Sanjulin, Wraparound Cover Illustration For Starstrike, By W. Michael Gear (DAW Books, July 1990). Oil

Sanjulián, wraparound cover illustration for Starstrike, by W. Michael Gear (DAW Books, July 1990). Oil on canvas, 19.5 x 28 inches. (Heritage identifies this painting as Treasure of Light, but that appears to be an error; see the page at the isfdb, https://bit.ly/3BvfH7Y.)

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Immediate thought while watching the opening of Witch From Mercury episode 22:

I wonder if this is a metaphor for how lack of oversight into corporate dealings will eventually lead to them becoming untouchable monoliths, where oversight is pointless because they can either absorb losses or just overrule them.

The lack of burgers in Witch from Mercury is giving credence to my theory that burgers are not so much a calling card for Gundam as they are a calling card for Yoshiyuki Tomino. Stay with me here.

Burgers most prominently feature in the original Mobile Suit Gundam, in Zeta Gundam and in Gundam ZZ. Each of them have multiple episodes with burgers, and in many cases, those burgers are explicitly addressed — not incidental details. Zeta Gundam, famously, has Bright chowing down on a burger while Emma drops some psychoanalysis of Kamille on him, but it also has Bright being told off for eating a burger on the bridge. Burgers are all over ZZ, including a scene where Judau hands them out to the crew from a basket. And MSG has a burger as Sleggar Law's death flag, but also an entire episode dedicated to Bright trying to procure salt to make the ship's burgers taste better — both of which were iconic enough to become meals in the Gundam cafe.

And one thing these three shows have in common is that they were all written and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Four examples of burgers in early Gundam works. The top two are from MSG; the bottom two are (L-R) Zeta and ZZ

Tomino doesn't feature them as prominently in other works, but they do still appear. For example, Victory Gundam still includes a scene of characters eating burgers, and Gundam F91 has a burger on a sign in the background. That second example doesn't seem like much until you remember that F91 was originally planned as a full TV series before being compressed into a movie, and has little opportunity for characters to have downtime — so that one appears at all feels very intentional.

You can also see burgers on display in another Tomino work from the period, Space Runaway Ideon.

L-R: Victory Gundam, Gundam F91, Space Runaway Ideon

Meanwhile, when Tomino was kicked off the franchise, the burgers went with him. In G Gundam, Domon is offered a pizza, and there is no sign of burgers. In Unicorn, Banagher takes Aubrey to get some fast food, but they visit a hot dog stand. In Gundam Hathaway, Hathaway and friends get fried chicken. And in Witch from Mercury, the only food on display — aside from the tomatoes — is cafeteria grub and, uh, slabs of ham.

Really, the only instances I know of burgers appearing in a non-Tomino Gundam are in Wing, and all that has is a burger on a billboard and a Wacdonald's sign — both blink-and-you'll-miss-it background details. While on the surface, this may seem comparable to F91, it really isn't: when you have forty-nine episodes and a movie to work with, you can do a lot more than a sign.

Gundam characters pointedly eating something other than a burger

And what happened when Tomino returned to the franchise with Reconguista in G?

The burgers came back too!

Reconguista in G

There is a single exception here: War in the Pocket, not directed by Tomino, does prominently feature burgers (and I don't mean the meme). But that, itself, may be telling. War in the Pocket was the first Gundam series to be made without Tomino's involvement; were the creative leads perhaps inspired to add a gratuitous burger scene to evoke the spirit of Tomino?

All that said, the reason this is still only a theory, and not a master's thesis, is that I don't have all the data yet. I haven't seen every post-Tomino Gundam series (though, frankly, I have no real drive to see what I've missed), and the only one of Tomino's non-Gundam works I've seen is the aforementioned Ideon. If burgers show up in Xabungle, L-Gaim or King Gainer… then I'll really know I've cracked the code.

So, the day after Witch From Mercury Ends, we get actual announcements for both Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance AND the SEED Movie!?

What the hell bandai, give us a chance to breathe.

I guess they’re just riding the hype of Witch from Mercury’s finale, so announcing some other stuff to keep in the news cycle?

Huh. So I had a think about this a while ago, with an eye towards putting together a Model Display, but what Gundam Frames look like they did in the calamity war? So if you were gonna put together a display of Calamity-War Era Gundam Frames, what would it look like?

Though this list is mostly focused on Gundam Frames, since they’re the ones we know the most about about in relation to the calamity war, I would like to quickly call out the the base Hugo is explicitly stated as being a thing during the Calamity war, if you wanted some grunts to back up your gundam’s.

Also, as of writing I haven’t seen any of Urdr Hunt, and I’m working mostly of what’s stated in the model kit manuals for suits from those. So if someone offhandedly mentions the calamity war in that, I don’t know about it.

Known - suits that we explicitly know to have existed as they are now during the calamity war.

Bael - piloted by Agnika Kaieru during the calamity war, presumably the first deployed, with Mcgillis explicitly restoring it for his coup.

Flauros (Calamity War Ver.) - explicitly is as it appeared in the calamity war.

Kimaris Vidar - The only version of Kimaris stated to have existed since the calamity war. It’s possible the others did as well, but I can’t say for certain.

Asmoday/Asmodeus - explicitly called out as being the same as it was in the calamity war, and the suit that prompted this whole thought experiment.

Marchosias - explicitly as it was in the calamity war.

Possible - Suits that you could make the argument they look the same as they did in the calamity war, but not explicitly known.

Astaroth Origin - I assume so? Due to the name “origin” and presence of Nanolamiate sword? But honestly it’s only stated that the Warren family recovered it, so they could’ve done some restoration work in the interim. Hence me hedging my bets and putting it here.

Barbatos (1st form) - I’m assuming it’s appearance in the first episode is how it was excavated, I don’t think Maruba would armour it if he was just gonna use it as a generator, and Gundam frames are impressive enough I don’t think he would for a buyer either.

Dantalion - It’s design can’t have changed much since the calamity war, since it’s build around utilising such a wide variety of optional equipment. Another one I’m just uncertain enough about to put here.

Gremory - As with Dantalion, we know it’s design can’t have changed much since it’s built around the Nanolaminate Coat and Battle Anchor. Though you might choose to restore the battle anchor, I don’t think it’s strictly necessary. Another example of me hedging my bets.

No - suits that we explicitly know looked different during the calamity war

Gusion - recovered by the Brewers and armoured with what they had available, ditto when Tekkadan armoured the Gusion Rebake. All we know is that it probably had long-range weaponry (Dainsleif?).

Vual - Recovered by Rosario Leone armourless, later armoured by him and Ville Klassen.

Honestly most of the ones under Possible I’m confident enough about, I just can’t find anything that makes it explicit that they haven’t changed since the Calamity War. I reckon the Astaroth Origin (minus the Warren family markings) and Gremory’d for right in though.

Roger Dean