Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team
File:Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team Blu-ray cover.jpg Cover of the Blu-ray re-release of Miller's Report (limited edition)
機動戦士ガンダム 第08MS小隊 (Kidō Senshi Gandamu Dai Zerohachi Emu Esu Shōtai)
Genre	Military science fiction
Original video animation
Directed by	Takeyuki Kanda (Eps. 1-6) Umanosuke Iida (Eps. 7-12)
Written by	Akira Okeya (Eps. 1-9) Hiroaki Kitajima (Eps. 10-12)
Music by	Kohei Tanaka
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	AUS Madman Entertainment NA Sunrise
Released	January 25, 1996 – July 25, 1999
Runtime	25 minutes
Episodes	12
Anime film
The 08th MS Team: Miller's Report
Directed by	Mitsuko Kase, Takeyuki Kanda, Umanosuke Iida
Music by	Kohei Tanaka
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	NA Sunrise
Released	August 1, 1998
Runtime	51 minutes
Light novel
The 08th MS Team Side Story: Trivial Operation
Written by	Ichirou Ookouchi
Illustrated by	Kouji Sugiura
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Original run	January 1999 – July 2001
Volumes	3
Manga
Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team U.C.0079+α
Written by	Umanosuke Iida
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Gundam Ace
Original run	March 2007 – June 2011
Volumes	4
Original video animation
The 08th MS Team: Battle in Three Dimensions
Directed by	Shinya Watada
Written by	Ichiro Okouchi
Music by	Kohei Tanaka
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	NA Sunrise
Released	February 22, 2013
Runtime	9 minutes

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (Japanese: 機動戦士ガンダム 第08MS小隊, Hepburn: Kidō Senshi Gandamu Dai Zerohachi Emu Esu Shōtai) is an original video animation (OVA) anime series in the Gundam franchise. Released from January 25, 1996, to April 25, 1999, the 12-episode series details the exploits of an Earth Federation ground unit during the One Year War - specifically a month after the beginning of original 1979 Gundam series and into the final weeks of the war.

Plot

The series is set in Universal Century 0079 in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon are fighting a brutal guerrilla war for control of the area and its resources. Zeon’s best hope for victory in the region rests with an experimental mobile armor and its pilot, Aina Sahalin. Meanwhile, the Earth Federal Army, receive reinforcements in the form of Ensign Shiro Amada, newly named commander of the 08th MS Team. Aina and Shiro know each other from a mutual rescue in space, but when Shiro discovers that Aina is in fact the pilot of the Zeon mobile armor he is arrested for treason. The Federation offers Shiro one chance at redemption: He must take the 08th MS Team deep into Zeon held territory to find Zeon’s hidden base. With the Zeon backed into a corner, and the Federation dependent on Shiro and his team for victory, the star crossed lovers must decide where their true allegiances lie: with each other, or with their respective sides.

Featured Mobile Suits

Earth Federation

1. RX-75 Mass Production Guntank (量産型ガンタンク) (Type: Soldier)
2. RB-79K Ball K (先行量産型ボール) (Type: Soldier)
3. RX-79G Ground Gundam (陸戦型ガンダム) (Type: Soldier)
4. RX-79GEZ8 Gundam EZ8 (ガンダムEZ8) (Type: Commander)
5. RGM-79E Prototype GM (初期型ジム) (Type: Soldier)
6. RGM-79G Ground GM (陸戦型ジム) (Type: Soldier)
7. RGM-79G GM Sniper (ジム・スナイパー) (Type: Soldier)

