The epic science fiction franchise known as "Gundam" dates back to 1979, where an adventurous director of Japanese animation decided to put all of his imagination and experience to work and create a series where robots were kings of the battlefield. Unlike his predecessors, this one Yoshiyuki Tomino saw the act of robotic combat not as some sort of "super-type" outlier of future combat machines, but as an integral part of every military's arsenal where these "mobile suits" were to be used as commanders and soldiers best saw fit. This idea of robots as a regular weapon was an instant hit amongst fans of science fiction, and with a keen eye for the politics of war and humankind's seemingly unending propensity for warmongering, Mr. Tomino instituted an understanding of science fiction never seen before.

The new age had begun. And no mobile suit was more powerful than the one called "Gundam."

Over the course of the next fourteen years. Gundam's creator worked on story after story, introducing characters and plots which, while each individual displays of his talents, added more depth and device to the Gundam universe. In 1993, with the story of Victory Gundam, Tomino bid farewell to the Gundam world, a storied and popular leader calling a cease-fire to the very war he began.

However, the producers of Gundam series were far from pleased with the prospect of a world where Gundam would no longer be produced. With the original creator out of the picture, there were questions raised as to how to continue designing and marketing "Gundam" when the man who had provided it's backbone for one-and-a-half decades had openly called for it's end.

The answer came in the form of new Gundam series which, while bearing the name of "Gundam," did not take place in the original chronology of the series. Certain aspects such as young heroes, strong mobile suits, and political intrigue were maintained, but the new breed of directors and writers were encouraged to follow their own desires and build Gundam anew, forging a new generation of fans to follow the dreams of space, war, and hope in fighting for humanity's future.

These "Alternate Universes" of Gundam differed so wildly that they could never truly be considered fully-relatable to the original world which Tomino envisioned. "Mobile Fighter G Gundam" followed not a war, but a competition where pilots led mobile suits into boxing-like contests of supremacy. "New Mobile Report Gundam W" delved so deeply into the psychological aspects of war that combat itself became an afterthought. "After War Gundam X" followed rogue groups fighting for stability in a world which had forever been changed by the horrors of war.--All exciting stories in their own right, but forever separated in chronology from each other and from the very Gundam which started it all.

In 1999, after a five year hiatus, Yoshiyuki Tomino reappeared on the scene of Gundam-related news. His words were suddenly marked with candor--that much of his time working on Gundam was spent under extreme pressure, that his departure was an act of self-sabotage, that "Gundam" was no longer as he once knew it as a young man. The Gundam saga was supposed to end in 1987 with the release of the motion picture, "Yakushuu no Sha," but was only continued to please eager businessmen and an overzealous fanbase. The wishes of the creator were not respected, but, as a man of both immense creativity and resolve, he would return one last time to produce the ultimate incarnation of "Gundam."

What resulted was "Turn-A Gundam," a series unlike any before. The people, machines, and romances of Earth and of space were of even standing, and every Gundam story which had preceded it was suddenly a part of an immense puzzle still waiting to be solved. With this story, Tomino effectively bowed his head deep and to the floor with respect for those creators who had taken his own creation in different directions and placed their creations on the same level as his own.

The unified Gundam continuity which Yoshiyuki Tomino aluded-to is known as the "Correct Century." In it's development, the timelines of his own original "Universal Century," Fuyunori Gobu's "Futury Century," Katsuyuki Sumizawa's "After Colony," and Hiroyuki Kawasaki's "After War" were united as one, each leading into another in the fluid dance which is Life on Earth. This website is dedicated to realising and exploring the potential of this unprecedented union of creators and, without a doubt, the Correct understanding of the Gundam universe.

Adam Schiller
28 October 2007