Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket | The Gundam Retrospective

-- THIS VIDEO CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR MSG 0080 --
Released in 1989, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket was Sunrise and Bandai's foray into the world of OVA's. Original Video Animations gave fans some of the most memorable anime of the 80's and 90's and Mobile Suit Gundam is no exception. Join me in this retrospective look at Gundam's first OVA, a personal story about loss and growth. With feature quality animation and soundtrack, and some of the coolest mechs around.
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Stream Archive: kzbin.info/door/JbO...

[@LordCornshoe]

Man, that scene of Al crying at the end gets me everytime. It's just incredibly sad that he's the only one who knows what really happened.

[@ariaakee]

I also loved how Bernie's message for Al included a lesson for him that soldiers fight for what they think is right and that he shouldn't hold a grudge against the Gundam pilot. This is something that even the viewers forget and tend to see factions in black and white

[@theHETOBRINE]

The operation being called rubicon is very important as its a reference to the phrase crossing the rubicon which refers to crossing the point of no return.

[@kolinmartz]

This OVA really hit close to me watching it recently. I was once Al. War was just something on TV. Before I joined the army.

[@matteste]

Just a slight correction, the Zaku has a fusion reactor, not a nuclear reactor. It uses Helium-3 as fuel and the moment the reactor is turned off the reactions inside fizzle out. The reason they sometimes go boom is if a beam weapon of some kind hit the reactor while it is running which leads to an out of control nuclear fusion reaction.

[@snaeper5862]

Al not only lost Bernie in the battle, but learned that Chris was the Gundam's pilot in the same moment. Whoever won that duel, he would have lost someone dear to him.

[@DIEGhostfish]

Too depressing to watch without immediately following up with the Build Fighters episode where the main three are all happily living in the BF Universe.

[@someone_one_one]

Definitely one of the sadder entries in the Gundam universe.

[@legomania2427]

“To him, War is just something distant that happens on tv” my man, you’re giving me Ace Combat 04 intro cutscene flashbacks.

[@tratamarack441]

You just instictively know that Bernie is going to die when he decided to fight a gundam with a Zaku, and it feels bad...

[@leelee9417]

The "Don't worry Al, another war will start soon...!" line at the end of the show is genuinely one of my favorite quotes in fiction.

[@vopop30]

In-universe, Sydney is totally obliterated. It was the impact sight from the colony drop at the start of the 1 Year War. Bernie really made a bad call there.

[@Raithul]

0080 is honestly probably the high point of Gundam for me. It's very well animated, honestly up there with CCA for best-looking imo, short enough that it says what it needs to say without belabouring the point, and remains emotionally affecting even having watched it several times.

[@SGTSAM101ST]

I love how that if u had never seen any Gundam lore beforehand... U can still enjoy the story

[@lanzer22]

for those who thought the characters look familiar, (especially those brows) 0080 character designer is Haruhiko Mikimoto, famous for being the character designer for Macross and many of its spinoffs. He also designed Gunbuster and was probably the hottest designer back then.

[@Grizabeebles]

One of the little details I love about this OVA is how disassembling of the Zaku as part of the plan created a whole chain of lore that shows up in later entries of the series.

[@themarky2714]

Al IMO is one of the best characters in the franchise, a mirror to the people who partake in the phenomenon that is Gundam. Rich in self-deprecation, naivety, and irony.

[@joshuaroman6479]

The Alex's forearm guns will always be one of my favorite features of any Gundam, and it makes sense as it's almost like a response to the shield-mounted guns that you see in the Gouf suits. This anime is so fantastic. It will always be one of my favorites.

[@thefirstguyjaek255]

Al watching the firefight says a lot about his preparedness for war and how little distance there can be. He is seeing people he now knows getting ripped to shreds and dying. That went beyond his imagination

[@thepronoob4039]

War in the Pocket is amazing. From the heart wrenching story, the gorgeous battle scenes, great mechanical designs and also one of the greatest OST from any anime.