Chris responds:
1. It's always possible that there will be a third Cosmic Era TV series, although I doubt the Stargazer would play any significant role. Maybe it will show up as a mass produced suit, or some of its technology will show up. But any new C.E. show would star a new Gundam, no doubt.

2. You'd have to go very, very far because no English dub exists yet for Gundam ZZ.

3. Tomino is a hired gun, so the rights for Gundam have always rested with Sunrise, and later Bandai after they bought Sunrise.

Chris responds:
1. There are so many choices that it's hard to say. For most interesting character, I think I've mentioned in the past Loran Cehack. I would probably add Oliver May to that list too. He was interesting because he's unlike all other Gundam protagonists. For the most part, he sees the war without being involved in the fighting (until the end). It's interesting to see his development from a rookie out of school to someone who sees how hopeless Zeon's struggle is by the end of the war. There are plenty of underdeveloped Gundam characters I'd have liked to have seen more of, particularly the villains. But for a recent example, definitely Mu La Flaga. We never learn much about him in SEED, and after his miraculous resurrection in DESTINY, he just goes back to being Mu, and all we get is a two second shot of Djibril watching over the beginning of his transformation into Neo. We never see Mu's character really change after being Neo, never express anger for the Alliance brainwashing him, or express guilt over the things he was forced to do as Neo.

2. I wouldn't say that anime is in decline, necessarily. But each time something becomes popular, companies go overboard and flood the market with merchandise to cash in on that popularity. Naturally, the market gets saturated and has to correct itself. If you go into any bookstore chain in America, which section is the one always expanding? Manga. So while Gundam may not be a hit here anymore, shows like Naruto are certainly very popular.

3. You have to understand that for these long running sci-fi franchises, there's a built-in audience that will always watch/buy things no matter what. Look at Star Wars and Star Trek. Both franchises have produced some real garbage in recent years, but they still have large, devoted fanbases driving their success. Gundam is no different. You're concerned about the quality of the anime, but for some Gundam fans, that means nothing. There are plenty of fans who just like to build mobile suit model kits and couldn't care less about the show. Likewise, there are fans who just enjoy the mobile suit action and couldn't care less about the story. Profit is always Bandai's top concern, so ending up with a quality series is just an unintended side effect. Of course, it also depends on the staff working on the anime. A solid team of a director and writers will produce quality work. A mediocre team gives us DESTINY.

Chris responds:
Wow, after 35 issues, I think this might be our first VOTOMS question ever in the Mailbag. The pile banker is an optional add-on to Mellowlink's anti-AT rifle. Think of it as a mecha bayonet. It uses AT arm punch cartridges to drive a metal spike through the armor of an AT. Mellowlink likes to use it as a 'finishing move' to impale the men he's set out to kill.

Chris responds:
For the Barrel was a novelized re-telling of the original Gundam series with new designs and a bunch of changes. It was scheduled to run in Newtype USA a few years ago, but it never materialized. Yes, the designs are probably more "realistic" than some of the stuff in the anime, but war robots are a generally unrealistic idea, so I don't see them as being possible in real life. As for expanding the section on MAHQ, I'd certainly do it; however, information for that series is hard to come by.