This OVA (Original Video Animation) of the original Mobile Suit Gundam series is based during the war between the Earth Federation, and the Duchy of Zeon. The year is U.C. 0079 (Universal Century), and the story focuses on a team of Gundam mobile suits in the jungles of Southeast Asia know as the 08th. The story begins showing a shuttle en route to Earth. On board the shuttle is newly assigned 08th Team commander, Ensign Shiro Amada, who is determined to drive the Zeon off Earth, and to see who he really is and what he’s capable of. Another officer, Michel, who is also assigned to the 08th MS Team, is often seen writing letters to someone named B.B. He writes of the current events that surround him, including his commander. His first impressions of Shiro reflect that of someone who doesn’t take his job seriously. But his impressions change when Shiro volunteers to save a GM mobile suit battling an advanced type of a Zeon Zaku mobile suit in the vicinity of Earth. The GM pilot, Chief Sanders, who later is assigned to the 08th, is one with several rumors surrounding him. Sanders has been given nicknames like “Team Killer,” and “Sanders the Reaper.” This is due to the fact that his past teams are often wiped out, leaving him the only survivor, and thus the nicknames. Shiro rescues Sander’s GM suit by going out in a “Ball.” A Ball is nothing compared to a regular MS, but being the only suit on board the shuttle, Shiro sees it as a chance nonetheless. Using the Ball’s rope line and its two 15-caliber guns, he succeeds in destroying the Zaku suit, but at the cost of his own suit. The pilot of the Zaku is revealed to be a woman, Aina Sahalin, who ejects from the exploding Zaku suit and drifts into a destroyed Federation ship along with Shiro. Both agree to assist each other in finding a way to signal for help. Both are obviously infatuated with each other, and it serves as reason to cooperate. Aina lends Shiro her personal watch so that they can meet up in 10 minutes, while they both search the ship. Shiro finds a way to signal their location, and both are picked up by their respective allies. But Shiro still has Aina’s watch…

Two new characters are introduced when the three officers reach Earth. Master Chief Petty Officer Karen Joshua is one of the 08th MS pilots. She seems to have a tough attitude, and senses that the new commander won’t last long. She is also rumored to be the one who caused the former 08th commander’s breakdown. Another team member, Eledore, operates the team’s support tank. Michel is assigned to be Eledore’s, as he put it,  “assistant.” Eledore is the laid back, joking kind of guy on the team, but his skills in tracking and spotting enemy mobile suits is impressive, and a great asset to the team. He also believes that Shiro will not last long as he team’s commander. He also has many naked pictures of women inside his tank.

The 08th’s first assignment with a new commander is to support the 06th MS Team. As they leave for their mission, Shiro already begins to show signs of leadership to his fellow members. The team finds two Zaku suits, and initiates combat. Shiro has trouble at first controlling his Gundam, finding it different than controlling one in space. While fighting with another Zaku, he gets separated from the team, and is lost in the jungle. The 08th Team destroys one Zaku, but decides to head back to camp, and wait for Shiro there. Only Michel and Sanders believe he is alive. Meanwhile, Shiro is still searching for the Zaku suit, but when he finds no trace of it, he decides to get out of the suit and look around on foot. He ends up finding a small waterfall and decides to rest there. There he finds a women swimming naked, and as she notices him, she fires her gun without asking any questions. Shiro runs back to his MS, and right on time, as the Zaku suit is near his location. Shiro hides and waits for the Zaku suit to come in range, so he can launch a sneak attack. He takes the Zaku by surprise, and shoots several shots from his rifle. The Zaku suit loses its gun, but is still determined to fight, and pulls out its axe, and charges toward Shiro. Shiro stills fires at the Zaku, and eventually brings it down completely. Shiro then heads back to camp, and feelings of his leadership change a little in Karen and Eledore.

