Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (Kidō Senshi Zēta Gandamu), also known as Gundam Zeta, is a 1985 original television anime series by studio Sunrise, and director/writer Yoshiyuki Tomino. The series aired in March 1985 as part of the Spring anime season line-up.
Brief Unboxing Redux Note:
I first acquired Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Part 1 in February 2017 followed by Part 2 in May 2017. Both of these were unboxed over on my Normanic Vault blog via Blogger. This post is a remaster of that unboxing with better photos, updated information and any added extras. Enjoy!
Background:
“The Earth Federation stands victorious, but are they still on the right side?
In Zeta Gundam, we see the future world of the Universal Century through a dark mirror. Having defeated the Zeon menace, the Earth Federation has itself become cruel and oppressive. A new generation of Gundam mobile suits is created not to fight for peace, but to punish the enemies of the state, and yesterday’s villains must become today’s heroes in order to balance the scales of justice. When a young civilian named Kamille Bidan is caught up in the rebellion, he little suspects the price he will pay in the fight for freedom.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, February 2017.
After the success of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series and its compilation movies, Sunrise continues the franchise with a sequel set many years later with Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam which has a larger episode count and a bit of a dark conclusion (which actually resulted in a movie compilation series similar to the previous series but is actually non-canon).
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam takes place in the Universal Century timeline at U.C. 0087, seven years after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam. The cast from the previous series returns but we have a new set of characters that take the spotlight this time as well as new Gundam mechs. Zeta Gundam continues the Amuro Ray vs Char storyline also.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam was released dubbed by Bandai Entertainment back in the day, but the series was never released in the UK before until Anime Limited brought it over for Blu-ray. This is also the Gundam series that basically caused disruption for the UK Gundam line-up, as Anime Limited ended up forming a partnership with Sunrise for the French territories also which resulted in this release being pushed back for many months.
Thankfully the UK got the series in the end, but the discs ended up using the French Anime Limited master so the menus themselves do not match with Nozomi’s (which is what the original Mobile Suit Gundam series discs had used).
Collector’s Edition Contents:
Anime Limited loves providing collector’s edition releases for their catalogue and Gundam was no exception. While Nozomi only focused on releasing the titles one by one as a standard regular package, Anime Limited offered some additional content.
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam‘s UK collector’s editions continues the same format as the previous Gundam series. Part 1 comes with a rigid box that has unique artwork and free of any information or BBFC content. The box itself will house both parts of the series.
Part 2 comes with a booklet of artwork like character designs, drawings, mecha and the setting. Its well-done and fits nicely into the box with the two Amaray cases.
Like the other Anime Limited sets, these collector’s edition releases each have 1000 units printed for an SRP of £59.99. The regular editions will also maintain that SRP due to the episode count.
Physical Contents:
- Part 1 CE: Rigid Box with amaray case packaging and clean artwork
- Part 2 CE: 48-page booklet
- Info sheet for specs and sticker on wrapping for BBFC logo
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 20th February 2017 (Part 1), 8th May 2017 (Part 2)
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam was released across two parts for the UK & US. The first part contains episodes 1 to 25 across three Blu-ray discs and the second part contains episodes 26 to 50 across another three Blu-ray discs, both parts used the French Anime Limited author. The audio options available for the series include Japanese with English and French subtitles and the Ocean Productions/Bandai Entertainment English dub.
Due to licensing restrictions, the opening and closing sequences do not have the original music included in the English releases. Instead those are instrumental.
While Nozomi’s release has yellow and unlockable subtitles, the French Anime Limited authored discs have white subtitles that 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 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 4:3 (anamorphic 16:9) aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, French |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | Part 1: 3 Part 2: 3 |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Part 1 – Disc 3:
- Clean Opening
- Clean Closing
Part 2 – Disc 3:
- Clean Opening
- Clean Closing
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam 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 editions on Amazon UK.
The Normanic Vault 