Mobile Suit Breakdown: the Gundam Podcast

11.4: A Gundam Fighter in Paris

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB, we're covering G Gundam episode 4 which means talking about [BLEEP]ed up Eiffel Towers, easy-listening pop, the Special Period in Cuba, what it takes to be a successful investment banker, national fandoms, and much more! Ready? Go!

You can learn more about Lenapehoking, the Lenape people, and ongoing efforts to honor the relationship between the land and indigenous peoples by visiting the websites of the Delaware Tribe and the Manhattan-based Lenape Center. Listeners in the Americas and Oceania can learn more about the indigenous people of your area at https://native-land.ca/. We would like to thank The Lenape Center for guiding us in creating this living land acknowledgment.

Mobile Suit Breakdown wouldn't exist without the support of our fans and Patrons! You can join our Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, extra out-takes, behind-the-scenes photos and video, MSB gear, and much more!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, the recap music Window by 1000 Handz, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, all licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Mobile Suit Breakdown provides critical commentary and is protected by the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Gundam content is copyright and/or trademark of Sunrise Inc., Bandai, Sotsu Agency, or its original creator. Mobile Suit Breakdown is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu, or any of their subsidiaries, employees, or associates and makes no claim to own Gundam or any of the copyrights or trademarks related to it.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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MSB's Yugoslav Interlude Part 1: Houses of the King

Sat, 21 Feb 2026 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week we take a break from our regular coverage of G Gundam to return to a research topic that will remain salient throughout the 90s Gundam era: the violent breakup of Yugoslavia and the history that led up to it. In Part 1, Thom picks up the story during World War II, as the old powers of the world begin to come to terms with the increasing inevitability of a Partisan and Communist victory, and gives a proper introduction to the youngest of Marshal Tito's political rivals...

Show Notes

This week we're lacing our podcasting gloves up and jumping back into the arena for a brutal and bruising battle, with the fate of the Earth and the colonies hanging in the balance. Rather than our usual pre-season prologue we've decided to get into the action right away with Mobile Fighter G Gundam Episode 1: Gファイト開始! 地球に落ちたガンダム aka Gundam Fight Begins! The Gundam That Fell to Earth. We've got high kicks, mysterious wanderers, spectacle, speculation, behind the scenes anecdotes, a report on the phantom Gundam project known to the west as "Polca Gundam," and lots more!

This week on MSB: Victory Gundam episode 51. After a wild road-to-air-to-space trip that took us from Kasarelia all the way to Kasarelia, we've reached the final stop and we're ready to type up our TripAdvisor reviews. Opinions on Victory's ending seem to vary quite a big, and ours certainly did! Please listen to it!

This week on MSB: Victory episode 48, plus... Maria makes things right by making everything worse, Warren gives Elisha exactly the kind of pep talk we'd expect from a thirteen year old boy, Thom is forced to acknowledge thinking some Kagatie-like thoughts, and we break out our cork boards and our red string to tie it all together. Please listen to it!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.47: Two Lives in One

Sat, 19 Apr 2025 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB: we're covering Victory episode 47. The Gender of it all is overwhelming, Cronicle underwhelms in truly impressive fashion, Maria has a funny idea of compassion, and Marbet discovers a cool new power up with no sinister implications whatsoever. Please listen to it!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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Wheels on Wheels within Wheels

Sat, 12 Apr 2025 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB, we're joined by new consultant, and Bible scholar in training, Vivian 'Wheels' Wheeler to talk about the Ophanim, the famous 'wheels within wheels' from the Book of Ezekiel.

This week: Victory Gundam episode 45. It's another(!) recap episode... kind of? We test out some new podcasting technology, the Angel Halo gets its first field test, Queen Maria tells all the kids to pick up their rooms, and Nina researches the healing powers of royal touch. Plus, Voltaire says a very funny thing. That's right, we got Voltaire to come guest on the podcast.

Please listen to it!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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10.44B - Hope Springs Eternal (Research)

Sat, 15 Mar 2025 11:20:45 -0000

This week on MSB, it's Victory Gundam episode 37. We talk a lot about life, death, fluids, and another anime you might have heard of before that came out around the same time as Victory.

Please listen to it!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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10.36: This is My Mother

Sat, 21 Dec 2024 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB we're talking about Victory Episode 36. Tune in for tragedy! Comedy! Bullying! Robots! More Cronicle Asher discourse than you'd expect, and a gosh dang wonder of the natural world. Plus, should we cancel beavers?

The slideshow we used on this episode is here.

This week on MSB, we're covering Victory Gundam episode 33: The People Who Dwell in the Sea. We discuss cargo cults, infantilization as a function of government, virgin mothers, parallel character development, Victory's anti-feminism, all the stories that aren't being told, and of course: balls.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.32: The Snake and the Rat

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

We're joined by special guest and friend of the show Sean, aka 'Flying Grizzly,' who helps us cover episode 32 of Victory Gundam, aka 'Doggorla's Violent Advance.' Sean offers bold takes on mechanical design and the ideal TV format for Tomino, Thom is surprised to learn that nerds listen to this show, and Nina gets everything she wants: clumsy mobile suits, a familiar voice actor, and the vindication of being right about everything all the time forever.

Please listen to it!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.31: Shahkti's Big Adventure

Sat, 26 Oct 2024 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB, we're covering Victory Gundam episode 31: 'Launch the Motorad!' in which Shahkti learns all the wrong lessons from Uso, Cronicle picks up some bad habits from Fuala Griffon of all people, and Oliver delegates teaching the children to somebody else. Please listen to it!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.30: Moonlight Rendezvous

Sat, 19 Oct 2024 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB, we're covering Victory Episode 30 'Mother's Gundam' - it's an unusual recap episode featuring the first appearance of a VERY unusual woman. Plus, did the fate of Yugoslavia and the end of the Cold War inspire Victory Gundam? It depends!

This week on MSB: Victory Gundam episode 23.

The best laid plans of mice and men go awry this week as everything Uso and the Hiland crew do to avoid battle seems to backfire; Warren fires the missiles, a man sees his lifelong dream come to fruition, and we get a glimpse into life within Zanscare. Spoiler alert! It looks bad!

Please listen to it!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.22: The Tiger and the Turtle

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 20:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB: Victory Gundam episode 22.

This week on MSB, we're covering Victory Gundam Episode 16: Reineforce, Lift Off! or リーンホース浮上. We talk about the episode name, the legacy of Gundam, Shahkti's hacker vision, the relationship between children and war, and much more!

Please listen to it!

And you can listen to episode 1 of The Disappearances of Lydia Fountayne at https://lydiadisappears.com

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.15: Kasarelia

Sat, 18 May 2024 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week: Victory Gundam episode 15. We're saying 'kasarelia' to new characters Godwald Heine and Tasilo Wago, and 'kasarelia' to Fuala Griffon, the old man polycule, and the Earth itself as the action shifts to space... at least for the moment!

YOU'RE LISTENING TO W.O.R.Y. - ANXIETY RADIO

After five years, it's time for a change. Starting today, April 1, 2024, we're going to be taking the podcast in a new direction that we think will really play to our strengths as people. We hope you'll all love WORY as much as you enjoyed MSB.

Happy April Fools' Day from MSB!

10.9: The Kasarelia Stampede

Sat, 30 Mar 2024 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on Ovine Flock Victory Gunram, the show's real hero finally shows her stuff, Odelo knows how to use one of these, and Cronicle engages in a little recreational deforestation. Plus Shahkti cooks a homecoming stew, Katejina's betrayal leaves Uso stewing, and the mystery of the Kasarelia Kids' parentage continues to simmer, while Nina researches what it might mean for the kids to leave willowherb behind like Uso suggests.

Please listen to it!

Website updates are delayed but you can read the full show notes on our Patreon page in the meantime.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.8: Fighting Fate

Sat, 23 Mar 2024 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB: Nina recognizes the look in a fellow mecha convert's eyes, Thom knows a thing or two about feeling helpless, and we all learn a bit more about ad agencies... maybe even enough to justify a little rampant speculation. Please listen to it!

Show notes to come as soon as we're both healthy at the same time, thanks for your patience!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.7: Strange Tactics

Sat, 16 Mar 2024 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

By reviving the medieval tradition of podcasting, we have become unstoppable!

Plus part 2 of Thom's research into the Japanese advertising industry and its role in anime production. This week: TV program development!

Full show notes to come soon, thank you for your patience.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.6: A World Gone Mad

Sat, 09 Mar 2024 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB: we're back with another remarkable episode of Victory dense with big questions: Is war a part of human nature? Is it better to die or to kill? Should we fight for people or for ideals? And if that's not enough, in the research Thom begins to dive into the world of Japanese advertising agencies as we explore their unsung role in anime production.

Content warning: this episode of Victory alludes to the threat of sexual violence, which we discuss during the talkback.

Please listen to it!

Full show notes will be uploaded soon, thank you for your patience.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Announcement: Episode Delay

Sat, 02 Mar 2024 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

Unfortunately due to illness we've had to delay the release of episode 10.6 by a week. We are on track to resume our regular release schedule next week (March 9th). Thanks for your patience!

10.5: A Time and Place to Die

Sat, 24 Feb 2024 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on Mobile Suit Breakdown: it's the Katejina Show feat. Katejina, in which a young woman with faultless logic shows us what it really means to have a big head. We promise that sentence will make more sense after you listen to the episode. Plus enjoy the second half of Nina's research on women in Japanese society during the first half of the 90s!

And a special thank you to everyone who commented on last week's episode. Your additional thoughts about babies, moms, and Tominoisms gave us a lot to think about as we revisited the topic this week!

The full show notes can be found in this post on our Patreon.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.4: Last Stand in Kasarelia

Sat, 17 Feb 2024 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB: Thom thinks it will be a short episode (the runtime proves that to be a lie), not that much happens (except for all the things the characters say and do), and Nina discovers that Xeno's Paradox can apply to research pieces! All that AND we talk about Victory Gundam a bit. Please listen to it!

You can find the full show notes in this public post on our Patreon.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.3: Unfriendly Fire

Sat, 10 Feb 2024 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB: blood in the streets of Uwig as B.E.S.P.A.'s cruelest soldiers descend upon the city. Uso (and your hosts) struggle to cope with the horror of it all, Katejina is lucky to be alive, and Shakti is not very good at hiding for someone who's been hiding for most of her life. The full show notes will be available soon on our Patreon and on our website.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

10.2: The Prince and the Pauper

Sat, 03 Feb 2024 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB, it's episode 2 of Victory Gundam: The Day He Met the Machine. We discuss this much more conventional opening episode, more dubious translation choices, running gags, production priorities, and lots more. Plus Nina presents the first part of her research into the social fallout of the asset price bubble and the place of young people and otaku in Japanese society as of 1993. Please listen to it!

This week on Mobile Suit Breakdown: it's the end of this first era of SD Gundam! In lieu of research, we cast our minds back across all the SD shorts that we've [enjoyed|endured] to render a final verdict on it and discuss what we liked about it, which ones we'd recommend, and what it all meant for the Gundam franchise.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

9.14: Legendary Tale of the Epic Saga

Sat, 06 Jan 2024 05:01:00 -0000

People love to call Gundam characters 'war criminals,' but are they really? And if so, who and why? What war crimes did they commit? Who is history's greatest monster? This week on Mobile Suit Breakdown, Thom dusts off his legal skills and dives back into the first Gundam compilation movie with a copy of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in hand to see what he can find.

Full show notes for this episode can be found on our website.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

This week on the podcast: Gundam 0083 Stardust Memory Episode 6: フォン・ブラウンの戦士 (Warrior of Von Braun). Thom thought he wouldn't have much to say this week. The runtime showed that to be a lie. We discuss the difference between pride and vanity, the importance of a soldier's feelings, reconstruction as a motif, who gets to decide who pilots the Gundam, and much more!

Show notes for this episode are available on our website.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses. All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

The recap music is “80's Synth Rock (Guitar Improvisation)” by Zombie-Fish.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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8.5: Sending this Message was Important to Us

Sat, 06 May 2023 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

Full show notes for this episode can be found on our website.

Full show notes for this episode can be found on our website.

All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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8.1: This Is Not a Place of Honor

Sat, 08 Apr 2023 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

The full show notes for this episode are available on our website.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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7.10: Artesia Rides Again!

Sat, 01 Apr 2023 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

For full show notes including images, please visit our website.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses._ _The recap music is Olivia by Hyson, licensed under a CC BY attribution license. All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

With the plot out of the way, it's time to dig into the stories that Gundam F91 set out to tell. So this week we're focused on characters and politics.

This discussion ran long, so there is no research segment this week.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

7.4: Colony Collapse

Sat, 19 Nov 2022 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on the podcast we finally start talking about the movie Gundam F91 with an episode focused entirely on the plot.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Season 7 Schedule Update

Wed, 12 Oct 2022 19:33:24 -0000

Show Notes

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

6.14: Somewhat Delightful

Sat, 09 Jul 2022 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

Show notes are available on our website.

This week on MSB: SD Gundam Gaiden episode 3: The Order of the Knights of Argus! While his friends battle a giant in the desert, Amuro goes on a study abroad trip to the far-flung land of Argus where he meets not one Gundam knight, not two Gundams knights, but FOUR Gundam knights!

It's time... for the Ultimate Battle of the Sky Castle. That's right, the Hour of the Hippo is upon us! In this episode, SD Gundam finally gives us what we didn't even know we craved: even smaller mobile suits wearing hats. Plus: learn Nina's thoughts on mustachioed Gundams and mobile suit horses.

The full show notes for this week's episode can be viewed on the Mobile Suit Breakdown website.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

6.3: Rock 'n Roll High School

Sat, 02 Apr 2022 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week: SD Gundam returns to theaters and MSB returns to your ears. We're covering the first half of SD Gundam's Counterattack, and we... liked it? Is that possible? While still marred by several of SD Gundam's persistent issues, this short manages to deliver on the series' potential for madcap, irreverent parody in a way prior episodes haven't.

Show Notes Yankii, Bousouzoku, and Sukeban:

Books consulted for this week's research:

Ashcraft, Brian, and Shoko Ueda. Japanese Schoolgirl Confidential: How Teenage Girls Made a Nation Cool. Tuttle, 2014. Cherry, Kittredge. “Sukeban - Boss Girls.” Womansword: What Japanese Words Say About Women, Stone Bridge Press, Berkeley, CA, 2017, pp. 73–74. Kawamura, Yuniya. Fashioning Japanese Subcultures. Bloomsbury Academic, 2013. Marx, W. David. “Damn Yankees.” Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style, Basic Books, New York, NY, 2015, pp. 123–148. Monden, Masafumi. “Ribbons and Lace.” Japanese Fashion Cultures: Dress and Gender in Contemporary Japan, Bloomsbury, London, UK, 2015, pp. 107–134.

Wikipedia pages for Bōsōzoku and Sukeban.
Tofugu article about bōsōzoku.
Vice article about sukeban and the media they inspired.
Collection of photographs of sukeban from the 1970s and '80s.
Review of the Sukeban Deka manga and OVA from Okazu (blog covering yuri media).
Visual aid showing a select few photographs of modified cars and motorcycles (especially with the huge exhaust pipes), and screenshots of the episode that show similar style of exhaust pipes on the Counterattack School's vehicles and mobile suits.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Mustelid Snoot Boopdown

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

6.2: Adventures in SD Land

Sat, 26 Mar 2022 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

We're back to wrap up our coverage of SD Gundam Mk II, with parts 2 and 3 in a double header! Luckily (?) there's not much substance to part 2. But Part 3? We've got thoughts. We've got feelings. We've got a lot to say. Plus in the research Thom runs through some of the fun inside jokes and references peppered throughout the episode. Unfortunately SD Gundam Mk II, Part 3 does come with a content warning for transphobia at around the 12 minute mark. We do discuss this in the podcast, and there is a warning before the discussion begins for the benefit of any listeners who would prefer not to hear it.**

Daruma Whiskey:**

The actual brand is Suntory Old Whisky, but the bottle is said to resemble a Daruma. Sometimes it is packaged in a bag that looks even more like a Daruma.

Roleplaying Games of the Late 80s:

SD Gundam's Princess somewhat resembles Dragon Quest 1's Princess Gwaelin
The infamous "But thou must!" scene from Dragon Quest I's English version.
A page explaining how the gacha-esque lottery system in Dragon Quest II works can be found here.

Gashapon Machines:

Although it doesn't mention Japan, this page from Gumball machine and bulk candy seller Gumballs.com describes the development of the first toy vending machines.
Penny Shokai (importers of the first capsule toy machines in Japan) were eventually bought by toymaker Takara-Tomy. In this recent tweet they celebrate the history of gashapon and show a picture of a Tomy-brand gashapon machine from 1988 - contemporaneous with SD Gundam Mk II.
Here is a history of the gashapon industry over time.
In 2017, Bandai issued a press-release celebrating the 40th anniversary of their gashapon business. The press release can be found here, and webpages re-stating its contents can be found here and here.
During our research we found an interview between two gacha industry leaders about the history of the industry. However at time of writing the website is not accessible. An archived copy can be found here.
Bandai's original 1977 gashapon machine bears a striking resemblance to the machine shown in SD Gundam Mk II.

Traveling Merchant Backpacks (Tabetobako):

English language sources (mostly antiques dealers) like to call these box/backpacks 'gyosho bako', presumably corresponding to the Japanese 行商 (gyosho, or peddler) and 箱 (hako, box). Examples: one and two.
Japanese sources seem to prefer the term タベト箱 (tabetobako), for example, this one from the Aomori Prefectural Museum, or more specific terms like 薬箱 (kusuribako, medicine box), for example, this page from the Naito Museum of Pharmaceutical Science and Industry.
A blog comparing the tabetobako in the Aomori Prefectural Museum to the one that appears in Demon Slayer.
Here, Hakodate City offers a brief description of Meiji era trade, mentioning the sorts of things that tabeto would sell as they traveled.

Kabuki Food Vendors:

This page on the website for Kabuki-za outlines the many food options available at the theater.
This blog describes a trip to see kabuki and mentions the shouts of the food vendors.
Brief discussion of the intimate relationship between food and kabuki, including a type of sushi named for a kabuki play.
A blog post about the food experience at Kabuki-za.
Here's a very detailed dive into the historical experience of going to a kabuki play with a lot of information about food.

Waste Paper Collection:

The Japanese Wikipedia page for 古紙, or used paper, includes a brief mention of the private small scale collection industry known as ちり紙交換 (chirigami koukan).
This (English language) rundown of recycling practices in Japan briefly mentions independent collectors and the industry's susceptibility to price fluctuations.
This page by a paper recycling company talks about the history and the reasons for the decline of chirigami koukan. The company in question was founded by a former waste paper collector who left that part of the industry when it collapsed.
Chapter 2 of this paper by a team at Waseda University discusses the evolution of the paper recycling industry in the Post-War era: 都市における資源循環システムの再編と地域社会の変動. It can be downloaded here.
This article from June 2000 talks about the history of chirigami koukan and supposes that economic conditions might be right for a return of the industry.
This page has pictures and videos of chirigami koukan trucks in action, as well as an explanation for the decline of the industry and a quote from a former collector.
In this Reddit thread from 2019, someone unfamiliar with the practice reports seeing evidence that it's still going on in their neighborhood.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

6.1: The Rolling Podcast Affair

Sat, 19 Mar 2022 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

He's Woody, we're MSB, and this is episode 1 of Season 6! This week we breakdown SD Gundam Mk II, Part 1: The Rolling Colony Affair. It's chock full of jokes, and about one and a half of them are good.

As usual we do our best to figure out as many of the inside jokes and references as we can, but this season brings with it some unique new challenges for your loyal podcast hosts... Give it a listen to learn more!

Show Notes _ Puttsun Kamille:_

Weblio dictionary entry for プッツン (Puttsun).
Satou Gen says Kamille says 'nya' because he looks like a cat when he closes his eyes.
Satou Gen says he hadn't seen Zeta or ZZ, Kamille says 'nya' because he didn't know what the real Kamille's speech patterns were

Scirocco's Portrayal:

Satou Gen says it was Amino's idea to make Scirocco destitute.
Binbougami, the god of poverty.
More on Binbougami.
A brief explainer on harae, or purification, in Shinto rites.

Possible Zorro Reference:

Wikipedia page for the Zorro character, with a list of the various media featuring him.

Episode Director Amino Tetsurō (アミノテツロー):

English and Japanese Wikipedia pages for Amino Tetsurō, as well as his Anime News Network encyclopedia page and IMDB page.
The interview Amino did for the Sunrise website, discussing his longstanding work on SD Gundam.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

5.8: War in the Podcast

Sat, 26 Feb 2022 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

We're looking back at another season of Gundam through the rear view mirror, and we have a few loose ends to tie up. Lingering musings, listener questions, and a few more research topics! Thanks for supporting us through another season! We couldn't do it without all of you.

Show Notes On the state of Sydney and the notion of Canon

Books:

Azuma Hiroki, Otaku: Japan's Database Animals. Translated by Jonathan E. Abel and Kono Shion. Kodansha Gendai Shinsho 2001, trans. Minnesota UP 2009. Tomino Yoshiyuki, 機動戦士ガンダム, aka Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation. Asahi Sonorama. Volume 1 (Nov. 30, 1979), Volume 2 (Sept. 30, 1980), Volume 3 (Mar. 16, 1981). English translation by Frederick Schodt, 2004. 宇宙翔ける戦士達 GUNDAM CENTURY, aka Gundam Century. Ed. by Matsuzaki Kenichi. Minori Shobo, Sept. 22, 1981.

Tomino's "Defeatist Manifesto", a long interview in which he mentions his father's role in World War II and his subsequent relationship to Japan as a nation.
An English summary of the key information contained in Gundam Century, by Mark Simmons.
Translation of a 1979 interview in which Tomino mentions that the other sides were destroyed during the opening phases of the war.
_Translation of an interview with Takayama Fumihiko, chief director of 0080, in which he addresses Sydney, the colony drop, and why they chose Australia. _

The Walther MP/MPL

Wikipedia page for the Walther MP/MPL.
The Japanese Gundam wiki page on the Zaku MMP-80, mentioning the identification with the Walther MPL.

The STEN

The STEN on Wikipedia.
Variations on the STEN added a pistol grip, but still don't look like the GM Cold Districts Machine Gun.
Some versions added a wireframe pistol grip that was "predictably uncomfortable to fire."

The Sterling Submachine Gun

The Sterling on Wikipedia.
A brief illustrated history of the Sterling submachine gun.
A run down of less-well-known guns used in the Vietnam War, including the Sterling.

The SA80

Bullpup firearms generally.
The SA80 on Wikipedia.
Articles:

Paul Richard Huard for National Interest. SA80: The Worst Military Rifle Ever? Available at https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/introducing-sa80-worst-military-rifle-ever-44987 Antill, P. (28 August 2009), SA80 (Small Arms for the 1980s): The Sorry Saga of the British Bulldog's Bullpup, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_SA80.html Anthony G. Williams. SA80: Mistake or Maligned - And What Next? Available at https://www.quarryhs.co.uk/SA80.htm BBC Q&A: Army rifles: What's gone wrong? Available at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/656786.stm

A visual aide for comparing these weapons can be found on our website.

Hayashibara Megumi, 林原めぐみ

ANN Encyclopedia page, Wikipedia page (English), and Behind-the-Voice-Actors page (with visual filmography), for Hayashibara Megumi.
Book:

Hayashibara, Megumi. Megumi Hayashibara's The Characters Taught Me Everything: Living Life One Episode at a Time. Translated by Jenny McKeon and Nathaniel Hiroshi Thrasher, Yen On, 2021.

Wikipedia page for Asagi Sakura.

Christmas in Japan

Articles about Christmas in Japan (contemporary), from jrailpass.com, Timeout Tokyo, and gurunavi.com.
_Timeline of the history of Christmas in Japan. _
Japanese Christmas history and traditions from Kansai-Odyssey.com, livejapan.com, and japantoday.com.
About religion in Japan generally, and Christianity in Japan specifically.
_Additional information about Christianity in Japan, and a timeline of Christianity in Japan. _
_An academic paper about Japanese Christmas-Cake. _
_Christmas parades in the US, and around the world. _
_About the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parades, and about Tokyo Disney. _

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses. The recap music is "pieces of life" by Analog by Nature, licensed under a CC BY attribution license. All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

5.7: Grown Up

Sat, 19 Feb 2022 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

On MSB this week, we've stopped crying long enough to talk about the final episode of War in the Pocket, and Thom has a Rapid Fire Research Roundup as he works through a whole bushel of Zeon names and inspirations derived from film, literature, and mythology.

Rapid Fire Research Roundup General Rugens:

Gundam 0080 setting materials (settei) posted by Mark Simmons.
The Wikipedia page for actor Curd Jürgens.
A visual aid comparing Rugens and Jürgens as he appeared in The Devil's General/Des Teufels General can be found on our website.
_Some more information about the real general Ernst Udet, via Wikipedia and a more detailed biography. _

**Captain von Helsing: **

Wikipedia page for Peter Cushing, with reference to his role as van Helsing.
A visual comparing Cushing to von Helsing can be found on our website.

The Graf Zeppelin:

Siegfried & Valkyrie:

Wikipedia page for Siegfried (using his Norse name Sigurd).
Brief Britannica article on Siegfried.
_A detailed breakdown of different Siegfried myths in both German and Norse traditions. _
_Wagner's Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelung). _
Wagner himself, via Wikipedia.
An article looking at the connection between Hitler, the Nazi regime, and Wagner's operas: Charlotte Higgins for The Guardian: How the Nazis took Flight from Valkyries and Rhinemaidens. July 3, 2007. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/jul/03/secondworldwar.musicnews
_The full version of Siegfried's funeral march. _

Regarding the historical, and enduring, use of Siegfried by the far-right in Germany:

Michael Zeller for Fair Observer: From Opera to MMA: Nationalist Symbolism and the German Far Right. August 12, 2021. Available at https://www.fairobserver.com/region/europe/michael-c-zeller-richard-wagner-opera-nibelungenlied-nationalist-symbolism-far-right-germany-news-915421/
Jacob Katz, The Darker Side of Genius: Richard Wagner's Anti-Semitism. 1986.
Marie Todeskino for Deutsche Welle: The hateful side of Wagner's musical genius. May 31, 2013. Available at https://www.dw.com/en/the-hateful-side-of-wagners-musical-genius/a-16850818

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

5.6: Fight or Flight

Sat, 12 Feb 2022 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week we're covering episode 5 of War in the Pocket: "Say it Ain't So, Bernie!" and Nina has research on the Spanish painter whose work must have inspired the mural on the wall outside Al's school!

Research: Joan Miró

You can see visual aids comparing the art on the school wall in War in the Pocket to the works of Joan Miró on our website: gundampodcast.com
Biographical information and details about his artistic career and some of his artworks from joan-miro.net, Fundació Joan Miró, theartstory.org, the Guggenheim, and Wikipedia.
Article about Miró and a 2008 exhibition of his works at MoMA: Schjeldahl, Peter. “Angry Young Man.” The New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2008.
_History and description of Miró's "The Reaper." _
Photograph and history of "Alicia," a tile mural created by Joan Miró and Josep Lloréns Artigas, commissioned by the Guggenheim.
Video created by MoMA for a 2019 Miró exhibition titled "How to See." In the video, "curator Anne Umland and the artist’s grandson, Joan Punyet Miró, examine the ways in which Miro worked to achieve a heightened state of awareness in which to paint."
Article from Architectural Digest about the Cincinnati, Ohio Terrace Plaza Hotel, which is described as having "introduced modernism to the U.S." and is on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s list of the most endangered places in America. Top of the article has a beautiful color photo of the mural Miró painted for the hotel restaurant.
1951 article from The Harvard Crimson (university newspaper) about the arrival of the commissioned Miró mural for the graduate student center.
about the Sol de Miró design, created for a 1983 Spanish tourism campaign. Check our website for an image of the poster in question.
Article about how Miró's time in the USA and Japan influenced his art: Orlova, Ksenia. “Joan Miro. 1960s: In Search of a New Artistic Language, Close Contacts With the Cultures of the USA and Japan.” Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Art Studies: Science, Experience, Education (ICASSEE 2020), 7 Sept. 2020, https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.200907.025.
_Details of an upcoming (as of Feb. 7, 2022) art exhibit at the Bunkamura Museum of Art in Tokyo, Japan, titled "Joan Miró and Japan." _
Pages about Takiguchi Shūzō (瀧口修造) from Wikipedia (English and Japanese), the Takiguchi Shūzō Archives at TAMA Art University, and the Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism.
Wikipedia page about the Yomiuri Indépendant Exhibition.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

5.5: Things Never Go Wrong

Sat, 05 Feb 2022 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week on MSB: Thom discloses his bias, Nina says several brilliant things, and a new(ish) guest joins us to discuss anime, animation, and animators in 0080!

We're thrilled to welcome "old" anime fan and historian Matteo to MSB. You can find Matteo on twitter at https://twitter.com/MatteoWatz, and you can find his writing on his blog https://animetudes.com/ or on https://fullfrontal.moe/.

The Inoue Toshiyuki interview mentioned during the podcast can be found here: https://fullfrontal.moe/toshiyuki-inoue-interview/
This episode also includes the song Unveiling Soul by Evgeny Teilor, available at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Evgeny_Teilor/Appearances/Unveiling_Soul_1751 and licensed under a CC BY Attribution license.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

5.4: Child & Soldier

Sat, 29 Jan 2022 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

It's parallels all the way down as our coverage of War in the Pocket continues! This week we're talking about episode 3: And at the end of the rainbow...?

Al shows his potential, Bernie shows how he really feels, the commandos show us a new mobile suit, and Chris shows off her batting average. They're all one big happy(?) family(??) on this week's episode of MSB! Plus for research Thom digs into the references hiding in plain view in the title sequence, how they might connect to other contemporary works, and what it all might mean for the show...

You'll find it all in Mobile Suit Breakdown 5.4: Child & Soldier. And don't forget to check out our website gundampodcast.com for visual aids to accompany this week's research piece!

The 0080 Title Sequence Visuals

The Aerial Steam Carriage

Article about the aerial steam carriage design.
Article about other early experiments in powered flight.
Wikipedia article for the aerial steam carriage.
Wikipedia pages for William Samuel Henson and John Stringfellow.

The Carrack

"Carrack" on Wikipedia.
An early Japanese depiction of a Portuguese carrack.
Artist's rendering of Christopher Columbus' ships, Niña (on the left, a caravel), and the carracks Santa Maria and Pinta. In truth, the Santa Maria was the only carrack. The Pinta was a second caravel.

Guernica

Ishaan Tharoor for The Independent, "Eighty Years Later, the Nazi war crime in Guernica still matters."
Toby Saul for National Geographic, "The horrible inspiration behind one of Picasso's great works."
Guernica (the painting) and Guernica (the bombing of) on Wikipedia.
BBC article on the legacy of Guernica, which notes how Franco and the nationalists tried to blame the bombing on Communists, and the ongoing struggle to define the history of the Spanish Civil War.
Le Drapeau noir (The Black Flag) by René Magritte, which may also be a response to the bombing of Guernica.

Lilliput

Alt, Matt. Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World. Crown, 2021.
A tweet from the author Pure Invention specifically about Lilliput and its origins.
An original Lilliput sold for a little over $3,000 at auction back in 2016.
Images of an original Lilliput can also be seen on the Japanese auction site Mandarake.
Manchukuo on Wikipedia (note that at the time Lilliput was manufactured, Manchukuo's economy was still under the authority of Kishi Nobusuke. He featured in a research piece on episode 5.2).

Atomic Robot Man

Japanese blog with photos of Atomic Robot Man, including the box.
The Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity collection includes a 1990s reproduction of Atomic Robot Man.
A great article about Atomic Robot Man's history in the United States, including pictures of two original models.
Article from 1997 about people who collected 'Made in Occupied Japan' products.
Article with contemporary advertisements for Atomic Robot Man.
Article about how to tell an original A.R.M. from a reproduction.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

5.3: Falling In

Sat, 22 Jan 2022 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

They're back! MSB came back! Hurray! This week we're talking about War in the Pocket episode 2: Reflections in a Brown Eye. The research covers Al's home electronics and what they say about him and the story, plus... Chris's pile of dropped books from episode 1? Really? Well, OK. Plus we have a mini celebration for Gundam's 10th anniversary! Frank Kelly Freas - The Art of Science Fiction:

The Wikipedia page for Kelly Freas, and his (unfinished) website,
A detailed profile of Kelly Freas hosted on PulpArtists.com.
His New York Times obituary.
A bibliography of his works from the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
His book (the one Chris drops) is: Kelly Freas, Frank Kelly Freas: The Art of Science Fiction. Donning (1977).
Some iconic works: Star Trek portraits, the cover from a Bradbury short story, and the cover for Heinlein's "Have Space Suit - Will Travel."

Consumer Electronics, 1988 / UC0080:

Books: McCreery, John. Japanese Consumer Behaviour: From Worker Bees to Wary Shoppers. University of Hawai'i Press, 2000. Accessed (excerpts only) here. LaMarre, Thomas. The Anime Ecology: A Genealogy of Television, Animation, and Game Media. University of Minnesota Press, 2018. Alt, Matt. Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World. Crown, 2021.
Some statistics: the fertility rate in Japan, 1800-2020, color TV ownership in Japan, 1984, and households in Japan with television, 1988.
Wikipedia pages for light guns generally, and the NES Zapper.
Article about Bandai's light gun peripheral.
Page about the Dragon's Lair TV series.
Pages on the history of the videocamera and the camcorder from Wikipedia, the LegacyBox blog (a home video digitization service), and CCTV Camera World (sales of cameras and other equipment for CCTV, page includes some useful information on the transition to digital).
Storage media! Wikipedia pages for the floppy disk and 8mm video format.
Specific camera models: the Handycam series and the Mavica.
What does "still video" mean??
Page with names, pictures, and specifications of camera by release-year (this page is for 1988). Several looks similar in shape and overall aesthetic to Al's camcorder.

Music

The recap music is "pieces of life" by Analog by Nature, licensed under a CC BY attribution license.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

5.2: The GMs of Navarone

Sat, 15 Jan 2022 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

We finally get started on Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket, and it makes quite the impression! Was it the good or bad kind of impression? There's only one way to find out!

This week, we review and analyze episode 1, "How many miles to the battlefield?" (戦場までは何マイル?), and research and discuss the history of Playboy Magazine in Japan, how the creative team's nostalgia and childhood memories connect to 0080's story and themes, and how the unexpected appearance of mobile suits in a neutral colony connects to the history of US military bases and the presence of nuclear weapons in Japan.

Playboy Magazine in Japan

Wikipedia pages for Playboy, Monthly Playboy (月刊プレイボーイ / Gekkan Pureibōi), the Playboy Clubs, and Playboy Bunnies.
_Britannica page for Playboy. _
_History of Playboy, from the company's website. _
Twitter thread (with photos) about Playboy clubs (and similar) in Japan, by @mulboyne.
Photo of Taga Rie, a Bunny at one of Japan's Playboy clubs, from Getty Images (they had to lean like that to place drinks/light cigarettes because if they bent over they'd fall out of the one-piece).
_Vintage store based in Las Vegas, with photographs of Monthly Playboy covers from the 70s and 80s. _
Wikipedia pages for China Lee and Jennifer Jackson.

Papers and articles:

Batura, Amber B. “From the Bachelor Pad to the Jungle: Bunnies, Playboy Magazine, and Vietnam Soldiers.” Texas Tech University, 2018. Accessed at https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2346/73903/Batura_Amber_Thesis.pdf
Chrisman-Campbell, Kimberly. “The Surprising Tale of the Playboy Bunny Suit.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 4 Oct. 2017, https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/10/history-of-the-playboy-bunny-suit/541929/
“Tokyo's Foreign Flavors.” Edagawa, Koichi, Japan Quarterly; Oct 1, 1985; 32, 4; ProQuest pg. 356

Nostalgia and the Creative Team

Team credits and biographical information was sourced variously from animenewsnetwork.com's encyclopedia and ja.wikipedia.org pages for the specific people.
_Timelines of the major events of the Vietnam war are available in various places including History.com, Britannica, and Wikipedia. _

Japan & Nuclear Weapons

Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is described on Wikipedia here, and the full text of the constitution is available in English at the website of the National Diet of Japan.
_The 1951 Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan is described here. _
The 1960 Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security Between the United States and Japan is described here.
_More information about the U.S. military use of Japanese ports, specifically during the Korean War. _
Two articles by U.S. researchers around the year 2000, going into what was then publicly known and acknowledged about nuclear weapons deployed in and near Japan.
Several articles from 2010 when the new Japanese government confirmed the existence of the secret agreements permitting U.S. nuclear weapons to pass through Japanese ports without prior consultation.
_A 1981 article from the Christian Science Monitor about the Japanese reaction to former Ambassador Reischauer's admission about the secret agreements: "Japan reels under Reischauer's nuclear 'bombshell'." _
Steve Rabson, Six Decades of US-Japanese Government Collusion in Bringing Nuclear Weapons to Japan. Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol 19, Issue 14, No. 3. Available at https://apjjf.org/2021/14/Rabson.html

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

5.1: Passing the Torch

Sat, 08 Jan 2022 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

It's time to start our coverage of the much-anticipated Gundam side story 0080: War in the Pocket! Kind of!

Actually, it's time for us to cover Gundam's real first OVA - SD Gundam Mk I Part 3: SD Olympics as we get ready for the first episode on War in the Pocket next week. We research and discuss the history and characteristics of the OVA format, some of what happened in Japan and the world between Char's Counter Attack and 0080, and the influences, references, and gags in the SD Olympics short.

SD Olympics

Wikipedia pages for the 1988 Summer Olympics, the ABC gameshow Battle of the Network Stars, and the Hanna-Barbera Cartoons Laff-A-Lympics and Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics.
Gundam Fandom Wiki page on Mobile Suit SD Gundam Mk I.
This book discusses the imports of American cartoons to Japan (though mostly it's about the influence in the other direction):
O'Melia, Gina. “Introduction.” Japanese Influence on American Children's Television: Transforming Saturday Morning, Springer Nature, Cham, Switzerland, 2019, pp. 23–25.
As usual I relied on jisho.org as a Japanese-English dictionary, but I also used The Wisdom English-Japanese Dictionary (digital version for Dictionary app).

Articles about the Olympics:

Dahl, Tracy. “Award of 1988 Olympics Boosts S. Korea's Effort For Political Security.” The Washington Post, 4 Oct. 1981. Accessed at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1981/10/04/award-of-1988-olympics-boosts-s-koreas-effort-for-political-security/2db0f29f-29cd-4581-8771-2f08c225181f/
Nalewicki, Jennifer. “How the 1988 Olympics Helped Spark a Global Kimchi Craze.” Smithsonianmag.com, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Feb. 2018, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/kimchis-olympic-connection-180968224/.
Manheim, Jarol B. “Rites of Passage: The 1988 Seoul Olympics as Public Diplomacy.” The Western Political Quarterly, vol. 43, no. 2, [University of Utah, Sage Publications, Inc., Western Political Science Association], 1990, pp. 279–95, https://doi.org/10.2307/448367.
Aw, Gene. “The 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics.” Go! Go! Hanguk, 4 Dec. 2019, https://gogohanguk.com/en/blog/seoul-olympics-1988-memories/. (Includes embedded video of the opening ceremonies for the 1988 Summer Games)
Dator, James. “Never Forget That a Flock of Peace Doves Got Incinerated at the 1988 Olympics.” SBNation.com, SBNation.com, 9 Aug. 2017, https://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2017/8/9/16119834/peace-doves-olympic-opening-ceremony-1988-seoul
Trex, Ethan. “5 Memorable Moments from Olympic Opening Ceremonies.” Mental Floss, 26 July 2012, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31314/5-memorable-moments-past-opening-ceremonies. (Content warning - contains embedded video of the dove incident)
Montague, James. “Hero or Villain? Ben Johnson and the Dirtiest Race in History.” CNN, Cable News Network, 23 July 2012, https://www.cnn.com/2012/07/23/sport/olympics-2012-ben-johnson-seoul-1988-dirtiest-race/index.html.
Eldridge, Larry. “Too Many `Perfect' Scores of 10 Distort Olympic Gymnastics Results.” The Christian Science Monitor, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Oct. 1988, https://www.csmonitor.com/1988/1004/prom.html.
From the IOC website, articles about the 1988 Summer Olympics and how it boosted tourism, South Korea's international profile, and national pride / feelings of global citizenship. While any content produced by the IOC is of course going to be propaganda for the Olympics, it's an important perspective on the event.
Landing page for the Olympic World Library, part of The Olympic Studies Centre (a resource for official documents related to past Olympics).
Wikipedia pages for sprinter Ben Johnson, decathlete Jürgen Hingsen, and the "perfect 10" in gymnastics.
Video about Olympic shot-put, with a good section on men’s shot-put 1988.
jisho.org page for the kanji 焼, and Cambridge Dictionary entry for 焼ける.
Article with photos and video of the "Samurai Trash Collectors" performance artists.
Tofugu article with LOTS of Japanese onomatopoeia, including the ワー！(wa-!) that appears over the stadium at the end of the short.

March 12th, 1988 to March 25, 1989

Books and articles:

Field, Norma. In the Realm of a Dying Emperor. Vintage Books, 1993.
“Hibari Misora, Japanese Singer, 52.” New York Times (1923-), Jun 25, 1989, pp. 26. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/nathan-zucker-74-film-producer-dies/docview/110368815/se-2?accountid=35927
By, Robert T. "Japan's 'Lark of the Beautiful Sky': Hibari Misora is a chic chanteuse who is the rage of her country's teen-agers. A fishmonger's daughter, she has, at 19, the top income in Japanese show business." New York Times (1923-), Jun 09, 1957, pp. 201. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/japans-lark-beautiful-sky/docview/113922091/se-2?accountid=35927
Wikipedia pages for 1988 and 1989, as well as 1988 in Japan and 1989 in Japan.
Wikipedia page for World Expo '88.
An account from an Expo Japan-Pavilion attendant, describing the pavilion (with photos).
Informational document from the Expo, scanned to PDF.
Wikipedia page for singer and actress Misora Hibari (美空ひばり).
Short article from the Japan Society about "contemporary Japan" - from the 1989 beginning of the Heisei Era. to the present.
This article is mostly a summary of the Heisei Era, and discusses the transition to a new era (written before the Reiwa name was chosen). But it also touches on the previous transition from Showa to Heisei.

What's an OVA?

Pages defining and describing OVAs, often with additional historical context, from Wikipedia, Anime News Network, and TV Tropes.
Explainers on the OVA format and its place in the anime industry from CBR.com and OTAQUEST.
"Bandai, the Post-Gundam Wave, and the Year 1985" - by Sean O'Mara for zimmerit.moe, discussing Bandai specifically, including their OVA production and video rental segments, and their efforts to attract new consumers while holding on to aging, hardcore fans.

