The Kou & Kelly fixing the Mobile Armor montage is the Gundam version of the "grown ass men playing shirtless volleyball" scene from '86 Top Gun.

Fun fact Burning’s GM was actually meant to be the mass produced Alex you can even see dozens of similarities between both designers

Setting up the Titans makes the show worth it all on its own. 0083 leads to the creation of the Titans, and their destruction in Zeta leads to a cowardly and ineffective Federation in ZZ. The Titans reradicalized the Spacenoids for Char's Counterattack, and ZZ showed why the Federation struggled to stop him. Then the death of Char sets up the disillusioned Sleeves in Unicorn, and the corruption of the Federation radicalizes Hathaway. It is a great grand narrative.

I love 0083 and I think the reason it isn't more universally liked is the uneven writing. The baffling unreasonable plot twist with Nina is hard to get over.

0083 feels like the Gundam equivalent to _The Empire Strikes Back_ It ends on so many down notes. Zeon lost the war but Gato succeeds in carrying out Operation Stardust. Gato's actions paved the way for the Titans and the absolute tragedy that would be the events of _Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam_

All I know is that song “MAGIC” that plays when Kou and Kelley are working on the mobile armor straight SLAPS and my wife and I jam to it regularly on road trips lol

Also would've preferred if Nina was more Gato's long lost sister than lover, as it makes better sense from a storytelling standpoint.

One of the craziest things about 0083 is that it somewhat ties into 08th MS Team due Cima being a part of Shiro's flashback of the Side 2 colony gassing. There's more to it but it does help explain why she betrayed Delaz and tried to help the Federation.

Monsh is suppose to represent the failings of the federation and the kind of people that the Titans will actively recruit from the federation ranks. Aiming for the power hungry and the brutish rather then the skilled. A side Manga also shows that Monsh goes on to stick with the Titans throughout their existence and then fleeing to a Zeon Remnant on Mars to escape the war crimes that he knows he committed. Showing that his likes being the irresponsible jerk because that ismwhat allowed him to succeed

I personally love 0083. It's not my favorite gundam show ever, but has probably my favorite mech design in the entire series

Here's some added info: the japan-exclusive gundam mobile game U.C. Engage has some additional backstory to 0083 (then again, the purpose of U.C. Engage is that its story weaves through different UC shows). The first event for the game is focused on Gato during the OYW. We get to see how Kelly loses his arm and how Gato fought in Solomon (how he got his monikier "nightmare of solomon"). The other 0083 related event was the third event for the game's main character Peche Montagne. We officially find out that the Von Braun branch of Anaheim is comprised of mostly former Zeonic and Zimmad employees (we see Orville as one of the mechanics for Peche's Engage Zero; the Engage Project being a base and simultaneous project with the GP series (from what I understood at least)); the official pilot for the GP04 (which became the Gerbera Tetra) was Peche (she actually fought Cima but was forced to stop and hand over the MS). The animation used in the game is here on KZfaq so there's no need for you to play the game if don't want to. As for the sudden romance between Kou and Nina, yes, it was totally sudden. It was the result of a director change and the result was not good.

Funny anecdote. In the Crossbone manga a story is told about the battle of Solomon but a pilot in the remade Crossbone Vanguard is a feddy OYW vet and tells his story about his custom Ball. His ball had a Gundam face causing Zeon to think that Amuro's Gundam was downed. This caused Gato ( completely in line with how he is in the OVA) to abandon his defense sector and let Amuro through to clear a path for the white Base and the GM teams of other ships.

"Has Kou ever talked to a girl before", when you said that I got to thinking, it's quite possible. I like to think Kou went straight into military training as soon as he became of age, maybe 15 or 16, possibly younger. After all the population of both militarys were so low they were taking teenagers to the front lines at one point. Probably not true as a characteristic of Kou, but I think it could be.

A few fun facts: -Gundam 0083 changed Directors midway through the OVA. If you wonder why Nina didn't recognize Gato before despite seeing him properly, that's why. -At the end of the series, the Federation deletes the data on the Gundam Project. In reality, this is because the GP Gundams were TOO advanced for their time. The GP-01 had insane mobility in space past what is shown in Zeta and the GP-03D is strong enough to take down MAs as far as Crossbone Gundam era. -IBO's Merribit Stapleton has similarities to Nina to the point that Nina and Merribit share the same voice actress in the dub.

