Finding an Identity Inside a Giant Robot
“Kamille? That’s a girl’s name, but…”
MICHAEL LEE
Kamille Bidan in Zeta Gundam | Sunrise
2025 marks the 40th anniversary of Zeta Gundam, the sequel to Gundam 0079, Yoshiyuki Tomino’s landmark space opera series about the boy pilot Amuro Ray who is thrust into combat and becomes a hero of the One-Year War.
After the first series was compiled into a trilogy of films, an undercurrent of fandom led by women shipping the characters took root, and toys based on the series finally reached their sales targets, a sequel was greenlit. In 1985, Zeta Gundam introduced us to Kamille Bidan, another young man with the ability to pilot the series’ iconic mobile suits, giant robotic armored creations that represent the latest in military technology. Kamille is seen as the second coming of Amuro Ray, yet, even steeped in such high praise, Kamille has doubts about whether Amuro is the kind of person he wants to be (and be compared to).
You see, where Gundam 0079 tells a tragic tale of a boy forced into a masculine ideal, that of a great war hero, and how even in that supposed noble pursuit, there is only misery, Zeta Gundam looks to further deconstruct and critique masculinity and all of its symbols. Kamille, the boy with the girl’s name, doesn’t want to fight, he doesn’t fit in the male-dominated space of war’s theater, and he more clearly represents Tomino’s thematic treatise that young people will move humanity forward by rejecting the status quo. For Kamille this means he never gives in to the machismo he is supposed to emulate, and instead he takes inspiration from the women around him, seeking to end conflict through a desire to connect and nurture humanity instead of dominate and destroy it.
With Gundam 0079, Tomino explored the tragedy of war through a World War II allegory, a theme that a number of pieces of Japanese media from that period grappled with, but with Zeta Gundam, we were given a first look at Tomino’s vision for what the future post-war world could look like, if only we let young people be empowered to change society for the better. This empathic, socially & environmentally conscious generation are known as Newtypes in the world of Gundam.
Kamille Bidan on Colony 13. | Sunrise
Watching Zeta Gundam now, the series is tinged in melancholy. A kind of inescapable sorrow you can’t help but feel as you watch it. To think that Tomino had such hope for us, the youth of tomorrow, back then, that we could be the progressive Newtypes he wanted us to be… and we failed him. In 2025, the regression away from feminism and the miserable slip back into tired tropes of masculinity (toxic and otherwise) is anathema to Tomino’s vision. 40 years later, we find ourselves in a world strikingly similar to that of Zeta Gundam, one where men (particularly white men) see their inherited hegemony slipping through their fingers, and they are lashing out through increasingly more extreme masculine identities and politics in an effort to do whatever they can to maintain their power. The creep towards fascism is brought about by fear of the other, and these weak men of today, and of the world of Zeta Gundam, are terrified.
Kamille’s insecurity about his name. | Sunrise
Once Upon a Gundam
Gundam as a franchise is sometimes overwhelming in its lore, and, particularly for the uninitiated, keeping track of who is on what side and what faction so-and-so belongs to requires a sizable corkboard and reams of red string. In Zeta Gundam, the ‘good guys’ from the first series, the Earth Federation, have let their status of world police go to their heads, and their counter-insurgency division, The Titans, is being a little too oppressive in their efforts at keeping down dissent. Protests erupt but the increasingly fascistic boot of the Earth Federation is held on the necks of those protesting the injustices committed by the emboldened Federation forces. In Gundam 0079, the Earth Federation fought against the Principality of Zeon, a space colony very much modelled after Nazi Germany. Riding high off their victory against Zeon, Earth Federation sees themselves as the de facto ruling force over the Earth and the numerous space colonies in its orbit and running their own ‘war-on-terror’ styled army unit in the Titans to maintain that power. The Titans are Blackwater (now Constellis), their leader Jamitov is Erik Prince. Extrajudicial PMCs doing dirty work for the highest bidder. Kamille Bidan, our protagonist, runs afoul of the hotheaded Titans Lieutenant, Jerid Messa, and his disgust of Jerid and the Titans leads Kamille to join the Anti-Earth Union Group (A.E.U.G.), a resistance outfit looking to fight against the encroaching tyranny of the Earth Federation and the overzealous Titans.
