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This is where it all started, Mobile Suit Gundam, the ambitious project of anime legend Yoshiyuki Tomino that spawned the "Real Robot" genre of mecha anime and a cultural cornerstone of Japan. Now condensed and parodied lovingly by some American Gundam fans who use Alternate Character Interpretation on the show's memorable cast, potshots at the show's dated animation quality and outdated sci-fi gadgetry to make a hilarious, and still rather faithful (for an abridged series) adaptation of the original series. Also notable for never (outside the first episode) breaking the forth wall.

GWS announced that due to circumstances beyond their control, they won't be able to continue the series and instead are now concentrating on the Patlabor franchise.

A prequel of sorts abridging Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin was announced, but seems to be abandoned.

The creators of the series, Gutted Wren Studios, can be found on their YouTube.

Not to be confused with Linkara's Mobile Suit Gundabridged.

Compare with Kidō Senshi Gundam-san.


This show provides examples of:

  • A Nazi by Any Other Name: Inverted. In the show, Gihren was a crazy Hitler-esque maniac, the worst of the Zabi family. In the Abridged series, he's the Zabi family's voice of reason between the manchild Dozle, the sadistic Kycilia, and the black stereotype that is Degwin Zabi.
  • Accidental Misnaming: Ramba Rall can't seem to remember the names of two of his soldiers.
  • Ambiguous Gender Identity: Icelina's gender is somewhat unclear in this version. Her boyfriend Garma is depicted as Camp Gay and Icelina's relationship with him is perceived as a homosexual one, but she refers to herself as "daddy's little girl" and her women's intuition. Presumably LGBTQ+ issues weren't well known by the abridging team at the time.
  • Axe-Crazy: Amuro, in later episodes, seems to think that senseless murder will solve all his problems.
    • He seems to have grown out of it by episode 21 stating that "Senseless murder just doesn't do it for me anymore."
  • Berserk Button: Amuro completely loses it when they run out of salt.
  • Black Comedy Rape: At the end of episode eight, when the ship was a mile high up.
  • Big Brother Worship: Sayla seems to, considering that meeting Char (aka her brother Casval) in episode 15 causes her to start screaming "Nii-san" over and over until he yells at her to stop. Of course this is followed by Sayla shooting him for abandoning her. And then things are further complicated by the whole thing being a dream sequence.
  • Big Eater: Ryu who seems far more interested in food than just about anything else.
  • Butt-Monkey: Amuro's suffering is a consistent source of amusement.
  • Brick Joke: Numerous.
  • Camp Gay: Garma, and all his men, too.
  • Canada, Eh?: The Mooks in episode 14, who embody various Canadian stereotypes.
  • Captain Oblivious: Dozle remains oblivious to Garma's blatant homosexuality even after his death.
    Dozle: "Bu-but, I don't believe Garma was gay!"
  • Cargo Cult: The infamous episode 15 features one surrounding a former Zeon pilot turned dirt farmer. Their main focus appears to be how evil pants are and how they forbid Amuro to wear any while on their island. Never mind that many of them are wearing pants.
  • Clingy Jealous Girl: Fraw towards Amuro.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: White Bases's Captain Paolo, largely due to the morphine.
  • Cluster F-Bomb: Bright delivers one in episode 14 when Mirai points out that if the Gundam's reactor detonates, it could take out White Base too.
  • Cool Shades: Char. Complete with The Who's Won't Be Fooled Again.
  • Crossover: The Gihren Zabi speech in episode 12 is also watched by the cast of The 8th MS Team, War in the Pocket, Stardust Memory and Pokémon.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Sayla and Dren, with an emphasis on snarker for the former, and deadpan for the latter.
  • Double Entendre: Ramba Ral's comments that Amuro has "balls, and a piece to back them up". It's actually the scene where Ral realises Amuro is hiding a gun. So that's the "piece"... the "balls" on the other hand...
  • Dysfunction Junction: There are no normal people on White Base, and judging by the rest of the cast, anywhere else in the universe.
  • Extreme Omnivore: Ryu suggests eating Amuro with drawn butter in episode 19.
