[originally posted 26 October 2023]

Monthly OUT (月刊OUT) was one of the first anime magazines, published by Minori Shobō and releasing monthly from 1977 to 1995. This series of posts will cover the Gundam-related content from the October 1979 issue. I’ll be going through this magazine in parts, as there is quite a lot to cover.

First, the included poster featuring Char. Interesting to note that he has his scar here.

Color Pages

Following the poster is a series of color pages with screenshots of some events in the anime so far. This magazine only covers up through the events of episode 22, important for context going forward. Translations of the main section of text below each page.

Universal Century 0079

The battle between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon of Space Colony Side 3, which seeks independence from the Federation, has reached a stalemate after both sides have suffered great sacrifices…

Target!! Side 7

The people could do nothing but run away in the face of an all-out attack by the Principality of Zeon’s mobile suits, the “Zaku”.

Lieutenant Commander Char of the feared Principality of Zeon, who is nicknamed the “Red Comet,” learned of the existence of a new weapon developed by the Federation Forces on his way back from a certain operation. He followed it to Side 7 and sent reconnaissance, but the new weapon was more powerful than he had imagined and the situation took an unexpected turn. Even for Char himself.

Garma’s Fate

Garma Zabi, the third son of the Principality of Zeon, had been friends with Char since the military academy, but to Char he was noticeably naive. Char’s cold-hearted plan began with his friend Garma being brutally killed. What is Char’s objective as a man of Zeon!?

Sieg Zeon!!

The Principality of Zeon responded to Garma’s death with a grand funeral. The eldest son, Gihren, appealed to the assembled crowd to continue the battle. The exciting cry of Sieg Zeon. Meanwhile, Char, forced to take responsibility for Garma’s death, disappears. However, this masked nobleman, a man who lives by strategy, Char’s eyes have not lost their sparkle.

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Mobile Suit Gundam Special Feature

The next section is titled “Mobile Suit Gundam Special Feature” and is divided into multiple parts.

“Have you ever seen Mobile Suit Gundam? Of course you’re watching. Once that is decided, the conversation will be quick. Now, before you turn the page, as a movie fan, I would like to say one thing out loud. “All you filmmakers out there, if you have time to drink, watch this anime and be blown away.” (It’s no good if you only do it once). This movie (I dare not call it an anime) is full of sincerity towards expression, which is absolutely essential for people who create things. (If you don’t understand that, there’s no point in talking about it). Jeez, being serious in and of itself isn’t something that moves me. But that’s Gundam! I said it.” [translation of the above page]

The episode summaries are pretty standard so I won’t be fully translating all of them, however I included some I found amusing or interesting.

• Episode 2: …In the episode, Char and Sayla run into each other, and Char takes off his mask. After this, Char’s true face will only be seen once. The value of your poster will skyrocket.
• Episode 3 & 4: (The author notes they unfortunately haven’t actually seen these episodes)
• Episode 10: White Base, trying to break through Zeon’s air control zone, ended up near its border. Anticipating Zeon’s move to stop this, Bright devises a plan. He plans to lure them in with the Gundam and then use the White Base to hit them all at once. When Char learns of this, he deliberately lures Garma into falling for his scheme, and Garma dies in an explosion. He often falls for people’s schemes, but this time it was a double whammy. How sad.
• Episode 12: It seems that Garma was very popular in Zeon. Probably with girls. (That’s so shallow!!). So, taking advantage of his death, the eldest son Gihren, who is the leader, makes a big speech calling for unity. Justice is on our side, he says. Meanwhile, Dozle’s subordinate Ramba Ral and his wife Hamon attack the White Base to avenge Garma. These two will be very active after this. This is a story that really moved me for some reason. But they’re fascists… well, could I really watch Gundam if I was scared of fascism?
• Episode 14: Zeon soldiers place plastic time bombs on the Gundam. Amuro shows off his technical enthusiasm and succeeds in removing them just in the nick of time. The soldiers of Zeon watch it from a distance and are stunned by his strength. Although it is a short story, it depicts the true face of a regular Zeon soldier and is a masterpiece. Amuro is great too!!

