MOBILE SUIT: GUNDAM SEED ASTRAY R.
May 22nd 2008 23:38
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Series created by: Hajime Yatate & Yoshiyuki Tomino.
Publisher: Tokyopop.
Production Team: Yasunari Toda –art, Tomohiro Chiba (Studio Orphee) – story, Ikoi Hiroe – translation & English adaptation, Alexis Kirsch – additional translation, Paul Morrisey – English adaptation, Jason Milligan – production artist, Raymond Makowski – cover design, Paul Tanck – Retouch & Lettering.
Cost: AU $14.95/US $9.99/UK £6.99
Mobile Suit: Gundam is one of those Japanese mecha series that has had more spin offs than Star Trek and like that series has an extremely large and devoted fan base. In fact Mobile Suit: Gundam (or Gundam for short) has had such an impact that in 2005 Japan Post issued a set of Gundam stamps for fans and collectors alike, something you don’t often see here in the west. Perhaps the major reason behind the popularity of this franchise is the fact that it has a well crafted background on which its various stories are based, just as Gene Rodenberry worked on creating the fictional universe in which the various dramas of Star Trek and its spin offs unfolded the creators of Gundam have worked a similar magic. Tokyopop which was responsible for the publication of this particular manga also publishes G Gundam, Gundam Seed Astray, Gundam Wing, Gundam Wing: Battlefield of Pacifists, Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz and Gundam Wing: The Last Outpost (G Unit). Including this particular series that’s about seven Gundams, and let’s not go into the whole anime side of things or even various technical manuals.
Much of the Gundam series is set in space; though this is not actually what many would consider to be ‘outer’ space in fact most of the action of the original series occurred in and around Earth. The various combatants involved in the series were the Earth government and various orbital colonies stationed at what are commonly known to members of the astronomical community as Lagrangian points (named after French mathematician Joseph Louis de Lagrange) and are noted for being the points were a smaller object can orbit in a equilibrium between two larger objects. A good spot to build orbital colonies as there is very little chance of their orbits ever decaying and thus resulting in a fiery re-entry into Earths atmosphere and subsequent showering of debris over the planet’s surface. So the action is effectively occurring in Near Earth or Cislunar space rather than out in the deeps of the solar system.
The protagonists in this particular manga are a bunch of Junk Techs, members of the Junk Guild, a group of salvagers who roam the reaches of Near Earth/Cislunar space in search of items to either salvage or decommission depending upon the need and the value of any items found. One team in particular is comprised of the Professor, Kisato, Liam and Lowe Gear, this band are the primary protagonists of the story which begins when they make a discovery of potentially monumental proportions amongst the ruins of Heliopolis, one of several neutral colonies in the conflict between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty). Here amidst the debris the team finds two Gundams, the Red and Blue Frames along with a golden arm from another Gundam (Gold Frame), a major find by anyone’s imagination. Unfortunately the team are only able to keep the Red Frame and the Gold Frame arm, the Blue Frame is commandeered by a mercenary; one of the members of the Serpent’s Tail, a famous mercenary unit.
Still even one frame down the team has made a substantial haul out of the efforts, but it seems as if Lowe is more smitten by the idea of becoming a Gundam pilot and claiming the Red Frame as his own rather than selling it off to potential buyers. Like a kid with a new toy he is just ecstatic over this find and piloting Red Frame, of course he would have also liked have the Blue Frame as well but hey you can’t beat bad luck sometimes. The rest of his crew mates cannot understand his sudden obsession with this particular Gundam, or Lowe’s desire to let others know that he has it. It seems that this particular Gundam is the manga mecha equivalent of Tolkien’s one ring, it’s a very desirable piece of technology and a lot of other people want to get their hands on it.
Naturally Lowe initially has no idea that this is the case, he’s just totally fixated on how cool the Red Frame is and the marvels of its technology. Liam manages to work out that this particular Gundam is different from other Gundams in that its weapons systems are completely proprietary to this model, thus no other Gundam can use the weapons of the Red Frame. It seems that these suits which were made in Heliopolis were something of a break through over standard Gundam models, you have to wonder what precisely the designers and manufacturers had in mind considering that Heliopolis was a neutral in the conflict between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. Politics though is the last thing on Lowe’s mind, he has a really cool Gundam and he’s going to use it.
