Brent P. Newhall's Blog

This is the latest in a series of reviews about every Gundam series that I’ve seen (which, at this point, is almost all of them).

My last review focused on Gundam Wing, but let’s back up for a minute. Before that, and after Victory Gundam, Sunrise decided to expand into new, “alternate universe” Gundam shows, which would preserve the core themes of Gundam but tell stories in different worlds and timelines.

The first attempt was Mobile Fighter G Gundamm, which returned to the roots of the mecha genre with an over-the-top, high-spirited show of Manly Men.

Which brings us to the Dragonball Z comparisons. Indeed, G is close in spirit to Dragonball Z. This strikes Gundam purists as heresy, and I understand. I tried to watch G several times, but suffered from prejudice. I was so used to the more serious—or at least convoluted—style of other Gundam shows that I just couldn’t stomach a show that looked so much like a cheesy shonen series or a 1970’s Go Nagai mech show.

Which turns out to be the key to appreciating G Gundam. This is a throwback to early giant robot shows, to Getter Robo and Mazinger and Voltron. The characters are mostly two-dimensional, but they’re supposed to be. They’re archetypes. They’re characters in a morality play. They exist to show us clear viewpoints and opinions.

And they do so in the context of the Gundam Fight, the cheesiest mecha idea ever — giant robots descend from space colonies to Earth and bust each other up, the winner’s colony winning control of Earth for the following four years. I mean, really, what?

It works. It works because the Gundam Fight is not the point. This is a story of characters and morality. Of people pushing themselves and striving to accomplish lofty goals.

It’s a cartoon about giant robots beating the crap out of each other.

Relax and enjoy.

Just finished this book, and while it’s probably more appropriate for Otaku, No Video, I wanted to gush about it here.

God of Manga is a book about Osamu Tezuka, a man who basically created both modern manga (Japanese comics) and anime (Japanese animation). There was a ton of manga before Tezuka; he established that the artform could tell stories appropriate for a wide range of ages. He then took his most popular creation and made a TV animation, Astro Boy, which defined a great deal of the anime’s eventual look-and-feel.

God of Manga is 3 things, really:

• A biography of Tezuka
• An analysis of Tezuka’s works, including common themes
• An overview of the manga field throughout Tezuka’s life

Tons of great insights, particularly involving Tezuka’s “Star System” and repeated gags. The man was an absolute genius, and this is a great testament to his abilities and influence.

Shop Class as Soulcraft is an important book.

It has flaws—significant flaws—but Matthew Crawford’s overall themes deserve wide attention.

Shop Class as Soulcraft concerns itself with the dignity of manual labor. It makes a case for the importance of work that repairs and maintains our world, from plumbing to car repair. It defends the kind of knowledge gained through practical experience and apprenticeship, compared to that learned through rote memorization and following “idiot-proof” processes.

This leads to my main beef with the book: he glorifies practical experience and blue-collar work as inherently superior to other kinds. I had moments where I had to put down the book and walk away, I was so frustrated by his insistence that white collar work is inherently inferior to blue collar.

They’re important in different ways.

But Crawford’s voice needs to be heard. Well worth a read.