s high officials.
○ FINAL CHAPTER
And so, once Char witnessed the Earth Federation government pass a resolution approving humanity’s emigration to space, he joined Haman Karn’s forces.
For a time, he challenged the Argama as a lone pilot, assuming the role of Judau’s combat instructor on the battlefield. Upon recognizing how far Judau had grown, Char turned back toward Haman Karn.
Mineva was overjoyed at Char’s return.
But when Haman Karn’s army launched its offensive against Earth, it was Char who struck Haman Karn down.
Bright then tacitly orchestrated the rescue of Mineva, and the conflict concluded with the destruction of Axis.
And in the final moment of that last battle, Judau’s will was unleashed, broadcast across the entire world.
“Assimilate! Humanity cannot be liberated simply by forcing through one’s own ideology. Char’s methods are nothing more than a petty self-satisfaction, doing only what convinces himself.”
Char truly believed those words to be right.
“Just express the self as it is, nothing more, and overlay it upon others! And if you can overlay another person’s will upon your own, then reconciliation becomes possible. Human beings possess that ability. If we can achieve it, humanity will unite as one and master the cosmos. To that end, we must remember, the universe is infinite in its vastness!”
That call was heard by enemies, allies, and the bystanders on Earth alike.
And so, the people resolved to venture out into space.
It reached even Kamille, wandering on his solitary journey.
“All I ever sought was Four. If I could just know that Four is still here, right now, that would be enough…”
It was Kamille’s awakening.
Mineva asked Judau.
“Even when I lived out in the Asteroid Belt, I sometimes felt a warmth… Was that because human beings are capable of becoming one with the universe?”
Afterward, Judau said to Roux.
“Sure, maybe I am a Newtype. But you know what they say, ‘A prodigy at birth, a genius until ten, and just an ordinary person by twenty,’ right?”
Judau laughed, and threw himself into the frontier of Mars.
“It’s to learn. Not to pioneer.”
And with that…
Mineva descended to Earth.
PUBLICATION INFORMATION
Publisher: Animedia
Released: 1987.03.01
Price: 580
Size: —
