Show Notes

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

A visual aide for comparing these weapons can be found on our website.

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.

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