Zeta Gundam: Review + All you Need to Know

Title		Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
Director		Yoshiyuki Tomino
Year		1985
Episodes		50 (or 3 movies)
Rating		★★★★★ (5/5 stars)

Zeta Gundam is the sequel of the original Gundam series and is considered one of the best installments in the whole franchise.

Today, you’ll get a full review of Zeta Gundam and a series of information with all you need to know about the anime!

Zeta Gundam synopsis

The series has a lot of layers within the plot, but I’ll try to make a synopsis without giving spoilers.

The series is set seven years after the events of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, and follows the protagonist Kamille Bidan, a teenager who becomes embroiled in the conflict between the Earth Federation group Titans and the AEUG (Anti Earth Union Group). Kamille pilots the Gundam to fight for the Federation, and gets in the middle of a conflict much deeper than it seems.

After the one year war, the Earth Federation creates the Titans, a special force to wipe out the Zeon remnants after whe conflict. However, the Titans themselves start to abuse their power.

With this, the AEUG is created to combat such excesses and to establish order.

The series explores themes of war, politics, and personal identity, and is considered a classic of the mecha anime genre.

It is definitely an improvement over the first series, both in animation and storytelling.

Zeta Gundam Review

I’ll summarize each point and then give a final verdict.

Characters

I love almost all of the characters. Some of them are pretty bad at first, but they progress as the episodes go by. However, I can’t stand some of them like Katz or Reccoa.

I also think many characters appear out of nowhere just to be cannon fodders. However, I enjoyed most of them (even the secondary ones).

Rating: 4/5

Plotline

The plot is where the series shines. It gets very deep when compared to the original series, and of course compared to most of the mecha anime in general.

Initially just a simple conflict, the scale of things increases and new players appear into the game. The quality of the characters make the plot shine even more.

Rating: 5/5

Soundtrack

Together with Victory Gundam and Turn A Gundam, this is my favorite soundtrack of all the franchise. Top quality for sure, both the OP/EDs and the background music.

Rating: 5/5

Animation

Ok, the animation is not perfect, but it’s a very old anime, come on! Those were the 80’s. I’ll give a light discount of 1 point here.

Rating: 4/5

Overall

You should definitely watch Zeta Gundam. It’s not only one of the best Gundam of all time, it’s one of the best mecha shows of all time. It’s a proper improvement in comparison with the original series, and every mecha fan should watch it.

It is recommended for fans of the Gundam franchise, as well as for those who enjoy sci-fi anime with complex storylines and well-developed characters. It is also recommended for viewers who enjoy Mecha genre anime.

Rating: 5/5

Zeta Gundam characters

Here are some of the main characters in Zeta Gundam:

1. Kamille Bidan

The protagonist, Kamille is a teenage engineer who becomes a mobile suit pilot to fight against the Earth Federation. He is initially driven by a desire for revenge, but as the series progresses, he becomes more questioning about the war.

He is pretty annoying in the beginning, but he really improves as a character – maybe he’s the Gundam protagonist that improves himself the most in the whole franchise.

2. Emma Sheen

A skilled mobile suit pilot, Emma is a former member of the Titans who sides with the AEUG after understanding their motivations. For me, she’s the best girl in the anime, with Fa being a close second.

3. Jerid Messa

A mobile suit pilot for the Titans, Jerid is a recurring antagonist for Kamille. He is initially portrayed as a ruthless and sadistic enemy, but later becomes a more complex character. As Kamille, he improves his personality and stop being so annoying.

4. Bright Noa

A former captain in the Earth Federation during the One Year War , Bright is Kamille’s commanding officer and mentor. He sides with the AEUG after seeing the Titans wrongdoings.

It was awesome when I knew some characters from the main series would come back! Particularly, Bright was one of my favorites from the main series, and it’s nice to see him in Zeta (and many other series).

5. Fa Yuiry

She’s a friend of Kamille and seems to like him. As the series goes on, her role increases as she gets more screen time. A very likable female character (which is rare for Tomino anime).

6. Katz Kobayashi

The worst character of Zeta Gundam, hands down! He is so annoying and immature that I wish he never existed. As Bright, he is a character from the original series (one of the three little kids). Unlike Kamille, he doesn’t get any improvement throughout the series.

7. Four Murasame

A powerful Newtype and a member of the Titans, Four is a pivotal character in the series, whose actions have a major impact on the story by being Kamille’s love interest.

I always found it funny how they’re a “couple” since she’s so much taller than him (and seems older too). However, she’s very important for Kamille’s development as a character.

8. Quattro Bajeena

A mysterious figure and a ace pilot for the AEUG. He pilots a nice mecha and have amazing combat skills… Any guesses about who is him?

9. Amuro Ray

The protagonist of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Amuro makes a brief, but important appearance in Zeta Gundam. He is a legendary mobile suit pilot and a powerful Newtype who has retired from active combat.

10. Reccoa Londe

Works in the intelligence part for the AEUG. Although she doesn’t have a very important role in the beginning, she becomes an important ally to the main characters and plays a key role in the final stages of the series.

11. Haman Karn

The leader of the Axis Zeon, a faction of Zeon remnants that seeks to conquer the Earth Sphere. Haman is a powerful Newtype and skilled mobile suit pilot who becomes a major antagonist in the series, especially in Gundam ZZ, the sequel.

12. Scirocco

Coming from a mission in Jupiter, where he gained his importance, Scirocco is a charismatic and ambitious leader who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals, even if it means sacrificing innocent lives.

He’s the main antagonist in the series, despite appearing only at a later part of the series.

Zeta Gundam: TV Series x Movie Trilogy

Both the TV series and the movie trilogy can be enjoyed, but the TV series is much, much better. It presents the characters and the plot development in a proper way, contrary to the movies, which are very rushed.

The soundtrack in both series are very nice, but seeing the amazing openings and endings in the TV show gives a better feeling.

Also, the movie trilogy changes the animation style quite a lot, which I find very negative for the final enjoyment. As much as I love the new scenes, they’re very different from the general tone of the movies.

I’d only recommend the movie trilogy if you hate the art style from the TV series, but why would you watch old Gundam shows in the first place if you don’t like the old anime style?

In summary, the TV series is a more detailed and complete version of the story, but the movie trilogy is a condensed version with more action and pacing.

Is the ending of Zeta Gundam bad?

So let’s get to the elephant in the room. This is a very controversial topic: yes, it is very different from most of the anime and many unexpected things (and deaths) happen. However, you should not avoid watching it just because of the ending.

As much as the end of the series is bittersweet, the ride is amazing and its sequel, ZZ Gundam, provides a proper ending to the story.