Gundam School Part 30

"What is 'Gundam', anyway?" This simple (?) question is answered in our thirtieth casual weekly column just for new fans!


　Is it time to sit back and skill parry for five hours? No, just a super-simple intro column for new Gundam fans snapping its pincers! We're back with Part 30 of what makes Gundam Gundam.

　 You can see our previous coverage of what makes Gundam Gundam here, and this week we're back with another Gundam standard!

　Something you really can't ignore about Gundam is some of the dialogue that gives you a real sense of déjà-vu.
Our 30th column is a fifth look at some of Gundam's famous lines!


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[Part 1]
Gundam's famous lines have deeper meanings!


"I'll kill you." (Heero Yuy, New Mobile Report Gundam Wing)
　First off is protagonist Heero Yuy, he of the inimitable (!?) tank top/shorts combo. ( New Mobile Report Gundam Wing episode 1, "The Shooting Star She Saw")

　 A gifted child educated as an assistant by Doctor J, Heero is mentally resilient and physically exceptional, able to bend steel bars barehandedly, survive fifty-story falls with only a few broken bones, and possesses reflexes so swift that not even a supercomputer can measure them; he's the kind of character who would be right at home in an American comic. Oh, by the way, "Heero Yuy" is a code name too.

　"I'll kill you" definitely fits that crazy mold, but first, let's explain the situation: Heero's Wing Gundam is shot down, landing on the shore, and eyewitness Relena Dorian calls an ambulance. Heero hijacks the ambulance and makes his escape. (← But not before she sees his face.) Later, Heero transfers to Relena's school, but when he's invited to her birthday party, he rips the invitation to pieces in front of her. As tear of shock well up in Relena's eyes, Heero wiped them away with his finger and murmurs this.

　It's bad enough that he blew off her invitation after she saved him, but telling her he'd kill her, too? Really? Really, man? With that kind of behavior, Relena's "What kind of person is he?" isn't unreasonable at all.

　 On the other hand, Relena isn't the only person Heero says he'll kill. For him, it's the kind of phrase that comes out as easily as "Great weather today, huh?" I think it shows some kind of deep problem with his upbringing. Growing up with an eccentric like Doctor J left him completely unprepared for normal social interactions. Now, if he said that to me, I'd love to teach him a lesson and give him a boot to the head... (← Then again, he's nimble enough where he'd just slip out of the way and then return the favor.)


"I'm selling the Gundam!" (Garrod Ran / After War Gundam X)
　Next we come to a line that really shows off protagonist Garrod Ran's strong-willed independence. ( After War Gundam X episode 7, "I'm Selling the Gundam!"*) (* After War Gundam X and ∀ Gundam titles and dialogue WIP.)

　 A war orphan and the son of an old Federation mobile suit technician, he makes a living as a scrapper and mobile suit hunter, but when he's hired to capture Tiffa Adill, a girl who's the only natural Newtype to be born on Earth since the war, from the Vulture ship Freeden, he instead double-crosses his employer and joins its crew. When a combat slipup leads to Freeden captain Jamil Neate being heavily wounded, Garrod is blamed by the rest of the crew, and retreats to a nearby town to clear his head—and, improbably, to rent a maintenance bay and proceed to auction the Gundam X from it. And then comes the line.

　"I'm selling the Gundam!" lures in a crowd of eager buyers, with a high bid of 300 million soon coming in from Ennil El, a talented freelance mobile suit pilot who Garrod already has a history with. Everyone has embarrassing moments when they're young, but Garrod is topping off making a fool of himself in front of a girl with taking the Gundam X and trying to sell it. I know it's expensive just to live these days, but stealing the Gundam and auctioning it off? With irresponsible role models like this on TV, it's no wonder kids these days act like they do. C'mon, find a better way to earn your money. At least part it out and pretend you don't know where they came from! (← This is illegal.) If you keep this up, Tiffa's never going to give you the time of day.


"The Earth is a great place! Hurry up and come back!" (Rolan Cehack / ∀ Gundam）
　A line spoken by protagonist Rolan Cehack, a member of the lunar-dwelling "Moonrace" who nonetheless takes Earth's side. ( ∀ Gundam episode 1, "Howling at the Moon")

　A kind young man who has returned to Earth from the Moon, he's saved from drowning in a river by a miner for the Heim family and is soon taken on as a chauffeur.
　Having successfully infiltrated Earth society, Loran sneaks out of the mansion one night, unearths his FLAT (a lunar mobile suit,) and calls this out to the moon.