Music

The recap music in this episode is "Olivia" by Hyson.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses. The recap music for Season 3 is New York City (instrumental) by spinningmerkaba, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.. All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Radio Drama for Season 4: Content Creators of Axis

Sat, 25 Dec 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

The saga that started on a whim with the Titans News Network back in Season 2 finally reaches its thoroughly avoidable conclusion in this action packed radio drama-style satire! What has become of Thom Thomson and Nina Ninasdottir after the end of Radio Free Shangri-La? Did any of the cyber newstype corps survive? What about those NZC interns?

All that and more awaits you in Content Creators of Axis!

The music included in this episode was:

Quiet Hours and Quiet Rain both by onlymeith
Air by Jesse Spillane
Shiro (Instrumental) by Aussensaiter
B Calm Violin Track by String Factory / Dimitri Artemenko
Time Flux by Revolution Void

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

4.7: On the Other Side of Darkness

Sat, 18 Dec 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

On the podcast this week: our final episode of Season 4, Iraj returns to talk about asteroids, nuclear explosions, and capes, Thom names names, and Nina looks at alternative narrative frameworks. Plus we clean up a few ambiguities, answer some questions, and come clean about our favorite mobile suits. Will Thom's controversial takes enrage the MSB fandom?!

Names, Names, Names: The Geara Doga

_The Nagano designs for a 'Killah Doga' / キラ・ドガ and a サイコ・ドーラ can be seen in this Twitter post by Mark Simmons. _
_The DWDS (Digital Dictionary of the German language) records usages of Killer going back to 1972. _
The assertion that the Geara Doga and its gear was designed to look like a German WWII soldier is from the Japanese Wikipedia page for the Geara Doga, which cites: Yutaka Izubuchi "Yutaka Izubuchi Mechanical Design Works (1)" Movic, August 2000, pp. 16-17. ISBN 978-4896014907.

The Alpha Azieru

Izubuchi Yutaka explains that he drew the Alpha Azieru without having been asked, and says that the name comes from the Greek letter α and the word アジール, meaning an asylum or refuge.
Background on what アジール means in Japanese can be found at the Japanese Wikipedia page.
Jisho.org page on アジール which specifies the German derivation from Asyl.

The Sazabi

Izubuchi Yutaka explains that the prior title for the MS was ザ・ナック and that he thought Sazabi would be hard to trademark.
ZeonicScanlations Twitter thread translating excerpts from an old Animedia book and specifying the Sotheby's reference.
_ZeonicScanlations page translating a section of B-Club 30 from 1988 about the Sazabi, mentioning Zanac and the conflict with a similarly named Famicom game. _
The video game Zanac, which prevented CCA from using ザ・ナック for the Sazabi.
_Japanese Wikipedia page on the Sazabi. _
_Japanese Wikipedia page for The Knack (the band). _
And the Japanese Wikipedia page for "My Sharona," specifically.
_A rundown by Zimmerit.moe of musical references included in Nagano Mamoru's Five Star Stories. _
English-language interview with Izubuchi Yutaka in which he mentions the name issues for the Sazabi.
Nagano's design for the Naitiengeaile (Nightingale) can be seen on this twitter post by Mark Simmons.
Nagano's revision of the Naitiengeaile as the Nahatgall (ナハトガル, Nachtigall) can be seen here, or here.

Story Structures, Cross-Cultural Analysis:

Masterclass overview of 4 different story structures.
Author Kim Yoon Mi's overview of story structures from around the world.
Tofugu article about how arguments are structured in Japanese (with reference to how this relates to Japanese story structures.
Blog post from art-collective Still Eating Oranges about "plot without conflict."
_dbpedia and Japanese Wikipedia pages for kishoutenketsu (起承転結). _
_Articles on kishoutenketsu from Art of Narrative, Book Riot, Mythic Scribes, and Tofugu (Tofugu specifically looking at how this structure is used in Japanese horror). _

Papers and articles:

Francisco Vaz da Silva. “Narrative Cultures in the Mirror.” Narrative Culture, vol. 1, no. 1, Wayne State University Press, 2014, pp. 85–108, https://doi.org/10.13110/narrcult.1.1.0085.
Matsuyama, Utako K. “Can Story Grammar Speak Japanese?” The Reading Teacher, vol. 36, no. 7, [Wiley, International Reading Association], 1983, pp. 666–69, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20198301.
Koenitz, Hartmut & Pastena, Andrea & Jansen, Dennis & Lint, Brian & Moss, Amanda. (2018). The Myth of ‘Universal’ Narrative Models. 10.1007/978-3-030-04028-4_8. Accessed at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329064597_The_Myth_of_%27Universal%27_Narrative_Models
Lien, Henry. “Diversity Plus: Diverse Story Forms and Themes, Not Just Diverse Faces.” SFWA, 18 Dec. 2020, https://www.sfwa.org/2021/01/05/diversity-plus-diverse-story-forms-and-themes-not-just-diverse-faces/.
Wikipedia page for jo-ha-kyuu (序破急).

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

4.6: Committing Thousands of Sins

Sat, 11 Dec 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, Nina and Thom are joined by new guest Tatiana - a filmmaker, professional editor, and sometime animator to discuss technical aspects of filmmaking in Char's Counterattack, how the movie holds up today, what the movie tells us about it's intended audience (and how audiences unfamiliar with Gundam might react to it) and what Tomino and company might have done differently.

Plus Thom's research reveals one way in which Char's Counterattack turned out to be unrealistically optimistic, and Nina digs into the real science and technology that might have inspired the movie's psycoframe.

The Bamiyan Statues:

A survey of giant Buddha statues with brief descriptions and photos - the Leshan Buddha is number 11 and the Buddhas of Bamiyan are number 4.
"Bamiyan Buddhas" by Dr. Melody Rod-ari for Khan Academy, covering the history and design of the sculptures.
"Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley" by UNESCO.
"Destroyed Buddhas Reveal Their True Colors" by Andrew Lawler for Science.org, an article about archeological reconstruction of the Buddha's pre-modern appearance.
"Bamiyan: Ten Years On," a brief video by UNESCO about the Bamiyan Buddha ruins.
"Commemorating 20 years since the destruction of two Buddhas of Bamiyan, Afghanistan" by Ernesto Ottone R., UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture. Available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/2253.
"Why the Buddhas of Bamian were destroyed" by Michael Semple, who was personally involved in negotiations to try to save the Buddhas.
An 1833 sketch of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by Alexander Burnes.
"From Ruins of Afghan Buddhas, a History Grows" by Carlotta Gall for the New York Times, Dec. 6, 2006. NYT article from 2006 about international archeologists examining the ruins of the Buddhas and speculating about possible reconstruction plans.
A collection of other drawings and photos showing the Buddhas.
A timeline of the US invasion, occupation, and departure from Afghanistan including mentions of fighting in and around Bamiyan.
An article from late July 2021 about fighting between Taliban and government forces in and near Bamiyan.

Miniaturization of Technology:

Chemistry-specific definition of "particle."
Wikipedia pages for miniaturization, transistor counts (great chart), integrated circuits, surface-mount technology, and Moore's Law.
How Stuff Works page for the transistor.
Wikipedia page for the transistor radio.
For more on Sony, transistor radios, the Walkman, and the sales of small, Japanese, consumer electronics in the US, check out this book chapter:
Alt, Matt. “5 - Plugging In and Dropping Out.” Pure Invention: How Japan's Pop Culture Conquered the World, Penguin Random House, New York, NY, 2020, pp. 131–160.
US Government report about the contemporary state of miniaturization technologies: U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Miniaturization Technologies, OTA-TCT-514 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 1991). Accessible at: https://ota.fas.org/reports/9129.pdf
Semiconductor History Museum of Japan website. Very detailed and often very technical, with different topics broken down into timelines. Of particular interest, Japanese improvements to photolithography in the early 1980s (the Wikipedia page on photolithography has some helpful and easy to follow diagrams of the simplified process).
"Molecular computers - tomorrow's technology?" by Leroy Cronin, and Hamera Abbas, 31 December 2006, for the Royal Society of Chemistry - Education in Chemistry website.
Pages from IBM, Wikipedia, and the University of Waterloo, Canada, about quantum computing.
"What Makes Quantum Computing So Hard to Explain?" by Scott Aaronson, June 8, 2021, for Quanta Magazine.
Article about the latest, record-breakingly tiny chip from IBM: Brown, Dalvin. “IBM Says New Ultradense Microchip Might One Day Quadruple Your Cellphone’s Battery Life.” The Washington Post, 12 May 2021.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

4.5: You Belong to Me, I Belong to You, We Belong to Earth

Sat, 04 Dec 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

Holidays or not, we're back with another episode! This time we're joined by long time friend of the show, and neuropsychology consultant, Dr. Shar! She returns to the program to discuss the psychologies of the many deeply broken people at the heart of Char's Counterattack. This episode also features a collaboration between MSB and Matteo Watz of anime research and analysis blog Animétudes!

Beltorchika's Children: Tomino Yoshiyuki, Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack - Beltorchika's Children (機動戦士ガンダム逆襲のシャア―ベルトーチカ・チルドレン). Kadokawa Shoten Sneaker Bunko. Feb. 2, 1988.

Char's Counterattack Production:

Matteo Watz (aka @Animétudes)'s article, "The animation of Char’s Counterattack."
Izubuchi Yutaka (出渕裕)'s Wikipedia pages (English and Japanese) and Anime News Network encyclopedia page (ANN).
ANN reporting on the Yutaka Izubuchi Focus Panel at Anime Expo 2006, by Sean Broestl.
Masuo Shouichi (増尾昭一)'s Japanese Wikipedia page and ANN encyclopedia page.
ANN obituary for Masuo Shouichi (増尾昭一).
Kitazume Hiroyuki (北爪宏幸)'s Wikipedia pages (English and Japanese) and ANN encyclopedia page.
Yasuomi Umetsu (梅津泰臣)'s Wikipedia pages (English and Japanese) and ANN encyclopedia page.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

4.4: More Than Peace, More Than Freedom, More Than Justice... All I Want Is You

Sat, 27 Nov 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week we're joined by two returning guests, costume designer Sarah McCostumes and theatrical mask consultant Sean DMR to talk about costuming, mobile suits, and what the aesthetics of Char's Counterattack can tell us about the characters, the world, and the story. Plus in the research Thom looks at Char's iconography and tries to trace its origins.

Char's Iconography Background on Prussian-style Collars:

Prussian uniforms (including various Zeon-esque collars) - “The Waffenfrock 1842-1895” from Kaiser’s Bunker.
Imperial Japanese Army uniforms during the Russo-Japanese War (showing the contrast collar borrowed from the Prussians).
Influence of Prussian military uniform helmets in Latin America, by Ricardo Jara Franco. Aug. 18, 2011. Available at http://pickelhauben.net/old-site/articles/latin_America.html
Martin, Bernd, and Peter Wetzler. “The German Role in the Modernization of Japan — The Pitfall of Blind Acculturation.” Oriens Extremus 33, no. 1 (1990): 77–88. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24048466
Wikipedia page on the uniforms of the Imperial Japanese Army.

General background on Eagles as symbols:

“Eagle,” from Heraldsnet.org, an online glossary of heraldric elements.
Wikipedia pages for eagles in heraldry, the national emblem of Indonesia, the Roman aquila, and the Shahbaz (the fabled eagle-like creature used in Achaemenid iconography).
An overview about the role of eagles in different Native American cultures, with links to other sources.
The Warrior and the Eagle, an old Lenape legend.
“The Bald Eagle, Creature of Nature and an American Symbol” by Ellen Terrell for the Library of Congress. June 27, 2019. Available at https://blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams/2019/06/the-bald-eagle-creature-of-nature-and-an-american-symbol/.

The Reichsadler:

Wikipedia pages for the Reichsadler, the coat of arms of Austria, and the coat of arms of Germany.
German text of the Imperial Rescript of August 3rd, 1871.
“When is a German eagle a Nazi eagle?” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 2, 2016. Mirrored here.
Flags of Nazi Germany, including ‘Podiumflaggen’ (podium flags).
“Political and Civil Flags of the Third Reich 1932-1945,” by Pete Loeser.
“The Nazi Eagles of Berlin,” from Digital Cosmonaut, documenting surviving depictions of the Reichsadler and Parteiadler in Berlin today.
“The Federal Eagle,” published by Deutscher Bundestag (German Federal Parliament).

Katou Tateo (_加藤建夫) and the 64th Sentai_:

Wikipedia pages for Katou Tateo (加藤建夫), and the propaganda film about Katou's squadron (Englishand Japanese).
A forum thread featuring numerous historical photos of Katou's emblem on planes of the 64th Sentai.
The opening to the propaganda film about Katou's squadron, featuring the song and a version of the eagle emblem.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

4.3: The Cobalt Blue Planet

Sat, 20 Nov 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

With last week's general discussion of the plot of Char's Counterattack out of the way, it's time to start diving deep on specific aspects of the film. This week: environmental justice advocate Colin joins us to discuss the environment, and environmentalism, in Char's Counterattack. Plus in the research Thom explores what it might mean that the Federation is headquartered in Lhasa while Nina looks at how a 1988 audience might have responded to talk of 'nuclear winter'. From the Talkback

In preparation for our conversation, Colin had us read "Principles of Environmental Justice" by the Delegates to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit held on October 24-27, 1991, and "The Progressive Plantation" by Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin.
You can find Colin on Twitter at @padgettish and listen to them co-host for Wow! Cool Robot!!'s coverage of Zeta Gundam, or their own much less serious podcast about Medabots at Medawatch.
They also recommended the Environmental Justice Network as a resource.

Lhasa, Tibet

Timeline of major events in Tibetan history from the BBC.
Tibetan history via Britannica.
Wikipedia pages for the history of Tibet, Lhasa, the 5th Dalai Lama, Tibet under Qing rule, and Mongol invasions of Tibet.

General Tibetan history:

“Tibetan Nation: A History Of Tibetan Nationalism And Sino-tibetan Relations,” by Warren Smith. Routledge. 1997.
Tourist guide to the Potala Palace (which definitely appears in the movie) and the Jokhang Temple (which probably does). By She Jingwei for China Global Television Network, Mar. 26, 2019. Available at https://news.cgtn.com/news/3d3d514d30496a4e33457a6333566d54/index.html.

Recent History: Tibet and China:

“Tibet, China and the United States: Reflections on the Tibet Question.” By Melvyn C. Goldstein for The Atlantic Council of the United States. 1995. Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20061106021854/http://cc.purdue.edu/~wtv/tibet/article/art4.html.
Topgyal, Tsering. “Identity Insecurity and the Tibetan Resistance Against China.” Pacific Affairs 86, no. 3 (2013): 515–38. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43590713.
“The Monastery as a Medium of Tibetan Culture,” Donald S. Lopez, Jr. For Cultural Survival Quarterly Magazine. March 1988. Available at https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/monastery-medium-tibetan-culture.
“Timeline of Destruction of Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries in China,” by Alexander Berzin. 1994. Available at https://studybuddhism.com/en/advanced-studies/history-culture/buddhism-in-east-asia/timeline-of-destruction-of-tibetan-buddhist-monasteries-in-china
“Threat from Tibet? Systemic Repression of Tibetan Buddhism in China,” by Ryan Cimmino for Harvard International Review. Sept. 16, 2018. Available at https://hir.harvard.edu/repression-tibetan-buddhism-china/. “Genocide in Tibet,” by Maura Moynihan for the Washington Post, Jan. 25, 1998. Available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1998/01/25/genocide-in-tibet/27c0891c-57f1-4a7c-b873-a1071d93cbfd
“’Prosecute them with Awesome Power’ - China’s Crackdown on Tengdro Monastery and Restrictions on Communications in Tibet.” Human Rights Watch. July 6, 2021. Available at https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/07/06/prosecute-them-awesome-power/chinas-crackdown-tengdro-monastery-and-restrictions
International Resolutions and Recognition on Tibet (1959 to 2004), assembled by Lobsang Nyandak Zayul for the Department of Information and International Relations, Central Tibetan Administration. Available at https://tibet.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/International-rsolutions-on-Tibet.pdf
The Dalai Lama:
“Chronology of Events [in the Dalai Lama’s life].” From the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Available at https://www.dalailama.com/the-dalai-lama/events-and-awards/chronology-of-events “14th Dalai Lama,” by Britannica. Available at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dalai-Lama-14th/Life-in-exile
“Dalai Lama caught in the middle as India and China reboot ties,” by Sugam Pokharel for CNN. March 30, 2018. Available at https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/30/asia/india-tibet-china-dalai-lama-intl/index.html
“Dalai Lama opens exhibit of Tibetan art at Ueno,” by Ray Mahon for Stars and Stripes. Sept. 28, 1967. Available at https://www.stripes.com/news/dalai-lama-opens-exhibit-of-tibetan-art-at-ueno-1.18977.

The 1980s Negotiations:

Norbu, Dawa. “China’s Dialogue With the Dalai Lama 1978-90: Prenegotiation Stage of Dead End?” Pacific Affairs 64, no. 3 (1991): 351–72. https://doi.org/10.2307/2759468.
“Tibet 1985: The Last Fact-Finding Delegation - A Personal Account” by Tenzin Phuntsok Atisha.” 2020. Available at https://www.atc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Tibet-1985-EBOOK.pdf.
A report about the 1980s negotiations, based on declassified documents created by US officials at the time. “U.S. Officials Hoped Chinese Liberalization Program for Tibet in Early 1980s Would Bring Significant Improvements,” by Robert A. Wampler for National Security Archive. Feb. 28, 2013. Available at https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB414/.
Press release: “Sino-Tibetan Contacts to Resume,” by Chhime R. Chhoekyapa from the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, including an annexed timeline of negotiations between the Dalai Lama and Beijing. May 2, 2008. Available at https://www.c3sindia.org/geopolitics-strategy/sino-tibetan-contacts-to-resume/
Additional relevant Wikipedia entries on the "Great Game," the 1959 Tibetan uprising, Tibetan unrest 1987-1989, the Tibet Autonomous Region, Chushi Gangdruk, the Tibetan independence movement, the Convention of Lhasa, and the Seventeen Point Agreement.

Japan, Chernobyl, & Nuclear Anxiety

Wikipedia pages for the Chernobyl disaster, its effects, and its cultural impact,
Page on the Chernobyl accident from the World Nuclear Association.
About the "Red Forest."
Page on the "Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident."
Wikipedia pages for the band The Blue Hearts (ザ・ブルーハーツ), and for "On Your Mark," the Change and Aska song with the Ghibli/Miyazaki AMV (anime music video).
Radiophobia.
Specific pages on the nuclear-power debate, the anti-nuclear movement (in general and in Japan), and anti-nuclear organizations.
Japanese-language page on the anti-nuclear movement.
Website for the Citizens Nuclear Information Center (原子力資料情報室) (shortened to CNIC), a Japanese anti-nuclear organization (in Japanese),
History and timeline for CNIC (in English).
CNIC English-language newsletters, Oct. 1987, Dec.1987, and Jan-Feb 1988.

Contemporary articles the Chernobyl disaster:

Silk, L. (1986, May 02). Economic scene|: Chernobyl's world impact. New York Times (1923-) Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/economic-scene/docview/110930284/se-2?accountid=35927 Hudson, Richard L., Terence Roth. "Chernobyl: Coping with Consequences --- Lingering Fallout: A Year Later, Mishap at Chernobyl Damps Atom-Power Industry --- Siemens Plant-Building Unit Battles Germany's Greens, Seeks to Reassure Public --- in Britain, Cuddly Reactors." Wall Street Journal Apr 23 1987, Eastern edition ed.: 1. ProQuest. 10 Nov. 2021.
STUART D. "BIG AREA STRICKEN: SPREAD OF RADIOACTIVITY WAS FAR GREATER THAN INDICATED BEFORE FALLOUT FROM CHERNOBYL DISASTER AFFECTED LARGER AREA THAN FIRST REPORTED." New York Times (1923-) Aug 22 1986: 2. ProQuest. 10 Nov. 2021.
Taylor, Robert E. "Scope of Chernobyl Accident is Unclear to West as Fallout Continues to Spread." Wall Street Journal May 05 1986, Eastern edition ed.: 1. ProQuest. 10 Nov. 2021.
"Panel Says Japan should Boost Nuclear Power use." Wall Street Journal Jul 21 1986, Eastern edition ed.: 1. ProQuest. 10 Nov. 2021.
WEINSTEIN, BERNARD L. and HAROLD T. GROSS. "Japan is Spending Heavily to Avoid Oil." New York Times (1923-), Mar 27, 1988, pp. 1. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/japan-is-spending-heavily-avoid-oil/docview/110543916/se-2?accountid=35927.
ERIK E. "After Accident at the Soviet Station, Nuclear Power is Questioned again." New York Times (1923-), May 02, 1986, pp. 1. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/after-accident-at-soviet-station-nuclear-power-is/docview/110943137/se-2?accountid=35927.

4.2: Inescapable Moebius Loop

Sat, 13 Nov 2021 05:02:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap and discuss Mobile Suit Gundam Char's Counterattack (機動戦士ガンダム逆襲のシャア), while trying to avoid spoiling the discussions coming up in future episodes. Before we dig in to the movie itself, Thom presents research on how and why Char's Counterattack got made - background information on the production, tie-in novels, and other versions of the story. We also discuss how we'll be pronouncing a number of the names in the film.

The Other Counterattacks

Japanese-language Interviews with various staff for CCA, including producer Uchida Kenji.
Much of the information about the production timeline is based on information and images collected in this discussion on Twitter.
Japanese-language summary of Beltorchika's Children.
Different Japanese language blog entries with some details about Hi-Streamer and Beltorchika's Children including publication dates.
Translated version of the original Zeta proposal (but be warned that this incorporates antisemitic conspiracy theories).
Interviews with Nagano Mamoru and Izubuchi Yutaka, both touching on the behind-the-scenes of Char's Counterattack.
Japanese Wikipedia page on 'Gaia Gear' (aka Mobile Suit Gaia Gear: Char's Counterattack).
Japanese-language commentary on Beltorchika's Children.
And of course... Beltorchika's Children itself:

富野由悠季 (Tomino Yoshiyuki), 機動戦士ガンダム逆襲のシャア―ベルトーチカ・チルドレン (Beltorchika's Children). Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko (1988). From the Talkback

Oshii Mamoru talks about Char's Counterattack (including the politically-charged language).
Japanese-language explanation of the Buddhist origins for the commonly used word 邪魔 (じゃま / jama).
The demon in question.
Japanese-language explanation of the differences between 粛清 (purge) and 粛正 (purge).

Music

"Dangerous Tonight" by VYVCH.
"Noise to Flange Tag" and "The Placing Rule," both by Small Colin and available here.
"Cold War Echo" and "November," by Kai Engel.
"Onistwave" by P C III.
"Immersive" by Sergey Cheremisinov.
"Garden of Untamed Roses (Act II)" by Lloyd Rodgers.

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Season 4 Extra: The History of the Universal Century So Far (Char's Counterattack Edition)

Sat, 13 Nov 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This special bonus episode is a companion for Season 4 of Mobile Suit Breakdown. It's a brief recap of the history of the Universal Century up to the start of CCA, for the benefit of anyone who wants a refresher on how we got here.

Normally this would be included in one of our regular numbered episodes. We had scheduled it for episode 4.2, but since that episode wound up being more than 3 hours long, we made the call to split this section out and release it separately as a short bonus.

The music used in this episode included: The Dance of the Sky by MMFFF, Grey Sky Piece by Rutger Muller, Golden Riddles, Echoes and Points (Act II) by Lloyd Rogers, and New York City (Instrumental) by spinningmerkaba.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

4.1: Beyond the Time

Sat, 06 Nov 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week begins our coverage of Char's Counterattack with... a bunch of things that happened before Char's Counterattack. We recap and discuss the first two SD shorts, - both of which were shown in theaters before the Char's Counterattack movie: “Fierce Fighting - Will Gundam Stand Up!?” (激闘編 - ガンダム大地に立てるか!?) and “Holiday - The Menace of the Zeon Hotel? Destruction orders for the Gundam Pension!” (休日編 - ジオン・ホテルの脅威？ガンダム・ペンション破壊命令!!). In addition to our first thoughts and impressions, we try to identify and explain references, puns, and other gags that might be missed by an audience that doesn't speak Japanese. Thom researches the origins of the SD or "Super Deformed" aesthetic in anime and anime merchandise, and I give a whirlwind review of world events from the end of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ to the premier of Char's Counterattack - February 22nd, 1986 until March 12th, 1988.

Contemporary Events

Wikipedia timelines for 1986 and 1987.
More detailed information about the Khian Sea waste-disposal incident, and the Goiânia accident.
About "Our Common Future" (aka the Brundtland Report), and estimated world-population milestones.
The (financial markets) Big Bang, a timeline of Japan's asset price bubble, Black Monday 1987, and the Economist's "Big Mac Index."
A March 2020 article about the use of the "circuit breaker" during the financial shocks caused by Covid-19 lockdowns and related uncertainty.
The Kurdish genocide (aka the Anfal campaign), the 1987 "Mecca incident," the Sumgait pogrom, and the first Intifada.
Explanation of the Leiyu massacre.
More detailed timeline and explanation of the June Struggle.
All about the Iran-Contra scandal.
Wikipedia pages about Klaus Barbie (the "Butcher of Lyon") and the warcrimes allegations against Kurt Waldheim.
In Cold War notes, the history and content of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the drafting and belated fame of Reagan's "Tear down this wall" speech, and Perestroika.
How the Seville Statement on Violence came to be, the contents, and critiques.
Diego Maradona and the 1986 FIFA World Cup.
The slang phrase "going Postal" and its origins in US Postal Service workplace shootings.
The 1980s in Japan specifically.
Tokyo Weekender article about the 1980s news stories that garnered the most public attention in Japan.

SD Gundam's Origins

A basic explainer of SD Gundam from Bandai itself: Part 1 and Part 2.
Anime News Network Encyclopedia Entry for Choro-Q Dougram.
Settei (setting documents) showing character heights (and head sizes) in First Gundam.
Japanese-language interview with Kouji Yokoi (横井孝二), an early innovator of SD art often cited as the creator of SD Gundam.
Archived version of a different interview with Yokoi.
Japanese Wikipedia page for Kouji Yokoi (横井孝二).
Japanese Wikipedia page for SD Gundam.
This page from Space Battleship Yamato fan Tim Eldred features some photos taken from old issues of _Model Information, giving a sense for the kinds of photos included alongside SD fan art._
This blog has scans of other pages (including fan art and model photos) from _Model Information. _A drawing of Aura Battler Dunbine (written Ohlah Battler Dunbine) by Yokoi is included in one shot.
Image showing some of the RoboChanMan toys.
Early SD designs by Yokoi.
SD-styled horror monsters, made in 1986 by Bandai.
A Yokoi Zaku that appeared on instruction manuals for RoboChanMan.
Detailed and image-rich Japanese-language blog post about the origins of SD Gundam.

Gags & References in the First Two SD Gundam Shorts

The History of Gunpla from gunpla101.com.
About tanning-as-beauty-trend in Japan, by Japanese cosmetics and skincare company, Kanebo.
An article on the history of light therapy from 1900-1950. Doesn't address Japan directly, and obviously doesn't cover the 1980s, but includes pictures of the kind of sunlamp that appears in the first SD Gundam short.
From TV Tropes - the 'lots of luggage' and 'human pack-mule' tropes.
A tweet from professor of early modern and modern Japanese religions, Takashi Miura, featuring art inspired by traditional depictions of the warrior-monk Benkei. If you click through the images, he also posted some of the original art of Benkei (Saitō Musashibō Benkei / 西塔武蔵坊弁慶), and explains that the tools arrayed behind him represent the "low-wage laborers whom he protects."
Jisho.org page for the word あげる (ageru), listing multiple meanings and their different kanji. There is also a jisho.org page for the colloquial expression 揚げ足 (age-ashi) that the first SD short makes a visual pun on (literally - fried leg).
This dictionary was a big help as well: Chie, Yamane. “あげあしをとる.” 研究社　日本語口語表現辞典　Kenkyusha Nihongo Kogo Hyogen Jiten, 2nd ed., Kenkyusha, Tokyo, 2020, p. 11.
A bit about Japanese tea ceremony.
Wikipedia pages on the games Go and Reversi. The Reversi page has a section on the Othello version/ruleset.
About the common ostrich.
A source discussing the changing methods of measuring the speed of a baseball and the introduction of radar guns in the 1970s and 80s, and a post from a baseball performance-training company about ball exit-speed.
Wikipedia's list of baseball video games.
Jisho.org search for the word のり (nori).
Wondering about the samurai with one arm out of his kimono sleeve is apparently pretty common. Here are two responses, one on Quora and one on Reddit's "Ask Historians" subreddit. It is also covered very briefly in this article from TimeOut Tokyo about kimono.

Music

The music in the SD recap sections is "Hyson" by Olivia and "Dawn" by Mr. Smith.

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3.47: Episode 47... Again

Sat, 11 Sep 2021 20:30:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week we revisit the final episode of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ in light of the first draft of the episode 47 script recently shared by Gundam expert Mark Simmons. This script was written solely by Zeta Gundam and Gundam ZZ writer Endo Akinori, before being significantly re-written by head director Tomino Yoshiyuki. It stands out as a rare window into the work process behind the scenes of Gundam, and offers Nina and Thom the chance to ask... would the episode have been better without the boss' meddling?

Huge thanks this week to Mark both for making this script draft available and for translating relevant sections into English!

Original content is copyright Mobile Suit Breakdown.

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3.46: Perspective

Sat, 07 Aug 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

Warning: Due to an error, an uncensored version of this episode was briefly available for download. The error has been corrected, and we apologize for the oversight that allowed it to slip through. We encourage anyone who downloaded the episode between 12:00 AM and 6:00 AM on August 7th to re-download the corrected version.

This week, we look back on Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) as a whole. We analyze the show, assess its strengths and weaknesses, check in on its running themes, compare Judau Ashta to the protagonists of First Gundam and Zeta Gundam, and much more. Plus, Nina predicts where Gundam will go next, the final episode of the Radio Free Shangri-La radio drama, and Thom wraps up the Heike Monogatari Breakdown series of research segments.

Books Thom referenced in the research segment this week:

平家物語 (The Tale of the Heike), trans. Royall Tyler. Penguin (2012).

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3.45: Into the Wilderness

Sat, 31 Jul 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 47 - “Warrior, Once More” (戦士, 再び......), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and continuing research on the Tale of the Heike and it's influence on Double Zeta.

Books and articles Thom referenced:

平家物語 (The Tale of the Heike), trans. Royall Tyler. Penguin (2012).

Totman, Conrad D. A History of Japan. 2nd ed., Blackwell, 2011.

The poem read in the eulogy is an excerpt from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, available at Project Gutenberg.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.44: Perfect Machines and Flawed Pilots

Sat, 24 Jul 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 46 - “Vibration” (バイブレーション), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and continuing research on the Tale of the Heike and it's influence on Double Zeta.

- Books and articles Thom referenced:

平家物語 (The Tale of the Heike), trans. Royall Tyler. Penguin (2012).

Totman, Conrad D. A History of Japan. 2nd ed., Blackwell, 2011.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.43: Bring Me the Head of Haman Karn

Sat, 17 Jul 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 45 - “The Battle of Axis” (アクシズの戦闘), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and continuing research on the Tale of the Heike and it's influence on Double Zeta.

- Books and articles Thom referenced:

平家物語 (The Tale of the Heike), trans. Royall Tyler. Penguin (2012).

- About Sir Accolon of Gaul and Morgana/Morgan le Fay from Arthurian legends.

- Chivalry!

- Wikipedia page for the song "Greensleeves," and one set of lyrics for the tune.

- The recording of "Greensleeves" used in the eulogy for Mashymre is performed by Howie Mitchell & Charlotte Williams, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.42: The Puppet

Sat, 10 Jul 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 44 - “Emary's Glory” (エマリー散華), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Japanese ballad form enka, and Thom's continuing research on the Tale of the Heike and it's influence on Double Zeta.

This episode includes Epilogue (Instrumental Version) by Josh Woodward, licensed under a CC-BY license.

- Books and articles Thom referenced:

平家物語 (The Tale of the Heike), trans. Royall Tyler. Penguin (2012).

Sources of Japanese Tradition volume one, compiled by Wm. Theodore de Bary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe, and Paul Varley. Columbia UP (1958, 2nd ed., 2001).

The History of the Renaissance World: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople, Susan Wise Bauer, W. W. Norton (2013).

The Cambridge History of Japan volume two, ed. by Delmer M. Brown, John Whitney Hall, Donald H. Shively, William H. McCullough, Marius B. Jansen, Kōzō Yamamura, Peter Duus. Cambridge UP (1988)

The Future and the Past: A Translation and Study of the Gukansho, an Interpretative History of Japan written in 1219, Delmer Brown and Ichiro Ishida. University of California Press (2021).

A Brief History of the Samurai, Jonathan Clements. Little, Brown Book Group (2013).

The Samurai: A Military History, Stephen Turnbull (1977).

- Brittanica entry for Minamoto no Yoritomo.

- Article covering the development of the Heian era's elite warrior class: "Bushi: A brief history."

- English translation of an order from the Emperor Kammu abolishing the levy system and calling on local magistrates to furnish guards from their families.

- Book about enka:

Yano, Christine Reiko. Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song. Harvard Univ. Press, 2010.

- Wikipedia page about yojijukugo (四字熟語), 4-character idioms and phrases, including some common ones and their translations (異体同心 / いたいどうしん / itaidoushin among them).

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.41: The Snake Eats Its Own Tail

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 43 - “The Girl from Core 3, Part 2” (コア３の少女 (後)), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on a possible inspiration for the name of Chara's new mobile suit, and Thom's continuing research on the Tale of the Heike and it's influence on Double Zeta.

- Wikipedia page for 'grimalkin,' and a reference for passage in Macbeth that mentions 'grimalkin.'

- Papers/articles:

"grimalkin, n." OED Online, Oxford University Press, June 2021, www.oed.com/view/Entry/81487. Accessed 29 June 2021.

Raber, Karen (2016) "Response: Monster Pets," Early Modern Culture: Vol. 11 , Article 10. Available at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/emc/vol11/iss1/10

- Wikipedia pages for bakeneko and nekomata (and the same from yokai.com: bakeneko, nekomata).

- English and Japanese pages for Godolphin Arabian (and an explanation of what a "thoroughbred" is).

- Page about the children's book, King of the Wind.

- On horse-racing in Japan.

- Books and articles Thom referenced:

平家物語 (The Tale of the Heike), trans. Royall Tyler. Penguin (2012).

Sources of Japanese Tradition volume one, compiled by Wm. Theodore de Bary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe, and Paul Varley. Columbia UP (1958, 2nd ed., 2001).

The History of the Renaissance World: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople, Susan Wise Bauer, W. W. Norton (2013).

The Cambridge History of Japan volume two, ed. by Delmer M. Brown, John Whitney Hall, Donald H. Shively, William H. McCullough, Marius B. Jansen, Kōzō Yamamura, Peter Duus. Cambridge UP (1988)

The Future and the Past: A Translation and Study of the Gukansho, an Interpretative History of Japan written in 1219, Delmer Brown and Ichiro Ishida. University of California Press (2021).

A Brief History of the Samurai, Jonathan Clements. Little, Brown Book Group (2013).

The Samurai: A Military History, Stephen Turnbull (1977).

- A high resolution, annotated, zoomable image of one of the most famous scrolls depicting the massacre at the Sanjou Palace (from Princeton University).

- An overview of the Heiji disturbance, featuring high resolution photos from an ancient scroll depicting the events.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.40: Cat-eyed Chara

Sat, 26 Jun 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 42 - “The Girl from Core 3, Part 1” (コア３の少女 (前)), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the uniforms worn by the miners at Cicero asteroid, and Thom's continuing research on the Tale of the Heike and it's influence on Double Zeta.

- Books and papers consulted for the Tale of the Heike Part II - Early Retirement:

平家物語 (The Tale of the Heike), trans. Royall Tyler. Penguin (2012).

Sources of Japanese Tradition volume one, compiled by Wm. Theodore de Bary, Donald Keene, George Tanabe, and Paul Varley. Columbia UP (1958, 2nd ed., 2001).

The History of the Renaissance World: From the Rediscovery of Aristotle to the Conquest of Constantinople, Susan Wise Bauer, W. W. Norton (2013).

The Cambridge History of Japan volume two, ed. by Delmer M. Brown, John Whitney Hall, Donald H. Shively, William H. McCullough, Marius B. Jansen, Kōzō Yamamura, Peter Duus. Cambridge UP (1988).

The Future and the Past: A Translation and Study of the Gukansho, an Interpretative History of Japan written in 1219, Delmer Brown and Ichiro Ishida. University of California Press (2021).

Hurst, G. Cameron. “The Reign of Go-Sanjō and the Revival of Imperial Power.” Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 27, no. 1, 1972, pp. 65–83. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2383478. Accessed 26 June 2021.

- Wikipedia pages for Emperor Go-Sanjō (後三条天皇) and Emperor Shirakawa (白河天皇).

- Wikipedia pages for tobi trousers (aka Nikkapokka, Nikka zubon) and knickerbockers.

- Jisho.org page for tobi/とび/鳶.

- Blog post "Japanese Construction Worker Fashion" with some historical information, conversations with construction workers, and lots of pictures of construction workers, catalogues, and shops.

- Article from Esquire about tobi pants as fashion.

- Wikipedia page on Imperial Japanese Army uniforms, including photos and period posters showing the knickbocker pants as part of some uniforms.

- Article and photo series on construction worker clothes in Japan.

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3.39: Panic! At the Theme Park

Sat, 12 Jun 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 41 - “Rasara's Life” (ラサラの命), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the the Tale of the Heike, and how this classic of Japanese literature may have influenced Zeta and Double Zeta.

- For the Tale of the Heike itself and background on the role of the Fujiwara clan in government and the rivalry between the emperors Toba, Sutoku, Konoe, and Go-Shirakawa:

平家物語 (The Tale of the Heike), trans. Royall Tyler. Penguin (2012).

- An outline of the social, economic, and governance system that was in place at the beginning of the Heian Era: 'The Taika Reforms' in the New World Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, and Britannica.

- Further background on the Heian Era and changes that occurred during it from Brittanica, and an overview of the Heian Era with particular focus on the development of Japanese culture during this period from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

- From Yokai.com, an illustrated English-language database of demons, ghosts, and other monsters of Japanese folklore - the Emperor Sutoku.

- Brief biographies of the emperors mentioned in this piece (and paintings!): Emperor Toba, Emperor Sutoku, Emperor Konoe, and Emperor Go-Shirakawa.

- For the shōen or 'estates' system that developed during the late Heian Era and undermined the central government, this brief overview places them in context with other political challenges and changes. There's a more extensive discussion here.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.38: Like Looking in a Mirror

Sat, 05 Jun 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 40 - “Tigerbaum Dream” (タイガーバウムの夢), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Haw Par Corporation and Tiger Balm Gardens in Singapore and Hong Kong.

- US website for the Tiger Balm line of products.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for Tiger Balm.

- Website for Tiger Balm’s parent company, the Haw Par Corporation (虎豹企業有限公司), and the Wikipedia page for the Haw Par Corporation.

- About Chinese Renaissance architecture.

- Haw Par Villa, Singapore's website and Wikipedia page.

- Very short article about Haw Par Villa, Singapore, with some photos from inside "The Ten Courts of Hell."

- About the “Four Asian Tiger” economies.

- Wikipedia page for Tiger Balm Garden, Hong Kong and the Haw Par Mansion.

- Wikimedia Commons photos of Tiger Balm Garden, Hong Kong and Haw Par Mansion.

- Video of Tiger Balm Garden, Hong Kong, from the 1949-1960, and from 2015 (just before it closed).

- Image searches for “Haw Par Villa” (Getty Images / Alamy) and “Tiger Balm Garden” (Getty Images / Alamy).

- The photo of statues of beautiful, smiling, nude women, that I can't verify is from Tiger Balm Gardens, but the poster says is from a family trip there in 1965.

- Two articles from Zolima City Mag: one about Adrian Wong's installation "The Tiger Returns to the Mountain" (inspired by Tiger Balm Garden), and one about Tiger Balm Garden and the Haw Par Mansion's history and future.

- A New York Times Article from 1985 about the Tiger Balm Garden, Hong Kong’s 50th Anniversary restoration.

- Memories of Tiger Balm Garden, particularly the part depicting hell.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

3.37: What's the Plan Here?

Sat, 29 May 2021 01:30:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 39 - “The Second Coming of Sarasa” (サラサ再臨), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the story of the Trojan Horse.

- An outline of the Epic Cycle poems with English translations of their surviving fragments, by Hugh Evelyn-White.

- An annotated version of the Evelyn-White translations that offers additional context about the characters involved as well as the back story of the fragments.

- Translations of the surviving summaries of the the Epic Cycle poems, by Gregory Nagy. The summaries are attributed to one 'Proclus' about whom we know very little.

- Public domain translation of The Odyssey, translated by Samuel Butler.

- Public domain translation of The Aeneid, translated by John Dryden.

- Public domain translation of The Posthomerica (or The Fall of Troy) by Quintus Smyrnaeus (Quintus of Smyrna), translated by A. S. Way.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for the White Base, including the anecdote about a Clover exec saying it looked like a rocking horse.

- Jisho.org page for "Trojan Horse" in Japanese.

- How many days happen in the Iliad, anyway?

- The Library (or Bibliotheca) of Apollodorus (or Pseudo-Apollodorus) and including the reconstructed Epitome covering the Trojan war, translated by Sir James George Frazer.

- Internet archive e-book version of 'The Library.'

- A history of the surviving text of The Library:

Diller, Aubrey. “The Text History of the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus.” Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, vol. 66, 1935, pp. 296–313. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/283301. Accessed 2 June 2021.

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3.36: Maiden Voyage

Sat, 22 May 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 38 - “The Iron Wall of the Jamru Fin” (鉄壁, ジャムル·フィン), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on blood-type personality theory.

Wikipedia page for Type A and Type B personality theory, and a Huffpo article about the Type A personality type.
Wikipedia page for blood-type personality theory, and for Nomi Masahiko (能見正比古).
BBC articles about burahara (blood harassment) and an overview of blood-type personality theory and its history and popularity in Japan.
Chart of distribution of different blood types by country.
Another overview of blood-type personality theory's history, and a summary of each blood-type's characteristics.
And one more overview of the blood types' characteristics, inter-type compatibility, and how blood-type theory gets used in social situations, this time from Tofugu.
English version of the Human Science ABO Center's official website.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.35: Long Live the Argama

Sat, 15 May 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 37 - “Nahel Argama” (ネェル·アーガマ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on different shuttle-launch methods.

- NASA's Space Shuttle Propulsion Trivia page and FAQ about the shuttle program.

- Article comparing the costs of different launch methods.

