Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in The Pocket (1989)
Many know that I not a fan of Mobile suits or battle suit theme series. This series in particular was not one of my choice. It was just something to watch and bond over with my older brother.
It is a simple and short plot with only six episodes about an ignorant 11-year-old boy, Alfred "AI" Izuruha, who resides in a neutral colony known as Side 6 and how he learns the meaning of war. This story is a side plot to the original Gundam (1979). Between both storylines, there is a "One Year War" that is fought between the Earth Federation and Principality of Zeon.
In the Pocket is set during the last few days of the war. After crashing his mobile suit, Bernie, a Zeon soldier, befriends Al. Al is unaware of the divide and which side of the war he should be on. His neighbor, Christina "Chris" Mackenzie, who appears in the series as his wholesome big sister and the girl that Bernie begins to have a crush on, is secretly a Gundam pilot. Neither Chris or Bernie knew of each other's true identities.
In what is basically the only fight scene in the entire series is between Chris and Bernie.
Still unaware of fight each other. Leaving only one of them standing in the end.
The main concept of the entire series is a coming of age story for Al. How he gained a new friend and began to love him like an older brother and how he gained knowledge about war. In the end, the only ones who know what truly happened in the colony are Al and Bernie. But unfortunately, Bernie is left to stand alone and harbor this burden of stock of the mobile suit battle and the information behind the war that occurs on his colony.
A story about a boy that's not about a war who learns of war.