Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Rebellion

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Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Rebellion is an ongoing manga remake of Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, penned by Takashi Imanishi and illustrated by Masato Natsumoto, known for his work on the Record of Lodoss War series. Serialized in Gundam Ace since June 2013, Rebellion goes a step further than simply retreading the trials of Kou Uraki and Anavel Gato or the wider conflict as seen in the 1991-92 OVAs. Rather, it reimagines and retells how those events played, resulting in something rather similar to Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin.

Thus, while those familiar with the OVAs may find much that's still recognizable, much has been added and changed that the manga can stand on it own even while remaining faithful to its source.

Tropes used in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Rebellion include:

• A House Divided: It's mentioned that the Earth Federation is rife with corruption and experiencing a lot of political infighting. It's this mess that's opened a window of opportunity for Delaz and Gato to exploit for Operation Stardust. The same's true for Jamitov Hymem and the other key figures behind the Titans.
• Adaptation Expansion: The manga expands significantly on the OVAs, especially with regards to characterizations, backstory and other details. In fact, a major difference from the anime is how the story begins on New Years Eve UC 0082, the first chapter largely following Kou Uraki's time in the academy.
  • The manga not only expands significantly on the battle that ensues in and around Torrington Base, but also covers the journey from Australia to Africa in more detail, which was largely handwaved in the OVAs.
• All Too Easy: To a point, anyway. Gato finds it rather strange how military security on Earth seems so lax that he could walk in with relatively little trouble. While Miller, despite the red tape in Jaburo, finds it suspiciously convenient that Torrington Base was being used for an Anaheim Electronics-related test, and with nuclear access to boot. Given that it ultimately goes back to the figures forging the Titans, it's nigh intentional.
• Broad Strokes: The overall plot is broadly still the same. The devil however, is in the details. Among the more significant ones being the encounter between Cima's fleet and the Albion as well as how the Immortal Fourth, Burning's old team, don't actually meet up with the main protagonists until considerably later on in the story.
• Characterisation Marches On:
  • Kou is noticeably book smart this time around, further highlighting his Indy Ploy tendencies as in the anime. Especially given how he's able to deduce the functions of GP-01 and GP-02 just by looking at them for a bit. His hatred for carrots is still very much the same, though.
  • Lt. Monsha of the Immoral Fourth comes across as more of a Jerk with a Heart of Gold this time around, though still very brash.
  • Lt. Allen gets considerable development this time around in part because he doesn't die in the Zeon remnants attack on Torrington Base. And it's revealed that he has quite a few scores to settle with Zeon, meaning that on missions, he's more focused on exacting revenge than actually achieving the objective.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Gato is shown using a customized Zaku II previously introduced in the MSV-R series.
  • In a flashback sequence and nod to Char's Deleted Affair, Delaz's forces rendezvous with other fleeing Zeon fleets, deliberating on whether to join Maharajah Karn or remain in the Earth Sphere.
  • The Albion is shown flying over a massive crater near Torrington Base, marking where Operation British hit Australia.
  • One of Nina Purpleton's colleagues in Anaheim Electronics is shown making a suspicious comment about working on the La Vie En Rose.
  • Alice Miller from Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team makes an appearance, as she's sent to the Albion by the Intelligence Bureau to investigate the incident in Torrington Base and the GP Project. Sanders, one of the surviving 08th MS Team members, also shows up by the time the Albion reaches Africa.
  • One of the "Soldiers' Day" sidestories features the Feddie protagonists from the Lost War Chronicles video game. While another, involving Cima's behind-the-scenes plotting, shows a Zeon remnants raid on the same harbor that would be attacked again several years later in Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.
• Darker and Edgier: To a degree. The initial attack on Torrington Base, is shown in more destructive and graphic detail than the OVA.
• Determinator: Kou Uraki, even as a cadet, is shown for the get-go as very eager to become a mobile suit pilot.
