Gundam Ace

Overview

Gundam Ace started as a quarterly publication from 2001 to 2002, moved to a bi-monthly publication in 2003, and in 2004 it became a monthly publication. The producer is Shinichirou Inoue of Kadokawa Shoten who also produces Newtype and Shonen Ace. The chief editor is Hideaki Kobayashi.

The magazine contains a number of common features found in official fan magazines, including news on upcoming Gundam series and merchandise.

Currently serialized titles

• Mobile Suit Gundam-san (Since August 2001)
• Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel (Since December 2001)
• Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam (Since November 2002)
• SEED Club 4-Koma (Since December 2004)
• Gundam Unicorn: Bande Dessinée (Since March 2010)
• Gundam MSV-R: The Return of Johnny Ridden (Since June 2010)
• Gundam Wing: Frozen Teardrop (Since August 2010)
• Super-Class! Mobile Fighter G Gundam (Since September 2010)
• Gundam Wing Endless Waltz: The Glory of Losers (Since November 2010)
• Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam DEFINE (Since August 2011)
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Re: and Destiny Ninja (Since June 2012)
• Gundam MSV-R: The Fabulous Shin Matsunaga! (Since August 2012)
• Char's Daily Life (Since September 2012)
• People of Gundam (Since December 2012)
• Mobile Suit Gundam U.C. 0094: Across the Sky (Since January 2013)
• Mobile Suit Gundam: The Nameless Battlefield (Since May 2013)
• Mobile Suit Gundam 0083 REBELLION (Since August 2013)
• Gundam Build Fighters AMAZING (Since December 2013)
• Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: Missing Link (Since April 2014)
• Gundam EXA VS (Since May 2014)
• Gundam Reconguista in G (Since October 2014)
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans And Slayer (Since October 2015)

Featured manga

Many of the manga titles running in the magazine serve as promotion (adaptations based on recent games, animated series side stories, etc.) or parody the Gundam series/fandom.

• Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Deleted Affair - Portrait of Young Comet
• Axis' Hamaan-san
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Lost War Chronicles
• Mobile Suit Gundam Gaiden : Sora, senkou no hate ni...
• Gundam Legacy
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Ixtab of Space
• Mobile Suit Gundam École du Ciel (ongoing)
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Astray
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED X Astray
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny Astray
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73 Δ Astray
• After War Gundam X: Under the Moonlight
• Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny -The Edge-
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Ore wa Renppou Guren Tai
• Mobile Suit Gundam-san
• Tony Takezaki's Gundam manga
• Inu Gundam
• Mobile Suit Buyo Gundam
• Imouto Gundam
• Mobile Suit Gundam Climax U.C. - Tsumuga re shi kettou
• Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ Gaiden: Zion no genyou
• Mobile Suit Crossbone Gundam: The Steel Seven
• Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO: Revelations 0079
• Developers Mobile Suit Gundam Before One Year War
• Mobile Suit Z Gundam: Day After Tomorrow - Kai Shinden's report
• Gunota no Onna
• Operation Troy
• The Wings of Rean
• Mobile Suit Gundam 00F
• Mobile Suit Gundam 00I
• New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Frozen Teardrop (ongoing)
• New Mobile Report Gundam Wing: Glory of the Defeated
• Arasa OL Haman-sama (The Thirty-ish Office Worker Haman-sama) by Masakazu Iwasaki (since January 2021) – reimagines Haman Karn as a "modern corporate section chief at an apparel company".
• *Ral Meshi Ramba Ral no Haitoku Gohan * (Ral Feasts Ramba Ral's Immoral Meal) by Kazuya Tani (since January 2021) – "gourmet manga showing Zeon ace Ramba Ral tending to the Club Eden night club while the staff are away"
• Amuro to Boku by Osamui Wakai and Satoshi Takemiya (since December 2020)

Non-manga columns

• Data Gundam
• Ages of Gundam
• Okawara Factory
• Gundam Goods Navigation
• Gundam Game Information
• GUNDAM"ACE"FIX
• GAME'S MSV

Giveaways

Most issues of Gundam Ace contain at least one 'free gift' item. These may be used to promote a current Gundam work or based on original manga appearing in the magazine. In the three months leading up to the premiere of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, the magazine gave away a 00 pencil board, sticker sheet and poster. A continuing series has been keychains depicting Mobile Suit Gundam characters as chickens, based on a popular manga of the same concept. Other items given away include CM collection CD-ROMs, exclusive alternate manga cover sleeves and cardboard calendar cubes.

