Mobile Suit Gundam

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Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (UC) Reaction(s) (SOME SPOILERS)

Not necessarily a Newtype Ghost Party… because you know, most of these people aren’t dead.

 

So, who’s seen Gundam UC Episode 7 yet? I wanted to gauge some (informal) reactions to the finale of the Gundam Unicorn saga, outside of Twitter comments. Other members of OR should feel free to add their own thoughts.

 

From my own perspective, I was very satisfied by the conclusion to this OVA. The Laplace’s Box aspect was very interesting and actually recontextualized a good chunk of Universal Century history, but without truly changing the significance of the events. The Vist Foundation, Marcenas family, and Federation’s usual response, which is to kill everything with fire, seemed believable without being too cartoonishly mustache-twirling, and it was good to see Bright stick up for reason and rationality in the matter. You get the feeling that, while the overall picture of the Universal Century won’t change dramatically, the journey taken to this point and the revelations made for some compelling drama. read more

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MG RX-78-2 Gundam Ver. 3.0 – Review – Updated 5/16

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Welcome to my review of Bandai’s latest Master Grade Gundam model, the RX-78-2 Gundam Version 3.0. The redesigned kit takes after Bandai’s new and improved vision of the original Gundam, matching the giant statue in Tokyo and the previous Real Grade release. While it features a more traditional frame than the RG, the MG is, for better or worse, simply a scaled up version of its little brother.

I should point out that I don’t have a RG RX-78-2 so I can’t compare the two directly. While I could compare the RG and MG based on other RG kits I figure it be best to make most of my comparisons within the same product line. Though I will reiterate that the MG and RG look exactly alike (other than the size and some panel gap issues, more on that later), even down to the included markings. Between the Mega Size, Real Grade, and Master Grade it wouldn’t surprise me if Bandai re-released the Perfect Grade in this scheme as well… anyhow, I digress… read more

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Gundam AGE Episode 26 Review

Episode 26, "The Earth… is our Eden"

*****SPOILERS*****   Synopsis: The Veigans target Nortrum, a Federation production base. Flit makes the Diva the flagship of the fleet defending it. Desil is outraged that he’s in the reserved forces. The Diva’s mobile suit team launches. Zeheart launches as well. Combat begins. Asemu uses his Double Bullet to great effectiveness. Desil appears and fights both Asemu and Woolf. The Federation fires a giant laser weapon that the main Veigan ship survives intact due to Zeheart’s warning. Desil activates his ability to control other mobile suits, but Woolf saves Asemu, only to be run through by Desil. After telling Asemu to become a super pilot, Woolf’s mobile suit explodes. In a rage, Asemu attacks Desil, destroying his mobile suit. Flit launches in AGE-1.      Comments:   This was an awesome episode.    Killing off Woolf could prove to be a big mistake in the future, since he was such a good character and added something to the mix, but he went out like a champ, saving Asemu so he can live on to be a SUPAA PAIRUTO. What I liked was that the death was a little surprising, but not completely out of nowhere. There were a few death flags before this, but when he kept surviving, they were easy to ignore. But I guess I should’ve known by the speech he gave Asemu in the last episode that something would happen to him. The result is that this death actually has a bit of impact, both on the characters and the viewer. My only problem is that somehow nobody gave a shit about Grodek’s death (except Flit for about a moment), but Woolf’s death is  mourned by all. Grodek probably can’t rest in piece because of that.    The Federation has a big ol’ beam weapon that increases the effect of the Diva’s main cannon. I think it was pretty neat, even if it didn’t really do much. I want to see a similar to Zeta Gundam or 0083 fight to defend the laser parts so it can fire. I think the remaining members of the Losers Eight should attempt that.    The loser Desil finally meets his end, not at Flit’s hands, but by his son’s. That was a great beatdown. Only unlike Flit, Asemu showed no mercy at all. For a moment I thought he might, but nope, Desil’s gone. It’s about time. That guy’s single-minded pursuit of Flit put himself and his comrades in danger. This is one less headache for Zeheart, who by the way, seems glad to be rid of him, despite them being family. I love how Desil’s mobile suit could control the others, though. He should have taken better advantage of that, but he was too obsessed and wasn’t thinking clearly.    Speaking of losers and death flags, when is that obnoxious redheaded guy going to die? If I had any problem with this episode, it was my trouble caring for this guy or the glasses girl. I mean if there aren’t death flags waving everywhere on this guy, I don’t know what a death flag is. Forced romance with a non-character? Admitting his desire to marry her? Her agreeing to marry him just before he leaves for combat? I think maybe Sunrise is mocking the people who think his death is coming. It would be hilarious if this guy survives the entire generation only to be killed right away in the third one.    The action in this episode was excellent. Especially when Asemu let loose.      Overall Score:

4.5 out of 5

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ANIME TOP TEN (LIST #2) – #5 Mobile Suit Gundam Movie Trilogy (I – 1981, II – 1981, III – 1982)

 

 

Director(s): Yoshiyuki Tomino, Ryoji Fujiwara, Yoshikazu Yasuhiko Screenplay: Kenichi Matsuzaki Music: Hiroshi Matsuyama, Takeo Watanabe   As I said about the TV series, the now classic Mobile Suit Gundam wasn’t very popular at first. But due to its popularity in repeats, it garnered enough attention to warrent a film series adaptation. The TV series is a classic, but most of what it does, the movies do better. Some of the more garish toy advertisement elements were replaced with better looking alternatives and the story and themes are streamlined, without some of the clunkiness of the show. The new animation, most present in the third movie, is good enough to impress, but is also flawlessly in tune with the old animation. The new footage was headed by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, so perhaps more credit can be given to him than for Tomino for the films. 
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ANIME TOP TEN (LIST #2) – #7: Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988)

 

 

 

Director(s): Yoshiyuki Tomino Script: Yoshiyuki Tomino Music: Shigeaki Saegusa   Yoshiyuki Tomino is not for everyone, and nothing highlights it more than this movie. People tend to either love it or hate it. I can’t really blame some people for disliking it. The movie starts in medias res and many details as to how the conflict started are merely inferred. The movie will not hold your hand. The characters of Quess Paraya and Hathaway Noa are difficult to sympathize with, and their storylines seem to obscure more pressing matters, like the rivalry between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable. But I like the in medias res, myself, and really enjoy this movie for the large-scale final battle that was years in coming. What I like about the Quess and Hathaway portions is that Tomino’s highlighting the problems that the future generation have. The movie is all about wanting humanity itself to grow up, but that means also throwing away self-destructive stubbornness, and I think it does that justice. It also has some pretty good production values which still hold up to this day. Can one man change humanity? You might wish he can.     
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