Forum - View topicREVIEW: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin GN 1 - 3
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Much, much better than the TV series it is based on. In fact, the TV series seems like a bare first draft compared to this.
I'm really looking forward to the anime adaptation of this. I hope they go full-force on it and adapt the whole thing. |
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Utsuro no Hako
Posts: 1052 |
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It's instructive to compare this to Tomino's Gundam novels which tried to do the same thing twenty years earlier. For instance, the whole section of the series set on Earth was basically filler to stretch out the story (which is ironic considering they had to rush the ending when the series got canceled). In Origin, Yasuhiko sticks to the original but adds in a lot of political and military machinations to make the plot more cohesive, whereas Tomino just cut that entire section. Likewise having Amuro as a teenager was a studio dictate so the show could appeal to kids, which Yasuhiko sticks to, though he adds some details to make Amuro's ability to use the Gundam more believable, while Tomino simply changed Amuro to an adult soldier who's fully trained in Gundam systems. Overall I think Tomino's approach was better and Yasuhiko is too wedded to the original. |
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Frazmataz
 Posts: 103 Location: Sheffield, UK |
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Having read these first three volumes of the Origin, this is already quite possibly my personal all-time favourite manga. The story is the one we're familiar with from the original anime but with welcome additions, amendments and new character twists to keep it fresh and interesting; Yasuhiko's artwork is just gorgeous; and Vertical's hardback presentation makes each book a delight to hold and to read. I was initially hesitant to commit to a long manga series again, having decided to keep to shorter works some time ago (and especially since I was already familiar with the One Year War story), but the quality of both the manga itself and this particular edition of it is well worth the investment. I can't wait to read the rest of the volumes, and I'll be over the moon if the upcoming anime is even half as good!
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ReverseTitan
 Posts: 109 Location: Hong Kong |
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Gundam 0079 sucked. Horrible, horrible animation, almost looked like a Hanna Barbera toon and the music was awful. The art was off model all the time, Amuro is so annoying up until Zeta, Char is just a bland Darth Vader clone(who he is actually based off), it's ironically super unrealistic, due to Newtype bullshit, the concept of trying to make things grey is stupid, since we KNOW Zeon are undeniably the bad guys. Yes, the Feddies were/are corrupt and oppressive, but the Zeeks dropped colonies and GASSED people.
Victory shows that the Feddies have become more respectable and are willing to help the League Militare battle the Zanscare Empire. Zeon never developed or changed. Speaking of UC, Tomino UC as a whole sucks. The side stories have much better, SCRIPT wise and character wise. Tomino cannot write a damn. Origin is way better. They should do one for Zeta too, since that one also sucked, due to a certain annoying, abrasive bishonen I will not mention, the lack of personality from the characters, the NT BS becoming even worse and that atrocious, atrocious ending which makes Evangelion, End of Evangelion, Big O, Big O II, Princess Mononoke, Akira, Spirited Away and Ghost in the Shell look like Toy Story 3's ending in comparison. |
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TsunaReborn!
 Posts: 4713 Location: Cheltenham UK |
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I am enjoying the series so far especially this being my first experience with the Gundam franchise. I love the covers and art work. At times I wish the story slowed down a little as it can be rushed at times I.e spoiler[Amuro meeting his mother - I felt that should have been explored more as he hasn't seen her in so long.] Also the characters can be a little too up and down for my liking. All in all I each turn of a page.
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ryanvamp
Posts: 420 |
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I'm glad this got a good review (and I'm not only talking about getting a good score, but being informative about it and making people potentially want to buy it). The Origin is one of my all time fav mangas and I really want this english edition to succeed. Not because it would mean more mangas about mecha or even gundam-related published (I certainly think it will remain as niche as it is nowadays) but because the story itself, as it is presented here, is truly a remarkable one which, like a previous comment said, improves on every aspect the series/movies had going for them and taking out all the filler. In a nutshell, this is one of those mangas that you can read if you like good, mature stories. You don't even have to like giant robots (although I guess it helps) battling each other.
Perhaps its bigger strenght is how much it benefits from adapting a completed show: it doesn't need to get dragged-on or hurried because of cancellation, so they only thing Yas needed to do (granted, it wasn't easy) was to make this tale even more mature and fleshed out. Even then of course I don't think it will sell A LOT, but as long as it ends up being profitable and well received, I'll be more than satisfied. |
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Kaioshin_Sama
Posts: 1215 |
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Reading Gundam manga and novels is often fun, but somehow it feels like it doesn't have the same vibe to it without those soundtracks. It's why I often listen to a playlist of thematically appropriate music while reading them.
