Haro (anime) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

is the mechanical mascot of the Gundam

Gundam

The is a metaseries of anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots called "Mobile Suits" ; usually the protagonist's MS will carry the name Gundam....

science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

franchise, and is the only character that appears in more than one timeline. Haro has since become a mascot for the Sunrise

Sunrise (company)

is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...

studio as a whole, often appearing in their recent idents.

Universal Century

The original Haro is a little robot companion built by the main character Amuro Ray

Amuro Ray

is a fictional character from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam and its sequels, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Char's Counterattack, voiced by Tōru Furuya , Brad Swaile , Michael Lindsay and Matthew Erickson is a fictional character from the anime series Mobile Suit Gundam and its sequels, Mobile...

. It is a cute testament to Amuro's exceptional talent for machines. Haro's features include a limited range of speech, and the ability to hover (in environments with atmosphere and low gravity) by flapping its ear-like appendage coverings. Haro can usually be found rolling behind Amuro's next door neighbor Fraw Bow. The ability to detect brain waves is also one of Haro's functions; in one of the episodes, Haro actually claimed that the brain wave of Amuro was lowered/different.
In Zeta Gundam, a mass-produced Mk-II version of Haro ends up in the hands of that series' main protagonist Kamille Bidan, who initially suspects it to be the original. He repairs the robot, only to have it constantly address him as Amuro.

During the events of Char's Counterattack, Amuro gives a "third-generation" Haro to Hathaway

Hathaway Noa

Hathaway Noa is a fictional character from the Gundam franchise. He first appeared in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, and is most prominently featured in the feature film Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack and the novel Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway's Flash...

, the son of his captain Bright Noa

Bright Noa

is a fictional character from the Japanese science fiction anime television series Mobile Suit Gundam and the related films. In the anime, he is only mentioned as Earth-born...

.

In Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn

is a novel by popular Japanese author Harutoshi Fukui . The novel takes place in Gundam's Universal Century timeline. Character and mechanical designs are provided by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and Hajime Katoki, respectively...

, The main character Banagher Links owns a replica of the original Haro, which was given to him by his father when he was young. Banagher has added unique improvements to his Haro.

In the manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

Crossbone Gundam, written by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino

Yoshiyuki Tomino

is a Japanese mecha anime creator, director, screenwriter and novelist. He was born in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and studied at Nihon University's College of Art...

, Berah Ronah has a robotic parrot named Haro, which refers to her as "Matilda-san". This seems to imply that her Haro is (or was made from the remains of) Amuro Ray's Haro, since it mistakes Berah for the redheaded Lieutenant Matilda Adjan, who appears in the original series, and in addition makes constant references to prior events and phrases in the UC timeline.

In Victory Gundam, the main character Usso has a Haro replica that he received from his father. Usso's Haro possesses a remarkably advanced artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...

, and is even capable of controlling mobile suits, mimicking machine gun

Machine gun

A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

sounds, and projecting holographic images to intimidate the adversary.

Cosmic Era

Haro continues to permeate the Gundam franchise, having appeared in Gundam SEED as Lacus Clyne

Lacus Clyne

is a fictional character introduced in the Japanese science fiction anime television series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and appearing in the sequel Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, both part of the Gundam franchise by Sunrise. In the start of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Lacus is a good natured and popular...

's multi-colored horde of simple-speech robot pets, built for her by Athrun Zala

Athrun Zala

is a fictional character from the Japanese science fiction anime television series Mobile Suit Gundam SEED and its sequel Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, part of the Gundam franchise. In the former, Athrun Zala is introduced as a member from the military organization ZAFT, composed of...

. These Haros are roughly 1/4 the size of their Universal Century counterparts and are similar in function, however a few possess certain abilities such as unlocking doors. Lacus's favorite Haro is a pink machine that she refers to as "Pink-Chan" (often translated as "Mr. Pink" or "Pinky"). Another notable Haro in Lacus's collection is "Navy-Chan", a navy blue robot on which she paints a mustache bearing a distinct resemblance the facial ornament of the ∀ Gundam

Turn A Gundam

is a 50 episode anime series that aired between 1999 and 2000 on Japan's FNN networks and on the anime satellite television network, Animax, which was created for the Gundam Big Bang 20th Anniversary celebration...

of the CC (正歴 Seireki) calendar system. The rest of Lacus' Haros have been seen in yellow, orange, blue, green, and black. The parody comic Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Club Yonkoma

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Club Yonkoma

is an official spin-off Yonkoma from the Mobile Suit Gundam SEED anime and later its sequel, Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. It is a series of parody comics, usually four panels long . The comics are a joint venture between Bandai/Sunrise's official Gundam SEED fan club and Newtype Japan magazine...

states that Athrun has built a total of 35 Haros for Lacus.