Kamille punches Jerid Messa. | Sunrise
In the beginning of Zeta Gundam, Kamille is shown to be insecure and quick to anger when his male identity is critiqued or challenged. As the series progresses, Kamille’s growth is centered around his rejection of the masculine ideal he sees performed by the male characters he interacts with. For the time, Kamille being ‘taught’ to seek out a different, more empathic or perhaps feminine, male identity was fairly progressive. It still is, but this particular framing can and has been critiqued over the years, as it places Kamille in a kind of victim role. It is a particular subject position that in essence removes him of fault, and one where he is placed in a situation where he must be ‘awakened’ to feminist thinking, but for a show coming out of Japan in the 80s, this is a noble attempt to address and critique gender norms to be sure.
Kamille is often pulled aside by the women aboard the Argama, the battleship they are stationed on, where, after a hot-blooded encounter with one of the men on the ship, Kamille tries to better understand himself through conversation with Emma Sheen. “Do you understand your own feelings, Kamille? Being lonely is no reason to take your anger out on others.” her approach causing moments of introspection as Kamille looks within for an answer. He thinks to lash out, but holds back, realizing that Emma is right.
As Kamille struggles to make sense of the command structure that dominates the mens’ lives on the Argama, its the brief moments he shares Emma, the older, more motherly, Reccoa Londe, or his childhood friend Fa Yuiry where Kamille learns different ways to navigate this testosterone-fueled space and realize the futility of it. There is no way forward if he takes orders from the men in power, he needs to find another way.
Jerid Messa | Sunrise
A Colony of Manchildren
When revisiting Zeta Gundam in 2025, we see how the same kinds of toxic masculinity brewing in our current social climate are present in a show from 40 years ago. Jerid Messa has all the energy of a terminally online alt right whiner. If he wasn’t a space pilot, he’d be podcasting from a man cave that would surely reek of too much leather, red meat, and cigar smoke. Jerid would be nodding his head along with Mark Zuckerberg on his recent Joe Rogan appearance saying there needs to be more “masculine energy” and “aggression” in the tech space.
Jerid looks down on women, “fighting is for the men, and women are the prize” being his attitude. The idea that by virtue of being a man, there are entitlements that come with that, and by acting aggressive and seeking power and control, he should be rewarded. But while the women of Zeta Gundam are more often than not shown keeping a cool head, when the going gets tough, Jerid is prone to outbursts and being overly emotional, his own insecurity bubbling over constantly.
He’s a cry bully. Jerid feels as though he should be receiving more accolades, more power, more women, and when he gets bested by Kamille time and again, it is because he is the victim in all this. He is being overlooked because new forms of male identity, like Kamille’s, are being rewarded. Jerid followed the Andrew Tate playbook—he even paid for the seminars!—but doesn’t understand why everyone shits on him every time he posts something to social media. He’s an alpha! Why don’t people see that?!
Paptimus Scirocco | Sunrise
Paptimus Scirocco enters the fray midway through the series with Newtype energy, but something is off about him. On first impression, he is charismatic and is often referred to as a genius for his work advancing mobile suit technology. A startup techbro from Jupiter. I wonder if he came to Earth on a student visa and then stayed illegally afterwards… His quest for power sees him weasel his way into the Titans leadership while he simultaneously undermines them at every opportunity to destabilize their power structure. And we quickly learn that his charm with the ladies is less Newtype empathic, and more creepy pick-up artistry.
As his plans begin to unravel, Paptimus’ slick demeanor is shed and he too grasps for the power he thinks he deserves, saying late in the series run “what have common people ever done for the world? The world has always been run by a mere handful of geniuses!” A sentiment that a number of Silicon Valley ‘geniuses’ would certainly agree with. Paptimus’ “If I ran the show, things would be great!” attitude has a lot in common with the mentality that drives today’s tech titans who think that if they could just become the leaders of their libertarian wet dream ‘freedom cities’ that they would be worshipped like kings. Because he is rich, because he is smart (or thinks he is), Paptimus feels he should rule the world. His oligarchic ambitions are laid bare. And it’s pathetic. Lay off the ketamine, Pappy.
