Volume 1, Number 1
Newtype USA, page 8-9:
image: Strike, Duel, Buster, Blitz and Aegis GUNDAMs fill this two page spread
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED
*Airs in Japan this October
illustrated by Youichi Ueda
finished by Akiki Shibata
cg effect by Marix
text by Arata Kanoh
STAFF
story: Hajime Yare, Yoshiyuki Tomino
director: Mitsuo Kukada
series organization: Chiaki Morosawa
character design: Hisashi Hirai
mecha design: Kunio Ogawara (Note: mispelling of Kunio Ookawara?), Kimitoshi Yamane
art director: Shigemi Ikeda
production: Sunrise
STORY
Worsening relations between the Earth Alliance and the Coordinators, the so-called "new humans" that eke out their living in outer space, cause both sides to suddenly plunge into war. Kira Yamato, a young boy living aboard the politically neutral satellite Heliopolis, gets caught in the middle of a suprise attack by ZAFT, the armed forces of the Coordinators.
Oppose Militancy & Neutralize Invasion Enforcers
O.M.N.I. (Oppose Militancy & Neutralize Invasion) Enforcers are the armed forces of the Alliance, comprised of: (1) the advancedc autocratic state founded by the Plant, the research colony of the Coordinators; and (2) the nations of the Earth that espouse anti-Plant ideals. Since each nation has its own interests and agendas, the Enforcers can hardly be called a "unit." Because the Gundam was constructed by the Commonwealth of the Atlantic, one of the member nations of the Alliance, the other nations are plotting secretly to acquire the Gundam for themselves.
Character descriptions for most of the OMNI Enforcers main cast.
The Archangel
A fledgling battle cruiser built to deploy Gundams. The name refers to the angel that acted as an intermediary between God and man... could Archangel be used as a go-between for the Earth and the Plant?
Zero
MA (Mobile Armor) of the Alliance. It is fitted with a laser-guided gunbarrel capable of multi-range attack, which only La Fraga can control. His genetic makeup is the same as other Naturals, so what makes him unique?
An all-new story for the 21st century, set in the world of GUNDAM: TURN A. (Note: This may be a reoccuring mistake of referring to Turn A Gundam as Gundam: Turn A.)
Newtype USA, page 11:
Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty
Also abbreviated as ZAFT, this is the formal name for the army of the Plant, the colonies inhabited by Coordinators. The name refers to the alliance of Earth resistance movements that took place in the former byways of airspace. While the backbone of the Earth Alliance is its MA, the strength of ZAFT, a militia with a strong grass-roots identity, lies in its MS (Mobile Suit) technology.
Character descriptions for most of the ZAFT main cast.
Vesalius
A Nazca-class high-speed attack cruiser used by ZAFT. The Vesalius attacked Heliopolis, a politcally-neutral satellite, with the goal of seizing five Gundam machines.
GINN
A production-model MS of the ZAFT forces. The GINN is capable of executing attack maneuvers unhampered by N-Jammer interference (a Neutron Jammer, aka N-Jammer, renders nuclear pulse engines useless, which is why ZAFT forces employ battery-powered MS). It comes equipped with a variety of different weapons, including rifle, beam saber and missile pod.
CGUE
ZAFT tactical officer Lau Ru Cruize personal MS, the CGUE is an improved version of the GINN. As a side note, most MS measure in at around 60 feet, while the CGUE stands at just over 70 feet (including the crest).
Drive the GUNDAM
"I'd like people to watch this with Gundam: Turn A in mind," said director Yoshiyuki Tomino to Fumikuni Furusawa, producer for the upcoming Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.
"With Turn A, director Tomino set forth the concept of collecting all the Gundam apocrypha into one single story," Furusawa went on to say. "That being the case, our story becomes one more part of that apocrypha. What we have to do is plant the 'seed' of our story in the context of that history and have it grow into an excellent piece of work that won't soon be forgotten."
At the same time, Furusawa is quick to show his desire that Gundam SEED be the first Gundam of the 21st century. "That's why this outing using 'Mobile Suit' in the title. You should probably only add 'Mobile Suit' to the title if you're talking about Universal Century Gundam, but I was determined to have it in the title of our story."
The decision to enlist director Mitsuo Fukuda represents another part of this aspiration to make Gundam SEED another First Gundam. "Fukuda is another person who entered the trade as a fan of Gundam," Furusawa continued. "He said his aim was to make a program where the kids would be standing in line to buy plastic models for the series." (Note: Sounds like the perfect man for the job, i.e. he wants to make money for Bandai.)
