The Gundam Build Metaverse anime features a wide variety of mobile suits throughout the series, but have you ever wondered why such a wide variety of mobile suits appear in this and other Gundam Build series? Gundam, the quintessential mobile suit, features a truly diverse range of designs, from standard Gundams to ones with whiskers-like antennae. The reason Gundam boasts such a diverse range of designs, unmatched by other robot animations, is that it is an epic work depicting humanity and war throughout its long history. Just like our own world, the Gundam world has progressed over a long period of time, and mobile suit designs have changed dramatically with the times. This time, I'd like to explore the evolution of mobile suits, which boast a level of diversity unmatched by other robot animations, using Gundam, the quintessential mobile suit, as an example.
Gundam During the One Year War - The Beginning of the Gundam Series - Circa UC0079
Let's take a look at the evolution of Gundam design. As depicted in the original "Mobile Suit Gundam," Gundam first appeared during the One Year War, the first battle using mobile suits. Initially, the Earth Federation government had no concept of mobile suits, but suffered devastating defeats in numerous battles against the Zeon forces, who employed strategies geared toward mobile suits. This forced them to develop their own mobile suits.
Earth Federation Mobile Suit Prototype
In this situation, the Federation military needed to accumulate operational data in order to mass-produce mobile suits. Therefore, Gundam was created to collect important data. As such, Gundam is a mobile suit that is primarily a prototype, and as a military weapon, it is not actually a mobile suit with particularly high combat power.
The Foundation of the Federation's Mobile Suits
Even though the Gundam was largely a prototype, it proved effective on the battlefield, thanks in part to the impressive skills of its pilot, Amuro. The data accumulated during these battles became the foundation for many of the Federation's mobile suits.
A variety of Gundams were created for data collection purposes
As such, since the original Gundams were more like prototypes than weapons, a variety of Gundams were created to facilitate data collection in a variety of environments. During the One Year War, up to the Gundam Type 5 was produced. Special examples include the Ground Type Gundam, which was used on land, and the Alex Gundam, which was optimized for Amuro's awakened Newtype status. Various Gundams appeared during the One Year War.
Gundam During the Gryps War - Further Improvements - Circa UC0087
With the advent of Gundam, the Federal Army successfully mass-produced mobile suits, successfully defeating Zeon in the One Year War. However, this victory turned to complacency, and the Federation government eventually split apart and fell into civil war. This civil war within the Federation is known as the Gryps War. How did Gundam change during this period?
Transformable Mobile Suits Become Popular
The Gryps Century saw the widespread adoption of transformable mobile suits. Not only could they take on the shape of traditional mobile suits, but they could also take on the shape of airplanes, allowing them to operate in places where dolls could not, expanding the range of mobile suits' activities even further.
An Overly High-Performance Suit
On the other hand, the suit's transforming capabilities dramatically improved its performance, making it too difficult for ordinary humans to handle. After all, if a weapon isn't easy to use, soldiers won't be able to use it, even if it's mass-produced. This is one of the weaknesses of the increasingly complex Gundam.
Gundam from the First Neo Zeon War - The Ultimate Mobile Suit with Everything - Circa UC0088
This trend of Gundam complexity, which began during the Gryps War, continued into the First Neo Zeon War. In the First Neo Zeon War, we saw even more intricately evolved and fascinating Gundams. If you see a Gundam with an overly cluttered design in "Gundam Build Metaverse," you can be sure it's a Gundam from the Gryps War onward.
Transformable, powerful, and durable!
Especially during the First Neo Zeon War, Gundams not only featured transforming capabilities, but also greater durability and firepower. Like the Big Zam that appeared during the One Year War, Gundams emerged as mobile suits based on the concept of "push the enemy with overwhelming firepower!"
Gundam is a weapon!
Through this evolution, Gundam has made progress to the point where it is no longer an impeccable individual fighting force. However, from this era onward, its limitations as a weapon also began to become apparent. This is because Gundam is no longer just a giant robot, but a weapon used in actual warfare.
But strong weapons aren't always good.
Gundams are not just powerful in war; they also require maintainability for long-term operation in harsh battlefields and ease of use so that even rookie pilots can pilot them after a short training period. From this perspective, Gundams of this era can be said to have become "weapons that are difficult to maintain and use, and have very few drawbacks."
Gundam during the Second Neo Zeon War - The Limits of High Performance - circa UC0093
Though Gundams of this era were beginning to show their weaknesses as weapons due to their increasing complexity, their performance continued to improve. The more complex they became, the harder they were to maintain and the more expensive they became to manufacture.
The reason why the specs needed to be upgraded...
However, the Federal Army of this era was still in no state to move toward disarmament due to the remnants of Neo Zeon and the rise of the terrorist organization Mufti. The frequent occurrence of these conflicts forced Gundam to upgrade its specs.
