Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory



Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory is a 13-episode OAV series that serves as a partial bridge between events that happened between the original Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.

Three years after the defeat of the Principality of Zeon, remnants of their military decide to re-ignite the flames of war by Gundamjacking a top secret Super Prototype, the Gundam GP-02A "Physalis", which is armed with a nuclear bazooka. Rookie Earth Federation pilot Kou Uraki, present during the theft, commandeers another nearby Gundam, the GP-01 "Zephyranthes", in an attempt to recapture the GP-02. Unfortunately, the man Kou finds himself up against is Ace Pilot Anavel Gato, the infamous Nightmare of Solomon, who escapes with the GP-02 intact.

The Federation responds by sending a team to capture or destroy the GP-02, and Kou finds himself assigned to pilot the GP-01 to the task to both recover GP-02 and to go through general testing that was meant for the two Gundams with the designer Nina Purpleton. Thus begins "Operation Stardust", a plan by the Zeon reminants to demonstrate the Earth Federation's impotence and inspire new rebellion against them. Naturally, things are not as simple as they seem at first glance.

The series was released following the success of Gundam 0080 OAV and the DTV movie Gundam F 91. One of the factors that really makes this series stand out is the exceptional mecha designs, which has had a strong influence on how to make Humongous Mecha with a militaristic aesthetic. Fan response to the series holds that it does a good job in bridging the gap as a midquel, but the behavior and actions of Gato and Nina were frustratingly underdeveloped.

Not to be confused with the film Stardust Memories.

This series provides examples of:

