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Yoshiyuki Tomino

Frederik L. Schodt

Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation Paperback – Illustrated, April 3, 2012

by Yoshiyuki Tomino (Author), Frederik L. Schodt (Translator), Mark Simmons (Introduction)

114 ratings

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In the world of the near future, an epic war rages between the Earth Federation and the rebel space colonies that call themselves the Principality of Zeon. The most fearsome weapons of the new era are the robotic vehicles knows as mobile suites, armored giants with the firepower of battleships. The Federation has pinned its hopes for victory on its advanced mobile suit prototypes, but when a young cadet named Amuro Ray becomes the pilot of the Gundam mobile suit, he discovers that machines alone will not be the decisive factor in the conflict. For a new stage of human evolution is dawning, and the future—if humanity has a future—may well belong to the Newtypes.

Print length

520 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Stone Bridge Press
Publication date

April 3, 2012
Dimensions

5.5 x 1.38 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

1611720052
ISBN-13

978-1611720051
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A great read."—Asian Reporter

Japan's Gundam franchise boasts a worldwide cult of devotees. This second edition of creator Yoshiyuki Tomino's novelization is redesigned for a new generation of fans.

Yoshiyuki Tomino is one of Japan's best known science-fiction directors.

Frederik L. Schodt writes extensively on Japanese culture and lives in San Francisco, California.

About the Author

Yoshiyuki Tomino: Yoshiyuki Tomino is one of Japan's best known sci-fi animation directors, and the author of numerous fiction and non-fiction books. Since working on the Tetsuwan Atomu (Astro Boy) series in 1964, he has directed or created some of Japan's top robot and fantasy-themed works, for television, theaters, and the original video anime market. Best known for the hugely popular Gundam TV shows, in recent years he has attracted attention for his works, Brain Powrd (1998), Turn A Gundam (1999), and Overman King Gainer (2002).
Frederik L. Schodt: Frederik L. Schodt is a translator and author of numerous books about Japan, including Manga! Manga! and Dreamland Japan. He often served as Osamu Tezuka’s English interpreter. In 2009 he was received the The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette for his contribution to the introduction and promotion of Japanese contemporary popular culture.
Mark Simmons: Mark Simmons is author of the Gundam Official Guide.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Stone Bridge Press; Second edition (April 3, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 520 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1611720052
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1611720051
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.03 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1.38 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #64,075 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,923 in Space Operas

Customer Reviews:
114 ratings

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4 star		11%
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KzooGuy

I love this book and its in-depth look into the One (Ahem Two) Year War... offers a different perspective.

Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2015

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Being a Mobile Suit Gundam fan I have always wanted to read the book(s) that Tomino wrote about it and how the war might have looked differently to him. The overall plot of the books is not too far off from that of the show(s), however Tomino allows the book to explore the subject of NewType human beings far more in depth. In addition, we hear a lot more from the Zabi family, its internal politics and scheming. I also liked the darker tone of the book. The original show at times comes off like a bunch of young teenagers who somehow manage to become proficient combat veterans and survive against all odds. This book rather suggests that though they are young, they do have some training, and their ability to overcome obstacles stems from them all having the "NewType potential". Overall, excellent read and totally recommend it.

3 people found this helpful

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Gingasaurus

I wanted to love this

Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2020

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I wanted to love this, but the fact that it was translated is painfully apparent. A good translation shouldn't feel that way, but this one just feels stiff and awkward to read. I am a huge Gundam fan (Watched most of the series a couple times, all the movies, played a ton of the games, and assemble gunpla)...but I just couldn't get past this.

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Vespasiano

Gundam like you've never seen it before

Reviewed in the United States on February 8, 2014

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Tomino is as ruthless as ever! You will be in for quite a shock if you sit down thinking this will be like our favorite 1979 anime; but it's a good kind of surprise, as Tomino's own take of our beloved One Year War saga is riveting, engaging, sometimes weird and so very cruel. It's really so different from the series that it's almost a crime to compare the two, I really don't wanna spoil anything but I just want to let it be known that it's a very welcome addition to the Gundam universe. Also, the foreword by Mark Simmons is very nice and well-researched.

Honestly, they should make this into a tetralogy of films. It would be the greatest thing ever since sliced bread and it would blow out of the water those crappy and unnecessary Rebuild of Evangelion movies.

