It's occurred to me that maybe I should warn folks about my feelings around spoilers and what kind of details they might see in my ramblings...
So, short answer - yes, I'm going to post spoilers.
The longer answer is that I don't personally care about spoilers.
I'm of the opinion that stories are more than the sum of their parts. It's about the journey, not the destination (or any particular signposts along the way). There's a lot of context and nuance you pick up along the way.
I'm old enough to remember when M. Night Shyamalan was a big deal. Everyone was all about his "twist" endings. There was always tons of speculation about what the surprise was going to be... And a lot of anger towards anyone spoiling the surprise. And I've always felt that if the only thing that made a movie worthwhile is that surprise ending - it wasn't very good in the first place.
There's lots of stories out there that I enjoyed well-enough the first time around, but I've got absolutely no desire to revisit them. They've got no lasting-power. They don't linger. And that's fine - not everything needs to be amazing. Potato chips and cotton candy are great snacks.
But there's also lots of stories out there that I revisit over and over again. Things that stay with me for years after the first reading. Stories that I come back to, fully aware of how things are going to end, and still enjoy the ride once again. These are the good stories. The fine-dining of story-telling.
So, while I'm not going to intentionally put "so-and-so dies" right at the top of a post and ruin everyone's day... I'm also not really giving much thought to what constitutes a spoiler and whether I should or shouldn't post it.
Especially since I'm usually talking about decades-old anime and manga... Or, even when it's something new, I'm usually slow to actually post about it.
I finished watching Mobile Suit Victory Gundam last night... And I guess I'm kind of wondering why it doesn't seem to be more popular.
I mean, maybe I'm just wrong or out of touch - but this does not seem to be a popular series. In fact, it seems to be downright unpopular. I routinely see people talking unfavorably about it. And I guess I just don't understand it.
There doesn't seem to be anything obviously "bad" about this show. It's set in the ever-popular Universal Century... The protagonist suit looks pretty good... There's nothing immediately polarizing like a female protagonist...
It really feels like there should be more people talking about this show positively. (Or, again, maybe I'm just missing the thriving fanbase somewhere out there.)
Anyway - I enjoyed this show.
I liked Uso. He definitely felt like a kid ripped right out of the '90s, which was initially a little off-putting. But he felt like one of the more relatable Gundam protagonists I've seen. I could really relate to how he had to keep showing up for work despite all the horrors around him. And how he'd periodically just quietly break down when he had a moment to catch his breath. I think he conveyed the stresses and horrors of war a lot better than, say, Amuro.
I didn't love the initial design of the Victory Gundam... I still think combining/transforming suits are stupid... But it grew on me. I really liked the V-Dash upgrade it got. The V2 and V2-Buster looked fantastic, but I didn't like the V2 Assault much.
I liked how clearly they contrasted the old world against the new... The old men leading the children to war... How these kids were very clearly suffering for the sins of their fathers... It was maybe a little on the nose - but it did a great job of clearly showing how this legacy of warfare and violence was dragging the future down.
But the whole conflict felt oddly small for much of the runtime. Throughout much of the show we've got the Zanscare Empire battling the League Militaire - and neither of them seems like much of a powerhouse. Zanscare only seems to control a couple colonies. And the League is just some guerilla fighters. For much of the show this feels like too small a conflict for the Federation to even notice.
And then, suddenly, in the last dozen episodes or so we've got a full-on invasion of the Earth... Big fleet battles... A newtype/psychicker super-weapon... It feels like it escalates very quickly.
I liked all the mechanical designs. Zanscare's are all very unique and over the top. Either overtly militant or vaguely alien. Lots of wacky designs like giant wheels or dragons or multi-limbed insectoid things. The Leage and Federation, meanwhile, look more recognizable. It feels like their technology is clearly based on the old UC machines we've seen before.
The politics feel a little weird? I mean, clearly Maria is a puppet and a figure-head... Kagatie clearly just wants to rule the world... But Zanscare's stated objective of creating a world based on "Motherly Love" feels a little weird. As does all the outrage around guillotines in a world where colony drops are a thing.
Cronicle was kind of disappointing. I guess I expected him to feel more like a Char clone than he did. He seemed to almost vanish once we got to space... And only really became relevant again right at the end.
