Curious tidbits from MS-X

[bilbros]

The fact that Yoshiyuki Tomino "recycled" some of his earliest, rejected names and ideas using them in subsequent productions is not a novelty: for instance Emma was one of the earliest proposed names for Mirai Yashima, whereas "Ring of Gundam" was the working title of Turn A Gundam.
However, few people know that also the term "Char's Counterattack" is a re-used item.

This claim derives ftom an image I found some time ago on a Japanese image board (see link below)

http://img254.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _597lo.jpg

Apparently it comes from a magazine issue (maybe Hobby Japan ?) of the early 80's, and presents a
photo report of a model kit show where prototype guunpla for the mobile suits nowadays known as
MS-X were displayed.
If I interpret correctly the few text parts of the image, the curious thing is that these mecha are said
belong to an upcoming novelization titled Gyakushuu no Char Gundam (i.e. Char's Counterattack
Gundam).
By the way, this implies that one of the main characters of the story would have been Char himself...

[toysdream]

This doesn't necessarily mean that the upcoming novel is actually related to the MS-X series, though - the article just says that the publication of this novel "has also been decided."

In fact, the Zeta Gundam planning document reproduced in Animedia's Zeta Gundam book is titled "Zeta Gundam: Char of Counterattack" (a more literal translation of the Japanese 逆襲のシャア, which also appears on the cover of the planning document). This document is dated July 1984, but it's possible that the story was previously being developed as novel rather than a TV series - this would help explain how Bandai got tangled up, developing a new model line that it suddenly had to cancel to concentrate on Zeta merchandising.

Or heck, it's even possible that Zeta started out as some kind of MS-X tie-in, and then took on a life of its own once Tomino got involved...

-- Mark

[bilbros]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Yes, your alternative explanations seem perhaps more plausibe than my simplicistic interpretation...
By the way, this made me remember that I read somewhere that at some point in Zeta Gundam they planned to have some YMS-08A instead of the MS-11...

Back on topic, what still strikes me is that all the portrayed mechas in that magazine page (including the Skiure Z, as it's named on the caption), come from MS-X.
I mean, if I would write a report saying that a new series has been decided, why in the world should I have attached pictures from an unrelated line? Japanese can be so enigmatic!

[toysdream]

Yes on the planned YMS-08A appearance - they even did new model sheet art for it (looks like Kazumi Fujita's work to me), which has been reprinted in books like "Gunpla Generation."

As for the MS-X/Zeta Gundam tangle, I guess you can't blame the magazine - the display shows MS-X models under a banner touting the novel! According to this real-world Gundam chronology, this display was unveiled at the Shizuoka hobby show on May 17, 1984, but it wasn't until the end of July that Sunrise, Bandai, Kodansha, and assorted sponsors approved the production of the Zeta TV series, and it was only in October that the new series was announced. Since Zeta was being developed under the "Char's Counterattack" title, that's probably what the novel announcement was referring to, but if the fans were confused then they probably stayed confused for the next few months!

-- Mark