 * All of the Other Reindeer - The reason for defection. The full story:  The words "The Woobie" come to mind...
 * All There in the Manual - Putting aside requiring knowledge of the original Mobile Suit Gundam to know the backstory, audio dramas expand on why Cima holds such a big grudge against her Zeon superiors, as well as the origin of her Super Prototype Gebera Tetra as a potential fourth unit in Anaheim's Gundam Development Project that was scrapped by the Feddies and passed along to Zeon -- Oh, and it was test-piloted by Char Aznable, hence its red/pink coloring when actually seen in the series.
 * In addition, Crossbone Gundam Skull Heart finally explains why Gato was considered the "Nightmare of Soloman" even though he never crossed paths with Amuro. He fell victim to suspicions of the Gundam's destruction and left his post to go on the offensive, giving Amuro the opening he needed.
 * This is true as far as it goes, but fails to capture the true ridiculousness of the situation. The reason he thought the Gundam had been blown up? An insane Feddie pilot had customized his RB-79 Ball with a Gundam face and when the Zeeks caught sight of it they thought the Gundam had been decapitated. The upshot of all this is that when they finally noticed the actual size of the thing it caused a panic among the Zeon ranks, thinking that the Federation had developed a gigantic 40 meter Gundam, which eventually inspired them to actually go ahead and make one with Zeta Gundam's Psyco Gundam.
 * The canonicity of that scene, at least in relation to the Psyco Gundam and the Zeong (the latter sequence supposedly inspired the Zeeks to make the Zeong that big as well), is up for debate. According to early Gundam manuals, the Zeong was big as it was because early psycommu systems were high energy guzzlers, and larger and more powerful generators were needed in order for them to operate. This wasn't too much of a problem with mobile armors like the Braw Bro or the Elmeth, as they were large to begin with, but when the Zeeks attempted to mount psycommus in Zaku units, they found their MS sized generators too weak and inefficient in sustaining the system, let alone the rest of the MS. As such, the Zeong was made massive in order to accomodate a larger and more powerful generator, and the Psyco Gundam was designed around the same angle, though the latter was made even larger so that it could also house a Minovsky Craft System (basically the thing that allowed the White Base to fly in Earth's gravity). Overall though, this explanation doesn't take away the awesomeness and hilarity of Umon's run with his so-called B Gundam.
 * Also, one of the Gihrens Greed games reveals that Cima was the one who gassed Shiro Amada's home colony, having been told the stuff was only sleeping gas.
 * Amazonian Beauty / Statuesque Stunner - Less combat-oriented than most, but Mora Bascht is as tall as most of the guys, slightly taller then some, visibly muscular, and often has to physically punish Monsha's attempts at hitting on her mechanic team. At first, she seems to be an example of No Guy Wants an Amazon, but by episode 7 ends up being the female part of the Beta Couple.
 * A Nazi By Any Other Name - The Zeon remnants, but particularly Gato, whose devotion borders on fanatic levels.
 * As Long As It Sounds Foreign - Anavel Gato's name is a weird mashup of Hebrew & Spanish, despite the fact he looks neither Jewish, nor Hispanic. He still gets points for being one of the few Zeon characters to have a name that's made up of real words & not just Foreign Sounding Gibberish, though.
 * Badass - Gato and, eventually, Kou.
 * BFG - The YMS-16M Xamiel carries a 680mm artillery cannon. This thing is so big it must be folded in half when not in use, and is actually slightly longer than the mech is tall WHEN folded. And this is a 27 meter tall mobile suit in a time when most are still "only" 18 meters!
 * Big No - Gato's
 * Bolivian Army Ending : For the Delaz Fleet.
 * Hangar Bunnies - Mora Bashct's lovely mechanic crew.
 * But for Me It Was Tuesday- Kou's brief encounters with Gato at the beginning of the series start him on a quest to become the best Gundam pilot he can be. When he finally confronts Gato in space some months later... Gato doesn't even remember him.
 * The Captain - Eiphar Synapse.
 * Call Forward - The series epilogue show that the events led more or less to the rise of the Titans from Zeta
 * Casanova Wannabe - Bernard Monsha
 * Character Development - Lots. Kou's maturation from rookie to ace, as well as his relationship with Nina Purpleton, are two of the major subplots.
 * Kou actually proves that despite his rookie skills, he demonstrates a keen mind for clever improvisation. His defeat of Unit 2 against the still superior Gato is evident of this.