Masculinity Goes to rehab, Gets ‘Healthy’
With all these terrible examples of masculinity presented as so clearly being off base, just what kind of man should Kamille strive to be? It’s here that Zeta Gundam takes an interesting approach, and one that aligns well with academic discourse on supposed ‘healthy’ masculinities.
Char Aznable | Sunrise
In Zeta Gundam, there are still ‘good’ men out there, but even good guys like Captain Noa Bright and the veteran ace pilot Char Aznable are still mired in antiquated politics and hierarchies prioritizing male identity and maintaining normative gender roles. Bright would sooner see Kamille’s childhood friend, Fa Yuiry, remain on the Argama, and tend to laundry and childcare, rather than let her prove her worth as a pilot. Bright doesn’t exclude her from missions because she is not cut out to be a pilot, but only because of his desire to protect her. We see Kamille grow from parroting Bright’s ideas on gender, to seeing Fa as the capable pilot that she is and that she deserves to fight for what she believes in just as much as Kamille does. He praises her strength on the battlefield and she saves his bacon on more than one occasion.
Noa Bright | Sunrise
Dr. Andrea Waling says in her work on masculinity that “toxic and healthy masculinity are terms that utilize moralistic positions of health and well-being, as well as continue to privilege masculinity over other gendered expressions and reproduce a hierarchical gendered binary logic in which men can only engage in masculinity, even if it is a new, revamped version.” In this definition, there is no room for a Newtype. Against the obviously repugnant “toxic masculinity” exhibited by the villains in Zeta Gundam, “healthy masculinity” is presented as a false counter to the objectively more negative identity. But by engaging from that ‘healthy’ moralistic position, it may appear that Bright is a force for good, yet he too is stifling progress. He does war crimes with a smile, like Obama drone striking a Yemeni wedding.
Consistently through the show, Kamille criticizes how Captain Bright and Char lead, how they treat the women in their lives, and is often frustrated by the orders they give. He doesn’t see them as role models in any way. They just perpetuate the status quo, as holding station is advantageous for them, and more pathetically, “gives their lives purpose.” Without the ceaseless drumbeat of war, without having to ‘be a man’ and act the part, there would be nothing for them, so they have to place masculinity at the top of the hierarchy. It consumes their identity. Kamille rejects that. That’s not the future he wants to live in. It will only lead to destruction.
Emma Sheen counseling Kamille. | Sunrise
Newtype Future
40 years ago, Yoshiyuki Tomino tried to warn us that if we clung to the old ideas of masculinity we’d never be able to make progress. That if we let guys like Paptimus Scirocco take control, we, the people, would be forced into servitude under the self-appointed god king. The cycle of perpetual war would spiral onwards, as a society addicted to inflicting violence would seek to exact as much cruelty and pain on marginalized people as possible. It’s why Futurist Fillipo Marinetti called war the “hygiene of the world” and why the War on Terror was so effective in the Bush era (and beyond). To them, war is a salve, not a salvo. It’s even part of Amuro Ray’s philosophy, the heroic pilot from the first entry in the franchise, who in a moment of ‘teaching’ with Kamille, tells him “If it wasn’t for war, we’d probably all be extinct already.” He’s drinking the kool-aid too. War soothes these men, without it they are lost. It’s also the extrajudicial detainment and disappearing of legal residents of the United States by ICE agents. Violence at every level, ripping families apart, denying healthcare, busting up protests, destroying unions. It all comes from this deranged fetid masculinity that is so rotten, so putrid, it threatens the very fabric of our society.
Kamille suffering from the weight of battle. | Sunrise
Kamille was supposed to be the beacon of hope, the Newtype way forward for young people in the 80s to aspire to. 40 years later, and it feels like we’re right back where Kamille started. Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is a classic, and somehow, is just as relevant today as it was back then. It’s a shame we didn’t learn our lesson the first time. Here’s hoping we get the memo this time around before Musk, Thiel and the rest of the technofascists send us to Colony 30 to be gassed.
Michael Lee is the Editor of KOSATEN, and writes in other places as well. His work looks at video games, anime, and Japanese fandom, with a particular focus on doujinshi and other fan-created media.
