Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel (機動戦士ガンダム エコール·デュ·シエル Kidou Senshi Gandamu Ekoorude Shieru?) (lit. School Of The Sky) is a spinoff Mobile Suit Gundam and is a Japanese on-going manga series written and illustrated by Haruhiko Mikimoto. The manga was serialised in Kadokawa Shoten's Gundam Ace. The manga is licensed in North America by Tokyopop. The manga is licensed and published in France by Pika Édition. Set in the year UC 0085, Ecole du Ciel begins two years before the events of the Zeta Gundam TV series.
Plot Summary
Set in Universal Century 0085, Asuna Elmarit is a student from École du Ciel, a military school for training future MS pilots in Montréal, Canada. Unexpected events occur, exposing Asuna and her classmates to the reality that is war. Along the way, the school council's real intentions are revealed in the lead up to the Gryps Conflict.
Story
PART.01 – MONTREAL
Chapter 1: École Du Ciel
UC. 0085, Asuna Elmarit, born on Side 3, enrolls in the Earth Federation's Mobile suit training academy "Ecole du Ciel". With little confidence, she loses to Erisia Nocton, top of the class, in two minutes and twelve seconds on the simulator.
Chapter 2: Asuna Elmarit
Asuna is banned from the simulators by Instructor Yahagi, however, with help from her new friends Shinn Barnack and Emilu Voigtlander, Asuna masters the basics and gets back on track.
Chapter 3: Simulation
Asuna is asked to demonstrate her improvement in a simulation against Shinn. Because loss means packing up for home, Asuna chooses to spar in the "familiar" MS-06J Zaku II Ground Type. She wins in close-range combat with a decisive judo flip against Shinn's RGM-79C GM Kai.
Chapter 4: Point Of Impact
Training in real mobile suits begins. During a simulation, live rounds are fired instead of paint-balls. It is called an accident, but in truth is the work of the Administrative Council trying to draw out Newtype's at Ecole.
Chapter 5: The Right Stuff
Instructor Yahagi orders training to be halted, but the automated Guntank continues. Elisia's judgment fails her and she is struck down. Yahagi takes control of Asuna's unit and fights masterfully to stop the Guntank. Rumors fly that he was a Newtype in the One Year War.
Chapter 6: Keep Out
Ecole du Ciel is closed for three weeks while the live fire incident is investigated. Forbidden from leaving, the students stage a volleyball competition. Asuna and Shinn team up, but lose badly to Kerry's team.
Chapter 7: Turning Point
Bothered by her apparent failure, Elisia challenges Asuna to a simulation battle late at night, after wards the two have a heartfelt discussion. Break ends, and the students head for space.
Chapter 8: Leaving For Space
The students board a shuttle bound for an Antietam-class training ship Ericsson, which hovers on the dark side of the moon. Council point-man Instructor Forma extols his belief that live combat stress will awaken Newtype abilities among the students.
Chapter 9: Space Maneuvers
After a month in space, training with the space-use GM begins. During a simulation run, Asuna temporarily bests Elisia, but sudden sensations send her into a tailspin. The Council's Colonel Hank boards the Ericsson to observe.
Chapter 10: Reunion
The Ericsson docks at Side 3. Asuna meets her mother, Haruka Elmarit. They argue about Asuna's father, Professor Elmarit, a fugitive war criminal. Angered, Asuna runs out of the house, The Titans monitor the entire conversation.
Special Chapter: Asuna Enters The Academy
Zeon-born Asuna, enrolling into Ecole du Ciel a week late, gets a stiff welcome. Emilu, who lost both parents in the One Year War, challenges Asuna to a simulation battle to drive her out of school.
Chapter 11: Haruka Elmarit
A "pirate" Mobile suit under Marie Albertia's command approaches Side 3 and engages Republic of Zeon forces. Instructor Yahagi reminisces with Haruka Elmarit. While touring the Zeon National Defense Academy with her friends, Asuna hears a voice from within.
