Advance of Zeta FAQ
by ninjascienceby Mark Simmons and Ryan Miller
Q: What is Advance of Zeta?
“Advance of Zeta: The Flag of Titans” is an original story based on the Mobile Suit Gundam series, and serialized in the monthly publications Dengeki Hobby Magazine and Dengeki Daioh. The Dengeki Hobby serial takes the form of a photonovel accompanied by mechanical designs, technical information, and model photographs, while the Dengeki Daioh serial is in manga format. The two serials cover many of the same story events, but some characters and events are depicted only in the photonovel or only in the manga. The individual chapters of both serials are labeled as “episodes.”
Q: What is a photonovel?
A photonovel is a text story accompanied by photographs of models set against environmental backgrounds. The same format was used for the 1987 serial Gundam Sentinel, and for various Gundam Seed spinoffs published in Dengeki Hobby and Hobby Japan.
Q: Are the photonovel episodes in chronological order?
Sort of. The first installment published in Dengeki Hobby Magazine began with Episode 5.9, which takes place relatively late in the story, and then flashed back to Episode 1. Since then the photonovel has alternated between flashbacks depicting the past adventures of the characters, and a real-time account of the court-martial of protagonist Eliard Hunter, but within these two parallel story threads the episodes are presented in chronological order. (Only the flashback episodes, however, are included in the compiled volumes discussed below.) The episode numbering has also been altered a few times over the course of the story, so the Episode 5.9 designation used in the first installment is probably no longer valid.
Q: When did Advance of Zeta begin publication?
The first installment of Advance of Zeta, little more than a preview page, was published in the July 2002 issue of Dengeki Hobby Magazine, and the first photonovel episode was published the following month. The manga serialization began in the February 2003 issue of Dengeki Daioh.
Q: What other Advance of Zeta publications are there?
The photonovel episodes and technical information published in Dengeki Hobby Magazine have been compiled into a series of Dengeki Hobby Magazine Specials. The manga episodes published in Dengeki Daioh have been compiled into a series of paperback volumes, or “tankoubon.” As of this writing (April 2007), five Dengeki Hobby Magazine Specials and three manga volumes have been published. There is also a book, titled “Gundam Profile: RX-121 Gundam TR-1 Hazel Custom,” devoted to the model kit of the same name. All these books and magazines are published by Media Works, and are available only as Japanese imports.
Q: Who created Advance of Zeta?
Advance of Zeta is a collaborative project between the staff of Dengeki Hobby Magazine, and the Sunrise animation studio which created Mobile Suit Gundam. The story is by Bin Konno, the mechanical designs by Kenki Fujioka, and the character designs by Takuya Saito. The manga adaptation is by Tatsu Mizuki.
Q: Is Advance of Zeta official?
Possibly. The direct involvement of the Sunrise studio gives Advance of Zeta an unusually strong claim to official status. Several mobile suits from the series have been reproduced in toy and model form by the Bandai company, and the story’s flagship mobile suit, the Gundam TR-1 Hazel, can actually be glimpsed in one scene from the movie “Zeta Gundam III: Love is the Pulse of the Stars.”
Q: What is Phantom Bullets?
“Gundam Secret Weapons: Phantom Bullets” was a one-shot photonovel story that appeared in the June 2002 issue of Dengeki Hobby, just before the debut of Advance of Zeta. The story takes place in U.C. 0082, roughly a year before the events of Gundam 0083, and neither its staff nor its characters have any connection to Advance of Zeta. Phantom Bullets is noteworthy, however, for being the first collaboration between Dengeki Hobby magazine and the Sunrise studio. The mobile suit Gundam GP00 that appears in this story also employs an early version of the “drum frame” technology used in several Advance of Zeta mobile suits.
STORY QUESTIONS
Q: When does Advance of Zeta take place?
Advance of Zeta takes place in the same Universal Century timeline as the original Mobile Suit Gundam series and its sequels. The story begins in December of U.C. 0084, one year after the ending of Mobile Suit Gundam 0083, and continues until U.C. 0088 when the court-martial of Eliard Hunter takes place.
Q: Is Advance of Zeta related to any other Gundam stories?
Its main focus is bridging the gap between the Gundam 0083 video series, which ends with the formation of the elite military force known as the Titans, and the Zeta Gundam television series, in which the Titans are defeated by the rebel organization AEUG. The story of Advance of Zeta continues through the timeframe of Zeta Gundam, and the court-martial of Eliard Hunter takes place after the end of Zeta Gundam, making it simultaneous with the events of the Gundam ZZ television series. Many of the mobile suits which appear in Advance of Zeta are based on machines from Gundam 0083, or are ancestors of machines which appear in Zeta Gundam, Gundam ZZ, and the Gundam Sentinel photonovel.
Q: Is Advance of Zeta connected to Ecole du Ciel or Char’s Deleted Affair?