In this continuity, Pink-chan often adds "omae moda" or "you too" to its sentences, depending on the language he is in (you too for the English translation, and vice versa), and often reasonlessly interjects with "Haro!" Pink-chan also often uses "Teyandei" (meaning "don't say a silly thing", a common reply in Manzai

Manzai

is a traditional style of stand-up comedy in Japanese culture, which usually involves two performers —a straight man and a funny man —trading jokes at great speed...

comedy) at seemingly random and nonsensical times. Pink-chan has also once said "damnit!" when he, along with Lacus, was returned to Athrun by Kira early in Gundam Seed.
In Gundam SEED Destiny, Lacus impersonator Meer Campbell is often seen with her own red Haro. Unlike other Haros, which speak Japanese, "Mister Red" speaks in English. However, in the English dub, (where Pink-chan and the rest of Lacus' Haros speak English), Mister Red speaks English with a Japanese accent.

Anno Domini

In Mobile Suit Gundam 00

Mobile Suit Gundam 00

is an anime TV series, the eleventh incarnation of Sunrise's long-running Gundam franchise consisting of two seasons. It is directed by Seiji Mizushima and written by Yōsuke Kuroda, and features character designs by Yun Kōga. The twenty-five episode season was officially announced by Sunrise...

, Celestial Being had produced unknown numbers of Haros as an assistant of daily maintenance works. Currently at least 6 unique Haros have appeared in the animation production. The Haros in the series took much more maintenance and combat role than any other series' counterpart, usually seeing them operating with various machines, including mobile weapons.

The Haro which appears most is the Orange Haro, kept by the Gundam Meister Lockon Stratos, which accompanies him in the Gundam Dynames's cockpit, usually performing radar-like duties by detecting and warning Lockon of any incoming enemy units or attacks. In the event of close combat, Lockon's Haro is able to pilot his Gundam for him while he uses his sniper rifle, and control the additional shields that Dynames receives in episode 6. The Haro is returned to the Ptolemaios in Episode 24 after the destruction of Gundam Dynames. The Haro is later used in Cherudim Gundam's cockpit in season 2.

In episode 9, the four Haros address the orange Haro as "big brother"; their colors are blue, purple, red-violet, and dark green respectively. In episode 17, the orange Haro in turn addresses Nena Trinity's purple Haro, which was found in a wreck 80 years ago as "big brother". It might be suggested it is the prototype of the other Haros from the Celestial Being; that Haro is named "HARO" in official data, which named in English but not Japanese.

In episode 2 of the second season, a red-pink Haro is assigned to accompany with Saji Crossroad, who is initially detained by Celestial Being on Ptolemaios 2, and later used in 0-Raiser's cockpit to assist Saji, who has no experience using mobile weapons. It is unknown that if it was the same red-violet Haro appeared in first season, due to lighting issue.

From Fereshte, Hanayo, a manmade AI that is of the same model as Lockon's Haro that is yellow in colour appears to resemble a cat, since it has a tail and cat-like ears which are always flapping. A character that bears resemblance to Gundam Meister 874 is shown to be released from the inside of Hanayo as shown in the Gundam 00F manga.

The Haros that appear in Gundam 00 are 25 cm long in diameter and are larger than Lacus Clyne

Lacus Clyne

's and Meer Campbell's Haros (about 10 cm long in diameter), but smaller than Amuro Ray

Amuro Ray

's.

Advanced Generation

The Haro in Mobile Suit Gundam AGE

Mobile Suit Gundam AGE

is a 2011 Japanese science fiction anime television series and the twelfth incarnation of Sunrise's long-running Gundam franchise. The series is first announced in the July issue of Shogakukan's CoroCoro Comic, and has gaming company Level-5's President Akihiro Hino in charge of the story...

is created by main character Flit Asuno. This Haro appear to be extremely elastic, and has the ability to bounce as high as a mobile suit's cockpit. Like the UC Haros, this Haro is light green.

