MSV and Zeta Gundam

[Mafty]

Is it true that the MSV model variation series started out life as a proposed sequel to the original series? If it is true is there any information as to what the original story of the sequel that may have become MSV was supposed to be?

[Seto Kaiba]

Is it true that the MSV model variation series started out life as a proposed sequel to the original series? If it is true is there any information as to what the original story of the sequel that may have become MSV was supposed to be?

Nope.

The originator of MSV was Takashi Yasui, a part-time editor for two TV magazines specializing in children's shows and a member of Kaiju Club, who was working on Gundam artbooks for Kodansha in the early 80's. To pad out page counts for the first of three artbooks Kodansha was publishing for the Gundam compilation movies, he took the ideas pitched by Ryusuke Hikawa for new Mobile Suit concepts not seen in animation and asked Kunio Okawara to do new, original illustrations for the book. It was well-received, so they did more in the subsequent movie artbooks for the compilation trilogy. The term "MSV" was coined a little later, when Hobby Japan published a mook about how to build gunpla called How To Build Gundam in July of 1981 that was promoting gunpla with the help of the model kit circle Stream Base. The subsequent demand led to MSV becoming a feature in Kodansha's new magazine Comic Bonbon and the prototype for Build, 1982's Plamo Kyoshiro.

From there, it just kind of snowballed.

[MythSearcher]

Also, some of the MSV is from machines that were originally planned for the show but didn't appear because the show was cut short. You also see some of those weird looking ones as blue prints for attacking Jaburo.

[Chris]

Is it true that the MSV model variation series started out life as a proposed sequel to the original series? If it is true is there any information as to what the original story of the sequel that may have become MSV was supposed to be?

You might be confusing things with MS-X, a proposed manga from 1984 that was canceled once Sunrise announced Zeta Gundam. However, since those designs were created, they were put to use and over the years have popped up in various manga, games and most recently the anime adaptations of Unicorn and Thunderbolt.