    • In episode 20, he eats the cake that Fraw had made for Amuro... which had a saw in it to help him break out of jail. The only comment this elicited from Ryu was the cake had a 'funny aftertaste.'
  • Epic Rocking: Season 2's theme song, a cover of "Amuro Forever" which was the original's ending theme now performed by fellow Gundam fanboy Andrew W.K..
  • Fan Disservice: Ryu's attempts at Fanservice.
  • French Jerk: M'Quve.
  • Fur and Loathing
    Degwin: "Look, if I need advice on how to turn a litter of kittens into a sweater, then I'll come to you."
    Kycilia: "It was two litters, and it was a coat. And you did think it looked rather cute on me."
    Degwin: "That it did, my Dear, that it did."
  • Gilligan Cut: From episode 4:
    Commander Wakkein: "Those kids are too paranoid. Even the Red Comet wouldn't think to attack such a fortified position like Luna II."
    *cut to Char*
    Char: "We're attacking the fortified position known as Luna II."
  • Greek Chorus: Slender, Denim and Gene would certainly fit the criteria for this trope, that is, if they could stay on topic. Instead they prefer to relay anecdotes to each other with little interest in what is happening in the series.
  • Groin Attack: Episode 13. The secret to Hayato being a judo master is revealed by just looping one bit of video over and over.
    Ryu: Right in the family chalupa!
  • Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?: Garma for all his Camp Gay antics is apparently still in love with Icelina who is female....probably.
  • I Know Mortal Kombat: Why Amuro can pilot the Gundam.
    Amuro: "It was the 400 hours I spent on Steel Battalion."
  • Immune to Bullets: Char can't be hit because he's wearing pink.
    Char: "Allow me to reiterate my previous statement that your weapons are ineffective against me based on my pigmentation."
  • Insistent Terminology:
  • I Warned You: Bright when Mirai convinces him to take White Base to a lake marked on their map in the middle of a desert which happens to be dry when they get there. Inverted though, because he doesn't actually say the warning in the first place.
    Bright: "I must be a goddamned Newtype, 'cause I saw this coming from a mile away."
  • Jerkass: Kai, and he knows it.
  • Jive Turkey: Degwin Zabi, with a pimp accent.
  • Knight in Sour Armor: Bright is genuinely a good guy who is trying his best to fight the war, however ever since episode 2 he is always angry and frustrated at his crew.
  • Luke, I Am Your Father: The DNA evidence gag hints that Bright could be Amuro's real dad.
    • Which considering Bright's age, this can be completely thrown out.
  • Larynx Dissonance: Jurpentine guest stars as Garma's fiance Icelina Ichenbach with one of the least feminine voices you're likely to ever hear.
    • It's pretty heavily implied that Icelina is either in drag or a straight up MTF transexual. Though, no one except Char seems to notice.
  • Mundane Utility: Apparently Ramba Ral has been feeding his men by running over wildlife. With the Gallop.
    "Tonight we dine on antelope!"
  • My Beloved Smother: Amuro's mom, referenced as a possible reason for his numerous issues.
  • Not So Stoic: The usually reserved Bright after Ryu's death.
    Sayla: "Hey Bright, you okay?"
    Bright: *falls to his knees and starts sobbing uncontrollably*
    Sayla: "Yeah, I thought so."
  • Only Sane Employee: Bright does not like having to manage a crew of angsty teenagers.
  • Oh, Crap!: Char's first combat appearance.
    Operator 1: "There are two more objects inbound!"
    Ensign Bright: "What are they?"
    Operator 2: "It appears to be two Mobile Suits, but one of them's moving way too fast to be a normal Zaku!"
    Captain Paolo: "It can't be...It must be Char!"
    Cue danger music
    Crewman: "You don't mean The Red Comet!?!"
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: Fraw's "Polish Immigrant" disguise consists of her wearing a headscarf, shouting words like "Pierogi", "Dingus" and "Sausage".
  • Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: "I'll fork you good!" is Amuro's. It's not very witty, but then again, neither is he.
  • Phrase Catcher: Kai is frequently told to shut up.
    Everyone: "SHUT UP KAI!"
    Kai: *sarcastically* "Shut up Kai!"
  • Really Dead Montage: Several, for Icelina, Garma and most tragically, Ryu.
  • Red Shirt: "But I'm wearing blue!"