• Episode 17: The Zeon soldiers captured last time escape, and under Ramba Ral’s lead, attack White Base again. And since it’s actually no Zaku, but a new type of model, the Gouf, Amuro is forced into an unexpectedly difficult battle when he sets out in the Guntank. Bright doesn’t like this, and the sulking Amuro gets in the Gundam and leaves the ship. At first, he was unusually motivated and focused on his research through combat simulations, but… The psychological depiction of Amuro’s turmoil in this part is convincing. I could also see Mirai’s bust, which was great!!
• Episode 20: When Ramba Ral receives the news that Dozle’s reinforcements have been ambushed and wiped out by the Federation Forces (actually it was M’Quve’s plot), he decides to wage guerrilla warfare, but in the battle he ends up in a stalemate against Ryu. However, just before that happens, Ral looks at Sayla and says, “Princess!!” So her older brother Char is a prince!?

Gundam Special Note

Following the episode summaries is the “Gundam Special Note”. This includes some information about the world of Gundam, as it was known to this point. As this is a lot of text and most is already common knowledge, I’ve summarized some of the interesting points below each set of pages.

Birth of the Gundam

• Gundam’s official name is RX-78. R stands for Revulutioro and X stands for prototype. 78 is the year it was produced, U.C. 0078. At first it was called Gunboy, but later changed to Gundam.
• As the letter X indicates, it is a prototype, so it is currently the only mobile suit in the Earth Federation, at least at this point in the story (the others were destroyed on Side 7)
• The performance of the Gundam outclasses Zeon’s Zaku, although Zeon is working on improvements, like the Gouf and Dom. Like “Gundam”, “Zaku” is also a shorthand nickname

Differences from Zaku

• According to Amuro, what makes Gundam unique is that it can memorize battle patterns. In other words, it will become more and more clever, and if Amuro gives it a bad order, it may refuse to obey it.
• Its weak point is the fact it has to balance on two legs, but since MS were designed to be used in zero-gravity, this makes sense in the story
• Char is called the “Red Comet” because his Zaku is red in color. The “horn” on its head is to indicate he is the commander.
• The author also remarks that the Gundam’s feet look like horse hooves

Life in colonies is exactly the same as on Earth

• According to Director Tomino, the design of the space colonies is based on the plans of Gerard K. O’Neill
• Side 3 of the Principality of Zeon is one step ahead of the other colonies in that it has an artificial sun. This has two advantages: firstly, they become closed colonies, which increases their strength, and second, the entire inner wall of the colony can be effectively used as land. Other colonies take in sunlight from outside, so they can only use part of it. 
• Colonies are basically self-sufficient in all daily necessities. Before the war, one side is said to have been engaged in livestock farming and tourism.
• However, Kycilia is determined to secure mines on Earth because bauxite, which is needed for the war effort, can only be found there.

The five gravitational stability zones around the Earth

• The Principality of Zeon, or Side 3, is located on the far side from the moon, but Side 7 is located in the moon’s orbit, on the opposite side of the Earth from Side 3. In other words, the positional relationship is Side 3 – Earth – Side 7. This place is where the gravitational balance between the Sun, Moon, and Earth is the most stable. There are five such places around the Earth.
• However, Side 3 and Side 6 (which remained neutral in the war) are the only ones remaining fully intact. Side 7 is still under construction.
• The numbers 1 to 7 indicate the order of construction. Each colony has over 10 million people, and together they form a kind of city-state with autonomy called a Side. Therefore, Side 7 is not technically a Side, as it is only one colony.

What’s going on in the Earth Federation?

