Models > Gundam?
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For those of you not familiar, the Gundam series from Japan has been likened to the Star Trek franchise here in America. It's popularity has blossomed with it's export to other countries, and it's longevity has astounded many. The first in the series was released in 1979 by animation director, Yoshiyuki Tomino. The original Gundam was an attempt to tell a serious science fiction war story along the lines of Heinlein's Starship Troopers. The idea of space colonies in Earth's orbit was taken from a nonfiction book by Gerard K. O'Neill. Tomino took the idea and created an elaborate story about the overpopulation of Earth and it's rebellious colonies. A complex timeline involving treaties and the rise and fall of dictators surrounds a well-animated cartoon to create one of the most internationally popular animated-series ever! "In the near future, overpopulation forced the nations of Earth to unite as the Earth Federation, and begin a massive program of space colony construction. Hundreds of cylinder-shaped space colonies were built in Earth orbit, organized into "Sides" at each of the orbital Lagrange points. To mark this momentous event, the calendar was restarted, and the year the colony program began was named the first year of the Universal Century. Giving a warm-and-fuzzy name to a new calendar, though, won't change thousands of years of human greed and power-mongering. The colonies were populated by forced emigration from Earth, and the leaders of the Earth Federation naturally exempted themselves from the journey. They also continued to rule the colonies from the mother planet, looking derisively on those who are forced to leave the cradle of humanity for an uncertain life in space. As the decades pass, though, the space colonists began to feel "different" from their Earthbound counterparts, and to chafe against the restrictive Federation government. |
"On Side 3, the batch of colonies furthest from Earth, a young revolutionary named Zeon Zum Daikun preached that humanity was on the verge of evolving into a "new type" of human, and that citizens of space would be on the forefront of this development. Daikun died under mysterious circumstances, though, and his ideals were perverted by the Zavi family. Using the "newtype" concept as a justification, the Zavis declared that space colonists were superior to Earth inhabitants, and would no longer be controlled by them. Side 3 declared its independence, and became the Zeon Archduchy. "In the year UC 0079, this newly minted regime attacked the other Sides (which were still under Earth Federation control). Whole colony cylinders were destroyed, and entire populations were massacred. The Zeon forces even began to drop empty colony cylinders on Earth itself. When the dust from the initial assault had settled, almost half of the entire human population of both Earth and space were dead. "The carnage was unbelievable, and both sides signed a treaty outlawing colony attacks, colony drops, and nuclear weapons, but the war itself could not be stopped. The depleted ranks of both militaries were filled by ever-younger soldiers. As UC 0079 progressed, both sides began using a new weapon to fight the war: large powered-armor "mobile suits" that resembled giant robots." -Borrowed from RevolutionSF. |