Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (Japanese: 機動戦士ガンダム 第08MS小隊, Hepburn: Kidō Senshi Gandamu Dai Zerohachi Emu Esu Shōtai) is an original video animation (OVA) anime series in the Gundam franchise. Released from January 25, 1996, to July 25, 1999, the 12-episode series details the exploits of an Earth Federation ground unit during the One Year War - specifically a month after the beginning of the original 1979 Gundam series and into the final weeks of the war.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
Cover of the Blu-ray re-release of Miller's Report (limited edition)
機動戦士ガンダム 第08MS小隊
(Kidō Senshi Gandamu Dai Zerohachi Emu Esu Shōtai)
GenreMilitary science fiction
Original video animation
Directed byTakeyuki Kanda (Eps. 1-6)
Umanosuke Iida (Eps. 7-12)
Written byAkira Okeya (Eps. 1-6)
Hiroaki Kitajima (Eps. 7-12)
Music byKohei Tanaka
StudioSunrise
Licensed by
Released January 25, 1996 – July 25, 1999
Runtime25 minutes
Episodes12
Anime film
The 08th MS Team: Miller's Report
Directed byMitsuko Kase, Takeyuki Kanda, Umanosuke Iida
Music byKohei Tanaka
StudioSunrise
Licensed by
ReleasedAugust 1, 1998
Runtime51 minutes
Light novel
The 08th MS Team Side Story: Trivial Operation
Written byIchirou Ookouchi
Illustrated byKouji Sugiura
Published byKadokawa Shoten
MagazineKadokawa Sneaker Bunko
DemographicMale
Original runJanuary 1999 – July 2001
Volumes3
Manga
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team U.C.0079+α
Written byUmanosuke Iida
Published byKadokawa Shoten
MagazineGundam Ace
DemographicShōnen
Original runMarch 2007 – June 2011
Volumes4
Original video animation
The 08th MS Team: Battle in Three Dimensions
Directed byShinya Watada
Written byIchiro Okouchi
Music byKohei Tanaka
StudioSunrise
Licensed by
ReleasedFebruary 22, 2013
Runtime9 minutes

Plot

The series is set in Universal Century 0079 in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon are fighting a brutal guerrilla war for control of the area and its resources. Zeon’s best hope for victory in the region rests with an experimental mobile armor and its pilot, Aina Sahalin. Meanwhile, the Earth Federation Army receive reinforcements in the form of Ensign Shiro Amada, newly named commander of the 08th MS Team. Aina and Shiro know each other from a mutual rescue in space, but when Shiro discovers that Aina is in fact the pilot of the Zeon mobile armor he is arrested for treason. The Federation offers Shiro one chance at redemption: He must take the 08th MS Team deep into Zeon held territory to find Zeon’s hidden base. With the Zeon backed into a corner, and the Federation dependent on Shiro and his team for victory, the star crossed lovers must decide where their true allegiances lie: with each other, or with their respective sides.

Characters

Main characters
Ensign Shiro Amada
Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Japanese); Steve Cannon (English)
Shiro is the new commander of the Earth Federation's 08th Mobile Suit Team stationed in Southeast Asia. Before he assumes this position, however, he befriends a Zeon pilot named Aina Sahalin up in space and unbeknownst to both of them their fates become intertwined.
Aina Sahalin
Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese); Emilie Brown (English)
A member of a noble family back in the Zeon homeland, Aina is the senior test pilot of a new mobile armor program led by her brother Ginias. While piloting her prototype Zaku amidst a debris field in space, she meets Shiro Amada and forms a bond with him even if they are on opposite sides of the war. Circumstances result in the two of them meeting again later in the series.

