Mobile Fighter G Gundam (機動武闘伝Ｇガンダム, Kidō Butōden G-Gundam), also known as Mobile Fighting Legend G Gundam or simply G Gundam, is a 1994 original television anime series directed by Yasuhiro Imagawa, and produced by studio Sunrise. Staff credits also include writer Fuyunori Gobu, character designer Hiroshi Osaka, and music composer Kōhei Tanaka. The series aired in Japan in April 1994.
Background:
“This is the Future Century. In this age of technological wonders, the ruling elites live in orbital space colonies, using the ravaged Earth as a battleground to settle their differences.
Every four years, a martial tournament called the Gundam Fight is held to determine the leader of the space colonies, and now the Gundam Fighters who represent each colony have gathered on Earth to begin the 13th tournament. Their purpose is simply to fight, and fight, and fight, until only one remains to claim the title “Gundam of Gundams”.
But Neo Japan’s Domon Kasshu has another, secret, mission… and if he fails, all of humanity may pay the price.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, December 2023.
Gundam doesn’t particularly need an introduction at this point. The franchise has been around for decades and it’s mecha designs are iconic to which the series has inspired any other anime and mediums over the years. What interests me about the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise is its wide range of characters, stories and of course the action. In addition, like Final Fantasy, most of the shows that are part of this franchise are mostly standalone so anyone can jump in. For example, people in the US started their Gundam journey with Mobile Suit Gundam Wing during the 90s.
But here we have another noteworthy addition that will finally be available in the UK. In the 90s after a couple of different instalments taking place within the Universal Century timeline, Sunrise decided to produce a new Gundam series that was completely unrelated to that timeline whilst also keeping the spirit of the franchise. That series is Mobile Fighter G Gundam which aired just before Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.
Mobile Fighter G Gundam, the 5th instalment in the Gundam franchise, takes place in the Future Century timeline and as such won’t require knowledge of the previous titles to enjoy it. This means we have a new set of characters with no ties to the original timeline but retaining the same themes of war and the idea of using Gundam mechs to fight. G Gundam is also known for its unique cast and our main character Domon’s signature move, the Shining Finger.
Mobile Fighter G Gundam did receive a US television broadcast via Toonami in 2002 with an English dub, followed by a DVD release by Bandai Entertainment. However unlike Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Mobile Fighter G Gundam did not receive a UK home video release at the time. Which means Anime Limited releasing the series on Blu-ray marks the show’s UK debut for home video. Despite Sunrise merging with Bandai Namco to become Bandai Namco Filmworks and Rightstuf being part of Sony & Crunchyroll, Anime Limited are still able to continue their Gundam home video releases for the UK & Ireland.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
Anime Limited’s collector’s offering for the Gundam franchise has its own branding called the ‘Gundam Collection’. Mobile Fighter G Gundam follows the same treatment, which was split into two parts due to the show’s length.
The collector’s edition Part 1 release contains a rigid box to house both parts of the series, an Amaray case for Part 1’s contents and a Domon Kasshu family photograph card. The collector’s edition Part 2 release contains an Amaray case as well as a 60-page booklet featuring character designs, mecha designs and illustration artwork from the series.
The artwork is free of any information on all sides of the box and the info sheet covers the BBFC content, information and specification. The Amaray cases will still mention the info about the series but the BBFC logo won’t be there. Each collector’s edition Blu-ray part is limited to 1000 units for SRP £69.99. A standard Blu-ray is expected to follow suit later.
I pre-ordered my copy through Anime Limited’s store during their early bird offer in August 2023 for Part 1 and November 2023 for Part 2 at £39.99 each but with the Anime Unlimited membership the offer is lowered to £35.99 each.
Physical Contents:
- Part 1 CE: Rigid Box with Amaray packaging and clean artwork
- Part 1 CE: Domon Kasshu family photograph card
- Part 2 CE: 60-page Booklet
- Info sheet with info, specification and BBFC description
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 11th December 2023 (Part 1), 18th December 2023 (Part 2)
The collector’s edition releases for Mobile Fighter G Gundam were released across two parts for the UK & US. The first part contains episodes 1 to 24 across four Blu-ray discs and the second part contains episodes 25 to 49 across another four Blu-ray discs, both parts were authored and encoded by Rightstuf with Anime Limited’s logos included at the intro. The audio options available for the series includes Japanese with English subtitles and the Ocean Group English dub commissioned by Bandai Entertainment.
The subtitles are yellow and unlocked, and the disc regions are locked to B for Blu-ray. Funny enough the region lock system keeps the Nozomi region locked warning screen.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 1.33:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | Part 1: 4 BD-50s Part 2: 4 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Part 1 Disc 1:
- Clean Opening 1 “Flying In The Sky”
- Clean Opening 2 “Flying In The Sky”
- Clean Ending 1 “Umi Yori Mo Fukaku” (Deeper Than The Ocean)
Part 2 Disc 4:
- Clean Opening 3 “Trust You Forever”
- Clean Ending 2 “Kimi No Naka No Eien” (The Eternity in You)
- Blu-ray Commercials
- DVD Commercials
- TV Commercials
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Mobile Fighter G Gundam Parts 1 & 2 are available to purchase on Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland. The collector’s edition Blu-ray parts can be acquired through Amazon UK (Part 1, Part 2), Anime Limited’s store (Part 1, Part 2), and MVM’s Anime-on-Line (Part 1, Part 2).
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
Leave a comment