The Cartoon Network has finally announced the times and dates for the debuts of two long-awaited Gundam series.  The original Gundam series, Mobile Suit Gundam, will premiere at 5pm (ET, PT) on July 23, while the sequel, The 08th MS Team, will bow later that night at 12 midnight (ET, PT) during Toonami's Midnight Run. 

 

Retailers will be glad to know that video and DVD versions of the first three episodes of each series will be available in close proximity to the shows' debuts on the Cartoon Network.  Bandai is releasing the first three episodes of The 08th MS Team on DVD and VHS on July 3, while the first Mobile Suit Gundam disc and video are slated to hit retail shelves on August 7. 

 

Mobile Suit Gundam, the series that started it all, takes place in the Universal Century 079 with the Earth Federation and its space colonies engaged in an apocalyptic war with the Principality of Zeon.  Zeon's humanoid fighting machines, known as mobile suits, have the Earth forces on the brink of collapse, until Earth's version of the mobile suit, mechanized battle-armor Gundam, swings into action, piloted by a young civilian.  The sequel to Mobile Suit Gundam, known here as The 08th MS Team, centers on a troubled group of human misfits and rogues who have to take on the Zeon's latest secret weapons.

 

Retailers should note that the DVD versions of Mobile Suit Gundam and The 08th MS Team do not have Japanese soundtracks and English subtitles.  Dual soundtracks are one of the most popular features of anime DVDs, but these particular discs will include only the English language dubbed version.  Bandai Entertainment apologized to American anime fans for the lack of a Japanese soundtrack (and English subtitles), but the Japanese studio that produced these landmark animes, Sunrise, apparently will not allow Bandai to include both tracks.