245 episodes

MSB is a weekly Gundam podcast for new fans, old fans, and not yet fans. Nina (a Gundam first-timer) and Thom (a lifelong Gundam fan) analyze, review, and research all 40-years of the iconic sci-fi anime mega-franchise Mobile Suit Gundam in the order it was made. We research its influences, examine its themes, and discuss how each piece of the Gundam canon fits within the changing context in Japan and the world, from 1979 to today. Part history podcast, part discussion podcast, all Gundam podcast.

Mobile Suit Breakdown: the Gundam Podcast Nina & Thom

    • Leisure
    • 4.9 • 242 Ratings

MSB is a weekly Gundam podcast for new fans, old fans, and not yet fans. Nina (a Gundam first-timer) and Thom (a lifelong Gundam fan) analyze, review, and research all 40-years of the iconic sci-fi anime mega-franchise Mobile Suit Gundam in the order it was made. We research its influences, examine its themes, and discuss how each piece of the Gundam canon fits within the changing context in Japan and the world, from 1979 to today. Part history podcast, part discussion podcast, all Gundam podcast.

    Spiderwebs

    Spiderwebs

    Show Notes
    This week on MSB it's Victory Gundam episode 18: 宇宙艦隊戦 or Space Fleet Battle.
    Why are continuity errors a problem? What new translation decision is driving Thom batty? What do the contrasting characterizations of Jinn Jahannam and Maria Pure Armonia say about the factions they purport to lead? How much power could a solar satellite like the Hiland actually produce? And just what is our secret theory? The answers to almost all of these questions can be found on this week's podcast!

    Please listen to it!

    Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded, and produced within Lenapehoking, the ancestral and unceded homeland of the Lenape, or Delaware, people. Before European settlers forced them to move west, the Lenape lived in New York City, New Jersey, and portions of New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. Lenapehoking is still the homeland of the Lenape diaspora, which includes communities living in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

    You can learn more about Lenapehoking, the Lenape people, and ongoing efforts to honor the relationship between the land and indigenous peoples by visiting the websites of the Delaware Tribe and the Manhattan-based Lenape Center. Listeners in the Americas and Oceania can learn more about the indigenous people of your area at https://native-land.ca/. We would like to thank The Lenape Center for guiding us in creating this living land acknowledgment.

    You can subscribe to Mobile Suit Breakdown for free! on fine Podcast services everywhere and on YouTube, visit our website GundamPodcast.com, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or email your questions, comments, and complaints to gundampodcast@gmail.com.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown wouldn't exist without the support of our fans and Patrons! You can join our Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, extra out-takes, behind-the-scenes photos and video, MSB gear, and much more!

    The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

    All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown provides critical commentary and is protected by the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Gundam content is copyright and/or trademark of Sunrise Inc., Bandai, Sotsu Agency, or its original creator. Mobile Suit Breakdown is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu, or any of their subsidiaries, employees, or associates and makes no claim to own Gundam or any of the copyrights or trademarks related to it.

    Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

    • 1 hr 11 min
    A Royal Audience

    A Royal Audience

    Show Notes
    This week on MSB: Victory episode 17 breaks new ground and goes where no Gundam show has dared to go before: making a recap episode (unless you count Prelude to ZZ). Even so, this episode gives us our first glimpse at the Zanscare homeland and its famous queen, so there's still a surprising amount to talk about! Please listen to it!

    Unfortunately, due to last minute cancellation by our scheduled guest, we didn't have time to prepare a research piece this week.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded, and produced within Lenapehoking, the ancestral and unceded homeland of the Lenape, or Delaware, people. Before European settlers forced them to move west, the Lenape lived in New York City, New Jersey, and portions of New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. Lenapehoking is still the homeland of the Lenape diaspora, which includes communities living in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

    You can learn more about Lenapehoking, the Lenape people, and ongoing efforts to honor the relationship between the land and indigenous peoples by visiting the websites of the Delaware Tribe and the Manhattan-based Lenape Center. Listeners in the Americas and Oceania can learn more about the indigenous people of your area at https://native-land.ca/. We would like to thank The Lenape Center for guiding us in creating this living land acknowledgment.

    You can subscribe to Mobile Suit Breakdown for free! on fine Podcast services everywhere and on YouTube, visit our website GundamPodcast.com, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or email your questions, comments, and complaints to gundampodcast@gmail.com.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown wouldn't exist without the support of our fans and Patrons! You can join our Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, extra out-takes, behind-the-scenes photos and video, MSB gear, and much more!

    The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

    All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown provides critical commentary and is protected by the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Gundam content is copyright and/or trademark of Sunrise Inc., Bandai, Sotsu Agency, or its original creator. Mobile Suit Breakdown is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu, or any of their subsidiaries, employees, or associates and makes no claim to own Gundam or any of the copyrights or trademarks related to it.

    Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

    • 39 min
    Shipping Up to Orbit

    Shipping Up to Orbit

    Show Notes
    This week on MSB, we're covering Victory Gundam Episode 16: Reineforce, Lift Off! or リーンホース浮上. We talk about the episode name, the legacy of Gundam, Shahkti's hacker vision, the relationship between children and war, and much more!