The Unique Nu Gundam
Amidst this, Amuro Ray, the legendary mobile suit pilot who excelled in the One Year War, designed the Nu Gundam, eliminating all unnecessary armament and simplifying it for improved maneuverability and maintainability. This Gundam played a key role in the Second Neo Zeon War.
Amuro Ray: A Man Who Was Way Ahead of His Time
This was a time when even Neo Zeon was using super-large mobile suits and mobile armors like the Sazabi and Alpha Azier. This Gundam shows how Amuro "feared the trend of the times, the bloated size of mobile suits, and designed an advanced mobile suit."
Psycoframe and the Revolution of Humanity
Another defining feature of the Second Neo Zeon War was the emergence of the Psychoframe, which was able to highly accurately reflect the brainwaves of the pilot and those around him. While the Psychoframe itself was a device only known as a Newtype could fully utilize, it pursued the functionality of mobile suits as weapons never before seen in mobile suits, and it could be said to have ushered in a new era in the Universal Century.
Gundam during the Cosmo Babylonia War - Prioritizing productivity and maintainability, and moving toward miniaturization - circa UC0123
With the exception of the Nu Gundam, the evolution of Gundams has generally been one of increasing complexity. However, with the end of the Second Neo Zeon War, the spacenoid rebellion subsided, ushering in a relatively stable era. Due to this trend, Gundams were finally able to be produced that reflected the maintainability and functionality that are essential to a weapon.
The Rise of Sanary
The sudden miniaturization of Gundams isn't just due to the trends of the times. The collapse of Anaheim Electronics, which had previously monopolized the production of mobile suits for both the Federation and the Anti-Federation, and the rise of Sanary, a new military manufacturer focused on compact mobile suits, are also major factors.
More Compact
Due to this trend, mobile suits began to become increasingly smaller around the Universal Century 120s. As a result, Gundams from this era onward are generally one size smaller than the mobile suits from the Neo Zeon War. Be sure to pay close attention to the size of the mobile suits in "Gundam Build Metaverse." If you see a mobile suit that's one size smaller in the story, it's likely a mobile suit from this era.
Gundam during the Zanscare War - Adjustments to Over-Technology - circa UC0149
This was a relatively stable period, but as disarmament progressed from the UC0120s onward, each colony gained its own authority, and the centralized system in which the federal government controlled the colonies from Earth began to crumble. In this increasingly unstable society, people once again began to desire the mobile suit, the Gundam, as a symbol of victory.
Equipped with Minovsky Drive
While Gundams of this era adhered to the traditional concept of compactness, they also evolved in a direction that further pursued mobility, incorporating a new propulsion system called the Minovsky Drive. No matter how large a mobile suit, it would be destroyed in one hit by a powerful beam weapon. Therefore, they evolved in a unique direction, focusing on "avoiding enemy attacks at all costs! Forming powerful beam-like wings to withstand even hits!"
Gundam After the Universal Century - The End of Gundam - After UC
As such, Gundam, as a weapon, has continued to evolve alongside war. However, as humankind wages war again and again, civilization has regressed, and the technology behind Gundam and other mobile suits has become lost technology. This era is even later than the Universal Century, so it's unclear exactly how many thousands of years have passed, but at least in the distant future, mobile suit technology has been lost.
Gundam: A Superweapon with Unique Evolution
However, Gundam manufacturing technology was not completely lost. Humanity has advanced over the long period since the Universal Century, and it seems that some humans eventually migrated even further than Earth. While this is not explicitly stated in the story, one theory suggests that Newtypes, disillusioned with humanity, set out in search of a new world, which led to humanity settling outside Earth.
A Gundam drifting from outside the Earth sphere
While mobile suits have lost their technological foundations in the Earth sphere, they continue to advance far beyond the Earth sphere, sometimes drifting into the technologically backward Earth sphere.
All of this is now a dark chapter in human history
Though some Gundams have drifted from outer space, Gundam technology has essentially been lost, so it could be said that all of this has become a dark chapter in human history. After endless technological innovation, humanity was no longer able to maintain that technology. This was the end result of the scientific civilization that humanity had so devoted so many years to developing.
Trivia
By the way, the term "black history" was first used in the anime "Turn A Gundam," which depicts this era, and became popular through Gundam. It's surprising that a word we use so casually in our daily lives became so popular through Gundam.
Summary
Did you enjoy this article? This time, we've introduced the evolution of Gundam design in the Mobile Suit Gundam series. What's interesting about Gundam isn't just that it features cool-looking mobile suits, but that the evolution of those mobile suit designs is depicted with careful historical accuracy. If a tragedy like Gundam really existed, how would it evolve? The design was created with careful consideration of these points, so even the most hardcore adult fans will find it enjoyable. If you're a Gundam fan and have become interested in Gundam design after reading this article, be sure to check out the Gundam designs that appear in "Gundam Build Metaverse."