Supporting characters
PO3 Eledore Massis
Voiced by: Keiji Fujiwara (Japanese); Eddie Frierson (English)
Massis is a veteran member of the 08th MS Team and drives the team's support hovertruck. He's not very brave and openly admits he's not cut out to be a soldier, but puts himself in danger when he has to, especially when Karen is involved.
Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Ginias Sahalin
Voiced by: Sho Hayami (Japanese); Lex Lang (English)
Aina Sahalin's elder brother, Ginias is a Zeon officer assigned by the Zeon leadership to build a mobile weapon powerful enough to destroy the Earth Federation Forces military headquarters of Jaburo. Although Ginias is quite brilliant and a kind military superior, he also suffers from an unknown illness.
MCPO Karen Joshua
Voiced by: Mami Koyama (Japanese); Debra Jean Rogers (English)
The team's longest-serving mobile suit pilot, Karen is initially underwhelmed when Shiro takes over the team with her as second-in-command. As a former medical student and the widow of a military doctor, Karen can double as a field medic in cases of emergency.
Kiki Rosita
Voiced by: Chinami Nishimura (Japanese); Michelle Ruff (English)
Kiki is the daughter of an anti-Zeon guerrilla resistance leader. She encounters Shiro just before he is taken captive by the guerrillas and is infatuated with him. When Shiro finally convinces them to assist the 08th MS Team, Kiki follows him, coordinating support and providing communication between the MS unit and the resistance.
Cpl. Michel Ninorich
Voiced by: Hiro Yuuki (Japanese); Tony Ricci (English)
Joining the 08th MS Team at the same time as Shiro, Michel is Eledore's partner in the support hovertruck, serving as navigator and gunner. Between battles, he writes letters to his girlfriend BB, who still lives in the space colonies.
Col. Norris Packard
Voiced by: Osamu Ichikawa (Japanese); Michael McConnohie (English)
An ace pilot assigned to Zeon forces in Southeast Asia as an observer, Norris is later stationed at Ginias Sahalin's secret base and sees Aina Sahalin work on the Apsalus mobile armor program. He dies in Episode 10 fighting Federation troops laying siege to the base after suffering a fatal blow from Shiro Amada.
CPO Terry Sanders Jr.
Voiced by: Tesshō Genda (Japanese); Steve Kramer (English)
The other veteran member of the 08th MS Team at the start of the series, Sanders has had a mean streak of bad luck: every team he would be assigned to is destroyed during their third mission together. Since he is the sole survivor, this earns him the unfortunate nickname of "Shinigami Sanders", "Sanders the Reaper" in the English version.
Real Adm. Yuri Kellarny
Voiced by: Kyonosuke Kami (Japanese); Daran Norris (English)
A family friend of the Sahalins, Kellarny leads a Zeon military division in Europe. Although he acts gruff and ill-mannered around the Sahalins, he is depicted as an honorable soldier who always looks after his men. After the Odessa base falls to the Federation, Yuri leads the survivors of his division towards Ginias' base, hoping to find any launch vehicles. Ginias kills him as he tries to get in.
Kojima
Voiced by: Yuzuru Fujimoto (Japanese); Alfred Thor (English)
The commander of the 08th MS Team's parent unit, the Kojima Battalion, Kojima is a typical by-the-book officer who does whatever he is told by his superiors. Towards the end, however, he is visibly shaken by the brutal tactics of Captain Isan Ryer and defies him, thinking that enough good people have already died.

Earth Federation
  1. RX-75 Mass Production Guntank (量産型ガンタンク) (Type: Soldier)
  2. RB-79K Ball Type K (先行量産型ボール) (Type: Soldier)
  3. RX-79[G] Ground Gundam (陸戦型ガンダム) (Type: Soldier)
  4. RX-79[G]Ez-8 Gundam Ez8 (ガンダムEZ8) (Type: Commander)
  5. RGM-79E Prototype GM (初期型ジム) (Type: Soldier)
  6. RGM-79G Ground GM (陸戦型ジム) (Type: Soldier)
  7. RGM-79G GM Sniper (ジム・スナイパー) (Type: Soldier)

Zeon
  1. MSM-04 Acguy (アッガイ) (Type: Soldier)
  2. MS-05 Zaku I (ザクI) (Type: Soldier)
  3. MS-05 Topp's Zaku (トップ専用ザク) (Type: Commander)
  4. MS-06 Zaku II (ザクII) (Type: Soldier)
  5. MS-06J Dell's Zaku (デル専用ザク) (Type: Commander)
  6. MS-06J Ash's Zaku (アス専用ザク) (Type: Commander)
  7. MS-06JC Ground Zaku II (陸戦型ザクII) (Type: Soldier)
  8. MS-06K Zaku Cannon (ザクキャノン) (Type: Soldier)
  9. MS-06V Zaku Tank (ザクタンク) (Type: Soldier)
  10. MS-06RD-4 Prototype Zaku II (宇宙用高機動試験型ザク) (Type: Soldier)
  11. MS-07B-3 Gouf Custom (グフカスタム) (Type: Commander)
  12. MS-07H-8 Gouf Flight Type (グフフライトタイプ) (Type: Soldier)
  13. MS-09 Dom (ドム) (Type: Soldier)

Production and development

The series first took shape in 1995 with the first episode released on January 25, 1996. Production went well until director Takeyuki Kanda died in July 1996. GONZO's Umanosuke Iida took over production for the rest of the series.