Chapter 12: Signs
The one calling to Asuna is a mysterious young man named Akira, who claims to be an old friend of Asuna's from a Zeon Newtype training program long ago. Akira's presence overwhelms Elisia, and he proceeds to brag that he and Asuna are unique.
Chapter 13: Newtype
Yahagi and Asuna's mother, Haruka, were once lovers, However, Haruka was prevented by Colonel Hank from revealing the secret of Asuna's birth to Yahagi. Although Haruka married Professor Elmarit, she eventually found herself at odds with his experiments. Elisia and Asuna's encounter with Akira leaves both despairing, but for different reasons.
Chapter 14: Incoming
Asuna, sketching inside the ship, and Shinn, checking up on students, are jailed for violation curfew, Colonel Hank interrogates Yahagi's guest Haruka Elmarit, but the scheming Forma lets her go free.
Chapter 15: Encounter
The training ship launches from Side 3, Asuna is happy her mother's seeing her off, but it is Yahagi that is on Haruka's mind. Shinn and Instructor Linny launch to recover a life pod from a mobile suit destroyed by pirates.
Chapter 16: Writhe
Shinn and Linny stumble across a disguised shuttle set to pick up Akira from Side 3, Akira's YMS-18 Kampfer cuts Instructor Linny down and heavily damages Shinn's mobile suit. Asuna sorties without authorization to save him.
Chapter 17: Synchro
When Asuna hesitates in battle against the pirates, Yahagi takes over Asuna's unit through Synchro Mode, pulling her out of the combat area. Shinn is hospitalized while Asuna is imprisoned for her unauthorized sortie.
Chapter 18: Burial In Space
Instructor Linny receives a military funeral while his students watch. It is Asuna's first personal brush with death. A Salamis fleet arrives to provide escort and training resumes in space, meanwhile a suspicious shuttle approaches, exploding before Yahagi's eyes.
Chapter 19: Raid
The explosion floods the area with Minovsky particles as the pirates launch a surprise Mobile Suit attack. Elisia fights well, but Asuna is overwhelmed by the "voices" of the dying and falters during Ecole's first mass battle.
Chapter 20: Two vs. One
Yahagi and Elisia use remote control to employ training units against the overwhelming power of Akira's Kampfer. One Salamis-class falls after another, Shinn ignores his wounds and sorties in a trainer.
Chapter 21: Awakening
The wounded Shinn opposes Akira, Asuna hears Shinn's voice and awakens as a Newtype, displaying overwhelming combat ability and destroying four Zaku's almost instantly. A total of five fall to Asuna as she heads towards Akira's battle with Yahagi, Elisa and Shinn.
Chapter 22: Truth
To protect Asuna, Shinn charges Akira despite his unit being severely damaged. Shinn's mobile suit is destroyed and his death marks the destruction of the last of the Salamis-class. The pirates withdraw and a shattered Asuna discovers upon her return that the Salamis attack incident was a plot by project to identify, develop and monopolize both civilian and military Newtypes. Asuna Elmarit flees Ecole du Ciel and goes missing.
PART.02 – MARIE
Chapter 1: The Pirates
It is now UC. 0086, Asuna now in an ironic twist of fate is now seen aligned with Marie's pirates who are still being hunted as a result of the Salamis incident. However Asuna is continually looked down upon due to her inability to kill the enemy.
Chapter 2: Amateur
Asuna who continues to refuse to kill enemy pilots continues to capture enemy pilots and their Mobile Suits, However one of the latest prisoners appears to have a connection to one of Asuna old comrades.
Chapter 3: Abduction
The pirates arrive at Side 6 to unload the prisoners they have taken to the AEUG and to re-supply their ship. Asuna and Juna take this opportunity to go shopping however little do they know that they are being observed by those loyal to the Titans looking to re-capture Asuna.
Chapter 4: Memory
A flashback chapter that shows the unfortunate events that have to lead Asuna to becoming part of the pirates crew.
