I didn't have sun blisters on my bingo card today, but here we are... I haven't had these since I was like five or six. I knew I had a bad sunburn on my back, but apparently going for a run when the sun was going down did not help the situation 😭 sunscreen he damned I guess.

Gundam Thunderbolt, Gundam Eight, Vanadis Heart and Preventer-7 all translated and shopped today. I have no brain left... Two more installments left to translate tomorrow. I swear I should just do Ace entirely at this point lmao. Hire me Kadokawa! 🤣

A new serialization kicks off next month! Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom -Gravure- Hiyon Katsuragi x Ryoji Sekinishi I'm guessing that since they're going with the "kusabi" theme here again, it'll probably be like the MSV Kusabi manga.

Duo totally not dropping that final line from Endless Waltz in this manga. Also, Sumizawa be retconning Wing yet again with more shenanigans. This is a bridge, how, again?

Thunderbolt finally ended. Earlier today I translated the final chapter and put it up on Dex. Not gonna link, but you can find it there if you really want to see how it all ends.

Working on both Turn A novelizations is basically like flirting with disaster. Both plod along normally and then suddenly accelerate to 90mph and gun it for totally different exits. You'd think that juggling both, I'd have character spellings down, but nooooo. Also, "Wad Squad" just makes me giggle.

I think the funniest tidbit about G-Saviour's production was that they wanted an actor from Beverly Hills, 90210 to start in it, but because the show just kept going, scheduling would've prevented them anyway. I wonder who it would've been...

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ F90 CLUSTER VOLUME.03 ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ The third volume is now up on MangaDex. mangadex.org/chapter/69d5... Note: Magazine serialized pages will only be uploaded as opposed to clean compilation versions going forward (unless combined, and it throws off numbering)

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ ADVANCE OF ZETA VOLUME.04 ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ The final volume of the manga is now up on MangaDex! That's a wrap for AOZ proper! mangadex.org/chapter/11dd...

The 08th MS Team is far from being a hard grit Gundam, but I'm sure as heck going to make people think it is with the radio drama translations! 😂 I'm wasting far too much time creating backgrounds for YouTube...

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ INTERVIEW TRANSLATIONS Katsuyuki Sumizawa ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ For years there have been bogus rumors about Wing's production. It's time to start taking them out behind the shed to do what needs doing. zeonic-republic.net?page_id=12570

Ikeda's original idea for Wing's ED was something in the style of the old Tiger Mask ending: Heero carrying a dead puppy in his arms, walking all the way to its grave. The song would have been dark, with lyrics like, “with a bitter heart, I glared up at the stars.”

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ GUNDAM WING 30th Article Writeup ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ I've wrapped up this quarter's interview/article series from Great Mechanics (on the site later), but to kick things off, here's an article on the unisex appeal of Wing (link, not the spread): zeonic-republic.net?page_id=12568

Another interesting tidbit from Sumizawa is how often lying happened in project proposals. Wing was never intended to actually follow through on the "five pretty boy" notion originally pitched in the proposal, but because that same doc was published in an anime mag, they couldn't escape the bias.

The initial concept for Gundam Wing would have been a war story that maintained continuity from G Gundam, but was a version of Record of the Three Kingdoms (a serious G Gundam). 😅 All that changed when Ikeda met Murase by chance at a bathhouse...

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ TWILIGHT AXIS Volume.01 ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ Phew! Another backlog project is 100% complete! Reuploading the first volume to Dex after getting nuked, so stay tuned for the final two off Patreon in the future! mangadex.org/title/5b7e38...

Well, I was today years old when I learned that Zechs' mask was inspired by Phantom of the Paradise, courtesy of Nakayama's suggestion to Murase when designing him.

As I'm wrapping up Wing interviews, I feel like this is something that needs to be pointed out for the crowd that lines to say Wing was not popular in Japan. Kotaro Nakayama served as project coordinator for Wing.

Gundam Wing was a huge part of my teenage years and helped grow my love for Gundam. Twenty-five years later, as I work on Frozen Teardrop and learn more about the production issues it had, not only does my heart go out to the team for their amazing job, but it also makes me love the show even more.

*sigh* Another "G-Saviour Failed" video popped up on YT, and it just drives me bananas how whenever people say they researched for it, they kinda didn't and just keep recycling misinfo. I'll never get people to understand that G-Savior wasn't a "Canadian co-production" and Polestar wasn't Canadian.

I have successfully acquired this doofy little toy. Because why not have Char and Amuro go for a buggy ride? 😂

I'm listening to the audiobook version of On the Beach (1957) and "normal behavior" back then cracks me up... "They drove on to the big hardware store. It had only a few customers and very few assistants. THEY LEFT THE BABY IN THE CAR and went through to the gardening department..."

Some more random post podcast comments on the OG Gundam novels: In a conversation with Fukui, we learn that Tomino actually rewrote the initial manuscript he was trying to get SF Magazine to publish. He ratcheted up the military tone because it was initially dismissed on principle (giant robot).