- Cost assessments for the different parts of the shuttle program.

- What happened to the last surviving external fuel tank from the shuttle program?

- The space shuttle by the numbers.

- NASA information page about the external fuel tank.

- Space shuttle orbiter dimensions.

- Information on the external solid rocket boosters.

- Wikipedia page on air-launch-to-orbit.

- 1998 rundown of designs for reusable launch vehicles, including some designed for air-launch-to-orbit.

- 2006 article about Kazakhstan and Russia collaborating on an air-launch-to-orbit system for satellites.

- 2007 conceptual design for a supersonic air-launch-to-orbit system.

- A brief look back on the history of Mass Driver research.

- 2019 assessment of Mass Drivers by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers:

E. Inger, "Mass Driver Design Traveling Earth to the Moon," in IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 161034-161039, 2019, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2950882. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8889556

- 2012 report on the StarTram mass driver design, by Lisa Zyga for Phys.org.

- Wikipedia article on the proof of concept mass driver built by Gerard O'Neill and team.

- 1977 newsletter for the L-5 Society (a space exploration enthusiast group) which mentions the demonstration of the O'Neill mass driver.

- A detailed explanation of the function and benefits of lunar mass drivers.

- 1980 article from the same L-5 Society newsletter with an update on progress on the Mass Driver project.

- 1994 paper proposing a mass driver-style launch system dubbed "MagLifter" by John C. Mankins.

- 2003 paper examining the proposed 'MagLifter' maglev mass driver system.

- Wikipedia page for 'rocket sled launches', a similar launching method that could be combined with a mass driver.

- Article about the US Navy's experimental mass driver-like rail gun and how might be used in space exploration.

- The Radio Free Shangri-La segment this week includes "Military march music" by humanoide9000, used pursuant to a CC BY attribution license.

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3.34: The Pillar of Heaven

Sat, 08 May 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 36 - “Ple 2 Under Gravity” (重力下プルツー), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the history of cloning technology.

- Encyclopedia Britannica page on cloning generally, and a BBC timeline of animal-cloning.

- "The History of Cloning" from the University of Utah.

- Wikipedia pages for Robert Briggs, Thomas King, Tong Dizhou, and Steen Willadsen.

- Explanation of "cell potency."

- About David Rorvik (the former-journalist who wrote about his involvement in the alleged case of human cloning).

- The US Food and Drug Administration page on "Myths about Cloning."

- NIH National Human Genome Research Institute "Cloning Fact Sheet."

- Articles:

Robert G. McKinnell, Marie A. Di Berardino, The Biology of Cloning: History and Rationale, BioScience, Volume 49, Issue 11, November 1999, Pages 875–885, https://doi.org/10.2307/1313647

Liao, Lianming et al. “Stem cell research in China.” Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences vol. 362,1482 (2007): 1107-12. doi:10.1098/rstb.2007.2037. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2435574/.

Sullivan, Walter. “First Cloning of Mammals Produces 3 Mice.” The New York Times, 4 Jan. 1981, Section 1, pp. 1. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/04/us/first-cloning-of-mammals-produces-3-mice.html

Budiansky S. Karl Illmensee: NIH withdraws research grant. Nature. 1984 Jun 28-Jul 4;309(5971):738. doi: 10.1038/309738a0. PMID: 6738687. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6738687/

Newmark, Peter. “Illmensee Inquiry: Fraud Charge Unproven, Researcher Resumes Duties.” Nature, vol. 307, no. 5953, 1984, pp. 673–673., doi:10.1038/307673a0. https://www.nature.com/articles/307673a0.pdf?origin=ppub.

Paul, Darcy A. “The Historical Development of Cloning Technology and the Role of Regulation in Ensuring Responsible Applications (2003 Third Year Paper).” Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard, 2003, http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:8852108.

- The eulogy in this episode includes the song 'world of ruin' by Damiano Baldiano, licensed under a Creative Common Attribution license.

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3.33: Hero of the One Year War

Sat, 01 May 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 35 - “Falling Sky” (落ちてきた空), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary on the use of Ireland as a setting in Gundam with special-guest Sarah McCostumes!

- Sarah's Twitter account, and the Twitter for the podcast they're a part of, "Wow!! Cool Robot!!!"

- Sarah's YouTube video, "What Mobile Suit Gundam Can Teach Us About Fashion Theory."

- Articles about the role of women in the Troubles (which Sarah discusses in relation to Miharu in First Gundam).

- The book Sarah quoted was: Mulholland, Marc. Northern Ireland: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2020.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

3.32: The Relentless Machine

Sat, 17 Apr 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 34 - "Kamille's Voice” (カミーユの声) discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research Dublin as depicted in the episode, and the inspiration for Beech Mansion.

- General background on Dublin from Britannica and Wikipedia, as well as two overviews of the history of Dublin, a page on the River Liffey, and one about the Protestant Ascendancy.

- About O'Connell Street, it's monuments, and specifically the O'Connell Monument.

- More detail (with photos) on the various parts/tiers of the O'Connell Monument, and pictures of some of the bullet holes in the monument.

- One of the buildings from the show (next to the statue) demolished in the 1916 Easter Rising.

- A later incident in which the O'Connell monument was bombed by loyalists during the Troubles.

- Picture of the O'Connell Bridge.

- About O'Connell generally (Britannica and Wikipedia), and as an abolitionist.

- The Oath of Supremacy that prevented Catholics from serving in government, Catholic emancipation, and the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829.

- The General Post Office, Dublin, and a picture of the same building, burned out in the Easter Rising.

- The Custom House: picture of the front, old photo of the Custom House before it was burned, and additional information about the burning of the Custom House.

- Topographical map showing the lack of hills north of Dublin except for Howth Hill.

- Beech Mansion aka Buna Yashiki aka ぶな屋敷 (dictionary entries for ぶな (buna) and 屋敷 (yashiki)).

- About beech trees.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for ぶな屋敷.

- Japanese Wikipedia pages for the collection in which the Beech Mansion story appeared, noting the special popularity of the 1980s Granada Holmes version, and for the Granada Holmes adaptation itself.

- Japanese fansite for the series, and the fanzine's page on the Adventure of the Copper Beeches.

- Page on 'Holmes in Japan' presented by the Japan Sherlock Holmes Club.

- Japanese text of the Adventure of the Copper Beeches / ぶな屋敷, and an English-language overview of the story.

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3.31: Peace in Our Time

Sat, 10 Apr 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 33 - "Afternoon in Dublin” (ダブリンの午後) discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on this episode's Animation Director, Kanayama Akihiro (金山明博), and Unit Director, Imanishi Takashi (今西隆志).

Pages about Kanayama Akihiro (金山明博) on Japanese Wikipedia, Anime News Network (ANN), and IMDB (the IMDB page is incomplete).
ANN article about Kanayama attending Japan Expo USA 2014, and an interview with Kanayama from the expo itself.
About a solo exhibition of Kanayama's work in 2017.
About JAniCA (Japanese Animation Creators Association).
Pages about Imanishi Takashi (今西隆志) on Japanese Wikipedia, ANN, and IMDB, as well as the IMDB page for his pseudonym, Oukuma Asahide (大熊朝秀). You can see him credited under both names (Imanishi for Director and Oukuma for Writer) on the Wikipedia page for Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (obviously, spoiler warning if you haven't seen this show yet).
Japanese Wikipedia page for the historical figure Oukuma Asahide (大熊朝秀).
English-language pages about director Nagahama Tadao (長浜忠夫) and the Robot Romance Trilogy.
ANN page for color designer/setter Imanishi Kiyoko (今西清子) (maiden name Takashima (高島)), and her two IMDB pages: under her maiden name and under her married name.
Japanese-language page with general information about Imanishi Takashi, that includes mention of him being very drunk at an official event, and an English-language blog post discussing the possibility that Imanishi's drunkenness at an important prescreening led to career consequences.

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3.30: The Last Days of August

Sat, 03 Apr 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 32 - "Across the Salt Lake” (塩の湖を越えて) discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on pipelines in Algeria.

- About the real Chott Melrhir.

- Detailed overview of Algeria's hydrocarbon industry from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

- Less detailed overview from OPEC.

- Map of the major external pipelines in Algeria. The purple line leading northeast from Hassi R'Mel is the Trans-Mediterranean Pipeline, and the light green area where it passes near to the Tunisian border is the rough location of Chott Melrhir.

- Map of Algeria's domestic pipelines.

- News articles about Sonatrach's on-again-off-again plans to build a refinery in Biskra, near the site of the future one the Karaba forces are guarding in Gundam ZZ:

2012: Algeria Advances Refining Expansion With Start Of Biskra Construction

2016: Algeria’s Sonatrach lets contracts for three new refineries

2018: Plans for new oil refineries inch forward

2020: Algeria’s Sonatrach lets contract for grassroots refinery noting that plans for the Biskra refinery seem to have stalled

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Bonus Episode: MSB Presents a Complete History of the Mecha Anime Genre

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

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3.29: King of a Mole Hill

Sat, 27 Mar 2021 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 31 - "Blue Corps, Part 2” (青の部隊 (後)) discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on religion in postwar Japan and the history of Islam in Japan.

- Books and articles:

Basabe, Fernando M., et al. Japanese Youth Confronts Religion: A Sociological Survey. Sophia University. Tokyo, Rutland, Vt: Charles E. Tuttle, 1968.

Roemer, Michael. “Religious Affiliation in Contemporary Japan: Untangling the Enigma.” Review of Religious Research, vol. 50, no. 3, 2009, pp. 298–320. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25593743. Accessed 9 Feb. 2021.

Asia in the Making of Europe: Volume I, the Century of Discovery, by Donald F. Lach, University of Chicago Press, 1994, pp. 505–518. Accessed here.

Bodde, Derk. “Japan and the Muslims of China.” Far Eastern Survey, vol. 15, no. 20, 1946, pp. 311–313. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3021860. Accessed 23 Mar. 2021.

Symonds, Shannon Reed. “A History of Japanese Religion: from Ancient Times to Present.” The College at Brockport: State University of New York, History at Digital Commons @Brockport, 2005. Accessed here.

- General pages on religion in Japan from Britannica and Nippon.com.

- Wikipedia pages for Japan Sinks (日本沈没) and Prophecies of Nostradamus (ノストラダムスの大予言) (popular apocalyptic fiction from 1970s).

- General page on Islam in Japan.

- About Ibn Khordadbeh, 9th century Persian geographer.

- Wikipedia page for the Black Dragon Society (黒竜会/kokuryūkai).

- Pages about Umar Mita, the Japanese Muslim whose 1972 translation of the Qur'an I mention in the podcast. Both pages include background information on Islam in Japan.

- Article from the Asia-Pacific Journal - Japan Focus about local mosques and the day-to-day lives of Muslims in Japan.

- Wikipedia pages for Kawauchi Kōhan (川内康範) (and for his 1960 series, Messenger of Allah / アラーの使者), Dewi Sukarno, and Muhammad Hussain Inoki (aka Antonio Inoki / アントニオ猪木).

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3.28: Blue Bloods

Sat, 20 Mar 2021 00:45:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 30 - "Blue Corps, Part 1” (青の部隊 (前)) discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Franks.

- Books and articles:

Edward James, The Franks, Blackwell 1988.

Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Taking stock of the Franks: South Asian views of Europeans and Europe, 1500-1800, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 42, 1 (2005).

Jonathan Shepard, The Uses of the Franks in Eleventh-Century Byzantium, Anglo-Norman Studies XV, Boydell Press (1993).

Vedran Sulovsky, German, Roman and Frankish: The National Narratives of the Early Hohenstaufen Era (1138-1190). Available at https://www.academia.edu/36843759/German_Roman_and_Frankish_The_National_Narratives_of_the_Early_Hohenstaufen_Era_1138_1190_and_Their_Influence_on_High_Politics.

Anthony Reid, Early Southeast Asian Categorizations of Europeans, in Charting the Shape of Early Modern Southeast Asia, Silkworm Books (2000).

Szymon Wierzbinski, Normans and Other Franks in 11th Century Byzantium: the Careers of the Adventurers before the Rule of Alexius I Comnenus, Studia Ceranea 4, 2014.

- Thom also listened to Gary Girod's "The French History Podcast," episodes 26 - 45. Available at thefrenchhistorypodcast.com.

- Wikipedia page for the Roman foederati.

- Pages for the Franks, Francia, Clovis I, and the Merovingian Dynasty.

- About the Mediterranean Lingua Franca.

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3.27: Footprints in the Sand

Sat, 13 Mar 2021 01:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 29 - "Runaway Roux” (ルーの逃亡) discuss our first impressions, and talk to physics consultant and friend-of-the-podcast Iraj about the physics of the Audhumla's battle with the Sadalahn in Dakar.

- Regarding the correction made for our last episode, on the pronunciation of W. E. B. Du Bois name, this blog post quotes Du Bois own letters, and his description of how to pronounce his name.

- Zeonic Scanlations' translation of a B-CLUB 15 article on the Gundam ZZ background notes.

- Additional music credit for the RFS: "Way Out West" by Twin Musicom (twinmusicom.org) licensed under a CCBY Creative Commons Attribution License.

- Notes from Iraj on the question of using water spray to deflect a beam weapon.

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3.26: My Turn To Be Happy

Sat, 27 Feb 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 28 - "Leina's Blood, Part 2” (リィナの血 (後)) discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Pan-Africanism.

Wikipedia pages for the Pan-African colors and Pan-African flag.
Ethiopian history, and a source for the Ethiopian flag as the source of the Pan-African colors: Smith, Whitney. Flag Lore of All Nations. Millbrook Press, 2003.
About Theodosia Okoh, the artist and statesperson who designed Ghana's flag (including her description of the symbolism of the flag's colors).
Pages about Pan-Africanism from Wikipedia and the Pan African Development Education and Advocacy Programme.
BBC article about the Organisation of African Unity conference in 1963.
Article examining the different views of Japanese Imperialism by Black intellectuals in the United States.
Series of Articles from “Africana Age: African and African Diasporan Transformations in the 20th Century,” a project from the New York Public Library’s Schomburg-Mellon Humanities Summer Institute / Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (accessed via Wayback Machine): 1. Pan Africanism 2. W. E. B. Du Bois 3. Marcus Garvey 4. Africa - 1980-2010 5. The Black Power Movement
Timeline of decolonization in Africa.
About the Angolan Civil War.
Wikipedia pages for Marcus Garvey and Kwame Nkrumah.
The definition of neocolonialism that I referenced.
The poem from the farewell is Auf Wiedersehen by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

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3.25: The Demon Judau

Sat, 20 Feb 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 27 - "Leina's Blood, Part 1” (リィナの血 (前)) discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Pentax cameras and the mobile suits that appear in this episode.

- Pentax Brand overview and a brief history of the Asahi Optical Corporation.

- Wikipedia page for Pentax.

- A Brief History of Japanese Binocular Production, by Peter Abrahams.

_- One example of the kind of thing Asahi Optical made during the war. _

- About Super-Multi Coating (SMC).

- What is a pentaprism?

- Camera innovations in 1983 (when the Pentax Super A was released).

- A detailed review of the Super A/Super Program.

- The Pentax manuals for the Super A/Super Program and Program A/Program Plus showing design features like the illuminating window and the Prontor-Compur terminals.

- Early auto-focusing cameras from the '80s, including the Pentax ME-F and its competitors.

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3.24: Lonely Hearts

Sat, 13 Feb 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 26 - "Masai's Heart” (マサイの心) discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the setting: rock formations, architecture, desert trees, inspiration for Masai's name, and just where exactly is the Gundam team, anyway?

Petsu-chan's Twitter thread about the Gundam team's route around Africa [SPOILER WARNING - covers episodes not yet covered by Mobile Suit Breakdown].
Papers about Mosque architecture:

Cleo Cantone, West African Mosque Architecture - A Brief Introduction, for MuslimHeritage.com. Available at https://muslimheritage.com/west-african-mosque-architecture-a-brief-introduction/.

Cleo Cantone, A Mosque in a Mosque: Some Observations on the Rue Blanchot Mosque in Dakar and its Relation to Other Mosques in the Colonial Period, Cahiers d’Études africaines, XLVI (2), 182, 2006. Available at https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/15253?lang=en (includes details about and pictures of the triangular pediment style of mosque)

The Great Mosque of Djenné / Mud Architecture, ArchEyes.com, available at https://archeyes.com/great-mud-architecture-mali-dogon-culture/

Architecture of the Sub-Saharan Civilizations, LumenLearning.com, available at https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/architecture-of-the-sub-saharan-civilizations/

Wikipedia page for the Great Mosque of Djenné.
About the Agadez Mosque in Niger, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Modern mosques designs in West Africa: Masalikul Jinaan and the Great Mosque of Touba.
Wikipedia pages for African architecture generally, and for Sungbo's Eredo and the Walls of Benin (plus the sack of Benin, 1897).
Description of architecture and urban planning in old caravan towns in Mauritania (with lots of pictures of dry-laid stone architecture).
List of deserts in Africa, with subsection on the deserts that make up the Sahara.
Photographs of sandstone pinnacles and other geological features near the Ennedi Mountains in Chad. Includes photographs that show the variety of different terrains in the are (sand dunes, gravel beds, small groups of palm trees, lava rock, etc.).
Wikipedia pages for the Hoggar Mountains, Tadrart Rouge, and Tassili n'Ajjer - all mountains in Algeria with their own beautiful rock formations.
Wikipedia page for the Aïr Mountains, which includes a photo of some rocky outcroppings near Agadez, and a photograph of some rock spires and cliffs near Bilma, Niger (found through Pinterest, and the link to the original is dead, so I can't say for sure it is what it says it is, BUT it looks right, based on other pictures from the region).
Article about the effort to use deep-learning AI to do a tree count of the Sahel Desert.
Several articles on plant life in the Sahara.
This episode's animal-friend: Uromastyx geyri, also known as the Geyr's dabb lizard, Geyr's spiny-tailed lizard, Sahara mastigure, Saharan spiny-tailed lizard, Yellow Niger Uromastyx, and Saharan yellow uromastyx.
Pages about the Maasai people from Wikipedia and the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, and a page about Masai as a given name and surname.

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3.23: Duel in the Desert pt. Deux

Sat, 06 Feb 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 25 - "Rommel's Face” (ロンメルの顔) discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the possible origins of a collection of Gundam names: the Gaza-C, Gallus-J, and Bawoo mobile suits, the character Desert Rommel, and Zeon itself.

- Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica pages on the Gaza Strip.

_- Wikipedia page for Gazami crab, and the Animal Crossing entry for the Gazami crab from Nookipedia. Today gazami is usually written ガザミ, but there are also kanji: 蝤蛑. _

_- Is Zeon actually Zion? Fred Schodt recalls that he chose the Zeon spelling to avoid any religious connotations because he assumed Tomino did not intend them. _

- For the Gallus-J: Wiktionary page on the Latin word Gallus (rooster, inhabitant of Gaul, priest of Cybele).

- Not directly related but mentioned in the segment: The Red Hand of O'Neill and the Red Hand of Ulster.

- For Desert Rommel: Britannica biography for Erwin Rommel, Myth of the Clean Wehrmacht, and the _IMDB page for the movie, "The Desert Rats" (1953). Separately, this British armored division also fighting in North Africa gave themselves the name Desert Rats. _

- Wiktionary page for the kanji (Japanese character) on the Bawoo mobile suit, and the Wikipedia page that explain hyougaiji.

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3.22: Never to Return

Sat, 30 Jan 2021 01:35:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 24 - “Sibling Love Blooms in the Southern Seas” (南海に咲く兄妹愛), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the history of childhood in Japan, and how children and childhood are characterized in the Gundam universe so-far.

- Articles:

Copeland, Rebecca. “Fashioning the Feminine: Images of the Modern Girl Student in Meiji Japan.” U.S.-Japan Women's Journal, no. 30/31, 2006, pp. 13–35. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/42771942. Accessed 26 Jan. 2021.

Endō, Mika. “Repurposing Poetry: The Emergence of Working-Class Children's Expression in Interwar Japan.” Japanese Language and Literature, vol. 50, no. 1, 2016, pp. 25–52., www.jstor.org/stable/24891978. Accessed 20 Jan. 2021.

Ghanbarpour, Christina. “Home Education in Rural Japan: Continuity and Change from Late Edo to the Early Postwar.” U.S.-Japan Women's Journal, no. 41, 2011, pp. 25–51. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/42772313. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.

Sofue, Takao. “Childhood Ceremonies in Japan: Regional and Local Variations.” Ethnology, vol. 4, no. 2, 1965, pp. 148–164. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3772726. Accessed 26 Jan. 2021.

Uno, Kathleen. “Civil Society, State, and Institutions for Young Children in Modern Japan: The Initial Years.” History of Education Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 2, 2009, pp. 170–181. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40648076. Accessed 20 Jan. 2021.

- Chapters from "Child's Play: Multi-Sensory Histories of Children and Childhood in Japan" (which is available for free through Jstor, and as a free kindle download, and was an enjoyable read - I recommend it!):

Frühstück, Sabine. “‘. . . And My Heart Screams’: Children and the War of Emotions.” Child's Play: Multi-Sensory Histories of Children and Childhood in Japan, edited by Sabine Frühstück and Anne Walthall, 1st ed., University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2017, pp. 181–202. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1w8h25q.14. Accessed 26 Jan. 2021.

Moore, Aaron William. “Reversing the Gaze: The Construction of ‘Adulthood’ in the Wartime Diaries of Japanese Children and Youth.” Child's Play: Multi-Sensory Histories of Children and Childhood in Japan, edited by Sabine Frühstück and Anne Walthall, 1st ed., University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2017, pp. 141–159. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1w8h25q.12. Accessed 26 Jan. 2021.

Piel, L. Halliday. “Outdoor Play in Wartime Japan.” Child's Play: Multi-Sensory Histories of Children and Childhood in Japan, edited by Sabine Frühstück and Anne Walthall, 1st ed., University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2017, pp. 160–180. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1w8h25q.13. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.

Porath, Or. “Nasty Boys or Obedient Children?: Childhood and Relative Autonomy in Medieval Japanese Monasteries.” Child's Play: Multi-Sensory Histories of Children and Childhood in Japan, edited by Sabine Frühstück and Anne Walthall, 1st ed., University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2017, pp. 17–40. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1w8h25q.6. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.

Roberts, Luke S. “Growing Up Manly: Male Samurai Childhood in Late Edo-Era Tosa.” Child's Play: Multi-Sensory Histories of Children and Childhood in Japan, edited by Sabine Frühstück and Anne Walthall, 1st ed., University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2017, pp. 41–59. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1w8h25q.7. Accessed 26 Jan. 2021.

Walthall, Anne. “For the Love of Children: Practice, Affect, and Subjectivities in Hirata Atsutane’s Household.” Child's Play: Multi-Sensory Histories of Children and Childhood in Japan, edited by Anne Walthall and Sabine Frühstück, 1st ed., University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2017, pp. 60–80. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1w8h25q.8. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.

Yuki, Jinno. “Consumer Consumption for Children: Conceptions of Childhood in the Work of Taisho-Period Designers.” Child's Play: Multi-Sensory Histories of Children and Childhood in Japan, edited by Sabine Frühstück and Anne Walthall, by Emily B. Simpson, 1st ed., University of California Press, Oakland, California, 2017, pp. 83–101. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1w8h25q.9. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.

- Wikipedia articles for shichi-go-san (7-5-3), genpuku, and teeth blackening.

- Wikipedia article on education in Japan in the post-war period, and the "Kyoiku Mama" or "Education Mama."

- Background information about "Hagakure," and reference for the translation I quote:

Yamamoto, Tsunetomo. Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai. Translated by William Scott Wilson, Kodansha International, 2002.

- Reference for the episode of "Dark" that I quote toward the end of the research piece:

Friese, Jantje, and Ronny Schalk. “Dark.” Season 2, episode 5, Netflix, 21 June 2019.

- Library of Congress reference for Japan's current age of majority, legal voting age, and legal smoking and drinking age.

- Paper on Japan's post-war labor force (includes some limited data on labor-force participation of 15-18 year olds).

- Overview of Japanese labor law from the International Labour Organization, which includes a section on child labor limitations/restrictions.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.21: Heart to Heart

Sat, 23 Jan 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 23 - “The Burning Earth” (燃える地球) (sometimes also translated to English as “Earth Ablaze”), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the history of childhood.

_- Wikipedia pages for “child” and “history of childhood.” _

- Papers:

Abraham, Erin. “Out of the Mouths of Babes: Speech, Innocence, and Vulnerability in Early Medieval Perceptions of Childhood.” Eolas: The Journal of the American Society of Irish Medieval Studies, vol. 7, 2014, pp. 46–64. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26193974. Accessed 20 Jan. 2021.

Cunningham, Hugh. “Histories of Childhood.” The American Historical Review, vol. 103, no. 4, 1998, pp. 1195–1208. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2651207. Accessed 20 Jan. 2021.

Zuckerman, Michael. Journal of Social History, vol. 28, no. 1, 1994, pp. 186–188. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3788358. Accessed 20 Jan. 2021.

- DOL pages on “Youth and Labor,” specifically those pertaining to employment by parents and non-agricultural employment (which mention the federal age and work-hour restrictions).

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.20: Earthbound

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 22 - “Judau, Launch!” (ジュドー、出撃!!) (sometimes also translated to English as “Judau Sorties!”), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the history of recreational ballet and ballet in Japan.

- Main paper I consulted about ballet in Japan:

Ono, Sayako. “Ballet in Japan: Reconsidering the Westernization of Japanese Ballet.” Journal of Glocal Studies, vol. 3, 2016. https://www.seijo.ac.jp/research/glocal-center/publications/backnumber/jtmo420000005foz-att/a1469430663005.pdf. Accessed 12 Jan. 2021.

- Paper about perceptions of dance by young people in the UK:

Sanderson, Patricia. “The Arts, Social Inclusion and Social Class: The Case of Dance.” British Educational Research Journal, vol. 34, no. 4, 2008, pp. 467–490. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40375509. Accessed 12 Jan. 2021.

- Wikipedia pages for The Red Shoes (1948 film), dancers Yoko Morishita (森下洋子) and Olga Sapphire (Ольга Сафайя, オリガ・サファイア) (also known as 清水みどり, neé Olga Ivanovna Pavlova/Ольга Ивановна Павлова).

- Wikipedia page on the economic history of Japan, which talks about the economic booms of the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

- Overview of the book_ In Ballet Class: An American History, by Melissa Klapper (talking about the history of recreational ballet in the United States)._

- Page on the Bolshoi Ballet Academy website about the academy's involvement in ballet education in Japan.

- The first of our Patreon posts about the Haman Karn cosplay we commissioned from Deidre (Rozenrabbit), and her social media links.

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3.19: Wish You Well

Sat, 09 Jan 2021 03:50:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 21 - “Crybaby Cecilia (Part 2)” (泣き虫セシリア (後)) (sometimes also translated to English as "Tearful Cecilia (Part 2)"), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the connection between Cecilia's family and historical Japanese emigration.

- Books and articles:

Masterson, Daniel M., and Sayaka Funada-Classen, The Japanese in Latin America. University of Illinois Press, 2004.

Millard, Thomas F. “Japanese Immigration into Korea.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 34, no. 2, 1909, pp. 183–189. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1011225. Accessed 10 Jan. 2021.

- Wikipedia page on the Japanese diaspora.

_- Sources for Japanese net migration figures: _

Japan Net Migration Rate 1950-2021. www.macrotrends.net. Retrieved 2021-01-09.

https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/JPN/japan/net-migration

Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis FRED Economic Research: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/SMPOPNETMJPN

- Wikipedia article on Japan-occupied Korea.

- How the pre-Meiji Bakufu government collected taxes (and partly why it was always broke).

- A more detailed (and more positive) assessment of the economy during the Bakufu by a Japanese professor of economic history: Tamaki Toshiaki, Japanese Economic Growth During the Edo Period.

- An overview on the Edo-period social structure and economy, and how developments later on in the period created the instability that forced many workers to travel abroad.

_- Encyclopedia Britannica on the fall of the Bakufu. _

- Writing about Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff:

Shakespeare William. Henry IV, First Part. University Society. New York: USP, 1901. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. Jan. 6, 2021 < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/henryiv/2kh4charactersfalstaff.html >.

- Two more sources about the Falstaff character.

- Poems used:

Watson, Frank. “#45 Fujiawara No Koremasa ‘あはれとも.’” One Hundred Leaves: a New Annotated Translation of the Hyakunin Isshu, Plum White Press, 2020, pp. 91–91. Japanese text is referenced from this volume. The translation read in the episode is my own.

Firmage, George James, editor. “& [AND].” Complete Poems, 1904-1962, by E. E. Cummings, Liveright Publishing Corporation, 1991, pp. 202, "VII who knows if the moon's."

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.18: Furusato

Sat, 26 Dec 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 20 - “Crybaby Cecilia (Part 1)” (泣き虫セシリア (前)) (sometimes also translated to English as "Tearful Cecilia (Part 1)"), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the inspiration for the name Milly Childers (and a tangentially related naval disaster), as well as the history of pizza in Japan.

- Sources on Milly's life and works: Wikipedia, the National Portrait Gallery (UK), and this page on British women painters at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and Exposition.

- A collection of Milly Childers' paintings.

- About Milly's father, Hugh Childers.

- A collection of Hugh Childers' papers, including letters to and about Milly:

The Life and Correspondence of the Right Hon. Hugh C. E. Childers: 1827-1896, edited by Edmund S. E. Childers (Murray 1901).

- About the HMS Captain, and its designer, Cowper Phipps Coles.

- The alternative design, HMS Monarch.

- Contemporary articles about the capsizing of the HMS Captain:

J. Scott Russell, The Loss of the "Captain.", Macmillan's Magazine, Vol. 22 (1870). Available at https://books.google.com/books?id=MrcZAQAAIAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

"Loss of H.M.S. Captain.", Sydney Morning Herald, Sept. 24, 1875. Available at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13371391.

- Brief overview of the history of pizza in general and pizza in Japan specifically:

Ceccarini, Rossella. “Pizza in Japan.” Education About Asia, vol. 16:3, 2011, doi: https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/pizza-in-japan/.

- Article with some history, but a focus on Japanese localization of pizza.

- About pizza-making in Tokyo, circa 2019.

- Article about the executive tasked with launching Dominoes in Japan, Earnest Higa, a third generation Japanese-American from Honolulu, Hawaii. He discusses how being bicultural helped him adapt an American pizza-chain to the Japanese market.

- Blurb for a book about Nick Zapetti, and crime in occupation-era Japan.

- Supposed personal account of hanging out at Nicola’s and meeting Nick and Rikidozan in “gangster joints” in Tokyo. I cannot speak to it’s accuracy or veracity, but it’s a fun read, and references Whiting’s book.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.17: Time Over

Sat, 19 Dec 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 19 - “Ple and Axis” (プルとアクシズと) - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the origin of Elpeo Ple's name (pronounced ElPee Puru).

This episode comes with a content warnings - the research on the origin of Elpeo Ple's name deals with the history, sociology, and legal efforts to prevent creation and distribution of simulated (ie drawn) child pornography in Japan. The topic is also discussed extensively in the talkback.

- News article written after Kyoto and Nara criminalized simple possession of Child Pornography:

Tomasz Janowksi, Teppei Kasai for Reuters, Pressure on Japan for stronger laws on child pornography, SEPTEMBER 19, 2012, available here.

- News article noting increasing enforcement against child pornography traffickers but also noting criticism that Japan's lack of a ban on simple possession at the time was hampering international enforcement efforts:

Reuters, Japan police crack down on 300 child porn cases, August 8, 2008, available here.

- News article about the passage of the 2014 amendments to the 1999 law:

Arata Yamamoto for NBC News, Japan Finally Outlaws Possession of Child Pornography, June 18, 2014, available here.

- Opinion piece reflecting on passage of the 2014 law, opposition to it, and its limitations:

Sawa Omori for Al Jazeera, Manga and anime: Japan still treating children as sexual objects, August 11, 2014, available here.

- Newspaper article discussing passage of the 2014 law and the provisions, aimed at simulated child pornography, that were stripped from it:

The Japan News by the Yomiuri Shimbun, Possession of child porn to be banned, June 7, 2014, available here.

- Article regarding the "Junior Idol" industry of girls under 15 and as young as 9 who appear in commercial clothed-but-sexualized photo spreads:

Jun Hongo for The Japan Times, Child Porn Scantily Disguised as Art? Photos of preteen girls in thongs now big business, May 3, 2007, available here.

- Law review article looking at Japanese laws regulating simulated or virtual child pornography and proposing methods to improve compliance with its international treaty obligations:

Cory Lyn Takeuchi, REGULATING LOLICON: TOWARD JAPANESE COMPLIANCE WITH ITS INTERNATIONAL LEGAL OBLIGATIONS TO BAN VIRTUAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, Georgetown Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol 44, available here.

- Wikipedia article on Tokyo's local ordnance that gives the city limited power to regulate pornographic manga.

- Article regarding Watsuki Nobuhiro's child pornography arrest and conviction, plus the subsequent return of his manga to Shonen Jump:

Brian Ashcraft for Kotaku, After Child Pornography Fine, Rurouni Kenshin Will Resume Publication This June, April 23, 2018, available here.

- Article on the legislative process and policy-maker debates that produced the 2014 law:

Watanabe, Mayuko (2017) : An Analysis of the Japanese viewpoint on regulatory policy of virtual child pornography, 14th Asia-Pacific Regional Conference of the International Telecommunications Society (ITS): "Mapping ICT into Transformation for the Next Information Society", Kyoto, Japan, 24th-27th June, 2017, International Telecommunications Society (ITS), Calgary. Available at https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/168547/1/Watanabe.pdf

- The US legal case mentioned in the piece that struck down a ban on simulated child pornography as being an over-broad limitation on free speech:

ASHCROFT V. AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, 535 U.S. 564 (2002). Available at https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-1293.ZO.html.

- The Iowa case that found imported lolicon manga to be obscene:

U.S. v. Handley, 564 F.Supp.2d. 996 (S.D. Iowa 2 July 2008).

- A brief explainer on Obscenity law by the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute.

- U.S. Department of Justice's Citizen's Guide to U.S. Federal Law on Child Pornography.

- United States Sentencing Commission's History of the Child Pornography [Sentencing] Guidelines.

- The introduction of this book addresses the culture of silence around child pornography in Japan and the challenges of researching it:

Mark McLelland, The End of Cool Japan: Ethical, Legal, and Cultural Challenges to Japanese Pop Culture, (Routledge 2016).

- More articles, book chapters, etc.:

Kenneth Alan Adams, The Sexual Abuse of Children in Contemporary Japanese Families, The Journal of Psychohistory; New York Vol. 34, Iss. 3 (2007).

Patrick W. Galbraith, Lolicon: The Reality of 'Virtual Child Pornography' in Japan, Image & Narrative, Vol 12, No 1 (2011).

Patrick W. Galbraith, Seeking an Alternative: "Male" Shojo Fans Since the 1970s, from Shojo Across Media: Exploring "Girl" Practices in Contemporary Japan (2019).

Patrick W. Galbraith, "The lolicon guy": Some observations on researching unpopular topics in Japan, from The End of Cool Japan: Ethical, Legal, and Cultural Challenges to Japanese Popular Culture, Edited By Mark McLelland (2017).

M. Gigi Durham, The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It, (Abrams 2009).

Shari Savage, Just Looking: Tantalization, Lolicon, and Virtual Girls, Visual Culture & Gender, Vol 10, 2015.

Tomoko Saotome, The Reality of Sexuality for Teenage Girls in Japan, Japanese Medical Association Journal, Vol 53, No 5. Available here.

- Report discussing how aspects of Japanese culture, including a code of silence, contributes to widespread sexual exploitation of children and under-reporting of the problem in official sources:

ECPAT Country Overview on Japan: A report on the scale, scope and context of the sexual exploitation of children, 2018, available at https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ECPAT-Country-Overview-Japan.pdf.

- English text of the Japanese Constitution.

- Record of a 1997 Senate Hearing on the subject of Proliferation of Child Pornography on the Internet (S. Hrg. 105-214).

- Unofficial English translation of Japan's 1999 law banning Child Pornography prior to the 2014 amendments.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

3.16: Ple's Brother

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 22:00:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 18 - “Haman's Black Shadow” (ハマーンの黒い影) - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the origin of Elpeo Ple's name (pronounced ElPee Puru).

This episode comes with a content warnings - the research on the origin of Elpeo Ple's name deals with the history of simulated (ie drawn) child pornography in Japan. The topic is also discussed extensively in the talkback.

- Books and articles:

Patrick W. Galbraith, Lolicon: The Reality of 'Virtual Child Pornography' in Japan, Image & Narrative, Vol 12, No 1 (2011).

Patrick W. Galbraith, Seeking an Alternative: "Male" Shojo Fans Since the 1970s, from Shojo Across Media: Exploring "Girl" Practices in Contemporary Japan (2019).

M. Gigi Durham, The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It, Overlook Press (2008).

Masafumi Monden, Being Alice in Japan: performing a cute, 'girlish' revolt, Japan Forum, Vol 26, No 2 (2014).

Cory Lyn Takeuchi, Regulating Lolicon: Toward Japanese Compliance with its International Legal Obligations to Ban Virtual Child Pornography, Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol 44 (2015).

Mahaseth, Harsh. (2017). The Cultural Impact of Manga on Society. SSRN Electronic Journal. Available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332904100_The_Cultural_Impact_of_Manga_on_Society

Terasa Younker, Lolita: Dreaming, Despairing, Defying, Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs, Vol 11, No 1 (2012).

Rafael Antonio Pineda for Anime News Network, Rurouni Kenshin Creator Nobuhiro Watsuki Charged With Child Pornography Possession, November 21, 2017. Available at https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-11-21/rurouni-kenshin-creator-nobuhiro-watsuki-charged-with-child-pornography-possession/.124308

- Wikipedia articles for Lemon People magazine, it's competitor Manga Burikko, and The Otaku Murderer.

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3.15: Bits and Pieces

Fri, 04 Dec 2020 23:00:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 17 - “Retrieve the Core Top!” (奪回!コア·トップ) - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on maglev trains.

This episode comes with content warnings - repeated incidents of strangulation, one of which depicts a character strangling one of his female friends, and a scene depicting an adult woman sexually assaulting a teenage boy. We discuss these scenes extensively in the recap and talkback portion of the episode.

If you would like to skip those discussions, we recommend you listen to the Radio Free Shangri-La, then skip ahead to the research portion: 00:42:00 - Maglev research

- Wikipedia, Britannica, and How Stuff Works pages for maglev trains.

- Wikipedia page for linear motor.

- Webpage on the history of maglev trains from Northeast Maglev, a current high-speed maglev project in the USA.

- Overview of maglev train history and technology from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.

- Two discussions of the pros and cons of current maglev projects, one from railway-industry news and analysis site, Railway-Technology.com, and one from The Washington Post.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.14: Endra Corps

Sat, 21 Nov 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 16 - “Melee Aboard the Argama” (アーガマの白兵戦) - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on composer Ferdinand Beyer, the rules of war regarding "perfidy," and extramarital romantic and sexual relationships in Japan.

- Wikipedia page for Ferdinand Beyer, with references linking his piece to piano-curricula in Japan.

- A paper outlining an electronic support system for self-learning piano at the beginner stage. Beyer is highlighted as one of two foundational texts for beginning piano education.

- Scans of historic versions of Vorschule im Klavierspiel (or Beginning Piano School / Elementary Instruction Book for the Piano) op.101 in several languages (public domain)

- Wikipedia pages for the Geneva Conventions, "perfidy," "ruse de guerre" (a trick or stratagem that is not perfidy), and "false flag" operations.

- Relevant articles about the "rules of war" :

History of the law of war on land, June 30, 2000, International Review of the Red Cross, No. 838, by Howard S. Levie

The 'Rules Of War' Are Being Broken. What Exactly Are They?, June 28, 2018, from NPR's "Goats and Soda: Stories of Life in a Changing World," by Joanne Lu

The Laws of War in Ancient Greece, from Law and History Review, Volume 26, Issue 3, Fall 2008, pp. 469-489, by Adriaan Lanni

“Sailing Under False Colors” An Historic Ruse De Guerre, from Coriolis: the Interdisciplinary Journal of Maritime Studies, Vol 5 No. 2 (2015), by Hank Whipple_

Definition of Perfidy from the International Committee of the Red Cross._

- Book chapter and journal article address extramarital relationships in Japan:

Dales, Laura, and Beverley Anne Yamamoto. “Romantic and Sexual Intimacy before and beyond Marriage.” Intimate Japan: Ethnographies of Closeness and Conflict, by Allison Alexy and Emma E. Cook, University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2019, pp. 104–125. (Available for free if you have a Kindle or the Kindle App)

Lin, Ho Swee. “‘Playing Like Men’: The Extramarital Experiences of Women in Contemporary Japan.” Ethnos, vol. 77, no. 3, Sept. 2012, pp. 321–343., doi:10.1080/00141844.2011.613532.

- Japan Today article covering 2018 survey about “cheating,” broken down by gender, age, and marital status.

- Discussion of negative employment consequences of workplace affairs in Japan (and court interpretations of labor law vis a vis these affairs and company policies around them).

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

3.13: Giants and Messiahs

Sat, 14 Nov 2020 01:36:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 15 - “The Phantom Colony, Part 2” (幻のコロニー (後)) - discuss our first impressions, and discuss Cargo Cults and the "White Gods" narrative with anthropology consultant, Allie!

Allie was kind enough to provide us with the following references, with the caution that the older of these articles are very much products of their time - with the casual racism that implies. But they do provide perspective on how people of that time interpreted their interactions with Indigenous people. They may not reflect the current state of anthropological scholarship.

Worsley, Peter M. “50 Years Ago: Cargo Cults of Melanesia.” Scientific American, Scientific American, 1 May 2009, www.scientificamerican.com/article/1959-cargo-cults-melanesia/. (Originally published 1959)

Raffaele, Paul. “In John They Trust.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 Feb. 2006, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-john-they-trust-109294882/.

Wills, Matthew. “The Mexica Didn’t Believe the Conquistadors Were Gods.” Jstor Daily, 17 Jan. 2020, daily.jstor.org/the-mexica-didnt-believe-the-conquistadors-were-gods/.

Townsend, Camilla. “Burying the White Gods: New Perspectives on the Conquest of Mexico.” The American Historical Review, vol. 108, no. 3, June 2003, pp. 659–687., doi:10.1086/529592. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/529592

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3.12: Lost and Found

Sat, 07 Nov 2020 02:15:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 14 - “The Phantom Colony, Part 1” (幻のコロニー (前)) - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Mesoamerican step-pyramids, shoal zones, and Sweetwater-type colonies.

- Wikipedia pages for step-pyramids in general, and Mesoamerican pyramids in particular.

- About the Maya city Chichen Itza, and the Temple of Kukulcan (aka "El Castillo").

