Side 5

Lore & Background

The Twelve Sides were humanity's first major step into living permanently in orbit, designed to relieve population pressure on Earth. Side 5 represented the typical civilian colony structure: a rotating cylinder providing artificial gravity through centrifugal force. Unlike the earlier claim of neutrality, Side 5 was a Federation-aligned colony that came under direct Zeon attack during the One Year War. The Battle of Loum saw Zeon forces assault the colony fleet at Side 5, leading to the colony's total destruction and immense loss of life. This battle was a pivotal moment in the war, demonstrating Zeon's military might and the vulnerability of space colonies. In later timelines, such as the Zeon Remnant era, the ruins of Side 5 sometimes became contested grounds, but the colony itself never recovered.

In Their Own Story

Inside the observation deck of Sector C, Elara pressed her hand against the cold glass. Outside, the curve of the colony rotated slowly, revealing the deep black void dotted with stars. Below, Earth hung like a blue marble, beautiful and distant. A shadow passed over the sunlight—a Zeon fighter patrol, or perhaps Federation escort? She couldn't tell anymore. The news feeds were silent today; no announcements of peace, only warnings to stay indoors. Her father had warned her that neutrality was just a word until the guns stopped firing. Elara watched a ship drift past, its hull scarred and smoking, heading toward the docking bay. Another refugee from another colony. Here in Side 5, life continued quietly, but everyone knew the silence before the storm.

Reader's Guide

Side 5 serves as a representative example of the civilian infrastructure within the Universal Century space colonies. Its primary role is residential and logistical, hosting millions of citizens who work in agriculture, manufacturing, or trade. Unlike military bases, it lacks heavy fortifications, making it vulnerable during conflicts. In the story of Mobile Suit Gundam, Side 5 matters because it illustrates the human cost of war beyond the battlefield. It shows how neutral territories are pressured by major powers and how civilians adapt to life under threat of invasion or blockade. For lore enthusiasts, understanding Side 5 helps map the geography of the One Year War. While Side 3 is Zeon's home and Side 7 is where the White Base story begins, Side 5 completes the picture of a fractured United Earth Federation struggling to maintain order across all twelve habitats.

Did You Know?

• Side 5 was one of the original Twelve Colonies built by the Earth Federation before the One Year War.
• It was located at Lagrange Point L5, not L1.
• Side 5 was not neutral; it was a Federation-aligned colony attacked by Zeon.
• The colony was completely destroyed during the Battle of Loum, not operational.

The Darkest Chapter of Universal Century

The story introduces the Zanscare Empire, a space colony-based regime whose armed forces, BESPA, launch a brutal invasion of Earth. Unlike earlier entries that began in orbit, this series opens in the remote Eastern European town of Kasarelia before shifting to space later in its run. The conflict centers on the League Militaire, a ragtag resistance group utilizing the advanced Victory Gundam as their primary weapon against an overwhelming enemy. BESPA employs terrifying tactics, including public executions by guillotine, to instill fear among the populace. Thirteen-year-old protagonist Üso Ewin and his friend Shahkti Kareen are forcibly drawn into this war after encountering the ace pilot Chronicle Asher. As they join forces with Marbet Fingerhut and other resistance members, the narrative explores the devastating horrors of warfare, distinguishing itself through a high casualty rate among main characters that shocked viewers accustomed to more hopeful Gundam storylines.

A Strategic Pivot for Sunrise

Produced as the fourth television installment in the franchise, Victory Gundam marked a significant strategic shift intended by director Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise. Aiming to capture the younger elementary school demographic that had flocked to SD Gundam, the creators introduced the youngest protagonist in franchise history, thirteen-year-old Üso Ewin. The setting was deliberately designed to be largely independent of previous Universal Century works, starting on Earth rather than in space colonies to dispel the association between Gundam and orbital settings. However, the series' mature themes and tragic tone ultimately attracted an older audience of young adults who had grown up with Zeta and ZZ Gundam a decade prior. While the show successfully doubled sales for real-scale model kits compared to previous years, it failed to meet Bandai's ambitious target of ten million units sold. This commercial shortfall, combined with missing its intended demographic, led to the cancellation of the planned Polca Gundam series and forced Sunrise to pivot toward the more lighthearted Mobile Fighter G Gundam.

Tomino's Complex Legacy and Home Media

Director Yoshiyuki Tomino has maintained a notoriously contentious relationship with Victory Gundam throughout the years following its release. During the development phase, he was unaware of Bandai's impending acquisition of Sunrise or their specific commercial pressures to revitalize the franchise, a fact that later caused a long-standing rift between him and the studio. This disdain was publicly evident in home media releases; for instance, the 2004 limited-edition DVD box set included an interview where Tomino explicitly warned viewers not to buy it because it was "not intended to be seen." When the series received high-definition Blu-ray remasters in 2015 and subsequent North American releases in 2016, he reiterated his desire to deny the work completely. Promotional materials for these sets challenged fans to identify exactly what went wrong with the production, framing the release as an opportunity to critique a project Tomino felt was compromised by external corporate mandates rather than artistic vision.

Divergent Adaptations and Expanded Narratives

Beyond the original anime, Victory Gundam spawned various literary and manga adaptations that significantly altered the tone and content of the source material. Director Yoshiyuki Tomino himself authored five novels under the Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko label; these versions followed the main plot but included additional scenes featuring graphic sexual references absent from the broadcast version. Notably, the Victory 2 Gundam does not appear in the novels, replaced instead by a Victory-type equipped with a Minovsky Drive, and the "Bugs" weapons from F91 make an appearance. In contrast, manga adaptations took different creative directions: Toshiya Iwamura's version in Comic BomBom removed the show's serious atmosphere entirely, replacing it with gags and super robot-style action. Additionally, Tsukasa Kotobuki produced a gag parody titled Go! Go!