Gundam Ace


Gundam Ace is a monthly Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. It largely focuses on the Gundam franchise. There was a Chinese version published by Kadokawa Media Co., Ltd, discontinued in 2008.

Overview

Gundam Ace started as a quarterly publication from 2001 to 2002, moved to a bi-monthly publication in 2003, and in 2004 it became a monthly publication. The producer is Shinichirou Inoue of Kadokawa Shoten who also produces Newtype and Shonen Ace. The chief editor is Hideaki Kobayashi.
The magazine contains a number of common features found in official fan magazines, including news on upcoming Gundam series and merchandise.

Currently serialized titles

Many of the manga titles running in the magazine serve as promotion or parody the Gundam series/fandom.
Most issues of Gundam Ace contain at least one 'free gift' item. These may be used to promote a current Gundam work or based on original manga appearing in the magazine. In the three months leading up to the premiere of Mobile Suit Gundam 00, the magazine gave away a 00 pencil board, sticker sheet and poster. A continuing series has been keychains depicting Mobile Suit Gundam characters as chickens, based on a popular manga of the same concept. Other items given away include CM collection CD-ROMs, exclusive alternate manga cover sleeves and cardboard calendar cubes.

Circulation

Controversy

Removed mention of same-sex marriage in ''The Witch from Mercury''

In the July 26, 2023, issue of Gundam Ace magazine an interview with Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercurys voice cast included a quote from Kana Ichinose in which she referenced Suletta and Miorine's marriage. While the wedding itself was not depicted on-screen, the characters are shown wearing wedding rings in the final scene of the series, with Suletta's sister Eri referring to herself as Miorine's sister-in-law. Miorine was also directly referenced as Suletta's wife by the official English-language Gundam Twitter account on the day of the finale. Previously, this account also posted tweets either in support of the main characters' romantic relationship or with an implied condemnation of other fan 'ships' with the heroines.
Following the release of the magazine interview, the hashtag スレミオ結婚 trended in Japan.
However, days later the digital version of the Gundam Ace interview was edited to remove the direct reference to marriage, causing an immediate backlash from fans who claimed the characters' status as a married couple was being deliberately censored.
On July 30 a statement was released by Kadokawa, publishers of Gundam Ace, in which they claimed the discrepancy was a "proofreading mistake" and that the marriage reference was based on "editorial speculation". An accompanying statement was released on the official Witch from Mercury website in which these claims were repeated, in addition to implying the events of the series are open to interpretation by viewers, leading to angry or confused responses from fans and general viewers who pointed out Suletta and Miorine’s marriage was objectively confirmed both in the anime's final scene and by the characters' voice actors in an audio commentary for the final episode, and as such no room for 'interpretation' exists.