Gundam SEED is indeed an ambitious undertaking--one with the goal of returning to the roots of the series while presenting a new beginning.
(Note: It is your webmaster's belief that Tomino is quite finished with Gundam. I believe Tomino will never personally direct another Gundam series, unless Sunrise was to fund his "Turn A Space" project he has been promoting at every event he appears at, but that seems unlikely. I believe Tomino--since it is his series--steps in only to give guidelines with what he would see done with any new Gundam series. Tomino wrote Turn A Gundam to tie in all the "alternate" universes into a single universe, and hence he told Furusawa that Gundam SEED wasn't about to rewrite what he himself said was one timeline. Tomino otherwise has nothing to do with Gundam SEED, nor do I believe he wants to, thus he went off to direct his own series, Overman King Gainer. In my own belief, Gundam has become a major franchise for the selling of product. Actually, Gundam has always been that, but now the stories are written just to sell product as opposed to the telling of a story first. Turn A Gundam was the last Gundam series created to tell a story rather than promote nifty mecha designs and sell model kits. Just look at all the Gundams in Gundam SEED with the tried-and-true proven popular Gundam designs and tell me they weren't created just to sell models and action figures. If this sounds a little cynical, you're right. Gundam SEED may end up being an excellent story in the true Gundam fashion, but do not think for a minute this series was created for any other reason than to make more money for Sunrise and Bandai with the huge influx of merchandise they could market. Looking at no less than five types and scales of models and toys (the Aile Striker alone in produced in the cheap 1/144th scale "quick models", High Grade 1/144th scale, HG 1/100th scale & HG 1/60th scale as well as various MSiAs), and with more than five Gundams to choose from, Gundam SEED was planned to sell big. But you can be rest assured your webmaster will be the first in line to gobble up all these goodies as soon as they are released.)
In the world of the Cosmic Era, gene technology was considered a noble field of study, and great advances were made in this area. DNA modification procedures originally approved for the eradication of gene-related illnesses came to be used to produce embryos with superior genetic makeup. Those children who underwent the genetic optimization process were born with complete control over the innate powers that lie dormant inside the average human. And these same children, who later came to be called "Coordinators," were the ones that made possible the renewed development of space exploration.
Within the scope of the traditional enmity between the people of Earth and the settlers out outer space was a second rivalry, that of Coordinator versus versus Natural (one that has not undergone genetic modification). Gundam SEED tells the story of this friction.
"The space colonies are these big, looming entities that greatly contribute to the sci-fi feel of First Gundam," says producer Fumikuni Furusawa. "But in real life, while we've sent space probes out as far as Mars, there's still no talk of setting up any colonies. So what we needed to do was introduce some new, futuristic element into the story that didn't clash with our sense of what is true in the present. And what we came up with was the idea of genetic manipulation."
"The days of giant ships duking it out with big guns are over," explains setting production artist Keiji Shimomura. "In Gundam SEED you won't find any instances of battle cruisers heading straight for one another, guns blazing. Which means no more looking at the scene going, 'You're barely even shooting! Come on, what are you doing?!' (laughs). If anything, battles are going to be more like Aegis versus Aegis, fought at long range where neither can really make out the other. There'll be one-on-one dogfights where the finished blow comes from the pilot who's more levelheaded and successfully reads the actions of his opponent."
(Note: When has Gundam ever been like this? Are we talking Gundam or Space Battleship Yamato here?)
In the world of the Universal Century, long-range electronic warfare precluded the use of Minovsky Particles (a kind of subatomic particle discovered by Dr. Yuri Tereshkovich Minovsky; they interfere with radar and radio waves, rendering instruments useless). But Gundam SEED is a different story.
image: Kira Yamato (foreground) & Asran Zala (background) take up most of this page
illustrated by Hisashi Hirai
finished by Akemi Teshima
Kira and Asran. Space stands witness to their struggle and to the blood they will spill. What lies in store for them?
"Yes, radio transmissions are stilled blocked, but in our version of events, communication is possible via laser-based transmission. And while Minovsky Particles never enter the story, we came up with their perfect counterpart in the form of Neutron Jammers, which allow the complete supression of nuclear fission. Several generators are located out of sight and far beneath the surface of Earth and are capable of scattering N-Jammer fields onto a single ship or across an entire battle zone. This is why skirmishes in Gundam SEED are never, ever fought with nuclear weapons. If the Earth Alliance Forces dropped a nuclear warhead on the Plant, it'd be all over for the Coordinators, which is why the N-Jammer generators were developed--to prevent this from happening."
