Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin v. 8-10 (75 Books LII - LIV)

So, I’ve already talked about Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin twice before, so I think I just have a few things to add. The eighth volume does pick up where the fourth left off, having finished Char and Sayla’s backstory. Yasuhiko Yoshikazu’s art is still excellent, and I especially like the colour pages with the watercolours. He also continues to be very good at characterising Gundam’s large cast, even those who are only around for a chapter or two.

I will say that reading almost all of this comic in the same year was the right move, even though I hadn’t planned to do it that way. I always have a hard time following serialised work, whether as it updates or via the compilation volumes like these. When so much time passes between relatively short updates in the story, the pacing gets completely screwed, and one tends to forget events and characters from early parts in the story, which also makes it more difficult to tie together any themes or motifs that the author may have intended. The last volume comes out in December, so I may well finish the series this year.

On a side note, each volume features a short essay or comic by a special contributor, where the writer or artist talks about what Gundam or Yasuhiko’s works generally mean to him. For the ninth volume, this was done by Shinkai Makoto, the director of Voices of a Distant Star, 5 Centimeters per Second, etc. If you know anything about Shinkai’s work, you expect him to talk about clouds, and he does not disappoint - most of his essay gushes over Yasuhiko’s landscapes with a special mention of “the intricate expressions of the clouds.”

Anyway, the series is a fairly significant investment, with twelve volumes at about $20 and change each. However, Vertical’s editions are excellently done, and so far this has been one of the best comics I’ve ever read and worth every dollar.