(Spoilers Tag, if that's necessary) I dub the female lead in 0083 as Nina Simpleton, due to her poor character presentation. Her inexplicable decisions, some of which threaten the earth itself, and the out of nowhere revelation as Gato's ex-girlfriend left me in dismay, especially when that backstory was not set up at all. And It was a small comfort with the epilogue at the end, when Kou and Nina got back together. In my mind, I thought: You threatened him with a gun before, and now that your ex Gatou is dead, you are all smiles for Kou now? Ugh. That being said, I loved the look and style of the show, and it is still a special Gundam title in many ways. I only lament the messy production it had behind the scenes.

Man, I never thought there was a female character worse than Quess...until Nina's actions caused MILLIONS of lives lost because of the Titans and the colony drop.

People say 0083 is "Top Gundam" and I see the reason why......BUT that also means that we now need a "Stardust Memory: Maverick" No excuses.

my favorite moment was right after the gundams were wrecked and they physically saw each other in their normal suits, kou's shock in that scene really summed it up for me (didnt feel too different from distant lovers meeting each other for the first time ngl)

Cima's weird motives are fleshed out more in a manga about her origins and history. 0083 was a fun series but having two different directors for the 1st and 2nd half of the OVA series was really jarring from a storytelling perspective.

The "payoff" if you can call it that for Mancha is that he winds up, seemingly enthusiastically, becoming a Titan. He helps show that there was always the potential in the Federation for things to go off the rails, even when they were the "good guys".

Now wishing the Gundam 0083 Rebellion manga gets an anime adaptation. The manga pretty much expanded and changes parts of the story with additional focus on Cima and even a better turnout for Kelly. It also has cameos from characters from 08th MS Team and MS IGLOO.

Only way I can justify Nina’s relationship with Gato is that she may have been a zeonic engineer during the OYW and after absorbed by Anaheim

I always felt bad for the guy who was sliced in half by that dom while piloting the white zaku 2...

This was a good series with a bizarre twist at the end. I like alpha female characters like Cima. Gato was good and the MS designs were awesome. The animation was excellent. Man I wish they made anime like this again.

i miss the realistic style anime so much. made each character look far more personal and easier to connect with. something about eyes that take up half of someones head just creeps me out

This OVA had my favorite Gundam units and English anime endings. “Magic” is so good 😭 Also I love the beam/boosters in this OVA. The light colored and splashy effects were beautiful. Cima is also pretty cool. I also love the conspiracy the story setup.

I never heard of gundam 0080 stardust memory, must be a prequel to 0083. Hopefully he covers that one next time.

The continual showing of how complacent and incompetent the Federation has became post OYW The scene with Lieutenant Burning rushing to break his own cast and get out on to the field is about as close as Gundam ever gets to how real concern for fellow military types gets

Mancha does have some significance to the plot, in that he poses the question "why does Ko get to pilot the gundam?" A valid question you can ask any gundam protagonist. And in a way, Mancha is the one who also answers that question. Also by the time the Fb comes along, he's kinda a replacement mentor that Burner was originally filling. Which I would argue also shows growth of character. Not to mention he's like one of the first titans.

Having watched the OVA and read the manga, I'd say I prefer the manga's difference than the show. Such as Kelly given a main role in helping Kou in the manga rather than being killed by him in the OVA when the two fought at the moon. I hated that part of the OVA and also the fact that Nina interfered in the fight.

The winner is the one of the best Gundam theme songs!!!!!!!

I've watched 0083 for tens of times and never realized that Kelly arc could be interpreted like that. Damn I laughed so hard.

0083 is one of my favorite gundam series, it was one of my earliest entire series next to thunderbolt, and war in the pocket. Yeah, it's not the best series compared to others in the UC, but I think the positives out way the negatives, at least for me. And lastly one thing I think makes 0083 really good is when you look at the story as a whole, it's a tragedy or a pointless conflict with no real winners in the end, the zeon remnants ultimately lost to themselves due to internal conflict, the federation lost many members (combatants and non combatants alike), Kelly died to prove his worth but would've equated to nothing if he lived long enough to partake in operation stardust, gato sacrificed his life for a faction that ultimately destroyed itself, burning could've lived long enough to reach his ex wife again if it weren't for his damaged ms, and ko could've had a decent relationship with nina if had learned to talk to girls sooner.

