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 Gundam franchise covers nine universes that comprise a dozen TV series, over twenty animated movies, and dozens of novels and manga. Bandai is the fourth largest toy manufacturer in the world and "Gundam" merchandise makes up 20% of its sales. In 2004, Gundam sales resulted in profits of , growing to annual profit by 2007, and annual revenue per year by 2014. The franchise had sales of 11.9million home video units by February 2006.