Ramba, one of the most popular characters in “Mobile Suit Gundam,” meets a dramatic end in episode 20. As mentioned earlier, he is the son of Jimba Ral and has, in fact, known Sayla Mass (voiced by Yo Inoue), the daughter of Zeon Zum Deikun, in the past. When Ramba unexpectedly encounters Sayla on the battlefield, he is visibly shaken, exclaiming, “Princess…!”

Then, Ryu Jose (voiced by Shozo Iizuka) rushes in with a gun, and Ramba is wounded. Realizing his mission’s failure, Ramba orders his men to retreat and, lowering his head, says, “Ramba Ral has forgotten the meaning of battle amidst the fighting…” In front of the Earth Federation soldiers, he declares, “You’ve all fought well. But watch closely to see what fate awaits soldiers,” and takes his own life with a hand grenade. Almost fifty years since the original broadcast of “Mobile Suit Gundam,” many fans are still captivated by the way Ramba embodied the spirit of a true warrior.

The currently available anime “Mobile Suit Gundam” is a robot anime produced by Sunrise and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, which aired from April 1979 to January 1980. It pioneered the genre of “real robot anime” and has had a profound influence on all robot anime that followed. Although ratings were low during its original run, its popularity soared with reruns and theatrical releases, leading to a “Gunpla” (Gundam plastic model kit) boom. Numerous subsequent Gundam series and spin-offs have been produced, maintaining high popularity to this day. As of April 2025, the new anime “Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX” is currently on air.

(C)SOTSU·SUNRISE

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