Kidou Senshi Crossbone Gundam
Mobile Suit Cross Bone Gundam

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This is my first time reading a gundam manga. The only reason I read this is because the Crossbone series was released only for the manga and didn't get any anime version. When I heard the title, the first thing that popped into my mind are pirates. I was right. This series is all about space pirates. It's quite obvious once you see the crossbone emblem on the gundam. This gundam has three distinct features that makes it unique from the other gundam series. First are the boosters. The boosters on the back are arranged to form an X, and is directly connected to the ... cockpit. Meaning, the cockpit can easily detach from the gundam during emergency situations. The second one are the cloaks. Your wrong if you think their just for show. Just like a beam shield, the cloak can protect the gundam from beam attacks. But these are much efficient than beam shields, because it gives the gundam more mobility. Lastly, the sword. You will notice that the beam sabers are identical to a pirate sword, which is kind of cool.

The setting takes place 10 years after the F91 series. So expect most of the former characters to make a comeback, with the addition of a new protagonist. Our new hero, Tobia Arronax starts out as an ordinary 13 year old boy who will later become a great gundam pilot under the teachings of Kincaid Nau. The story this time is about a group of space pirates known as the Crossbone Vanguards, fighting against a corrupt empire lead by Crux Docatie. At first the story starts out slow. But little by little it will get interesting as you progress through the manga. Expect shocking revelations and surprising twist of events. When it comes down to the drawing, I could say it's pretty decent even though it was made last 1994-1997. You will definitely feel the classic gundam style of artwork. Although it was hard for me to appreciate the battle scenes. But most probably the fault lies on my end, since I'm not accustomed to reading gundam mangas. Well that's about it for the Crossbone Gundam's main points.

Overall, I like the Crossbone Gundam series. The gundams are cool and the story is intruiging. But I would have liked it better if I was watching it in animation, instead of reading it in manga. I recommend to all the gundam fans to read the Crossbone Gundam manga. It's a series you dont want to miss. If you happen to liked the series, then you should also try reading the sequels: Skull Heart and The Steel Seven. This concludes my review on Crossbone Gundam. Thank you for reading and I hope you found it useful. Check out also my other manga and anime reviews.

-gundameisters.blogspot.com

Amazing piece of work. I loved how beautifully the Gundam universe matches the pirate aesthetic and I also love how this manga is essentially all the themes of Char’s counterattack except done better in every way. Strong thing for me to say, but let me explain.

The essential driving force of the conflict in this manga is humanity producing oxygen and water on its own. It depicts pretty well how much ordinary citizens forced off of earth hate that they have to do said production and the loss of lives the smallest accidents create and juxtaposes it with the philosophy of "how far could humanity evolve ... if we lead them realize that manmade oxygen was the only way to go?" It proves Amuro right in his counter to Char that revolutionary ideals never match on the ground reality, and no character even needed to say that.

One of the important characters, Sherindon Ronah, inhabits the perfect form of Tomino's pacifist side in action. Tomino's interviews repeatedly say that he targets the younger audience because they are the ones who will surpass the traditions of adults and save the planet the older generation is killing. Here, we have a princess who wants to be isolated from that "old" society and build one of newtypes that, with their high degree of empathy will overcome that hoddel once “oldtypes” are essentially done killing each other. It's fun to see such a pacifist in action. Take away the need to engage in war to protect those they love and that has essentially been the ideology of newtype pilots in zeta and after: "it's because of adults like you that we have wars" etc etc. It’s interesting that she’s opposed to the protagonist. The first anti-war and never-violent character ever in a UC gundam to do this, to my recollection.

The antagonism comes from the Char in her, the complete rejection of the idea that non-newtypes have anything worth offering, which leads to antipathy with regards to whether they live or die. I thought that the main character’s, Tobia’s, response to her was the best part of the series. It’s a letter that starts with a simple “Can you walk 12km on a mountain road in a single day?” A question meant to bring up how much humanity has left behind in their evolution to newtypedom. The resto f the letter is Tobia not denying that humanity will one day evolve and have no need for earth. In fact, he even accepted it. He just acknowleges that there is far more that we can learn from earth. “Leaders can be better planned for tomorrow if they know what happened yesterday” and all that. Far more complex answers to the same questions posed in CCA and I love that. The only thing stopping me from rating it higher than CCA is just that this art style doesn't translate well to gundam, especially mobile suit fights, for me. I really hope this gets an anime adaptation soon.