Chapter 5: Island Type 1 Colony
Asuna, Juna and Rolf put a plan into action in an attempt to escape from their captors before being handed over to the Titans. However just as things seem to be going their way that find themselves being chased by the new RMS-106 Hizack models.
Chapter 6: Resistance
Asuna in the cockpit of her Zaku comes to realise that she must battle 3 Hizacks' in order for her and her friends to escape but how can she possibly achieve this in a Zaku.
Chapter 7: Friends
Asuna is forced to surrender, however as she is about to hand herself over to the Titans a hole is suddenly blown in the side of the colony and help arrives in the form of Francis and the other Pirates.
Chapter 8: Talent
Akira is still recovering in sick bay from his injuries he sustained after protecting Asuna from the Titans. As a result when a Recon Zaku stumbles across the pirates, Thomas is forced to launch in Akira Kämpfer in order to destroy it.
Chapter 9: Bonds
The Pirates receive news that the AEUG have finally their move against the Titans and have successfully Gundam-jacked two for new the units Green Noa II. Marie realizes that she must complete the repairs to her ship as, they may now be dragged into the conflict between the Titans & the AEUG.
Chapter 10: Trial
The Pirates get a contract from Anaheim Electronics testing one of the RX-178 Gundam Mk-II prototypes that the AEUG captured, when suddenly Jack Bayard one of the regular test pilots feels insulted that he has been replaced by Pirate for the MS testing, so he proposes a duel to determine who is better.
Chapter 11: Jack Bayard
Jack and Asuna both agree to the simulated battle with Jack piloting the RX-178 Gundam Mk-II and Asuna alongside Sophie in a MSA-003 Nemo, who will emerge victorious.
Chapter 12: Pride
Asuna continues to be unable to land any shots using her beam rifle on Jack's unit, Sophie suggests it is due to the machines bad maintenance, whatever the reason, how will Asuna emerge victorious?
Chapter 13: Hostage
The Titans step up their campaign to capture Newtypes and go to Side 3 to capture Asuna's mother in an effort to get Asuna to surrender to them. However Marie proposes that the pirates will rescue Asuna's mother as part of their LAST MISSION.
Chapter 14: Determination
Both representatives of the Pirates and the Titans meet to exchange Asuna and her mother, however the exchange doesn't go to plan and both sides exchange heavy fire, and Marie is forced to move her ship into the line of fire to protect her crew.
Chapter 15: Escape
Marie is forced to ram her ship into one of the Salamis ships' in order to cover her friends and create a distraction, However Akira after witnessing this instantly begins to decimate the enemy forces, but as Asuna is taken aback by Akira's actions, she fails to notice one of the enemies she spared earlier firing upon her and as a result Marie is forced to take a shot meant for her. Asuna is horrified to later hear that her actions have resulted in Marie's body becoming fused to the cockpit of her Gelgoog.
Chapter 16: Marie Albertia
The pirate's come under attack again this time by three Musai ships belonging to the Republic of Zeon. Marie, Asuna, Akira and Francis all launch in an effort to buy enough time for the non-combatants to leave the battlefield.
PART.03 –
Chapter 1: Dakar
Several months have now passed since the destruction of Marie's Pirates, Asuna has since officially joined the AEUG and is currently participating in an operation to destroy a Titan Communication Satellite so more people will be able to hear Char Aznable's Dakar speech when suddenly the Mobile Suits of the Zwickbau come under attack form an enemy Gaplant.
Chapter 2: Rematch
Asuna moves to engage the enemy in order to protect her comrades only to find her RMS-099 Rick Dias is horribly outclassed by the Titans ORX-005 Gaplant, as Asuna units suffers more and more damage she hears the voice of the enemy pilot and the words "This is payback for back then!!" and realizes that she is battling against Erisia Nocton. It is only due to the intervention of Jack that she is not killed.
