is a spinoff 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...

and is a Japanese on-going 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...

 series written and illustrated by Haruhiko Mikimoto

Haruhiko Mikimoto

is a Japanese anime character designer, illustrator and manga artist. Mostly active during the 1980s, during that decade he rose to promience and is considered one of the top character designers of his time....

. The manga was serialised in Kadokawa Shoten

Kadokawa Shoten

is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...

's Gundam Ace

Gundam Ace

is a monthly Japanese shōnen manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten, it largely focus on the Gundam franchise. There is a Chinese version published by Kadokawa Media Co., Ltd.-Overview:...

. The manga is licensed in North America by Tokyopop

Tokyopop

Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...

. The manga is licensed and published in France by Pika Édition

Pika Édition

Pika Édition is a French publisher headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, specializing in manga. Founded as a daughter company of Media System Editions, it was taken over by Hachette Livre in 2007.-Distribution:...

.

Plot summary

Set in Universal Century 0085, Asuna Elmarit is a student from École du Ciel, a military school for training future MS pilots. Unexpected events occur, exposing Asuna and her classmates to the reality that is war. Along the way, the school council's real intentions are revealed.

Manga

Kadokawa Shoten

Kadokawa Shoten

is a well-known Japanese publishing company based in Tokyo, Japan. Kadokawa has published both manga novels and magazines, such as Newtype magazine...

 published the first tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

volume of the manga on November 22, 2002. Tokyopop

Tokyopop

Tokyopop, styled TOKYOPOP, and formerly known as Mixx, is a distributor, licensor, and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa, and Western manga-style works. The existing German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well...

 published the first tankōbon volume of the manga on September 13, 2005. Pika Édition

Pika Édition

Pika Édition is a French publisher headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, specializing in manga. Founded as a daughter company of Media System Editions, it was taken over by Hachette Livre in 2007.-Distribution:...

released the first tankōbon volume of the manga on March 15, 2005.