Theme music

Opening:

  • Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite (嵐の中で輝いて, lit. Shine in the Storm) by Chihiro Yonekura

Endings:

  • 10 Years After by Chihiro Yonekura
  • Mirai no Futari ni (未来の二人に, lit. The Future for Both of Us) by Chihiro Yonekura (episode 11)
  • Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite (嵐の中で輝いて, lit. Shine in the Storm) by Chihiro Yonekura (episode 12)
  • Eien no Tobira (永遠の扉, lit. Gateway to Eternity) by Chihiro Yonekura (Miller's Report ending theme)

Episodes
No. Title Release date English airdate
1"War for Two"
"Futari Dake no Sensou" (二人だけの戦争)		January 25, 1996 (1996-01-25)July 23, 2001[1]
2"Gundams in the Jungle"
"Mitsurin no Gandamu" (密林のガンダム)		January 25, 1996 (1996-01-25)July 24, 2001
3"The Time Limit on Trust"
"Shinrai he no Genkai Jikan" (信頼への限界時間)		March 25, 1996 (1996-03-25)July 25, 2001
4"The Demon Overhead"
"Zujō no Akuma" (頭上の悪魔)		March 25, 1996 (1996-03-25)July 26, 2001
5"The Broken Order to Stand By"
"Yaburareta Taiki Meirei" (破られた待機命令)		October 25, 1996 (1996-10-25)July 27, 2001
6"Battle Line on the Burning Sand"
"Nessa Sensen" (熱砂戦線)		December 18, 1996 (1996-12-18)July 30, 2001
7"Reunion"
"Saikai" (再会)		October 25, 1997 (1997-10-25)July 31, 2001
8"Duty and Ideals"
"Gunmu to Risō" (軍務と理想)		December 18, 1997 (1997-12-18)August 1, 2001
9"Front Line"
"Saizensen" (最前線)		February 25, 1998 (1998-02-25)August 2, 2001
10"The Shuddering Mountain, Part I"
"Furueru Yama (Zenpen)" (震える山(前編))		July 25, 1998 (1998-07-25)August 3, 2001
11"The Shuddering Mountain, Part II"
"Furueru Yama (Kōhen)" (震える山(後編))		April 25, 1999 (1999-04-25)August 6, 2001
12"Last Resort"
"Rasuto Rizōto" (ラスト・リゾート)		July 25, 1999 (1999-07-25)N/A

Miller's Report

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team Miller's Report is a compilation movie. Released in 1998, the movie largely focuses on Shiro Amada's court martial over his concern towards the enemy. The movie mixes footage from the first eight episodes along with new footage. It also introduces the titular character, Alice Miller, an Earth Federation investigator assigned to gather additional evidence against Shiro.

The movie explains the plot connection between episodes eight and nine by showing Eledore's return from leave and the team's issuance of new orders.

Release

Miller's Report was not fully shown on TV in America, although the new scenes were all spliced into the eighth episode for the Toonami broadcast. Miller's Report was released on DVD in America separately from the main series, but is included as a fifth disc with all 12 episodes (4 discs) in the Collector's Edition Box Set. Bandai Visual released the movie on Blu-ray in 2011.

gollark: I need to add a movie hacking simulator to potatOS.
gollark: Launch a 4rot13-encrypted counterhack, AstroMan!
gollark: You hacked it with 5rot26?!
gollark: I'm on mobile but can probably add a program without wrecking everything at least.
gollark: Okay.

References
  1. Solomon, Charles (July 7, 2001). "A Temporary Toon Town Opens Up in Long Beach". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 17, 2018.
Preceded by
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing		 Gundam metaseries (production order)
1996 — 1999		 Succeeded by
After War Gundam X
Preceded by
Mobile Suit Gundam		 Gundam Universal Century timeline
U.C. 0079		 Succeeded by
Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt
Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.