The N-Jammers bought around another great change in the way that battles are fought. "Weapons running on nuclear pulse engines become completely useless in an N-Jammer field. Which is why the Earth Alliance Army, whose primary strength lies in its MAs that run on nuclear pulse engines, has suffered sever blows from the ZAFT forces and their battery-powered MSs. Because of this, the Earth Alliance Army has frantically begun development of a battery-powered MS--Gundam."
Newtype USA, page 13:
THE DEVELOPMENT OF PHASE SHIFT ARMOR USHERS IN A TALE OF BLADES AND SHIELDS.
"There are only two reasons why the Gundam of this world is the most powerful weapon in space," begins Furusawa, the series producer.
The first is that it is able to move unencumbered in N-Jammer fields. And the other? "It's fitted with Phase Shift, or 'PS' Armor. This armor can adapt to the frequency of energy weapons, making it almost completely impervious to physical attack. Outside of an extremely precise shot using a beam weapon, there's simply no way the Gundam can be stopped."
Normal MSs and MAs are no match for the Gundam. In fact, the only thing capable of bringing down a Gundam is another Gundam. It's just like the old Chinese story about the 'Halberd and the Shield' that asks what happens when a sword that can cut through anything strikes a shield that can stop any attack. And speaking of shields, the 'Aegis' in Aegis Gundam is a reference to the shield use by Athena, the goddess of war in Greek mythology. And if we regard the 'Strike' in Strike Gundam as representing the halberd, that indeed gives us the "Halberd and Shield' parable of old.
If you think about it, it's somewhat ironic that Asran, a Coordinator, pilots the Aegis Gundam in his attacks upon the Earth, while strives to protect his comrades from harm in the Strike Gundam. This latest entry into the Gundam series weaves a tale of paradoxes in true Gundam fashion!
Strike & Aegis
A PRIMER OF THE COSMIC ERA AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GUNDAMS.
The development of space is in full swing, a time when the designation C.E. (Cosmic Era)--a term untinged by the influence of religion--has long been in use. A time when on Earth, the borders between countries remained intact and unchanged. It is in this timeframe that the story of Gundam SEED begins.
images: Strike, Duel, Buster, Blitz and Aegis GUNDAMs take various poses on this page with descriptions for each
Strike Gundam
The apple of Kira's eye, the Strike is a multi-range weapon of war. It is capable of mid-range combat and is also fitted with long-range weaponry and a beam saber for short-range skirmishes. A versatile machine, the Strike combines traits of Duel, Buster and Blitz.
Duel Gundam
Piloted exclusively by Isaac Joule. A more orthodox piece of machinery that allows for a wide range of uses, Duel was modified and fitted with assault armor, resulting in even more power. Duel is shown at right fitted with assault armor.
Buster Gundam
Piloted by Diakka Estleman. The Buster's specialty is long-range attack via heavy artillery. It is equipped with a Linear Rail Gun and high-energy rifle, which it uses to shoot through opponents while staying out of range of return fire. The barrels of both weapons are fused into a single unit and can be fired simultaneously for even more devastating results.
Blitz Gundam
The Blitz is piloted by Nicol Amalfi and was designed for pursuit and speed. It is suited to close quarter ground combat. The Blitz employs ninja-like tactics and is fitted with a device called a MIRAGE COLLOID, which allows it to become temporarily transparent and invisible to radar.
Aegis Gundam
Asran's beloved Aegis is a weapon of speed, equally at home in the sky or outer space. Its greatest attribute is its ability to change into an MA, explaining why the Aegis utilizes a frame different from the other Gundams. Its blood-red color screams "Enemy."
(Note: Newtype USA is printed with the spine of the magazine on the right side, just as Japanese books and magazines are. While pages 8-9 where primarily just a nice picture of the GUNDAMs with some staff info, and pages 10-11 were character and vessel artwork with brief descriptions; pages 12-13 are the main bulk of the material. The Japanese read right to left, and English-speaking people read left to right. But since Newtype USA has the spine on the right side instead of the left, page 13 is supposed to be read first and then you would read page 12. I would suggest keeping that in mind with the above transcript, as it could get confusing otherwise.)