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The series was later re-edited for theatrical release and split into three movies in 1981. Although the story has similarity with Starship Troopers, the idea of Mobile Suit came from the powered suit of Starship Troopers. Yasuhiko Yoshikazu did the character designs and Okawara Kunio was responsible for the mechanical designs, including the titular giant robot, the RX-78-2 Gundam.
The original Mobile Suit Gundam takes place during the One-Year War in the year Universal Century 0079 (U.C. 0079). During this time period humans live in orbiting space colonies called Sides. The ruler of Side 3 declares war against the earth for the independence of the colonies. In the early stage of the war, Earth Federation Force was defeated badly resulted by the change of strategy by the Minovsky Particle , which jammed communication and radar devices. Minovsky Particle changed the war from out range strategies centered to close combat centered battle. Meanwhile the Minovsky Particle had communication and radar jamming capabilities, it also allowed Mobile Suit with high performance in battle.
The story is about a crew of Earth Federation Space Forces on a space ship called White Base that fight against the Principality of Zeon using human shaped weapons called Mobile Suits. The crew of White Base fight Zeon using an advanced Mobile Suit called Gundam, that is more powerful than any weapon that Zeons have previously produced. The Gundam and the White Base are so important to the Federation, that the crew journeys to Jaburo, the Federation's main base located on the Amazon basin. In the process, the Gundam's pilot, Amuro Ray, and the other draftees are exposed to the harsh conditions of war, participate in many brutal battles, and experience the tragic trials and consequences of the conflict.
Mobile Suit Gundam marked the maturation of the giant robot genre. Prior to Gundam, most giant robot shows were formulaic with archetypal characters. They were often monster of the week shows in which the teen hero would jump into the robot (typically an heirloom from his late scientist father) and defend earth against an evil alien organization who would try all manners of gimmicky methods to take over Earth only to be defeated each time by the giant robot's superweapon. These shows often seemed interchangeable and shared recognizable traits that are now parodied in anime today. Such as the teen hero shouting his robot attacks, weapons materializing out of thin air, and the lengthy robot transformation sequences. Westerners are mostly familiar with these through the Force Five and VoltronVoltron is a shape-changing giant robot first featured in the 1980s television series "Voltron, Defender of the Universe". There has since been a second series, made in the 1990s using CGI techniques. Recently, Voltron reached a wider popular culture audi series.
Gundam brought a sense of realism and feasibility to the use of giant robots. In that sense, they were futuristic military hardware and not the almost magic superweapon of the "special" teen hero or just as often a Power-Rangers styled superteam. The robots of Gundam had limitations such as running out of power or ammunition. And they were only as good as the pilot in their cockpit.
The Mobile Suit design radically moved away from the popularized 10 story tall robot warrior look and adopted a more utilitarian appearance. And most importantly, the two sides were not depicted as good and evil but as two opposing political organizations. There were likeable and unlikeable characters on both sides. In contrast to the unending incompetence of the villains and their henchmen in the previous giant robot shows, some foes were worthy opponents, even superior. The characters in Gundam sometimes paid a hefty price for winning (which, in this case, more properly means that the characters simply survived the day and not necessarily tactical or military victory) and heroes as well as villains died in battle.
Though it is credited with introducing the 'real robot' genre where the robots were pieces of military hardware, Mobile Suit Gundam still retains parts of it's 'super robot' heritage, including a near indestructable robot and a hero who's scientist father created the robot.
Mobile Suit Gundam holds the indignity of being one of two Gundam series which have had their original airing times cancelled due to poor ratings. Perhaps by chance, the cancellation of the series forced many plot changes which had proven to be more effective compared to the original plan, including the tragic death of Lalah by Amuro.