Garma Zabi in the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin manga vs the animated OVA - a comparison.

This is a thread that @A_Mac_0079 said should exist so now it will.

Sasro's assassination. A very accurate adaptation, I am mostly posting it because I think this is a very underrated key moment to understanding Garma's character and the severe impact of his upbringing.

Garma's mini-appearance in Episode 2. I actually like how dead inside to the Zabi-worship the OVA makes him look here, though it does change the mood from how tensely attentive he seems in the manga.

The swear-in for new students is impressively panel-by-panel, though so far everything has been.

Then we start diverging. The way Garma's physical abilities are displayed is subtly different. The manga shows his effort above all during the run, the anime focuses on ridiculing him. It then immediately makes up for that by giving him basketball abilities where....

... in the manga we only see him sulk about Char's without witnessing his own performance.

In the OVA, Garma is the only one to raise his hand for the math problem. In the manga, he is already thrown-off by Char raising his hand as well, not used to other people even ATTEMPTING to get on his level in academic work.

The manga takes Garma's frustration on being humiliated slightly more seriously by giving him more expressions, the anime focuses on the childish comedic stomping walk he does only.

tfw never in your life anyone has dared embarrass you or disobey you before and you cannot handle it

I love how Garma forgets to be mad or upset when Char does his weird newtype shoulder trick, he just goes :o

Despite the anime's love of exaggerated facial expressions, the manga has the funnier one here, hands-down.

A friendly reminder that Garma isn't actually incompetent and all his hard work does pay off in skill, even if he's never an exceptional genius.

Garma's Determination

I can't make gifs but it should be noted that in the anime he kicks his feet angrily while yelling this, which is really cute.

This close-up of Garma staring at Char before deciding to leave to get a head-start is anime-only.

Nothing to say here, I am just thinking about this.

Garma is fully aware of how his obsession with proving himself comes off and yet can't shake off the notion that for him, in the position he is in, it's an inescapable necessity. Let me point back to Sasro's death and Kycilia's teachings as contextualization here.

There is nothing interesting going on in adaptation changes so until something comes up we're just doing Garma character ramblings, I guess.

The OVA cut out what is probably my fav exchange between them. Garma telling Char to not think of him as a Zabi is twofold hilarious, both because (as Char points out) Garma abuses his privilege constantly and, of course, because of Char's revenge plans. Why would they cut it?

Char still offers the rebuttal in the anime, but the Garma line is cut, which is really a tragedy....
Also a very different vibe between them, after this exchange.

No significant commentary here, I just like these manga-panels.

Garma only sleep-talks in the OVA, not in the manga.

Up until here everything followed the manga almost panel to panel so it's wild that suddenly the OVA skips a whole scene. Maybe to not make Char TOO powerful?? But it makes us miss some really good Garma content.

This is just such a good look at Garma's overall pattern that we see again and again in 0079, where Char does something that confuses him and he immediately comes up with an explanation that suggests Char did it because he likes him. He is so affection-starved.

We continue in a manner that robs Garma of a lot of agency. This scene is cut down by a lot, largely reduced to Garma telling Char about mobile suits. Garma's personal political anger is entirely cut out and replaced with a segment of CHAR explaining TO Garma what is happening in

Zum City, which feels kind of ridiculous. Garma really comes across as pathetically naive in the anime version. And even his anger that does manage to get in at the end of the scene seems more fearful.

I capped too early, point is, he's in tears and his voice tearfully cuts off, too. In the manga he acts every bit the angry commander.

The anime cuts out Char grabbing Garma by his pride during the planning of their rebellion, which in the manga also instantly calms Garma down a tad as he tries proving himself once more.

I will never tie of pointing out that in the manga, Garma grabs Char's hands.

In the manga, Garma is present for Char getting his mask and he kinda hates it.

The manga shows clearly that Garma dislikes that Degwin says he is different from his siblings and unfit to be a soldier. In the anime, he merely makes a displeased expression in the background, the dialogue is cut.

The anime makes it seem like Garma is mostly alright with Degwin's bizzare way of expressing affection, while Garma in the manga is more clearly conflicted.

Also cannot stress how fucked up it is for Garma to know that Degwin regrets ever having him - even if it is for his own sake, especially if it is for his own sake. His own father thinks he is too weak for the life he has to live and Kycillia taught him to fear weakness.

*cannot stress enough.

The typo-rate in this thread is rapidly increasing.