Shakti was an incredibly frustrating character. I don't know how many times she got captured... Or even voluntarily went over to Zanscare... And I guess I understand her wanting to be with her mother or thinking she can convince them to give up their evil ways... But it all felt so frustratingly naive and childish. (Which, yeah, she's a naive child.)
Katejina, on the other hand, was an incredible character. What an amazing journey for her. From some kind of vague love-interest to straight-up villain. Absolutely one of my favorite Gundam antagonists.
This was definitely a much better show than I was expecting. And I really appreciated having such a long series. 51 episodes really gave them time to breathe. Gave them time to develop the characters and the world. I mean, sure, yes, there were filler episodes... But there was a lot of good stuff in there too. It all felt much better fleshed-out and developed than, say, GQuuuuuuX with its 10 episodes.
But, yeah, check it out if you haven't. It's definitely worth a watch.
...and now, I guess, I need to see if I can track down any gunpla...
Next up on my Universal Century watch-through is Mobile Suit Victory Gundam... But I'm not going to re-watch that right now. I watched Victory shortly before embarking on this whole UC watch-through... And I've been eyeball-deep in the UC for months now. I just don't feel up to watching another ~50-episode series right now.
So, instead, I'm reposting my previous thoughts on it.
Next on my Universal Century watch-through is Mobile Suit Gundam F91... And this movie clearly has some issues.
Mobile Suit Gundam F91 was originally planned as a full-length series, but they ran into production issues. Rather than scrap it all they decided to release what they had as a two-hour movie. And while there's some really neat stuff here... It all feels very disjointed and cobbled-together.
We're back to some gorgeous '90s hand-drawn animation. I don't really have a problem with the modern aesthetic... But there's absolutely something beautifully nostalgic about this old stuff.
But the animation style isn't the only jarring transition as we come from Hathaway and Unicorn... The story itself feels oddly out of place.
Unicorn really kind of cements "newtypes" as a real thing. They're a central part of that story. They're real, known, understood. Their powers can be detected, measured, and used. They can create cyber-newtypes. There's no question of whether newtypes exist or not.
Hathaway doesn't really say much about newtypes... But there's a quick scene where Gigi stresses that she was taught newtypes definitely didn't exist. And that kind of makes sense for when Hathaway was written as a sequel to Char's Counterattack... I can see that as the Federation's official stance... But it makes less sense in the immediate aftermath of Unicorn/Narrative.
And now, here in F91, newtypes are a thing again... But it's kind of the vague/fuzzy/unknown version we saw back around the first Gundam. Definitely not the well-understood version we saw in Unicorn.
And this is one of my constant complaints about how we keep seeing new stuff inserted into the Universal Century - it rarely fits well. The timeline keeps getting more cluttered and confused.
Anyway... F91 is set in UC123 - a good 20 years after everything that's come before. It's set in and around the Frontier IV colony. We don't really wander too far. The Earth and its Federation is largely uninvolved in the conflict.
Our new villains for this story are Cosmo Babylonia and their Crossbone Vanguard. They're a group that wants to re-establish aristocracy and eliminate the "surplus population".
This is move opens with some absolutely brutal depictions of mobile suit combat... Including the much-reposted bit where a woman is killed by a falling shell casing. It's a very harsh, abrupt way to set the scene.
One of our main antagonists is this guy called "Iron Mask"... And he's just kind of there. We don't have enough time to develop him as a real character. He's got fairly few scenes... No real depth or background... And his biggest moment is simply the final battle at the end of the movie. The masked villain has become a real Gundam trope, but I hesitate to call this guy a "Char clone" just because he's so completely lacking in personality.
We get some fantastic, terrifying new weapons - the bugs. These are unmanned, autonomous killing machines that get released into the colony to kill basically everyone. They're absolutely horrific, but I don't think we get to see enough of them. It's just a brief scene before they're dealt-with. This absolutely could've been several episodes of build-up and mystery before the horrific reveal. And the plan to dump these on the Earth could've easily been the focus of a whole arc.
