gundam

In an episode where it could’ve been all about how everybody mourns Biscuit, the show eschews a kind of tragedy voyeurism in showcasing their emotional turmoil. This is reflected within the show through Yukinojo advising Merribit not to distract them, and let them hash it out on their own. Tis a different reality than my expectation somebody like Mika is gonna need a hugout because of last week’s death.

What is shown instead is TWICE as better as any of my predictions of Mika’s character. He isn’t the Simon or Brandon Heat I anticipated he would be, and his fealty to Orga continues its reveal of not being a thoughtless endeavour. More importantly, his confrontation with Orga at the end unveils how he KNOWS his influence on Orga as an individual, leveraging the most important promise of show to pull the guy out of his funk. In short, Mika forces Orga to be cool. Yeah, it could be said this kind of psychological play by Mika could be used negatively, but then again, this is Mika. His intervention is timely too, for I believe this is the first time since the second half began him and Orga had a meaningful moment together. With Biscuit gone, Orga might need that sturdy foundation who is Mikazuki Augus. read more

SPOILERS AHOY!

It seems wholly fitting I named the title of my article last week as the “Wrong Kind of Soggy Biscuit.” Cuz it turns out the reason it was all soggy was because of all the blood.

Now we are at the major flashpoint for Tekkadan, and like Fumitan’s death for Kudelia, Biscuit’s death for our wayward heroes will shake the foundation to their very core and (most definitely) renew their conviction. It’s a remarkably well-done death and uses the old cadences of how important characters in Gundam die to great effect. You know the one, either last episode or episodes before the character is at a physical or moral impasse regarding current events, then the episode spends its time focusing on the character, showing him eager  to set things right and help his comrades. Then the moment happens, and they’re revealed to be in a position of great distress, the shock comes and you’re wondering if that person will survive. Biscuit takes a blow from Carta Issue in order to defend Orga, and his final scenes are him pinned to the wreck of a mobile worker. I’m thinking, “Nooooo, it can’t be. But at least it’s only his legs. Maybe he’ll be in a wheelchair—“ read more

Sad, innit? All Kudelia wants to do is go to Earth and have her idea of a revolutionary time, but instead of that she’s feeling so honestly attacked right now. What could’ve been a Velvet Revolution for her turned out to be more a Tiananmen Square with armed unions. We’re also exposed to how entrenched Gjallarhorn is in controlling the flow of information. While not as all encompassing as Veda is in Gundam 00 Season 2, they do a well enough job (if this episode is any indication) of fabricating terrorist events of their own doing and pinning it on anybody that stands in their way. Obviously, this means by episode’s end we’ve got a bunch of dead union members out on the streets, and due to last week’s episode and the fact this episode is named after here, Fumitan croaks after defending Kudelia from a sniper’s bullet. read more