Circulation

Controversy

Removed mention of same-sex marriage in ''The Witch from Mercury''

In the July 26, 2023, issue of Gundam Ace magazine an interview with Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercurys voice cast included a quote from Kana Ichinose in which she referenced Suletta and Miorine's marriage. While the wedding itself was not depicted on-screen, the characters are shown wearing wedding rings in the final scene of the series, with Suletta's sister Eri referring to herself as Miorine's sister-in-law. Miorine was also directly referenced as Suletta's wife by the official English-language Gundam Twitter account on the day of the finale. Previously, this account also posted tweets either in support of the main characters' romantic relationship or with an implied condemnation of other fan 'ships' with the heroines.

Following the release of the magazine interview, the hashtag スレミオ結婚 (SuleMio Marriage) trended in Japan.

However, days later the digital version of the Gundam Ace interview was edited to remove the direct reference to marriage, causing an immediate backlash from fans who claimed the characters' status as a married couple was being deliberately censored.

On July 30 a statement was released by Kadokawa, publishers of Gundam Ace, in which they claimed the discrepancy was a "proofreading mistake" and that the marriage reference was based on "editorial speculation". An accompanying statement was released on the official Witch from Mercury website in which these claims were repeated, in addition to implying the events of the series are open to interpretation by viewers, leading to angry or confused responses from fans and general viewers who pointed out Suletta and Miorine’s marriage was objectively confirmed both in the anime's final scene and by the characters' voice actors in an audio commentary for the final episode, and as such no room for 'interpretation' exists.

References

References

1. (January 18, 2010). "2009 Japanese Manga Magazine Circulation Numbers". [[Anime News Network]].
2. (28 August 2023). "Gundam Ace Magazine Unveils 3 New Gundam Manga".
3. (23 July 2022). "Nobuo Tobita Reprises His Role as Kamille Bidan for OL Haman-Sama Manga".
4. (February 25, 2017). "The "Gundam Ace April 2017 Issue" on sale now!". GUNDAM.INFO: The official Gundam news and video portal.
5. (May 26, 2018). "The "Monthly Gundam Ace July 2018 Issue" Now on Sale!". GUNDAM.INFO: The official Gundam news and video portal.
6. "Manga Anthology Circulations 2004-2006". ComiPress.
7. (February 12, 2008). "社団法人 日本雑誌協会". Japanese Magazine Publishers Association.
8. (June 2008). "Men's Manga". Japanese Magazine Publishers Association.
9. (September 2008). "Men's Manga". Japanese Magazine Publishers Association.
10. (January 17, 2011). "2010 Japanese Manga Magazine Circulation Numbers". [[Anime News Network]].
11. "JMPAマガジンデータ : 男性 コミック". Japan Magazine Publishing Association.
12. "JMPAマガジンデータ : 男性 コミック". Japan Magazine Publishing Association.
13. "JMPAマガジンデータ : 男性 コミック". Japan Magazine Publishing Association.
14. "JMPAマガジンデータ : 男性 コミック". Japan Magazine Publishing Association.
15. "JMPAマガジンデータ : 男性 コミック". Japan Magazine Publishing Association.
16. "JMPAマガジンデータ : 男性 コミック". Japan Magazine Publishing Association.
17. "JMPAマガジンデータ : 男性 コミック". Japan Magazine Publishing Association.
18. (July 2, 2023). "Gundam.Info NA Official".
19. (29 July 2023). "Representation, Homophobia and Censorship: Gundam Ace Magazine's Mishandling of The Witch from Mercury Finale".
20. "月刊ガンダムエース2023年9月号掲載『機動戦士ガンダム 水星の魔女』インタビュー記事についてのお詫び".
21. "月刊ガンダムエース2023年9月号掲載のインタビュー記事についてのお詫び".