Lack of Multiservice Tactical Brevity Codes.

[Gadget]

Brevity codes are designed to convey complex information with a few words. Good example are Bingo fuel (fuel staues), bogey dope (target information) and fox2 (IR missile lunch) and fox 3 (radar guided missile lunch).

I notice such codes are usually not used in amine. I could excuse Armuro, Kamilla, or Kira not using them as they were cilivians. The G-boys from Gundam-W were mecahno-terroist. So they have to observe radio slience. But how about Shiro and Kuo as they are in the EF militery. And even Armuro and Char in CCA. I don't think Roy Fokker uses them as well. (I cannot remember did Shin uses such codes when he is still flying the F-14 Super Tomcat)

Is it because such amine are in Japanese and it would be translated well if they insert and english phase. Is there a Japanese version?Any Chinese Air Force or JSDF people here to comment?

Or the lack of knowlege by the early writers. Afterall, brevity codes became more well known after the movie 'Top Gun'.

Or being to militery will dampen the fight drama? The battle becomes to 'clinical'? The battle between Fokker and DD are very fast. Using such codes will slow down battles. I would just shoot first.

BTY, anyone remeber who came up the code for 'multriple targets are lock and fired simutanously by all the on board weapons, usually 4 or more guns. (Spamming) Interesting that 'spam' was not use during Stardust memories.

[Wingnut]

You said it yourself, there is no real reason to use those kinds of things. Plus the avarage anime viewer wouldn't know what the characters would be talking about anyway.

[Strike Zero]

Though you gotta admit, it would be pretty awesome to hear a Gundam pilot yell "Fox Two" whenever they fire a missle or something.

[Chris]

Though you gotta admit, it would be pretty awesome to hear a Gundam pilot yell "Fox Two" whenever they fire a missle or something.

Awesome perhaps to hardcore military buffs. As Wingnut pointed out, the average viewer doesn't know about these codes, and they wouldn't understand them if they were used.

[J-Lead]

Ah, this question again. It seems to pop up at least once everywhere I go. There's no real explanation, but in-universely speaking, they may have simply decided that Brevity codes were not needed for conflicts limited by Minovsky particles or whatever other reason. In other words, maybe they more or less simply discontinued the practice.

[Gadget]

In other words, maybe they more or less simply discontinued the practice.

Not likely. In 'Dune' stories, the soilders were using 'battlespeak'.

Chris may be correct that such codes are for militery buffs. But wouldn't it inject a bit more realism into the operations. I've read on wiki that Shoji Kawamori (Maross) wernt to Edwards AFB to 'capture the essence of areial combat'. And some terms are rather well known, like 'bandit' and bogey'. So I'm not saying that they should speak like real fighter pilots, but using such terms to be more realistic.

[MrMarch]

It was probably just an element of real combat that was left out of Gundam. Not every military show or anime has the same priorities when creating a construct to tell the story. Gundam concentrated more on other aspects of realism, like the mecha themselves. And IMO, it's much better for it.

However, I believe brevity codes are certainly a workable inclusion in any military fiction. If a dumbed down film like Independance Day can have actors screaming "Fox 2" than any show can do as well and likely much better

[J-Lead]

In other words, maybe they more or less simply discontinued the practice.

Not likely. In 'Dune' stories, the soilders were using 'battlespeak'.

Yeah, but Dune isn't part of the Gundam universe. (I was speaking "In- universely" after all. ) I was pretty much just throwing a hypothetical explanation out there, that's all. Militaries often dispose of practices that they deem unnecessary, and maybe the Federation/Zeon/Other faction just looked at the idea of brevity codes and just said "Screw it." However, I do believe I heard the word "cyclops" used to indicate Zeon mobile suits before, which may be a form of brevity code in itself, if an little bit of an obvious one.

Besides, codes like "Fox 1/2/3!" are all pretty much used in long range warfare with guided weapons, so I don't see why they would be a necessity in fast-paced, dumb-fire close-range combat that mobile suits most often engage in.

But on that note, I can definitely agree that the reasoning behind the absence of brevity codes is probably because the average kid in the demographic just doesn't really understand it, nor has the intellectual curiosity to find out what each word means, thus will lose focus on the show and go do something else.

[Ascension]

Here's the thing. At their hearts, the combat isn't all that important to the story of most Gundam series. It's just a catalyst for character interaction and development. The realism of the combat would be enhanced by the pilots speaking in jargon, heck, the realism would be MAJORLY enhanced by not having characters speak to their enemies in the middle of combat, but the character development is enhanced by having the pilots speechifying and taunting each other, etc..

