History Anime / MobileSuitGundamThe08thMSTeam

* UsedFuture: While not a particularly good example overall, it's one of the few Gundam shows that attempt it at all. Instead of using pristine SuperPrototype Gundams, the main mecha are stopgap units built out of parts leftover from the project that developed the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam original Gundam]], and they get rebuilt/repaired in a variety of unique ways thanks to a lack of spare parts. Attention is also paid to maintenance and upkeep, especially on long range missions where they're away from support facilities for extended durations.

** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when Shiro fires all of the Ez-8's weapons simultaneously at Norris while sliding down the side of a building, only to miss entirely. Norris even [[LampshadeHanging comments]] "Well, that ''looked'' impressive".

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** One of the reasons this series in particular is so loved by a lot of the fandom is because the Gundams are not portrayed as the miraculous superweapons of the previous series. The machines need maintenance (''lots'' of it), repairs after battle are resource- and time-consuming (two of the team's three Gundams are personalized by the end of the series just from desperate attempts to keep them functioning after a complete trashing [Shiro's] or losing their head [Karen's] rather than intentionally making {{Ace Custom}}s), and the environment adversely affects them. One of the biggest obstacles the heroes face in the series is ''sand'' getting into the joints and components of their machines causing them to break down.
** In a more short-term example, Shiro attempts an AlphaStrike at Norris while sliding down a building, only for [[ATeamFiring every shot to miss]] because his movement ruins his accuracy. At least it looked impressive.
** Also, AcePilot or no, one unit up against six at a time is practically a death sentence. Norris sorties anyway under the full knowledge that he's highly unlikely to survive the day's events, and even though he does succeed in his mission, [[PyrrhicVictory it takes him sacrificing himself to make the shot he needs]].
** As above under LatexSpacesuit, Shiro wears his normal suit for his first Earth battle - and five minutes later, he needs to peel it off because the completely unventilated space suit is making him sweat too much.

* RealityEnsues:

** The ''VideoGame/SDGundamGGeneration'' series goes into some detail about Michel's fate after the war. Specifically, he became a TV producer and created [[ShowWithinAShow a show based on his adventures during the OYW]]. Said TV series was [[ArtisticLicense apparently heavily embellished]], being the source of all the non-canon Ez8 Gundam variants seen in the games, most notably a space use version from a completely fictitious story arc depicting Shiro participating in Operation Star One rather than being crippled in his climactic battle with the Apsaras 3.

* EnergyWeapons: The 08th Team starts out equipped with [[LaserBlade beam sabers]] and gets equipped with [[FrickinLaserBeams beam rifles]] about halfway through the series. They still tend to carry a mix of weapons, though; by the end the team typically has a beam rifle, a machine gun, and a {{BFG}}.

* AllThereInTheManual: The Hover Trucks have a proper name, the Bloodhound, but it isn't mentioned onscreen until ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamMSIGLOO Gundam IGLOO]]''.

* AlphaStrike: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when Shiro fires all of the Ez-8's weapons simultaneously at Norris while sliding down the side of a building, only to miss entirely. Norris even [[LampshadeHanging comments]] "Well, that ''looked'' impressive".

* AscendedExtra: The Flight Type Gouf has an incredibly minor presence in the story, a pair of them showing up to flank the Apsulus III and then be destroyed. The ''Battle in Three Dimensions'' short featured the main antagonist, Zhukov, utilizing it to attack the 08th MS Team, showing it to be a force to be reckoned with when used to its fullest potential. The short was even named in reference to the suit as its ability to fly brought the fight to a three dimensional space rather than a typical earth based two dimensional one.

* ChildSoldier: A group of children in last episode of the series are this, who also act as TheRemnant in case of a new war.

* DefeatEqualsExplosion: Much like War in the Pocket, Mobile Suits tend to not explode when they're taken down. Their reactors are noted to have the potential to go critical if struck by a blast so several characters explicitly try to avoid blowing their enemies up lest they damage surrounding civilians.

** The Ground Type Gundams can be seen as this to the military. They're essentially grunt suits with better armor and weapons, not game changers like the main Gundam, but more important than GM's.

* FanService: Kiki's introduction in the second episode features her swimming naked in a pool below a waterfall. The viewer [[NippleAndDimed gets a good few shots of Kiki's anatomically-correct breasts]].

* {{Fingore}}: When lost in the mountains, Shiro injures his hand from frost bite. It's not too bad, especially since Aina dresses the wounds quickly. When Shiro has his nightmare about Operation British, he imagines one civilian reaching out to him, and tearing his own fingers as he grabs onto Shiro's helmet.

* FreezeFrameBonus: If you pause at just the right time during the Apsalus III's start up sequence, it's apparently running alot of mid-90s software and hardware including both an AMD K6 and Cyrix 6x86MX all Microsoft's UsefulNotes/DirectX.

* {{Expy}}: Cool older pilot who took care of a young Zeon noblewoman when she was a kid, acts as a WorthyOpponent toward the hero, and pilots a Gouf... Are we sure Norris Packard isn't [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Ramba Ral's]] lost brother? His English VA, Creator/MichaelMcConnohie, even voiced Ramba Ral in the dub of the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' {{Compilation Movie}}s.

* MundaneMadeAwesome: Norris Packard walking alongside his Gouf Custom as they head out for combat. He's literally doing nothing but walking through the hanger, but they do their damnedest to make it really cool.
* MundaneUtility: In Episode 7, Shiro uses the beam saber of the Gundam to create a make-shift hotspring to keep him and Aina warm in the mountains. [[spoiler:In the last episode of the OVA, a group of {{child soldier}}s use the technique to create one from a the beam saber/naginata from a broken Gelgoog, a hint that they'd met Shiro and Aina.]]

