Old School Anime Reviews - Mobile Suit Gundam: War in the Pocket

Let's continue with the Gundam franchise for a bit, shall we? Given that the previous series is set in 0079, it only makes sense to continue in sequential order. This is Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket.

10th Anniversary: the Birth of War in the Pocket

Produced by Sunrise Studios in association with Bandai, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket was meant to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the franchise. The six-episode miniseries aired between March and August of 1989.

An English dub was released in 1999 alongside another short series in the franchise - Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory.

Upon its release, War in the Pocket was met with critical acclaim. Critics loved the story and the themes. Yoshiyuki Tomino, the original creator of the franchise, was also very impressed with the series and praised the director's focus on realism and storytelling instead of the dramatic battle sequences of other entries.

The Story

A Zeon pilot named Bernard crash lands in one of the Earth Federation's colonies and encounters a local child, Alfred Izuruha, who has taken some photos of him and his mobile suit. He trades a medal for the photos, and the two develop a friendship.

Things become complicated when Bernard gets orders to destroy a prototype Federation mobile suit...

What Works in War in the Pocket?

Okay, so what works here? Well, let's start with the visuals. The animation is great and the action sequences are easy to follow. The music is also really good.

As far as the plot goes, it's pretty good - not the best I've ever seen - but it's worth watching. It's surprisingly well-written, cramming a solid story into six episodes isn't easy, but these guys did it.

The tone of the series is very grim which isn't very surprising considering the war-themed content. On a related note, the idea to tell the story mostly from the perspective of a child is an interesting one which works surprisingly well...mostly.

The ending of the series is VERY dark and with Alfred suddenly being confronted by the reality of warfare and breaking down. His classmates, however, are still blissfully ignorant calling the war 'cool' and that another one will be around soon enough.

What doesn't Work Here?

Okay, let's start off with the basics. There's very little realism here, the idea of kids staying IN CLASS during a military invasion is ridiculous. There's also an actual sky in the colony instead of a more industrial rooftop of sorts.

The kid protagonist, Alfred, is just...irritating to me. He's young and naïve, but you'd think that a kid living in the Federation's colonies would recognize a Zeon uniform and realize that there's a problem. Unfortunately, he doesn't; if anything, he's worse. He trades photographs of Bernard's mobile suit for a medal...yes, a medal.

Read that again: this kid finds an enemy pilot having crashed in the colony and then, instead of going to the authorities and reporting it, he goes and does what I'm pretty sure is a crime.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket is pretty good - especially for a six episode miniseries. Between the great animation, music, and darker storyline makes things very interesting. Admittedly, I'm not too keen on the whole series, but it's a decent watch.

There are serious flaws with the series, but it's not so bad that you can't watch it. If you haven't had the chance to see it, then I'd say give it a shot and draw your own conclusions. If you're looking for something new to watch, then this might be something for you.