 * Char Clone- Averted. Anavel Gato seems like another Char cookie-cutter character at first glance. But aside from being The Rival to Kou, he's actually quite different. He lacks Char's smugness, and also lacks the ulterior motives that most Char Clones have; whereas Char and his counterparts are never truly loyal to anyone but themselves, Gato is absolutely devoted to Zeon's ideals, arguably more than any other character in the Universal Century timeline. He also never wears a mask, making 0083 one of the few Gundam series with no masked characters at all.
 * In Super Robot Wars Compact,  because he realizes that Quattro Bajeena is.
 * He even joins Char in his Colony Drop of Axis in Super Robot Wars Compact 2 if
 * Colony Drop - The true objective of Operation Stardust.
 * Combining Mecha - GP-01 has the original Gundam's Core Fighter system. GP-03, being designed for colony defense purposes, can dock with a massive weapons platform.
 * Compilation Movie - The Afterglow of Zeon
 * Cool Ship - The Albion mainly, but the Cima Fleet's Lili Marleen is a villainous version.
 * Cool Big Sis - Mora plays this role.
 * Cyber Cyclops - Pretty much every Zeon mecha except for the Neue Ziel and GP-02A.
 * NZ, too. It's head is just so proportionally tiny you can barely see it. Even at SD proportions, it still looks halfway normal.
 * Deus Ex Nukina - GP-02 nukes the Federation naval inspection.
 * Driven to Suicide - See Bittersweet Ending.
 * Dropped a Bridge On Him -
 * Early Bird Cameo - We get a foretaste of the bastardry Jamitov Hymem, Jamaican Daninghan, and Bask Ohm would commit in Zeta Gundam with their appearances here. Haman Karn also has a "blink or you'll miss it"-cameo.
 * Energy Weapons - Wouldn't be Gundam without 'em.
 * Expy - Oh come on, like you didn't think too that Nina is a clone of Charlie Blackwood...
 * Evil Plan- It's heavily implied that those in The Federation who would become the Titans engineered (or magnified) parts of the crisis to justify forming themselves as an official body at the end of the show, and the show implies that the Federation government is already starting the decay in influence that allowed the Titans to take over in Zeta Gundam. By the end, however, it's blatantly obvious, as
 * Face Heel Turn: Whereas the crew of the White Base stayed in the regular forces or went civilian to help Karaba during the Gryps Conflict (many of them ended up in the AEUG regardless), the crew of the Albion had a much darker fate: they became Titans.
 * Failure Hero: See below.
 * Failure Is the Only Option/Doomed By Canon - This show sets up why the Titans was established. Yeah.
 * A Father to His Men: Lt. Burning. The Commander even lampshades this by asking Burning "how are the kids?" when inquiring about his underlings.
 * Femme Fatale - Cima Garahau has traces of this.
 * Flaunting Your Fleets - The Federation Fleet Review
 * Gratuitous French - Aiguille Delaz's given name means needle in French.
 * Gratuitous English - Both opening themes. The full-english versions of both OP themes, renamed "Back to Paradise" and "Oblivion", skirt between this and the Surprisingly Good English.
 * Gundamjack - Trope Namer, performed by Gato in the first episode.
 * Heck, it's the official title for the first episode. The translated version just calls it something along the lines of "Stolen Gundam".
 * Hey Its That Voice - Kou was played by Vegeta and Gato was played by the Japanese Solid Snake
 * Hoist By His Own Petard:
 * Hot Scientist - Nina Purpleton is the prime example, but the other girls working at Anaheim Electronics are far from homely. (The uniforms help).
 * Ho Yay - Episode 6, where Kou and Kelly Layzner make up and work on the Mobile Armor together. The background music REALLY doesn't help... It's also possible to interpret that song as being about the relationship between Kelly and his mech, which, when you think about it is even more disturbing...
 * Humongous Mecha - Duh. However, the series provides two of the biggest mechs in early UC, the Neue Ziel and the GP-03 Dendrobium.
 * Idiot Hero - Kou, mostly for trashing Unit 1 for little reason, it hadn't been modified for space combat yet and in the end he had to be saved himself. He did it because of pride and trying to prove himself.
 * Idiot Ball - The Federation knows Zeon remnants are running around with one of their extremely powerful nukes, they also know the naval inspection is one of the prime targets. Nobody does a damn thing. Might be justified though if  was influential enough to stop too much from being done about it. Still...
 * A popular theory is that the people who would become the Titans purposely let the nuking happen, so they could use the incident as justification for their rise to power. Knowing Jamitov, that's not too unbelievable.
 * Indy Ploy - Kou becomes quite good at this.
 * Jerkass- Lt. Bernard Monsha, at first. He gets better, and his Super Robot Wars portrayal usually either downplays his asshole tendecies or show his character by the end of 0083 (where he was far more likable)
 * The Jimmy Hart Version - Many people find that the first opening theme, "The Winner", reminds them of "Danger Zone" from Top Gun.
 * The Khan - "GATOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
 * Killed Off for Real -
 * Knight Templar - Anavel Gato
