*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: A new challenger appears for Machu and Shuji in the Clan Battles: a former Federation ace, Shiiko Sugai, “The Witch”. She is fixated on destroying the Red Gundam, which took the life of her Mav during the war. Machu begins to admire the determination of the older woman, but blanches at the intensity of the fight in Clan Battle. The Witch closes in on Shuji, whose supernatural gifts give him the edge and the victory, but at the cost of Sugai’s life.
Comments:
Now this is cooking.
Not that I didn’t like what we got before, I enjoyed it thoroughly, but this episode was exceptional. Twenty four minutes and more pathos than in the entirety of Gundam SEED. And Shiiko Sugai is a breakout single-episode character, prompting a lot of fanart and outcry among the fans. Character popularity can be a weird thing, huh?
Speaking of characters who are popular, Machu is definitely into Shuji in this episode, idealizing him to the point of ridiculousness, despite barely knowing him. She attaches to The Witch, too, because she’s so different from her mother. Machu seems to attach easily to anyone out of the ordinary, as she sees her life as too plain and basic. This is probably why she’s so eager to go to Earth with Shuji someday, believing her life in the constructed reality of the space colony is too artificial.
But by the end the episode, you can feel Machu’s ambivalence, as Shuji takes The Witch’s life in combat, devestated that a woman with a family waiting for her died, but also acknowledging Shuji’s determination and the gap between their talents. It’s like her idealism towards Shuji is trying to overcome her admiration for Shiiko.
One of the things I found interesting was Shiiko’s denial of the existence of Newtypes, dismissing them as Zeon propaganda, despite the fact that she is clearly a Newtype of some sort herself. Later on, Chalia Bull surmises that Newtypes become possessed by hatred because of the lives they take. But I’m guessing that the Red Gundam is possessed by the spirit of Char Aznable, who was converted into energy or something when the Zeknova event happened, and Shuji can somehow communicate with him. So we’ll see where the general attitude towards the Newtype concept goes.
Just what is this “rose” the Red Gundam is looking for? Lalah Sune? Sayla Mass? Or something else? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Also love the inclusion of Mosk Han, the character from 0079 who added a magnetic coating to the Gundam for Amuro.
