Mailbag 6: Solar Ray

Mailbag 6: Solar Ray

Posted May 12, 2005

Another week, and more Mailbag questions.

Christopher Knudston asks:
I've noticed among many anime fans in the US a general dislike for mecha. However it is obviously popular in Japan and seems to be popular in European countries too. Why does this genre seem to be such a hit elsewhere but is often overshadowed in the US by other genres?

Chris responds:
It's hard to say. Anime fans, especially Americans, are a very strange bunch. Mecha anime includes several sub genres, which most people divide into real and super. There are people who hate series such as Gundam or Evangelion and group all mecha anime together. I don't really monitor the like/dislike of mecha in the U.S., so I don't think I can say much more than that.

BrtshStel asks:

1. What happened to the Gallery? I returned to the site and I find that it is gone. Why is it gone? When was it removed?

2. In First Gundam and Journey to Jaburo, I noticed the Federation's production model mobile suits are pronounced "Jim," while in the spin offs they pronounce the letters; they just say "GM." Why is this?

3. Do Minovsky particles block only electromagnetic radiation, or do they hinder infrared and other sensory as well?

Chris responds:
1.The Gallery has been gone for more than a year now. We felt that it was taking up too much space, and we didn't have any plans to update it. If you really miss all those great pictures, a complete archive is available at Gundam Plus.

2. When Bandai Entertainment first introduced Gundam in the U.S. in 1998, Sunrise hadn't settled on standardized English spellings. The spellings used in the MSG movie trilogy, 0080, 0083, 08th MS Team and the Sega Dreamcast game Rise from the Ashes were devised by Neil Nadelman. By the time the MSG TV series was released in 2001, Sunrise had created standardized spellings and pronunciations. This accounts for differences such as Duchy of Zeon/Principality of Zeon and Jabrow/Jaburo.

3. The intricate details of Minovsky physics is beyond my range of expertise. Perhaps you should visit GOUF where Mark Simmons often posts on technical issues.

Dave G asks:

1. What exactly happened Illia Pazom and Ple Two at the end of Gundam ZZ? Last we saw, Ple 2 nodded off after directing Beecha where to fire the Nahel Argama's super weapon, but did she die? That would make sense, but I'm just not sure.

2. And what about Hangelg Evin at the end of Victory Gundam? We get hints that he died with Mubarak Stern and the Jean d'Arc, but we see that he ditched just before that.

3. Finally, what happened to Beltorchika at the end of Zeta Gundam?

Chris responds:
1. It's not really clear what happened to either of them. The common belief is that Ple Two died, but no one knows for sure. As for Illia, there's at least two possibilities. One, she could've died off screen. Two, she could've escaped and later joined up with Char's Neo Zeon forces.

2. Although Hangelg left the bridge just before it was destroyed, he definitely died on the Jeanne d'Arc.

3. Nothing happened to Beltorchika, because we don't see her again after episode 38 when Kamille and Char return to space. If you follow the events of Tomino's CCA novelization Beltorchika's Children, Amuro was still involved with her and she was pregnant with his child at the time of Char's rebellion.

Luis Banuelos asks:
Why does the Shining Gundam's face open up to reveal the red "face" whenever it uses the Shining Finger? I first thought that it was for exhaust or collecting energy for the Shining Finger (like the F91), but the red face is plain, and the white flaps that form the Shining Gundam's normal face are too small.

Chris responds:
It looks cool. That's really as good an explanation as any. G Gundam isn't structured like any of the other Gundam series, most of which try to offer somewhat plausible explanations for their technology. There are so many strange things in G Gundam that defy explanation, such as how all the colonies exist in open space with no enclosed atmosphere. So yeah, it looks cool. That's my story.

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