Kidou Senshi Gundam: The Origin
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin

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In my opinion, a true masterpiece. I just can't find excuses to not rate it 10. The story is extremely rich, the art (characters, the coloring, the angles, the action moments, the dialogues), the characters' development, everything is 10 to me. I wanted so many animes to get a manga like this. I don't have words to describe how immersive reading this was. The complex story, the political drama, the battles, the context, everything is so well explained and in such an epic way!
Even support characters like Garma got more background, we got a little bit of some slice of life of Char and ... how did he become the Red Comet, what motivated him, his backstory and so much more. I love how this mange made Gundam 0079 even richer. The way the characters are so human and realistic is incredible, they way we get to see people with their own interests, dreams, battles and ambitions is wow. A great way to get to know the franchise, I love every volume.

Mobile Suit Gundam:The Origin is best way to get into Gundam. I fell in love with each and every aspect of this masterpiece done by one of the Gods of the anime and manga industry: Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. It's a retelling of the original Anime that aired in the late 70s. Nevertheless Yasuhiko-Sensei adds a lot of backstory about the origin (as the title suggests) of the conflict as well as the individual stories and motives of some of the main characters. Now let's get started with the actual review.

～ STORY = 9 ～
The story is simple but very well executed. It starts and we're already ... in the middle of the war between Zeon and the Earth Federation. The Zakus, Zeon's Mobile Suits used for military operations, enter Side 7, one of Earth's colonies, for an espionage mission as the "Feds" are suspected to develop a secret operation in that colony still under construction. Turns out they were right as the Feds' new Mobile Suit shows up: the Gundam. But why does all of this happen in the first place? Well several months prior to those events, the Principality of Zeon (former Side 3) had self-declared its independence from the Earth Federation, so conflict became inevitable. You'll find out more about it later on in the manga as all the pieces, one by one, complete the puzzle.



～ ART = 10 ～
The artwork is stunning, it was clearly made at its author's prime as it also stays consistent from beginning to end . I've spent I don't know how much time just staring at Yasuhiko-Sensei's panels, whether he portrayed the different types of Mobile Suits and aircrafts; the characters, carefully conveying their emotions and personalities; the marvelous landscapes and cities. The amount of details is impressive too.


～ CHARACTERS = 10 ～
The cast of characters is amazing. Even the ones that appear for a small amount of chapters are fundamental to the story. I grew attached to the White Base crew (also Ramba Ral and Hamon) and I loved to hate the Zabi family. I will only spend a few words for the 2 protagonists: Amuro Ray and Char Aznable.

Amuro is just 15 when he finds himself piloting the Gundam, fighting against Zeon trained soldiers in their Zakus. He manages not only to survive, but also to prove that he is able to control the Gundam. Therefore he is forced to join White Base's crew. The weight on his shoulders oppresses him and he often acts- and reacts - impulsively . Nevertheless I think his character development is great.

My favorite character is Char , the Red Comet. He fights for Zeon but he actually is hostile to Zabi families for reasons you get to know as the story progresses. To me he is the real protagonist of the whole manga and I actually sympathized with him several times, although most of his actions aren't pure at all.


～ ENJOYMENT = 10 ～
You can't get bored with this manga. Spectacular battles, conspiracies and secret missions are always around the corner. The pace is great. It makes you always wonder what will come next.


～ OVERALL =10 ～
I recommend this manga to everyone. It doesn't matter if you're a kid or an adult , go give this a shot and see for yourself. I was very sad when I reached the last page, for me it was one of those cases where I wish I could erase the story from my memory so that I can experience it again for the first time.

Coming from the anime, I must say that it is really not for the people liking the good aspect of it but rather the more juvenile one.

The Origin depends on a two facets logic, we will be shown one or the other all the story and there are some moments when those two parts meddle with each others. Which should be a good thing, if their affinity wasn't so disastrous.

You have the "evil" part. The characters are depicted to some extent, we are actually lacking the why at many instances having simply a personality but it is still worked around and their strategies/feelings aren't bad. ... They often talk around the point leaving a feeling that many is left unsaid and will come back later, it is unfortunately not the case.
Those are interesting enough to make us want to dig up more about most of them. As it is a war after all, it is still easy to understand that not everyone can have the spotlight.

Then comes the "good" side. Shallow, actually almost none of the characters stay in mind. The MC is just a brat, which is understandable since he is a brat. Point is that he is the deeper character on the good side making all the other just awful.
They win all their fights. Because of a sixth sens, Gundam, kids, miracle, just because.
And guess what happen when the "good" side win? They spit on the "bad" one.

That is basically the more let down element of The Origin: The more interesting ones, that actually do a war, use strategy, have some motivations, a personality, get trashed by the bland ones thanks to some sixth sens, OP mecha, kids or whatever.
Once you get the formula, all their determination, fight to death, just change to some comic relief.
They'll just lose for no reason after all. How can we take them seriously?

Now, let's say that there is absolutely no reason even for those miracles to happen.
Gundam? A mobile suit prototype. The research on the enemy side is actually farther in, so they shouldn't be able to do something that overpowered. Let's add the fact that revolutions with the engine and alloy can't be done out of nowhere.
Sixth sens? New Type particularity. A sens developed by humanity going into space. MC's coming from earth, how the hell is he a new type? Most of them come from his crew while the enemy, the actual people from space, almost don't have them. Again, research is more advanced on the opposing side, and yet, it is always used against them.
Kids? I would rather avoid the subject. It was just awful.

So what is The Origin?
A the good guys win story.
Simple right?

That being said, it isn't high level writing to begin with.
Many are left unanswered, most of the important dialogues feel like people talking with themselves rather than each other, no character development only fight after fight, the love parts are only here to show the cruelty of war and sprout out of nowhere with no foretelling, characters are mostly characters without actual origins founding them, you get good lessons about how wars can be fought alone to be shown the contrary all along.

I would probably not even gotten interested if the animation actually adapted the beginning of the manga.
It is the spirit of the story, the past arc being just a spin-off in it.