Aesthetic wise this show is a masterpiece, the peak of 90's animation, on the other hand, the writing of this is... I rolled my eyes too many times at the main characters, it felt like they were either acting like children or written by unexperienced writers, it definitively boggles down the whole series for me, though the last time I watched was some years ago, some day I will give it another shot.

As an Armored Core and Metal Gear Solid fan, I really liked the GP02 design. I believe its the first gundam to shoot nuclear warheads in the chronological timeline, similar to the metal gears, and its got those PHAT legs which look like the heavy bipedal legs available to use in the Armored Core series. I liked it so much, I've added the GP02 model kit to my collection and if youre like me and you love to pose figures lemme tell ya-it sucks lol leg too PHAT to pose.

Well you've neatly summed up why I enjoy Stardust so much. It's right up there with the likes of 08th for how grounded the MS are as machines. I can glaze over the character issues and just enjoy it for the immersion of the world it presents.

I just gotta say that 0083 is very much one of my absolute favorite Gundam anime, big time (and my absolute favorite is Turn A and Char's Couterattack).

Conflicted feelings on 0083 - good action, animation, and mobile suit designs. But the character work and thematic core seem lesser and shallower than previous UC works - I would have appreciated more focus and time spent on things like the Federation preparing a nuclear-equipped weapon after nukes were outlawed (and they had already won the war), the positioning of the Titans and their use of a tragedy they helped along to justify their formation and rise to power, and AE maneuvering and provoking conflict to ensure their own power and relevance continues to grow. Instead we got some of the most unlikeable characters in UC, a "romance" plot that is jarring and bizarre, and all in all what feels to me like a lot of wasted potential. Cima was an interesting character, and her backstory of taking part in Operation British and then being discarded by Zeon after the death of the Zabis leading to resentment and her planned betrayal of the Delaz fleet could have had some interesting parallels with Zeta (her gassing of a colony compared to Reccoa's, her fleet's following horrific orders from higher ups that then distance themselves from them to absolve guilt having parallels to the Federation and Titans). But that's not the story we got.

I remember really liking '83, but I certainly share the opinion that a bunch of character decisions make no sense whatsoever. Now, next week's series... I'm gonna have to stand up for that one.

I fell in love with the shows ending theme. Definitely very 80’s feeling. Another thing I liked especially back when they still animated on cells is the atmosphere they are able to pull off with the paintings and backgrounds. A good example is the first couple episodes when they are in that foggy mountain area. As an artist it really inspires me

Kou = If Maverick was half-wimp Nina = If Charlie was psychotic Monsha = Iceman but more full of himself (twice as smug) Keith = Uh, nerdy version of Goose Gato = Jester but brainwashed with extreme radical ideologies

Does the GP-02 having a nuke technically make it a Metal Gear? It can't be!

Looking back I think one of the main reasons I like 0083 and by extension 8th MS team is the lack of 'newtypes' both literal and figurative (as most Gundam series has their own version of newtypes). A much more grounded story with significantly less 'space magic'. It's also why I think I gravitated back to Gundam again around the release of Iron Blooded Orphans. Not to mention I really like the art style of 0083. All the surface detail and detail in animation. It's like going from a Gundam model to one that's been scribed and panel lined, it's just so satisfying.

This was the Gundam that hooked me on Gundam. All my classic Gundam friends couldn't understand why I held 83 so high.

Interesting fact as Nina's relationship with Gato doesn't come from nowhere as when she is talking to Kelly she yells at him to stop and that he is acting just like Gato. Plus with the letter Gato sent to Kelly this further reinforces the idea that all 3 knew each other at least well enough for Kelly to recognize Nina's voice over the radio. So while I agree it wasn't super well done there were at least some hints. My own head Canon was that the reason Nina was drawn to Kou was that Gato in his youth may have been much like Lou before the one year war changed him for the worse. After all during the 3 fights between them Gato could have killed him but his need to get the Gundam out caused him to leave Kou alive, his 2nd fight he let his arrogance get the better of him thus giving Kou the opportunity to turn the fight into a draw, while by the time of there 3rd fight Kou's skill and experience had reached the point where he could match Gato on an even playing field.

I find it intriguing you call this a divisive entry, as I've always noticed it being one of the most universally praised of the whole metaseries.