Chapter 3: Cyber Enhanced Newtype
Erisia is fighting Asuna in a simulated battle based on the previous battle against the AEUG, and as the battle progresses it becomes clear to Yahagi that the process in creating a Cyber Enhanced Newtype has striped Erisia of her humanity and personality. A scientist remarks that personality is a luxury in a Cyber Enhanced Newtype.
Chapter 4: New Model
The supply ship Naimya is under attack by the Titans and requests assistance from the Zwickbau. However the Zwickbau is under attack by the Titans as well, and is no state to render assistance. Convinced that if the supply ship is sunk then her ship will surely follow, Asuna gets permission to sortie, but is forced to launch in her un-repaired Rick Dias. Somehow she miraculously gets through the battlefield only to be shot it the back by Erisia in her Gaplant moments before landing on the Naimya
Chapter 5: Le Cygne
Asuna miraculously survives the explosion of her Rick Dias and now floats in space helpless to do anything about Erisia, and is forced to watch as Halloween Squad is wiped out one by one as they try to protect her as she struggles to get to the Naimya.
Chapter 6: First Sortie
Asuna boards the MSS-008 Le Cygne alongside Hansel Binokkeruthe unit's original test pilot and launch in order to defend the two ships. The unit's overall speed and power amaze Asuna as she easily evades all of Erisia's attacks. Erisia only becomes further enraged by this and moves in on Asuna and clashes against her, only for her to have her Gaplant completely disabled by the Le Cygne.
Chapter 7: Beauty & the Beast
A conversation between Marks Otsuka and Sophie Ferrell's is overheard and recorded by a haro unit, and as the haro floats around the ship it repeats some of the conversation out of context which leads most of the crew to believe that Marks is a pervert and has is holding Sophie is his quarters against her will.
Chapter 8: Stress
As Erisia is testing her new unit in some mobility testing, she suddenly charges at Yahagi and aims her gun at his RMS-108 Marasai. When they return to the ship she proclaims that she no longer needs someone that cannot sense the danger of the battlefield by her side, and demands that if he truly wants to protect her do so on the battlefield.
Chapter 9: Rematch
A battle erupts between the Swan team of the Titans and the Mobile Suit Squads' of the Zwickbau over a Transport ship and this gives Erisia the ideal opportunity to test her new unit against Asuna.
Chapter 10: Transport Ship
As Asuna battle with Erisia rages on, Asuna flashes back to horrible events of the salamis incident that cost Shin his life and resulted in her awakening as a Newtype and Erisia slashes of the Le Cygne's right arm, and as she moves in to finish Asuna off, Asuna is surprised to see Akira appear in his Kämpfer and save her. Unfortunately they realize to late that Erisia in reality was a distraction and the Titans have seized the Transport ship.
Chapter 11: Prisoner
Chapter 12: The Instructor
Chapter 13: Yahagi Franziback
Chapter 14: Meeting
Chapter 15: Emilu Voigtlander
Chapter 16: Augusta
Chapter 17: Warning Signs
Chapter 18: Over Limit
Chapter 19: NO REASON
Chapter 20: Crime and Punishment
Chapter 21: nest of fowl
Chapter 22: The Clash
Chapter 23: Last Illuminations
Chapter 24: Respective Feelings
Chapter 25: Awakening of a Demon
Chapter 26: Ability of the Black Swan
Chapter 27: Disintegration
Chapter 28: Separation
Chapter 29
Characters
Earth Federation/Titans
- Asuna Elmarit
- Erisia Nocton
- Emilu Voigtlander
- Shinn Barnack
- Yahagi Franziback
- Forma Gardner
- Hank Ryan
- Comper
- Tours
- Berbia
- Rinay
- Jurgen Fara
