This page is intended to serve as a window into the history of Charma (Char x Garma) and Charmuro (Char x Amuro), two of the most popular and influential BL pairings in Gundam, using doujinshi (self-published print works made by fans) as the point of reference.
For the original article on my blog with my assumptions, click here.
Where does this data come from?
Before we get into the results, I want to quickly explain where I pulled this information from for the purposes of transparency.
My sources are:
- Surugaya
- Mandarake
- YJA Auction Listings (current and old)
- pixiv (ads for printed books only)
- Toranoana and similar shopping sites
For determining release date, I either go by what is on the cover/interior (if shown), or what is listed in the store or auction description. I also rely on these sources to tell me if a book includes the pairing I’m looking for, as it’s hard to know any other way unless the cover makes it obvious.
In the case of anthologies, I include them if a work with the specific pairing is known to be in the publication, especially in the case of older doujinshi where the anthology format was more common.
It’s important to mention here that my data pulls are NOT comprehensive by any means. I exclude any books that have no release date listed, are digital only, or have no cover. Plus it’s just not possible to find every single doujinshi ever made, since many older ones probably have no trace online anywhere. There is also some inherent bias in using a second hand source, but unless I find a complete catalog somewhere, this is the best I’ve been able to do for the moment.
Latest Updated Date: 2023
Charma
General Trends
You also probably noticed the large spike in a category I labeled 198X. This is because I know the book’s publishing circle was active in the 1980s (among other context clues) but I don’t know the exact date.
Charmuro
General Trends
Comparison
With these trends in mind, I plotted both on the same graph to see how they would compare.
Influences on Popularity – Gundam Release Calendar
Here’s a quick summary of release dates I think are relevant to the discussion.
Original Release Years (TV/Theater/Print)
| Year | Title |
| 1979 | Mobile Suit Gundam (TV) |
| 1981-1982 | Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy |
| 1985 | Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam |
| 1988 | Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack |
| 2001-2011 | Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin Manga |
| 2005-2006 | Zeta New Translation 1-3 |
| 2005 | Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin Manga: To War (Beginning) |
| 2015-2016 | Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin OVAs (I-IV) |
| 2017-2018 | Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin OVAs (V-VI) |
| 2019 | Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (TV) |
Home Video Releases
| Year | Title | Format |
| 1982 | Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy | VHS |
| 1987 | Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy Box Set | LaserDisc |
| 1990 | Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack | VHS |
| 1990 | Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack | LaserDisc |
| 1990-1991 | Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy | LaserDisc |
| 1994 | Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam vol. 1-13 | VHS |
| 1994 | Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Memorial Box Part 1 & 2 | LaserDisc |
| 1996 | Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam: vol. 1-12 | LaserDisc |
| 1998 | Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy Box Set | VHS |
| 2000 | Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy Special Edition Box Set | DVD |
| 2001 | Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Box Set | DVD |
| 2001 | Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack | DVD |
| 2005-2006 | Zeta New Translation | DVD |
| 2006-2007 | Mobile Suit Gundam TV Series Box Sets | DVD |
| 2011 | Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack | Blu-ray |
| 2012 | Zeta New Translation | Blu-ray |
| 2013 | Mobile Suit Gundam TV Series | Blu-ray |
| 2014 | Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy | Blu-ray |
| 2015-2017 | Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin OVA | DVD/Blu-ray |
| 2019 | Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack | Blu-ray |
| 2020 | Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy (4k Ultra) | Blu-ray |
Graph Overlays
Overlaying these dates with the previous yearly counts gives the following:
The terms of Charma doujinshi, aside from the obvious early 1980s dominance, I think a combination of the Origin Manga (notably the flashback chapters) and OVAs helped revive the pairing, as well as increased accessibility of Mobile Suit Gundam TV (abbreviated MSG here) on DVD and Blu-Ray.
Even more so than with Charma, I think the importance of increased accessibility thanks to DVD and Blu-ray in terms of the Charmuro boom in the early 2000s is obvious. For example, while the movie trilogy was available for purchase on VHS and LaserDisc in the 1980s, they came with hefty price tags – approximately 17,500 yen per VHS and 30,000 yen for the LD Box.
I also have to wonder if new fans being introduced to Gundam through spin offs like Wing and SEED played a role as well.
Which isn’t to say Charma or Charmuro is better or worse, or more or less important. If you take anything from all this, I hope it’s an increased appreciation for both pairings and their place in Gundam fandom history.
I just want to reiterate again that this article is not meant to serve as a comprehensive resource, but rather one person’s effort to dig into the data and see if a timeline could be pieced together. There are plenty of things I could have included in addition, like movie re-screenings or TV re-runs to name a few, but this article already is quite long.
Thank you for reading. I’ll keep updating this page periodically.