At the same time though, Gundam in general is rather dark and violent. Aside from G a lot of the stories are specifically about war and the effects it has on the world and the people involved, most of the time kids. Heck I'm pretty sure I've seen somewhere Tomino saying the equivalent of "It's war, it's suppose to be brutal and disturbing." And he's right. Yes, Mika is a rather disturbed character. But even though the character is handled worse than Mika, the argument can be made that Heero was really brutal in that he WAS a mindless brainwashed killing machine terrorist. Mika's just doing what he has to do to survive in war and to help out a friend. Plus he is choosing to do so, whereas a character like Heero and probably a good deal of other pilots just sort of fall or get forced into the role.

We also have to remember that Japan's take on what is appropriate for kids is a lot different than ours in terms of television and media.

Like, what time does IBO even come on? I remember the same group of people wanting Shimoneta to be censored even though it was on at a time where children shouldn't be up in the first place


And its ironic considering the plot of Shimoneta.

5pm I think I read somewhere, not 100% sure though.

That's an incredibly simplified way of looking at it. He didn't HAVE to kill most of the people he does, he just did because he'll literally do anything Orga tells him to.

The controversy stemmed from the fact Mika didn't just kill people, he killed people who were drugged, tied up and defenceless.

Well, in his defense, those same people used Mika and the others as a means of escape even if they all died, so its sort of a karma thing.

They were all sick of being treated as disposable so they fought back.

And 5pm seems like an okay tine for something like IBO. It seems to be directed more at teens anyway, not children.

Most Gundam shows have a fairly upbeat tone or ending* most notable exceptions being Zeta and Victory and even then the hero still soundly beats the villain in the end.*

Heero didn't brutally murder defenseless unarmed people every other episode because someone ordered him to and even if he did he'd have had more traditionally heroic foils in the form of Duo,Trowa,Quatre and debatably Wufei and Zechs.

Not so much these days if anything Japan's guidelines are becoming stricter while America's are becoming more lax.

To think I always thought Japan was a lot less strict on shows compare to the US. Parents seem to be okay with the level of blood and violence in One Piece and Naruto which are both market to kids in Japan.

In general though they really aren't that upbeat though. They may sport a bit of a shine or some fun moments, but its still in the end fairly tragic war stories.

He blew up a plane of politicians because he was told and tricked in to do doing. He began terrorizing the Earth because he was brainwashed and told to do so, costing some civilian and innocent lives in the process probably. So yeah, Mika is way worse than a brainwashed terrorist who was tricked into killing harmless politicians and brainwashed and ordered to fuck shit up on Earth and in possibly harming innocent lives because of it.

Probably because, when you think about it, those are a lot more cartoony and fantasy inspired compared to IBO being based around war and having a pretty brutal grit and tone to it.

on what i read when i first got in to gundam and in what i seen thanks to dynasty warriors gundam games 079 was apprent anime head of it time and was also treated a drama more then any thing so is gundam now still trying to incoperate that in the anime they make or not

They weren't main characters though. Having the main character (the "hero", as warped as that simplification may be) doing it is where the problem lies here.

I don't think it should have been handled any other way, I'm quite interested to see where it's all going. I'm just sitting on the fence here and can understand the mindset behind the complaints.

Gundam has become such a merchandising juggernaut that many won't assume it's subject matter often isn't pretty.