- Kerry Signet
Zeon Remnants/Pirates
- Akira
- Juna
- Tomas
- Francis
- Marie Albertia
- Rolf Berger
- Haruka Elmarit
AEUG
- Jack Baird
- Bernardo Ferre
- Michal Akarette
- Joseph Koldratt
- Marcus Ootsuka
- Reira Singlex
Anaheim Electronics
- Sophie Ferrell
- Lucas Meitner
Mechanics
Earth Federation Forces
Mobile Weapons
- RGM-79 GM
- RGM-79C GM Kai
- RMS-106 Hizack
- RMS-117 Galbaldy β
- RMS-179 GM II
- TGM-79C GM Canard
- TGM-79C GM Cannes
Vehicles and Support Units
AEUG (Anti-Earth Union Group)
Mobile Weapons
Vehicles and Support Units
Titans
Mobile Weapons
- ORX-005 Gaplant
- ORX-005CS Gaplant Custom Elisia Special
- RGM-79Q GM Quel
- RMS-106 Hizack
- RMS-108 Marasai
- RMS-119 EWAC Zack "Eye-Zack"
- RMS-179 GM II
- Dagui
Vehicles and Support Units
Zeon Remnants
Mobile Weapons
- MS-06F Zaku II
- MS-06F2 Zaku II F2 Type
- MS-09R Rick Dom
- MS-14A Gelgoog
- Petite Mobile Suit
- RMS-106 Hizack
- TGM-79C GM Canard
- YMS-18 Kämpfer Prototype
Vehicles and Support Units
Other
- Electric Lightning (The Electric Lightning is not a Universal Century Unit, it is an actual British Plane of the Cold War Era. It is mentioned in an omake.)
Trivia
- Unlike most other Gundam series, Ecole du Ciel features a female lead character.
- Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel shares strong plot similarities in its early story to the Gainax OVA Aim for the top! Gunbuster. Both of their respective protagonists are similar in appearance,, this comes at no surprise as the author and illustrator, Haruhiko Mikimoto was also the character designer for Gunbuster. The main difference between Noriko and Asuna is that Noriko is highly motivated whereas initially Asuna does not want to pilot and MS. Their subsequent actions are also similar. Emilu and Kimiko also share strong similarities in appearance and personality. They also serve the same role in both storylines. Kazumi and Jueng Freud and Erisia are moderately similar and serve something of the same role very early on at least in and that they are the skilled senpai who the main character must prove herself to. Koichiro and Yahagi again serve a similar role in the early story, however there is no familial relationship in Gunbuster. Toren Smith and Shinn Barnack bare a moderate similarity in personality, and serve identical roles in the story right down to their deaths. They even feature very similar scenes for instance in both stories the main character encounters them at some point and they break the rules on their ship, after which in both they end up cleaning military hardware as punishment. Within the first two volumes of Ecole and the first two episodes of Gunbuster the storylines diverge sharply with Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel taking a very different and more distinctly Gundam direction, however the similarities in character personality remain.
Gallery
References
Editions
- vol.1 (cover, inside illustration, novel by Kenichi Nakahara), ISBN 4-04-429801-7
- vol.2 (cover, inside illustration, novel by Kenichi Nakahara), ISBN 4-04-429802-5
- Vol.1 ISBN 4-04-713854-1-C0979
- Vol.2 ISBN 4-04-713564-X-C0979
- Vol.3 ISBN 4-04-713612-3-C0979
- Vol.4 ISBN 4-04-713641-7-C0979
- Vol.5 ISBN 4-04-713687-5-C0979
- Vol.6 ISBN 4-04-713723-5-C0979
- Vol.7 ISBN 4-04-713752-9-C0979
- Vol.8 ISBN 4-04-713802-9-C0979
- Vol.9 ISBN 4-04-713854-1-C0979
- Vol.10 ISBN 978-4-04-713936-7-C0979
- Vol.11 ISBN 978-4-04-715076-8-C0979
- Vol.12 ISBN 978-4-04-715666-1-C0979
External links
- http://www.kadokawa.co.jp/comic/bk_detail.php?pcd=200208000217
- Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia.
- http://allthatgundam.web.fc2.com/comic/ecole.htm