- Additional detail about Maya and Aztec temples.

- The Japanese word translated here as "shoal" - 暗礁 (あんしょう). Dictionary entries at jisho.org and Japanese Wikipedia.

- Wikipedia page for shoals.

- More information about O'Neill Cylinders is available from our previous episode 1.28 - Sparks Fly, and its show notes.

- Mark Simmons identifies Moon Moon and AEUG's Sweetwater as "Island 1" type colonies.

- About Island 1 colonies as imagined by Gerard O'Neill.

- Wikipedia page for the Bernal sphere, the basis for the Island 1.

- Full text of the book The World, the Flesh & the Devil by J. D. Bernal in which the Bernal sphere was hypothesized.

- Wikipedia page on J. D. Bernal.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.11: With a Little Help From My Friends

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 23:02:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 13 - “Little Sister!” (妹よ!) - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on calcium deficiency, the history of Japanese toilets and the Toto company (東洋陶器), and napkin etiquette.

- Symptoms of calcium deficiency (hypocalcemia).

- Japanese sources on calcium deficiency and "frustration."

- Wikipedia pages for Toto Ltd., the Toto Washlet, and the history of toilets in Japan.

- Toto company website page on the history of the washlet.

- The 1982 Washlet ad that led to public outcry.

- Article about prevalence of Toto washlets in Japan and the difficulty of breaking into the overseas market (also describes the public reaction to the 1982 TV ad).

- Another article that mentions the public reaction to the 1982 ad, as well as outlining some of the high-tech new features on contemporary washlets.

- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan has a great kids-oriented site that includes information on toilets in Japan.

- More on the history of toilets in Japan (with great photos of different styles of old toilet - including lacquer and painted porcelain).

- Article with historic data on Toto’s sales of traditional vs. western-toilets, discussing the transition to more western toilets in public restrooms as well as in schools.

- History of napkin etiquette.

- History of table manners generally.

- Blog post about dining etiquette in the Imperial Japanese Navy.

- Japanese etiquette guide specifically about the correct usage of napkins.

- Etiquette guides advising placing the napkin on the table when finished.

- Etiquette guides saying to place the napkin on the table when leaving during dinner.

- Etiquette guides saying to place the napkin on the chair when leaving during dinner.

- Anecdote about folding napkins in France in the 1860s.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.10: Hostile Takeover

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 21:27:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 12 - “Leina Vanishes” (リィナが消えた) - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the history of women in Japan's news-media industry.

- This book chapter provides a good summary, and was the source of most of the statistics referenced in the research this week:

Ishiyama, Reiko. “Japan: Why So Few Women Journalists?” The Palgrave International Handbook of Women and Journalism, by Carolyn M. Byerly, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, pp. 404–418.

- Wikipedia page for Sasamoto Tsuneko (笹本恒子) and another brief bio (with examples of her photography).

- Wikipedia page for Hani Motoko (羽仁もと子), Japan's first woman journalist.

- Part of a UNESCO report on women-in-news around the world, with some reference to Japan and citing the Ishiyama article.

- Wikipedia page for Ito Shiori (伊藤詩織), and a Japan Times opinion article with more details about her case - how it was handled by police, the local news, and the public:

O'Dwyer, Shaun. “What Lies behind Shiori Ito's Lonely #MeToo Struggle.” The Japan Times, 26 Jan. 2020, www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/01/26/commentary/japan-commentary/lies-behind-shiori-itos-lonely-metoo-struggle/.

- Article from the Columbia Journalism review about harassment faced by women journalists in Japan, and a increased willingness to bring these incidents to light:

McNeill, David, and Chie Matsumoto. “#WithYou: How Women Journalists in Japan Are Fighting Harassment.” Columbia Journalism Review, 7 Aug. 2018, www.cjr.org/analysis/japan.php.

You can listen to Stormland's cover of Anime Ja Nai at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0KxurgITTg, and you can find more of his work at https://stormland.bandcamp.com/ and https://twitter.com/stormlandbrand.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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3.9: Putting the Pieces Together

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 16:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 11 - “Activate! Double Zeta” (始動！ダブル・ゼータ) - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the easter-egg in Beecha's choice of reading material.

- An official page about Star Luster from Ninendo for the game's inclusion on the Wii Virtual Console.

- Wikipedia pages about Star Luster in English and Japanese.

- Very detailed Japanse-language writeup about the game from Game Catalog @Wiki.

- Video capture of someone playing Star Luster.

- Games Radar article noting that Star Luster may have been the first game to incorporate a regenerating shield mechanic.

- Pictures of Star Luster guidebooks that may have inspired the magazine or book that Beecha is reading.

- Wiki Page for Mobile Suit Z Gundam: Hot Scramble.

- Footage of someone playing Hot Scramble.

- Archived copy of Japanese-language interview with the creator of Hot Scramble.

- Profile on Ohnogi Nobuyuki (composer).

The Radio Free Shangri-La segment this week includes Deep In Space Synth Loop 120 bpm by Alexander, licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses and available at http://www.orangefreesounds.com/deep-in-space-synth-loop-120-bpm/.

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2.53: A Noble Mind - Interview with Dr. Bayley Garbutt

Fri, 09 Oct 2020 16:43:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, Nina and Thom interview Dr. Bayley Garbutt about Kamille Bidan's psychological development!

"Bayley is a longtime fan of Gundam, having started watching it as many his age did when Gundam Wing first aired on Toonami in the US in the early 2000s. He was instantly hooked and sought out as much of Gundam as he could find. During that time he also got into building, customizing and painting the model kits (gunpla) as well. Zeta Gundam remains his favorite series, though he also enjoys several of the other series such as Turn A and 08th MS Team. After his wife bought a kit for his birthday at a local hobby shop (Hangar 18 Hobbies), he once again picked up building gunpla as a hobby near the end of his graduate schooling. He is a member of the local Hangar 18 Gunpla Community where he often teaches workshops on building techniques. He along with three friends hosts the Cutting Mat podcast about gunpla and scale modeling. His work in progress and completed gunpla builds can be seen on his instagram. Bayley has a PhD in Educational Psychology and works as a learning consultant at a university in the southeastern US."

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

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What the heck is a Gundam, and why did they build a giant walking robot?

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 23:00:00 -0000

Show Notes

When footage of the Walking Gundam went viral earlier this week, your loyal podcast hosts received a deluge of questions from friends and family about it. "Did you see this? What is this? Why did they build it? Is this one of those 'Transformers' you podcast about?" We knew what we had to do: it was our responsibility to make a public service announcement explaining Gundam and the Walking Gundam in a short, accessible mini-podcast. So, here's Mobile Suit Breakdown's first Public Service Announcement: What the Heck is a Gundam, and why did they build a giant robot? Our previously-scheduled podcasting will resume next week!

And here's the full transcript:

In mid-September 2020, millions of people around the world saw footage of a 25-ton giant humanoid robot called a “Gundam” moving on a scaffolding in Yokohama Japan. The footage went viral across different social networks and soon wound up on news channels from Australia to the United States. It reached well beyond the sheltered harbor of the Gundam fandom. And many of the millions of people watching that giant Gundam being put through its paces asked themselves, “What the heck is a Gundam? And why did they build a giant robot?”

We’re the hosts of Mobile Suit Breakdown, a weekly podcast about Gundam where we talk through the show’s 41-year history and research the context behind it - from science and history to art, culture, and psychology. Instead of our regularly-scheduled podcast, we’re going to answer those two questions: What’s a Gundam, and why did they build one in Yokohama? And we’re going to do it in under fifteen minutes.

If you’re one of Mobile Suit Breakdown’s regular listeners, then you probably already know the answers to those two questions, but maybe you can send this to your friends and family when they ask you,

“Hey, did you hear about that giant transformer in Japan? They built a real Voltron! What’s up with that???”

The big humanoid machine you’ve seen moving around in all those videos is called the Walking Gundam or the RX-78 F00 Gundam. It’s 18 meters or 60 feet tall and weighs something like 25 tons, and it is a life-sized, 1-to-1 model of The Gundam, a giant humanoid fighting weapon that originally appeared on Japanese television in the 1979 animated series ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’. This one has a slightly updated look for 2020, but it’s meant to evoke that same original machine.

During the 1980s the animation studio responsible for Mobile Suit Gundam started making sequels about different giant robots - some of which were also called ‘Gundams’, and they’ve been making ‘Gundam’ shows, as well as every conceivable kind of spinoff and merchandise, ever since.

A ‘Gundam’ is a particular kind of ‘mobile suit’, which is the name that the franchise uses for giant human-shaped fighting machines. Originally there was just one and it was called The Gundam, but the heroes of the sequels got their own Gundam-type mobile suits, so now we talk about ‘Gundams’ and the ‘Gundam franchise’.

This is actually not the first life-sized ‘Gundam’ statue to be constructed and displayed in Japan! Back in 2009, as part of a celebration of the Gundam franchise’s 30th anniversary, the company that owns Gundam erected a similar 60 foot Gundam in Shiokaze park in the Odaiba part of Tokyo. The Gundam statue was originally only meant to be there for 2 months, but it was such a popular tourist attraction that they left it up until 2017 when it was replaced with a model of a different Gundam from a more recent show. But unlike this new one, the first one just stood around and looked cool, while the second one had some cosmetic external bits that could kind of slide around a bit to expose internal lighting at night. Building one that can move around almost like the machines do in the show is a tremendous engineering achievement!

This new one was built both to celebrate Gundam’s 40th anniversary (in 2019) and to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics in Summer 2020. The Olympics were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but construction on the Walking Gundam continued at a facility in Yokohama called the Gundam Factory!

The Gundam franchise is owned by massive toy-and-media conglomerate Bandai, and until recently it was the company’s most valuable intellectual property. It’s known all over the world, but is most popular in Japan, the rest of the South-East Asia region, and Italy. Gundam experienced a surge of popularity in the United States during the early 2000s when an English-dubbed version of a spinoff television series called Gundam Wing aired on Cartoon Network. However its popularity declined after 2005 and it has been considered a niche interest among American fans of Japanese media ever since.

Besides the shows and movies, the most visible part of the Gundam franchise are the plastic scale models of the mobile suits sold by Bandai. People around the world enjoy building and customizing replicas of their favorite mobile suits in a variety of different scales like 1:100, and 1:144 and with prices that run from a few dollars into the thousands of dollars for special, limited edition kits. These models, called ‘gunpla’ which is a portmanteau combining ‘Gundam’ and ‘plastic model’, are so successful that in 2019 Bandai announced that lifetime sales for the forty year old franchise amounted to more than 500 million kits. Part of the reason Gundam fans love those life-sized replica statues in Japan SO MUCH is because building replicas of Gundams is already a huge part of being a fan of the franchise.

So what’s a Gundam? At the most basic level, it’s the mascot for a hugely successful, 40-year-old science fiction franchise owned by a massive merchandising conglomerate. Then they built a life-sized one to celebrate an important anniversary for the franchise and as a publicity and marketing stunt to sell smaller replicas. There’s also a nationalism aspect because they wanted to show off Japanese engineering prowess in front of the eyes of the whole world during the Olympics. And they built it to move around like a person because that’s what it does in the show AND because they’d already built two less-complex statues and they needed to take this one to the next level.

If that’s all you needed to know, then you’re good to go! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your newfound knowledge about Gundams of both the walking and the old-fashioned animated kind. The next time you hear someone say, “Wow, can you believe that Japan built a giant transformer? What a waste of money!!” you can say…

‘Well, actually…’

But if seeing that giant moving robot really caught your interest and now you’d like to know more about Gundam, what it’s about and why people love it so much, then stick around for…

Mobile Suit Breakdown’s total beginner’s guide to the universes of Gundam

Back in the 1970s, animated television in Japan was mostly made for young kids. Giant humanoid machines broadly called ‘mecha’ were popular with audiences at the time, and toy companies were happy to sponsor mecha tv shows because these shows were made cheaply and even a moderate hit would allow them to sell tons of toys based on the robots.

But at the same time, the studios and creators making animated shows were trying to show that they could tell serious stories for more mature audiences. One of the animation studios trying to establish itself during this era was Nippon Sunrise, which we’ll just call ‘Sunrise’. Sunrise had produced a string of moderately successful giant mecha shows, but they wanted to do something new and different, with a project that would really shake up the industry.

Gundam was that project. Rather than tell a heroic story about giant mecha fighting monsters or aliens, they wanted to tell a serious war story - inspired by the real history of World War II - but it would include giant robots in place of tanks or fighter planes so that the robot-toy-selling-sponsors would have some robot toys to sell.

Gundam, famously, did not take off right away. But once it did, it became a phenomenon and helped to rewrite the rules of the animation industry in Japan. While Gundam was not solely responsible for the sci-fi and mecha crazes of the 80s, or for the emergence of animated TV and movies meant for mature audiences - it WAS a major turning point that proved animated TV aimed at older audiences could be commercially successful and artistically meaningful, and it inspired a host of imitators.

The original Mobile Suit Gundam took place some time in the near future, at a time when around half the human population had left Earth to live in man-made space colonies orbiting our planet, and the whole species is more or less governed by the Earth Federation. Beyond Earth’s orbit there are a handful of mining colonies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter - a mining colony in orbit around Jupiter represents the furthest extent of humankind’s expansion into the solar system. Other than living in space, human life continues much the same as it does today: people still drive cars and play sports, they eat hamburgers, listen to portable music players, mess around with computers, have kids and (as would become a theme for the series) neglect them.

Of course the one big technological change is the introduction of the piloted fighting robots called “mobile suits”. There’s an in-universe justification for them, but we all know that the real reason to include giant human-shaped fighting machines is because giant human-shaped fighting machines are the coolest.

Mobile Suit Gundam is set during a war between the Earth Federation and a group of colonies calling itself the Principality of Zeon. Zeon claims to be fighting for the independence of the people living in space, but the Principality is ruled by tyrannical fascists in the Zabi Family. On the other side, the Earth Federation is more-or-less a democracy, but it resembles nothing so much as one of the old maritime empires like the British, French, or American empires of the 19th and 20th centuries - with all their problems. This conflict, between factions that defy easy categorization as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ will be a running theme in Gundam, and our heroes are the unfortunates trapped in between.

Up until 1993, Gundam shows and movies were all set in the original timeline, called ‘the Universal Century’, that had been established in the original Mobile Suit Gundam. Sequels explored the aftermath of that first war between the Federation and Zeon, as well as the fates of some of the individual characters. Like Star Trek in the United States, new Gundam stories often followed new characters, jumping forward years, decades, or whole generations into the imagined future of the Universal Century.

But starting in 1994, animation studio Sunrise and sponsor-turned-parent-company Bandai decided to take the franchise in a new direction with a series of one-off or short-run alternate universe takes on the basic Gundam formula. So that means new mobile suits (at least one of which is always called a Gundam), space colonies, factions that are many things but certainly not ‘good’, and a younger generation struggling desperately to survive in a hostile world.

You might even have heard of some of these alternate universe Gundam shows that hit it big outside Japan, like Gundam Wing, Gundam Seed, or the relatively recent Iron Blooded Orphans.

So today when we talk about ‘Gundam’ we mean the whole lot of it: the original universal century stories, all the alternate universes, plus comic books, novels, audio dramas, video games, every other media format type of merchandise, and of course staggering quantities of plastic.

If you’re interested in getting into Gundam, we recommend you start with the original 1979 TV series. It’s a classic for a reason! And you should accompany it with Mobile Suit Breakdown Season One, our episode-by-episode companion guide to the show (available at gundampodcast.com and on fine podcast services everywhere). If you’d rather start with a more recent show, you can check out one of the stand-alone alternate universe shows. But you will have to wait a few years before Mobile Suit Breakdown gets there…

As for us, next week we’ll return to our regularly scheduled podcasting when we publish our interview with doctor of developmental psychology Bayley Garbutt about Kamille Bidan. Then on October 17th we’re back to Double Zeta - covering episode 11: Activate! Double Zeta!

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

3.8: Drifting

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 22:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 10 - "Sayonara, Fa"/さよならファ - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on what trends and subcultures could have inspired Chara Soon's iconic look.

- Articles about Japan's youth-culture, Visual Kei, and Gyaru:

Takada, A. (1992), Contemporary Youth and Youth Culture in Japan. International Journal of Japanese Sociology, 1: 99-114.

Kawasaki, Ken'ichi. “Youth Culture in Japan.” Social Justice, vol. 21, no. 2 (56), 1994, pp. 185–203. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/29766814. Accessed 18 Sept. 2020.

Megan Pfeifle, Globalizing Visual Kei: A Web Series, for JaME (Japanese Musical Entertainment). 2011. Available at https://www.jame-world.com/en/theme/932-globalizing-visual-kei-a-web-series.html

Marx, W. David, The History of the Gyaru - Part One, for NeoJapanisme.com. February 28, 2012. http://neojaponisme.com/2012/02/28/the-history-of-the-gyaru-part-one/

- Archived page from the Japan Fashion Association about gal/gyaru fashion and its origin.

- Google's Arts and Culture photoseries on Japanese youth fashion trends of the 80s.

- Video of Cyndi Lauper's acceptance speech and performance at the American Music Awards.

- Music used in Radio Free Shangri-La episode 7: The Lone Survivor in Paradise includes Way Out West by Twin Musicom.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

3.7: A Bunch of Dummies

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 21:00:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 9 - “Judau in Space” (宇宙のジュドー) - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on home electronics in the 1980s, namely the Sony Walkman and the pocket calculator.

- Wikipedia page for Sony Walkman.

- Sony corporate website company-history pages about the Walkman and a timeline of personal audio products.

- Mashable article about the “retirement” of the Sony Walkman in 2010.

- A book on the Sony Walkman from a cultural studies perspective:

Gay, Paul Du, et al. Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Sony Walkman. Sage, 1997. Accessed here.

- Brief histories of the Sony Walkman from IEEE Spectrum (an engineering and applied sciences magazine), The Verge, and Time.

- How the Walkman evolved from the Pressman (with pictures).

- Article from nippon.com about the Walkman, on the 40th anniversary of its release.

- Wikipedia page for calculators.

- Paper on the history of the hand-held electronic calculator:

Hamrick, Kathy B. “The History of the Hand-Held Electronic Calculator.” The American Mathematical Monthly, vol. 103, no. 8, 1996, pp. 633–639. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2974875. Accessed 14 Sept. 2020.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

3.6: Leaving Home

Fri, 11 Sep 2020 21:00:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episodes 7 and 8 - "Gaza Storm" (ガザの嵐) and "The Funeral Bell Tolls Twice" (鎮魂の鐘は二度鳴) - discuss our first impressions, and take a brief u-turn: we are joined by Dr. Shar, of Dr. Sharmander gaming, to discuss the last 3 episodes of Zeta Gundam.

You can find Dr. Shar on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.

- Two explanations of dichotic listening, on simplypsychology.com and sciencedirect.com

- Social psychology definition of "schema."

- Symptoms and prognosis of locked in syndrome.

- Definition of EMDR (eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing).

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

3.5: No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 22:31:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 6 - "The Zssa Menace"/ズサの脅威 - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the possible influence of the novel Don Quixote on the characters of Mashymre and Gottn.

- Wikipedia pages for the novel Don Quixote, the full list of characters from the novel, and character-specific pages for Dulcinea del Toboso and Sancho Panza.

- A discussion of "early novels."

- The definition of "quixotic."

- Britannica page for Don Quixote.

- Sparknotes summary of the novel Don Quixote de La Mancha, and description of the Don Quixote character.

- Japanese Wikipedia pages for the Don Quixote novel and for the anime ずっこけナイトドンデラマンチャ/Zukkoke Naito Don De Ra Mancha.

- Anime News Network page for Sekita Osamu (関田修).

- Wikipedia page for the Don Quixote, aka Donki, chain of stores.

This week, we review and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (機動戦士ガンダムΖΖ) episode 2 - "The Boy From Shangri La"/シャングリラの少年 - discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on some aspects of the Japanese economy on 1986: laborforce participation by youth and women, educational attainment, tanshinfunin, migrant labor, and... orange imports. Plus - another Japanese poem.

- Chart of youth unemployment rate in Japan, 1970-2020.

- Youth employment rate in Japan, 1979-1986.

- Wikipedia page on the Japanese education system.

- Wikipedia page on Japan in the 1980s.

- Paper on labor force participation from the Bank of Japan Review.

- Study on how tanshinfunin fathers affect children’s socioemotional development, from Hokkaido University.

- Wikipedia page about migrant labor.

- Page about migrant workers in Japan, from the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Center (based in Osaka).

- Discussion and definition of the “natural” unemployment rate.

- Paper on “Migrant Workers in the Post-War History of Japan” by Yasuo Kuwahara of Dokkyo University.

- Paper on “Development of Immigration Policy in Japan” by Atsushi Kondo of Kyushu Sangyo University.

- Unesco Institute for Statistic page (source for 1980 upper-secondary school completion rate).

- “Education in Japan: Past and Present” (source for enrollment rates in upper-secondary school in 1980).

- Text used for information on internal migration in Japan:

Ishikawa, Yoshitaka. “Internal Migration in Japan.” Internal Migration in the Countries of Asia: a Cross-National Comparison, by Martin Bell, Springer, 2020, pp. 113-136.

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 50 - "Riders in the Skies" (宇宙を駆ける), discuss our impressions, and provide commentary and research on Scirocco's name and the "The-O" mobile suit.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for Paptimus Scirocco.

- Wikipedia page for the Sirocco wind (aka scirocco, jugo, siroc, xaloc, sciroccu, Σορόκος, siroco, xlokk, shirok, siròc, eisseròc, ghibli, khamsin, شْلُوقْ or شْهِيلِي).

- Forbes interview in which Tomino discusses working with Takahata and Miyazaki in the 1970s:

Ollie Barder, Yoshiyuki Tomino On 'Gundam', Newtypes And The Perilous Future Facing Humanity, Forbes.com, available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2017/03/13/yoshiyuki-tomino-on-gundam-newtypes-and-the-perilous-future-facing-humanity/#6c5c38754b8a

- From Anime News Network's encyclopedia, a comparison of the projects where Tomino, Miyazaki, and Takahata overlapped. Looking at the pages for individual projects you can see that they sometimes collaborated directly on individual episodes.

- Jisho.org page showing the Japanese pronunciation of "baptism."

- Japanese Wikipedia page for "The-O."

- Forbes interview with Kobayashi Makoto (The-O's designer):

Ollie Barder, Makoto Kobayashi On Mecha Design And The Importance Of Red And Blue Paint, Forbes.com, June 25, 2016. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2016/06/25/makoto-kobayashi-on-mecha-design-and-the-importance-of-red-and-blue-paint/#201328e6e369

- Wiktionary entry for "θεός", also known as "theos," and for "theos" in Latin.

- A blog entry from a collector of religious headwear with images and information about the "eboshi" hats.

- Images showing a court noble's costume, including taller "tate eboshi" hat that resembles the shape of The-O's headgear.

- For a brief discussion of a modern Shinto priest's ceremonial garb, including the eboshi:

John Renard, The Handy Religion Answer Book, Visible Ink Press (2012).

- Pictures of modern shinto ceremonial garb including tall eboshi.

- A detailed English page about the different types of eboshi, with pictures, by Joshua L. Badgley.

- Modern depiction of what a naga eboshi kabuto (armored helmet in the style of a very tall eboshi) might have looked like. And one from a gachapon collection of legendary armors.

- Book detailing both the types of kabuto eboshi as well as the methods of their construction:

Trevor Absolon, The Watanabe Art Musuem Samurai Armour Collection Volume I ~ Kabuto & Mengu (2011).

- Pictures of a historical eboshi kabuto, possibly from the Edo period.

- For Blavatsky's assertion that "theos" and a perfect circle were synonymous in the minds of "the ancients":

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine: Anthropogenesis, Theosophical Publishing Society (1902).

- English translation of Borges' "Pascal's Sphere":

https://www.filosofiaesoterica.com/pascals-sphere/ originally from Jorge Luis Borges, Other Inquisitions, 1937-1952, Souvenir (1973) (trans. Ruth L. C. Simms).

- Japanese edition of Other Inquisitions/Otras inquisiciones.

- The poem in the TNN is "Pax Saturni" by Ezra Pound.

- Nina references Percy Shelley's "Ozymandias" in the memorial for Scirocco.

- Music used in this episode includes:

Come Play with Me by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3526-come-play-with-me License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Hitman by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3880-hitman License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Gregorian Chant by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3825-gregorian-chant License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Grammophone Taps by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3820-grammophone-taps License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.50: Awakening

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 20:26:43 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 49 - "Casualties of War" (生命散って), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the "third eye."

- Wikipedia page for third eye.

- Wikipedia pages for chakra, Vajrayana (Tibentan/Tantric/Esoteric Buddhism) in Japan, and the ajna chakra.

- About the parietal eye and pineal gland.

- The pineal gland in Western philosophical traditions: pre-Cartesian, Descartes, and post-Cartesian, Helena Blavatsky and Theosophy.

- Helena Blavatsky’s “masterwork” of Theosophy:

Blavatsky, H. P. The Secret Doctrine. Theosophical University Press, 1888, The Theosophy Society, www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sd/sd-hp.htm.

- Wikipedia page for “From Beyond” - the H.P. Lovecraft short-story in which scientific means are used to activate humans’ pineal glands, allowing them to perceive other planes of existence.

- Music used in this episode:

Music for the TNN is "Skate" by Komiku

Music for Katz and Bekener's memorials is "Draw Me a Sheep (Act I)" by Lloyd Rogers

Music for Jerid's memorial is "Self Fulfilling Prophecy - Michael Bayer" by Lloyd Rogers

Music for Reccoa's memorial is "You Can't Beat the Machine" by Komiku

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.49: Tabula Rasa

Sat, 13 Jun 2020 00:04:57 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 48 - "The Mirror of Rosamia" (ロザミアの中で), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on voice actor Gouri Daisuke (郷里大輔), the voice actor for Bask Om. We also say goodbye to Rosamia Badam.

- Wikipedia pages for Gouri Daisuke/郷里大輔, born Nagahori Yoshio/長堀芳夫 (English, and Japanese).

- Gouri Daisuke's IMDB page.

- CNN retrospective on the firebombing of Tokyo, "Operation Meetinghouse":

Brad Lendon and Emiko Jozaku, History's deadliest air raid happened in Tokyo during World War II and you've probably never heard of it, for CNN.com. March 8, 2020.

- Kinnikuman Wiki page for Gouri's first breakthrough role as Robin Mask.

- Archived copy of Yahoo Japan news story about Gouri's death.

- Wikipedia pages for Inoue Kazuhiko/井上和彦 in English and Japanese.

- Inoue Kazuhiko's personal blog post reflecting on Gouri's death and their friendship.

- In the memorial for Rosamia, Nina read excerpts from The Age of Innocence, by Edith Wharton. The novel is public domain, and you can read or download it at Project Gutenberg.

- The song playing during parts of the memorial is Claude Debussy's Première Arabesque, performed by Patrizia Prati. Access the song and the license here.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.48: Goosebumps

Sat, 06 Jun 2020 00:24:09 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 47 - "A Descent Into the Maelstrom" (宇宙の渦), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on what an Edgar Allen Poe short story has to do with Zeta.

- Japanese Wikipedia Pages for Edgar Allen Poe/エドガー・アラン・ポー and A Descent into the Maelstrom/メエルシュトレエムに呑まれて.

- English Wikipedia pages for Edgar Allen Poe and A Descent into the Maelstrom.

- Wikipedia pages for Wind from the Sun (the Arthur C. Clarke short story collection that includes Maelstrom II) and 2001 Nights.

- You can read A Descent into the Maelstrom on Project Gutenberg.

- Wikipedia page for whirlpools (with a section on the Moskstraumen).

- Analysis of A Descent into the Maelstrom:

Finholt, Richard D. “The Vision at the Brink of the Abyss: ‘A Descent into the Maelstrom’ in the Light of Poe's Cosmology.” The Georgia Review, vol. 27, no. 3, 1973, pp. 356–366. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41398237. Accessed 3 June 2020.

Budick, E. Miller. “The Fall of the House: A Reappraisal of Poe's Attitudes toward Life and Death.” The Southern Literary Journal, vol. 9, no. 2, 1977, pp. 30–50. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20077560. Accessed 3 June 2020.

Person, Leland S. “Trusting the Tellers: Paradoxes of Narrative Authority in Poe's ‘A Descent into the Maelström.’” The Journal of Narrative Technique, vol. 23, no. 1, 1993, pp. 46–56. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30225375. Accessed 3 June 2020.

Sweeney, Gerard M. “Beauty and Truth: Poe's ‘A Descent into the Maelstrom.’” Poe Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 1973, pp. 22–25., doi:10.1111/j.1754-6095.1973.tb00305.x.

- The TNN this week includes the sound effect "Radio Noise" posted to Orange Sounds by Alexander. You can access the license here.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.47: Battle Among Gods

Sat, 30 May 2020 03:06:38 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 46 - "Scirocco Rises" (シロッコ立つ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Bolinoak Samahn mobile suit.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for the Bolinoak Samahn (ボリノーク・サマーン).

- Japanese Wikipedia page for Mori no kuma-san (森のくまさん).

- Detailed (Japanese language) discussion of the song, although the author introduces some less-well-established theories about other folk songs that might have played a role in its origins.

- English version of "The Other Day, I Met a Bear" from Scoutsongs.com.

- Wikipedia page for the English version of "The Other Day, I Met a Bear."

- Japanese Wikipedia page for Yoshihiro Baba (馬場祥弘), self-proclaimed lyricist of Mori no kuma-san.

- Brief history of the 13th World Scout Jamboree.

- Two brief New York Time articles about the Jamboree, one when they first arrived, and one from when a typhoon hit Japan and forced the evacuation of 23,000 scouts:

First Boy Scouts from U.S. Reach Japan for Jamborees, July 25, 1971. Available at https://nyti.ms/1kpzjDq.

78 Dead in Storm's Wake In Japan and South Korea, August 7, 1971. Available at https://nyti.ms/1LB0QMq

- The Titans News Network segment featured the voice talents of listeners Jameson, JR Schmitt, Manny Fresh, Crimson, Turlooke, Paragon, Hobbs, and Em Marko. Special thanks to Hobbs who suggested the name of Captain Bask's kitten.

- The song from the Titans News Network segment is "Chance" by Kai Engel. License here.

- The research piece for the Bolinaok Samahn included brief segments from Mori no Kuma-san, from the Ranma 1/2 anime soundtrack (available in full at https://youtu.be/hl6wwJZXvoQ); The Other Day I Met a Bear as arranged by Naoki Tamura and performed by Aimee B. for KIDS TV JAPAN (available in full at https://youtu.be/MdAqPiGS2Ug), and Sippin' Cider Through a Straw as performed by Chubby Checker (available in full at https://youtu.be/ZtwD7UzJ37s). The selections are used pursuant to the Fair Use provisions of U.S. copyright law.

- The tribute to Sarah Zabiarov includes the song "Uro Uro" by The Kyoto Connection. License here.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.46: The Hammer of Zeon

Fri, 22 May 2020 15:49:48 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 45 - "Coming from the Heavens" (天から来るもの), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the French town of Sedan (and what connection it might have to the Gate of Zedan base!).

- Wikipedia pages for the town of Sedan and the castle (or “chateau”) there.

- Webpage for the Castle of Sedan itself.

- Famous personages connected to the town: Vauban (military engineer) and Turenne (general).

- Wikipedia pages for The Battle(s) of Sedan (La Marfeé in 1641, 1870, and 1940).

- Wikipedia page for German Unification and German Sedantag holiday.

- Book that discusses media depictions (specifically engravings and illustrations) of news events and the part they played in the construction of national identity:

Martin, Michèle. Images at War: Illustrated Periodicals and Constructed Nations. University of Toronto Press, 2006. Accessed here.

- Two engravings of the Gate of Sedan (I think these are the engraving referenced in Martin's book). Both depict a figure raising the white flag of surrender while standing on the gate, but in the first he is the main figure in the engraving, and the gate is mostly out of frame. In the second, he is a tiny figure with no distinguishable detail, standing atop the massive gate and viewed from a distance. The Gate itself is the main figure.

- The music used in the TNN is:

One of Them by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4169-one-of-them License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

- The music used in Apolly's tribute is:

Blue Feather by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3449-blue-feather License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.45: Stronger in the Broken Places

Sat, 16 May 2020 00:30:06 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 44 - "The Gate of Zedan" (ゼダンの門), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the inspiration for Haman Karn's name.

-*-

- Japanese Wikipedia pages for Haman Karn and Herman Kahn.

- English Wikipedia page for Herman Kahn. - A profile of Herman Kahn in the New Yorker, written as part of a review of a biography of the man:

Louis Menand, Fat Man, for New Yorker. June 20, 2005. Available at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/06/27/fat-man

- New York Times article from Tokyo correspondent about the reaction in Japan to Herman Kahn's work:

Takashi Oka, The Emerging Japanese Superstate, for the New York Times. December 13, 1970. https://www.nytimes.com/1970/12/13/archives/the-emerging-japanese-superstate.html

- Article published by Kahn about Japan, around the same time as his first book about Japan:

Kahn, Herman, and Max Singer. “Japan and Pacific Asia in the 1970s.” Asian Survey, vol. 11, no. 4, 1971, pp. 399–412. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2642697. Accessed 15 May 2020.

- Audio of an interview with Herman Kahn from circa 1967 about his book The Year 2000. CONTENT WARNING: VERY 1960s ERA DISCUSSIONS OF RACE AND RACIAL TENSIONS. Interview by Patricia Marx for WNYC.

- New York Times obituary of Herman Kahn:

Joseph B. Treaster, HERMAN KAHN DIES; FUTURIST AND THINKER ON NUCLEAR STRATEGY, for the New York Times. July 8, 1983. Available at https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/08/obituaries/herman-kahn-dies-futurist-and-thinker-on-nuclear-strategy.html

- New York Times book review comparing several recently-published books about the Japanese economy by Kahn and others:

Frank B. Gibney, Success Story, for the New York Times. June 10, 1979. Available at https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/10/archives/success-story-japan.html

- The TNN includes the following music:

Ranz des Vaches by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4263-ranz-des-vaches License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Funky Chunk by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3789-funky-chunk License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

-*-

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.44: Strange Bedfellows

Sat, 09 May 2020 01:10:34 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 43 - "Haman's Victory" (ハマーンの嘲笑), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Qubeley (キュベレイ).

- How to pronounce Kybele in Greek (plus help from patron Serperoth).

- Wikipedia pages for Cybele/Kybele and Phrygia. - Listings from other online encyclopedias and reference websites (page on theoi.com includes text of associated myths and legends):

https://www.theoi.com/Phrygios/Kybele.html

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Great-Mother-of-the-Gods

https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/cybele/

https://www.ancient.eu/Cybele/

- Reference pages about Attis from Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica.

- Books and articles:

Roller, Lynn E. In Search of God the Mother: the Cult of Anatolian Cybele. University of California Press, 1999. Accessed via Google Scholar.

Borgeaud, Philippe. Mother of the Gods: from Cybele to the Virgin Mary. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. Accessed via Google Scholar.

Kramer-Rolls, Dana. “The Emergence of the Goddess Mary: from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages.” Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, vol. 6, no. 1, 2007, doi:10.1558/pome.v6i1.34. Abstract accessed here.

Fear, A. T. “Cybele and Christ.” Cybele, Attis and Related Cults: Essays in Memory of Maarten J. Vermaseren, by Maarten J. Vermaseren and Eugene N. Lane, Brill, 1996, pp. 37–50. Preview here.

- The TNN this week includes two pieces of music:

Mistake the Getaway by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4060-mistake-the-getaway License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

and For the Fallen by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3772-for-the-fallen License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

Interlude: Nina Predicts the Future

Sat, 02 May 2020 01:40:16 -0000

Show Notes

A gallery with pictures of all the covers Nina reviewed is available for your reference at gundampodcast.com/patreon - and don't worry, the gallery is available to everyone.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.43: Rosamia Bound

Sat, 25 Apr 2020 02:08:45 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 42 - "Goodbye, Rosammy" (さよならロザミィ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Baund Doc (バウンド・ドック).

- Kobayashi Makoto's (小林誠) Japanese Wikipedia page.

- Kobayashi Makoto's Twitter post about different variations on the Baund Doc design.

- About Anubis:

Joshua J. Mark, Anubis, Ancient.eu. July 25, 2016. Available at: https://www.ancient.eu/Anubis/

- Wikipedia page on Anubis.

- The manga exclusive "Amon Doc" and the Japanese Wikipedia article for the manga in which it appeared.

- The Baund Doc-esque Pharaoh Hound.

- Article about Dragon's Heaven, the Makoto Kobayashi OVA:

Sean O'Mara, Makoto Kobayashi's Dragon's Heaven, Zimmerit.moe. Feb. 28, 2018. Available at: http://www.zimmerit.moe/makoto-kobayashi-dragons-heaven/

- Interview with Makoto Kobayashi from Forbes:

Ollie Barder, Makoto Kobayashi On Mecha Design And The Importance Of Red And Blue Paint, Forbes.com. June 25, 2016. Available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/olliebarder/2016/06/25/makoto-kobayashi-on-mecha-design-and-the-importance-of-red-and-blue-paint/

- A 2005-era Kobayashi Makoto fansite.

- Japanese Wikipedia article on the Baund Doc.

- About scarabs:

Kierra Foley, Scarabs, Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum. Undated. Available at http://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/the-collection/object-stories/ancient-egyptian-amulets/scarabs/.

Ashley Fiutko Arico and Kierra Foley, Heart Scarab, Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum. Undated. Available at http://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/the-collection/object-stories/ancient-egyptian-amulets/heart-scarab/.

John Ward, The sacred beetle: a popular treatise on Egyptian scarabs in art and history. J. Murray (London 1902). Available at https://archive.org/details/sacredbeetlepopu00wardrich/mode/2up

- This week's Titans News Network segment includes Gustav Sting by Kevin MacLeod. Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3835-gustav-sting License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.42: The Next Tragedy

Sat, 18 Apr 2020 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 41 - "Awakening" (目覚め), discuss our first impressions, and talk to special guest Dr. Shar, of Dr. Sharmander Gaming, about Rosamia's psychology.

- Pop article on retrograde amnesia from How Stuff Works.

- The famous HM case study on retrograde amnesia.

- The infamous Dr. Loftus and false memories.

- Cleveland Clinic page on dissociative amnesia or dissociative fugue.

- Overview of age-regression as a symptom of several other conditions.

- The music used in the TNN segment included Gemini (Instrumental Version) by Josh Woodward, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. The work is available at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/The_Wake_1790/JoshWoodward-TheWake-NoVox-12-Gemini and Josh Woodward's website is www.joshwoodward.com.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.41: The Point of No Return

Sat, 11 Apr 2020 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 40 - "Activation of Gryps" (グリプス始動), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and analysis on the voice acting by both the Japanese cast and the cast of the English dub.

- The music used in the TNN was:

Prayers, by Admiral Bob used under a CC BY license
Long Road Ahead by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3996-long-road-ahead License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.40: No Rest for the Wicked

Sat, 04 Apr 2020 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 39 - "By the Lake" (湖畔), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on "fortress" Switzerland and indirect kissing.

- Wikipedia pages for the National Redoubt, Swiss armed forces, and "defense in depth."

- Probably the first time article I ever read (way back in the day!) about Switzerland's national defense:

Kolenberg, Steve. “The 5 Most Secretly Badass Countries.” Cracked.com, Cracked.com, 20 Feb. 2013, www.cracked.com/article_20301_the-5-most-secretly-badass-countries.html.

- Article referencing the John McPhee book, La Place de la Concorde Suisse (with several quotations):

Manaugh, Geoff. “Various Forms of Lithic Disguise.” BLDGBLOG, BLDGBLOG, 16 Dec. 2015, www.bldgblog.com/2012/06/various-forms-of-lithic-disguise/.

- Another article discussing the self-sabotage, hidden facilities, and disguised facilities that are part of Switzerland's defenses (includes photographs):

Kohlstedt, Kurt. “Self Sabotage: The Strange Swiss History of Rigging Vital Infrastructure to Explode.” 99% Invisible, 1 Nov. 2019, 99percentinvisible.org/article/designed-for-demolition-why-the-swiss-rigged-critical-infrastructure-to-explode/.

- Background articles for indirect kissing:

Chris Kincaid, A Look at Gender Expectations in Japanese Society, for Japan Powered (July 7, 2013). Available at https://www.japanpowered.com/japan-culture/a-look-at-gender-expectations-in-japanese-society

Chris Kincaid, Dating and Marriage in Japan, for Japan Powered (July 27, 2014). Available at https://www.japanpowered.com/japan-culture/dating-marriage-japan.

- Wikipedia page on group dating, including a brief blurb about gokon dating. - Stories from the darker side of gokon dating:

Cara Clegg, The ugly truth of 'gokon,' Japan's group blind dates, for Japan Today (Sep. 29, 2014). Available at https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/the-ugly-truth-of-gokon-japans-group-blind-dates

- Jisho.org entry for indirect kiss/間接キス.

- Warning - the following sources were chosen because they give insight into the way people think and talk about "indirect kisses". They should not be relied upon for the truth of their content, and MSB does not endorse the sources or the statements made thereon:

Jeff, 5 seduction techniques used by Japanese women, for Enicee.com. Available at http://enicee.com/en/article/5-seduction-techniques-used-by-Japanese-women. Enicee.com is a dating service aimed at cross-cultural dating and with a specific focus on English-speaking westerners who want to date Japanese people.

"Does he care? The 9 patterns of male psychology that can be understood by his reaction to an indirect kiss!" from Japanese-language relationship advice website Sugoren. March 24, 2020. Available at https://news.goo.ne.jp/article/sugoren/life/sugoren-1489216486005.html

"The 13 psychological types of men who kiss indirectly! How to tell if his pulse races for you!" from Japanse-language list-making site Rank Best. August 19, 2019. Available at https://ranking-best.net/3850.

"What are the hidden feelings of a man when he kisses you indirectly?" from Japanese-language romantic advice website Koimemo. October 23, 2019. Available at https://koimemo.com/article/16102.

- Our TNN Interns:

Crimson

Lieutenant Birdman

Kurt

Hobbs 5226

Sean "Quantum Nottle"

Thunderokami

Paragon

Renato

Murf

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

April Fools 2020 - Mobile Suit Businessdeal

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

The music used in the closing section was sourced from Public Domain and CC BY samples uploaded to freesound.org, including: https://freesound.org/people/borralbi/sounds/351980/ by Boralbi (Public Domain), https://freesound.org/people/Hjaarlmarch/sounds/220058/ by Hjaarlmarch (Public Domain), https://freesound.org/people/Metzik/sounds/244155/ by Metzik (CC BY), and https://freesound.org/people/djgriffin/sounds/15488/ by DJ Griffin (CC BY).