Size

The Haro in the original Mobile Suit Gundam and UC timeline was roughly the size of a basketball, the Cosmic Era Haro was slightly smaller than a softball but larger than a baseball. The Anno Domini timeline's Haro is slightly smaller than the one in UC timeline.

Human form

In Superior Defender Gundam Force

Superior Defender Gundam Force

is a Japanese anime series. The scenario was created by Yūichi Abe.-Overview:A Japan/America co-production, SD Gundam Force initially aired on Cartoon Network in the U.S...

, "Chief Haro" is the leader of the SDG, who wears a Haro helmet to mask his real identity. Though he cannot "fly" like his toy counterpart, his "wings" do flip up his cap at times.

Video games

In the game, Gundam SEED Never Ending Tomorrow, there is a special mode called "Haro Madness" where the player fights gigantic versions of "Pink-Chan", "Navy-Chan", and a green Haro. They have their own signature traits, and this mode is said to be one of the hardest in the entire game.

In the SD Gundam: G Generation series of tactical role-playing games, Haros frequently appear as secret units, generally ones of overwhelming power, such as the giant "Psycho Haro" of SD Gundam: G Generation Zero, which is easily capable of destroying an enemy fleet in a single turn.Another mission on G Generation Seed which the player had to defeat the Pink Haro

In arcade fighting game Mobile Suit Gundam: EX Revue, when any player gets dizzy, Instead of stars there is Haro.

In the Super Robot Wars series of video games, Haros are rare equippable items, usually providing a large bonus to the equipping unit's stats or simply a sub-pilot of Usso Erwin(Mobile Suit V Gundam). Additionally, in the early Super Famicom

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

installments, the various forms of AI

Artificial intelligence

that controlled many common enemy units were represented by portraits of Haro. Using Spirit Command Daunt (脱力) in other games than Original Generations

Super Robot Wars Original Generations

is a tactical role-playing game for the PlayStation 2. Original Generations is a remake of the two Original Generation games for the Game Boy Advance and is intended to celebrate the Super Robot Wars series' 15th anniversary...

will shown a green Haro (or Pink Haro in SRWJ and SRWW) will spin around the target, causing the target to lose 10 Will Points (or some battle events will cause lose more than 10 Will Points without using Daunt). In the very early series (before 4), the AI units head icons are Haros, rather than computer chips.

In Harobots

Harobots

Harobots is a game series developed by Sunrise Interactive, it features Haro from Gundam series, as a protagonist's pet. Haro can be customized and battle for its trainer from any mecha series by Sunrise....

series developed by Sunrise Interactive

Sunrise Interactive

was a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1998 as a subsidiary ofanimation production enterprise Sunrise, and ended business on August 31, 2008, when they were shut down by Sunrise's parent company, Namco Bandai Holdings....

, Haro is portrayed as trainer's pet.

In the Dynasty Warriors: Gundam

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam

On the first day of its release, Gundam Musou sold over a 100,000 copies, making it the first PS3 title to do so on its first day. Also, the game sold about 70 percent of its 170,000 -180,000 launch day shipments, making it rank third in overall sales — after Ridge Racer 7 and Mobile Suit Gundam:...

series, enemies will occasionally drop power-ups resembling Haro with open wing flaps, which refills the player's health and special power bars to maximum. Also in Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2, originally released in Japan as , is a tactical action video game based on the Gundam anime series, and the sequel to 2007's Dynasty Warriors: Gundam. It is developed by Koei/Omega Force and is published by Namco Bandai...

, new objectives are signalled by a "Haro, haro" sound (the voice differs depending on region), and the Pink-chan Haro appears on the Game Over screen saying "Focus" (in the English version). One of the random Submissions that appears during the game's regular missions is Lacus asking the player to find and rescue Haro for her, Haro never speaks directly but if the mission is completed he asks Lacus to join the players side.

Toys and merchandise

In real life, Bandai

Bandai

is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third-largest producer of toys . Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs...

released a series of Haro Capsule toys (called Haro Cap, different from the Gundam Haro Capsule selling by Broccoli USA) with different colours and painting, which mostly painted as a reference to different icons of the Gundam universes. For example, one having the V shaped antenna painted on the forehead(?) referencing RX-78-2 Gundam and one painted red with an antenna on the forehead as the MS-06S Zaku II, Char Aznable Custom.