5 people found this helpful

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Sanosuke

Reviewed in the United States on April 12, 2015

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Recommended if you are a fan of Gundam or hard scifi. If any work needs to be turned into an anime, it's this one. (I'm looking at you, Gundam the Origin) Its close enough to the original series to be familiar, yet it does things much differently. The characters are portrayed much more maturely, the mobile suit battles are much more intense, and even the concept of being a Newtype is much more poignant. This feels like the hard series fans would like to see. Its just unfortunate that if this were the story Tomino got to tell, it would leave very little room for the side stories and sequels that the Universal Century canon includes.

3 people found this helpful

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Ollie

Highly Recommended!

Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2020

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Fantastic book for people who have or even have not watched the original series. There are differences between the two and it may be beneficial to read this prior if you are going to do a watch of the 1979 series. Without spoiling details, a lot more time is taken to explain the politics and interworkings of the Zabi family and the Earth Federation. Also some more development time is taken about the new type theory and some different takes on relationships are taken. Won't be disappointing!

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C.T. Top Contributor: Star Trek

An amazing work which is the best of Gundam

Reviewed in the United States on December 26, 2015

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I'm a long-time fan of the Gundam series even if I believe it's been about ten years and five series too many since they had anything new to say. Then again, that's the nature of all fandom for continuously operating decades-old franchises. For those unfamiliar with it, Gundam is a mecha anime based around the titular brand of mecha which is a portmanteau of the words "Gun" and "Freedom."

The rough premise of (almost) every Gundam is that there's a central conflict between two factions, usually Earth and her space colonies, which are beating the crud out of one another with little regard for civilian casualties. Then the titular mecha, almost always an advanced prototype more powerful than anything else on the battlefield, falls into the hand into an outside observer. This character chooses to fight on the side of the slightly-or-more-than-slightly-less-heinous of the two sides while learning harsh lessons on war.

The series carry harsh lessons about the cost of fighting which are undercut by the fact the audience is here to see mechas blow each other to pieces. I'm particularly fond of the Mobile Suit Gundam movies, Zeta Gundam, Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed, Gundam 00, and the Universal Century mini-series (08th MS Team, IGLOO, War in the Pocket, Stardust Memory, Char's Counterattack). Which should tell you, despite my lackluster description, I really like the franchise. But what would be a good place to really read about what Gundam is about?

That would be this collection of novels.

Written by Gundam's creator, Yoshiyuki Tomino, and translated into English, these are about as close to his original vision for the series as you're going to get. A vision uncorrupted by the need to draw out the series longer than necessary, bow to television sensibilities of the late seventies, and the need to sell as many toys as humanly possible.

Is it great? Not quite. Tomino is a television writer more than a novelist and the prose is a bit on the beige side, lacking descriptive flourishes which would bring the world alive to masterpiece levels. I've read it three times, though, so there must be something good there. It roughly follows the premise of the original Mobile Suit Gundam but with some differences in terms of time compression, where characters start, and being more adult in content.

The premise is Federation military cadet Amuro Ray is one of the few survivors of an attack on neutral space colony Side-7 when he and his friends load themselves up on an experimental warship, White Base, and head down to planet Earth with both the Gundam and data on how to produce them. Side-7 violated its treaty with the Principality of Zeon in order to produce these weapons and now its survivors are being hunted by ace pilot Char Aznable in order to prevent them from being used to turn the tide of the war.

The three novels are notable for the fact the Gundam is not treated as an invincible war machine but simply a very advanced piece of military hardware. Despite its power, it's not capable of turning the tide of the war on its own and can be both damaged as well as destroyed. Indeed, as the war progresses, the Gundam's advantages get less and less powerful as the Principality fields better mecha.

A great deal more world-building is inserted into the narrative than was present in the original series. This includes describing the events of the One Year War before the arrival of the Gundam, General Revel's famous "Zeon is Exhausted" speech, what Minovsky particles do, the nature of Newtypes, and background for the Principality of Zeon as well as its greviances. The series is more adult as well with issues of sex amongst soldiers dealt with frankly as well as the memorable issue of talismans.

Amuro Ray is a great protagonist in this adaptation of his character, being akin to Starship Troopers' Rico in that he's a novice who is introduced to the realities of war only to have him come to almost polar opposite conclusions as Rico. Char Aznable is less an obsessed rival for our hero as in the anime than a character who wandered in from another story, a Game of Thrones-style epic about feuding nobles, who is trying to take down the Zabi family. His conflict with Amuro is almost irrelevant to his actual goals. I'm also fond of Sayla Mass, who is a character who received far less attention in the original series than she deserved but shines here as the first female Gundam pilot.