• Follow the Leader: Of sorts to Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. It helps as well that it's written by one of the key figures involved in the original OVAs.
• Foregone Conclusion: As the manga, like the OVAs, still lead to the events of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, it's a given.
• Gundamjack: Like the anime, though it happens comparatively later on in the manga's story.
• Idiot Ball: Invoked by Gato when he manages to slip into Earth as a tourist, noticing how the Earth Federation seems to have grown complacent if the Feddies' immigration checks and military security are that lax.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Some of the questions Alice Miller brings up in her investigation are actually lampshading certain loose ends and Plot Holes from the OVAs.
• Mauve Shirt: The manga introduces more characters on both the Zeon and Federation sides. In the case of the Albion, it has a noticeably larger crew in part because of it stopping at Anaheim HQ and Jaburo before arriving at Torrington Base as in the OVA.
• Mega Corp: Anaheim Electronics, which by this point is consolidating ever great power especially with the assets (and personnel) absorbed from Zeon's former companies.
• Mildly Military: Cima and her men are shown to be this even in the flashbacks, which garners them disdain from the other Zeon forces. This is also related to Cima's bitter contempt following her unwittingly gassing a space colony back during the OYW.
• No Social Skills: Kou is shown to get so engrossed with mobile suits and combat data that he sometimes forgets that there are people around him.
• Noble Demon: Anavel Gato, with the manga giving more attention to this side of him. Also, Delaz is revealed to be this as well, given his sincere, borderline fanatical loyalty to Zeon and Gihren Zabi.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Gato manages to arrive on Earth disguised as a tourist...which is basically him wearing a beach shirt and Lennon Specs with his hair down. When he slips into Torrington Base to Gundamjack GP-02, he doesn't even bother hiding his appearance other than grudgingly wearing a Federation officer's uniform. It's justified however, given how it's established that no one in the Federation really knew what the "Nightmare of Solomon" looked like in the first place.
• The Remnant: Delaz's fleet is mentioned as being the most powerful of the Zeon remnants in the Earth Sphere by UC 0083. Gato in particular rendezvous with a Zeon submarine crew at one point who've been stranded on Earth and in hiding.
• Retcon: Inevitable, given the nature of the retelling. The most significant being the redesigns for the GP-01 and GP-02, which while still very recognizable look decidedly more updated. It also makes it clear that the reason Nina doesn't recognize Gato from the get-go is because his back's turned to her.
  • The attack on the Zeon-controlled African diamond mine base, meant to stop Gato from escaping from Earth, happens very differently in the manga. Instead of just a group of Zakus the Zeon remnants send in a jury-rigged Mobile Armor made up of various mobile suit and spare parts, including gear meant for the Apsalus project.
• Retraux: Sort of. The art style and atmosphere match the Top Gun and 1990s feel of the OVAs, though have been given more contemporary touches.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Operation Stardust, like in the anime, is this, in addition to being a propaganda moved aimed at reigniting Spacenoid "resistance" against the Federation.
• Scenery Porn: Readers are treated to beautiful vistas, whether it's the classic architecture of Njimegen, African savannah or the quiet Australian coast.
  • Scenery Gorn: Said Australian coast also happens to be the site of Operation British. Not to mention scenes showing bombed-out warzones on Earth and space left over from the One Year War.
• Serial Escalation: The battles in and around Torrington Base following Gato's Gundamjack are decidedly more massive, destructive and bloodier than in the OVA.
• Stealth Sequel: In addition to being a midquel between the OYW and Zeta, the manga also seems at points to come across as this to Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team.
• Tempting Fate: Kou, Keith and several other Feddie characters are shown in the early chapters expressing relief that the war's long over and that nothing could possibly go wrong.
• War Is Hell: Kou and Keith, who previously expressed their luck in not having fought in the OYW, get a first-hand experience of what war's like when Torrington Base is attacked.
• What the Hell Hero: Miller at one point furiously snaps at Nina, demanding why she's toeing Anaheim Electronics' line and whether she really aware of what mobile suits are for.