It's funny reading somebody summarize the opening to the franchise cause it might as well be like a religious person reading their holy text. At this point it's just like a familiar passage I can cite from memory, a legend that has passed into the ages. All I can say is just wait when it comes to Char, he's probably the most complexly written character in Franchise history. |
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sainta
 Posts: 989 |
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The manga is a good read. The illustrations and story are really good. If there is one thing that bothers me is Kai: He is probably the most annoying character I've ever seen. He gets better but damn he complains a lot.
Amuro's transformation into a soldier is pretty well done in the manga. One question I have is that if Amuro and Lalah's relationship is better developed in this version. I found it kind of cheap that they became attached in the TV series just because of their Newtype powers. Zeta later did that again while Double Zeta made up for it.
I don't remember pretty well but wasn't it that Amuro deserted with Gundam, the most important weapon from White Base? The base members could have been killed without Gundam |
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Animehermit
 Posts: 964 Location: The Argama |
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I love this manga, I think it works better as a science fiction piece than the original Gundam does, while still grasping what makes these characters appealing.
Glad it got a good review. |
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Krotchstak
Posts: 94 |
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Couldn't disagree more. I can't stand Tomino's original novels - they're full of weird, poorly-paced prose and bizarre touches that make the characters utterly impossible to relate to (such as spoiler[Amuro keeping a lock of Sayla's pubic hair as a luck charm] and just being awkwardly written in general). They're great for worldbuilding details, but other than that the best you can say about them is that they're a bit more realistic in certain ways - which is ultimately meaningless, since the execution is so lacking. The first anime, on the other hand, kind of has the opposite problem: great characters and a great story constantly mired by toy company demands and serial broadcasting format. Some of these it manages to work well with, others not so much, but the reason it remains so beloved in Japan today is because it's a surprisingly high-quality show beneath its low-budget, poorly-aged exterior. This, then, is why Yas' phenomenal adaptation is so "married" to the original: because Yas knows what works. One of my favourite things about this series that is how it keeps exactly what should be kept and tweaks the rest in JUST the right ways 95% of the time. The series still has the odd bit of camp, still has its sense of humour, still has its blocky used-future look, and still has its story and character beats completely intact. For once, this is an adaptation that only enhances the original and for my money, this is the definitive telling of the One-Year-War story. |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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Bizarre pointless stuff, unrelatable characters, and general awkwardness? In a story written by Tomino? NO WAY. Last edited by Fronzel on Thu Dec 12, 2013 10:24 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Krotchstak
Posts: 94 |
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I think it's actually a great sign of how much of MSG's success was a) a team effort and b) a result of limitations put onto Tomino himself (and I seriously doubt the two were separate phenomena). About the only work that's pure Tomino that I really enjoy is Turn-A Gundam. |
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Fronzel
Posts: 1906 |
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He really is the Japanese George Lucas. |
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lizardking461
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How so? So far everything that's happened in the manga also happened in the original series as far as I can tell. The only thing I don't recall is the shower and pool scenes with the slight homosexual undertones between Char and Garma... Edit: Oh also the first encounter between Char and Sayla. To be honest I didn't really like how that was changed. I liked how in the original series it instantly added a bit more depth to Char's character (even if it was through a cliche plot point), whereas so far in the manga I'm not really enjoying Char's characterisation so much... Last edited by lizardking461 on Thu Dec 12, 2013 11:34 am; edited 2 times in total |
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Kicksville
 Posts: 1250 |
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Cripes, people sure are hard on ol' Tomino and the original Gundam anime here. I suppose they're easy to take for granted these days. I've had a good time with everything he's directed that I've seen, so as far as I'm concerned, I don't see those as only being any good in spite of his involvement or whatever (I suppose this is where the requisite "lol Garzey's Wing exists!!" person comes out - admittedly I haven't seen that yet, or Umi no Triton).
I haven't even cracked into my Vertical copies of The Origin, but I've got all the volumes pre-ordered - enjoyed the Viz editions, so owning the whole thing in hard cover is a treat. |
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