No. Although Advance of Zeta takes place over the same time span as the manga serial Ecole du Ciel, neither story contains any references to the events and characters of the other. The manga serial Char’s Deleted Affair takes place between the original Mobile Suit Gundam and the Gundam 0083 video series, and has no connection to Advance of Zeta.
Q: Do any characters from Gundam 0083 or Zeta Gundam appear in Advance of Zeta?
The story contains references to characters from Gundam 0083 and Zeta Gundam such as Titans leader Jamitov Hymem and his aide Bask Om, and events like the broadcast speech that AEUG leader Char Aznable makes from the Earth Federation capital at Dakar. However, all the events of Advance of Zeta occur at different times and places from the events of Zeta Gundam, and none of the Zeta Gundam characters appear in person.
Q: What is the Titans Test Team?
The Titans Test Team, or “T3 Corps,” is a military unit formed to test prototype mobile weapons and gather data for the development of future Titans weapons. Titans Test Team members also participate in combat missions in order to collect battle data. The Black Otter team, or “Murphy team,” commanded by Lieutenant Wes Murphy is one of several subdivisions of the Titans Test Team. In addition to Murphy himself, its members include Eliard Hunter, Carl Matsubara, and Audrey April. While Audrey usually serves as a support operator, she is a capable pilot in her own right and often enters combat to rescue her teammates in emergency situations.
Q: Who are the Zeon remnants?
The Titans were originally formed to hunt down remnant forces of the Principality of Zeon such as the Delaz Fleet seen in Gundam 0083. The Titans Test Team battles several such Zeon remnant groups, and its recurring rival is a remnant group led by the veteran pilot Gabriel Zola and based aboard a Zanzibar-class mobile cruiser. When open warfare breaks out between the Titans and the rebel AEUG organization, Zola and his Zanzibar join forces with the AEUG and continue fighting the Titans Test Team. Zola’s remnant group and its Zanzibar cruiser have never been given identifying nicknames, but they usually decorate their mobile suits with the slogan “Zeon Alive!!” even after joining the AEUG.
MECHANICAL TRIVIA
Q: What is the TR series?
Over the course of the story, several prototype machines are assigned to the Titans Test Team for testing and evaluation purposes. These trial machines are collectively referred to as the “TR series.” They include the Gundam TR-1 “Hazel,” the Bizack TR-2 “Bigwig,” the Prototype Asshimar TR-3 “Kehaar,” the TR-4 “Dandelion,” the Gaplant TR-5 “Fiver,” and the TR-6 “Woundwort.” Most of these machines have several variants or components, and the Titans Test Team is also assigned a variety of prototype and evaluation machines which are not part of the TR series.
Q: Where do the names of the TR Series come from?
Because team leader Wes Murphy is fond of rabbits, all the TR Series machines assigned to the Titans Test Team are given nicknames derived from Watership Down, a novel by Richard Adams which recounts the adventures of a group of rabbits. Hazel, Bigwig, Dandelion, and Fiver are the names of heroic rabbits, Kehaar is a friendly bird who helps them, and Woundwort is a rabbit general who becomes their adversary. Some variants of the TR Series, such as the Gundam TR-1 Hazel-Rah, the Hazel Owsla, and the Gaplant TR-5 Hrairoo, also have nicknames derived from the story. The support vehicle which combines with the Hazel to form the Hazel-Rah is named Hrdudu, which means “machine” in Watership Down’s rabbit language.
Q: Is the TR-1 Hazel really a Gundam?
Technically not. The TR-1 Hazel is actually a heavily modified version of the RGM-79Q GM Quel, a mass production mobile suit designed for use by the Titans and introduced in the final episode of Gundam 0083. However, its developers gave the Hazel a Gundam-style head in order to test its psychological effectiveness against Zeon remnants, and the Titans Test Team pilots thus refer to it as a Gundam.
Q: What is the Stutzer series?
After their initial clash with the Titans Test Team, Gabriel Zola’s group of Zeon remnants use spare parts to customize their last three mobile suits and increase their combat effectiveness. These upgraded mobile suits are referred to as “Stutzer” types, from the German word for a dandy or fancy dresser. The initial series consists of the Zaku II Stutzer, the Rick Dom Stutzer, and the Gelgoog Stutzer. After Zola joins the AEUG, his comrades upgrade an AEUG mobile suit in the same fashion to create the Rick Dias Stutzer. Each of these mobile suits is a unique custom machine.
Q: What is a winch unit?
The winch unit is a specialized device first used by the Stutzer series. It consists of a detachable arm connected to the Stutzer mobile suit by a wire cable. The wire can be used to entangle enemy machines, and the detachable arm can be remote-controlled to ambush enemy mobile suits. The Titans Test Team later uses the same technology in its own mobile suits, and this is believed to be the basis for the wire-guided incom weapons that appear in Gundam ZZ and Gundam Sentinel.
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