Falldog's blog

About a year ago I had the idea to put together a piece discussing the Gundam franchise’s many timelines and many, many complexities. Little did I know that I was opening a can of worms. Welcome to that can of worms.

The Gundam franchise is a confusing assortment of TV series, manga, games, novelizations, and even audio dramas. These are broken across many different universes, and within those universes, similar and sometimes contradictory stories. What I’ve tried to do below is take as much of the franchise’s numerous installments I could muster and lay them out graphically. Before we get to that there are a couple of core concepts we need to cover.

While researching for Falldog's Guide to Gundam Canon and Timelines I was directed to this post by the great Mark Simmons on Mecha Talk back in 2007. In it he references a round table discussion from 2001 in Dengeki Hobby where folks from Sunrise discuss what's canon within the Gundam franchise. The website Mark linked to, at the time containing a transcript of the discussion, no longer exists. However, thanks to the Internet Archive Wayback Machine the content can still be accessed. In additional sections (which I didn't have translated) go on to reference other works and how they view them from a canon prospective. Mark's post on Mecha Talk does a good job summarizing the related content.

For my article on Gundam canon and timelines I went and got the primary section translated by Frog-kun. That translation is provided below for reference.

I asked Frog-kun for details regarding his translation of オフィシャル into canon and this is what he elaborated with,

"I translated the word オフィシャル (which is a Japanese transliteration of the English word "official") as "canon" a few times mainly to avoid repeating the same word over and over. If you don't think it fits, you can replace it with "official". From what I understood of the conversation, though, it did feel as if they were discussing official versus non-official continuity in a way that was very reminiscent of discussions about "canon" in the English fandom sense. I used the word because it would help put the discussion into perspective for an English reader.

"Also, you're right that Japanese fan lingo doesn't have a word like "canon", but there are words in everyday use like 本編 and 原作, which mean "original work". Discussions about what constitutes "official" work are still matters of contentious debate, and many Japanese fans hold the original work at a higher level of esteem than any subsequent adaptations.

"So yes, there was a bit of interpretation going on when I translated オフィシャル as "canon", but at the same time, I don't think the concept is absent in Japanese fandoms. "

Behold, Kotobukiya's first entry in to the HMM (Highend Master Model) Zoids line since 2013, the Death Stinger.

Flickr

Flickr

Welcome to my end-of-build write up for the 1/100 Elyn Hobby Kshatriya. I'm going to spend quite a bit of time talking about the kit and the build so if you're just interested in pretty pictures you're more than welcome to scroll down toward the end of this article.

Flickr

It took longer than I would've liked, but three weeks and 12-15 hours of assembly/final detailing later the Elyn Hobby Kshatriya is now 2/3 of the way complete.

Slowly, as Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans progresses, so does the Gundam Barbatos as it slowly equips more weapons and armor. That change is reflected in one of the opening segment's early scenes. I'll update this page with images of the opening as the series begins.

Note - You can click to expand and use the left/right arrows to navigate.

About a week ago I saw this image refereced on Reddit and figured it might be fun to try out a few of those setups on some of my kits starting with the coloured backlighting all the way at the end.

A few weeks ago I redid my photo area, opting for a gray surface in front of black muslin. This created a gap between the table and the backdrop which allows me to throw in a bit of backlighting. I got myself an inexpensive colour changing LED bulb, placed it behind the table, and started taking photos.

As a moderator over at /r/Gundam I often see folks asking how to get into the franchise and what shows to watch. Hopefully this guide will help you along that path.

TL;WR?

If you don't have time to go through and read, it's best to pick with one of the below series:  

Note that the above are in no order of preference or recommendation. Why I think they're four good starting points is detailed below.

If you can't be bothered as to finding out why the above are recommended, or just want me to make the decision for you, then watch the original Mobile Suit Gundam. The full series, all 43 episodes, not the movies.