Happy April Fool's Day!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.39: Aid and Comfort to the Enemy

Sat, 28 Mar 2020 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 38 - "Reccoa's Shadow" (レコアの気配), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Dijeh mobile suit, and giraffes.

- Articles about sail-backed creatures like the Spinosaurus:

Joseph Castro for LiveScience.com, Spinosaurus: The Largest Carnivorous Dinosaur. March 18, 2016. Available at https://www.livescience.com/24120-spinosaurus.html

Reptilis.net, Tall spines and sailed backs: A survey of sailbacks across time. Jun 21, 2014. Available at https://reptilis.net/2014/06/21/tall-spines-and-sailed-backs-a-survey-of-sailbacks-across-time/

The Philippine sailfin lizard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_sailfin_lizard

- Japanese Wikipedia article for the Rick Dias (includes the Dijeh as a subtype).

- Article about the djed legend:

Joshua J. Mark for Ancient.eu, Djed. March 3, 2016. Available at https://www.ancient.eu/Djed/

- Wikipedia and Britannica pages on the qilin/kirin.

- More articles about the mythical Kirin (the page from the Tokyo National Museum also addresses the giraffe connection in Japanese art):

Meyer, Matthew. “Yokai.com.” Kirin | Yokai.com, 2020, yokai.com/kirin/.

Bernard, Chelsea. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Japan Edition.” Tofugu, Tofugu, 30 Apr. 2014, www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-mythological-creatures/.

“Mythical Creatures: The Qilin.” Tokyo National Museum, Tokyo National Museum, 2012, www.tnm.jp/modules/r_free_page/index.php?id=1462&lang=en.

- Giraffes in China:

Eschner, Kat. “The Peculiar Story of Giraffes in 1400s China.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 21 June 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/peculiar-story-giraffes-medieval-china-180963737/.

Laufer, Berthold. “The Giraffe in History and Art.” Anthropology Leaflet, no. 27, 1928, pp. 1–100. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41444127. Accessed 25 Mar. 2020.

- About the fact that giraffes hum at night:

Allison Eck for PBS.org, Giraffes Hum to Each Other Throughout the Night, And Zookeepers Never Noticed. September 18, 2015. Available at https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/giraffes-hum-to-each-other-throughout-the-night-and-zookeepers-never-noticed/

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.38: Human Sacrifice

Sat, 21 Mar 2020 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and provide analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 37 - "The Day of Dakar" (ダカールの日), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the city of Dakar, Senegal, and broadcast signal intrusion.

- Relevant Wikipedia articles for background on Dakar, Cap Vert, and French West Africa. Senegal and the French conquest of Senegal, the Emirate of Trarza, and Waalo. Louis Faidherbe, gum arabic, the Mali Federation, and the French Community (yes, there's a lot of background!).

- Article about Dakar's role in the French Empire as early as 1848:

Bruce Vandervort, Senegal in 1848, Encyclopedia of 1848 Revolutions. Compiled by James Chastain of Ohio University. Available at https://www.ohio.edu/chastain/rz/senegal.htm

- An exceedingly detailed investigation of the history of the acacia gum trade:

van Dalen, Dorrit. “Gum Arabic. The Golden Tears of the Acacia Tree.” Leiden UP (2019).

- Article regarding Faidherbe's time as governor:

Barrows, Leland C. “Faidherbe and Senegal: A Critical Discussion.” African Studies Review, vol. 19, no. 1, 1976, pp. 95–117. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/523854. Accessed 19 Mar. 2020.

- News clip from 2018 regarding a dispute over a statue of Faidherbe in Saint-Louis.

- A brief overview of the history of Dakar city:

Caelen Anacker, Dakar, Senegal (1857- ). For blackpast.org (June 10, 2010). Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/dakar-senegal-1857/

- Article on the segregated urban planning of Dakar:

Nelson, David. “Defining the Urban: The Construction of French-Dominated Colonial Dakar, 1857-1940.” Historical Reflections / Réflexions Historiques, vol. 33, no. 2, 2007, pp. 225–255. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41299411. Accessed 19 Mar. 2020.

- Article about the racial politics of French West Africa and the treatment of originaires:

Jones, Hilary. “Rethinking Politics in the Colony: the Métis of Senegal and Urban Politics in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century." The Journal of African History, vol. 53, no. 3, 2012, pp. 325–344., www.jstor.org/stable/23353679. Accessed 19 Mar. 2020.

- Contemporary report regarding the Mali Federation's appeal for independence and formation, drafted in the brief period before it disintegrated:

U.S. Bureau of Foreign Commerce, basic data on the economy of the West African States of the French Community, from World Trade Information Service, Part 1. U.S. Dept. of Commerce (1960).

- Wikipedia pages for broadcast signal intrusion generally, as well as specific pages for the Southern Television broadcast interruption, the Captain Midnight broadcast signal intrusion, and the Max Headroom signal hijacking.

- Dictionary page for the Japanese term for broadcast signal intrusion (電波ジャック).

- About the Max Headroom character.

- Thirty years later - articles revisiting the Max Headroom incident for the 30-year anniversary, from Ars Technica and Vice.

- In depth article about the investigation into the Max Headroom incident and the efforts to find the hackers responsible.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for broadcast signal intrusion (lists famous instances in Japan, which are not listed in the English-language page).

- Wikipedia pages for the Japan Revolutionary Community League National Committee (Middle Core Faction) and the Japan Revolutionary Community League National Committee (Revolutionary Marxist Faction).

- Japanese Wikipedia pages for Hasegawa Hidenori (長谷川英憲) and the Suginami Disaster Warning System Broadcast Signal Intrusion Incident (杉並区防災無線電波ジャック事件). And a weblio page about the same incident.

- Japanese page covering many famous broadcast signal intrusion incidents in history, and a weblio page that does the same.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for the Mizumoto Incident.

- The music used in the TNN was Prayers, by Admiral Bob used under a CC BY license.

You can subscribe to the Mobile Suit Breakdown for free! on fine Podcast services everywhere and on YouTube, follow us on twitter @gundampodcast, check us out at gundampodcast.com, email your questions, comments, and complaints to gundampodcast@gmail.com.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.37: The Devil's Machine

Sat, 07 Mar 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 36 - "Forever Four" (永遠のフォウ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Tanzania, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and a language note about the name "Bidan."

- Jisho.org online Japanese dictionary search results for "Bidan."

- Wikipedia pages for background the history of Tanzania, the "scramble for Africa," German East Africa, League of Nations mandates, and Julius Nyerere.

- Britannica biography of Julius Nyerere.

- Notes on the origin of the name Kilimanjaro:

J. A. Hutchinson, The Meaning of Kilimanjaro. Tanganyika Notes and Records (1965). Available at https://web.archive.org/web/20071006111206/http://www.ntz.info/gen/b00769.html

- A brief biography of the German military commander in German East Africa during World War I: Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck.

- A brief history of Tanzania's road to independence from South African History Online.

- A more detailed political history of the rise of Tanzanian nationalism in the mid-20th century, from the African Democracy Encyclopaedia Project.

- Vatican News profile on Julius Nyerere, including mention of a campaign to beatify him:

Paul Samusumo, The Legacy of Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere. Available at https://www.vaticannews.va/en/africa/news/2019-11/the-legacy-of-mwalimu-julius-kambarage-nyerere.html

- An alternative take on Nyerere from marxists.org:

Biography : Julius Kambarage Nyerere, available at https://www.marxists.org/subject/africa/nyerere/biography.htm.

- Nyerere's social policies:

Andrew M. Ivaska, 'Anti-Mini Militants Meet Modern Misses': Urban Style, Gender and the Politics of 'National Culture' in 1960s Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Gender & History, Vol. 14 No. 3 November 2002, pp. 584-607.

Michael Drewett and Martin Cloonan, Popular Music Censorship in Africa. Ashgate (2006).

- Wikipedia pages for Diogenes and the Nile.

- A lot of the sources available in English that discuss Kilimanjaro, as well as myths, legends, and beliefs about the peaks, are from trekking companies that organize climbing expeditions (or first-hand accounts by English speakers who have done a trek and heard the stories from locals they met). One such trekking company, Thomson Treks, was the source for some of my information on Kilimanjaro as the suspected source of the Nile, the story of how Kibo and Mawenzi came apart, the mythical elephant graveyard of Kilimanjaro, and the myth that the top of Kilimanjaro is where the gates to the afterlife/underworld are located.

- Article in a geography periodical discussing the ongoing debate over the "source" of the Nile.

- Book that recounts the story of how the mountains came to be. Content Warning: while this book offers a good re-telling of story, the other parts of the book that I read (not very much, but still) seemed racist and dismissive towards the Chagga people:

Dundas, Charles. Kilimanjaro and Its People: a History of the Wachagga, Their Laws, Customs and Legends, Together with Some Account of the Highest Mountain in Africa. Routledge, 1968. Access it on Google Books here.

- Another trekking company (Secret Compass) overview of the Kilimanjaro region. Page briefly covers local folklore, including the creation of the mountain, the scarring of Mawenzi, the elephant graveyard, and the Wakonyingo.

- Travelogue-style book, with a longer and more detailed version of the story of how Mawenzi became so scarred:

Newsham, Brad. Take Me with You: a Round-the-World Journey to Invite a Stranger Home. Bantam, 2002. Access it on Google books here.

- The music used in the TNN is "New York City (instrumental)" by spinningmerkaba. Available at http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/jlbrock44/30389. The music used in the tribute to Four Murasame is Rains Will Fall by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4262-rains-will-fall) and Sovereign Quarter by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4396-sovereign-quarter). All three songs are licensed pursuant to a Creative Commons 4.0 Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

- The translation of Ōta Dokān's death poem can be found in Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death. Trans. Yoel Hoffmann. Charles E. Tuttle (Tokyo 1986).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.36: The Mountain Won't Come to Kamille

Sat, 29 Feb 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 35 - "Storm Over Kilimanjaro" (キリマンジャロの嵐), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the 1969 American film, "Cactus Flower" and it's likely influence on the previous Zeta Episode (The Call of Darkness/宇宙が呼ぶ声).

Short show notes this week, since we mostly discuss our interpretation of the film.

- Wikipedia and IMDB pages for the 1969 film, "Cactus Flower."

- Wikipedia pages for director Gene Saks and writer I. A. L. Diamond.

- IMDB page for Goldie Hawn.

- IMDB and Wikipedia pages for Ingrid Bergman. And yes, if you watch the film and she strongly reminds you of Isabella Rossellini (which is what happened to Nina), that is because Rossellini is her daughter.

- Amazon link to rent/stream the film.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.35: The Cactus Flower

Sat, 22 Feb 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 34 - "The Call of Darkness" (宇宙が呼ぶ声), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Axis symbol and a wrestling move.

- Google image search for “astra star goddess.”

- Wikipedia pages for Astraea and Asteria.

- About the Astra, Star Goddess symbol.

- About the "Charge of the Goddess" text.

- About Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, per his personal website, Wikipedia page, and a Vice review of “The Wizard of OZ” a documentary about Oberon Zell-Ravenheart’s life. You can stream the documentary on Vimeo here.

- Modern paganism, some symbols used by pagan religions, and the Goddess movement.

- Goddesses, priestesses, and fertility symbols - examples from ancient art.

- Brooklyn Museum page on the terracotta figure of a woman with arms outstretched (Egyptian, circa 3400-3500 BCE).

Papers about feminism in Japan and how it has changed over time:

Matsui, Machiko. “Evolution of the Feminist Movement in Japan.” NWSA Journal, vol. 2, no. 3, 1990, pp. 435–449. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4316048. Accessed 13 Feb. 2020.

Yumiko, Ehara, et al. “Japanese Feminism in the 1970s and 1980s.” U.S.-Japan Women's Journal. English Supplement, no. 4, 1993, pp. 49–69. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/42772052. Accessed 18 Feb. 2020.

- Personal knowledge provided by ActionAwesome.

- Articles about techniques in Pro Wrestling:

Jack Slack for Vice.com, Kayfabe Time Capsule: The Real Techniques of Professional Wrestling. Feb. 4, 2016. Available at https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/z4aeqj/kayfabe-time-capsule-the-real-techniques-of-professional-wrestling

Jake Shannon, Say Uncle!: Catch-as-Catch Can Wrestling and the Roots of Ultimate Fighting, Pro Wrestling & Modern Grappling. ECW Press (2011).

- YouTube instructional for applying the Boston Crab in a Judo context.

- Match records for Fall 1985 puroresu cards: '85 World Champion Carnival/New Wave in Japan, and Challenge Spirit '85/Taiwan Tour.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.34: A Leader For All Spacenoids

Sat, 15 Feb 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 33 - "The Messenger from Axis" (アクシズからの使者), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on an unexpected bird and the math and science of the Solar System weapon from First Gundam.

- Quora page on identifying the differences between cranes, storks, and herons (answer provided by Doctor of Zoology C.S. Sharma).

- Information and beautiful pictures about the white (ish) stork native to Japan.

- Illustrated version of the Japanese folktale Tsuru no Ongaeshi ("The Crane Wife" / "The Crane's Gratitude").

- Photographs of the Shirasaigi no Mai (White Heron Dance) purification ritual as it is conducted today, plus some information about the associations for cranes in Japanese society.

- Additional information about the modern version of the Shirasagi no Mai festival.

- A page on distinguishing Crane, Heron, and Stork (in the Japanese language).

- Japanese language ornithology site with letter from Sahara Yuji (Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Hirosaki University) and Matsunaga Katsutoshi (Hokkaido Heron Research Group) regarding the heron in Japanese culture.

- Longer Japanese language article about the Heron/Egret in Japanese tradition from the Hokkaido Heron Research Group.

- Japanese language collection of myths about herons.

- Wikipedia page on Sasaki Sadako.

- Hitachi Metals company page (in English) on the iron and smithing goddess Kanayago-no-kami.

- Encyclopedia of Shinto page on Kanayago.

- Wikipedia page about one of the more famous heron yokai.

- Wikipedia page on kegare (穢れ・汚れ) pollution.

- More details about Kanayago, including paintings of the goddess and pictures of her shrines.

- Additional details on the Japanese iron-making tradition and Kanayago.

- Iraj's calculations regarding the Solar System weapon from First Gundam.

- The music used in the TNN was "Heartbreaking" and "Funkorama" both by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) and available at https://filmmusic.io. Licensed pursuant to CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.33: A Long Time Ago, We Used To Be Friends

Sat, 08 Feb 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 32 - "Unidentified Mobile Suits" (謎のモビルスーツ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the history of ice cream in Japan (part 2), and Yazan's turtle tattoo.

- Web resources (in Japanese) about the history of ice cream:

“アイスクリームの工業化.”日本アイスクリーム協会, https://www.icecream.or.jp/biz/history/japan02.html

“アイスクリーム時代の到来.”日本アイスクリーム協会, https://www.icecream.or.jp/biz/history/japan03.html

細野明義. “アイスクリームの日本昔話.” 日本アイスクリーム協会, https://www.icecream.or.jp/biz/history/oldstory.pdf

“日本アイスクリーム史 - 昨日、今日、そして明日へ.” 日本アイスクリーム協会, https://www.icecream.or.jp/biz/history/history.pdf

- Calculator to adjust past prices for inflation.

- Wikipedia page on the three sacred treasures (traditional and "new").

- I got population numbers by searching “Japan population [date]” in Google. It cites the World Bank as one of its sources for historical population data.

- Article about the mid-1980s luxury ice cream fad in Japan, namely for Häagen-Dazs:

Chira, Susan. “AN ICE CREAM WINS JAPANESE.” The New York Times, 20 Aug. 1985.

- Paper about an ethnographic study of fast food perceptions and consumption in Japan:

Traphagan, John W., and L. Keith Brown. “Fast Food and Intergenerational Commensality in Japan: New Styles and Old Patterns.” Ethnology, vol. 41, no. 2, 2002, pp. 119–134. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4153002. Accessed 5 Feb. 2020.

- Explanation of "indirect kiss," and several other romantic gestures that show up in Japanese media.

- Wikipedia page on Japanese tattooing, including notes on the status of tattoos in the modern period.

- English-language articles about discrimination against people with tattoos in Japan:

Justin McCurry for The Guardian, Mayor of Osaka launches crusade against tattoos. May 17, 2012. Available at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/17/mayor-osaka-tattoos.

Author unknown, the Japan Times, Supreme Court upholds Osaka city's tattoo check on workers as legal. November 14, 2016. Available at https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/11/14/national/crime-legal/supreme-court-upholds-osaka-citys-tattoo-check-workers-legal/#.Xj2PnGhKiUm

- Article by Bryan Ashcraft (author of Japanese Tattoos: History * Culture * Design) for Kotaku about a government crackdown on tattooing:

Japan is Trying to Destroy Tattoos, updated June 3, 2016. Available at https://kotaku.com/japan-is-trying-to-destroy-tattoos-update-1747046619

- Discogs record for the Japanese release of The Dream of the Blue Turtles, including its release date.

- July 1985 Spin Magazine interview with Sting.

- The Dream of the Blue Turtles full track and a playlist for the full album.

- Review of The Dream of the Blue Turtles album discussing its success:

Jeff Giles for Ultimate Classic Rock, REVISITING STING’S SOLO DEBUT, ‘THE DREAM OF THE BLUE TURTLES’. Date unknown. Available at: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/sting-dream-of-the-blue-turtles/

- Wikipedia page for the color ao (青、あお) and Jisho.org entry.

- Article about traditional Japanese color theory:

Sarah W. and Fiona for Tofugu, The Traditional Colors of Japan. September 12, 2013. Available at https://www.tofugu.com/japan/color-in-japan/

- Wikipedia page for the blue-green distinction in language.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for the Green Sea Turtle (アオウミガメ). Thom accidentally dropped a syllable during recording - he said "aomigame" but it should be "aoumigame.

- The music used in the AEUG Broadcasting Channel segment was Gemini (Instrumental Version) by Josh Woodward, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. The work is available at https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Josh_Woodward/The_Wake_1790/JoshWoodward-TheWake-NoVox-12-Gemini and Josh Woodward's website is www.joshwoodward.com.

- The voice of Yugi the AEUG Assistance Aardvark was provided by Adam Black, who encourages you to check out https://oneearthsangha.org/ to help save our planet.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.32: Saturday in the Park

Sat, 01 Feb 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 31 - "Half Moon Love" (ハーフムーン・ラブ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the history of ice cream in Japan (part 1!), and the conclusion of Thom's research on the Young Officers Revolt of February 26, 1936.

- A book on the history of ice cream, with a few mentions of Japan:

Quinzio, Jeri. Of Sugar and Snow: a History of Ice Cream Making. University of California Press, 2010.

- English article on the history of dairy production and consumption in Japan:

Silverjay. “Short History of Cheese and Milk in JAPAN.” Chowhound, 3 Jan. 2011, www.chowhound.com/post/short-history-cheese-milk-japan-757258.

- Japanese-language pages on the introduction of ice cream to Japan and early industry developments (both from the Japan Ice Cream Association):

“‘あいすくりん’の誕生.” 日本アイスクリーム協会, www.icecream.or.jp/biz/history/japan01.html.

“アイスクリームの工業化.”日本アイスクリーム協会, https://www.icecream.or.jp/biz/history/japan02.html

- A very detailed book about the Young Officers Revolt of 1936:

Ben-Ami Shillony, Revolt in Japan: The Young Officers and the February 26, 1936 Incident. Princeton UP (1973).

- The music used in the TNN was "Obliteration" from https://filmmusic.io by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com). License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.31: Nothing New Under the Sun

Sat, 25 Jan 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 30 - "Jerid's Desperate Attack" (ジェリド特攻), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on kissing in Japanese culture, and AEUG, Melanie Hugh Carbine, and the Young Officers Revolt of February 26, 1936.

- Essay on Kissing in Japanese culture:

“The Japanese Kiss.” A Lateral View: Essays on Culture and Style in Contemporary Japan, by Donald Richie, Stone Bridge Press, 2001, pp. 220–225.

- Dictionary page for seppun (接吻・せっぷん), the Japanese word for kiss.

- Essay about censorship that talks about kissing in Japan, and specifically about the exhibition of Rodin's "The Kiss."

Redactionary Global Modernism: Kisses in Imperial Japan Jonathan E. Abel From: Modernism/modernity Volume 21, Number 1, January 2014 pp. 201-229 | 10.1353/mod.2014.0020

- Papers that discuss kissing in Japanese culture, and how it was changed by the Occupation:

“Kissing Is a Symbol of Democracy!” Dating, Democracy and Romance in Occupied Japan 1945-1952, Journal of the History of Sexuality, 19(3), September 2010, 508-35.

Kamei, Shunsuke. “The Kiss and Japanese Culture after World War II.” Comparative Literature Studies, vol. 18, no. 2, 1981, pp. 114–123. JSTOR, <www.jstor.org/stable/40246247>. Accessed 21 Jan. 2020.

- Contemporary (early 2010s) articles about PDA and dating in Japan (the dating articles are written from the perspective of non-Japanese people dating a Japanese person, with an eye to likely culture clashes, and includes a section of physical affection):

SoraNews24.com - PDA in Japan: Is it OK to Kiss on the Street Corner?

Tofugu.com - Dating a Japanese Girl and Dating a Japanese Guy

- Book about the Young Officers Revolt (and gift from a listener!):

Ben-Ami Shillony, Revolt in Japan: The Young Officers and the February 26, 1936 Incident. Princeton UP (1973).

- The music used in the TNN was Floating Cities and the music used in Mouar's elegy was Clear Water. Both from https://filmmusic.io by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com) and licensed under CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.30: The Gambler

Sat, 18 Jan 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 29 - Crisis at Side Two (サイド2の危機), discuss our first impressions, and discuss the mental and emotional state of a somewhat-more-grown-up Amuro Ray with special guest and consultant in neuropsychology, Dr. Shar, of Dr. Sharmander gaming.

You can find Dr. Shar online on YouTube and Twitter. Dr Shar also consulted on MSB episodes 1.27 and 2.16.

Disclaimer from Dr. Shar: All views expressed in this interview are the clinician's own and do not represent the opinions of any entity whatsoever with which she has been, is currently, or will be affiliated. Some are reactionary and are for entertainment purposes only.

- A neuropsych book on veterans:

Bush, Shane S. Neuropsychological Practice with Veterans. Springer Publishing Company, 2012.

- Definition and explanation of the effects of G-LOC (G-Force Induced Loss of Consciousness).

- Brief explanation of Kluver-Bucy syndrome.

- Explanation of object relations theory.

- The music used in the Man in the Demon Faced Castle trailer is Augmentations by Kai Engle, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.29: A Show of Mercy

Sat, 11 Jan 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 28 - The Jupitris Infiltration (ジュピトリス潜入), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on physical deception and women spies.

We are joined by guest-voice Adam Black, who asked us to link to One Earth Sanga, and organization he works with that "expresses a Buddhist response to ecological crises."

- Wikipedia page for Operation Bodyguard, comprised of Operations Fortitude and Quicksilver.

- Wikipedia page for the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops (aka the "Ghost Army"), American deception specialists operating in Europe after D-Day.

- A collection of historical materials about the 23rd Headquarters.

- The 23rd Headquarter's most famous alumnus, fashion designer extraordinaire Bill Blass.

- An overview on dummy tanks.

- New York Times article about modern Russian inflatable dummies:

Andrew E. Kramer, A New Weapon in Russia’s Arsenal, and It’s Inflatable. New York Times article, Oct. 12, 2016. Available at https://nyti.ms/2dWBU8A

- Some modern inflatable dummy manufacturers, so you can see pictures of just how real they look (and in case you want your own).

- Books about the Second Battle of El Alamein:

John Latimer, Alamein. Harvard UP (2002).

James Lucas, War in the Desert: the Eighth Army at El Alamein. Beaufort (New York 1982).

- Wikipedia page for Operation Bertram.

- Articles and books on Operation Bertram:

Rickard, J (21 April 2017), Operation Bertram, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/operation_bertram.html

Peter Forbes, Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage. Yale UP (2011).

Rick Stroud, The Phantom Army of Alamein: The Men Who Hoodwinked Rommel. A&C Black (2013)

- US Naval War College page on women in espionage, with lots of great links to books, articles, and websites with additional information.

- Wikipedia category page for “female wartime spies.”

- Wikipedia page for “sexpionage” with definition and famous examples.

- Article from The Washington Post about sexpionage in the Cold War:

Dobbs, Michael. “SEXPIONAGE WHY WE CAN'T RESIST THOSE KGB SIRENS.” The Washington Post, 12 Apr. 1987.

- Journal article:

Martin, Amy J. “America’s Evolution of Women and Their Roles in the Intelligence Community.” Journal of Strategic Security, vol. 8, no. 3, 2015, pp. 99–109. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26465249. Accessed 8 Jan. 2020.

- More recent articles from Forbes and The Guardian about perceived strengths and advantages of women as spies.

- Brief discussion of the history of women in the CIA, culminating with the appointment of Gina Haspel as Director of the CIA in 2018.

- Article from The Atlantic, reviewing several books about women in espionage. Includes good excerpts with anecdotes about famous women spies and some of the thought process behind using women for espionage work:

Mundy, Liza. “Female Spies and Their Secrets.” The Atlantic, June 2019. Accessed at https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/06/female-spies-world-war-ii/588058/.

- Article with stories of specific women spies:

Jarvis, Erika. “Five Badass Female Spies Who Deserve Their Own World War II Movie.” Vanity Fair, 26 Nov. 2016. Accessed at https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/11/allied-world-war-2-female-spy-movies

- Defense Intelligence Agency short bios of women in espionage, page 1 and page 2.

- The music in the ABC (AEUG Broadcasting Channel) is:

Gemini (Instrumental Version) by Josh Woodward, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.28: Fatherless

Sat, 04 Jan 2020 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 27 - Rendezvous With Char (シャアの帰還), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Yazan's glove and Nagano Mamoru (永野護).

- A very readable overview of the history of dueling, from The New Yorker.

- Useful books:

John Gideon Millingen, The History of Duelling: Including, Narratives of the Most Remarkable Personal Encounters that Have Taken Place from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Volume 1. R. Bentley (1841).

Andrew Steinmetz, The Romance of Duelling in All Times and Countries, Volume 1. Chapman and Hall (1868).

John Ferne, The Blazon of Gentrie: : Deuided into two parts. The first named The Glorie of Generositie. The second, Lacyes Nobilitie. Comprehending discourses of Armes and of Gentry. Wherein is treated of the beginning, parts and degrees of Gentlenesse, vvith her lawes: Of the Bearing, and Blazon of Cote-armors: Of the Lawes of Armes, and of combats. John Windet (London 1586). Available at https://archive.org/details/blazonofgentried00fern/page/316

- Georgetown Washington Law School article on the history of dueling as a legal institution:

Jennie C. Meade, The Duel: a look back at a once-legal method of resolving disputes. Available at https://www2.gwu.edu/~magazine/archive/2005_law_fall/docs/feat_duel.html

- Translation of the Lex Burgundionum with commentary from Harvard Law School. From The Burgundian Code (K. F. Drew, trans., 1949; repr. 1972). Available at http://www.law.harvard.edu/faculty/cdonahue/courses/CLH/mats/MAT13CLH.03.pdf

- The 1777 Irish Code Duello.

- Treatise on dueling in Germany:

Kevin McAleer, Dueling: The Cult of Honor in Fin-de-Siècle Germany. Princeton UP (2014).

- Vice article on modern day dueling in German universities (Content Warning: pictures of dueling injuries):

Roc Morin, Fighting for Facial Scars in Germany’s Secret Fencing Frats.

- Article comparing different versions of the story of the paladin Orlando/Roland, most famously set forth in Orlando Furioso, with commentary linking the face-thrown gauntlet as a precedent to the practice of throwing down the gauntlet:

Anonymous, On the Early Italian Romances. The Scots Magazine 89/90 (1822).

- Article by Natasha Sheldon, 10 Historical Female Duelists and their Duels.

- Wikipedia pages for Nagano Mamoru (in English and in Japanese).

- Article about Nagano’s work on Gundam (retired content) from Gundam blogger Chara Soon.

- Forbes article about Nagano (talks about work on later series, but there’s a section heading that warns you, if you’re trying to avoid spoilers for later Gundam series).

- Documentary video from the theater releases of the first Gundam movies (Nagano and his future-wife, voice actress Maria Kawamura, attended in Char and Lalah cosplay and are visible in the video).

- Photo of Nagano and Ikuhara cosplaying as Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars.

- The music in this week's TNN is:

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.27: There Was A Ship

Sat, 14 Dec 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 26 - The Ghost of Zeon (ジオンの亡霊), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on bridges and the captains who die on them, a hard to translate phrase, and why Jamaican reminds Thom of Rudyard Kipling.

- Background on the bridge (nautical), all or nothing armoring, and conning towers..

- Labeled diagram showing parts of a WWII-era battleship.

- Book recounting the final battles of the Japanese battleship Musashi, including descriptions of her bridge and what happened to the officers on the bridge when it came under fire:

Gregory G. Fletcher. Intrepid Aviators: The American Flyers Who Sank Japan's Greatest Battleship, Penguin (2012).

- US Navy history page on the USS Atlanta, including the fate of Admiral Scott (killed on her bridge by friendly fire).

- Book covering the development of the "bridge":

Richard Woodman. The History of the Ship: The Comprehensive Story of Seafaring from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. Bloomsbury (2012).

- Background on the Japanese "pagoda masts."

- Book with a description of the bridge and the conning tower on an Iowa-class battleship:

Carl LaVo. Pushing the Limits: The Remarkable Life and Times of Vice Admiral Allen Rockwell McCann, USN. Naval Institute Press (2013).

- Book with a chapter laying out how bridge design might be re-imagined in the future:

Jan Noyes, Matthew Bransby. People in Control: Human Factors in Control Room Design. IET (2001).

- List of the US generals and flag officers killed during WW2.

- Jisho.org definition for しにぞこない (shinizokonai) - the phrase Yazan uses to describe the derelict Gwazine.

- Background on Rudyard Kipling.

- One of many critical responses to Kipling's "White Man's Burden":

H.T. Johnson, “The Black Man’s Burden,” available at http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5476/

- Archive.org copy of Mark Twain's "To the Person Sitting in Darkness."

- The Great War YouTube channel episode on the Battle of Loos, where John Kipling died.

- Text of the poem Tin Fish.

- Music for the TVN shopping channel:

- "On hold" music from the talkback:

- Music during Tin Fish:

- You can subscribe to the Mobile Suit Breakdown for free! on fine Podcast services everywhere and on YouTube, follow us on twitter @gundampodcast, check us out at gundampodcast.com, email your questions, comments, and complaints to gundampodcast@gmail.com.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.26: All Of This Has Happened Before

Sat, 07 Dec 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 25 - Colony Drop (コロニーが落ちる日), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on women at work in Japan of the 1980s, nuclear pulse engines, seiza, and fortune-telling machines.

- Paper about labor force participation of Japanese women:

Shimada, Haruo, and Yoshio Higuchi. “An Analysis of Trends in Female Labor Force Participation in Japan.” Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 3, no. 1, 1985, pp. S355–S374. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2535011.

- Wikipedia page on marriage in Japan.

- Wikipedia page for Japan’s Equal Employment Opportunity Law.

- OECD paper on gender pay gap for full-time workers in member countries.

- Japan Times opinion article about the ongoing discrimination Japanese women face in the workforce.

- Article from Human Rights Watch about workplace harassment in Japan.

- Article from Nikkei Asian Review on the sexual harassment of job-seekers.

- CNN article covering a Japanese survey about overwork, office culture, and mental health.

- Daily Beast article about recent (2018) sexual harassment and sexual discrimination scandals in Japan.

*- Unseen Japan translation of recent HuffPo Japan article about harassment during job-seeking.

- Wikipedia article on the JSDF (Japan Self-Defense Force).

- Japan Times articles about women in the JSDF.

- Graph of mean age at first marriage in Japan from 1955 to 2018, by gender.

- Trends of mean age at first birth in Poland, Japan and Sweden.

- An article with good statistics on dating, marriage, and childbearing in Japan, but with positions and conclusions I mostly disagree with, by Akihiko Kato, a Professor in the School of Political Science and Economics at Meiji University.

- Huffpo article on sexist expressions in languages other than English, including “Christmas Cake.”

- New York Times article about the increasing number of Japanese women choosing to stay single (also mentions “Christmas Cake”).

- A comprehensive paper on the early history of Nuclear Pulse Propulsion, with diagrams:

G.R. Schmidt, J.A. Bonometti, and P.J. Morton of NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville Alabama. Nuclear Pulse Propulsion - Orion and Beyond. Presented at the 36th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference & Exhibit, July 2000, Huntsville, Alabama. Available at https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20000096503.pdf

- An article including information on newer ideas for nuclear pulse propulsion:

Stan Tacket. Nuclear Pulse Propulsion: Gateway to the Stars. March 27, 2013. Available at http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2013/03/27/nuclear-pulse-propulsion-gateway-to-the-stars/

- A declassified report from Los Alamos on nuclear pulse propulsion.

Balcomb, Booth, Robinson, Cotter, Springer, Hedstrom, Watson. Nuclear Pulsed Space Propulsion Systems. Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory of the University of California, United States Atomic Energy Commission. 1970.

- Background on Freeman Dyson, Stanislaw Ulam, nuclear pulse propulsion, and Project Orion.

- Video footage from a 1950s era small scale test of the Project Orion concept.

- Wikipedia page on seiza.

- Teacher forces 96 students to kneel for 20 minutes as punishment for being late.

- Other sources on seiza as punishment:

DeCoker, Gary, and Christopher Bjork. Japanese Education in an Era of Globalization: Culture, Politics, and Equity. Teachers College Press, 2013.

LeTendre, Gerald K., and Rebecca Erwin Fukuzawa. Intense Years: How Japanese Adolescents Balance School, Family and Friends. Routledge, 2016.

- Japan Times article about upcoming changes to law regarding child abuse, including seiza in a list of unacceptable physical punishments.

- A brief rundown of some of the most famous fortune telling machines, including the Ask Swami that was "ubiquitous" in 1950s diners.

- The Twilight Zone episode with the fortune telling machine and a comparison of the Mystic Seer from the episode with the Ask Swami.

- Background on o-mikuji fortunes in English and in Japanese.

- Some more readable articles about the practice, with pictures.

- An article talking about the o-mikuji vending machines.

- Wikimedia's collection of pictures of o-mikuji vending machines.

- The roulette wheel omikuji vending machine, and an article about them with pictures that show one on a table in a restaurant.

- Tofugu article about Japan's coffee culture that mentions the 1980s coffee boom.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.25: Win Every Battle, Lose the War

Sat, 30 Nov 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 24 - Counterattack (反撃), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Japanese grammar and vocabulary, Wernher von Braun, desertification, and a final (we hope!) note about "the birds will laugh at me."

- Kotobank page for レクリエーション (recreation). Kotobank pulls definitions from various sources. All definitions in Japanese.

- Miriam Webster and Dictionary.com definitions of recreation.

- To talk about the ~んです grammar from this episode, I consulted the following books (and highly recommend them if you’re studying Japanese):

“No Da のだ.” A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar 日本語基本文法辞典, by Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui, Japan Times, 2007, pp. 325–328.

“Chapter 12.1 ~んです.” Genki I an Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese, by Eri Banno et al., The Japan Times, 1999, pp. 230–231.

- Wikipedia pages for Von Braun himself, the Von Braun Crater (not the site of Von Braun City), and the V-2 (vergeltungswaffe, "vengeance weapon") rocket program he headed.

- A review of empirical evidence about Von Braun's membership in the Nazi party, the SS, and the extent of his culpability for the suffering and death of the enslaved laborers who built his rockets:

Neufeld, Michael J. “Wernher Von Braun, the SS, and Concentration Camp Labor: Questions of Moral, Political, and Criminal Responsibility.” German Studies Review, vol. 25, no. 1, 2002, pp. 57–78. JSTOR, <www.jstor.org/stable/1433245>.

- A history of the V-2 rocket program:

Bode, Volkhard and Kaiser, George. Building Hitler's Missiles: Traces of History in Peenemünde. Ch. Links Verlag (2008).

- A broadly positive history of Von Braun's life and career that touches on the darker aspects:

Dunar, Andrew J. Wernher Von Braun: A Visionary as Engineer and Manager. From Realizing the Dream of Flight, a NASA anthology edited by Virginia Dawson and Mark Bowles. Government Printing Office (Dec 31, 2005).

- Article describing a young Von Braun engaged in what would today be considered unethical experiments on mice:

Bartels, Meghan. "Before He Was a Rocket Engineer for Nazi Germany, Von Braun Was a Student Experimenting on Mice." Space.com. August 12, 2019. Available at https://www.space.com/wernher-von-braun-college-mice-experiments.html

- Reference.com: What percentage of Africa is desert?

- Wikipedia pages on desertification and on Sahel droughts.

- Britannica page on desertification.

- An overview of current understanding of desertification, from the Desertification Control Bulletin.

- Detailed statistics and maps indicating risk of human-induced desertification in Africa, from the United States Department of Agriculture.

- A more recent (2015) article from the BBC about the current effects of desertification.

- Homepage, Wikipedia page, and Smithsonian article about The Great Green Wall, a project to combat desertification in the Sahel.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

MSB's Listener Forum

Sat, 23 Nov 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we have the text of the forum comments and discussion prompts, and sources for submitted research pieces. Some comments have been shortened or reformatted.

Dan: I would like to know your opinion on why certain Mobile suits are called Gundam, and others aren’t. Take the MK II, it’s made of titanium alloy, but it’s called a Gundam. The Hyaku Shiki and Rick Dias are both made of Gundarium Alloy, ( Luna Titanium retconned name) but are not classified as Gundams.
LC: I would like you guys to do an occasional deeper dive into the suits themselves. They're characters in the show, and I'd love an occasional conversation about the aesthetics and in-universe story behind them.
Sean: Why is the Hyaku Shiki the best MS ever?
Robert submitted a research piece about the boat we mentioned in episode 2.19 of the podcast (the one on which Namicar Cornell travels, and where Mirai and her children are held). Sources: definition and explanation of hydrofoils, about the historic hydrofoil passenger service between Hong Kong and Macau, the current hydrofoil passenger service called TurboJET, about the USS Plainview (to which this ship's design might be a reference), and video of the USS Plainview in action.
LC: Gundam gets worse the more it strays from harder sci-fi. Zeta is an excellent series that did much good for the franchise, but in my opinion it also created a lot of the things I don't specifically like, primary among this the deeper woo of newtypes. I (admittedly personally) prefer the more grounded aspects of the franchise (yes I understand the humor of enjoying the grounded aspects of a series about giant robots.) I would much rather have it be a way of serving up deeper philosophical and ethical conversations than about new-age post-jedi SPACE MAGIC.
Needs more Charma: Toward the end of First Gundam, Gihren and Degwin Zabi share an infamous scene in which Degwin asks if Gihren, Zeon’s “Supreme Leader,” has ever heard of Adolf Hitler. Gihren then describes himself as “a follower of Hitler.” The conventional reading of this scene, and the one Thom & Nina discussed on the podcast, is that Degwin is accusing Girhen of being like Hitler and Gihren eagerly accepts the accusation. As Thom put it, this is when the show turns to the audience and states outright that the whole thing has been a metaphor for World War II. However, I think this scene actually shows that Gihren is an analog not for Hitler, but for his follower Mussolini. Both relied on an external force more powerful than themselves (Mussolini relied on Hitler, Gihren relied on Newtypes). Gihren, like Mussolini, is incoherent as a commander. And he’s killed by Kycilia, similar to the way Mussolini was executed by Italian partisans. The true stand-in for Hitler in First Gundam is actually Char. There are two reasons for this. First is the relationship between Gihren (as Mussolini) and Char - Gihren is weaker in every way and relies on Char’s strength for the sake of achieving his own ambitions. Just as Mussolini’s fascist Italy relied on Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Second, Char is depicted as having taken up but also warped his father’s philosophical beliefs, creating a violent perversion of Zeon Deikun’s philosophy. This reflects Hitler’s own self-aggrandizing interpretation of the philosophy espoused by his mentor Dietrich Eckart. I think the Char/Lalah relationship is more an allegory of the relationship between Hitler and the party and the German public given that both Lalah and Germany rely exclusively on Char/Hitler for survival and also shows how the manipulation of said devotees can lead seeming innocent people to commit barbaric acts in the name of a moral crusade, often against their own self interest.
Steven B.: The topic I’m most interested in is theorizing what Gundam manga & light novels could be adapted into anime. What can I say? I love liminal spaces and your podcast is built around only the parts of Gundam that exist as anime. Now, unless I’m mistaken, such adaptations were nonexistent in the Gundam franchise up until the past decade, which saw 4 (that I know of). I know Tomino himself wrote a novelized version of Char’s Counterattack before the film was made, but I’m given to understand it was a soft pitch and by no means a hit on its own. With Hathaway’s Flash coming this winter, what the hell, I want to run down a Top 5 Non-anime Gundam That Could Maybe Become Anime Gundams Some Time in the Near Future.

Crossbone Gundam
Char’s Deleted Affair
The Plot to Assassinate Gihren Zabi
École du Ciel
We’re Feddie Hooligans!!

Austin: Why doesn't Amuro know how to shake hands? What happened on that dock with Kamille? That was the most confused congratulations ever. (This is a reference to the episode where they shake hands on the dock in Hong Kong after rescuing Mirai)
Kyle F.: While the Soviet Buran was superficially similar enough to the US Shuttle to be called a copy, it differed in a principally important way. The Shuttle itself was the launch vehicle, aided by an external fuel tank and 2 boosters while the Buran was merely the payload delivered to orbit by a separate rocket system that also used two boosters.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

Questions? Answers!

Sat, 16 Nov 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

Our show-notes are a bit odd this week - no sources, just the text of the questions submitted to us. We have done little or no editing of them, so for the most part they are exactly as they were submitted to us.

Personal

Thunderokami: what's your favorite Kebab?
Rob B: You mention that the podcast is your full-time time job. How does that work financially? It's easy to see your patreon income, but I'm surprised if that's enough to live comfortably in scenic New Yark City. You don't do adverts, unless is the whole podcast a product placement for Gunpla and you're paid by Bandai?! Are there other ways to monetize a podcast?
Toby F: How are you two related to each other, are your brother and sister, husband and wife, are you like Char and Lalah, or are you both just Haros in disguise?
Marcus: Nina, how did you learn Japanese? Even though I live here, mine is still awful, any tips? Any chance of a spin-off podcast for those of us learning Japanese via Gundam ("Mobile Suit Language Breakdown") (Related - Marcus is starting a book club to ready Gundam Aggressor in Japanese. It’s never been translated. He’s set up the book club through the WaniKani forums, so if you’re on WaniKani you can check it out! https://community.wanikani.com/t/im-reading-gundam-aggressor-in-2020-in-this-thread/39454)

Gundam

LDRaku: Thom: favorite Gundam series? Nina: Favorite Gundam scene?
Charlie G: Nina, which has been your favorite episode so far and why?
Quinnage: For Thom: Why do you think that Gundam has had such a hard time catching on in the west compared to other large franchises from Japan and, how can this be rectified?

