Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

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 Federal 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.

Main characters

Lt. Shiro Amada

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. Shiro Amada is voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama in Japanese and Steve Cannon in English.

Aina Sahalin

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. Aina Sahalin is voiced by Kikuko Inoue in Japanese and Emilie Brown in English.

Supporting characters

PO3 Eledore Massis

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. Eledore Massis is voiced by Keiji Fujiwara in Japanese and Eddie Frierson in English.

Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Ginias Sahalin

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. Ginias Sahalin is voiced by Sho Hayami in Japanese and Lex Lang in English.

MCPO Karen Joshua

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. Karen Joshua is voiced by Mami Koyama in Japanese and Debra Jean Rogers in English.

Kiki Rosita

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. Kiki Rosita is voiced by Chinami Nishimura in Japanese and Michelle Ruff in English.

Cpl. Michel Ninorich

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. Michel Ninorich is voiced by Hiro Yuuki in Japanese and Tony Ricci in English.

Capt. Norris Packard

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. Norris Packard is voiced by Osamu Ichikawa in Japanese and Michael McConnohie in English.

CPO Terry Sanders Jr.

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. Terry Sanders Jr. is voiced by Tesshō Genda in Japanese and Steve Kramer in English.

Real Adm. Yuri Kellarny

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. Yuri Kellarny is voiced by Kyonosuke Kami in Japanese and Daran Norris in English.

Kojima

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. Yuri Kojima is voiced by Yuzuru Fujimoto in Japanese and Alfred Thor in English.

Earth Federation

1. RX-75 Mass Production Guntank (量産型ガンタンク) (Type: Soldier)
2. RB-79K Ball K (先行量産型ボール) (Type: Soldier)
3. RX-79G Ground Gundam (陸戦型ガンダム) (Type: Soldier)
4. RX-79GEZ8 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)

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.