• The author comments that we don’t know much about the wider situation in the Federation army yet.
• They also seem surprised that the President of the Federation hasn’t shown up to give a speech like you would expect in an anime like this.
• There is an underground base in South America called Jaburo that serves as the political and military headquarters, however it hasn’t appeared yet

Luna II

• Luna II was extracted from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to serve as a mining resource for the space colonies. 
• Currently, it is home to the Earth Federation’s most advanced base in space
• Although it is located in lunar orbit (hence the name Luna II), it is revealed in the fourth episode that it is on the opposite side of the moon from Earth, near Side 7.

Importance of Minovsky particles

• In short, they make radio wave detection (radar) impossible, but this is thought to be just one effect of the so-called Minovsky particles.
• For example, the reason why White Base floats like a hovercraft on Earth is, in principle, due to the interaction between Minovsky particles and the Earth’s magnetic field.
• As the author notes though, it’s hard to explain.

Char’s secret

• Sayla’s real name is Artesia. She is the daughter of Zeon Deikun, the founder of the Principality of Zeon. Zeon Deikun was trying to turn Side 3 into a republic, but after his death, Degwin took over power, made Zeon a duchy, and set out on the path to independence.
• Char (which also is a fake name) is her brother, and remains in Zeon in order to take revenge on the Zabi family.

Why does he wear a mask?

• The author speculates he may be trying to hide his identity from members of the Zabi family, like Degwin or Gihren.
• They also add that the reason why no one seems to find his mask questionable is perhaps because Char’s preparations are thorough. In other words, he might have prepared excuses, such as that he has an ugly scar, or that his eyes are weak and he needs to protect them. Or perhaps Char just ignores such scrutiny.

Gundam Supporting Role Graffiti

This section provides a pretty comprehensive list of the supporting characters that have appeared in the show thus far. Like the episode summaries, I wonder if this was meant to help those who may have missed an episode or two during the initial broadcast get caught up to speed. I chose a few to translate below.

Ramba Ral and Hamon: Ramba Ral is a brave general of Zeon under Dozle. He and Hamon are in pursuit of the White Base. He wants to avenge Garma, but that is not all, as he says, “If I succeed in this mission, I can get a promotion and make my men’s lives easier.” At first, I wasn’t sure what kind of relationship these two had, but apparently they are a married couple. Hamon is very beautiful, and although she exudes the charm of a mature woman, she admires her husband’s masculinity. (Damn!) However, it is rare for a husband and wife to go to war.

Dren: He is always by Char’s side as his deputy, but he doesn’t stand out at all. I really doubt whether they will be able to have a relationship like Dessler and Talan [from Space Battleship Yamato] in the future. What if he grew a beard?

Icelina: The daughter of Eschonbach, the former mayor of New York, and Garma’s lover. After her lover’s death, she invites Darota, a Zeon officer who was Garma’s subordinate, to charge after the White Base. Her charm as a woman is universal, and it doesn’t matter whether they’re a civilian or a soldier, Zeon or the Federation. Scary!! (However, only to other beautiful women) Still, she’s very popular among men in Zeon.

Denim and Gene: The people who triggered the events of this story in the first place.

M’Quve: He manages the mines, which can be called Kycilia’s hidden treasure. He looks sneaky. Spread false information to Ramba Ral and put him in a bind.

Amuro’s Mom: She works as a volunteer at a refugee camp on Earth. When she sees Amuro acting like a war professional, she cries, saying, “He’s actually a nice, kind kid.” Even though he was a kind child who used to play with dolls… raising a child is difficult.

Tem Ray: Amuro’s father and the designer of Gundam. Currently, it is unknown if he is alive or dead, but although there is no basis for this, it seems like he might make a comeback someday with a new weapon. During the war, he prioritized Gundam over people, which Amuro was upset about, but…

Head Cook: Just because he’s a cook, doesn’t mean he can be left off the list of supporting roles.

Doan: Former Zeon soldier. He hates fighting and is currently raising orphans on an island. I think he’s close to the ideal guy, but it’s a shame that he’s not so interesting.

Haro: A robot pet created by Amuro and given to Fraw Bow as a present. He can also say things like “Haro, hello, Amuro, how are you?”