I think probably the most-obvious place we see the lack of episodes is in the character of Berah Ronah/Cecily Fairchild. She's got the potential to be a very interesting character... She's a member of the Ronah family and potentially the future ruler of Cosmo Babylonia. But she was also raised on Frontier IV and has good friends there. There's potentially some Mineva Zabi-esque tension in where her loyalties lay, but there's just not enough time to explore it.
We see her fleeting from the Crossbone Vanguard initially... But when she's captured she kind of immediately gives-in. She cuts her hair and decides she's Cosmo Babylonia now. And then, later, when she fights Seabook she immediately switches sides again and fights against Crossbone Vanguard.
There was definitely potential for something interesting here... But there's just not enough time. Not enough room. It feels like she speed-running her character arc with absolutely no explanations. The end result feels like she's got no convictions at all. She just sides with whoever is immediately in front of her.
The movie ends with a message saying "this is only the beginning", but that was clearly not true. I mean - there was a novel and I'm sure there's manga out there. The Crossbone Gundam manga if nothing else. But F91 itself never got any more animation.
And it's really too bad... There's hints of something very interesting here, but it's pretty poorly realized.
It was a fun watch, but I don't see myself revisiting it again any time soon.
Unfortunately I'm still waiting for the US streaming release of Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe... So I guess we get this trailer for now.
Next-up on my Universal Century watch-through is Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway - a movie that somehow gets better every time I watch it.
This movie takes place in UC0105 - almost 10 years since Laplace's Box was opened, and nothing really seems to have changed. The Federation is still in charge. They're still just as short-sighted and selfish as always. And the Earth itself is still in decline.
Now, obviously Tomino didn't know anything about Unicorn when he wrote Hathaway's Flash back in 1989... But I don't think this is really a bad thing? Rather, I think it kind of underscores how empty the threat of Laplace's Box was.
Throughout Unicorn there's this naively hopeful idea that just revealing the truth of the original Universal Century charter will change the world... But that's clearly not how it works. Power doesn't actually concern itself with truth. We maybe got some scandals... Maybe somebody lost their position - had to retire to spend more time with their family or something... Maybe some less-powerful folks actually got arrested... But the world churns on as it always did. The real power-structures remain unchanged.
And that's where Hathaway picks up the story...
The titular "Hathaway" is Hathaway Noa - Bright Noa's son. The same guy we saw in Char's Counterattack. And there's a lot of continuity there. Several references are made to him stealing a mobile suit and causing his father grief. There's a couple flashbacks to previous events. And Hathaway occasionally reminisces about Quess.
We open the movie as Hathaway returns to Earth aboard some super-fancy, super-exclusive shuttle. He definitely seems a little out of place alongside all the Federation officials... But I suppose his father has enough pull to make it happen.
The shuttle is boarded by a group calling itself Mafty... Mafty is a terrorist (?) organization that's looking to force everyone off the Earth and into space. Basically this story's version of (Neo) Zeon. Somewhat confusingly - the Mafty organization also seems to be led by an individual calling themselves "Mafty".
Also kind of an odd duck aboard the shuttle is Gigi Andalucia. That absolutely sounds like some kind of made-up alias, but I guess it's just a weird anime name. She's somebody powerful's mistress... But she's also incredibly smart and intuitive. She's pulling some straight-up Sherlock Holmes level deductions. And she seems largely fearless in the face of these terrorists.
And I guess this is where we get into spoiler territory... I haven't really bothered to call-out spoilers in anything else because I've largely been talking about decades-old anime, but Hathaway is actually kind of recent. Recent-enough that there's a second movie releasing here in 2026. So I guess I ought to warn folks about spoilers.
Anyway - these folks aren't actually Mafty. It turns out that Hathaway himself is Mafty. These guys are just criminals trying to leverage the name to extort some money. Hathaway sees an opportunity and saves the day by killing/disarming/disabling most of the attackers himself. It's pretty damn impressive.
But unlike we've seen in some previous Gundam stories - there's a semblance of law and order to be observed here. So the authorities get involved, there's a police report to be filed, folks get questioned.
And this movie really plays out more like some sort of crime thriller than a sci-fi action story. There's not a lot of big set-pieces. Most of the story revolves around Hathaway, Gigi, and Kenneth Sleg - the commander of the Mafty Annihilation Unit.
