“MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM – The 08th MS TEAM: MILLER’S REPORT” is a special 55-minute episode which is more or less clips taken from the series focusing on 08th MS Team Commander Shiro Amada trial under allegations that he was spying for the Principality of Zeon.
DVD TITLE: Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team: MILLER’S REPORT
DURATION: 55 minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Dual Language, English Subtitles. Rating: Suggested 13 and up
CATALOG #: 1714 / ISBN 10583540764-9
COMPANY: Bandai Entertainment
DIRECTOR: Kanda Takeyuki, Iida Umanosuke
SCREENWRITER: (ep. 1 through 9) Okeya Akira (ep. 10-12) Kitajima Hiroaki
Original Story by Yatate Hajime, Tomino Yosiyuki (from Mobile Suit Gundam)
STUDIO: SUNRISE
THE WAR JUST GOT PERSONAL.
Universal Century 0079. The One Year War rages on, and Shiro Amada and his unit, the 08th MS team, continue their struggle against Zeon forces in the jungles of Southeast Asia. But recent events have put them under close scrutiny by Federation leaders.
Alice Miller, an officer of the Federation Intelligence Division, has been dispatched to ascertain the truth behind a series of events leading to the capture of a new enemy mobile armor. As she begins her investigation, the lines between Federation and Zeon become blurred. Is there really a spy among the 08th MS Team?
For 2008, I made a decision to watch every Mobile Suit Gundam release (Universal Century) released on DVD. With the film trilogy which I watched back in the early 90’s, the first series I was able to purchase was “Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team”.
In my review, I went on and on on how much I enjoyed the overall storyline because it was more realistic and also a leadership trait I found with its main character Shiro Amada and him falling in love with Zeon pilot, Aina Sakhalin.
In Japan, with the success of a television series or series in general, there tends to be a special that focuses on clips from the series. Sometimes you get additional footage and fortunately for “MILLER’S REPORT”, you get footage covering Shiro Amada’s trial as he is standing trial on being a spy for the Zeon.
Alice Miller, an officer of the Federation Intelligence Division has been dispatched to find the truth of why Shiro Amada a) Let a Zeon officer go free (not once but twice) b) wWhy he did not capture the enemy mobile armor when that was his primary mission.
Of the 55-minutes of the special episode, five minutes or maybe less is actual additional footage and thus, the question is whether this special is worth purchasing.
Personally, for me, enjoying this series so much, not having it in my collection would seem like having a hole in the series and I would go crazy knowing that I didn’t have a complete episode of “Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team”.
It may be a rehashing of clips from the series but the fact is that there is additional footage that has Amada explaining to Miller of why he did what he did. Footage of Alice Miller pointing a gun at Amada’s head with his team watching from a distance, footage of how the Federation got to know about Amada’s relationship with Aina and also footage of Eledore returning back to the 08th MS Team after recuperating from the hospital.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
The video quality is what I expected from a series that took place back in 1995. So, you really get cool action-packed fight scenes and good lighting that shows daylight and darkness throughout the jungle or desert. Aspect ratio is: 1.33:1
I watched the complete series in Japanese with English subtitles but I did watch the first episode with English dubbing. The English dubbing was good and for the dub, the use of profanity or more mature language was used to show how soldier’s were during the battlefield. As for special effects, I know the music was very nice and clear but I don’t recall anything special during the battles.
SPECIALÂ FEATURES:
DVD features include new Japanese and English 5.1 Dolby Digital audio, over 25 minutes of bonus animation, footage from the Playstation 2 Gundam game “Journey to Jaburo”.
Also, you get an irreversible cover with Alice Miller on the front and the other cover that features the 08th MS Team.
DVD insert is a bi-fold containing the same image as the main cover on one side and a letter from Michel (a member of the 08th MS Team) to his girlfriend B.B. in regards to being questioned by Alice Miller. The reason that Michel’s letter was used is a) he writes daily letters to his girlfriend to let him know that he is alive b) through questioning to him by Miller, it is revealed that Michel was the person who alerted the Federation of Amada’s love for Zeon’s Aina.
No matter the duration of the content, the fact is that… again, it’s still new and additional content not on the series.
So, if you are fan of the series, then yes…I recommend it as a must-buy for your collection. But if you are a viewer on a budget, then you have to ask yourself is five minutes of additional content worth it
Personally, the series is worth it. I enjoyed this series so much that I’m happy to own this DVD. Again, if I didn’t purchase this, knowing that there is a DVD (even though it features mostly video clips from the series) with new additional content, not purchasing it would make me feel I had an incomplete collection.
I’ve read may people complaining that its Bandai’s way of cashing in on the series but I never saw it that way. I’ve been watching Japanese entertainment for so long, from drama series to variety shows, there are special episodes showing the best of clips to rehashing of popular scenes from the series.
For “Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team”, the storyline did not dwelve too much on Amada’s trial and what happened behind-the-scenes. This special does. Duration wise for additional footage, not as much as one would like but even for popular Japanese dramas, same situation and sometimes there are no additional footage. So, the fact that we got a little insight of what happened during his trial, I was ok with it.
Since this DVD was released back in 2001, you can find “MILLER’S REPORT” for almost $5-$10 these days. And if you are planning to buy the collector’s box set, the special comes with the box set.
All in all, I recommend this to fans of this awesome series! If 5 minutes of additional content does not set well with you, then you can bypass it.