Gundam: The Origin is an alternate retelling of the anime Mobile Suit Gundam (1979). The story is a timeless classic, and the characters are as charming as ever. Rather than simply retell the story, however, The Origin offers a modernized and improved version of it. This is due to the creative direction of Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, the anime’s original character designer who came back to illustrate the manga 22 years later. These changes give older fans like me a chance to re-experience the classic in a refreshing way, while younger fans will find it attractive and modern enough to suit their tastes. Perhaps the biggest selling point of this manga is the artwork! Yasuhiko’s delicate brush strokes create gorgeous images that enrich the setting and characters. Yasuhiko makes some other nice changes too, such as removing the filler that plagued the anime, using real-world locations, and including a whole new backstory on Char and Sayla. Lucky for us, The Origin was released by Vertical in big, beautiful hardbound books with glossy thick paper. Each volume is embellished with Yasuhiko’s distinct and colorful artwork. If you can dig out the money to buy these, then you will be in for a real treat! You can also read the manga legally online. ComicWalker is releasing the manga in glorious full-color and makes it easy for you to read it on your computer and mobile device. As you can see, The Origin is getting quite the royal treatment here. It’s just that good! I highly recommend this to people who 1) Want to get into Gundam for the first time, 2) Want a more attractive alternative to the old anime, 3) Want to re-experience MSG in a refreshing way, and 4) Love sci-fi and space operas in general.

... Last updated on May 16th, 2016, 8:32pm

I wasn't a big fan of the saga actually, but some of the whole series are interesting in their own way. I watched Seed at first and I thought that mecha is quite a cool genre, that's how I ended up here. Personally, compared to other manga adaptations, I think this one here is excellent. The drawing of the battles, the movement of the mobile suits and the background are put into shape to fit the anime (and some panels expressively give off a strange feeling of nihilism, perhaps in relation to the vacuum space), and I am really satisfied with the resulting quality. Characters are well drawn, which I suppose are following the original creation, though I think the development here will be much more intense, deeper than in the anime. I hope there would be more coming up!

... Last updated on December 30th, 2011, 12:15pm

this manga is so awesome. it follows the exact storyline of the original gundam series, but it also adds extra material that further fleshes out some of the characters and situations in the original series. although the art may look a bit dated, i think that it perfectly suits the story and is quite faithful towards the original series.