Zeon

1. MSM-04 Acguy (アッガイ) (Type: Soldier)
2. MS-05 Zaku I (ザクI) (Type: Soldier)
3. MS-05 Topp's Zaku (トップ専用ザク) (Type: Commander)
4. MS-06 Zaku II (ザクII) (Type: Soldier)
5. MS-06J Dell's Zaku (デル専用ザク) (Type: Commander)
6. MS-06J Ash's Zaku (アス専用ザク) (Type: Commander)
7. MS-06JC Ground Zaku II (陸戦型ザクII) (Type: Soldier)
8. MS-06K Zaku Cannon (ザクキャノン) (Type: Soldier)
9. MS-06V Zaku Tank (ザクタンク) (Type: Soldier)
10. MS-06RD-4 Prototype Zaku II (宇宙用高機動試験型ザク) (Type: Soldier)
11. MS-07B-3 Gouf Custom (グフカスタム) (Type: Commander)
12. MS-07H-8 Gouf Flight Type (グフフライトタイプ) (Type: Soldier)
13. MS-09 Dom (ドム) (Type: Soldier)

Production and development

The series first took shape in 1995 with the first episode released on January 25, 1996. Production went well until director Takeyuki Kanda died in July 1996. GONZO's Umanosuke Iida took over production for the rest of the series.

Theme music

Opening:

• Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite (嵐の中で輝いて, lit. Shine in the Storm) by Chihiro Yonekura

Endings:

• 10 Years After by Chihiro Yonekura
• Mirai no Futari ni (未来の二人に, lit. The Future for Both of Us) by Chihiro Yonekura (episode 11)
• Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite (嵐の中で輝いて, lit. Shine in the Storm) by Chihiro Yonekura (episode 12)
• Eien no Tobira (永遠の扉, lit. Gateway to Eternity) by Chihiro Yonekura (Miller's Report ending theme)

Episodes

No.	Title	Release date	English airdate
1	"War for Two" "Futari Dake no" (二人だけの戦争)	January 25, 1996	July 23, 2001
2	"Gundams in the Jungle" "Mitsurin no Gandamu" (密林のガンダム)	January 25, 1996	July 24, 2001
3	"The Time Limit on Trust" "Shinrai he no Genkai Jikan" (信頼への限界時間)	March 25, 1996	July 25, 2001
4	"The Demon Overhead" "Zujō no Akuma" (頭上の悪魔)	March 25, 1996	July 26, 2001
5	"The Broken Order to Stand By" "Yaburareta Taiki Meirei" (破られた待機命令)	October 25, 1996	July 27, 2001
6	"Battle Line on the Burning Sand" "Nessa Sensen" (熱砂戦線)	December 18, 1996	July 30, 2001
7	"Reunion" "Saikai" (再会)	October 25, 1997	July 31, 2001
8	"Duty and Ideals" "Gunmu to Risō" (軍務と理想)	December 18, 1997	August 1, 2001
9	"Front Line" "Saizensen" (最前線)	February 25, 1998	August 2, 2001
10	"The Shuddering Mountain, Part I" "Furueru Yama (Zenpen)" (震える山(前編))	July 25, 1998	August 3, 2001
11	"The Shuddering Mountain, Part II" "Furueru Yama (Kōhen)" (震える山(後編))	April 25, 1999	August 6, 2001
12	"Last Resort" "Rasuto Rizōto" (ラスト・リゾート)	July 25, 1999	N/A

Miller's Report

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team Miller's Report is a compilation movie. Released in 1998, the movie largely focuses on Shiro Amada's court martial over his concern towards the enemy. The movie mixes footage from the first eight episodes along with new footage. It also introduces the titular character, Alice Miller, an Earth Federation investigator assigned to gather additional evidence against Shiro.

The movie explains the plot connection between episodes eight and nine by showing Eledore's return from leave and the team's issuance of new orders.

Release

Miller's Report was not fully shown on TV in America, although the new scenes were all spliced into the eighth episode for the Toonami broadcast. Miller's Report was released on DVD in America separately from the main series, but is included as a fifth disc with all 12 episodes (4 discs) in the Collector's Edition Box Set. Bandai Visual released the movie on Blu-ray in 2011.

External links

• Official Website: Anime
• Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team at Internet Movie Database
• Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia

Preceded by Mobile Suit Gundam Wing	Gundam metaseries (production order) 1996 — 1999	Succeeded by After War Gundam X
Preceded by Mobile Suit Gundam	Gundam Universal Century timeline U.C. 0079	Succeeded by Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket