4.1: Beyond the Time

Show Notes

This week begins our coverage of Char's Counterattack with... a bunch of things that happened before Char's Counterattack. We recap and discuss the first two SD shorts, - both of which were shown in theaters before the Char's Counterattack movie: “Fierce Fighting - Will Gundam Stand Up!?” (激闘編 - ガンダム大地に立てるか!?) and “Holiday - The Menace of the Zeon Hotel? Destruction orders for the Gundam Pension!” (休日編 - ジオン・ホテルの脅威？ガンダム・ペンション破壊命令!!). In addition to our first thoughts and impressions, we try to identify and explain references, puns, and other gags that might be missed by an audience that doesn't speak Japanese. Thom researches the origins of the SD or "Super Deformed" aesthetic in anime and anime merchandise, and I give a whirlwind review of world events from the end of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ to the premier of Char's Counterattack - February 22nd, 1986 until March 12th, 1988.

Contemporary Events

Wikipedia timelines for 1986 and 1987.

More detailed information about the Khian Sea waste-disposal incident, and the Goiânia accident.

About "Our Common Future" (aka the Brundtland Report), and estimated world-population milestones.

The (financial markets) Big Bang, a timeline of Japan's asset price bubble, Black Monday 1987, and the Economist's "Big Mac Index."

A March 2020 article about the use of the "circuit breaker" during the financial shocks caused by Covid-19 lockdowns and related uncertainty.

The Kurdish genocide (aka the Anfal campaign), the 1987 "Mecca incident," the Sumgait pogrom, and the first Intifada.

Explanation of the Leiyu massacre.

More detailed timeline and explanation of the June Struggle.

All about the Iran-Contra scandal.

Wikipedia pages about Klaus Barbie (the "Butcher of Lyon") and the warcrimes allegations against Kurt Waldheim.

In Cold War notes, the history and content of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the drafting and belated fame of Reagan's "Tear down this wall" speech, and Perestroika.

How the Seville Statement on Violence came to be, the contents, and critiques.

Diego Maradona and the 1986 FIFA World Cup.

The slang phrase "going Postal" and its origins in US Postal Service workplace shootings.

The 1980s in Japan specifically.

Tokyo Weekender article about the 1980s news stories that garnered the most public attention in Japan.

SD Gundam's Origins

A basic explainer of SD Gundam from Bandai itself: Part 1 and Part 2.

Anime News Network Encyclopedia Entry for Choro-Q Dougram.

Settei (setting documents) showing character heights (and head sizes) in First Gundam.

Japanese-language interview with Kouji Yokoi (横井孝二), an early innovator of SD art often cited as the creator of SD Gundam.

Archived version of a different interview with Yokoi.

Japanese Wikipedia page for Kouji Yokoi (横井孝二).

Japanese Wikipedia page for SD Gundam.

This page from Space Battleship Yamato fan Tim Eldred features some photos taken from old issues of _Model Information, giving a sense for the kinds of photos included alongside SD fan art._

This blog has scans of other pages (including fan art and model photos) from _Model Information. _A drawing of Aura Battler Dunbine (written Ohlah Battler Dunbine) by Yokoi is included in one shot.

Image showing some of the RoboChanMan toys.

Early SD designs by Yokoi.

SD-styled horror monsters, made in 1986 by Bandai.

A Yokoi Zaku that appeared on instruction manuals for RoboChanMan.

Detailed and image-rich Japanese-language blog post about the origins of SD Gundam.

Gags & References in the First Two SD Gundam Shorts

The History of Gunpla from gunpla101.com.

About tanning-as-beauty-trend in Japan, by Japanese cosmetics and skincare company, Kanebo.

An article on the history of light therapy from 1900-1950. Doesn't address Japan directly, and obviously doesn't cover the 1980s, but includes pictures of the kind of sunlamp that appears in the first SD Gundam short.

From TV Tropes - the 'lots of luggage' and 'human pack-mule' tropes.

A tweet from professor of early modern and modern Japanese religions, Takashi Miura, featuring art inspired by traditional depictions of the warrior-monk Benkei. If you click through the images, he also posted some of the original art of Benkei (Saitō Musashibō Benkei / 西塔武蔵坊弁慶), and explains that the tools arrayed behind him represent the "low-wage laborers whom he protects."

Jisho.org page for the word あげる (ageru), listing multiple meanings and their different kanji. There is also a jisho.org page for the colloquial expression 揚げ足 (age-ashi) that the first SD short makes a visual pun on (literally - fried leg).

This dictionary was a big help as well:

Chie, Yamane. “あげあしをとる.”

研究社　日本語口語表現辞典　Kenkyusha Nihongo Kogo Hyogen Jiten, 2nd ed.,

Kenkyusha, Tokyo, 2020, p. 11.

A bit about Japanese tea ceremony.

Wikipedia pages on the games Go and Reversi. The Reversi page has a section on the Othello version/ruleset.

About the common ostrich.

A source discussing the changing methods of measuring the speed of a baseball and the introduction of radar guns in the 1970s and 80s, and a post from a baseball performance-training company about ball exit-speed.

Wikipedia's list of baseball video games.

Jisho.org search for the word のり (nori).

Wondering about the samurai with one arm out of his kimono sleeve is apparently pretty common. Here are two responses, one on Quora and one on Reddit's "Ask Historians" subreddit. It is also covered very briefly in this article from TimeOut Tokyo about kimono.

Music

The music in the SD recap sections is "Hyson" by Olivia and "Dawn" by Mr. Smith.

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.

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