　 Stories about people from the moon have been around since the tale of Princess Kaguya; your grandparents will remember "M**nlight Mask" and more recently there was "Sailor M**n", but the protagonists are almost always good people at heart. (← Except for when it's Nazis in UFOs.) But in Turn A, three boys came from the moon.

　Rolan has found himself in a sort of literal heaven on Earth, fitting in so well that he attracts the attention of a rich and beautiful young heiress, so it's only natural that he'd almost frolic with his FLAT as he shouts this. I'm sure he'd be terribly embarrassed were he seen shouting this at the moon. But look there! Isn't that young Sochie Heim herself, second daughter of the Heim family, watching from behind a stone? When the moment passes, even someone like innocent Loran would be utterly mortified if he knew someone saw him shouting to the moon. So, Sochie, please pretend you didn't notice! Everyone has nights where they want to call out to the moon!


"That's enough! If I took this seriously, you wouldn't stand a chance at a fight against me!" (Kira Yamato / Mobile Suit Gundam SEED)
　Spoken by protagonist Kira Yamato, a Coordinator (genetically-engineered human.) ( Mobile Suit Gundam SEED episode 17, "Cagalli Returns")

　 Isn't just the beginning "That's enough!" perfect for Kira's character? It's precisely BECAUSE he's so naive that something simpler like "Cut it out!" would be too blunt. This, on the other hand, is just right. (← Especially with that tragic background music.)

　The line comes at one of those... complicated adult moments, (not sure what I mean? Ask your parents!) but as a setup, Kira's lover, Flay Allster, is attempting to get close to him in order to use a Coordinator to further her vendetta against Coordinators. To strengthen (!?) their relationship, Flay shuns Sai Argyle, another crew member aboard the Archangel (an Atlantic Federation mobile assault ship) who is her fiancé; things get messy when Flay officially breaks it off and Kira, who is by now completely smitten, effortlessly arm locks Sai as he attempts to pursue the couple. (← You just know Flay wishes she could pump a fist in victory at this moment.)

　Flay was the most popular girl at the school she and Kira attended, so she has no trouble wrapping him around her finger, but perhaps even as Flay uses him she's also torn, just a little bit, between him and Sai? Squee, it's so DRAMATIC! (lessthanthree lessthanthree)

　"Coordinators", who excel beyond the normal limits of "Naturals" in a variety of fields, have hence been the subject of a variety of political movements. For Kira the Coordinator to say something like this to Sai the Natural implies something beyond just gloating, a more complex, nuanced response. If nothing else, it sheds light on the (good and bad) aspects of sensitive loner Kira's human side.

　I do feel really sorry for Sai in this scene, though. (← Flay', you're a... well, I can't say that here.)


"I am a Gundam!" (Setsuna F Seiei / Mobile Suit Gundam 00)
　Last up is child soldier, former terrorist, and Gundam Meister Setsuna F Seiei. ( Mobile Suit Gundam 00 episode 2, "Gundam Meisters")

　 Born in a poor Middle Eastern country and raised as a child soldier, Setsuna remains convinced that the 0 Gundam he saw on the battlefield is a god. Recruited as a Gundam Meister (pilot) by Ribbons Almark, pilot of the 0 Gundam, his mission as a Meister is to end war itself.

　To Setsuna, the overwhelming power necessary to end war could only be divine, and is embodied in the Gundam.
　 Lockon Stratos, the most veteran of the Gundam Meisters, doesn't follow this apparent non sequitur and immediately follows with a "What are you talking about?", but really, this declaration shows the depth of his conviction that Gundam is the only power that can end war and he himself must embody that divine might.

　It's really an amazing realization. I'd rather like to put on a Gundam mask and wander the neighborhood around Kami-Igusa Station around New Year's shouting this. (← You know, kind of like a lion dance...)

　So, what did you think of our totally awesome (think '80s) fifth look at Gundam's famous lines?

　Oh, isn't Gundam just so fascinating?

　Well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, well, that's it for this week. Next week we'll be taking another laid-back look at what makes Gundam Gundam!