  • Recycled In Space: In the words of the Narrator:
    Narrator: "THE TEXAS COLONY! Provides dirt, shotguns, the cowboys, and other USELESS materials for construction!"
    Narrator: "No, it`s THE TEXAS COLONY!"
  • Running Gag: Tons.
    • D N A Evidence.
    • A few episodes would end with any character saying "Wait..." after coming to sudden realization.
    • Anger Sayla and she'll shoot you in the crotch.
    • Allusions to sexual intercourse, usually followed by another character commenting "That`s disgusting."
    • White Base bridge crew frequently spilling food on their radar systems.
    • Ramba Rall and his Zeon forces mispronouncing "Earth phenomena", such as lightning as "litning", desert as "deesart" and Gundam as "Goondam".
    • Fraw being associated with Poland and sausages.
    • Certain crew members discussing the beating their mother gave them as children.
    • Canootin' valves just love to break or malfunction in this series, and everything seems to have at least one.
  • Sampling: Part of the Speedy Techno Remake of the original show's theme.
  • Serious Business: Zeon Game Night, apparently for Ramba Rall and his crew.
    • Strangely enough, what words are acceptable in Scrabble is a matter Bright is willing to torture over.
  • Shout-Out: Many. Mystery Science Theater 3000 has quite a few.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance: The most intense battles are coupled with unfitting, upbeat, music.
  • Spoiled Brat: We're not quite sure about the details, but Zeon soldiers are most able to recognize who Sayla is by hearing her shout "you're worthless" or just hearing her angry voice.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Fraw towards Amuro. Lampshaded by Sayla.
    Sayla: "I don't want to hear your creepy stalker stories."
  • Super-Strength: Fraw at one point pries apart the Gundam's fingers to look at something. Amuro was quite shocked that she somewhat casually pried apart the fingers of his giant mecha.
  • Suspiciously Specific Denial: On an elevator, with Bright and Sayla.
    Bright: So Sayla, where were you stationed before boarding White Base?
    Sayla: I'm not Artesia Deikun.
    Bright: I never said you were.
    Sayla: And I'm about as Zeon as you are British.
    Bright: I'm certainly not British if that's what you mean.
    Sayla: And I don't have a Spanish accent!
    Bright: I can easily hear that you're not.
    Sayla: Top floor.
  • Talk Like a Pirate: Mirai, no matter how much she's asked to stop. She's just as confused about it as everyone else.
    Mirai: Sir, don't look at me like that. It's involuntary! Yar! I be cursed!
    • She doesn't do it when the crew is on vacation, though. When it's clearly over, she starts up again, much to Sayla's relief.
    • It might be the Minovsky Particles. Since when are they harmless?
  • The Alcoholic: Dren.
  • The Stoic: Also Dren, who's voice never wavers from its bored monotone, even in combat. Also functions as the Deadpan Snarker, with extra deadpan.
  • The Stoner: Fraw, though she prefers the harder hallucinogenic drugs to stuff like pot.
  • Those Two Guys: Big & Little Jon, two Zeon pilots who get blown up/shot down every time they appear, usually due to Little Jon's incompetence.
  • Those Wacky Nazis: The Zeon show shades of this, most notably during Garma's funeral.
    • Similarily, the mother and child from episode 8 are turned into Nazis as well.
  • Vocal Evolution: Most notable with Amuro who began with a fairly normal teenage male voice, but grew more whinier and higher pitched as the series progressed.
    • It can be a little odd to listen to Bright prior to the ending of episode 2 which is when he adopts his trademark angry tone of voice that he carries for the rest of the series.
  • Waxing Lyrical: Often, though the most frequent offender is Icelina who often breaks into quotes from Bon Jovi.
  • "Well Done, Son" Guy: Surprise, surprise, it's Amuro.
    Amuro: "LOVE ME! LOVE ME LIKE MY FATHER NEVER DID!"
  • Worst Aid: Amuro trying to keep the crash soldiers alive in episode 15. It involves seawater.
  • You All Look Familiar: Invoked when Amuro goes off to destroy a Zeon salt mine.
    Zeon Soldier 1: "137 men dead sir. Twice as many men wounded sir."
    Zeon Soldier 2: "Damnit! Why are those damn Feddies attacking a salt mine of all things?"
    Zeon Soldier 2: "Undoubtedly!"


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