What’s your favorite Mobile Suit?

Cheatobandito: If you guys could pilot any mobile suit (excluding the ball) what would it be?
Lucas: What MS would you have liked to have more screen time of?
Dylan: Also, if you could design a mobile suit, what color scheme would you pick? What special details or accessories would you want to have?

If you could remake Gundam…

Fzburner: What would be your ideal Gundam series scenario/plot? And who would you have animate/direct it?
Turlooke: If you could have any writer living or dead create a one shot Gundam story, who would you pick and why?
Thunderokami: I have a really dumb question, cause its really out there but like, if you could have a classic animator, animate Gundam, who would you choose? Tex Avery, Walt Disney, those sort of animators.
Thomas G: If you could have any specific studio, director, writer, or designer produce a new entry in the Gundam franchise, who would you want to be involved—and as a bonus question—what would you like that new entry to be about?
Steve B: Nina, since you’re aware that there’s a lot more Gundam to come, what do you hope or expect you’ll see that you haven’t already? They can’t all be genre defining & refining, but they do all try to stand out. I don’t know exactly what would or wouldn’t be a spoiler, but I can vaguely say that there are certain themes that become more prominent or less prominent with the times & the occasional new idea.

Nina meets Gundam

Quinnage: For Nina: Before beginning this project what was your impression of Gundam? Were you of the opinion that the show was nothing but "wow cool robot" with a thin plot serving only as an excuse for more fights?
Mizzlez AKA Hobbs: Was Gundam love at first watch for you? Or did it grow on you over time? and for Nina, 1.5 seasons in, do you actually love Gundam or more the podcast itself, or does this feel like a “job” yet?
Turlooke: This one is just for Nina: based just on the titles of the Gundam series, which (if any) have you interested in finding out what they are about?
Dylan: For Nina: is there a series that you’ve had glimpses of that you’re looking the most forward to watching in the future?

Thom meets Gundam Again

Thanksgenking: For Thom: how has this extensive close-reading of Gundam changed your perspective on the franchise? Are there any elements of the show that you’ve grown more appreciative of thanks to the podcast?
Charlie W: For Thom - In your journey of watching Gundam shows, when did you first see Zeta Gundam?And how do you think your impression(s) of Zeta Gundam since that very first viewing? How have your thoughts, impressions changed most dramatically since the very first time you watched Zeta?
Dylan: For Thom: is there a series that you’re most looking forward to watching with Nina? And are there any that you’ve missed that you’re looking forward/dreading?
Charlie G: 2. Thom, which series are you most looking forward to reviewing? Not necessarily which is your favorite.
Steve B: Thom, if you could break the established schedule is there any Gundam work, animated or otherwise, that you’d skip to immediately? Perhaps you’re sick of these teens with feelings and just want to watch a 20-something do punches in G Gundam. Maybe you think Char’s Deleted Affair offers valuable insights into the present mindset of Lt. Quattro. Look, I dunno, that’s why I’m asking.
Hokage of Baltimore: Oooh wait, Thom is there any Gundam media you plan on covering you haven’t seen yet?
The Other Tom: For Thom: Are there any series where you are considering switching to watching with the dub instead of sub?

Interviews

Lucas: Which Gundam character would you most like to interview?
Hokage of Baltimore: If you could have any guest on the show, live or dead, who would your top 5 choices be? I figured limiting it to just 1 would make it too easy to just pick Tomino :p

Just for Fun

Bazooka Bubblegum GM: Do you feel as though mobile suits are a realistic technology to come in the future. If not what technologies from Gundam do you see coming true in the future?
Russ: Should Amuro and Char just be honest about their feelings and kiss already?
MRX-010: Are gundam boys a renewable resource?
Crimson: If you were to create a playlist themed for any Gundam character we’ve seen thus far, who would you choose, and what are some songs you would choose?
MRX-010: Ooo I like that. What's on their personal playlists?
Charlie G: 1. When an MS' eyes flash, do you think that is a button in the cockpit that the pilots press just to be super extra?

Going Places

Listener (Turlooke): Are there any locations from First and Zeta Gundam you would be interested in traveling to and seeing for yourselves? And why?
Toby F: If you could live anywhere in the Gundam universe so far where would it be?

Non-Anime Gundam

Ian B: Have you read the novelizations of the various Gundam series? Are you planning to cover them eventually? If not, what are your thoughts?
Michael B: Thom, how much expanded universe/Beta Cannon Gundam information (Manga, Novels, Games, Gunpla Manuals, DVD extras, etc.) will you be giving to Nina? If you are, will it be to explain extra plot, like Char's Deleted affair for in between 0079 and Zeta, and Crossbone for post F91? Or will you not say anything, due to the risk of it being adapted to anime (Like Origin, Twilight Axis, Thunderbolt, and Narrative in the last few years). How would you handle media created years after a series? For series adapted from manga, books, etc, will you cover the difference between the original work and the anime?
Brainchild: For Thom: if you had your choice of any existing Gundam side stories (be they manga, books, or anime) to release in English, what would you pick and why? (and no, you cannot pick "all of it.")

The Podcast - Podpast

Turlooke/KayBeckham: What is the most surprising thing you have learned while doing this Podcast? You guys do a TON of research for every episode. Which real-world facts (historical, scientific, technological, etc.) have stuck with you? Put it another way - if you were at a cocktail party, what fact would you use as a conversation starter?
Needs more Charma: For the first: What is the sequence of events that led to you and Nina deciding to undertake MSB? Was it sudden? what was the creative process like during conception?
Paragon: Which episode of MSB did you have the most fun making and why?

The Podcast - Podfuture

Hokage of Baltimore: If you had to do a show like MSB on any other media franchise, which would it be and why?
Crimson (HeirOfRage ver.ka): One of my favorite developments in the podcast is the addition of the Titans News Network- Do you have any other ideas for new “segments” for MSB, and if so, what are they?
Michael B. For both of you, have you given any thought about what you will do if/when the podcast catches up to currently airing Gundam? Obviously this would be years away, but could be possible.

The Podcast - Process

Sean: Given that the podcast has been going for a year, how have you talked about format changes? Which ones have happened on their own? Are there any format-related changes you’d like to make but haven’t been able to?
UwUtype (Agile Suit Gunguy): What's your biggest criticism of your episode making process? What's your proudest improvement and hardest problem to address?
(La Vie en) Rose: What's a research piece you've wanted to do, but you just didn't have the time or resources for it? Or what's a research piece you started, but couldn't find enough about it to fit a whole segment, so you just dropped it?

Other Media

ActionAwesome: What is it you love most about Escaflowne? What is your favorite Guymelef?
Hokage of Baltimore: With all the memes of 'x is a isekai'/the Twitter post Thom also shared in off topic. Would you label any non-Gundam series as a Gundam series? If so what's the most ridiculous answer you can logically defend

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.24: In Armstrong's Footsteps

Sat, 09 Nov 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 23 - Moon Attack (ムーン・アタック), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research Japanese youth and religion, home shrines and altars in Japan, and a Gundam names round-up that include Buran Blutarch (ブラン・ブルターク), Mouar Pharoah (マウアー・ファラオ), and Siddeley. Plus, the birds laugh at us (a research dead-end!).

- From my attempts to figure out "the birds will laugh at me" - a study of Chinese pottery from a specific kiln, includes examples of pottery with poetry painted on and the “I fear flowers and birds will laugh at me” line.

- Anime News Network page for Andersen Monogatari, a 1968 Japanese animated film based on the life and stories of Hans Christian Andersen.

- Info page and link to watch Ahiru no ko, or The Ugly Duckling, a silent animated short from Japan, released in 1932. This website is amazing, and has lots of early Japanese animated works viewable in their entirety.

- Published study about Japanese young adults and their perception of religion:

Japanese Youth Confronts Religion, Fernando M. Basabe. 1967.

- Wikipedia articles for kamidana and butsudan, as well an article from learnjapanese123.com about them, and one from tofugu.com about butsudan specifically. The Tofugu article has some great historical information on how the practice of keeping a butsudan may have developed.

- Book about ceremony in Japanese home-life, including butsudan, kamidama, and the practices around them:

Jeremy, Michael, et al. Ceremony and Symbolism in the Japanese Home. University of Hawaii Press, 1989.

- Paper about perceptions and use of butsudan in the Japanese diaspora community in the United States, especially among nisei, sansei, and further removed generations:

Iwamura, Jane Naomi. “Altared States: Exploring the Legacy of Japanese American Butsudan Practice.” Pacific World, no. 5, ser. 3, 2003, pp. 275–292. 3.

- Wired article and creator webpage for a design project to create smaller and simpler butsudan, reflecting modern and minimalist design.

- On Buran Blutarch (ブラン・ブルターク), Wikipedia pages for the Buran program, the Buran spacecraft, and the Energia (the rocket booster used with the Buran spacecraft).

- NY Times Article about the Soviet Buran program's test flights immediately prior to Zeta's creation:

"SOVIET UNION LOFTS A SHUTTLE MODEL IN AMBITIOUS PLAN" by John Noble Wilford, Dec. 20 1984.

- NBC Article about the KGB stealing shuttle program documents for the Buran program:

"How the Soviets stole a space shuttle" by Robert Windrem, Nov. 4, 1997.

- Brief Roscosmos video about the Buran, in Russian but includes video of the craft launching and its fully automated landing.

- CNN Article about the Buran being left to rot in Kazakhstan:

"Two abandoned Soviet space shuttles left in Kazakh steppe" by Jacopo Prisco, Dec. 21, 2017.

- Detailed timeline of the Buran program.

- Space.com retrospective on the Buran, including its ultimate fate (destroyed when its hangar collapsed).

- Jisho.org entry for Plutarch (プルタルコス).

- Wikipedia page for Plutarch.

- On Mouar Pharaoh (マウアー・ファラオ): Maua (Kenya), Mauá (Brazil), Maúa (Mozambique), the Maua tree, and the Maua cicada.

- Wikipedia and CFA (Cat Fanciers' Association) pages for the Egyptian Mau Cat. And a cute video, "Meet the Egyptian Mau."

- Wikipedia pages for Pharaoh (the title and position), and for Cleopatra (the 1963 movie).

- Liz Taylor/Mouar side-by-side comparison image (created by Thom).

- Wikipedia pages for John Siddeley, the Hawker Siddeley company, and the Hawker Siddeley Harrier (a famous VTOL fighter jet).

- 1975 archive footage from inside a Hawker Siddeley plant.

- Excessively dramatic mini-documentary about the Harrier with a lot of footage of them in action.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.23: Harsh Realities

Sat, 02 Nov 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 22 - The Eyes of Scirocco (シロッコの眼), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Scirocco's implement and corporal punishment in Zeta, the history of vending machines, and a follow-up on last week's research on Saint Miki.

- Roman centurion's vine staff (or vitis, plural vites).

- Its descendant, the swagger stick.

- An 1869 treatise of staggering length and breadth on the history of corporal punishment:

Cooper, William M. The History of the Rod: Flagellation and Flagellants in All Countries from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. Kegan Paul (1869).

And on the Japanese Context:

Drea, Edward J. In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army. U. of Nebraska (2003).

- Japanese Wikipedia page on soldiers and training, including notes on Imperial Japanese Army and Navy policies on hazing.

Miller, Aaron L. Discourses of Discipline: An Anthropology of Corporal Punishment in Japan's Schools and Sports. Institute of East Asian Studies, UC Berkeley (available here).

Yoneyama, Shoko. The Japanese High School: Silence and Resistance. Routledge (2012).

- A WW2 era US Army translation of an internal Japanese Army report on the state of discipline and morale in the army.

- Blog post republishing a Mainichi Japan article from November 2009 about the Totsuka Yacht School, and talking about the relationship between hierarchical power and violence.

- Japan Times article about corporal punishment in Japanese sports, and its interconnection with popular media including anime, as well as the attitudes among many older Japanese people that corporal punishment is an essential component of masculinity.

- Japanese page on the 軍人精神注入棒 Military Spirit Instillation Rod (or the Soldierly Spirit Injection Stick).

- Bon Appetit article on the history of vending machines, (includes images of patent drawings) and another brief history with examples of unusual vending machines.

- Description of Heron Alexandrinus’ holy-water dispensing machine (and some other miscellaneous details about the vending machine industry).

- History of the Automat (restaurant where all food was purchased from vending machines).

- Wikipedia page on vending machines (history portion is not very detailed but has useful statistics on vending machines in Japan and sections on different types of vending machines).

- History and context for vending machines in Japan.

- Burger vending machines (FEBO in the Netherlands is an example of an automat).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.22: Signed in Blood

Sat, 26 Oct 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 21 - A Sign of Zeta (ゼータの鼓動), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the possible inspiration for the Gabthlay and it's gun - the fedayeen, blood oaths in Japanese history, and Saint Miki.

- Fedayeen on Wikipedia.

- Painting of an Afghan warrior carrying a jezail ("juzzail" in the caption).

- Article about the jezail, with more photos.

- A Gadfly mech from Crusher Joe.

- Wikipedia article for Horse-fly.

- Instances of the gadfly in Greek myth.

- An English translation of Plato's "Apology of Socrates."

- About Ethel Voynich's novel, The Gadfly,, and the text on Project Gutenberg.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for keppanjou / けっぱんじょう / 血判状 (a compact or covenant, sealed with blood).

- Japanese and English Wikipedia pages on the Kumano shrines.

- Tourist information for Kumano.

- First-hand account of Tokugawa-era Japan, by German naturalist Engelbert Kaempfer (English translation):

Kempfer, Engelbert, and Beatrice M. Bodart-Bailey. Kaempfer's Japan: Tokugawa Culture Observed. University of Hawai'i Press, 1999.

- Wikipedia page for Engelbert Kaempfer (sometimes rendered Kempfer).

- Paper that discusses blood oaths in the master/disciple relationship (especially in martial arts):

Ozawa, Hiroshi. “Essence of Training (Keiko) in Japanese Culture: Technique (Waza) Acquirement and Secret of Kendo.” Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo, 25 Jan. 2005.

- Japanese and English Wikipedia pages for the 血盟団事件 / “League of Blood Incident.”

- Paper on the Buddhist concept of Samādhi and its use to justify violence in Imperial Japan (discusses the League of Blood Incident and the respected Zen Buddhist master Yamamoto Gempou who testified in support of the terrorists):

Victoria, Brian Daizen. “Samādhi Power in Imperial Japan.” (2017).

- Saint Miki in English and Japanese Wikipedia, and the Wikipedia page for the 26 Martyrs of Japan.

- Saint Miki's saint-page on catholic.org, and a more detailed description of the torture and execution of the martyrs.

- Recounting of the San Felipe Incident.

- And a book that covers the period of missionary activity before the suppression of Christianity in Japan:

Boxer, Charles Randolph. The Christian Century in Japan: 1549-1650. U. of California Press (1951).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.21: Rocket Man

Sat, 19 Oct 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 20 - The Heated Escape (灼熱の脱出), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the inspiration for the Titan's New Guinea Base, and solid rocket boosters.

- Wikipedia page for New Guinea.

- Google maps link for Lae.

- General New Guinea pre-colonial and colonial history from the official Papua New Guinea travel website, thecommonwealth.org, and the Wikipedia pages for the Territory of Papua and Western New Guinea.

- Additional articles about New Guinea's pre-colonial and colonial history:

The Economist. Papua New Guinea’s incredible linguistic diversity. July 20, 2017. https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2017/07/20/papua-new-guineas-incredible-linguistic-diversity

Quanchi, M. and Robson, J. Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands, Maryland: Scarecrow (2005).

- Information about New Guinea's pre-history and agricultural revolution:

Harari, Y. N. Sapiens: A brief history of humankind. New York: Harper (2015).

Sack Peter. German New Guinea: a reluctant plantation colony?. In: Journal de la Société des océanistes, n°82-83, tome 42, 1986. Les plantations dans le Pacifique Sud. pp. 109-127. Available at https://doi.org/10.3406/jso.1986.2826

Historical Section of the Foreign Office, Dutch New Guinea and the Molucca Islands. London: H.M. Stationery Office (1920). Available at: https://dl.wdl.org/11918/service/11918.pdf

Pouwer, Jan. “The Colonisation, Decolonisation and Recolonisation of West New Guinea.” The Journal of Pacific History, vol. 34, no. 2, 1999, pp. 157–179. JSTOR, <www.jstor.org/stable/25161076>.

- Wikipedia pages for various aspects of the Lae Campaign in World War II: the New Guinea campaign as a whole, the Salamaua Lae campaign, and the landing at Nadzab.

- US army newsreels about the Lae campaign. Please be aware that these were made during the war and they both contain frequent uses of exactly the anti-Japanese slur that you would expect.

- About the Free Papua Movement and Indonesian Annexation of West Papua.

- Histories of the Conflict:

https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/asiapacific-region/indonesiairian-jaya-1963-present/

Schnabel Albrecht, Gunaratna Rohan. Wars From Within: Understanding And Managing Insurgent Movements. World Scientific (2014).

King, Peter. West Papua & Indonesia Since Suharto: Independence, Autonomy, or Chaos? UNSW (2004).

Belford, Aubrey. "An Indonesian War of 'Unknown Persons'" The International Herald Tribune, Aug. 27, 2011. Available at: https://nyti.ms/2BmIM90.

- Reports on human rights abuses from the conflict:

Brundige et al. Indonesian Human Rights Abuses in West Papua: Application of the Law of Genocide to the History of Indonesian Control. Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at Yale Law School. Available at: https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/Intellectual_Life/West_Papua_final_report.pdf

Amnesty International. INDONESIA: "DON'T BOTHER, JUST LET HIM DIE": KILLING WITH IMPUNITY IN PAPUA. July 2, 2018. Available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa21/8198/2018/en/.

- About the development of the space shuttle Columbia and its first launch and return.

- History of the space shuttle program.

- NASA overview page for the space shuttle program, with links to more detailed information on the science and history.

- Some great photos of space shuttles before and during launch, during transport, and docked with Mir space station.

- NASA page from before the end of the space shuttle program, with overview, statistics, and a photograph of a shuttle with the different major components labeled.

- Wikipedia pages on solid rocket boosters. This one is very technical - digs into the science of how all the different components work together at different stages, and has good diagrams. This one is more general, and discusses the pros and cons of solid rocket boosters compared to liquid propellant rockets.

- About Newtons (unit of measurement).

- Wikipedia page on reusable launch systems, with additional information about post-space shuttle program projects, especially in the private sector.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.20: Stealing Time

Sat, 12 Oct 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 19 - Cinderella Four (シンデレラ・フォウ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Attachment Theory.

- Wikipedia pages for Attachment Theory, John Bowlby, the Strange Situation protocol, and Attachment in adults.

- Paper that addresses attachment in adolescents.

- An overview of Adult Attachment Theory and some of the research behind it.

- And an even shorter overview on attachment in adults and how it affects relationships.

- We didn't discuss it in depth, but if you're curious, here are articles from the APA (American Psychological Association), NPR (National Public Radio), and the New York Times about how the conditions experienced by institutionalized children in Romania affected them (in terms of attachment, neurological development, and long-term effects). The New York Times article also discusses some of the history of attachment theory in popular discourse, and the controversies around it.

- Wikipedia page for Michelangelo's “Pieta” (one of the most famous).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.19: A Fateful Encounter

Sat, 05 Oct 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 18 - Mirai Captured (とらわれたミライ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on more Gundam names: Hathaway Noa, Namicar Cornell, and Four Murasame.

- Plausible origins of the name Hathaway.

- Source for Hathaway-like medieval predecessors for Hedwig.

- Wikipedia page and IMDB page for Noah Hathaway.

- Japanese release data for the film Neverending Story.

- Wikipedia page for "Boxey" character from original Battlestar Galactica TV series.

- Sean (Flying_Grizzly)'s research connecting Battlestar Galactica to First Gundam.

- Jisho.org entries for Namika names, namikaze, and 'namikaze ga tatsu'/波風が立つ (to make waves; to rock the boat).

- Wikipedia entry for Ezra Cornell.

- JPN Wiki page for Cornell University.

- Wikipedia and Wiktionary pages for "Murasame."

- Page for the most famous of the Murasame destroyers.

- Murasame in the Final Fantasy franchise.

- Wikipedia page on Nansou Satomi Hakkenden.

- Ongoing project to translate all of the Nansou Satomi Hakkenden novel.

- Wikipedia page for the Matsukaze Noh play.

- Pages for the Matsukaze Noh play's authors: Kanami and Zeami.

- Discussions about Matsukaze from a History of Noh blog and The-Noh.com.

- Tyler, Royall. “The No Play Matsukaze as a Transformation of Genji Monogatari.” Journal of Japanese Studies, vol. 20, no. 2, 1994, pp. 377–422. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/133198.

- Two translations of Matsukaze, this one more readable in English and this one less so.

- Side-by-side English and Japanese text of Matsukaze Noh play (this is the one Nina reads from).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.18: Gateway to the Stars

Sat, 28 Sep 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 17 - Hong Kong City (ホンコン・シティ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Hong Kong's history and brain-computer interfaces.

- General histories of Hong Kong from Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica, Lonely Planet, Oxford Research Encyclopedia, Discover Hong Kong (tourism website), and Hong Kong Free Press.

- Explanation of crown colonies.

- Hong Kong in the 1980s.

- Hong Kong chronologies from Reuters, BBC, and National Geographic.

- Articles on how the contemporary political situation in Hong Kong is influenced by its history, from National Geographic and History.com.

- Explanation of electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocorticography (ECoG).

- Alvien Lucier's brain-performed "Music For Solo Performer" (1965)

- Wikipedia page on brain-computer interfaces.

- Tragic end to the vision restoration implant experiment.

- Article on the ethical considerations of brain-computer interfaces.

- Research on using a brain-computer interface to 'extract' information from an unwitting subject's mind:

Martinovic, Davies, Frank, Perito, Ros, Song. On the Feasibility of Side-Channel Attacks with Brain-Computer Interfaces. Available at https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/usenixsecurity12/sec12-final56.pdf.

- Articles dealing with prostheses, control methods, and mental load:

Mathijs Soede, On the Mental Load in Arm Prosthesis Control, Nederlands Instituut voor Praeventieve Gezondheidszorg, 1980

Dudley S. Childress. Historical Aspects of Powered Limb Prostheses. 1984. Available at http://www.oandplibrary.org/cpo/pdf/1985_01_002.pdf.

R.M. Campbell, Control Aspects of Prosthetics and Orthotics, Proceedings of the IFAC Symposium, Ohio, USA 7-9 May 1982, Elsevier (2014).

- A brief history of brain-computer interfaces from a company that makes them for consumers.

- Much more detailed histories:

Fabien Lotte, Chang S. Nam, Anton Nijholt. Introduction: Evolution of Brain-Computer Interfaces. Chang S. Nam; Anton Nijholt; Fabien Lotte. Brain-Computer Interfaces Handbook: Technological and Theoretical Advance, Taylor & Francis (CRC Press), pp.1-11, 2018, 9781498773430. ffhal-01656743f (Available at https://hal.inria.fr/hal-01656743/document)

Leuthardt, E. C., Schalk, G., Roland, J., Rouse, A., & Moran, D. W. (2009). Evolution of brain-computer interfaces: going beyond classic motor physiology. Neurosurgical focus, 27(1), E4. doi:10.3171/2009.4.FOCUS0979 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2920041/)

- Articles about how brain-computer interfaces work and what they can do:

Shih, J. J., Krusienski, D. J., & Wolpaw, J. R. (2012). Brain-computer interfaces in medicine. Mayo Clinic proceedings, 87(3), 268–279. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2011.12.008 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3497935/

Krucoff, M. O., Rahimpour, S., Slutzky, M. W., Edgerton, V. R., & Turner, D. A. (2016). Enhancing Nervous System Recovery through Neurobiologics, Neural Interface Training, and Neurorehabilitation. Frontiers in neuroscience, 10, 584. doi:10.3389/fnins.2016.00584 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5186786/

Duke SciPol, “Brain-Computer Interface based Neuro-prosthetics” available at https://scipol.org/learn/science-library/brain-computer-interface-based-neuro-prosthetics (05/19/2017).

Colin Payne. Engineering a Brain-Computer Interface. April 27, 2017. Available at https://www.engineering.com/DesignerEdge/DesignerEdgeArticles/ArticleID/14815/Engineering-a-Brain-Computer-Interface.aspx

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.17: Fog Over Hickory

Sat, 21 Sep 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 16 - Through the Haze of Darkness (白い闇を抜けて), discuss our first impressions, and and provide commentary and research on planes and pigeons.

- Wikipedia pages for Beechcraft, the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing, and stagger as an aeronautics term.

- Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) article about "Beech's Beautiful Biplane."

- Plane and Pilot magazines's All Time Favorite Planes (the Staggerwing is #5).

- A page collecting information about aircraft used in the Spanish Civil War (the Staggerwing was used by the Republicans, allegedly as a not-very-effective bomber).

- Articles about the Comet Model Airplane and Supply Company.

- Wikipedia page for the Edgley Optica.

- Page on wing configurations, with pictures to explain tapered and dihedral.

- Brief article about the Optica, with video of one flying.

- AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) article about the Optica.

- Earlier AOPA article about the Optica right after John Edgley re-acquired control of the design.

- Listing of every Optica manufactured or planned, with their current status.

- Article from 1986 World's Fair where the Optica was demonstrated, after the crash but when hopes were still high.

- Official report on the Optica accident discussed in the podcast.

- Wikipedia pages on Passenger pigeons and English Carrier pigeons.

- The true subject of this episode's research: the Homing pigeon (or Racing Homer), which Britannica calls the Carrier pigeon.

- Pigeon post!

- War pigeons, further explanation of pigeons in war and stories of Dinkin Award winning pigeons from the Royal Pigeon Racing Association, and a brief history of the National Pigeon Service in the UK.

- Story of Olga of Kiev, and her sneaky use of pigeons in the Drevlian Uprising.

- Article about "closing the pigeon gap" between the Franco-Prussian War and WWI.

- Primary resources (mostly photographs) of war pigeons in World Wars 1 and 2.

- Pigeon heroics! The stories of Winkie, Cher Ami, G.I. Joe, Commando, and Mary of Exeter.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.16: Where the Water Meets the Sky

Sat, 14 Sep 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 15 - Katz's Sortie (カツの出撃), discuss our first impressions, and welcome back our special guest and consultant in neuropsychology, Dr. Shar of Dr. Sharmander Gaming.

Find her on YouTube and Twitter.

- About moral injury.

- Further explanation of adaptive disclosure as treatment for trauma and moral injury.

- An article about asthenia and how it doesn't exist to Americans because our diagnostic system is...limited.

- Blood redistribution being addressed in space.

The role of the pilot was played by Edward Bauer.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.15: It's Been a Long, Long Time

Sat, 07 Sep 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 14 - Amuro Flies Again (アムロ再び), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Garuda, Sudori, Audhumla, and Asshimar.

- Wikipedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, and Encyclopedia Britannica pages for Garuda.

- One of the Garuda stories.

- Explanation of the Garuda Upanishad.

- List of things named for Garuda, including the Garud Commando Force, the Garuda Contingent, INS Garuda, and Electronic Attack Squadron 134 (aka "Garudas").

- Wikipedia page for Siduri, the divine alewife from the Gilgamesh myth. And this is the version of the Epic of Gilgamesh we consulted:

The Epic of Gilgamesh, trans. by Andrew George, Penguin Books, UK (1999).

- Sudri on Wikipedia.

- Midgard in the Encyclopedia Britannica (mentions the four dwarves).

- Audhumla licking at Buri, from a 1700s manuscript.

- My Norse Digital Image Repository (for other images of figures mentioned in the story).

- Audhumla on Wikipedia.

- Useful book:

Facts on File, Inc., Norse Mythology A to Z, Infobase Publishing (2009).

- Online copy of the Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson's collection of Norse myths.

- Online copy of the Poetic Edda, a later-discovered but earlier-composed set of Norse myths that expands on what was in the Prose Edda.

- The Norse Creation myth as told by an expert on the old Norse language.

- The Thai company called Asimar, and the Dungeons & Dragons Aasimar.

- Definitions of あっ/Aa!, しまった/shimatta, and 閉まる/shimaru.

- Stock photo of one version of the ninja costume we talked about last season.

- Wikipedia page on sōhei (warrior monks), and photos of the zukin (hood, kerchief, head covering) that they sometimes wore.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.14: Relics

Sat, 31 Aug 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 13 - “Shuttle Launch” (シャトル発進), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Valkyrie plane, art, plants in 1980s interior design, and Aristeia.

- NASA fact sheet about the Valkyrie and its service history.

- National Museum of the Air Force page on the Valkyrie.

- Wired article:

Meet the XB-70 Valkyrie, Almost the World's First Nuclear Aircraft, from io9, by Ed Grabianowski, on Dec. 28, 2010.

- National Interest article:

XB-70 Valkyrie: Why Didn't America Build This Mach 3 Monster Bomber? by Dave Majumdar, Jan 19, 2017.

- NASA article about the Valkyrie crash.

- A more extensive page on the crash, including information about its aftermath, from the website of a group of... aviation crash enthusiasts.

- Newspaper article from after the crash, about the inquiry into the causes:

"Colonel Loses Post over XB70 Crash" from The Tuscaloosa News, Aug. 16, 1966.

- National Interest article about the competition between bombers and fighter during the Cold War:

Bombers vs. Fighters in the Jet Era: Who Won the Battle for the Sky?, by Robert Farley, Nov. 24, 2018.

- The author of this book was Director of Defense Research and Engineering in the Department of Defense, in the latter 1950s and early 1960s. He was subsequently Chancellor of the University of California at San Diego, and then founding Director of the University of California Insitute on Global Conflict and Cooperation:

Race to Oblivion: A Participant's View of the Arms Race, Herbert F. York, Simon and Schuster, 1970.

- Screenshots of the art in Amuro's home (the pieces we identified and the ones that have us stumped, plus side by side comparisons of the identified paintings with the work they're based on).

- Wikipedia pages on Jacob van Ruisdael and the painting Windmill at Wijk bij Duursted.

- The Amsterdam Museum's page for De Molen bij Wijk bij Duurstede (Dutch).

- Wikipedia page for Jean Honoré Fragonard, and a page about Fragonard and his most famous works (including The Bathers).

- Wikimedia page for Fragonard's painting, The Bathers.

- Wiki page on Delftware (probable inspiration for the blue-and-white ceramics on Amuro's mantlepiece).

- Articles about 1980's home decor and interior design, all of which mention plant-trends.

- Various articles about indoor, built-in planters, mostly with regards to how they can be repurposed or updated now that it's no longer trendy to use them as planters.

- Care-guides for indoor hedge plants: boxwood and Japanese privet.

- Thom's source for Aristeia in the lost poems of the epic cycle:

Device and Composition in the Greek Epic Cycle, Benjamin Sammon, Oxford University Press, 2017.

- Aristeia and philotimia - Two key concepts of the ancient Greek world, by Eugenia Russell, Feb. 19, 2018.

- A very neat comic strip depiction of how Aristeia works, from Greek Myth Comix. This comic was guest-contributed by Parham Sorooshian, Feb. 21, 2014.

- A.T. Murray's 1924 translation of Homer's The Iliad, published by Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA.

- Alexander Pope's 1899 translation of Homer's The Iliad, published by BH Stanton, Boston MA.

- A handy pronunciation guide for many of the heroes in The Iliad.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.13: Appetite for Mass Destruction

Sat, 24 Aug 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 12 - “The Winds of Jaburo” (ジャブローの風), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on nuclear explosions, the Fall of Saigon, and Mobile Suit Variations.

- Wikipedia pages on nuclear weapons testing generally, United States nuclear weapon tests, high-altitude nuclear explosions, and underground nuclear testing.

- And pages on the effects of nuclear explosions, including blast waves, mushroom clouds, nuclear electromagnetic pulses, and condensation clouds.

- Slide deck explaining effects of nuclear weapons (WARNING: graphic descriptions and images of nuclear weapon effects on human bodies).

- The Operation Crossroads tests at Bikini Atoll.

- Two narratives of the Operation Crossroads debacle (includes pictures and video).

- Video of underwater nuclear tests (Wahoo and Umbrella, in the 1950s).

- About the Partial Test Ban Treaty (which banned all testing except underground testing).

- Federation of American Scientists (an NGO founded by alumni of the Manhattan Project) page on underground nuclear testing.

- Footage of an underground nuclear explosion.

- Paper on the containment of underground nuclear explosions, with descriptions of how they work.

- Article about underground testing at the Nevada facility where more than 800 tests were performed.

- BBC article explaining how underground nuclear tests function.

- Dangers of underground testing contaminating groundwater:

"Concerns Arise Over Aquifer Near Nuclear Test Site" by Martin Forstenzer, March 21, 2000.

- Wikipedia pages for the Fall of Saigon and Operation Frequent Wind.

- Collection of photographs from the end of the Vietnam War.

- Timeline and personal account of the final days of the Vietnam War by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Peter Arnett, who was there at the time reporting for the Associated Press.

- First-hand account from journalist Jim Laurie, that mentions approximately 400 Japanese nationals in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City at the war’s end.

- Newsweek article from the 40th Anniversary of the Fall of Saigon.

- Famous rooftop-evacuation photos, by Hubert van Es (at that time a photographer for United Press International).

- Paper discussing US media depictions of the end of the Vietnam War. Most relevant to our discussion, it touches on how the end of the war was perceived to affect diplomatic relations with other Asian nations.

- Paper on Japanese media portrayals of the Vietnam War, and Japanese public’s perception of and reaction to the war:

How The Japanese Protest Movement From 1964 To 1968 Changed The Japan-United States Bilateral Relationship During The Vietnam War, Justin Gervais

- Article from the Japan Times about Japan’s role in the Vietnam War, particularly Okinawa's, and the war’s lasting effects on the region.

- Per our discussion about the fires in the Amazon rainforest:

Rainforest Trust uses donations to purchase ecologically vital land in the rainforest and holds it in trust, safeguarding more than 10,000 critically endangered species. They protect some 23 million acres and counting. Charity Navigator rates them 94.69/100 for accountability and transparency. https://www.rainforesttrust.org/
The Amazon Conservation Team partners with indigenous in the Amazon to map, study, and protect the rainforest. They are focused on supporting indigenous communities who are on the front lines fighting against deforestation. They encourage sustainable rainforest use and push for legal protections. Charity Navigator rates them 99.06/100 for accountability and transparency. https://www.amazonteam.org/

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.12: The Karman Line

Sat, 17 Aug 2019 04:01:18 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 11 - "Entering the Atmosphere" (大気圏突入), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Karman Line, a brief history of paradrop operations, and real-world ballutes and atmospherpic re-entry devices.

- Wikipedia pages on Theodore (Todor) von Karman and the Karman Line.

- And Wikipedia pages on paratroopers (and a second one), airborne forces, and high-altitude military parachuting (HALO and HAHO).

- "Yes, Mass Airborne Operations are a thing of the Past," an opinion article by James King for the Modern War Institute at West Point.

- Wiki article for ballutes.

- More info about how ballutes and burble fences work.

- Wiki entry for experimental inflatable atmospheric re-entry devices.

- Wiki page about 2010: The Year We Made Contact.

- More info about 2010: The Year We Made Contact, including some quotes from Syd Mead - a legendary Hollywood mechanical designer who worked on this movie right after the aborted 1983 Hollywood Gundam movie, and many years later worked on an actual Gundam series.

- Explanations of aerobraking and aerocapture, with information on how ballutes could be used in the process.

- A REVIEW OF BALLUTE TECHNOLOGY FOR PLANETARY AEROCAPTURE, by Jeffery L. Hall of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Presented at the 4th IAA Conference on Low Cost Planetary Missions, Laurel, MD, May 2-5, 2000.

- And another paper:

Akiba, R., Hinada, M. and Matsuo, H., “Feasibility Study of Buoyant Venus Station Placed by Inflated Balloon Entry”, IAF-76-154, XXVII Congress of the Inter. Astronautical Federation, Anaheim, CA, Oct. 10-16, 1976.

- Profile on Dr. Akiba.

- Post-Columbia articles about cocoon ballute lifeboats.

- Papers discussing ballute-like reentry devices:

Nanosat Deorbit and Recovery System to Enable New Missions

Clark, Ian G. and Robert D. Braun. “Computational analysis of a tension cone supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator.” 2009 IEEE Aerospace conference (2009): 1-14.

Aerodynamic and Aeroelastic Characteristics of a Tension Cone Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator, Ian G. Clark, Juan R. Cruz and Monica F. Hughes, Joanne S. Ware and Albert Madlangbayan, and Robert D. Braun

- NASA's HIAD (hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator) inflatable aeroshell: mainpage, page on HIAD-2, and page on the low-Earth orbit flight test.

- Video showing (we think simulated) ballute in action, with explanation.

- Footage of a ballute inflating in a test chamber, and video showing a ballute from the perspective of a skydiver testing one.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.11: Under Pressure

Sat, 10 Aug 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 10 - “Reunion” (再会), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the real-life city of Amman (and how it might have inspired events in the episode), language and translation notes, and missile countermeasures.

- U.S. Joint Military Contributions to Countering Syria’s 1970 Invasion of Jordan, by Richard A. Mobley for Joint Forces Quarterly, issue 55, 4th quarter 2009.

- Wikipedia pages on the Palestinian fedayeen and the Six-Day War.

- The 1967 War and the birth of international terrorism, Brookings Institute, Daniel L. Byman, May 30, 2017.

- How Jordan Shaped the Munich Massacre, Molly Fosco, July 20, 2018 for OZY.com.

- Black September: The Jordanian-PLO Civil War of 1970, Pierre Tristam, July 3,2019 for ThoughtCo.

- BBC articles from the outbreak of civil war in Amman, and the end of principal fighting in Amman.

- NYT archives articles from September 1970:

Sept. 10: Heavy Fighting in Amman; Hussein Orders Cease‐Fire

Sept. 12: In Jordan, the Balance Is Shaken

Sept. 17: Jordanian Army and Guerrillas Battle in Amman, Showdown in Jordan.

Sept. 18: Hussein's Tanks Clearning Guerrillas from Amman; U.S. Alert is Stepped Up

Sept. 19: Jordan Suspends Attacks After 2nd Day of Fighting

Sept. 20: Amman Battle Fought From House to House

Sept. 22: Syrian Tanks Key

Sept. 23: Jordanians Put a Price On the Head of Habash

Sept. 24: Amman Diary: Window on the War

Sept. 25: Guerrilla Resistance Is Reported Collapsing in North as Fighting Ebbs in Amman

Sept. 26: Arafat Complies

Sept. 27: Outbursts of Fighting in Amman After Truce Suggest a Breakdown of Authority, In the Flaming Streets of Amman, Hussein Wins the Battle but Price Is Very High.

Oct. 2: Big Question in Amman: Will Fighting Resume?

- Jisho.org page for 修正 (しゅうせい/shuusei), translated in the episode as "correction."

- Jisho.org page for 機 (き/ki), and Tofugo page about the use of 機 as a counter for airplanes and airplane crew.

- Example sentence for 大きな声, from Tatoeba.org.

- Jisho.org page for 大声 (おおごえ/ougoe). I also consulted Wanikani.com for definition and example sentences (only accessible with free trial or subscription).

- Army study guide (for promotion exams), section on “Command Voice.”

- Wikipedia pages for missiles, countermeasures, and active countermeasures.

- “Project Pigeon.”

- Descriptions and explanations of flare and chaff countermeasures (how they work and what they are used for).

- From a website that provides full-text of classic flight simulation handbooks, The Official F-15 Strike Eagle Handbook section on defensive tactics, including when and how to use chaff.

- Explanation of different fuse types, and additional detail on the proximity fuse specifically.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.10: Discipline and Punish

Sat, 03 Aug 2019 04:01:03 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 9 - "A New Bond" (新しい絆), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on autism - it's history in Japan and the world, the understanding and perception of autism in 1985, and what exactly Kamille and the writers mean when Kamille calls himself an "autistic child."

PLUS - additional nuance to the word 絆 (kizuna) from the episode title.

- Jisho.org page on jiheishou/自閉症.

- A very readable history of autism science.

- Web page of the Autism Society Japan (Japanese).

- Autism Society Japan forum thread discussing Kamille's autism / Tomino's use of autism generally (Japanese).

- Bruno Bettelheim Wikipedia page.

- "Refrigerator mother" theory.

- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) page on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

- Entry from the Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders on "Japan and Autism":

Kurita, Hiroshi. “Japan and Autism.” Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders, SPRINGER INTERNATIONAL PU, 2019, pp. 1–6.

- Excellent overview of the history of the autism diagnosis, and the development of the concept of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

- Article from the Tokyo Autism Society webpage on "What is Asperger's syndrome?"/「アスペルガー症候群を知っていますか？」 Addresses behaviors and common misconceptions. (webpage is mostly in Japanese but this article is in English)

- Example of 1980's epidemiological autism research:

“Epidemiology of infantile autism in southern Ibaraki, Japan: Differences in prevalence in birth cohorts” Tanoue, Y., Oda, S., Asano, F. et al. J Autism Dev Disord (1988) 18: 155. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02211943

- Japanese Wikipedia page about autism (specifically addresses common misconceptions and historical controversies in Japan ).

- Spectrum News article about Lorna Wing, the autism researcher who proposed ASD (autism spectrum disorder) as a model.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for 絆 (kizuna).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.9: Political Considerations

Sat, 27 Jul 2019 04:01:36 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 8 - "The Dark Side of the Moon" (月の裏側), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on a very important birthday: coming of age in Japan, answering services and the history of the answering machine, what’s a Lila to a Jerid? Master/disciple relationships, and McDonald’s in Japan.

- Wikipedia pages for Seijin no Hi and Genpuku.

- VERY detailed Quora page about all the different categories of 'juvenile' in Japanese law.

- List of all the Japan Times articles in English about Seijin no Hi.

- A nice description of Seijin no Hi around Japan, with pictures.

- Book covering samurai-class life during the late 1500s, including description of genpuku at that time:

Anthony J. Bryant, Samurai: 1550-1600, Bloomsbury Pub. (2013)

- Book about the practice of giving new names upon coming of age, which also explains that the genpuku practice was discouraged by the Meiji reformers in part because of efforts to westernize the Japanese name system:

Herbert E. Plutschow, Japan's Name Culture: The Significance of Names in a Religious, Political and Social Context, Psychology Press (1995).

- Wikipedia page about the answering machine.

- Photos and information about the Phone-Mate answering machine, first released in 1971.

- Article from The New York Times, 1973, discussing contemporary use of answering machines:

Walker, Greta. “Machines That Answer the Telephone.” The New York Times, 10 June 1973, p. 294.

- Source for adjusting dollar prices for inflation.