Hathaway is obviously trying to hide his identity as Mafty, while Kenneth is trying to hunt-down and eliminate Mafty's forces.
Gigi, meanwhile, is the focus of some kind of awkward relationship triangle. She and Kenneth seem to be hitting it off pretty well... But she seems more interested in Hathaway... And Hathaway seems to be almost hostile towards her?
Part of that, obviously, is the fact that she immediately deduced his identity as Mafty. He's worried about being revealed to the authorities - especially since Gigi and Kenneth seem to be getting so close to each-other.
But, also, Hathaway is giving off some weirdly toxic manosphere kind of vibes. He seems almost angry that Gigi is showing interest in him. He gets upset when he walks in, unannounced, and finds her topless - complaining that he doesn't like women who walk around naked all the time. He seems to resent that he's attracted to her.
Alongside all this drama we've got the criminal investigation going on. Hathaway has to meet with some detectives to answer questions, but it's largely a formality.
Mafty stages a diversionary attack and it's one of the most terrifying depictions of mobile suit combat I've seen. These massive machines are casually crushing buildings. Just stray sparks from their beam weapons are causing massive damage. People are running in terror. It looks more like a kaiju attack than some mecha action set-piece.
But, like I said, the action really isn't the focus of this movie. Hell - even the politics of the Earth/space conflict seem to take a back seat to what's going on with Hathaway, Gigi, and Kenneth.
Speaking of Earth/space conflict... We get some good philosophizing here and there. Hathaway/Mafty wants everyone to leave the Earth entirely. To force everyone into space. As long as there's an Earth/space distinction there's going to be inequality. As long as people inhabit the Earth it cannot heal. As long as people inhabit the Earth there will be conflict.
It makes sense... And after watching through all this UC stuff I can't really argue... But it seems like a very simplistic answer. And Hathaway gets called-out on that. He gets told that the average Earth-noid is just trying to pay the bills and isn't worried about the Earth healing in thousands of years. And he seems kind of stymied by that. How do you get people to care about the big picture when they're so wrapped-up in their immediate day-to-day struggles?
And they are struggling. We find out that you need a residence permit to live on Earth... And there's an ongoing fee for that... And we've got the Manhunters just kind of roving the streets, checking papers, and forcing people off the planet - with plenty of violence. Like, these guys are using mobile suits to back up their officers as they're stopping traffic and checking identification.
It's hard to talk about Gundam here in 2026 without going off on about 12 different tangents relating to real-world politics.
I guess that's why the franchise remains so relevant today?
So, we end the movie with another big action set-piece. The Mafty Annihilation Unit is moving to attack... Hathaway gets his hands on a Xi Gundam and has a big fight with the Federation's Penelope Gundam... And I'm really not a fan of these designs.
The animation is all fine. The action is frenetic. But I don't like the mechanical designs here. They're big and chunky and awkward in the worst ways. The Penelope, especially, is terrible.
We end the movie without a lot of resolution.
Hathaway is leaving the area with the rest of his Mafty folks, who've largely made it through the movie unscathed. Kenneth strongly suspects that Hathaway is Mafty, but he doesn't have any proof and the attack was largely a failure. Gigi, it seems, is going to hang around with Kenneth for now. And the stage is clearly set for a new movie.
Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative feels surprisingly insubstantial.
I guess I wasn't expecting too much... It's just a single, 90-minute movie, so obviously there's not going to be as much there as in a 7-episode OVA or something. But even for a movie it doesn't feel like there's a lot there.
We open with a flashback to the beginning of the One-Year War... Three kids are on some sort of a field-trip and running away from the adults. One of them has some sort of newtype premonition of the horrors that are to come - we get a quick flash of the colony drop. She shares this vision with her two friends who look absolutely horrified. And then we jump forward to UC0097.
It's been a year since the opening of Laplace's Box and it doesn't seem like much has changed. The Federation and Neo Zeon are both still in power... Although it seems like Mineva is trying to quell the violent factions and turn "Zeon" into something respectable. The Unicorn has been dismantled and sealed-away... Psychoframe technology has officially been deemed too dangerous for development.
