Twenty years after the fact, Tomino went back and re-cut his own nervous breakdown into something a person could survive, and you can feel him fighting himself frame by frame. Kamille punching Jerid Messa in the face over a joke about his name is still the best character introduction in the franchise, and the film gets you there in minutes. Watch for the seams: 1985 cel work sitting right next to fresh 2005 animation, sometimes in the same scene, the Gundam Mk-II theft and the Titans' cruelty rendered in two eras of ink at once. Then Quattro Bajeena drops his voice an octave and every Gundam fan in the room sits up, because we all know who is behind the sunglasses. Emma Sheen changing sides, Bright Noa back on a bridge, Hilda and Franklin Bidan paying for their son's war. Gackt on the credits should not work. It does.

Heir to the Stars is the first of the Zeta Gundam: A New Translation films, released in 2005. It is a compilation movie that recuts the Zeta Gundam television series, with the original material digitally remastered and some new footage added. The film was produced as part of the celebrations for the Gundam franchise's 25th anniversary, and it brings drama and science fiction together with mecha action.