** One of the reasons this series in particular is so loved by a lot of the fandom is because the Gundams are not portrayed as the miraculous superweapons of the previous series. The machines need maintenance (''lots'' of it), repairs after battle are resource- and time-consuming, and the environment adversely affects them. One of the biggest obstacles the heroes face in the series is ''sand'' getting into the joints and components of their machines causing them to break down.
** In a more short-term example, Shiro attempts an AlphaStrike at Norris while sliding down a building, only for [[ATeamFiring every shot to miss]] because his movement ruins his accuracy. At least it looked impressive...

* RuleOfThree: Sanders is known as "Shinigami" or "Grim Reaper", because every time he's with the same unit for three missions, the entire unit gets wiped out except for him on that third mission. The 08th manages to break the pattern.

* HighPressureBlood: Of the SymbolicBlood variety, when Norris Packard stabs a ''tank'' a fountain a liquid erupts. Generally assumed to be [[JustifiedTrope hydraulic fluid or oil or somesuch]] (supported by the fact that it's pitch black when it erupts from the "stab wound"), but it's really obvious what effect they're actually going for.

One of the most popular ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' {{OAV}}s, ''Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team'' is a TwelveEpisodeAnime released in 1996 and 1999 and set [[DuringTheWar during the One Year War]] of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Gundam 0080]]''. The story centers on Shiro Amada, an eager young [[TheFederation Earth Federation]] officer, as he takes command of the titular mobile suit team. Notable among ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' series for abandoning nearly all of the franchise's SuperRobot origins, thereby making it the [[MohsScaleOfSciFiHardness hardest scifi]] and most solidly RealRobot ''Gundam'' show to date. Eschewing the OneManArmy ace pilot protagonists in SuperPrototype Gundams of the main series, ''08th MS Team'' instead focuses on TheSquad doing their part in a much more localized conflict, just a small part of the larger war. With nary a [[PsychicPowers Newtype]] in sight, and the local Gundams being [[UsedFuture cobbled together out of spare parts]] instead of [[SuperPrototype ubermachines]], ''08th MS Team'' has a much different flavor than the average ''Gundam''.

In 1998, a compilation movie, called ''Miller's Report'', was released, focusing on Shiro's court martial in episode 8 of the series. This movie was never released in North American theaters, but is available on DVD, and scenes from the movie were spliced in with episode 8 in the 2001 Creator/{{Toonami}} broadcast. In 2013, a short film, ''Battle in Three Dimensions'', was bundled with the Blu-Ray box set ([[Anime/GundamBuildFighters Ricardo Fellini]] really liked it).

[[caption-width-right:350:A grittier side of [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam the One Year War]] we all remember]][[/labelnote]]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/08th_ms_team.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''Shine in the storm''. [[labelnote:*]]Pictured: [[EnsignNewbie Shiro Amada]] and [[ActionGirl Aina Sahalin]].[[/labelnote]]]]

* DuringTheWar: Another One Year War side-story, and also a thin allegory for Vietnam. Thin to the point that it could easily be taking place ''in'' Vietnam (it's at least taking place in the general area of Southeast Asia, which includes Vietnam).

* MundaneUtility: In Episode 9, Shiro uses the beam saber of the Gundam to create a make-shift hotspring to keep him and Aina warm in the mountains. [[spoiler:In the last episode of the OVA, a group of {{child soldier}}s use the technique to create one from a the beam saber/naginata from a broken Gelgoog, a hint that they'd met Shiro and Aina.]]

* RealityEnsues: One of the reasons this series in particular is so loved by a lot of the fandom is because the Gundams are not portrayed as the miraculous superweapons of the previous series. The machines need maintenance (''lots'' of it), repairs after battle are resource- and time-consuming, and the environment adversely affects them. One of the biggest obstacles the heroes face in the series is ''sand'' getting into the joints and components of their machines causing them to break down.

* MidSeasonUpgrade: Subverted by Shiro's Ez-8 and Karen's "GM Head". Instead of being a new and improved, more effective fighting machines, both examples are repair jobs designed to keep the units functioning and are not obvious improvements (though supplementary materials state that the Ez-8 has slightly better performance characteristics than a standard RX-79[G]). The "GM Head" had its original head (which was ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome punched off]]'') replaced by a head from a GM model, while the Ez-8 is a near-total rebuild of Shiro's machine after it was completely trashed. Both, however, admirably serve their primary purpose -- [[MerchandiseDriven selling more model kits]].

* TheGlovesComeOff: Twice, both near the end of the series. Once by Norris Packard, who [[spoiler:abandons any hope of being evacuated]] while fighting the 08th Team, and once by Shiro, who [[spoiler:makes an exception to his TechnicalPacifism to kill Ginias]]. With Aina's permission, no less.

* BloodFromTheMouth: Ginias exhibits this in the first scene of episode 11, presumably a symptom of his SoapOperaDisease.

* MundaneUtility: In Episode 9, Shiro used the beam saber of the Gundam to create a make-shift hotspring to keep him and Aina warm in the mountains. [[spoiler:This became a slight Foreshadowing in the last episode of the OVA when a group of {{child soldier}}s used that technique to create one from a the beam saber/naginata from a broken Gelgoog.]]