And there's a mysterious third Unicorn-like mobile suit dashing around in space. A gleaming, golden suit named the Phenex.
And, as I sit here pondering the movie I watched last night... It kind of feels like just one big action scene? I mean, clearly that's not the case. There's dialogue and exposition and whatnot happening... But none of that really sticks. None of it feels super important.
We get a neat glimpse behind the scenes at the Augusta Newtype Labs. We see what was happening there during the events of Zeta. We see what these kids were put through.
We get another neat glimpse behind the scenes at Liou & Co. We see some of how they navigated the One-Year War. Why they were involved with the AEUG.
There's some fun ties back to Unicorn... We get to see what happened to Martha Vist Carbine, for example. Mineva and Banagher make appearances. Zinnerman and the Garancieres are still out there.
But... I dunno... Narratively (no pun intended) it doesn't really feel like there's actually much going on.
Really, the central conflict revolves around Zoltan Akkanen and his Neo Zeong. But he doesn't really have a big plan or anything... He's just an unstable cyber-newtype that kind of goes on a killing-spree.
He does provide a neat bit of insight into Full Frontal's identity back in Unicorn... We find out that there was a whole Char-resurrection project going on within Neo Zeon. They were building cyber-newtypes and trying to program them with Char's memories... Instill them with Char's newtype ghost...
Zoltan is one of the failures. A broken husk of a man. He seems utterly unhinged. But, again, he doesn't have a real plan or anything... He's just out there as part of a team hunting the Phenex and then things go super-awry.
And while I think it's neat to tie back into that opening scene at the end... I don't like the implication that Rita saw all of this back then. The implication that Rita and the Phenex were somehow sent to deal with this apocalyptic threat to the Earth sphere.
I mean, this is gundam. We're already doing a lot with newtypes and I guess I'm fine with precognition and fate and whatever... But I don't like the idea that Zoltan was more of a threat than everything else we've seen. All of the colony drops and supervillains. Just this one unhinged guy with a powerful mobile armor required divine intervention.
I definitely enjoyed it more this time around. I think I got more out of it.
That's probably because I was watching a dubbed download, rather than subtitled. I know there's lots of purists out there who think that's a terrible thing... But I really struggle with subtitles a lot of the time.
But I also think having a better understanding of the Universal Century definitely helps. I mean, Unicorn itself is pretty stand-alone. You don't need to know a ton of stuff just to understand what's happening on-screen. But more information definitely adds context and nuance.
And it's also interesting how Unicorn re-contextualizes some of the previous anime... It really casts Anaheim Electronics and the Federation in a new light.
And it raises some really tantalizing questions about what the Vist Foundation was doing back in Zeta or whatever.
As I mentioned before, I think Banagher is probably my favorite UC protagonist. He's definitely got a lot of the angsty newtype kid stuff going on... But it's not as abrasive as some other characters have been. He feels more grounded.
I also really enjoyed seeing him an Audrey/Mineva playing off of each-other. It didn't feel like the typically one-sided, unexpressed love-interest. I'm not even convinced it's a romantic relationship. There seemed to be some real friendship and care there.
Riddhe was another fascinating character... It was great to see his journey from sympathetic character to unhinged antagonist and back again.
Marida was a great interpretation of the tragic newtype trope. I really hate that she had to follow that path through to the end... I would have really liked to see her survive this series.
I really enjoyed the mechanical designs and the visuals. Fantastic stuff all-around. I don't love how heavy the newtype space-magic gets... But I have to admit that the Unicorn is a very cool design.
So, next up on my UC watch-through is Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative, which I kind of have in my head as a sequel to Unicorn. I don't really recall how accurate that is...? Again - I've only watched this once, years ago, before I really knew what any of this was about, and I don't have much memory of it.
I've just finished reading A Parade of Horribles by Matt Dinniman.
I guess I'm not going to say much here since it's still a very new book and I don't want to spoil anything for folks who haven't read it yet.
Suffice it to say that this is another fantastic book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. I'm really enjoying how the focus of the narrative has shifted. They're still obviously in the dungeon. They're still struggling to survive all the monsters and machinations. But that's really not the focus of the story any longer. It's now very much about what's happening in the wider universe.