- Jisho.org entry for shishou (師弟).

- Japanese Wikipedia entry for master-disciple relationship.

- Quora page on the difference between sensei and shishou.

- Paper explaining the iemoto system, a larger structure for preserving and teaching traditional arts within which the master-disciple relationship functions.

- Paper about the role of elders in traditional Japanese arts, including discussion of the master-disciple relationship.

- Book discussing different methodologies for passing on knowledge in Japan in different fields, including master-disciple relationships:

John Singleton, John Seely Brown, Roy Pea, Learning in Likely Places: Varieties of Apprenticeship in Japan, Cambridge UP (1998)

- Wikipedia page with a description of master-disciple relationships.

- A book about Reiki which includes an excellent description of the master-disciple relationship. The author's mother was a disciple of Tadao Yamaguchi:

Light on the Origins of Reiki: A Handbook for Practicing the Original Reiki of Usui and Hayashi, Lotus Press (2007).

- Wikipedia Page for Den Fujita (藤田田) in English and in Japanese, and an article about him in the Japan Times from when he passed away.

- Timeline of the history McDonald’s Holdings Japan.

- Brief history of McDonald’s international expansion, from Time Magazine.

- Article about Japan’s first McDonald’s, from a Ginza tourism website.

- Analysis of McDonald’s in Japan as indicative of globalization/how American products are adapted to foreign markets but also change those markets.

- Article about how McDonald's changed Japanese food-etiquette:

Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. 1997. “McDonald’s in Japan: Changing Manners and Etiquette”. Pp. 161-182 in Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia, edited by J.L. Watson. California: Stanford University Press. https://www.academia.edu/1188363/McDonalds_in_Japan_Changing_manners_and_etiquette

- On Japanese fast-food.

- What is a “family restaurant” and how do you eat at one?

- History of family restaurants and discussion of recent market trends affecting them.

- Hamburgers in Japan.

- MOS Burger Wikipedia pages in English and in Japanese.

- Art Institute of Chicago page about the painting in Char's apartment - Woman at the Piano, by Renoir.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.8: Pilgrimage

Sat, 20 Jul 2019 04:01:13 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 7 - “Escape From Side One" (サイド1の脱出), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on chemical weapons, sudden enlightenment, and the bosun's/boatswain's call.

- Article about Marvel Movies in Japan, and the prevalence of child and teen protagonists in popular Japanese media (even media targeted at adults).

- Wikipedia pages on chemical warfare, nerve agents, and sulfur mustard.

- Britannica page on nerve agents.

- The Arms Control Association's FAQ page on chemical weapons.

- Wikipedia pages on the Aum Shinrikyo subway sarin attack, and the Aim Shinrikyo leader - Shoko Asahara.

- Article about Aum Shinrikyo as a New New Religion:

SHIMAZONO Susumu, In the Wake of Aum, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 1995 22/3–4 http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-MAG/mag52022.pdf

- The Red Army's use of chemical weapons to suppress a populist peasant revolt.

- Wikipedia pages on Iraq's use of chemical weapons, their chemical weapons program, and their chemical attacks against Iran.

- Japanese use of chemical weapons in China, and specifically in the Battle of Changde.

- International press reports about chemical weapons in the 1980s:

U.S. AIDES SAY IRAQIS MADE USE OF A NERVE GAS By SEYMOUR M. HERSH and SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES MARCH 30, 1984, https://nyti.ms/2LXNHno

THE WORLD; Evidence Mounts on Iraqi Use Of Gas Weapons By HENRY GINIGER and MILT FREUDENHEIM APRIL 1, 1984, https://nyti.ms/2M0fMKP

Chemical Weapons Out Of the Bottle Once Again By A.O. SULZBERGER JR. SEPT. 21, 1980, https://nyti.ms/2M2IpHx

- Wikipedia pages on subitism and the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism.

- The English translation of Bhagavan recounting his death-experience and sudden self-realization, and his Wikipedia page. And, the Wiki for moksha.

- English-translated text of the portion of the Lotus Sutra in which Longnü/Dragon Girl appears, as well as an explanation of Bodhisattva to whom Longnü was acolyte.

- Wikipedia pages for Longnü and for Avalokiteśvara/Guanyin/Kannon.

- PDF with history of the the boatswain’s call, and instructions of how to play (with common calls notated).

- Wikipedia page on the boatswain’s call (with list of common calls and their meanings, and links to audio).

- Sources for the story of Atalanta: Greek-Gods.org, Theoi Greek Mythology, Britannica, and Wikipedia.

- The song in the Lila tribute is "The Vendetta" by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/58628 Ft: Apoxode.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.7: Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Sat, 13 Jul 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 6 - “To Earth” (地球圏へ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), the Naikan therapeutic practice and the Ajase Complex, and space-based solar power.

- From the Smithsonian Magazine, an article about Assyrian soldiers might have had PTSD.

- The Wikipedia page for C-PTSD.

- Articles from Medical News Today and the US Department of Veterans Affairs on C-PTSD.

- Our main source, and one of the most important recent books on trauma:

Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, (New York: Penguin, 2014).

- Definition of Ajase Complex from Encyclopedia.com.

- Wikipedia page on Naikan and the definition of Naikan from the North American Naikan Council.

- Paper on the Ajase Complex and Naikan:

Chikako Ozawa-de Silva. “Demystifying Japanese Therapy: An Analysis of Naikan and the Ajase Complex through Buddhist Thought.” Ethos, vol. 35, no. 4, 2007, pp. 411–446. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4497922.

- Wikipedia page on space-based solar power, and a brief description of the technology involved from the US Department of Energy.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.6: Laius

Sat, 06 Jul 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 5 “Father and Son” (父と子と), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on parenting in Japan in the 1970s and 80s, a Cat Stevens song, angry ghosts, and posessed crabs.

- Articles on parenting, that give some historical insight and analysis of more recent attitudes and trends:

Holloway, Susan & Nagase, Ayumi. (2014). Child Rearing in Japan. 10.1007/978-94-007-7503-9_6.

The Japanese Family, Anne E. lmamura For Video Letter from Japan II: A Young Family. Asia Society (1990): 7-17.

- Youtube link for the Cat Stevens song "Father and Son" with original music video.

- Wikipedia page for the Cat Stevens song "Father and Son," and for the Japan-exclusive live album "Saturnight," which came out in 1974.

- Articles about ghosts in Japanese tradition generally: Yurei: Japanese Ghosts, Yūrei: the Ghosts of Japan, Ghosts on the shore, Ghosts, Demons and Spirits in Japanese Lore, and Ghosts in Ancient Japan.

- Funerary practices in American communities of Japanese descent.

- Modern changes to the funerary practices.

- Wikipedia pages on Japanese funerals, Yūrei (ghosts), and Onryō (vengeful spirits).

- Two stories about the crab ghosts, and a photograph of one of the crabs (see if you can spot the face-like markings!).

- Two versions of the Story of Hoichi.

- Other stories about the Taira ghosts that didn't make it into the podcast:

Ghosts of the Taira: The Relationship Between The Wars of The Gempei and the Warrior Ghost Noh Dramas Haunted at Sea: The Tale of Yoshitsune and the Taira Ghosts

- Stories of Kronos/Cronus/Saturn and Ouranous/Uranus/Caelus.

- The music from the memorial is:

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.5: Loyalties

Sat, 29 Jun 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 4 “Emma's Decision” (エマの脱走), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on manly tears, masculinity and emotion, and defectors.

- Articles!

"The Heike monogatari and The Japanese Warrior Ethic" Kenneth Dean Butler Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 29 (1969), pp. 93-108 Published by: Harvard-Yenching Institute https://www.jstor.org/stable/2718829

"The Return of Kū? Re-membering Hawaiian Masculinity, Warriorhood, and Nation" TY P. KĀWIKA TENGAN from "Performing Indigeneity" edited by: Laura R. Graham, H. Glenn Penny Published by: University of Nebraska Press. (2014) https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1d9nmw6.12

"Recreating Japanese Men" SABINE FRÜHSTÜCK, ANNE WALTHALL Published by: University of California Press. (2011) https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1ppdhr

"Race for Empire: Koreans as Japanese and Japanese as Americans during World War II" T. Fujitani Published by: University of California Press. (2011) https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pnjtg.15

"The Gender of Nationalism: Competing Masculinities in Meiji Japan" Jason G. Karlin The Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 28, No. 1 (Winter, 2002), pp. 41-77 Published by: The Society for Japanese Studies https://www.jstor.org/stable/4126775

"The Function of Ritual Weeping Revisited: Affective Expression and Moral Discourse" Gary L. Ebersole History of Religions, Vol. 39, No. 3 (Feb., 2000), pp. 211-246 Published by: The University of Chicago Press https://www.jstor.org/stable/3176418

"Whatever happened to the noble art of the manly weep?" Samantha Newman

- Wikipedia pages on toxic masculinity, sensibility (aka feelings), and the Ansei Treaties.

- Dictionary.com definition of “defection.”

- Olympics controversies, by year and Wikipedia page about András Törő, one of the 1964 Olympics defectors.

- NY Times article about defectors at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

- Great article about Yuri Rastvorov and his CIA handler, Fred Kovaleski, written by Kovaleski’s son for the Washington Post.

- FBI Monograph “Soviet Defectors” - discusses commonalities among 20 defectors, plus biographical information on each of them.

- Wikipedia pages for Viktor Belenko and Stanislav Levchenko. The Belenko page links to some great primary sources (State Department and CIA documents).

- From the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, a book on counterintelligence, from the 1950s through the 2000s. Lists information about specific defectors, including Yuri Rostvorov.

- 1976 Article from the Glasgow Herald about soldier Gerard Burns’ court martial and sentencing.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.4: The White Flag

Sat, 22 Jun 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 3 “Inside the Capsule” (カプセルの中), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on shihei (私兵) and private armies, the British East India Company, and Japanese composer Shigeaki Saegusa (三枝成彰, formerly 三枝成章).

- Jisho.org page for 私兵 (shihei).

- Japanese Wikipedia page for 民兵 (minpei), usually translated as "militia" but actually broader than the English sense of that word. Includes shihei and 軍閥 (gunbatsu).

- The early history of the British East India Company (BEIC) (brief).

- Wikipedia page on the BEIC.

- Wikipedia page on the BEIC's rule in India.

- Wikipedia page on the BEIC's private army.

*- Wikipedia page on the 1857 rebellion.

*- Wikipedia page on Sepoys.

- Articles regarding the BEIC's private army:

Irfan Habib, The Coming of 1857, Social Scientist, Vol. 26, No. 1/4 (Jan. - Apr., 1998), pp. 6-15, https://www.jstor.org/stable/3517577

"Origins of the British East India Company Army" by Hamid Hussain

Gilbert, A. (1975). Recruitment and Reform in the East India Company Army, 1760-1800. Journal of British Studies, 15(1), 89-111. https://doi.org/10.1086/385680

Innes, Percival Robert. The history of the Bengal European regiment : now the Royal Munster Fusiliers, and how it helped to win India (London : Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1885) https://archive.org/details/historyofbengale00innerich
(this one is Imperialist hagiography of the standard Rah Rah Glory!! sort, but it's also quite detailed and available in full text from archive.org)

Kiernan, V.G., Colonial Empires and Armies, 1815-1960 (McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, 1998)

- A breakdown of the regiments in each of the Presidency Armies.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for composer Shigeaki Saegusa (三枝成彰, formerly 三枝成章).

- Shigeaki Saegusa’s webpage (Japanese).

- Business information for May Corporation.

- Japanese TV site “Bangumi” page for Shigeaki Saegusa.

- Japanese Wikipedia page for TV program NHK Nodo Jiman.

- Blog post discussing Shigeaki Saegusa’s involvement with the Gundam franchise.

- The 2006 Asahi Shinbun article I discuss, with Mariko Hayashi (novelist) interviewing Shigeaki Saegusa.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.3: A Boy Named Sue

Sat, 15 Jun 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 2 “Departure” (旅立ち), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on bird lime, colonialism, Herculine Barbin, and the name Camille/Kamille.

- Wikipedia pages the Black Devils, high-explosive squash head (an explosive similar to the sticky bomb, with explanation of how it functions when used against tank armor), birdlime, and sticky bombs.

- "BIRD LIMES AND RAT GLUES—STICKY SITUATIONS," by William D. Fitzwater (February 1982), presented at the Tenth Vertebrate Pest Conference.

- Discussion of traditional birdlime preparations that supposedly used mistletoe.

- Colonialism from a philosophical perspective:

Kohn, Margaret and Reddy, Kavita, "Colonialism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2017/entries/colonialism/.

- List of types/motivations of colonialism:

Shoemaker, Nancy. “A Typology of Colonialism.” Perspectives on History, 1 Oct. 2015.

- Paper on the stages of colonialism in Africa, and my main source on colonialism as a source of contested reality and memory:

Bulhan, Hussein A.. "Stages of Colonialism in Africa: From Occupation of Land to Occupation of Being." Journal of Social and Political Psychology [Online], 3.1 (2015): 239-256. Web. 15 Jun. 2019

*- Essay, "The Colonization of Africa," by Ehiedu E. G. Iweriebor of Hunter College. Part of the New York Public Library's project "Africana Age: African and African Diasporan Transformations in the 20th Century."

- Some specifics about colonial policing:

Robert T. Sigler & David J. King (1992) Colonial policing and control of movements for independence, Policing and Society, 3:1, 13-22, DOI: 10.1080/10439463.1992.9964654

- Wikipedia pages on Herculine Barbin and her memoir.

- And Wikipedia pages on Prince's cancelled concept album, Camille, "A Mouthful of Birds" (a play that includes Herculine Barbin as a central character), and "The Mystery of Alexina" (1985 French movie about Herculine's life).

- "In Honor of Herculine Barbin: November 8th, Intersex Day of Solidarity & Remembrance" by intersex rights activist and speaker Mx. Anunnaki Ray Marquez.

- Michel Foucault's introduction to the memoirs of Herculine Barbin, published in 1980, by Pantheon.

- Thom also referenced "Herculine Barbin: Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth-century French Hermaphrodite," Foucault and Barbin, trans. Richard McDougall, 1980 (New York: Pantheon).

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The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.2: Back in Black

Sat, 08 Jun 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (機動戦士Ζガンダム) episode 1 “The Black Gundam” (黒いガンダム), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on animation history and technology in the early 80s, and Neil Sedaka and Zeta - transcending copyright.

- Fantastic, global history of animation:

Bendazzi, Giannalberto. Cartoons: One Hundred Years of Cinema Animation. Indiana University Press, 2009.

- Wikipedia timeline of computer animation in film and TV, and history of computer animation in the 1970s and 80s.

- Wikipedia pages explaining the difference between computer-assisted animation and computer-generated animation, and the use of computers in traditional animation.

- Description and history of Antics 2d animation software.

- Explanation of vector graphics.

- Paper describing what it was like to program with punchcards.

- TV Tropes page on merchandise driven programs.

- 1950s TV ads for Hasbro's Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and Mattel's Burp Gun (cap gun).

- How Stuff Works page on the first TV cartoon made for a pre-existing toy - Hot Wheels (this show contributed to later regulation on these kinds of programs).

- Article about the regulation (and de-regulation) of children's TV programming, and an article from the NYTimes, 1988, about Reagan's veto of a congressional measure to re-introduce regulations.

- NHK paper (in English) on history and trends in children's TV programming in Japan and a few international markets.

- Copyright Research and Information Center (a Japanese organization)'s very readable English-language explanation of Japanese copyright.

- COPYRIGHT SYSTEM IN JAPAN, by Japan Copyright Office (JCO), Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan - published by Copyright Research and Information Center.

- JASRAC's own explanation of its services.

- Explanation of the differences between JASRAC and US Performing Rights Organizations with regard to synchronization rights, written by a Japanese-born, US-based artist and music producer.

- FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS in JAPANESE AND AMERICAN COPYRIGHT LAW by Dennis S. Karjala and Keiji Sugiyama.

- Thom's law-school copyright textbook:

Robert A. Gorman and Jane C. Ginsburg, Copyright, 7th Ed., Foundation Press (2006).

- Wikipedia pages on copyright collectives, synchronization rights, and music licensing.

- Wikipedia page for Neil Sedaka, and Gundam fandom-wiki pages for the songs "Z - Toki wo Koete" (Z・刻をこえて / Zeta - Transcending Times), "Hoshi e Ai wo Komete" (水の星へ愛をこめて / From the Aqueous Star with Love), and "Hoshizora no Believe" (星空のBelieve / Believe in the Starry Sky).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Mobile Suit Breakdown provides critical commentary and is protected by the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. All Gundam content is copyright and/or trademark of Sunrise Inc., Bandai, or its original creator. Mobile Suit Breakdown is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Sunrise Inc. or Bandai or any of its subsidiaries, employees, or associates and makes no claim to own Gundam or any of the copyrights or trademarks related to it.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

2.1: Sign of Zeta

Sat, 01 Jun 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we lay the groundwork for our upcoming review and analysis of Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam! We also recap the first series, Mobile Suit Gundam, for any new listeners who need a refresher.

We research the first half of the 1980s in Japan and the world - from politics and economics to technology and fashion, and look into why, several years after the success of the Mobile Suit Gundam compilation movies, the stars aligned to get Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam into production.

- 1980s timeline from National Geographic.

- Wikipedia pages for the 1980s and the 1980s in Japan.

- Wikipedia page on the Cold War

- Photos and descriptions of trends in Japanese Fashion in the 1980s.

- Description of photographs of "Yokohama Traditional" or "Ivy League" style.

- A history of Daicon Films, including their ambition to make a series of MS-V OVAs.

- A brief history of the Transformers toy brand and how it came to dominate the toy industry in the mid 80s.

- A history of Takatoku toys and their incredible transforming Macross figures.

- Timeline of gunpla in the early 80s, including MS-V.

- Yasuhiko talks about how he didn't want to make Zeta Gundam.

- Nagano Mamoru (Zeta mecha designer) talks about how frustrated Okawara and Yasuhiko were to be working on Zeta Gundam.

- Tomino talks about his struggles in the years after First Gundam.

- Tomino talks with Nagano about how his psychosomatic disorder caused difficulties for him while working on Zeta Gundam.

- 2002-era Tomino talks about how he didn't want to make Zeta and still thinks he shouldn't have.

- When Gundam Came to Hollywood.

- The actual draft script for the could-have-been Hollywood Gundam movie.

- Now-former Bandai president Yamashina Makoto's Japanese wikipedia page.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.39: 1.39 - Encore

Sat, 25 May 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week we discuss the third and final Mobile Suit Gundam compilation movie, titled: Encounters in Space. We continue to ask: is it a good movie? Does it make sense if you haven't seen the show? Gundam noob and friend of the podcast, Angela, returns to help us to answer these questions!

We also pick apart the differences in story, sound, and animation between the show and the movie, talk about the real actual battleship Yamato, and how Indian religions influenced New Age philosophy.

- Relative production of warships by the US and Japan during World War II.

- Hiromi Mizuno's "When Pacifist Japan Fights: Historicizing Desires in Anime" examines - among other things, the nationalist fantasy of Space Battleship Yamato and how the original Yamato contributes to it. From:

Mechademia 2: Networks of Desire, edited by Frenchy Lunning. University of Minnesota Press, 2007.

- Supposedly the most complete and readable history book about the fate of the Yamato, but we did not have time to review it in time for this episode:

A Glorious Way to Die: The Kamikaze Mission of the Battleship Yamato, April 1945, by Russell Spurr, Newmarket Press, 1981.

- Wikipedia pages on the Second London Naval Treaty, the sinking of the ships Prince of Wales and Repulse, and Operation Ten-Go.

- Wikipedia pages on the battleship Yamato, and aircraft carrier Shinano (the third of the Yamato class was converted into a not-very-good air craft carrier once it was clear how useless the first two ships were).

- And the Wikipedia page on the Washington Naval Treaty.

- Our main source on how Hinduism influenced the "New Age" movement in the 1970s was the following book:

Goldberg, Philip. American Veda: from Emerson to the Beatles to Yoga to Meditation: How Indian Spirituality Changed the West. Harmony, 2010.

- Wikipedia pages on the "New Age" movement, the Human Potential Movement, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Transcendental Meditation, the Beatles trip to India, and what is now called the Beatles Ashram.

- Box office information for the Gundam compilation movies.

- The poem is "The War in the Air" by Howard Nemerov.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.38: 1.38 - Zeon Strikes Back

Sat, 18 May 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week we discuss the second Mobile Suit Gundam compilation movie, titled: Soldiers of Sorrow. We continue to ask: is it a good movie? Does it make sense if you haven't seen the show? Gundam noob and friend of the podcast, Angela, returns to help us to answer these questions!

We also pick apart the differences in story, sound, and animation between the show and the movie, talk about calendars and the possible significance of the Universal Century year-counting system, and discuss possible sources for some of Gundam's odd character names.

- Resources on history and bases for major calendar systems:

Calendars by L. E. Doggett, Reprinted from the Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, P. Kenneth Seidelmann, editor, with permission from University Science Books, Sausalito, CA 94965. https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/calendars.html

Richards, E G. “Calendars.” Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, by Sean E. Urban and P. Kenneth. Seidelmann, University Science Books, 2013, pp. 585–624. https://aa.usno.navy.mil/publications/docs/c15_usb_online.pdf

- Wikipedia page on “Common Era.”

- The origin of the Gregorian Calendar and the terms BC and AD.

- Tomino confirms he only found out about Amuro island after Gundam aired.

- Article on how to read the Roman alphabet in Japanese.

- 羅馬字書方調査報告 (Rōmaji Kakikata Chōsa Hōkoku, Report on the Writing of Roman Letters) - an official 1900 publication on proper pronunciation of Roman alphabet in Japanese.

- Monument dedicated to 30 pilots from one 'Ryusei' dive bomber squadron who died in kamikaze attacks in July and August 1945.

- Article describing the 'Ryusei' as the largest and heaviest carrier plane deployed by Japan during the war.

- Wikipedia page for pop-star Namie Amuro (no relation).

- Wikipedia pages for the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, the Kawanishi N1k/Shiden and Shiden Kai, the Nakajima Ki-84/Hayate, the Aichi B7A/Ryusei, the Nakajima Kikka, and the Aichi M6A/Seiran.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.37: 1.37 - Second Chances

Sat, 11 May 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week we discuss the first of the Mobile Suit Gundam compilation movies, titled: Mobile Suit Gundam. Is it a good movie? Does it make sense if you haven't seen the show? Gundam noob and friend of the podcast, Angela, joins us to answer these questions!

We also pick apart the differences in story, sound, and animation between the show and the movie, research a possible influence/inspiration for Kikka, Katz, and Letz, summarize the Gundam 40th Anniversary documentary from NHK, and speculate about the "demon" Gouf.

Special thanks to this week's guest: Angela - Cosplayer, and anime-fan. Instagram: @thegirlmadeofjade

- The English-language translation of the Gundam 40th-Anniversary documentary by NHK is from idango (Twitter: @wantstobeapanda), on their wordpress - [Cries in Newtype]. We are very grateful for their translation work!

- Definition of "katzenjammer."

- Wikipedia pages for Katzenjammer Kids and Max and Moritz.

- Time Magazine's list of the 10 longest-running comic strips (of which Katzenjammer Kids is one).

- Katzenjammer Kids pages on Toonpedia, Encyclopedia.com, and TV Tropes.

- Max and Moritz in English with illustrations.

- Digital copy of the Wampaku Monogatari (Japanese translation of Max and Moritz).

- Wikipedia page on Kitazawa Rakuten (北澤楽天), sometimes described as the founding father of modern manga.

- Overview of the early origins of Japanese comics, with a section on Kitazawa Rakuten that mentions the influence of Katzenjammer Kids.

- Book on traits of the Oni, historical depictions, and evolution from cannibal monsters to kawaii mascots:

Noriko Reider, Japanese Demon Lore: Oni from Ancient Times to the Present, University Press of Colorado, Sep 30, 2010 (Reider's book is an expansion of her essay.

- Story of the Red Oni and Blue Oni:

Hamada Hirosuke, 泣いた赤鬼 Naita Akaoni (1933)

- Kanamuchi's (鉄鞭) potential Chinese ancestry: Don Cunningham, Taiho-Jutsu: Law and Order in the Age of the Samurai, Tuttle Publishing, Feb 14, 2012.

- Kanamuchi's design and role in non-lethal work: Don Cunningham, Samurai Weapons: Tools of the Warrior, Tuttle Publishing, Aug 21, 2012

- Forum thread on kanamuchi.

- Historical photographs depicting kanamuchi: image 1, image 2, image 3, image 4, image 5.

- Wikipedia pages on Oni, Edo Period police, kanabō (金棒), and kanamuchi.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.36: 1.36 - Implications

Sat, 04 May 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week we discuss implications for the future of Gundam, special guest Edward Bauer reviews the original voice-work and the dub, listener Renato Ramonda helps us understand why Italy was the first foreign country to air Gundam, and flyinggrizzly digs deep on the art that inspired the Zaku.

Special thanks to this week's guest voices:

Edward Bauer: Actor, voice actor, and friend of the podcast. Web: http://www.edward-bauer.com, Twitter: @not_eddiebauer

flying_grizzly (Sean DMR): Tabletop game person, Gundam fan, and friend of the podcast. Web: https://www.flyinggrizzly.net, Twitter: @flying_grizzly

- flying grizzly's full paper: "The Zaku's Design Origins." I won't re-list it here, but the article has an extensive bibliography that you should check out!

- Relevant Wikipedia pages on o-yoroi (the early Japanese armor) and Thorvald Eiriksson (whom Thom mentions briefly, as an example of the deadliness of an arrow strike to the armpit).

- Fantastic overview of the tate and te-date shields over time, with illustrations and sources.

- Images of various designs of sode armor, including some o-sode plates.

- Book covering the design and function of the o-yoroi armor:

William E. Deal, Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan, Oxford UP, 2007

- Images demonstrating how a set of o-yoroi armor looked on a soldier.

- Brief overview of the evolution of Japanese arms and armor from 300CE to the 1500s.

- A brief overview from the BBC of how medieval-era Japanese warfare functioned.

- A list of a few anime set in Italy.

- The one article in English I found about anime in Italy:

Pellitteri, M. (2014), ‘The Italian anime boom: The outstanding success of Japanese animation in Italy, 1978-1984’, Journal of Italian Cinema & Media Studies 2: 3, pp. 363–381, doi: 10.1386/jicms.2.3.363_1

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.35: 1.35 - Aftermath

Sat, 27 Apr 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we discuss the Mobile Suit Gundam series as a whole: what do we think of the ending? Do we think the story as a whole is well done? Did the shortened series hurt them? Who were our favorite characters? We bring in special guest Sean Michael Chin to break down the trajectory of the Amuro/Char rivalry, viewed through their fights. And we talk about "Yakeato Sedai" or "The Generation of Ashes," and how their artistic output and political activism likely influenced Gundam and its creators.

- Book of Academic Essays on Yakeato:

Rosenbaum, Roman, and Yasuko Claremont. Legacies of the Asia-Pacific War: the Yakeato Generation. Routledge, 2015.

- Wikipedia pages on the three Yakeato I talk about in this episode: Akiyuki Nosaka (野坂昭如), Kenzaburo Oe (大江健三郎), and Makoto Oda (小田実).

- Wiki page on Grave of the Fireflies (火垂るの墓 Hotaru no Haka) (the short story, not the film).

- Nosaka’s obituary in the Independent (he passed away in 2016).

- Kenzaburo Oe’s biography from when he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1994.

- Paris Review biography and interview with Kenzaburo Oe.

- Wikipedia page for composer Hikari Oe.

- Article from Time Asia about Makoto Oda.

- Makoto Oda’s obituary in The Sunday Times (he died in 2007).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.34: 1.34b - Parting Shots (Part 2)

Sat, 20 Apr 2019 04:02:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 42/41 “Space Fortress A Baoa Qu” (宇宙要塞ア·バオア·クー) and 43/42 “Escape” (脱出), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: some Japanese vocab, what the heck is an A Bao A Qu?, the Kyūjō Incident, and how Kai made Thom think of the Illiad.

- Myou/みょう/妙 definition from Jisho.

- Me/め/奴 definition from Jisho.

- Two Tofugu articles explaining keigo (and Thom was right, both honorific language and humble language fall under the umbrella of keigo).

- The specific translation of 1001 Arabian Nights that Borges cited:

"A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Now Entituled: The Book of The Thousand Nights and a Night. With Introduction Explanatory Notes on the Manners and Customs of Moslem Men and a Terminal Essay upon the History of the Nights.

Translated and edited by Richard Francis Burton."

- Review of a new translation that mentions the debate around the A Bao A Qu citation.

- The connection between Final Fantasy and Borges.

- Japanese edition of 幻獣辞典 (Genjyuu Jiten).

- Borges and Japan, article by Koichi Hagimoto, published in journal Chasqui, Vol. 44, No. 2, November 2015.

- Wikipedia and Britannica articles about Jorge Luis Borges.

- Citation for the book itself: The Book of Imaginary Beings, Jorge Luis Borges, 1957 (trans. 1969 by Norman Thomas di Giovanni, 2006 by Andrew Hurley) published by Dutton in 1969 and Penguin in 2006.

- Wikipedia page on the Kyūjō incident.

- Japan Times and Medium articles about the Kyūjō incident.

- Wikipedia explanation of Kokutai and it's shifting definition through time.

- Book that provides great detail on the politics of the end of WWII in Japan:

Toland, John. Rising Sun. Pen & Sword Military Classics, 2005.

- Section from Hyginus' Fabulae about Protesilaus.

- Another section from the Fabulae, listing the suitors of Helen.

- A chronicle of the Trojan war from Dictys of Crete and Dares of Phrygia, includes Protesilaus in the Chronicle of Ships.

- From the Library by Apollodorus, a brief version of the Protesilaus story.

- English summary of some sections from the Epic Cycle (the series of poems that cover the whole of the Trojan war, of which the Iliad and Odyssey are the main surviving texts).

- Summary of Protesilaus' story.

- Relevant Wikipedia pages: Protesilaus, Laodamia of Phylace, Suitors of Helen, Cypria.

- The memorial poem: Alexander Posey's "The Conquerors."

- Song that plays under the memorial poem: "Parisian" by Kevin MacLeod.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.34: 1.34a - Parting Shots

Sat, 20 Apr 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

- Myou/みょう/妙 definition from Jisho.

- Me/め/奴 definition from Jisho.

- Two Tofugu articles explaining keigo (and Thom was right, both honorific language and humble language fall under the umbrella of keigo).

- The specific translation of 1001 Arabian Nights that Borges cited:

Translated and edited by Richard Francis Burton."

- Review of a new translation that mentions the debate around the A Bao A Qu citation.

- The connection between Final Fantasy and Borges.

- Japanese edition of 幻獣辞典 (Genjyuu Jiten).

- Borges and Japan, article by Koichi Hagimoto, published in journal Chasqui, Vol. 44, No. 2, November 2015.

- Wikipedia and Britannica articles about Jorge Luis Borges.

- Wikipedia page on the Kyūjō incident.

- Japan Times and Medium articles about the Kyūjō incident.

- Wikipedia explanation of Kokutai and it's shifting definition through time.

- Book that provides great detail on the politics of the end of WWII in Japan:

Toland, John. Rising Sun. Pen & Sword Military Classics, 2005.

- Section from Hyginus' Fabulae about Protesilaus.

- Another section from the Fabulae, listing the suitors of Helen.

- A chronicle of the Trojan war from Dictys of Crete and Dares of Phrygia, includes Protesilaus in the Chronicle of Ships.

- From the Library by Apollodorus, a brief version of the Protesilaus story.

- English summary of some sections from the Epic Cycle (the series of poems that cover the whole of the Trojan war, of which the Iliad and Odyssey are the main surviving texts).

- Summary of Protesilaus' story.

- Relevant Wikipedia pages: Protesilaus, Laodamia of Phylace, Suitors of Helen, Cypria.

- The memorial poem: Alexander Posey's "The Conquerors."

- Song that plays under the memorial poem: "Parisian" by Kevin MacLeod.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.33: 1.33b - No Family, No Homeland (part 2)

Sat, 13 Apr 2019 04:02:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 40/39 "Lalah's Dilemma" (エルメスのララ) and 41/40 "A Cosmic Glow" (光る宇宙), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: Hermes - why might Lalah’s mobile armor be named for the Greek god, and why did the translators decide to call the エルメス Elmeth instead, J-type missiles, and some of the odd place names and vocabulary from these episodes.

- Ovid's Metamorphoses, which contain the story of Hermes defeating Argus Panoptes and freeing Io.

- Wiki page about Io.

- General information about Hermes.

- Books and articles that discuss Hermes in the context of Jungian psychology:

Merritt, Dennis L., Ph.D. Jung and the Greening of Psychology and Education. Oregon Friends of C. G. Jung Newsletter, Vol. 6, Issue 1, Oct. 1996-Jan. 1997, pp. 9, 12, 13. http://www.dennismerrittjungiananalyst.com/Jung_and_Greening.htm

Miller, Jeffrey C. The Transcendent Function. State University of New York Press, 2004.

McNeely, Deldon Anne. Mercury Rising: Women, Evil, and the Trickster Gods. Fisher King Press, 2011.

- About Mercury's/Hermes' hat, the Petasos.

- Searchable Japanese trademark database (where we looked up "エルメス").

- Wiki pages on torpedoes generally, the PGM-19 Jupiter, the JL-1, the Jericho missile, the J-600T (Thunderbolt), the Mark 6 exploder, the Mark 15 torpedo, the Type 93 torpedo, and the Kaiten manned torpedoes.

- Breakdown of different Japanese torpedoes.

- Quora discussion about the Type 93.

- Several articles about the mighty Type 93.

- And one book:

Burke, Torpedoes and their Impact on Naval Warfare, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, 2017, https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1033484.pdf

- Definition and etymology of "mahal" from Oxford Living Dictionaries, Wiktionary, and Merriam-Webster.

- About Gujarati, the language in which (according the Google translate, so take with a grain of salt) "Gel Dorva" means "drawing gale."

- Possible inspirations in the names "Durva" and "Darva."

- A place or places called "Buttsham" or "Butts Ham" mentioned in: Sessional papers from the House of Commons, Records from the English Place-Name Society, Alphabetical List of Populated Places Derived from the Census of Scotland, and papers of the Surrey Archeological Society.

- Tonderu/とんでる／翔んでる definition from a translation dictionary.

- Tonderu/とんでる／翔んでる definition from a Japanese-language search.

- Online discussion (in Japanese) of the word Tonderu/とんでる／翔んでる, its meaning, and its nuances.

- The poem in the memorial is The Swan by F.S. Flint.

- The music in the memorial is "Stars Collide (Instrumental Version)," from Josh Woodward's album, "Breadcrumbs." (in this episode, song edited for time)

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.33: 1.33a - No Family, No Homeland

Sat, 13 Apr 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

- Ovid's Metamorphoses, which contain the story of Hermes defeating Argus Panoptes and freeing Io.

- Wiki page about Io.

- General information about Hermes.

- Books and articles that discuss Hermes in the context of Jungian psychology:

Miller, Jeffrey C. The Transcendent Function. State University of New York Press, 2004.

McNeely, Deldon Anne. Mercury Rising: Women, Evil, and the Trickster Gods. Fisher King Press, 2011.

- About Mercury's/Hermes' hat, the Petasos.

- Searchable Japanese trademark database (where we looked up "エルメス").

- Breakdown of different Japanese torpedoes.

- Quora discussion about the Type 93.

- Several articles about the mighty Type 93.

- And one book:

Burke, Torpedoes and their Impact on Naval Warfare, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, 2017, https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/1033484.pdf

- Definition and etymology of "mahal" from Oxford Living Dictionaries, Wiktionary, and Merriam-Webster.

- About Gujarati, the language in which (according the Google translate, so take with a grain of salt) "Gel Dorva" means "drawing gale."

- Possible inspirations in the names "Durva" and "Darva."

- Tonderu/とんでる／翔んでる definition from a translation dictionary.

- Tonderu/とんでる／翔んでる definition from a Japanese-language search.

- Online discussion (in Japanese) of the word Tonderu/とんでる／翔んでる, its meaning, and its nuances.

- The poem in the memorial is The Swan by F.S. Flint.

- The music in the memorial is "Stars Collide (Instrumental Version)," from Josh Woodward's album, "Breadcrumbs." (in this episode, song edited for time)

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.32: 1.32 - The Man from Jupiter

Sat, 06 Apr 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 39/38 "The Newtype: Challia Bull" (ニュータイプ、シャリア·ブル), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: Jupiter - why would we go there, and how would be do it?, helium and its uses, and government experiments in psychic phenomena.

- A few articles explaining the role of Helium-3 in plans for near-future nuclear energy production.

- About lunar helium-3 mining, including about China's apparent interest in mining the moon.

- Interview with the scientist who lead the team that started the discussion about lunar helium-3 extraction.

- NASA biography of geologist-astronaut Harrison Schmitt.

- Estimate of rate of energy consumption increase.

- About the cancellation of the last Apollo missions.

- Wiki pages on helium-3 and neutron radiation.

- Decades of Discovery: NASA’s Exploration of Jupiter.

- Target: Jupiter — Missions to the Solar System's Largest Planet.

- Up Close and Personal with Jupiter: A History of 9 Space Probes.

- History of NASA's Pioneer 11.

- NASA's Blueprint for 1970s Planetary Exploration (1968).

- How far is Jupiter and how long does it take to get there?

- Wiki pages on Jupiter, its exploration, the NASA Deep Space Network, and Pioneer 10.

- Helium discovery, production, and use, and more detail (and diagrams) on helium production.

- The LZ129 Hindenburg: history and disaster.

- The Helium Act of 1925, Herbert Hoover's public papers (1930) regarding helium export, Recommendation of the House of Representatives Military Affairs Committee to President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Helium Exports (1937), and Franklin D. Roosevelt's public papers (1938) White House statement on Helium for export.

- Use of helium in WWII.

- Current uses and recent US legislation.

- Wiki pages on The Men Who Start at Goats, the Stargate Project, and Project MKUltra.

- Wiki page on the human potential movement.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

April Fools 2019 - Mobile Suit Breaddown

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 07:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

We've decided to take the podcast in a new direction. Henceforth this is now Mobile Suit Breaddown, THE definitive bread and bread-related podcast. Yup, it's going to be all bread all the time around here. Please support the official release of bread.

Happy April 1st! We hope you enjoy this episode, and we're excited to get back to Gundam with episode 1.32 in a few days!

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.31: 1.31 - Goodbye Forever

Sat, 30 Mar 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 38/37 "Char and Sayla" (再会、シャアとセイラ), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Gelgoog’s decidedly low-tech sword, the word “kanchou,” and gold in WWII.

- The warrior monks who favored the naginata and nagamaki were closely affiliated with the mythical warrior demons called Tengu. For more about how the Tengu supposedly taught them the use of their weapons:

Roald Knutsen, "Tengu: The Shamanic and Esoteric Origins of the Japanese Martial Arts"

(Knutsen is a former soldier, and has a menkyo kaiden in iai-jutsu. We weren't able to get our hands on it, but Knutsen's 2004 book "Japanese Spears" is supposed to be the very best English source on the subject).

- A very interesting Sword Forum discussion of the differences between nagamaki and naginata, plus different examples of nagamaki and lots of pictures.

- A photo of a historical nagamaki.

- For an authority who views the nagamaki as more of a short polearm rather than a long sword:

Encyclopedia of Japanese Martial Arts, David A. Hall, Kodansha International; 1 edition (February 22, 2013)

- Wiki articles on the naginata and nagamaki.

- The full list of ranks for the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy (including where "kanchou" fits in).

- Wiki pages on Nazi gold and gold laundering.

- Forbes article on Operation Fish.

- Articles about Canfranc from El Pais (in English): "a hub for Nazis, gold and spies," "Last train for spy central," and "Casablanca in the Pyrenees."

- Two articles about Albert Le Lay (both in Spanish).

- Wiki page on Portugal in WWII.

- Beautiful description of what Lisbon must have been like during the war, especially with regard to the mix of people (by a historical fiction writer).

- From Life Magazine, July 1940. Fascinating look at American attitudes towards dictatorships and neutral countries, prior to the US joining the war:

“Portugal: The War Has Made It Europe's Front Door.” Life, 29 July 1940, pp. 65–73.

- Book about Portugal during WWII, with detailed chapters on the economy, Nazi gold and gold laundering, and espionage in Lisbon, among other things:

Lochery, Neill. Lisbon: War in the Shadows of the City of Light, 1939-45. Scribe Publications, 2011.

- The section from Alan Ross' diary (used in the memorial) is printed in:

"Leaves in the storm : a book of diaries / edited with a running commentary by Stefan Schimanski and Henry Treece."

You can find the excerpt here.

- The music in the memorial is "Dancing on the Edge" by Kai Engel.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.30: 1.30 - The Assassination of M'Quve by the Esper Amuro Ray

Sat, 23 Mar 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 37/36 "Duel in Texas" (テキサスの攻防), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the early Classical Greek armor that may have inspired the design of the Gyan, Westerns in Japan, and... dueling in Texas.

Special Guests this week: Sean Michael Chin and Wen Wang.

- Reddit /r/AskHistorians thread on the linothorax.

- Ancient Chinese paper armor.

- Linothorax reconstruction project and a New Yorker article about the reconstruction project.

- How did Phalanxes function in battle?

- Articles on Hoplite warfare:

Krentz, Peter. “The Nature of Hoplite Battle.” Classical Antiquity, vol. 4, no. 1, 1985, pp. 50–61. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25010823.

VAN WEES, HANS. “The Arms, Armor, and Iconography of Early Greek Hoplite Warfare.” Men of Bronze: Hoplite Warfare in Ancient Greece, edited by GREGORY F. VIGGIANO and DONALD KAGAN, Princeton University Press, 2013, pp. 57–73. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2855dr.8.

- IMDB page and description from the Japan Society of Daisogen no Watadori / Plains Wanderer (1960).

- The interview with Seijun Suzuki, director of Shottogan no Otoko / Sandanju no Otoko / Man with a Shotgun (1961), is from this book:

Desjardins, Chris. Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film. I.B. Tauris, 2005.

- IMDB page for Koya no Toseinin (1968).

- An article from an Australian magazine discuss the filming of Koya no Toseinin in Australia, including interviews with the lead actor and some of the production staff:

"DODGE CITY, Goonoo Goonoo-style" The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982) 15 May 1968: 4. Web. 20 Mar 2019 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48531687.

- The book that introduced me to the term "Eastern Westerns," as well as their prevalence:

Teo, Stephen. Eastern Westerns: Film and Genre Outside and inside Hollywood. Routledge, 2017.

- Texas State Historical Association article on dueling.

- Dueling in Uruguay - 1990 article about a duel that almost happened.

- Collection of Spanish language articles about dueling in Uruguay, including its ban in 1992 and calls to reinstate it.