Haro has also been immortalized in a series of robotic toys called "1/4 scale Digital Hobby Series Mascot Robo". It was initially available in color Green but the "Haro Color" series was released later on, adding Yellow, Orange, Navy Blue and Sky Blue colors to the roster. These Haros are basically glorified alarm clocks that react to any nearby sound by rocking sideways, lighting up red eyes, creating robotic sounds, spewing Japanese phrases and/or flipping their "ears". If an alarm is set and time approaches, the Green Haro plays a tune (not the actual song) of Mobile Suit Gundam

Mobile Suit Gundam

is a televised anime series, created by Sunrise. Created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, it premiered in Japan on Nagoya Broadcasting Network on April 7, 1979, and lasted until January 26, 1980, spanning 43 episodes...

's OP theme, "Tobe! Gundam".

Years later, at the height of Gundam SEEDs popularity, a 1/1 scale (the same size as the 1/4 scale) Pink Haro called "Haro 2" was released to coincide with popular character Lacus Clyne

Lacus Clyne

. The Pink Haro is more sensitive to sound than its predecessors, along with a light-detection sensor. When the ambience transists from bright to dark (usually by casting a shadow over it by waving your hand), the Pink Haro will react in the same manner like the previous Haros, only noisier. If an alarm is set and the time approaches, it will keep saying Japanese phrases while flipping its ears and blinking its eyes continuously. Pink Haro's voice in this toy was provided by the same voice actor who dubbed its voice in the anime, Kotono Mitsuishi

Kotono Mitsuishi

is a prolific Japanese voice actor from Tokyo. As a young girl, Mitsuishi lived in Nagareyama, Chiba. Mitsuishi graduated from high school in 1986, and entered the Katsuta Voice Actor's Academy. While attending the academy, she began working part time as an elevator girl in the Sunshine 60 building...

.

On February 2008, a "Gundam 00 Style Digital Hobby Series Mascot Robo" Haro, who obviously represents Lockon Stratos' Orange Haro will be released as announced in the Plamo Radicon Show 2007. Pictures over the internet give the impression that the new Haro will be another 1/4 scale (making it the same size as the previous Haros). Unlike its Orange Haro ancestor of the "Haro Color" series released years ago, this Haro's reported features include two different modes of play and an internal motion sensor to which it will react in the usual manner as its predecessors should it be attempted to be touched. It is yet unclear if previous features such as the alarm clock function and the photo-sensitivity that the Pink Haro had would be included, or if the voice actor Arisa Ogasawara (who dubs Haro's voice in Gundam 00) will provide the toy's speaking voice.

Through the years, Japanese videogame publisher and toy maker Banpresto

Banpresto

is a Japanese toy company, best known in America for game development, headquartered in the Shinagawa Seaside West Building in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It was founded April 1977 as Hoei Sangyo, Co. Ltd. The company was renamed Coreland in 1982, and during the 1980s it worked mainly as a subcontractor for...

as well as other companies have released countless other Haro products due to the character's immense popularity as a Gundam "mascot". These various merchandise include T-shirts, wristbands, towels, circular or Haro-shaped calculators, room lights (including Platenarium-like lights and bath lights where you submerge Haro in your bath, activate him and he'll glow underwater), bath toys (a haro-shaped rubber duck that actually propels itself around the water when activated) microphones and earphones, speakers, Haro-shaped CD players and cases, cell phone accessories, plush toys, cushions and even the short-lived "Haromatherapy" room freshener in which pressing it will make Haro pop its ears and release scents to stimulate the olfactory senses.

The biggest and most expensive Haro product ever created was the infamous Haro desktop PC case. It weighs a heavy 5 kg and around 40 cm in diameter. It wasn't big enough to support all PCs as it was reported to carry relatively small computers like the Mac Mini. Incidentally, only 1000 units were ever manufactured and it retailed for 99,800 Yen. A very expensive piece, it was shunned and labelled as "a novelty product for Gundam fans only". The Haro PC case was controllable via remote, but unlike the 1/4 and 1/1 scale Haro toys, it cannot move sideways. Instead, it opens its "ears", takes out its hands and moves them back and forth while blinking its yellow eyes (instead of the conventional red) and speaking in an extremely loud voice.

Haro Cameos

After the original Mobile Suit Gundam

Mobile Suit Gundam

series was canceled, Yoshiyuki Tomino

Yoshiyuki Tomino

is a Japanese mecha anime creator, director, screenwriter and novelist. He was born in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, and studied at Nihon University's College of Art...

included a number of Haro

Haro