If I understand correctly we've got another two books on the way and the series should conclude with book 10. I'm very eager to see how this all wraps-up... But I'm kind of dreading it, too. I don't see how this can end well for anyone involved.
And here we are - the final episode of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn.
It wouldn't be Gundam without a colony laser. We find out that the Federation repaired Gryps 2 and kept it around just in case. And now they're planning to use it to blast everyone associated with Laplace's Box. They're going to obliterate Industrial 7, the Nahel Argama, the Neo Zeon forces, and everything else in the area. No witnesses.
And it's kind of insane to see Martha Vist here sort of calling the shots. Like, as far as I understand it, she's basically just a civilian? Like, I know the Vist Foundation has all these ties to everything and they're super-powerful and all that... But she doesn't have an official position or anything. She's just powerful because of Laplace's Box. The terrible secret that could destroy the Federation if it were opened.
And, of course, killing everyone with the colony laser to preserve the secret of Laplace's Box would become its own terrible secret - so the Vist Foundation could continue its blackmail of the Federation.
Banagher and Riddhe are battling it out while the Nahel Argama heads for Industrial 7, but it's facing heavy opposition from the Neo Zeon forces. Angelo Sauper is back and he's not showing any restraint at all now. He's kind of terrifying.
Riddhe seems to be absolutely consumed with hatred for newtypes. He blames the very existence of newtypes for all his woes. If newtypes didn't exist everything would be fine and dandy. But, of course, he's a newtype himself... Otherwise he wouldn't be able to operate the Banshee.
Eventually Marida goes out in the repaired Kshatriya to keep Riddhe busy while Banagher heads for Industrial 7... And she really does pretty well for herself. She manages to hold out for quite some time. And it almost seems like Riddhe might come to his senses... But of course that's not meant to be. He kills Marida and we get several sad moments while her newtype ghost says goodbye to everyone.
Banagher and Mineva make their way to Industrial 7... To the colony builder, the "snail", Megallanica. That's apparently the headquarters of the Vist Foundation, and we've already been there. That's where this all started back in episode 1. That's where the big mansion is, with the unicorn tapestries.
They descend into Magallanica and meet Syam Vist, who reveals the secret of Laplace's Box.
It's the original plaque with the original Universal Century charter. It's got an extra article that's been omitted in the years since... A pledge to give any "space adapted race" of humans a seat at the table. Which could easily be interpreted as allowing newtypes a say in how the Federation operates... Something that was clearly not popular with Federation officials initially, but then became especially toxic after Deikun's "newtype" philosophy emerged.
But, ultimately, that's all it is. Some words on a plaque. And I guess it feels a little anticlimactic? Maybe I'm feeling jaded by today's real-world politics... But I have a hard time believing something like that would be a scary-enough secret to fuel 100 years of conspiracy.
Full Frontal arrives intent on taking Laplace's Box for himself. He wants to keep it secret and use it to manipulate the Federation. Mineva refuses. She's intent on opening it and letting the world know the truth.
So - we get our final battle. Full Frontal has a ridiculously huge mobile armor, the Neo Zeong. It's big and red and mean. It's got a terrifying ability to take control of other mobile suits and turn them against each-other...
It's kind of amazing that Banagher is able to resist at all. It kind of looks like he should just be swatted like a fly. And when Riddhe shows up it looks like they might actually win... And then it deploys some sort of glowing ring that just starts blowing things up.
We get some kind of vision beyond time. Full Frontal takes Banagher to the end of time where entropy has devoured everything. He insists that any kind of resistance is ultimately futile. Insists that nihilism is the only logical conclusion.
And Banagher refuses to concede. "Even so." He fights-on regardless, filled with the power of hope and possibility. And the Neo Zeong kind of crumbles to dust?
Gryps 2 fires, but Banagher and Riddhe are able to stop the beam with their psychofields. Then Banagher just kind of stops the fleet that's coming to destroy the Nahel Argama. It looks like Banagher is maybe dying? Going to the other side? But he's called back by Mineva.
Back on Earth it looks like the Vist Foundation has lost its power. Martha is taken in for questioning.
As the credits roll we're just kind of left with the possibility of a better future.
