, commonly referred to as ''Gundam-san'', is a Japanese

yonkoma , a comic strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom. They also sometimes run right-to-left horizontally or use a hybrid 2×2 style, depending on the layout requirements of ...

(4-panel) parody gag

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series by Hideki Ohwada. A part of the ''

Gundam is a Japanese military fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ''Mobile ...

'' media franchise, it is a parody of the original ''

Mobile Suit Gundam , also known as ''First Gundam'', ''Gundam 0079'' or simply ''Gundam '79'', is an anime television series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcastin ...

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series, featuring Amuro Ray,

Lalah Sune This is a list of fictional characters from the 1979 Japanese science fiction anime television series ''Mobile Suit Gundam''. Earth Federation Amuro Ray is the son of Tem Ray, the project leader for the Earth Federation's Project V, whi ...

, and

Char Aznable , born and also gone by the name , is a fictional character from the ''Gundam'' franchise. He is originally one of the main antagonists in ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' working for the Principality of Zeon, named after his late father Zeon Zum Deikun, ...

as main characters. It has been serialized in

Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...

's ''seinen'' manga magazine '' Gundam Ace'' since June 2001 and collected in fourteen ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes. The manga has spawned an anime television series adaptation by

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

. The series of animated shorts was broadcast on the BS11 network between July 6 and September 28, 2014.

Overview

The manga is a parody of the original ''

'' and features most of its characters for its yonkoma strips. In addition, there are several "sub-stories" featured in the manga ''

'', including , which features anthropomorphic versions of the mobile suits from ''Mobile Suit Gundam'', and , which dramatizes the story of the creation of the ''Gundam'' franchise and features

Yoshiyuki Tomino is a Japanese mecha anime creator, animator, director, screenwriter, songwriter and novelist best known for creating the ''Gundam'' anime franchise. He was born in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and studied at Nihon University's College of Art ...

as well as other staff and cast members. On January 24, 2014, Kadokawa released two tankōbon volumes collecting ''Gundam Sousei'' chapters as a separate manga titled . At Anime NYC 2019, Denpa announced that they would publish ''The Men Who Created Gundam'' in English, with the omnibus volume released on June 7, 2022.

Publication

''Gundam-san'' began as a fan created yonkoma series on Ohwada's personal website prior to being officially published in ''Gundam Ace'' in 2001. The manga was also serialized in the ''

seinen is an editorial category of Japanese comics marketed toward young adult men. In Japanese, the word ''seinen'' literally means "youth", but the term "''seinen'' manga" is also used to describe the target audience of magazines like '' Weekly Ma ...

'' magazine ''Comic Charge'' from the magazine's inception to its cancellation in 2009; in the magazine ''

Kerokero Ace was a Japanese shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten. It directly focused on the ''Sgt. Frog'' series and other works promoted by Bandai such as Gundam. The magazine contained manga comics, computer game reviews, merchandi ...

''; and in the '' 4-Koma Nano Ace'' from 2011. The first collected volume was released on August 24, 2005 and the latest—the 14th—was released on April 26, 2016. Another series, was serialized in ''

'' starting 2007. Its collected volume was released on January 22, 2009. was released on August 21, 2010. Another book, which included ''Kotowaza Gundam-san'' stories, subtitled , was released on December 21, 2011. A ''Kotowaza Gundam-san'' , including ''Naruhodo'' and ''Yappari'' and the proverbs appeared in the anime series, was released on October 25, 2014. Additionally, a box of mini books and goods about the character Comet Chick was released on July 24, 2007. Also, a fanbook, which included a special story, was released on February 24, 2010.

Anime adaptation

The 13-episode anime television series adaptation was broadcast between July and September 2014 in the BS11 (during the ''Gundam Selection'' program) and

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV, branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city. It competes with Nippon TV, TV Asahi, NH ...

networks. Episodes are about 3 minutes each. The show was first announced in a ''Gundam Ace'' issue in June 2014. Mankyū directed and wrote the screenplay for the anime. Sao Tamado was the character designer.

Tohru Furuya Toru is a masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Toru can be expressed with several kanji. Some examples: *徹, "penetrate" *透, "transparent" *享, "enjoy" *亨, "smoothly" *暢, "freely" The name can also be written in hiragana と ...

and

Keiko Han is a Japanese actress, voice actress and western astrologer. She sang the theme songs in productions such as '' Story of the Alps: My Annette'' and '' Kazoku Robinson Hyōryūki Fushigi na Shima no Furōne''. Han is a fortune teller of western ...

returned as cast members but did not reprise their original roles from ''Mobile Suit Gundam'' as Amuro Ray and Lalah Sune, respectively. Instead all of the roles were cast to new

voice actors Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

Episode list

13 episodes are released on television, while the additional extra episodes (including event premieres) are included in the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the anime.

Reception

Three volumes of the series have been featured on the top 10 of

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

's weekly chart of the best-selling manga; volume 4 peaked at the fifth spot, while volume 5 ranked ninth, and volume 6 reached the sixth place. Volumes 7, 8 and 9 also reached the chart but at 15th, 29th and 36th place respectively. The anime DVD and Blu-Ray reached the Oricon's list at the 23rd and 16th place respectively.

References

External links

* * * {{Sunrise Anime series based on manga Bandai Namco franchises Comedy anime and manga Gundam anime and manga Kadokawa Dwango franchises Kadokawa Shoten manga Shōnen manga Sunrise (company) TV Tokyo original programming Yonkoma