Trouble begins with the detection of a distress signal once the team are back on board their vessel and have put the remains of Heliopolis behind. After some heated debate between Lowe and Liam the team agrees to heed the distress signal and help those in need. Enter Porsche, a dark haired and dark skinned girl who on the surface seems so cute, innocent and affable. She thanks Lowe and his comrades for coming to the aid of her and her friends in their moment of need, she explains that she was worried that they might have been attacked by pirates. Lowe swiftly assures her that they have no need to worry; he can kick any pirate gang’s ass with his newly acquired Gundam. A suitably impressed Porsche asks to see this wonder of wonders and everything goes down hill from this point on.
It seems that the Red Frame is something very special, so special that a lot of people are willing to risk their lives in trying to get it. Porsche despite Lowe’s naïve illusions is no damsel in distress, she’s a pirate captain and once she learns that this team of Junk Tech’s have the Red Frame she passes the information on to her superior, the aptly named Boss. What the pirates haven’t cottoned onto is the fact that it seems Lowe is able to back up a lot of his attitude with action and what began as a sudden ambush suddenly turns into outright disaster, the pirates main vessel is almost totalled and to cap things off they have to buy supplies and material from Lowe and his friends in order to repair their ship.
This is my first encounter with the whole Gundam universe and its various spin offs and I have to say I really did enjoy reading this manga. The only beef I had is not so much with the manga but with the fact that its not the point where you want to start reading, it seems that the action that starts with this volume is continuing on from what has previously occurred in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Astray, a different series from this. Still other than this little hiccup the story told here is compelling, essentially it is an opening into what I would say is voyage of discovery, not only of the self in the case of Lowe but also in the capabilities and background of the Red Frame. Lowe is a character who talks big and he does stuff up on occasion because of it, but he’s also able to back up a lot of the declarations he makes.
Coming in at 178 pages this is certainly a compelling story whose action doesn’t seem to let up, it’s a real roller coaster ride of a science fiction tale. When it initially arrived on my doorstep and I got it out of the box I started reading it and could not put it down. Like Banner of the Stars, which I have reviewed a while back the pace in this is almost superluminal, so fast do things occur that you are almost gasping for breath by the time you reach that final page. And it’s obvious that much of what is occurring here is for further development, the foundations are being laid for the continuing drama, just as Bilbo found the ring amidst the caverns in the deeps of the Misty Mountains and set in motion a train of momentous events its seems that Lowe’s discovery and use of the Red Frame is about to have similar repercussions in the Gundam universe. Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Astray R while it may have a long winded title is certainly worth getting a hold of and giving it a read.
Publisher: Tokyopop.
Production Team: Yasunari Toda –art, Tomohiro Chiba (Studio Orphee) – story, Ikoi Hiroe – translation & English adaptation, Alexis Kirsch – additional translation, Paul Morrisey – English adaptation, Jason Milligan – production artist, Raymond Makowski – cover design, Paul Tanck – Retouch & Lettering.
Cost: AU $14.95/US $9.99/UK £6.99
Mobile Suit: Gundam is one of those Japanese mecha series that has had more spin offs than Star Trek and like that series has an extremely large and devoted fan base. In fact Mobile Suit: Gundam (or Gundam for short) has had such an impact that in 2005 Japan Post issued a set of Gundam stamps for fans and collectors alike, something you don’t often see here in the west. Perhaps the major reason behind the popularity of this franchise is the fact that it has a well crafted background on which its various stories are based, just as Gene Rodenberry worked on creating the fictional universe in which the various dramas of Star Trek and its spin offs unfolded the creators of Gundam have worked a similar magic. Tokyopop which was responsible for the publication of this particular manga also publishes G Gundam, Gundam Seed Astray, Gundam Wing, Gundam Wing: Battlefield of Pacifists, Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz and Gundam Wing: The Last Outpost (G Unit). Including this particular series that’s about seven Gundams, and let’s not go into the whole anime side of things or even various technical manuals.