- Uruguay's Ex-President wants to reinstate dueling.

- The poem in this week's memorial is Su Shi's First Ode on the Red Cliff. This link has the poem in the original Chinese and the English translation, with calligraphy.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.29: 1.29 - Monsters

Sat, 16 Mar 2019 04:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 35/34 "The Glory of Solomon" (ソロモン攻略戦) and 36/35 "Big Zam's Last Stand" (恐怖!機動ビグ·ザム), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on the Solomon Islands campaigns and related battles in the Pacific during WWII, Archimedes' heat ray, and weaponized asteroids.

- Source for the quote at the end of Thom's research, touching on what it was like to have been there:

Robert L. Eichelberger, Our Jungle Road to Tokyo, P-47 Press, 2018.

- Detailed list (with map!) of naval battles during the Solomon Islands Campaign.

- Source on the strategy around Rabaul:

John Miller, Jr., Carthweel: The Reduction of Rabaul, Office of the Chief Military History, Department of the Army, Washington DC, 1959.

- "Combat Narratives: Solomon Islands Campaign: I The Landing in the Solomons," from the Office of Naval Intelligence, Publications Branch, U.S. Navy, 1943.

- "Withdrawal from Guadalcanal: Abandoning the Island of Death."

- Wiki article on the Guadalcanal evacuation.

- Shorter article about Guadalcanal. Contains the excellent summing up of the whole Southwest Pacific campaign: "American losses were significant, but Japanese losses were devastating."

- "IN PURSUIT OF DECISIVE ACTION: AIR POWER’S IMPACT ON THE GUADALCANAL CAMPAIGN" Master's Thesis by Lt. Col. Nicholas B. Evans for SCHOOL OF ADVANCED AIR AND SPACE STUDIES.

- Not discussed in our episode but vitally important: the indigenous perspective on the war in the Solomon Islands.

- Wiki article on the Bougainville counterattack.

- Wiki aritcle on Cactus Air Force.

- Overview of the Siege of Syracuse and Archimedes' heat ray, including attempts to replicate the heat ray.

- The page for the MIT student-led attempt to replicate the heat ray, including the one done with Myth Busters.

- Description of the Myth Busters episode that did another attempt to replicate the heat ray.

- On deflecting asteroids and using them as weapons.

- "Kinetic Bombardment" and "rods from god".

- The song from this week's memorial is Without Redemption, by Kai Engel.

- Latin text of Book 12 of the Aeneid.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.28: 1.28 - Sparks Fly!

Sat, 09 Mar 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 34 (33 in the US), "A Fateful Encounter" ("宿命の出会い"), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on O'Neill cylinders, a review of Lagrange points, neutral countries in WWII, the Battle of the River Plate and the hunt for the Graf Spee, and the term "red tape."

- About Gerard O'Neill, and about his book, "The High Frontier."

- An article on real space colony designs, concept art, and more art and info on O'Neill space cyclinders.

- Discussion of Lagrange points in Gundam and in our world.

- Article about increasing critical examination of the actions of neutral countries during WWII.

- How neutral countries maintain their neutrality.

- Swiss neutrality, and the recent (early 2000s) independent report analyzing Switzerland's impact on WWII.

- Swedish neutrality.

- Hague Convention concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War.

- About the Graf Spee ship.

- Wiki page on the Battle of the River Plate and "The Trap of Montevideo."

- Book on naval warfare in WWII, includes section on the Battle of the River Plate:

The Great Sea War: The Story of Naval Action in World War II, E.B. Potter, Fleet-Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Pickle Partners Publishing, 2015.

- Book about the battle itself:

The Battle of the River Plate: The Hunt for the German Pocket Battleship Graf Spee (2d Ed.), Dudley Pope, 2005, McBooks Press.

- Wiki page indicating that "red tape" originated in Spain, versus Quora page indicating that it originated in England.

- Japanese synonyms for "red tape.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.27: 1.27 - Patrimony

Sat, 02 Mar 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 33 (32 in the US), "Farewell in Side 6" ("コンスコン強襲"), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on Attachment Theory and Amuro's relationships with his parents, blast exposure, the polytrauma system, diagnostic criteria for PTSD, teen brain development, and what tinnitus has to do with depression.

We are joined by a special guest - Shar! Shar is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and our Clinical Psychology Consultant. You can find her on YouTube as Dr. Sharmander, on Instagram @dr_sharmander, and on Twitter @The_Sharmander.

- Sources on Attachment Theory:

Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the strange situation. Hillside. NJ: Erlbaum. Armsden, GC, & Greenberg, MT (1987).

The inventory of parent and peer attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolesence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 16, 427-454.

- Breakdown of damage from blast exposure.

- Polytrauma development in the VA.

- Diagnostic criteria for PTSD and a self-administer test.

- "Why teen brains suck" a.k.a. The teen brain: It’s just not grown up yet.. Knox, R. (2010). National Public Radio: Your Health. National Public Radio, 1.

- Tinnitus and depression. Langguth, B., Landgrebe, M., Kleinjung, T., Sand, G. P., & Hajak, G. (2011). Tinnitus and depression. The world journal of biological psychiatry, 12(7), 489-500.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.26: 1.26 - Fire Broadside!

Sat, 23 Feb 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 31 and 32 (30 and 31 in the US), "A Decoy in Space" ("ザンジバル,追撃!") and "Breakthrough" ("強行突破作戦"), discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: Itano Ichiro, possible inspirations for the Zakrello mobile armor (including psychological warfare, Japan's involvement in the Korean War, and "Tiger Tanks"!), and the physics of why Amuro blacks out when the Gundam grabs hold of the Bigro.

- Itano's wikipedia page (in Japanese).

- Video compilation of examples of the 'Itano Circus.'

- Interviews with Itano: from a Q&A at Animazement 2012, an article that originally appeared in SFX Total Anime #3, 2010, and an article that originally appeared in NEO magazine #69, 2010.

- About psychological warfare (psyware) in the Korean War.

- Sources on Japanese involvement in the Korean War (especially note Korean-descended people in Japan who volunteered to fight for the South Korean army, or sabotaged the war effort to help North Korea). While Japan's involvement is often characterized as purely economic (including acting as a rear-base), there was significant direct participation.

- Sources on the 1st China-America Provisional Tank Group in WW2.

- Iraj's explanation (with calculations!) of the physics behind Amuro blacking out in that fight with the Bigro.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.25: 1.25 - Welcome to the Jungle

Sat, 16 Feb 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 29 and 30 (28 and 29 in the US), "Tragedy in Jaburo" and "A Wish for War Orphans," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: orphans, orphanages, and childcare in Japan, the history of robots in Western cinema, Operation Gunnerside, visual inspiration and references, and the St. Nazaire raid.

- Our sources on life in Japan's orphanages:

Japan Info. (Jun 17, 2016). What Challenges Do Children in Japan’s Orphanages Face? (Culture, Society) No author credits. Retrieved from http://jpninfo.com/53458

Quora (Answers) (Oct 23, 2015). What is it like to be raised in a Japanese orphanage? Karen Ma. Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-be-raised-in-a-Japanese-orphanage

The Japan Times News (May 1, 2014). Japan’s orphans neglected: HRW by Tomoshiro Osaki. Retrieved from https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/01/national/japans-orphans-neglected-hrw/

- About adult adoption in Japan.

- Japan's WWII war orphans, in the home islands and in China.

- Ron briefly mentioned the Tekketsu Kinotai, young boys who were conscripted into the Japanese army to defend Okinawa. We talked about this in episode 1.2, when we discussed the battle of Okinawa, and there's more info here:

A War to be won (Apr 2, 2016). Okinawan boys of the Tekketsu Kinnotai, Japan’s last ditch weapon (WWII History Articles) Posted by Admin. Retrieved from http://ww2awartobewon.com/wwii-articles/okinawan-boys-tekketsu-kinnotai/

- For the history of daycare/childcare in Japan, we consulted this article:

CHUNG, BYUNG-HO. “LABOR-MARKET DEMAND FOR WORKING MOTHERS AND THE EVOLUTION OF DAY CARE SYSTEM IN JAPAN.” International Journal of Sociology of the Family, vol. 18, no. 2, 1988, pp. 233–247. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23029742.

- Sources on film history, and specifically on robots in cinema:

Sarris, Andrew. The American Cinema: Directors and Directions, 1929-1968 1st ed. New York: Dutton, 1968

Dirks, Tim. Robots in Film: A complete Illustrated History of Robots in the Movies Early to 1939 Sourced from: https://www.filmsite.org/robotsinfilm1.html

- These articles provide an overview of Operation Gunnerside.

- An interview with Neal Bascomb, author of The Winter Fortress, a book that "sets this daring sabotage mission in the context of the high-stakes race between the Germans and the Allies to create a nuclear weapon."

- The New York Times obituary for Joachim Ronneberg, the leader of the Gunnerside raid.

- The evolution of diving suits (relevant for appearances of amphibious mobile suits).

- The wiki page for Kappa, and art depicting the Kappa: image 1, image 2.

- The wiki page for Kamaitachi, and interpretations of how they might look: image 1, image 2, image 3.

- Alien 'Zarab,' possible inspiration for the Z'Gok.

- Charles H. Townes, inventor of the maser.

- About phonons, and an abandoned patent for a phonon maser.

- Wiki article on Sasers.

- Sources on the St. Nazaire raid.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.24: 1.24 - Making Amends

Sat, 09 Feb 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 27 and 28 (26 and 27 in the US), "A Spy on Board" and "Across the Atlantic Ocean," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: possible inspiration for the G-Sky EZ, the Cape Verde Islands, famous pro-wrestling tag-teams that may have inspired the Gogg mobile suits, language and culture notes, and submarine warfare in WWII.

- A reference on the Allied Phonetic Alphabet (as opposed to the in-use-now Nato Phonetic Alphabet), in which "E" = "Easy."

- All about Sherman tank variants, including the "Easy Eight."

- Explanation of canards (what they are, and their function on a plane), and the Rutan VariEze homebuilt aircraft (an example of a place with canards).

- Overview of the Cape Verde independence movemement. Cape Verde had only recently gained it's independence (1975) when Gundam was released.

- Pro-Wrestling Wiki's history of the National Wrestling Alliance, the international pro-wrestling organization that unified US and Japanese wrestling.

- Biographies, history, and some video of the Wild Samoans.

- Family tree showing the extended Anoa'i family history in wrestling and how the Wild Samoans are related to (among others) Dwayne Johnson.

- Real sumo headbutt spear attacks: photo 1, photo 2, photo 3.

- Wiki pages on Rikidozan and Toyonobori, and a profile of them as a tag-team.

- Another profile of Rikidozan, a photo of him standing over a defeated Kimura, and an interview with The Destroyer about his matches with Rikidozan.

- Overviews of the Battle of the Atlantic, and of submarine warfare in WWII.

- Alfred Thayer Mahan, and his influence on naval tactics.

- Technologies used to combat submarines: huff-duff (high-frequency direction-finding), FIDO (the Mark 24 mine), MAD (magnetic anomaly detector), and the Leigh Light.

The Miharu tribute music is a 1926 Recording of Londonderry Air by Leo Rowsome, hosted by Irish Traditional Music Archive / Taisce Cheol Dúchais Éireann. The text is the lyrics to "Eily Dear," written by Fred Weatherly.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.23: 1.23 - Battle in the Age of Mobile Suits

Sat, 02 Feb 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 26 (25 in the US), "Char Returns," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: war balloons, top secret information, the battle of Sekigahara, naval mines, and possible aesthetic influences for mobile suit design.

- Overview of the history of military ballooning, and of incendiary balloons specifically.

- More detailed information about the Civil War-era Balloon Corps.

- Explanation and photo of barrage balloons.

- Overview of Japan's Fu-Go balloon program, and the news story detailing the 2014 discovery of an unexploded incendiary from a Fu-Go. CORRECTION: I stated that I thought this happened in Oregon. It actually happened in British Columbia, Canada.

- Great explanation of how images can be sent via radio waves.

- Wikpedia page on classified information (levels, differences between different countries, etc.), and an article which discusses what happens when people reveal classified information.

- The US National Archive FAQ on identifying and handling classified records.

- Two overviews of the Battle of Sekigahara (the second includes lots of images of art depicting the battle).

- Wikipedia pages on Kikkawa and Kobayakawa.

- Detailed information on naval mines, including their history, types, and the technology and mechanisms involved, from the Minewarfare & Clearance Diving Officers' Association, NavWeaps (Naval Weapons, Naval Technology and Naval Reunions website), and the Worldwide Independent Inventors Assoication (archive).

- Pictures of E. Honda's "Sumo Torpedo" headbutt attack and a real one, another sumo photo, and a photo of the 'Spear' attack in pro wrestling.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.22: 1.22 - Because of People Like You

Sat, 26 Jan 2019 05:05:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episodes 24 and 25 (23 and 24 in the US), "The Black Tri-Stars" and "Odessa Day," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: kendo armor and footwork, Japanese spies, rollerblades, plane formations and maneuvers, droop snoots, Japanese body-language and gestures, hydrogen bombs, and military funeral rituals.

- Explainer on kendo armor, an image of the 'men' (helmet), and an image of the 'men' with all it's component parts labeled.

- Beginners guide to kendo (footwork description on p. 11), and an explanation of kendo competition.

- Photo of a kendoka (kendo practitioner) in full armor, looking a little like a Dom mobile suit.

- Wiki page and Radio New Zealand piece about Heenan, the RAF pilot who was spying for Japan in Singapore.

- About the fall of Singapore.

- Forum post explaining how Aircraft Recognition Codes worked during WW2 - using differently colored lights instead of the modern radio-based IFF codes. Post was written by Senior Master Sergeant Gene Hellickson (U.S. Air Force 1965-1969, Air National Guard 1972-1988).

- About No. 62 Squadron RAF, the squadron that bore the brunt of the attack following Heenan's treachery, and that we later re-formed as a supply squadron.

- The history of in-line skates, including the facts that they are 1) Pretty old, and 2) Rollerblade, Inc. wasn't founded until 1980. Either way, they are probably not the inspiration for the Dom's movement.

- Definition of touch-and-go flying drill.

- Description of formations, along with their development and use over time, especially during WWI and WWII.

- More detailed descriptions of Vic/Vee and Finger-Four formations, and Thach weave maneuver.

- Wiki article on snoot drooping technology, and a Quora thread with an excellent explanation of the reasons for drooping that snoot on a fighter plane.

- Picture of the Sukhoi Su-27 'Flanker' with its characteristic banana-shaped profile, and one of the Mikoyan MiG-29 'Fulcrum' with its snoot pointed groundward.

- All about the Fairey Delta 2, another droop-snoot plane.

- What is look down/shoot down radar?

- Concorde snoot drooping video (snoot drooping begins at 5:10 and goes until 8:50).

- Photos, video, and descriptions of Japanese gestures.

- A great reference for Japanese gestures, with visual references.

- An ANN article that briefly describes 'dekotsun,' an affectionate forehead poke, which we think is what Matilda does to Amuro when she calls him "cheeky."

- History of the battlefield cross (rifle stuck into the ground, with helmet on top), and a wikipedia article that contains an excerpt from the US Army Field Manual, describing the battlefield cross as used in memorials.

- Text of Ode of Remembrance, a section from a longer poem, For the Fallen, by Laurence Binyon. It is often used in WWI memorial ceremonies, and we use it (with a modified last line) in our memorial for Lt. Matilda.

The music in our memorial tribute for Lt. Matilda is Mother's Mourning by Dee Yan-Key.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.21: 1.21 - The Long Shadow

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episodes 22 and 23 (21 and 22 in the US), "The Trap of M'Quve" and "Matilda's Rescue," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: Japanese sentō (public bathhouses), all-plastic wristwatches, bauxite mining, gallium, the bombing of Darwin, a famous POW-camp escape-attempt, plastic explosives, Lt. Matilda's voice actress, and smoke bombs.

- An overview of Japanese sentō.

- Additional articles about the history of sentō (these include some great artwork and photographs).

- a brief history of the Japanese "system-bath" - baths in private homes that for many people replaced regular use of the local sentō.

- For the connotations of nudity in Japanese media, we consulted this paper:

"Nudity in Japanese visual media: A cross-cultural observation." Downs, J.F. Arch Sex Behav (1990) 19: 583. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542467

- And our source on the prevalence of indoor plumbing in the US as of 1940 is:

Lutz, James D. “Lest We Forget, a Short History of Housing in the United States.” American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2004, aceee.org/files/proceedings/2004/data/papers/SS04_Panel1_Paper17.pdf.

- the story of the ahead-of-its-time, "all-plastic" Tissot IDEA 2001 and its competition from Japan.

- general information on the history, types, and uses of plastic explosives.

- A map of Bauxite mining operations around the world.

- Video of the gallium-spoon trick.

- Overview of the Bombing of Darwin, and additional detail specifically about the Allies' strategy in the South Pacific.

- The story of Matthias Ulungura, who captured Japanese Zero-pilot Toyoshima Haijame.

- A photo of Aboriginal dancers at the ceremony to unveil the cairn to commemorate Matthias Ulungura. Plaque reads: "This memorial was erected by the Northern Territory Government in recognition of Matthias Ulungura 1921-1980 Who, unarmed, on 19th Feb. 1942 on Melville Island captured the first Japanese prisoner of war (a zero pilot) to be taken on Australian soil."

- More about the Cowra Breakout, a Japanese-POW escape-attempt, which Thom parallels to Cozun's attempted escape from the White Base.

- The history of smoke screens and an example of their use in a specific battle in the Mediterranean during WWII.

- Toda Keiko (Lt. Matilda's voice actor), performing as Ayu Akemi - this is her first Enka single.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.20: 1.20 - The Fate of a Soldier

Sat, 12 Jan 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 20 and 21 (19 and 20 in the US), "Hand-to-Hand Combat" and "Sorrow and Hatred," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: conflict management and resolution in Japanese culture, ship-boarding actions during WWII, and what a Buddhist wisdom-king has to do with Ryu.

- Core cultural concepts that are helpful to understand before delving into conflict resolution specifically. This paper gives an overview of research done on conflict resolution in Japanese culture, as well as some general findings.

- Our main source for information on the Altmark Incident (ship-boarding action in WWII), is by an anonymous author under username 'WatTyler', WW2 People's War. WW2 People's War is an online archive of wartime memories contributed by members of the public and gathered by the BBC. The archive can be found at bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar.

- The Wikipedia page for the Altmark Incident takes a more neutral/pro-Norwegian stance.

- What is a Myo-o?

- Two detailed descriptions of Fudo Myo-o.

- Fudo Myo-o is frequently depicted in art, including in paintings like these, sculpture, and even in tattoos.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.19: 1.19 - Duel in the Desert

Sat, 05 Jan 2019 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap, review, and analyze Mobile Suit Gundam episode 19 (18 in the US), "Ramba Ral's Attack," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: the city of Sodom, mythical weapons, and Kendo and other Japanese sword-fighting traditions.

- The city of Sodom shows up in a number of texts - Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica have nice overviews of the attempts to establish Sodom's location archeologically, as well as the descriptions of Sodom and the story of its destruction across the Bible, the Torah, the Quran, and other sources.

- About the Winchester '73 model rifle, and its eponymous film, a classic of the Western genre.

- Three examples of deadly and blood-thirsty spears from Celtic mythology: Gáe Bulg, Lugh's spear, and the Lúin of Celtchar.

- Dyrnwyn, the sword that destroys the unworthy who try to draw it, is part of the Thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain from Welsh mythology.

- The stories of Excalibur, Accolon's combat with Arthur and subsequent death, and Clarent.

- Muramasa (cursed) and Masamune (not cursed) Japanese swordsmiths, whose swords have several legends attached.

- A brief overview of Kendo, an expansion on Kendo tactics, and two pieces on how Kendo techniques differ from the cutting techniques of traditional sword fighting.

- Discussion of timings in Kendo, including "nuki" timing that Thom discusses, and a video of Kendoka practicing this timing. For a longer discussion of "nuki" timing:

Junzo Sasamori, Gordon Warner, This is Kendo: The Art of Japanese Fencing, Tuttle Publishing, 2012.

- Discussion of "katate" or one-handed striking in Kendo.

- Video of a young kenjutsuka practicing "tameshigiri" using a one-handed upward slash similar to that used by Amuro in the show.

- A guide to Iaido terminology.

- Different Tameshigiri cutting patterns. Amuro's is closest to the advanced sequence called "Mizu gaeshi."

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.18: 1.18 - What Will You Do Now?

Sat, 29 Dec 2018 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap and review Mobile Suit Gundam episode 18 (17 in the US), "Zeon's Secret Mine," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: the science behind Zeon's new anti-Gundam tech - the Adzam Leader, forced labor of POWs, Japan's post-war economy, ninja outfits, and cognac.

- A discussion of inductive coupling, one of the technologies that our resident science-guest Iraj speculates could be responsible for the Adzam Leader's effect on the Gundam.

- Page from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum about the forced labor of Soviet POWs in Germany, and George Washington University "Memory and Reconciliation in the Asia-Pacific" research and policy program's page on Japan's use of POW forced-labor.

- NPR article about the Mitsubishi Corporation's apology for using POWs for forced-labor.

- Wikipedia article about Japan's "economic miracle." For more detailed information about the Japanese economy at that time, and the changes to standard of living that went along with it, this book is great:

Hane, Mikiso. Eastern Phoenix: Japan since 1945. Westview Press, 1998.

- General information on ninja, and on the Tokugawa-era secret-polics, the Oniwaban, who largely replaced ninja.

- A sketch of a 'traditional' ninja outfit, but Japanese painter Hokusai.

- All about the kabuki art-form, and specific information on kabuki stage-hands (called kuroko).

- A detailed history of cognac, explanation of how cognac is made, and guide to understanding cognac labeling.

- A paper presented to the International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium using cognac as a case study to analyze factors influencing luxury exports, and a working paper by Instituto Politécnico de Leiria on European luxury brands strategies in Japan.

- A 1988 article on cognac's increasingly global presence, and 1992 LA Times article on cognac consumption in Japan (the cognac market in Japan would crash shortly afterward).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.17: 1.17 - Unnecessary

Sat, 22 Dec 2018 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap and review Mobile Suit Gundam episode 17 (16 in the US), "Amuro Deserts," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: flight simulations, bazookas, the Antarctic Treaty, Zeon's resource strategy, and two-rank promotions, all with a special guest.

- While Wikipedia has a nice overview, various technology publications, flight schools, and other aviation industry websites also have information on the history of flight simulators.

- Two overviews of how bazookas work, plus a picture of the "bazooka" instrument that the weapon is named for, and an explanation of the backblast area.

- For his discussion of the Antarctic Treaty, our friend and guest-voice Sean consulted various online resources about Gundam, as well as one of the Gundam novels:

Tomino, Yoshiyuki. Mobile Suit Gundam: Awakening, Escalation, Confrontation. Stone Bridge, 2004. (Pages 99 and 448 of the 2012 English-language printing)

- In discussing Zeon's resource strategy, Sean references Operation Edelweiss, Japan's preparations for WWII, and some more general information on strategy related to the control of necessary raw materials during WWII.

- When Thom discusses Ramba Ral's pursuit of a two-rank promotion, he mentions both the ranks of the Imperial Japanese Army (used in First Gundam's Japanese version), and the ranks of the Imperial Japanese Navy (used in First Gundam's English translation). For reference, the ranks in the Japan Self Defense Force (used by the Japanese armed forces at the time when First Gundam was made, and still in use today) are completely different.

- Thom also mentioned a couple of famous military awards, namely the Victoria Cross and the Albert Medal (which he mistakenly referred to as the Albert Cross). The biography of Baron Richtofen (the Red Baron), with information about the German propaganda rumors that whoever shot him down would get a Victoria Cross, is:

Burrows, William E. Richthofen: A True History of the Red Baron. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1970. ISBN 0-15-177172-3

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.16: 1.16 - Answers at Any Price

Sat, 15 Dec 2018 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap and review Mobile Suit Gundam episode 16 (15 in the US), "Sayla's Agony," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: Song Dynasty ceramics, art looting in wartime, armies and salt, siblings on opposite sides of WWII, and Lop Nur, the probable inspiration for "Lop Lake" in this episode.

- Overview of Song ceramics, specifically aimed at collectors.

- About the planned Führer Museum in Linz, and the art storage facilities hidden in mines, Merkers and Altaussee.

- Outline of Japanese colonial rule in Korea and the "Three Alls" principle.

- The Kin no Yuri / Yamashita's gold conspiracy theory.

- About looted artifacts in Japanese museums and the art black-market in Japan.

- And an article and a book about looting!

B. Gaudenzi & A. Swenson, ‘Looted Art and Restitution in the Twentieth Century – Towards a Global Perspective’, Journal of Contemporary History, DOI: 10.1177/0022009417692409, final author manuscript.

Liu, Zhuozhen, "The Case for Repatriating China's Cultural Objects," Springer, Feb. 25, 2016.

- Historical facts about salt, and an explanation of hyponatriemia/low blood sodium.

- List of times that siblings wound up on the opposite sides of wars, including many examples older than those we discuss in this episode.

- News articles from the LATimes and CNN about the Akune and Oka brothers.

- All about Lop Nur, the inspiration for this episode's salt-lake, "Lob Lake."

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.15: 1.15 - The Lost Episode

Sat, 08 Dec 2018 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap and review Mobile Suit Gundam episode 15, "Cucuruz Doan's Island," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: the different Japanese terms for martial arts (and why Cucuruz uses kakutogi), who is Suzumura Kazuyuki?, the skinny Zaku, desertion in WWII, Anime Friend and the episode production team, and the nuances of the Japanese word nioi.

Special note: This is only episode 15 in Japanese releases. This episode has never been included in an English-language release.

- For an explanation of why the Japanese Ministry of Education used katogi rather than budo to describe martial arts in schools, check out this book: García, Raúl Sánchez. The Historical Sociology of Japanese Martial Arts. Routledge, 2019.

- And for definitions of the various terms for martial arts: Encyclopedia of Japanese Martial Arts, David A. Hall, Kodansha International; 1 edition (February 22, 2013)

- A discussion of the Japan Self-Defense Force's specific form close-quarter-combat (source in Japanese).

- Anime News Network profile of Suzumura Kazuyuki.

- Fan discussion of the "skinny Zaku" (source in Japanese).

- All about Anime Friend, former subsidiary of Tatsunoko Productions (source in Japanese).

- An overview of desertion during WWII and specifically in the Pacific War, news stories about a book that discusses the experiences of specific deserters from the US army.

- The article in which I found that horrific account of accidentally killing civilans.

- A paper discussing WWII in Papua New Guinea, and its effects on the indigenous population generally and on the relations between the indigenous population and the colonial administrative forces.

- More statistics on desertion, as well as the story of the group of Japanese soldier in Okinawa who deserted to surrender to the US Army, A book chapter detailing Japanese deserters' involvement in the Viet Minh, and a more recent news article touching on the wrongful executions of supposed Japanese army deserters.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.14: 1.14 - Tick Tick Boom!

Sat, 01 Dec 2018 05:01:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap and review Mobile Suit Gundam episode 14, "Time, Be Still," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: the Neo-Confucian concept of gekokujō and it's importance in prewar and wartime Japan, Audie Murphy, the "Memphis Belle" B-17 bomber, Japanese fighter aces, anti-tank explosives, and the Piasecki "AirGeep" hover-bike.

Content Warning: Suicide.

"What do you mean 'she has lost the will to live?'"

This week, we recap and review Mobile Suit Gundam episode 11, "Icelina - Love's Remains," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: suicide in Japanese culture, the proper way to get vengeance, meaningful character names, how to roll your Rs, and saying goodbye to the most fabulous characters so far.

- A longer definition of shinjū.

- More information about the life and works of Chikamatsu Monzaemon.

- Detailed synopses of the plays Sonezaki Shinjū and Shinjū ten no Amijima.

- Additional explanation of giri and ninjou and their place in Japanese society during the Tokugawa Shogunate.

- Journal articles about interpreting shinjū in plays and in society, and discussing the Buddhist influence on Japanese attitudes toward suicide and euthenasia:

Heine, Steven. “Tragedy and Salvation in the Floating World: Chikamatsu's Double Suicide Drama as Millenarian Discourse.” The Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 53, no. 2, 1994, pp. 367–393. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2059839.

Becker, Carl B. “Buddhist Views of Suicide and Euthanasia.” Philosophy East and West, vol. 40, no. 4, 1990, pp. 543–556. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1399357.

- Books and articles about Kataki-uchi (the rule-bound and later beaurocratized revenge from medieval and Tokugawa periods):

Varley, H. Paul. Japanese Culture. Univ. of Hawaiʻi Press, 2004.

Ikegami, Eiko. The Taming of the Samurai: Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan. Harvard University Press, 2003.

The Great Mirror of Male Love (Nanshoku Oukagami) Stanford UP, 1990, Trans. by Paul Gordon Schalow.

Jasmin M. Curtis (2012). Drops of Blood on Fallen Snow: The Evolution of Blood-Revenge Practices in Japan. University of Massachusetts Amherst (Masters Thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1963&context=theses

Mills, D. E. “Kataki-Uchi: The Practice of Blood-Revenge in Pre-Modern Japan.” Modern Asian Studies, vol. 10, no. 4, 1976, pp. 525–542. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/311761.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.10: 1.10 - The Misfortune of Birth

Sat, 03 Nov 2018 08:26:00 -0000

Show Notes

Everything continues to go well for the Zabi family.

This week, we recap and review Mobile Suit Gundam episode 10, "Garma's Fate," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: Where exactly are we? Are we there yet? How long will it take to get there?, the Seattle "Kingdome," carpet-bombing and incendiaries, the first kamikaze pilots, and episode director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

- A couple of the maps I looked at before Thom told me they are not to be relied upon.

- History of the Seattle Kingdome stadium, unexpected architectural star of the episode.

- Carpet-bombing and incendiaries explained. Prepare to be sad about the lengths humans go and the creativity employed in the interest of killing each other.

- The first kamikaze pilots.

- And additional information on episode Director Yoshikazu Yasuhiko (aka YAS), character designer, animation director, artist, and award-winning manga creator (link is to a source in Japanese). I highly recommend doing an image search to see samples of his artwork; it makes his artistic influence on the show much clearer.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.9: 1.9 - Paranoia and Treachery

Sat, 27 Oct 2018 06:47:00 -0000

Show Notes

In this episode Thom and Nina discuss Mobile Suit Gundam episode 9, "Fly! Gundam!" , desperate times on the White Base, what Bright actually wants, whether or not there's time for philosophy, a famous slap, and an entirely unnecessary full body pan.

We research:

Just how a person like Amuro might respond to trauma, and what a post-traumatic stress breakdown might look like:

ADAA overview of common reactions to trauma

A lengthier and more descriptive discussion of many of the same reactions

Veteran's Affairs resources regarding PTSD among soldiers including risk factors

Corporal punishment in Japan, and what Tomino thinks about it:

An archived copy of a now defunct anime website's Tomino interview.

Survey results on corporal punishment in public opinion in Japan Times and Asahi Shinbun.

Recent case of suicide due to abuse by coach.

Research and analysis of corporal punishment in Japan.

Japanese ideals of modern masculinity in the 1970s, and how they relate to *bushido

Masculinity and male virtues.

Bushido virtues.

Hofstede Insights cultural model and specific insights about Japan.

Just what is motivation, and how does it work?

Psychology Today article on different motivational models.

Could old people be... the enemy?

Tomino tells an audience that "adults are the enemy."

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.8: 1.8 - Family Men Like Us

Sat, 20 Oct 2018 06:21:00 -0000

Show Notes

Is this what all mothers are like?

This week, we recap and review Mobile Suit Gundam episode 8, "The Winds of War," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: Canadian geography and the town of Saints-Anges, Tomino's influences, Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu, The Grand Illusion, and what is furusato and why is it so important in Japanese culture?

The only source we have for Saints-Anges (St. Anges in the show), is Google maps and the deductions we walk you through in the podcast. Still, we're pretty sure its a reference to a real town. Even if they probably picked it by stabbing a finger at a map.

Click here for an overview of Akira Kurosawa's career, style and themes. To learn about Yasujiro Ozu, Senses of Cinema has a wonderful overview of his career and explanation of his style, and the Japan Times has a discussion of Ozu's current popularity in filmmaking circles.

You can read more about Jean Renoir's The Grand Illusion (La Grande Illusion) here.

This article gives a thorough explanation of the concept of furusato and its place in Japanese culture. If you'd like to listen to the song Furusato, the one all Japanese school-children learn, you can listen here.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.7: 1.7 - Freefallin'

Sat, 13 Oct 2018 08:10:00 -0000

Show Notes

Noh drama! A "mother complex!" and Mobile Suit Gundam Episode 7!

This week, we recap and review Mobile Suit Gundam episode 7, "The Core Fighter's Escape," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: hostage crises and Flight 472, how fighter jets land on aircraft carriers, laser measurement, "fool" and "coward" archetypes in European and Japanese literature and theatre, and what on Earth is a "mother complex"?

Wikipedia has a list of major hostage crises, and more detailed information on Flight 472.

We only covered the basics of how landing on an aircraft carrier works, but for more information on the myriad bits of technology that contribute to that process, check out this page on How Stuff Works.

Here are links with more information on laser range-finding and laser measurement.

In our research of possible literary and theatrical bases for Kai's character, we started with this overview of fool archetypes in European literature and theatre. The blog post that started us down the research rabbit-hole of "skeptic" characters in noh drama is here. For English-language information on noh (that isn't behind a paywall), the definitive source seems to be www.the-noh.com. It is from that site that we pulled definitions for the Ayakashi mask, the waki character-role, and the rongi question-and-response section of plays.

Special note: We included this bit about Acting Captains in the 1.6 show notes, but it was meant to go with this episode.

To find our what exactly an "Acting Captain" is, we consulted the United States Navy Regulations, 1990, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C. Chapter 10: Precedence, Authority, and Command, Section 4, 1074. Some nuances certainly vary from nation to nation, but the Imperial Japanese Navy took Britain's Royal Navy as its model (and the United States Navy originates in the same system).

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.6: 1.6 - Welcome to Earth, Gundam!

Sat, 06 Oct 2018 07:52:00 -0000

Show Notes

Ever wonder if Char and Garma were more than just friends? There's more evidence to float that ship than you might think...

On the Gundam podcast this week, we watch Mobile Suit Gundam episode 6, "Garma Strikes," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: soldier psychology, inspiration for the names of Zeon ships and tech, romance between men in Japanese history, and what exactly is an acting captain?

For our discussion of soldier psychology, we consulted the helpful and detailed website, Military Science Fiction.

Trying to decipher the inspiration for the names of Zeon ships came down to scouring German and Japanese dictionaries on the web (our favorite online Japanese dictionaries are Jim Breen and Jisho.

There are a few great resources on romantic and sexual relationships between men in Japanese history. We enjoyed Tofugu's great article "The Gay of the Samurai: All About Homosexuality, Buddhist Monks, Samurai, and the Tokugawa Middle Class". The following books were also helpful in our research:

Pflugfelder, Gregory M. Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950. University of California Press, 2007. McLelland, Mark J. Queer Japan from the Pacific War to the Internet Age. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.5: 1.5 The Descendants of Earth

Sat, 29 Sep 2018 08:19:00 -0000

Show Notes

This week, we recap and review Mobile Suit Gundam episode 5, "Re-Entry to Earth," discuss our first impressions, and provide commentary and research on: hot towels, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the history of spaceflight, childhood trauma, Japanese migration, and physics in science fiction! with special guest, Iraj.

The East Japan Oshibori Cooperative Association has a brief history of hot towels (oshibori) in Japan (site is in Japanese).

Wikipedia has a thorough overview of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, while the following news articles talk about those who refused to leave the exclusion zone, farmers returning to tend their animals, and the high percentage of returners who are 65 and older.

I go over the history of spaceflight very quickly - you can learn more here, and click here to learn specifically about Skylab (the space station that broke up on re-entry, it's pieces crashing into Australia).

For our discussion of transitional objects, we reference online articles here, here, and here, as well as this article from the International Journal of Adolescence and Youth:

Enrique Roig , Clelia Trelancia Roig & Nancy Soth (1987) The Use of Transitional Objects in Emotionally-Disturbed Adolescent Inpatients, International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 1:1, 45-58, DOI: 10.1080/02673843.1987.9747625

In case, like me, your high school science knowledge could use a refresher, here is a handy chart of the electromagnetic spectrum, which Iraj references several times in the episode. And here are the promised links with more information about reinforced carbon-carbon and ceramics used on space shuttles.

Our discussion of Japanese migration is based on this article from UCLA's Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies, and on this book:

Masterson, Daniel M., and Sayaka Funada-Classen. The Japanese in Latin America. University of Illinois Press, 2004.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.4: 1.4 - On the (Space) Road Again

Sat, 22 Sep 2018 06:28:00 -0000

Show Notes

On this episode: space-refugees, soldiers as police, cultural changes in the Japanese post-war period, the "granddaddy" of anime, and anime history and aesthetics.

To learn more about Japan's response to the Indochina Refugee Crisis, check out these articles:

Havens, Thomas R.H. “Japan's Response to the Indochinese Refugee Crisis.” Southeast Asian Journal of Social Science, vol. 18, no. 1, 1990, pp. 166–181. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24491760.

Wain, Barry. "The Indochina Refugee Crisis." Foreign Affairs, Council on Foreign Relations, Fall 1979. Web. 21 Sept. 2018. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/cambodia/1979-09-01/indochina-refugee-crisis

I'm not posting links to photos of soldiers and civilians from the Vietnam War years, because there are hundreds and it's depressing, but a Google image search will quickly show you what we mean if you're unfamiliar with photography of the period.

In the US, when we learn about Japanese history it is usually in the context of WWII. For a great overview of Japan in the post-war period, check out this book:

Hane, Mikiso. Eastern Phoenix: Japan since 1945. Westview Press, 1998.

Wikipedia has an extensive overview of anime (with a great bibliography of further reading!). I also enjoyed the two books below. The first, on the history of Might Atom/Astroboy, is written by Frederick L. Schodt who also translated the Gundam novels Tomino wrote between first Gundam and the compilation movies. The second provides some analysis of anime aesthetics and philosophy which I didn't always agree with but did find interesting.

Schodt, Frederik L. The Astro Boy Essays: Osamu Tezuka, Mighty Atom, and the Manga/Anime Revolution. Calif., 2007.

Brophy, Philip. 100 Anime. BFI Publishing, 2006.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.3: 1.3 - Mistakes Were Made

Sat, 15 Sep 2018 14:00:00 -0000

Show Notes

In this episode: Astrography of the Gundamverse in UC79, what keeps the sides in-place?, collective decision-making, introducing the Minovsky particle, and developments in physics of the 1970s prove Clarke's Third Law, that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

A map of Lagrange Points and a map of the UC79 Gundamverse, showing the sides and Luna II. (Ignore the maps that refer to future series)"

The Zaku I, which seems inspired by Roman gladiators. It's worth pointing out, many empires throughout history (including the Nazis in WWII) have styled themselves after the Roman Empire.

All of the sources we read on collective decision-making focus on a business context, but the practice has it's foundation in Japanese history and so will certainly affect other aspects of Japanese society. You can read a detailed breakdown of the process here and here.

A timeline of developments in physics. Pay special attention to developments during the post-war period, when a number of sub-atomic particles were discovered. This more detailed explanation of quantum entanglement is well worth a read.

And finally, a report by the US Energy Research and Development Administration on the projected timelines for development of fusion power, published in 1976. Skip to page 10 for a chart of development progress over time as a function of research spending.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.2: 1.2 - No, She's Too Strong!

Sat, 08 Sep 2018 14:00:27 -0000

Show Notes

In this episode: Space-Okinawa, society has a short memory, was childhood ever sacred?, nuclear allegory, fancy uniforms, and mutually assured Gundams.

You can read more about the Battle of Okinawa in these pages. While estimates of the number of Tekketsu Kinnotai boys (middle-school aged conscripts) vary, we are going with the 1,780 local Okinawan estimate given by their Peace Museum.

Wikipedia has a good overview of the use of child soldiers in WWII generally, including the fact that the International Criminal Court did not make use of child soldiers a war crime until 1998 (and they define "child" as "under the age of fifteen years."

Further reading about Yasukuni Shrine and the controversies around it.

Did you know the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan "has lasted longer than any other alliance between two great powers since the 1648 Peace of Westphalia"?

The essay I mention, that discusses anime portrayals of childhood, is: Ito, Mizuko. “Migrating Media: Anime Media and the Childhood Imagination.” Designing Modern Childhoods: History, Space, and the Material Culture of Children, by Marta Gutman and Ning De Coninck-Smith, Rutgers University Press, 2008, p. 301.

These Prussian uniforms are reminiscent of the uniforms on Zeon's rank-and-file, while all Zeon soldiers, including the officers, wear helms inspired by the coal-scuttle-shaped helmets of the German Empire circa WWI.

Char's uniform is more specific, harkening back to the uniforms of Prussian cavalry officers circa 1868. Note in particular the collar (like the Zeon uniforms it is a stand-up style, in red with gold detailing), the similarly decorated cuffs, the epaulets, and the single-breasted tunic-style jacket. While none of these features is unique to Prussian cavalry officers or Zeon, the combination of all of them in one uniform is quite rare.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both have been edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

1.1: 1.1 - To Live and Die in Space

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 23:55:53 -0000

Episode Notes

In this episode: the 70s in our universe and in the Universal Century, in belum medium, aesthetics musical and visual, and... what's my age again? (what's my age again?)

High-level overviews of events of the 1970s, in the world and in Japan.

Here is the book cover (center) that Thom mentioned, with an example of Tomino's preferred color-scheme for the White Base. You can find more great information from the translator at his website

The Zeon "Zaku II" mobile suit, and a photo of Japanese soldiers from the Special Naval Landing Force in the gas masks that, we think, inspired the design of the Zaku.

Additional information about The Death of the Author and its place in literary criticism.

And finally the intro song, "Tobe! Gandamu" (for pre-karaoke practice!).

You can subscribe to the Mobile Suit Breakdown for free! on fine Podcast services everywhere and on YouTube, follow us on twitter @gundampodcast, check us out at gundampodcast.com, and email your questions, comments, and complaints to gundampodcast@gmail.com.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

Find out more at http://gundampodcast.com

0.0 - Gundam Podcast Rises

Thu, 30 Aug 2018 23:55:40 -0000

Episode Notes

In this episode, we discuss who we are, what this is, and why we're doing it.

Read this and future show notes for visual aids like photos, charts, and videos, bibliography and research references, and miscellaneous ephemera related to each episode.

Speaking of which...

Here is an example of the early Clover models, chunkier and less detailed than the models many of us are familiar with, and a TV commercial from 1982, for the various Bandai model kits created for first Gundam.

The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. Both edited for length.

Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com