    Please listen to it!

    And you can listen to episode 1 of The Disappearances of Lydia Fountayne at https://lydiadisappears.com

    Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded, and produced within Lenapehoking, the ancestral and unceded homeland of the Lenape, or Delaware, people. Before European settlers forced them to move west, the Lenape lived in New York City, New Jersey, and portions of New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. Lenapehoking is still the homeland of the Lenape diaspora, which includes communities living in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

    You can learn more about Lenapehoking, the Lenape people, and ongoing efforts to honor the relationship between the land and indigenous peoples by visiting the websites of the Delaware Tribe and the Manhattan-based Lenape Center. Listeners in the Americas and Oceania can learn more about the indigenous people of your area at https://native-land.ca/. We would like to thank The Lenape Center for guiding us in creating this living land acknowledgment.

    You can subscribe to Mobile Suit Breakdown for free! on fine Podcast services everywhere and on YouTube, visit our website GundamPodcast.com, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or email your questions, comments, and complaints to gundampodcast@gmail.com.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown wouldn't exist without the support of our fans and Patrons! You can join our Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, extra out-takes, behind-the-scenes photos and video, MSB gear, and much more!

    The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

    All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown provides critical commentary and is protected by the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Gundam content is copyright and/or trademark of Sunrise Inc., Bandai, Sotsu Agency, or its original creator. Mobile Suit Breakdown is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu, or any of their subsidiaries, employees, or associates and makes no claim to own Gundam or any of the copyrights or trademarks related to it.

    Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

    • 55 min
    Kasarelia

    Kasarelia

    Show Notes
    This week: Victory Gundam episode 15. We're saying 'kasarelia' to new characters Godwald Heine and Tasilo Wago, and 'kasarelia' to Fuala Griffon, the old man polycule, and the Earth itself as the action shifts to space... at least for the moment!

    We discuss Odelo's unexpected heel turn, Cronicle's predictable but disappointing downward slide, and the understated sadism of wagyu beef. Plus - research on marooning as an historical punishment!

    Please listen to it!

    Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded, and produced within Lenapehoking, the ancestral and unceded homeland of the Lenape, or Delaware, people. Before European settlers forced them to move west, the Lenape lived in New York City, New Jersey, and portions of New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. Lenapehoking is still the homeland of the Lenape diaspora, which includes communities living in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

    You can learn more about Lenapehoking, the Lenape people, and ongoing efforts to honor the relationship between the land and indigenous peoples by visiting the websites of the Delaware Tribe and the Manhattan-based Lenape Center. Listeners in the Americas and Oceania can learn more about the indigenous people of your area at https://native-land.ca/. We would like to thank The Lenape Center for guiding us in creating this living land acknowledgment.

    You can subscribe to Mobile Suit Breakdown for free! on fine Podcast services everywhere and on YouTube, visit our website GundamPodcast.com, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or email your questions, comments, and complaints to gundampodcast@gmail.com.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown wouldn't exist without the support of our fans and Patrons! You can join our Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, extra out-takes, behind-the-scenes photos and video, MSB gear, and much more!

    The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

    All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown provides critical commentary and is protected by the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Gundam content is copyright and/or trademark of Sunrise Inc., Bandai, Sotsu Agency, or its original creator. Mobile Suit Breakdown is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu, or any of their subsidiaries, employees, or associates and makes no claim to own Gundam or any of the copyrights or trademarks related to it.

    Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

    • 1 hr 10 min
    Holding Up that Hill

    Holding Up that Hill

    Show Notes
    This week on MSB: Does Uso want to know, know that it doesn't hurt Kate? Does he want to know how it feels to go to space? Does he want to hear about the deal Katejina is making? If he could, would he make a deal with God to swap places with Cronicle? He doesn't want to hurt anyone, but see how deep the beam saber cuts. Unaware, he's tearing the Memedorza asunder.
    Plus, an answer to the nagging question of what the Arti in Arti-Gibraltar is supposed to mean, and Nina's research on the history of that famous port / fortress!

    Please listen to it!

    Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded, and produced within Lenapehoking, the ancestral and unceded homeland of the Lenape, or Delaware, people. Before European settlers forced them to move west, the Lenape lived in New York City, New Jersey, and portions of New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. Lenapehoking is still the homeland of the Lenape diaspora, which includes communities living in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

    You can learn more about Lenapehoking, the Lenape people, and ongoing efforts to honor the relationship between the land and indigenous peoples by visiting the websites of the Delaware Tribe and the Manhattan-based Lenape Center. Listeners in the Americas and Oceania can learn more about the indigenous people of your area at https://native-land.ca/. We would like to thank The Lenape Center for guiding us in creating this living land acknowledgment.

    You can subscribe to Mobile Suit Breakdown for free! on fine Podcast services everywhere and on YouTube, visit our website GundamPodcast.com, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or email your questions, comments, and complaints to gundampodcast@gmail.com.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown wouldn't exist without the support of our fans and Patrons! You can join our Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, extra out-takes, behind-the-scenes photos and video, MSB gear, and much more!

