Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy Retranslated Released

Superseded: https://gundamthecompleteversionscolony.blogspot.com/2023/01/mobile-suit-gundam-movie-trilogy-re.html

 

The subtitles used here were created from my project “Mobile Suit Gundam: The Complete Versions” which will be released soon. The subtitles update the translation from the 1998 VHS and the 2000 special edition releases to use the TV version’s subtitles.

 

“The movies are already subtitled why make this?”

Since most people are either/or when it comes to the original Mobile Suit Gundam series opting to only watch the TV version or only watch the movie version, most would also never notice that the movie trilogy and the TV version use two different subtitle scripts even though both versions share ~95% of the same dialogue. Additionally, most people don’t know that the movie version and the TV version were localized by entirely different companies at 2 points in history.

Why are the updated subtitles needed?

The original Mobile Suit Gundam was released in North America with the movie trilogy version in 1998 on English dubbed and subtitled VHS tapes. These versions used unofficial terms and names due to Gundam not having a foothold outside of Japan at the time of translation. The English dub is entirely inaccurate in an attempt to make the movies seem less “dated” but fails on all attempts to do such. The English dub hasn’t been released since 1998 and the only way to get a good copy outside of finding the VHS tapes are the various releases online that have it muxed as an option. Regarding the subtitled version, most of the dialogue is lacking complexity. Additionally, there are times in the subtitles where misheard with what was said vs what was actually said, and none of the EDs or insert songs were translated.

The same subtitles were reused in the 2000 Special edition when it was released on R1 DVD in 2002 but with updated names and terms reflecting the 2001 English dub’s release. The subtitles were then retimed to the special edition audio.

The TV version was released in 2001 as English dub only but was eventually released as dual audio with an entirely new subtitle translation in 2011 on DVD and then re-released with the same new translation on Blu Ray in 2015. These subtitles were completed by a different team than the Movie Trilogy’s and were completed 13 years later after Gundam had more of a foothold outside of Japan. As a result, the TV version’s subtitles have a much more accurate script and exhibit the amount of complexity for viewers to have a better sense of the mannerisms of the characters.

Any significant updates to the script?

-The main reason this was made was because in 2007, the original theatrical audio versions of these movies were released on DVD in Japan. Most groups and official releases even when using the theatrical audio, still use the 2000 special edition script which is as mentioned before only a minor update of the 1998 VHS script. Due to licensing complications between the two versions, an “updated” subtitle script has not, and may never be released.

-Elements missing from the existing movie trilogy subtitles were added to the subtitle tracks such as the ED themes, insert songs, and a separate songs and signs track. The song lyrics were added from scratch and some song translations were created from scratch as well due to the lack of acceptable translations available online.

 

TL;DR?

-Gundam 0079 movie trilogy’s original subtitles suck

-The subtitles here are based on the TV version’s R1/NA BD dual audio releases from nearly a decade and 1/2 later.

-Nobody’s released the movies with the better script so now I have.