Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt, Vol. 1

Love the book great art work love the story and the ball

I love Gundam

Gundam Thunderbolt has been the only manga I have read. Manga has just never been my cup of tea. I've watched a few of the shows and been very put off by kids in these mobile suits just somehow born with the gift of being a pilot. Until I stumbled upon December sky. After watching the DVD I got the manga. I was hooked. Transfixed by the way combat was brought into an anime and the constant dynamics elements of when an operation takes place. I went ahead and bought all remaining volumes (12 at the time of writing this) after reading this first volume. The artwork even though in black and white can really be appreciated. It falls right in line with the story telling and captures the true horrors of combat and the after affects. If you have seen the movie this is still awesome because we get just a tiny bit more that adds to the overall story. Since I have read all 17 volumes so far I can say that the entire series as a whole has been a fantastic read. That being said you will encounter some times of corniness but it only lasts a few pages here and there. The reason I mention the corniness is that this is an adult book through and through with scenes of nudity intertwined with brutal and violent scenes. So it was a little odd to get some playful banter in there. Just thought I'd throw out a review for both the first volume and the rest as well.

Thunderbolt finally makes its way to the US hot off the heels of the animated adaptation. The book itself is a bit larger than older Gundam mangas and has some nice glossy, colored pages scattered sparingly. Not much for extras aside from some nice illustrations in the beginning. The story takes place in late 0079 where the heavily contested Thunderbolt Sector is being protected by Zeon snipers call the Living Dead Division; a group made up of amputee MS pilots. Their enemies are the Federation forces backed by the Moore Brotherhood who are trying to take over the sector to cut off Zeon supply lines. Io Fleming is the top Feddie pilot and he goes up against Darryl Lorenz and his sniper team. After a devastating loss to Io, Darryl makes it his mission to take down the jazz-loving pilot. But the Moore Brotherhood supplies Io with a prototype Full Armor Gundam to help him take the sector!Overall a great start to the story and it fleshes out the characters much more than the anime adaptation does. We get to see a unique take on MS designs and lots of neat details for world-building within the story. Overall a very enjoyable manga and I can’t wait to dive into the rest!

Author and illustrator Yasuo Ohtagaki brings us the opening chapter in the Thunderbolt saga. During the Federation Zeon war of Universal Century 0079 and during the late stages of that war the Thunderbolt sector also known as Side 4 was destroyed by Zeon forcing the families and the Moore Brotherhood to join with the Federation to take back their home sector. On one mission Ensign Io goes out in a full armored GM and while the rest of his wing is being shot down by a Zeon sniper he loses his mech but finds a way to take one of the Zeon mechs for himself. That act makes his stand out and be chosen for one of the prototype Gundams that the Federation forces have come up with. He then takes the Gundam into battle and goes up against that same sniper again. This is a great opening to the Thunderbolt side series and I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I highly recommend this book for all mech and Gundam fans.

Quite honestly, as a person in their early 30's, this is how I wish all the futures series follow.The Gundum story line for other series usually has a teenage that stars as the main character with no experience but somehow possess a natural ability to be an ace pilot. Thunderbolt Gundan follows veteran ace pilots. You got pilots who have lost arms and/or legs that are still able to fight with a customized mobile suit. I could go on and go but I only want to say this:Buy this manga series and If you haven't seen any of the the Thunderbolt movies, do so now!I attached a couple pics of the book because when I bought this I actually wanted to see how the art work was but no one had a picture of this. It's mostly black and white with a few colored pages that are printed on glossy sheets.

1

Better than expected