    The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

    All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown provides critical commentary and is protected by the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Gundam content is copyright and/or trademark of Sunrise Inc., Bandai, Sotsu Agency, or its original creator. Mobile Suit Breakdown is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu, or any of their subsidiaries, employees, or associates and makes no claim to own Gundam or any of the copyrights or trademarks related to it.

    Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Flesh and Blood in a War of Machines

    Flesh and Blood in a War of Machines

    Show Notes
    This week on Mobile Suit Breakdown, Victory juggles a lot of balls, Uso playing a lot of roles, Mandella gives out a lot of tickets, and Thom identifies a lot of possible inspirations for the League Militaire.

    Please listen to it!

    Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded, and produced within Lenapehoking, the ancestral and unceded homeland of the Lenape, or Delaware, people. Before European settlers forced them to move west, the Lenape lived in New York City, New Jersey, and portions of New York State, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. Lenapehoking is still the homeland of the Lenape diaspora, which includes communities living in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario.

    You can learn more about Lenapehoking, the Lenape people, and ongoing efforts to honor the relationship between the land and indigenous peoples by visiting the websites of the Delaware Tribe and the Manhattan-based Lenape Center. Listeners in the Americas and Oceania can learn more about the indigenous people of your area at https://native-land.ca/. We would like to thank The Lenape Center for guiding us in creating this living land acknowledgment.

    You can subscribe to Mobile Suit Breakdown for free! on fine Podcast services everywhere and on YouTube, visit our website GundamPodcast.com, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or email your questions, comments, and complaints to gundampodcast@gmail.com.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown wouldn't exist without the support of our fans and Patrons! You can join our Patreon to support the podcast and enjoy bonus episodes, extra out-takes, behind-the-scenes photos and video, MSB gear, and much more!

    The intro music is WASP by Misha Dioxin, and the outro is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio, both licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 licenses.

    All music used in the podcast has been edited to fit the text.

    Mobile Suit Breakdown provides critical commentary and is protected by the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Gundam content is copyright and/or trademark of Sunrise Inc., Bandai, Sotsu Agency, or its original creator. Mobile Suit Breakdown is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Sunrise, Bandai, Sotsu, or any of their subsidiaries, employees, or associates and makes no claim to own Gundam or any of the copyrights or trademarks related to it.

    Copyrighted content used in Mobile Suit Breakdown is used in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the United States Copyright law. Any queries should be directed to gundampodcast@gmail.com

    • 1 hr 10 min

Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5
242 Ratings

242 Ratings

Aloe_Grotto ,

Clever, Informative, Fun, and ADDICTING!

I _adore_ MSB! Every week they give us a thoughtful, funny, loving commentary on an episode of Gundam, as well as deep-dive research into cultural and historical concepts that are referenced in that episode.

At first, I thought that second part, the research, was the real benefit of the show - certainly it’s made me a much more informed person and given me tons and tons of really interesting trivia that I can talk in my daily life, and helped me to understand the anime industry and narrative language of anime in general much better.

But I’ve recently come to appreciate their commentary on the show itself more and more - they love these characters and stories so much, and it’s so satisfying to watch two really well educated people break down the artistic, acting, writing, directing, and production decisions behind every episode - it’s taught me to consume media more deliberately and helped me to find a vocabulary to describe what I love most about my favorite shows and books.

It’s just really, really good, and you should really listen to it <3

My Turn, A Space ,

Way beyond an anime review show!

If you want to learn more about international nuclear testing, the history of Japanese economic downfall, or the science of space colonization, you could either read dozens of books, analyze the heck out of them, or you could learn it listening to this podcast and count on the fantastic research Thom and Nina do, while enjoying the review of one of the longest running anime franchise at the same time.

This show is well researched and both hosts bring in their own unique insights. Being a 40 year Gundam veteran myself I really enjoy listening to their unique and fresh insights to the show. And the quality of their research on each topics could easily make some PhD candidates blush! As I only learned about this podcast last year I’m still catching up with the show’s older episodes, but ain’t it fun to listen how Nina reacts to the ups and downs of each shows.

In case you call me a bot as I sound nothing but praise to the show, I don’t always agrees on how they and their guests interpret the characters… but hearing different POV is what makes things real and fun!

Shamble! ,

Makes a great franchise better

I was watching through Gundam in production order as well and I love learning about the historical context of my favorite things. I found this podcast and new from the first episode it would be perfect for me and it hasn’t disappointed!

Top Podcasts In Leisure

Critical Role
Critical Role
Duck Call Room
Si Robertson & Justin Martin
Tales from the Stinky Dragon
Stinky Dragon
Car and Driver's Into Cars
iHeartPodcasts
ClutterBug - Organize, Clean and Transform your Home
Clutterbug
Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast
Kinda Funny

You Might Also Like

Colony Drop: A Gundam Podcast
Colony Drop
A More Civilized Age: A Star Wars Podcast
A More Civilized Age
Just King Things
Ranged Touch
Axe of the Blood God: An RPG Podcast
Axe of the Blood God
Friends at the Table
friendsatthetable
Star Wars: Old Canon Book Club
Star Wars: Old Canon Book Club