Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team (機動戦士ガンダム 第08MS小隊) is an original video animation (OVA) anime series in the Gundam franchise. Released from January 25, 1996, to July 25, 1999, the 12-episode series details the exploits of an Earth Federation ground unit during the One Year War—specifically a month after the beginning of the original 1979 Gundam series and into the final weeks of the war.

Plot

The series is set in Universal Century 0079 in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon are fighting a brutal guerrilla war for control of the area and its resources. Zeon's best hope for victory in the region rests with an experimental mobile armor and its pilot, Aina Sahalin. Meanwhile, the Earth Federation Army receive reinforcements in the form of Ensign Shiro Amada, newly named commander of the 08th MS Team. Aina and Shiro know each other from a mutual rescue in space, but when Shiro discovers that Aina is in fact the pilot of the Zeon mobile armor he is arrested for treason. The Federation offers Shiro one chance at redemption: he must take the 08th MS Team deep into Zeon held territory to find Zeons' hidden base. With the Zeon backed into a corner, and the Federation dependent on Shiro and his team for victory, the star-crossed lovers must decide where their true allegiances lie: with each other, or with their respective sides.

Characters

Main characters

Support characters

Featured mobile suits

Earth Federation

Zeon

Media

Production and development

The series first took shape in 1995. The OVA's first episode released on January 25, 1996. After Takeyuki Kanda died suddenly on July 27, 1996, GONZO's Umanosuke Iida took over production for the rest of the series. The opening theme is Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite (嵐の中で輝いて) by Chihiro Yonekura while the ending themes are 10 Years After by Chihiro Yonekura (episodes 1-10), Mirai no Futari ni (未来の二人に) by Chihiro Yonekura (episode 11), and Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite (嵐の中で輝いて) by Chihiro Yonekura (episode 12).

Film

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team Miller's Report is a compilation film released on August 1, 1998. The film largely focuses on Shiro Amada's court martial over his concern towards the enemy. The film mixes footage from the first eight episodes along with new footage. It also introduces the titular character, Alice Miller, an Earth Federation investigator assigned to gather additional evidence against Shiro. The ending theme is Eien no Tobira (永遠の扉) by Chihiro Yonekura. Miller's Report was not fully shown on TV in America, although the new scenes were all spliced into the eighth episode for the Toonami broadcast. Miller's Report was released on DVD in America separately from the main series, but is included as a fifth disc with all 12 episodes (4 discs) in the Collector's Edition Box Set. Bandai Visual released the film on Blu-ray in 2011. The film explains the plot connection between episodes eight and nine by showing the Eledore's return from leave, the court-martial after Shiro's defense of the village, and the team's issuance of new orders.

Manga

Mobile Suit Gundam 08th MS Team: U.C.0079＋α, a manga adaptation by Umanosuke Iida, was serialized in Monthly Gundam Ace from 2007 to 2009 and collected into four volumes.