[S3E2] Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, eps. 1–6

Explicit content warning

04/02/21 • 196 min

Episode Notes

Connor and Niamh break the Shinigami curse that killed their first attempt at recording this episode and successfully scribe a podcast episode using the new Record Press technology.

We start off by talking about how really we’re just talking about Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team in order to let Connor rant about the first Mobile Suit Gundam and then get into what is probably the most we are probably ever going to do synopses on this podcast. Connor gives a lot of context from older Gundam and like... kinda spoilers I guess?

We do get very out of scope quickly as we talk about Gundam broadly but eventually, Connor does rein us in to talk about how The 08th MS Team is specifically pulling on and immediately developing existing tropes in the franchise, our initial impressions on Shiro and Aina’s relationship and how it relates to Newtypes as a concept, Niamh’s rewrite where Shiro is replaced as the main character by Karen who is explicitly trans and dating Aina, the sexualization of Kiki (and young girls in general in anime and beyond), how combat is handled and depicted in The 08th MS Team and how it points to thematic readings of the instrumentalization of human bodies and lives, different types of mecha, if the series is actually doing anything meaningful with sexuality, the canon ages of different characters, the gender happening, and more!

Niamh also had to try very hard to not just spoil things throughout this conversation.

Write into our Question Bucket at [email protected] and follow us on Twitter!

@ghostdiverspod
@FoxmomNia
@rabbleais
@GarfReadAloud

Works Cited in this Discussion

We didn’t really cite any works for this series!

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Discussion around the sexualization of young girls Brief discussion of sexual assault and abuse

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Episode Notes

Connor and Niamh break the Shinigami curse that killed their first attempt at recording this episode and successfully scribe a podcast episode using the new Record Press technology.

Niamh also had to try very hard to not just spoil things throughout this conversation.

Write into our Question Bucket at [email protected] and follow us on Twitter!

@ghostdiverspod
@FoxmomNia
@rabbleais
@GarfReadAloud

Works Cited in this Discussion

We didn’t really cite any works for this series!

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Discussion around the sexualization of young girls Brief discussion of sexual assault and abuse

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Previous Episode

[S3E1] Intro to Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team

Episode Notes

“I’m gonna live! And I’ll marry Aina!”

Dive into Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team!

@ghostdiverspod
@foxmomnia
@rabbleais
@GarfReadAloud

Release Schedule

[S2E1] Intro: March 19, 2021
[S2E2] Eps. 1–6: April 2, 2021
[S2E3] Eps. 7–12 + Miller’s Report: April 16, 2021
[S2E4] Question Bucket: April 30, 2021

Works Cited

We didn’t really cite any works for this series!

Content Warnings for the Anime

F-slur in the subs for episode 1 (dub says “pansies”)
Sexualization of young girls
Nudity and sexualization of women in general
Sexism
Issues around disability
Implied intent to rape (episode 8)
Violence and death
Depiction of war crimes, including gas attack massacre (episode 7), missile strikes, etc.
Abusive relationships
Claustrophobia, machines of war as coffins
Alcoholism

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co

Next Episode

[S3E3] Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team, eps. 7–12

Episode Notes

Connor and Niamh are under new direction (maybe this joke will land in the description?) but are back to discuss the final half of Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team.

We start with a discussion of the show’s hot springs episode, how the change in director may have changed the handling of various aspects of the series, the relationship between Shiro and Aina, Aina’s attempts to assert herself against her abusive brother, the potential discrepancies between Shiro and Aina’s political positions and worldviews that never really get explored, how the series tests Shiro’s idealism, our feelings about our first look at ground soldiers on the Zeon side, the incredible new content of Miller’s Report, mechs, Niamh’s rewrite of The 08th MS Team, the failure of Shiro to enacted his pacifism in the face of his own death, how the Apsalus runs on Windows, how Aina and Shiro fail to break from their existing frameworks of understanding war as being fought and won by individuals, the two different endings of the series, how the series deals with new types, the bleak reality of the final episode, but also potentially the sliver of hope within it, and more.

Also, don't forget that we will be recording the Question Bucket soon. The deadline to write into our Question Bucket for this series is April 24. You can write into ghostdiverspod@gmail and follow us on Twitter!

@ghostdiverspod
@foxmomnia
@rabbleais
@GarfReadAloud

Works Cited in this Discussion

We didn’t really cite any works for this series!

Content Warnings for this Discussion

Brief mention of a gas attack massacre
Sexualization of female characters
Abusive relationships
Self-harm (especially in the post-ED section)
Brief mention of rape
Mechs as coffins
Drugs & Alcohol
Abusive Drug Administration & Alcoholism
Murder & Poisoning
Self-sacrifice
Medical trauma
Trauma around names

Find out more at https://ghost-divers.pinecast.co