Fukui haters despise this photo. Some claim it's AI. 🤣

This is probably wishful thinking, but I am holding out hope that the live-action Gundam film doesn't have an overreliance on CG in it. Bring back the practical effects, build those amazing sets, let the actors/actresses interact with things, not a damn green screen...

And then there was this version of Glemy's backstory... (Source: Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ by Toshiya Murakami)

Help. I can't back up. She's locked me in at my desk, forcing that translation work 🤣

I still want to know when and how this BS rumor started.

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ ENDLESS WALTZ VOLUME.01 ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ In celebration of Endless Waltz getting its shiny new 4K release, it's time for the novel version! I tackled these before starting Frozen Teardrop last year. zeonic-republic.net/translation/...

It's Suletta Sunday! Now you all get to enjoy seeing my doggo, Suletta, now and again! 😁 She's my new translation assistant. As you can see she's crashed out from all the consultations 🤪

Since I mentioned Wing ratings and popularity on Twitter, here's something funny. G-Saviour's "average viewership ratings" were 3.10% for its broadcast. That puts it above Turn A, Gundam X, AGE, IBO, G-Reco, SD Gundam Force, SD BBW, Build Divers, Re;0096, Build Fighters...

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ PREVENTER-7 Mission:01 ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ Dear Bandai: Gundam earns you big bucks. Do better for your official releases instead of some Comic Sans janky slop. That's twice now for manga you've sucked. mangadex.org/title/c33a2f...

Female Gundam names for a dog. My partner was like "lol Kycilia" then ran away from it because it's too hard to say 🤣

Another old backlogged project has finally been wrapped up. The Gundam Pilot Series of Biographies is now up on Patreon, so expect it up on MangaDex in the future. Another from the massive list to cross off for the fandom.

Omg Re 1/100 coming!

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ INTERVIEW TRANSLATIONS Yasuhiko x Kitazume ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ Continuing on with more interviews we have a conversation between Yas and Kitazume! Warning: partial nudity because of Kitazume's artwork. zeonic-republic.net?page_id=12495

The fact that Thomas Kurtz went from looking like this (left) to this gremlin (right) is a travesty...

Dropping this month is the quarterly issue of Great Mechanics G. It'll be covering Gundam Wing's 30th! Also included are a brief GQuuuuuuX feature and Urdr-Hunt mention

A moment of silence for the non-humanoid designs Zeon could have adopted for the war effort. 🤣

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ INTERVIEW TRANSLATIONS Ark Performance & Azusa Makishima ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ With volume two of the manga done and on Patreon, here's the interview from that volume! Now to figure out whether to reupload to MangaDex or not... zeonic-republic.net?page_id=12547

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ GUNDAM EIGHT Chapter.03 ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ It's that time! Kicking off September with the third installment of the series some people think dropped off the face of the planet! 😂 mangadex.org/chapter/5ca1...

Okay, final post about the Zeta novels. (I swear, not trying to make this about me!) Here's a collection of the background material for it. I'm actually going to do these for all of Tomino's novels, so, let's start here! zeonic-republic.net?page_id=12521 VOL.01 MECHA

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ INTERVIEW TRANSLATIONS Yasuhiko x Tomino ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ The dynamic duo sit down for a frank and open conversation across a wide variety of topics in this three-hour interview! zeonic-republic.net?page_id=12512

Oh, some more information on this! In May 1984, at the Bandai booth during the Shizuoka Hobby Show, Kodansha announced the publication of the novel "Char's Counterattack: Gundam." While there was no announcement of an anime broadcast at that time, a sequel had long been eagerly awaited.

Listened to the early drop of @giantrobotfm.bsky.social's Zeta novel podcast and I have a couple of comments on the evolutionary dead end thread: The novels were purely a business decision and Tomino felt obligated to write, despite being as busy as he was. It was painful for him...

Non-production interviews are fascinating and all, but good gravy, some of these are far outside my wheelhouse as a translator. These two kept referring to Emmanuel Todd's book, After the Empire, so much that I had to speed-read a copy to ensure I was conveying their points correctly 😅.

With AOZ backlog complete, I'll be wrapping up this real quick, then jet back to finally photoshopping more Rust Horizon. I still feel like I'm forgetting something...

◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ ADVANCE OF ZETA VOLUME.03 ◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢ With the series done, volume three goes up! Expect the final volume up on MangaDex at some point in the future. mangadex.org/chapter/91a0...

*dies* The AOZ manga series is finally finished. Phew! Now to upload volume three to MangaDex and get back to chipping away at more backlog stuff! Vol.4 is going up on Patreon, so expect that in the near future.

Shamelessly stolen from Reddit (Virtual-Sand-1372), but man does CR need help with captions for their dubs. I need to see what other bangers they got.