Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket
"Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket" was produced by animation studio Sunrise in association with toy company Bandai. Kenji Uchida was the former representative and Minoru Takanashi was the latter's producer. The series was created to commemorate the ten-year anniversary of the "Gundam" franchise, created by Yoshiyuki Tomino in 1979. "War in the Pocket" was directed by Fumihiko Takayama, known for his work on "Orguss 02" and "", marking the first time anyone other than Tomino directed a "Gundam" show. The screenplay was written by Hiroyuki Yamaga, with scenario by , while the character designer for this series was Haruhiko Mikimoto.
Cultural impact of Gundam
The popularity of Gundam resulted in its first specialty magazine, "Gundam Magazine", which ran from December 1990 to June 1991. In 2006, the magazine was reprinted in a six volume box set. In 2001, "Gundam Ace" magazine began publication, moved from a quarterly to a bi-monthly to monthly serialization in 2003. The magazine boasted a circulation of 161,417 copies between October 2008 and September 2009, and 133,584 copies between October 2010 and September 2011 according to the Japan Magazine Publishing Association.