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Channel Surfing: Space Black Knight

This was originally posted on June 17th, 2010.

Did you know that the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime was so popular that many sequels were produced due to popular demand from reruns on Japanese television, into the powerhouse that it is to this very day? It’s also popular enough to warrant a Gundam-inspired anime series developed in South Korea for Korean television, called Space Black Knight. While you could call it one of the very few Korean anime series to come out from the era, there is something off about this show…

Space Black Knight: Wait, This Isn’t Gundam…

A character similar to Char Aznable from the "Mobile Suit Gundam" anime appears in an animated series similar to the show called "Space Black Knight".

During a round of watching YouTube videos for hours on end one night, I found this one video where the cast of characters looked eerily familiar. Now, you’ve probably heard the story of how Mobile Suit Gundam got to where it is today. For a refresher: when the original Gundam anime aired in 1979, it was canceled and cut short of its promised nearly 50-episode run due to low ratings. But thanks to curiosity and reruns airing at the turn of the 1980s, Gundam was given a second chance to the franchise everyone knows and loves to this very day.

But let’s say that the characters are real actors and they struggled to find jobs to pay the bills after the series ended. They needed any job they could find. Well, the show you’re about to see could have been where Char, Amuro, and Sayla were reunited—and had to speak a different language.

The show is called Space Black Knight. Let’s say it’s a bootleg of the original Mobile Suit Gundam anime. It’s a Korean made animation series made in the same era as Gundam. Instead of using mobile suits, elements from American cartoons are incorporated into the show… But let’s pretend that Space Black Knight never happened; it appears to have been produced due to the ban on Japanese imports in Korea during this era. So the solution to the problem was to produce a show that no one would think to connect the dots to years later.

For now, we’ll view how the original cast of MSG did outside the show as if it were a wacky, predictable sitcom.

In Space Black Knight, Char reprises his role but uses black instead of red...
In Space Black Knight, Char reprises his role but uses black instead of red…
Sayla is in the show as well!
Sayla is in the show as well!
From Space Black Knight: Kycillia also has a cameo appearance but with different color clothing. And she went blond.
Kycillia also has a cameo appearance but with different color clothing. And she went blond.
From Space Black Knight: Char takes off his mask. Wait a minute... Amuro?!
Char takes off his mask. Wait a minute… Amuro?!
From Space Black Knight: Here's a character that we haven't seen before, maybe Katz's long-lost cousin?
Here’s a character that we haven’t seen before, maybe Katz’s long-lost cousin?
From Space Black Knight: Another closeup of Amuro... stealing the spotlight from Cas--er, Char.
Another closeup of Amuro… stealing the spotlight from Cas–er, Char.
From Space Black Knight: Bizarro Dozle. Was he that desperate he painted himself green with leftover Big Zam paint?
Bizarro Dozle. Was he that desperate he painted himself green with leftover Big Zam paint?
From Space Black Knight: It seemed that whoever this character is was reserved for Bright, but he thought the role was too small. At least he avoids getting beaten up by Bizarro Dozle...
It seemed that whoever this character is was reserved for Bright, but he thought the role was too small. At least he avoids getting beaten up by Bizarro Dozle…
From Space Black Knight: Not-Dozle challenges Charmuro to a rematch. To save money, they decided to just do the fight with whiplashes instead of mobile suits.
Not-Dozle challenges Charmuro to a rematch. To save money, they decided to just do the fight with whiplashes instead of mobile suits.

On the bright side (it would have been awesome to see a form of a Bright Slap in the show), sales of the original Gundam series in the anime’s original country encouraged more Gundam series to be made, so everybody got their jobs back, except for a few characters in ZZ Gundam.

Check out what I was able to find on YouTube of Space Black Knight. Credit goes to the unofficial SBK archive channel for the uploads!

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Sanjo-chan

Sanjo (She/Her) is the founder of Centaku Media. Of course, Sanjo enjoys anime, as well as gaming. She also enjoys K-Pop and a little J-Pop here and there. In her spare time, she infiltrates the whereabouts of a huge flat-bed truck housing a Gundam.

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