Still even one frame down the team has made a substantial haul out of the efforts, but it seems as if Lowe is more smitten by the idea of becoming a Gundam pilot and claiming the Red Frame as his own rather than selling it off to potential buyers. Like a kid with a new toy he is just ecstatic over this find and piloting Red Frame, of course he would have also liked have the Blue Frame as well but hey you can’t beat bad luck sometimes. The rest of his crew mates cannot understand his sudden obsession with this particular Gundam, or Lowe’s desire to let others know that he has it. It seems that this particular Gundam is the manga mecha equivalent of Tolkien’s one ring, it’s a very desirable piece of technology and a lot of other people want to get their hands on it.
Naturally Lowe initially has no idea that this is the case, he’s just totally fixated on how cool the Red Frame is and the marvels of its technology. Liam manages to work out that this particular Gundam is different from other Gundams in that its weapons systems are completely proprietary to this model, thus no other Gundam can use the weapons of the Red Frame. It seems that these suits which were made in Heliopolis were something of a break through over standard Gundam models, you have to wonder what precisely the designers and manufacturers had in mind considering that Heliopolis was a neutral in the conflict between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. Politics though is the last thing on Lowe’s mind, he has a really cool Gundam and he’s going to use it.
Trouble begins with the detection of a distress signal once the team are back on board their vessel and have put the remains of Heliopolis behind. After some heated debate between Lowe and Liam the team agrees to heed the distress signal and help those in need. Enter Porsche, a dark haired and dark skinned girl who on the surface seems so cute, innocent and affable. She thanks Lowe and his comrades for coming to the aid of her and her friends in their moment of need, she explains that she was worried that they might have been attacked by pirates. Lowe swiftly assures her that they have no need to worry; he can kick any pirate gang’s ass with his newly acquired Gundam. A suitably impressed Porsche asks to see this wonder of wonders and everything goes down hill from this point on.
It seems that the Red Frame is something very special, so special that a lot of people are willing to risk their lives in trying to get it. Porsche despite Lowe’s naïve illusions is no damsel in distress, she’s a pirate captain and once she learns that this team of Junk Tech’s have the Red Frame she passes the information on to her superior, the aptly named Boss. What the pirates haven’t cottoned onto is the fact that it seems Lowe is able to back up a lot of his attitude with action and what began as a sudden ambush suddenly turns into outright disaster, the pirates main vessel is almost totalled and to cap things off they have to buy supplies and material from Lowe and his friends in order to repair their ship.
This is my first encounter with the whole Gundam universe and its various spin offs and I have to say I really did enjoy reading this manga. The only beef I had is not so much with the manga but with the fact that its not the point where you want to start reading, it seems that the action that starts with this volume is continuing on from what has previously occurred in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Astray, a different series from this. Still other than this little hiccup the story told here is compelling, essentially it is an opening into what I would say is voyage of discovery, not only of the self in the case of Lowe but also in the capabilities and background of the Red Frame. Lowe is a character who talks big and he does stuff up on occasion because of it, but he’s also able to back up a lot of the declarations he makes.
Coming in at 178 pages this is certainly a compelling story whose action doesn’t seem to let up, it’s a real roller coaster ride of a science fiction tale. When it initially arrived on my doorstep and I got it out of the box I started reading it and could not put it down. Like Banner of the Stars, which I have reviewed a while back the pace in this is almost superluminal, so fast do things occur that you are almost gasping for breath by the time you reach that final page. And it’s obvious that much of what is occurring here is for further development, the foundations are being laid for the continuing drama, just as Bilbo found the ring amidst the caverns in the deeps of the Misty Mountains and set in motion a train of momentous events its seems that Lowe’s discovery and use of the Red Frame is about to have similar repercussions in the Gundam universe. Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Astray R while it may have a long winded title is certainly worth getting a hold of and giving it a read.
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