Gundam?

GUNDAM?

Well.... yes, I have heard of it.... a little....  actually I am the biggest Italian fan of it!  :biggrin:

Seriously, Gundam had a MAJOR impact on my childhood. I was 10 when the first RX-78-2 was delivered for the first time to the White Base in Side 7, and the concepts of "second generation robot" were absolutely new.

For the first time, a giant robot was seen as a simple MACHINE, not an invincible mechanical super-hero. It was basically a TANK and there was also an explaination (although quite simplified) for its humanoid form. It had FUEL, it had AMMUNITION, and it could run out of it. It could be damaged, could need replacements and spare parts, and so on.

(It had an on-board learning computer! I decided to study Comupter Science because of it!)

And... the story! Until Gundam, every Japanese mecha anime was basically the same thing: an Holy War of a single hero who defended the Earth against the Bad Guys From Outer Space.

Gundam was a new approach. There were no "bad guys". It was not an epic story of Good Men against Evil Aliens. It was a dirty war of men against men, and each side had its own motivations, strenghts and weak points.

It was not perfect: after all it was anyway a commercial show, made to sell models, and many points of the plot were slightly childish. But it was a start, a pioneer, and it had, has and always will have a special place in my heart!

Giorgio

giorgio_2004 here, ksabers on XBox Live, PSN  and everywhere else.