The conflict in the book gets extremely dark, which should come as no surprise given Tomino is known as "Kill Em All" in certain quarters. This is a war and no one is safe. Both sides are humanized and the staggering wastefulness of it all is well-done. Sadly, the book is unavailable in Kindle or electronic format, but only paperback. As it is published by a Japanese company and decades ago, I doubt this is going to change any time soon. Still, I recommend it for fans of war stories and mecha.

10/10

4 people found this helpful

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Dan

Great read

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2019

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Read the book before even watching a single episode of Gundam based on a friend recommendation. Loved it, watch the show and things made more sense in the book. Will have to re-read the book. Now I even got into building Gundam Models and love it.

One person found this helpful

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John F. Traverst

Fans only territory, but if you're a fan, this is a must read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 15, 2013

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If you're a fan of the Universal Century continuity of Gundam (the original Gundam continuity), this is a must read. It's an alternate retelling of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, or as fans call it, 0079. This book is based on the original idea for how Yoshiyuki Tomino wanted 0079 to go before it was cancelled, so at the time this was an alternate, more complete version of the story. Most of the book follows the TV series with some alterations (almost all the White Base crew are already members of the military before the attack on Side 7, Garma Zabi attacks White Base in space before they go down to earth, Lalah Sune is introduced much sooner etc.) but the final act is completely different and makes the events of Mobile Suit Z Gundam impossible. The book is in general very interesting for a fan because they go in to far greater detail of the universe than the TV series did. The only problem is that the translation is a bit awkward. This is a must read for a true fan.

One person found this helpful

Leo

Ottima fantascienza, un "must" per gli appassionati del genere

Reviewed in Italy on July 7, 2013

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Questo libro, anche se ovviamente di estremo interesse per chiunque sia appassionato di Gundam, è un ottimo romanzo di fantascienza e mi sento di consigliarlo a tutti gli appassionati del genere.

Questa collezione di tre romanzi narra della seconda parte della guerra tra la Federazione Terrestre e la colonia ribelle costituitasi nel Principato di Zeon, segnata dalla "riscossa" della Federazione e dall'emergere di un "nuovo tipo" di essere umano, capace di contatto e comunione con gli altri esseri umani quasi paranormale.

La vicenda narrata nei romanzi di Tomino si discosta abbastanza dalla serie di cartoni vista in TV, ma ovviamente consente una profondità di analisi e una complessità molto maggiori, per cui la cosa non mi ha dato fastidio. L'importante è che il lettore non si aspetti la semplice trascrizione degli episodi del cartone animato. Fortunatamente, c'è molto di più!

A parte qualche breve passaggio più lento (e forse un po' pedante quando si sofferma sulla teoria dei newtype, ma probabilmente troppo va perso nella traduzione dal giapponese), i romanzi sono densi di azione bellica, intrigo e complesse vicende umane, per cui si leggono volentieri indipendentemente dal fatto di essere un "fan" di Gundam o meno.

E' molto forte l'impronta idealistica pacifista, in perfetto stile giapponese, per cui i personaggi (non tutti militari per scelta o professione) sono soldati, combattono, uccidono e muoiono lealmente, anche se interiormente sono combattuti tra il dovere ineluttabile e i propri sentimenti pieni di contraddizioni.

One person found this helpful

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James Fletcher

Gundam ikimasu!

Reviewed in Canada on December 25, 2019

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Clearly some differences between the original series and the novel, but the novel makes a little more sense about it and it is clear what Tomino's original vision was. Translated well, and a must for Universal Century fans.

massimo g

Fantastico!

Reviewed in Italy on January 12, 2014

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Il libro e' in inglese, la storia e' un po diversa da quella dell'anime, ha piu' contenuti, i personaggi sono piu' approfonditi e dai tratti piu' adulti, per essere chiari...un altro Gundam ! Molto bello mi ha appassionato.-e anche lasciato un po di amaro in bocca.... soprattutto per il finale...bello!

One person found this helpful

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James Hurber

Gundam the Begining

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 15, 2005

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If your a gundam fan who's only seen the TV show or read the mangas then this book is a must have becasue it brings to life the ordinal story in visoned by the creator of Gundam! Dubbed over from Japan and all three books Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation are contained in this one volume and it has a great ending, a must have for any Gundam fan. The story follows a young man call A call Amuro as he begins to discover he is a New Type of human being but its one of the darkest times in history, Earth is at War with Zion for control of space and during this war a New weapon as been created, mobile suits used by both sides to rage their war but Zion have a plan for a new weapon that could change the course of the war so get this book and find out what it is!

4 people found this helpful

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