0083: Stardust Memory is a show I'm very looking forward to watching. I mean, a ragtag band of EFSF pilots and crewmen in hot pursuit of a stolen Gundam and a Zeon fleet? The events that lead to Zeta Gundam? An RX-78-inspired machine versus a demonic counterpart armed with a nuke? Sign me up! Also, Shoji Kawamori's designs are excellent (I own the old High grade of the GP01 and the Master Grade of its FB version), and in fact, a storyboard artist for 0083 would work on Kawamori's own mech franchise years later as the director of Macross Plus. Just thought you should know.

One of my favorite UC entries. Probably the best 90s animation of the bunch. Love the mobile suits. Live Cima and Gato. They just don’t make them like this anymore.

I remember first seeing this on Adult Swim's first anime block back in 2002. Oddly enough this year marks the 20th anniversary of this show's first airing on American nighttime programming back in the day.

First time I watched 0083 was on Adult Swim's Saturday anime night somewhere 19-20 years ago. Love the character designs, sadly the story is all over the place since by halfway in the directors changed.

Layzner is named after an amazing early 80s real robot mecha anime that I hope you do a video on someday! The Japanese voice actor for Kelly Layzner played the voice of an AI installed in the titular SPT Layzner. His girlfriend/nurse also played a computer voice on Layzner.

"beautiful animated" is almost an understatement, stardust memory (also 8th ms team) is amazing, is incredible not only how good it aged but how it is able to surpase 99% of all anime we have today imo (I know thse sound like fighting words, but take it as an opinion). Wish we were back to a time with VHD: Bloodlust looking anime

This is one of the top gundam series, 08th ms team, stardust and the whole one year war series are top 3. This is a fantastic series and I'll die on this hill.

The version of Top Gun where everyone dies

I always saw Gato as the main character...defeated veteran of war carrying out one last mission for the glory of Zeon....

I think the payoff Mancha and Co bring asshats is that last scene where you see them become titans. It foreshadows the problems with organization.

Birth of the Titans

For those who are curious about the Japanese dub, Uraki is voiced by Ryo Horikawa who is better known for his voice work as Vegeta of Dragonball fame, while Gato is voiced by Akio Otsuka who is better known for his role as Solid Snake, Venom Snake, and Naked Snake/ Big Boss from the Metal Gear series. It sort of has a funny future reference with the knowledge of Metal Gear with Gato stealing a robot (Gundam) with a nuclear weapon. 0083 almost feels like a Metal Gear story, a Metal Gear story where Big Boss actually uses the nuclear weapon from Metal Gear, dies in a blaze of glory, and we witness the changing world in the aftermath.

Your content is great! Thanks for your time and insight!

Back to Paradise Getz me every time

I just had to look up Dendrobium. Dendrobium Orchid is a type of flower plant species found in throughout Southeast Asia and many Pacific islands. Dum but that’s one way to name a Mobile Suit when it was built and awaited testing on the ship named La Vie en Rose. Me being an old Gundam fan myself I never thought to look this all up till you pronounced Dendrobium and I was curious what it meant. Thinks for the awesome video. HAIL ZEON!!!

Ah man Stardust Memory! I remember seeing it on a PV on my Gundam Wing Endless Waltz DVD! But my god 0083 reeks of 90s and is damn good. The machines are great, battles are great and Gato was just awesome! Great review man!

Cima should have been the main antagonist. She was too cool and badass. And the animation looks great. Seriously, it is very detailed and polished. I can see why most fans like it, at least for the visuals.

For my money Stardust (at least the dub) does the best job of really humanizing most of the people on screen. People act like people, they banter, they bicker, they complain about aspects of their job, strike up casual conversation, etc. I appreciate the effort and it made me care about ancillary background characters since the show makes it clear these are actual human beings. Oh and the MS aesthetic absolutely rocks.

The animation style for this series is some of my favorites. Can't get enough of the older 90's stuff. Grew up to it. I see Junji Ito in the background. great manga series. 🤘

0083 and the 08th MS Team are definitely my favorite Gundam series specifically because I love the Top Gun influences. I don't want to see a show about some psychic kid. I just want to see regular mobile suit pilots in their mobile suits in a semi-realistic/plausible combat scenario and a story built around that. I also don't like ultra futuristic designs like you see in other Gundam series and 0083 doesn't have that. It's mobile suit designs are way more grounded (as well as 08th MS Team's designs). I also like when the pilots are actually wearing a flight suit and helmet or a space suit for space combat as opposed to typical anime/manga main character get up.

Thanks to Public Access cable, this was my introduction to the Gundam franchise before Wing hit the States.