 * Large Ham - "SOLOMON! I HAVE RETURNED!" and of course "GATOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
 * Latex Space Suit - What with being gundam and all, the pilot suits.
 * Master of the Mixed Message - Not exactly between her and Kou, but Nina's actions at the end of the story frustrated many fans. She went from being a fairly bland Tsundere with a dash of Wrench Wench to The Scrappy in record time.
 * Meaningful Name - Neue Ziel is German for "New Goal".
 * Mid Season Upgrade - When the GP-02A was destroyed, Gato was given the powerful Mobile Armor Neue Ziel. Kou got it twice: First when he wrecked the GP-01 and had it upgraded to the space use FB version, and when it's destroyed the Albion crew jacked the GP-03 Stamen for him.
 * Minovsky Physics - again, Gundam verse.
 * Nuke Em - The whole reason GP-02A was built.
 * Nuclear Weapons Taboo - People are not pleased to know of the existence of the nuke-launching Gundam, and said nuke's detonation is possibly one of the most terrifying events to watch in the entire Gundam franchise.
 * Older and Wiser - Burning to Kou.
 * Out Gambitted - Subverted.
 * Overshadowed By Awesome - Kou ends up being an amazing pilot, but his abilities can seem trivial when going up against the Nightmare of Solomon.
 * Pair the Spares - Chuck Keith and Mora Bascht, although there is enough coverage of their relationship to bump them towards official Beta Couple.
 * Plot Hole - Clearly the writers thought up the whole Nina/Gato pairing much later because if she knew who Gato was, why did she let him take a Gundam with a giant nuke equipped?
 * Psychic Powers - Averted. 0083 was the first UC Gundam to lack anything even remotely related to Newtypes.
 * Recursive Ammo - Missiles that shoot more missiles out of the side are quite useful.
 * Red Baron - Anavel Gato, the Nightmare of Solomon.
 * The Remnant - Delaz Fleet. Cima Fleet seems this way too, but...
 * Retcon - Used In Universe. To get, Synapse erased all data of the Gundam Development Project and it's role in Operation Stardust.
 * Running Gag - Carrots. Seriously. They're rabbit food!
 * The Men First- Gato's attitude throughout the show, especially at the end, making him a VERY Noble Demon.
 * The Rival - Gato to Kou.
 * Say My Name - "GATOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
 * Spoiler Opening: Episode 8 includes the debut of a new opening sequence, featuring all the regular cast members, aside from the conspicuous absence of  Guess who's dead by the end of the episode?
 * Super Prototype - All three Gundams, as well as Cima's Gebera Tetra and the Neue Ziel.
 * This series takes the concept and it becomes the primary focus of the story. Unit 2 should not have been built in the first place and is the instigator for the whole thing event. Most other Gundam series the actual mobile suit storyline is secondary to the actual war.
 * Super Robot Wars - Appears in quite a number of SRW games, starting with Super Robot Wars 3, where you can reenact Gato stealing the GP-02A. Unit 2 usually gets stolen by someone.
 * Surprisingly Good English - If you didn't know in advance that it was by an english speaker, the first ending theme, "Magic", can count for this.
 * The English version of "The Winner," "Back to Paradise," used in episode 1 and halfway through the series, is another example.
 * Sword Fight - The climactic battle between the GP-01 and GP-02A.
 * Theme Naming - All three Gundams are named for flowers (GP-01 = Zephyranthes, GP-02A = Physalis, GP-03 = Dendrobium Orchis (The weapons platform) / Dendrobium Stamen (The actual Gundam). The Gerbera Tetra is too, since it was originally intended to be the GP-04.
 * Took a Level In Badass - Kou starts out as a grunt. Thirteen episodes later, he is a Man of Destiny.
 * Tsundere - Nina, to terrible levels. In fairness, she's not really bad until a certain scene in the last episode.
 * Unknown Rival - Kou to Gato. After losing GP-02 against him, it's a genuinely mutual rivalry.
 * Unwitting Pawn - Technically speaking, everyone in this entire series, with the exception of, were duped from day one.
 * White Haired Pretty Boy - Gato. Sort've; trade the Bishie elements for a gruffer, older manliness.
 * Wide Eyed Idealist - Despite being the bad guys, Delaz and Gato both hold an ideal of Zeonic pride that prevents them from seeing betrayal of their cause coming.
 * Gato was practically the embodiment of this trope, as his whole character revolved around trumpeting the "glory of Zeon". When he wasn't bashing Kou around, he was either lamenting his side losing the war or telling the "Just Cause of Zeon and Spacenoid Independence" on the mountain. Delaz was more grounded, though his speech on reigniting the "Zeon War for Independence" showed how much of a (blind) idealist he was, as if abandoning A Bao A Qu in the wake of Gihren's death didn't make it obvious.
 * Worthy Opponent: Gato acknowledges Kou as his rival after their duel over Konpei Island. Kou is also briefly mentored by Kelly, in spite of their opposing sides.
 * Wrench Wench - Mora.
 * You Are Too Late -
 * You Are Too Late -