[Chris]

There's another factor that people haven't brought up, and that's the fact that these military codes are used by the U.S. Armed Forces. Gundam shows have modeled themselves after a mixture of militaries, including WWII-era Japan. It's obvious that an American movie like ID4 that features the American military would use those codes, but if Japan doesn't use them (which I don't know if they do or not), I wouldn't expect a Japanese production to use them.

[VR7]

As far as I know, the Japanese do have a JASDF, so I'm pretty sure they have brevity codes similar to the US military.

Don't take my word for this, but I remember reading somewhere though that in the making of either an Ace Combat game or Yukikaze, the JASDF in particular was consulted. The Yukikaze official site has been revamped since I last saw it, so I can't confirm if I found it there.

IMO, I think it would make sense if they used brevity even in a Gundam series, because brevity is used to shorten the time it takes to give orders to other wingmen, inform others of what you're doing, etc.. For instance, it's a lot easier to say "Fox two" than "I fired an infrared missile at the enemy". Try saying each of those out loud and you'll see what I mean. It's not simply there to encrypt your messages or sound cool. However, the likeliness of brevity being used in an anime will always vary depending on the target audience. You're more likely to hear brevity in an OVA like Yukikaze or Area 88, than in something targeting a younger audience like Gundam.

[Ascension]

For instance, it's a lot easier to say "Fox two" than "I fired an infrared missile at the enemy".

Thing is, we hardly ever hear anyone engaging in this sort of conversation in Gundam.

In Gundam, characters usually (1.) Don't communicate at all during battle. I blame this on minovsky particle jamming. (2.) Shout at their rivals. "Shaaaaaaaaa!" "Amuuuuuroooooo!" (3.) Engage in philosophical debates with their rivals. "I'm doing this for the good of the Earth, really!" (4.) React to casualties or the threat of death. "Matiiiiiiiiiiilda!" "I can see time!" and/or (5.) React to strange behaviour on the part of their teammates. "The Gundam just launched!" "Who's in it?"

You see, none of that sort of communication would be aided by brevity codes. Unless you want to establish a code for "Gundamjack." that might be a good idea. Or perhaps a code for "The Newtype ace is going nuts again! Somebody slap him!" Traditional codes are of no use whatsoever in Gundam.

[Gadget]

You see, none of that sort of communication would be aided by brevity codes. Unless you want to establish a code for "Gundamjack." that might be a good idea. Or perhaps a code for "The Newtype ace is going nuts again! Somebody slap him!" Traditional codes are of no use whatsoever in Gundam.

Shouting 'SPAM! SPAM! SPAM!!' doen't really put fear into your enemies. If I were a ZAFT or EA pilot, I thought I will be getting a computer attack. If I survive the first spamming, when I hear spam again, I either run for cover, or eject stright away. BTY, 'Fox 3' should not be usein UC setting. No radar...

How about 'Noah' for ' slap that civilian that has been drafted into militery and is now behaving badly' and "Bright Noah" for the newtype slapping version

It's just that I do wish some of the professional militery people should be more professional about it. And putting these codes sounding jargons should help. I think it's really weird where the whole army could cry, like the Orb armed forces.

As for using US codes,it's just that Hollywood rules the movie industry. If militery entertament is mainly done the chinese or french, I'm sure such codes will be echoed in chinese or french around the world.

[VR7]

If something like Ace Combat could mix brevity and long narrative speeches effectively, I don't see why Gundam can't.

Even so, I never explicitly said Gundam needed brevity, I only chipped in my two cents. It would certainly enhance the atmosphere of the combat, but Gundam's target audience is primarily adolescents and young adults, not military buffs.

[J-Lead]

If something like Ace Combat could mix brevity and long narrative speeches effectively, I don't see why Gundam can't.

Ace Combat is about fighter jets, and even with all the unrealism in the equation, it's still a hail mary away from mobile suit combat (especially UC, what with the total lack of availible radar.) It'd actually behoove Project aces to not include brevity codes.

...And they still neglect to use it half of the time...

[razgriz]

i'd chalk it up to a flare for the dramatics for the project aces team to mix brevity with morality. honestly if you listen to actual air combat dialogue you seriously have no idea what the heck they could be talking about unless you are in the service. e.g. "victory one zero niner, master arm. fence in. tally ho. bandits high flight level angels two zero. reference one six zero. flank right..." and so on when you can just have your character say "victory one, entering enemy airspace. weapons armed. bandits sighted, turning to engage..." sometimes keeping it simple keeps even hardcore technofans entertained and well not lost in translation