As a kid I remember owning a bootleg Chinese version of a Gundam manga – the print quality was terribly and half the time I could hardly make what was in the panels, but what I could recall vividly were the intense and moody battle sequences of the Gundams.

Over the years I would search for the original Japanese version of the manga, but never had any luck finding it. It was only recently after poring through the countless search pages on Amazon Japan did I finally strike gold – the comic is the MS Gundam War Chronicles, illustrated by Kondo Kazuhisa.

(above & below) The first few pages of the manga are colored illustrations.

I was never a Gundam fan (which is kind of an embarrassment because I used to work for Sunrise Animation), but this comic is quite different – the very organic design of the mobile suits are very appealing to me, and I also dug the various types of headgear worn by the pilots  ( image below left ).

I was also fascinated by the mood portrayed when battles were joined – the scene is always one of chaos ( Ashley Wood’s World War Robot comes to mind ); in the heat of battle no one seems to be certain of what is actually happening.  Shoot first, ask questions later.

(below) I like the way the muzzle flashes are drawn.

A beautiful childhood memory reclaimed, and still as good as I remember it.

“MS Gundam War Chronicles – Kondo Kazuhisa Manga 機動戦士ガンダム短編集 新MS戦記 漫画” details :

– Dimensions – 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
– Softcover, 163 pages
– Black & White, in Japanese

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