Season 5, Episode 8: War in the Podcast (Patreon)

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

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. 

Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded, and produced within Lenapehoking, the ancestral and unceded homeland of the Lenape, or Delaware, people. Before European settlers forced them to move west, the Lenape lived in New York City, New Jersey, and portions of New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. Lenapehoking is still the homeland of the Lenape diaspora, which includes communities living in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

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.

You can subscribe to Mobile Suit Breakdown for free! on fine Podcast services everywhere and on YouTube, visit our website GundamPodcast.com, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or email your questions, comments, and complaints to gundampodcast@gmail.com.

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, 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.

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