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Mailbag 17: We Speak Zeon Here, Boy
Posted April 27, 2006
More Mailbag fun as always.
Nagi asks:
So here's something I've always sort of pondered. Does the Principality of Zeon have its own native language? In the original series, Zeon soldiers make mention of having to disguise their Zeon accents, and the mobile suit descriptions have such notes as "rick" being the word for "revised." Not to mention weird suit names like "Gelgoog" and "Agguguy" have to come from somewhere.
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Chris responds:
There's no indication that the Principality of Zeon has its own language. Despite the Prussian/Germanic visual style and naming scheme, it's not the same as the Galactic Empire from Legend of the Galactic Heroes, where they are speaking a Germanic language. In the Gundam world, it's likely that everyone speaks English as the standard language in the future, given the constant appearance of English text everywhere. But even English speakers have different accents. In the UK, people in England sound different from people in Ireland and Scotland. Australians have their own distinct accent. In America, you have southern accents and northeast accents. They're all very distinct, so it's probably a case of the Zeon soldiers hiding the distinct accent that would identify them as Zeon. As for weird mobile suit names, that's anyone's guess. |
Rei Murasame asks:
1. How exactly do the A.R and C.A Systems featured in Gundam F90 operate?
2. In your opinion, how strong is the the premise and plot of Gundam F90 and it's associated stories?
3. What are the odds of Sunrise seeing fit to animate and expand on the events of that era for the supposed "treat for UC fans" that they alluded to a few months ago?
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Chris responds:
1. All of my information on Gundam F90 is secondhand, but we can theorize a bit. Since the F90 units are produced by the Federation, it wouldn't be surprising if they still had Amuro's battle data from the RX-78-2 Gundam's learning computer. Since the famous "final shot" is recreated in the final duel between the F90s, it's possible that the Federation recovered Amuro's Core Fighter after the One Year War and updated the data through the Battle of A Baoa Qu.
There are other possibilities in addition to this. I'd imagine that AEUG/Karaba have combat data on Amuro and Char. Since those organizations folded into the Federation after the First Neo Zeon War, they could've gained access to the data. Along the same lines, I imagine Londo Bell would have combat data on Amuro from the Second Neo Zeon War. If you were to collect all this data and combine it, you could probably create an AI system. Since Amuro fought Char so many times, it's possible that data on Char could be extrapolated from the learning computer.
2. I haven't read the F90 manga, so I can't really judge its story as a whole. However, I'm not such a big fan of Gundam's constant Gundamjacking and "go chase the Gundamjackers" storylines. However, as a whole, I think it's good to have the F91 era expanded with F90, Silhouette Formula 91 and Crossbone Gundam.
3. As far as an OVA series, I don't see Sunrise going to the UC 110-120 era. Every single Gundam OVA produced to now has always gone back to the ever popular OYW or the years immediately following it. By comparison, the F91 era is nowhere near as popular. Given the resurgence of popularity for Zeta Gundam, I see that being a more likely setting for an OVA since the Gryps era is second in popularity to the OYW. As for a TV series, I don't see it happening for pretty much the same reason - popularity. Also, ever UC Gundam series has pushed the timeline forward, so I would expect Bandai to follow that pattern and set any new series after Victory Gundam.
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MarineCorps asks:
Got but one question: Are there plans to add a Blue Gender mecha section to the site?
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Chris responds:
For that, you'd probably have to ask someone like Joel Jankiewicz, who is reviewing the Blue Gender anime. I've only ever seen the first episode of the series, so I'm not too familiar with it or the mecha. However, if someone were able to provide me detailed information and lineart, I'd consider it. |
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