It's kinda weird that in the manga the characters are allot more likable Some the the characters that died in the anime either don't die or die later on getting to know them better before death Also you get fanservice seeing characters from other gundam's shows

One thing that always bugged me a little bit was that they acted like the Federation having a nuke was such a huge deal, but Zeon always had a new giant city-leveling Mobile Armor Wunderwaffe every 2 weeks.

Stardust memory is my personal top 3 Gundam series.

I think Mancha (spelling?) exists to show us what kinds of EFSF members became the titans, you're supposed to hate him and see how earth became the bad guys. This is a prequel to zeta afterall.

I find it a bit odd that you would say this show was "divisive" and had "middling reviews" as besides the bad romantic angle which is universally panned, this series seems to be held in very high regard by the fandom.

I love 0083, it is an absolute jam and I like Kou even though I can absolutely understand why he's not particularly popular. Thanks for highlighting this one, my man

Personally, 0083 was the best series in terms of story, dialogue, music, and that gorgeous animation.

Been watching these gundam retrospectives for a week now and I just now remembered to sub lol

This series has middling reviews? from the moment I joined gundam fandom I had people yelling at me to watch this, that this is one of the if not THE best spin off/OVA in the franchise.

Moncha is a shining example of the personnel make up of the Titans

Yass! It's about time! 0083 is my favorite Gundam show! Unit 2 is the coolest suit and Gato is a great villain. I've got a Perfect Grade GP-01

I think Monsha is supposed to be a preliminary look at a man with that classic Titans mentality. The “I’m hot shit, look at me and quiver in fear because I’m Titans.”

Couple things you have to keep in mind. The veteran pilots and Macha are assholes because "Titans". During the OYW Zeon had already dropped a colony so it was obviously not a deal breaker for Nina who was dating a Zeon Fanatic. I feel like there is a missing episode somewhere that explains Cima and Nina better. Like Nina was definitely a Zeon supporter if not probably actively working for Zeon during the OYW and IIRC everything feels like it comes out of nowhere because they really just don't explore that at all.

Kou Uraki is one of the best non new type pilot. Right next to the pilot of the Byarlant Custom from Gundam Unicorn.

I am currently reading through 0083 Rebellion and it really does a good job at fleshing out some of the characters (specially Kou's interest in machines) and it has a lot of cool variants of the establish MSes i.e Chobham GP-01 and Aqua GP-01.

The GM Custom is peak mecha design oo83 is my favorite. it saved UC Gundam for me.

Cima is such a fantastic character, being totally disillusioned by being asked to commit war crimes by Zeon on fellow colonists. Also one of the first strong female characters in Gundam that isn't used as a romantic interest.

The music and dub work in perfect symbiosis for this scene 4:00.

The amount of love for stardust makes me jealous I wish it was as good as it was for everyone else

The Winner is sang by miki matsubara , also known as 'stay with meeeee'

Can't wait for Victory review one of my favorites but another great one in the book

The love, anger and hate part of Gundam wars... epic.

Doing a great job with these videos..may be my 4th time returning to this..

They got miki matsubara to do a few of the songs. the "stay with me" song girl. the saxophone and synths seme to just be a staple of citypop.

This is by far my favorite gundam series since I first saw it as a kid being very interested in different types of gundam stories since I really wanted to know the root cause of the wars searching through googles lead me to this series along with the beautiful designs of my favorite mechanical designer Katoki Hajime!

My absolute favorite Gundam series. My friend, they got me in the gundam. Gives me a lot of crap about that lol.

So are ya planning on reviewing the Gundam shows by Continuity (you'll finish all of UC before moving to the Alternate Universe stuff) or are you going by the release date? I'm assuming the latter otherwise we would've probably gotten this review before Zeta's.

I love the visual design of this show, the Federation looks like a proper military, and the Zeon remnants look terrifying.

The music is SO fukn good, second favorite OVA second only to 8th MS team

One of the best non Newtype BS Gundam out there....

another absolute banger of a video! the characters are definitely alot more dull than what the show was known for!

Dendrobium is the mobile armor the Gundam is gp03 stamen the names come from floral term the Ms that cima use in the latter part is another gp0 Gundam the 4th one Gerbera in the typical Anaheim electronic fashion was sold under the table

Surprised to find out this wasn't loved as much as I did when I saw it in early 2000's on dvd's. I loved the animation quality and the character progression of the main char not being good and immature but gets better by the end