Their second mission is to free a village occupied by the Zeon. Shiro and the others learn that the defense line around the village is strong, and Shiro suggests a pincer attack. He would go and attack from a higher point, while the others attack from below. They would commence the mission in three hours (15:00). While Shiro returns to the waterfall, he hears something moving around on top of his Gundam, and opens the hatch to investigate. It turns out to be the same woman he saw swimming at the waterfall. This turns out to be a trap, and he is held at gunpoint by guerillas. The woman is later reveled as Kiki Rosita, and her father is the leader of the guerillas. Shiro persuades her father to let him go, so he can assist in liberating the village from Zeon rule, by letting them have the war spoils. Kiki goes with Shiro as he makes his way towards the village. The other 08th suits are receiving heavy damage, and are about to retreat, but Shiro then destroys the enemy ammo dumps, giving them the advantage. While fighting, Karen notices the guerillas are assisting in destroying Zaku suits. The village is freed from Zeon rule, and the Guerillas take what they want, including stuff from Eledore’s support tank. This angers both Michel and Eledore, but Shiro made a promise to them that they could take whatever they wanted. Karen is amazed that Shiro was able to get the guerillas to help them, and has higher respect for him. This concludes DVD #1.

Animation:

The animation for the Gundams, Zakus, and characters are top notch. Very well detailed, especially in the MS movement. Even when they fire their weapons, you see a lot of recoil. Animation is hardly (if at all) re-used, like that in Gundam Wing. But there are times where you feel that they skimped on the detail in animation, especially in episode #3. Perhaps they got animators who got a little lazy? Still, it’s nicely drawn in the long run. Overall, very well done for a 1995 OVA.

Music:

The music in the 08th MS Team is very good. Nice orchestrated themes to suit each scene. Like when Shiro is waiting for the Zaku to come in range in the second episode, the music does a good job at making it even more suspenseful. The introduction song, “Arashino Nakade Kagyaite” or “Shine in the Storm” is a great song, and paired with great intro animation, it suits the series very well. The ending theme, “10 Years After” is also a good ending song, with a nice sound to it. Both songs are sung by Chihiro Yonkura.

DVD Features:

This DVD is produced by Bandai Entertainment. The DVD itself has camouflage colors on top of it, along with the lettering “Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team.” There is also an insert included, and it has a letter from Michel to B.B. written on there, with pictures from the show. Also, the cover is reversible! 

The main menu has the introduction animation in the background, with “Arashino Nakade Kagyaite” playing. There are four options: View Episodes (Camera icon), Scene Select (Magnifying Glass Icon), Audio/Subtitles (Stereo icon), and Extras (Clipboard icon). The extras include a textless opening, bonus clips, trailers, and credits. The textless opening is just the intro song with no credits. The bonus clips, or clip is this case, is pretty much a trailer for the show. It shows some great scenes in it. The trailers feature Cowboy Bebop, Crest of the Stars, Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, and Mobile Suit Gundam. The credits show who is responsible for what on the DVD. Pretty nice spread of extras, but all pretty much standard issue.

Overall:

It’s very hard not to like this one. I highly recommend this DVD. Great story, animation, and action, this is one is easy to get in to. If you’ve seen Gundam Wing, watch this. You’ll find new appreciation for the classic Gundam series. Once you start with this series, you may find yourself wanting to explore other Gundam series like I did. There are no special types of Gundams here. Just standard models with the same abilities. So it’s all piloting skills here. The violence level isn’t too high, with other a couple of Zeon soldiers caught in an explosion, but other than that, just a lot of explosions resulting in spare parts. There is brief frontal nudity when Kiki is seen swimming. No problems there…You don’t need a lot of prior knowledge for understanding the OVA, but perhaps a little background on the original Mobile Suit Gundam may push your enjoyment level up a notch. In the end, if you’re looking for a piece of good anime to watch, go out and buy this DVD. You won’t be disappointed. I wasn’t in the slightest. I can’t wait for the next DVD to come out…

Zero’s Ratings:

Story: 10/10 –Classic. 
Animation: 9/10 –A few scenes skimped on quality, but not to the point of disappointment. 
Music: 10/10 –Can’t go wrong
DVD Features: 9/10 –Extras could use some more innovation these days.
Overall: 10/10 –Stop reading and go buy it already!