Mobile Suit Gundam (1979): Sub or Dub?
Bandai's 2001 DVDs were dub only because Sunrise withheld the Japanese audio. The Ocean Group cast, why ANN's reviewers split from B+ to C-, and the episode the dub never covered.
The original Mobile Suit Gundam reached American DVD in 2001 with no Japanese audio at all. Bandai Entertainment said that Sunrise had withheld permission, so the English dub by The Ocean Group was the only way to hear the 1979 series on those discs. Later releases added the Japanese track, and the choice is now a real one. ANN's critics never agreed about that dub, and their grades ran from B+ to C-.
The short answer
Watch in Japanese if your release has it, as Bandai's later bilingual sets and Right Stuf's Blu-ray do. The dub is worth hearing if you met the show on Cartoon Network or know the same studio's Gundam Wing dub, and its most recent ANN review graded it level with the Japanese track.
Why the first discs were dub only
In January 2001 Bandai Entertainment executive vice president Ken Iyadomi published an open letter, reprinted by ANN, explaining that the DVDs "will be released as English-language only" because Sunrise had "chosen to withhold permission for us to include the Japanese audio." He wrote that this applied only to the original television series, not to Bandai's other Gundam releases. ANN's encyclopedia records an American television run beginning on July 23, 2001 and ending on September 12, 2001, marked as canceled.
The Japanese track arrived in stages. In October 2010 Bandai Entertainment announced its first bilingual release of the series, 42 episodes rather than 43, because one episode "was never dubbed in English, at the request of creator and director Yoshiyuki Tomino." In 2015 Right Stuf and Sunrise announced the first North American Blu-ray, with English and Japanese audio, English subtitles and on-screen translations.
Who made the dub
ANN credits the recording to The Ocean Group at Westwood Studios, with Amiel Gladstone directing, Paul Baldwin translating, and Kathleen Westlake and Robert Chomiak writing the English script.
| Character | Japanese | English |
|---|---|---|
| Amuro Ray | Tōru Furuya | Brad Swaile |
| Char Aznable | Shūichi Ikeda | Michael Kopsa |
| Bright Noa | Hirotaka Suzuoki | Chris Kalhoon |
| Sayla Mass | Yō Inoue | Alaina Burnett |
| Mirai Yashima | Fuyumi Shiraishi | Cathy Weseluck |
| Ramba Ral | Masashi Hirose | John Payne |
| Lalah Sune | Keiko Han | Willow Johnson |
The encyclopedia entry has the full credits, including the long list of incidental roles each actor doubled.
What the reviewers heard
Bandai's dub-only DVDs split ANN's reviewers. Bamboo Dong, who reviewed four of the first five volumes, started generous. The first of those reviews said Bandai was "known for good dubs, and this is no exception," despite "sporadic moments when the viewer can't help but wince," and graded it B-. By volume 4 the grade had fallen to C-, and the volume 5 review said the cast "droned in a dapper monotone." Dong wrote as a self-described dub-hater, which is part of the context. Chris Shepard, reviewing volume 2, called the dub "actually quite good," noted that The Ocean Group had also dubbed Gundam Wing and the first two seasons of Dragon Ball Z, and graded it B+.
Lauren Orsini reviewed both halves of Right Stuf's Blu-ray in 2015 and graded the dub and the sub the same each time: B for part one and B+ for part two. Her complaint was the age of the recordings, not one cast: "the voice acting remains tinny and low-quality, including the dubbed version," though the second half's melodrama produced "markedly more memorable acting."
Check the episode count
Because one episode was never dubbed, an English-only copy is not the complete series. ANN's 2010 report does not name the episode, so check the episode list of any dub-only set against the full 43 before relying on it. The Mobile Suit Gundam watch order covers the series, the three compilation films and the other starting points in the franchise.
A note on quoting
This page does not claim any English line from the series for the dub or for a subtitle track. The ending explainer covers the finale at A Baoa Qu, with spoilers, and the Gundam: The Origin buying guide covers the manga retelling.