Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (機動戦士ガンダム THE ORIGIN, Kidou Senshi Gundam: The Origin), also known as Gundam Origin, is a 2015-2018 original video anime series based on Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s manga of the same name, which in itself is also based on the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise by Yoshiyuki Tomino. The OVAs were produced by studio Sunrise and the staff credits include director Takashi Imanishi, chief director & character designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, writer Katsuyuki Sumisawa, character designer Tsukasa Kotobuki, and music composer Takayuki Hattori.
The OVAs featured in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I-IV: Chronicle of Char and Sayla are I: Blue Eyed Casval (I 青い瞳のキャスバル, I Aoi Hitomi no Kyasubaru), II: Artesia’s Sorrow (II 哀しみのアルテイシア, II Kanashimi no Aruteishia), III: Dawn of Rebellion (III 暁の蜂起, III Akatsuki no Hōki) and IV: Eve of Destiny (IV 運命の前夜, IV Unmei no Zen’ya). All were first released theatrically in Japan on February 2015, October 2015, May 2016 & November 2016 respectively.
Brief Unboxing Redux Note:
I first acquired Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I-IV: Chronicle of Char and Sayla in June 2018 by ordering through Amazon UK. This was unboxed over on my Normanic Vault blog via Blogger, and it was the final anime set that I had acquired before relocating to my first job which wasn’t long before I had switched to WordPress for the blog. This post is a remaster of that unboxing with better photos, updated information and any added extras. Enjoy!
Background:
“The Beginning of a Red Vengeance. The Past Unveiled.
What was the tragedy that decided the fates of Char Aznable, the man later nicknamed the “Red Comet” as an ace pilot of the Zeon forces, and his sister Sayla Mass?
The two siblings’ journeys, brought on by the sudden death of their father Zeon Zum Deikun who was a leader of the Spacenoids.
The Zabi family who seize control of Side 3 and lead the Principality of Zeon, the early days of many renowned Zeon ace pilots who later fight in the One Year War, the secrets of mobile suit development, conflicts with the Earth Federation Forces, and the road leading to the outbreak of war – all will be revealed.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, May 2018.
Mobile Suit Gundam over the years has attracted many fans, and since then we had seem dozens of anime from TV shows, to OVA series to films, to even kid-friendly shows that involve building Gundams. Gundam has also received a number of manga instalments and one of them was Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin is an origin story that focuses on the events that take place before the original Mobile Suit Gundam series. But the anime adaptation done by Sunrise, with the original writer taking the helm as chief director, is different to the source material. The OVA series is split into two major story arcs; the first four episodes focus on Char and Sayla before they re-unite in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series, while the final two episodes (which are included in the next box set) cover the Loum Battlefield which takes place just before the first episode of the original series.
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin was presented in OVA format but also received theatrical releases in Japan. Each episode is roughly an hour in length and took a couple of months in-between per release. It had also received import releases from Nozomi Entertainment and Anime Limited as well as an English dub done by NYAV Post.
Anime Limited was behind on Gundam, but they did go back and forth with the titles and as such Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I-IV: Chronicle of Char and Sayla was released as quick as possible for a UK Blu-ray release in 2018.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
Much like the Gundam 0079 Movie Trilogy, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I-IV: Chronicle of Char and Sayla was given a collector’s edition box set that houses a few Amaray cases, but also includes a couple art cards that use the main illustration artwork from the Japanese releases. The SRP was £39.99 and received the usual 1000 units in total.
The packaging for the collector’s edition is roughly the same size as the main Gundam shows. As there are four OVA episodes included, each front cover represents the specific OVA episode however this does mean you won’t get a full clean artwork that other titles have gotten.
The regular edition which eventually did get a release a few years later, was released at a smaller SRP and uses only one of the four artworks as its main cover.
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with amaray case packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specs and sticker on wrapping for BBFC logo
- 4 Art Cards
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 28th May 2018
The collector’s edition release for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I-IV: Chronicle of Char and Sayla presents all four OVA episodes across two Blu-ray discs, with the authoring done by MediaOCD for a change of pace (menu design was done by Gary Swarer). The audio options available for the series include Japanese with English and French subtitles and the NYAV Post English dub.
The white subtitles (for both subtitle languages) are locked during playback, and the regions are locked to B for Blu-ray.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 16:9 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, French |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 2 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 1:
- I: Blue Eyed Casval Trailers
- II: Artesia’s Sorrow Trailers
Disc 2:
- III: Dawn of Rebellion Trailers
- IV: Eve of Destiny Trailers
Unboxing Photos:
Here’s a quick comparison of the UK collector’s edition Blu-ray collection for the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin sets for those interested.
Final Notes:
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin I-IV: Chronicle of Char and Sayla is available to order through multiple retailers across the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition sets sold out very early on, but you can still acquire the standard edition on Amazon UK.
The Normanic Vault 
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