The download I found for Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn included an extra episode titled 100 Years of Solitude. This was apparently an extra included in the bluray release, and I guess it's intended to fall between episodes 6 and 7.
This is basically kind of a recap/clipshow kind of episode. It's got a framing device where this is basically Syam Vist reminiscing about the past... Because, as we've learned, he's been alive for about 100 years. He's witnessed the entirety of the Universal Century.
So we get a bunch of clips from past shows as Vist narrates over them. We see Amuro jumping into the Gundam at the beginning of the One-Year War... We see all sorts of important events, like the colony drops... We see heroic moments and tragic losses...
And it's neat to see all these scenes from all these shows back-to-back like this. Especially with it all fresh in my mind. It's cool to see all these characters and designs. It's cool to see the evolution of the franchise.
I guess I don't really know much about the production of Unicorn or this 100 Years of Solitude episode... But it feels like it'd be appropriate for a big anniversary event.
But, yeah, it's just a recap. There's not a lot of substance here.
Strange bedfellows, indeed. Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn episode 6 opens with Full Frontal's Neo Zeon forces actually assisting the Nahel Argama.
We finally get to see Angelo Sauper show off a bit... He's in a new mobile suit, the Rozen Zulu, and he's kicking a lot of ass. He also seems to be trying not to actually kill anyone, which is nice. He's kind of been lurking in the background for a while now... Just kind of looming... Threatening... And it's neat to see what he's capable of.
We've got some serious tension aboard the Nahel Argama. They've been "rescued" by Neo Zeon and are now basically being occupied. There's a lot of distrust. A lot of anger. It very-nearly boils over before Mineva and Captain Mitas are able to defuse the situation.
Mineva seems to finally be accepting her role as the Princess of Zeon. She shows up dressed in full regalia and demands an explanation from Full Frontal. What are his plans? What is he doing to do with Laplace's Box?
...and it seems that he is not, actually, Char Aznable...
I mean, we've kind of known that for a while now. Char vanished along with Amuro during the Axis Shock. But there's been some ambiguity around Full Frontal's real identity. And it wouldn't be the first time Char showed up with a new identity. But hearing Full Frontal's plan puts the final nail in this coffin.
Full Frontal's big plan is basically to build an economic bloc and exclude the Earth from it. To slowly squeeze them out. To give up on the Earth itself and just build a new world for spacenoids without them.
And while that actually sounds a lot more reasonable and likely to succeed than dropping another rock on the Earth... It's also kind of soulless and boring. It's definitely not the kind of fiery, passionate plan that Char Aznable would have. This is clearly not actually the son of Deikun. This is just some shallow imitation.
Mineva rejects Full Frontal and reveals that Laplace's Box is actually located back at Industrial 7. Full Frontal doesn't take the rejection well and his forces move to take control of the Nahel Argama... At the same moment that ECOAS members move to round-up the Neo Zeon forces aboard the Nahel Argama...
We get a messy fight as Neo Zeon is trying to flee the ship. There's a confrontation in the mobile suit bay. Zinnerman finally allows a now-recovered Marida to act of her own will - ordering her to follow her heart. Full Frontal and Angelo Sauper flee back to their ship and now the race is on.
As the episode ends we see the crew of the Nahel Argama getting ready to launch into battle to try to claim Laplace's Box. We see the Unicorn fully-armored. We see some Geara Zulus being repainted to distinguish them from Neo Zeon forces.
And then we see the Banshee, now being piloted by Riddhe, approaching the Nahel Argama. He's been sent to stop them. To protect Laplace's Box for the Vist Foundation.
Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn episode 5, Black Unicorn, begins by rolling the clock back a little bit. We see a few moments prior to the end of episode 4, as the black Unicorn mobile suite arrives on the scene... And then we pick up in the immediate wake of the Shamblo battle.
Banagher is exhausted and distraught and is almost immediately defeated by the new mobile suit. He wakes up aboard the Ra Cailum.
Marida is revealed as the pilot of the new black Unicorn mobile suit - called the Banshee. Although she's not really Marida anymore... They've wiped her mind and reconditioned her. She doesn't seem to have much memory of prior events and she's only answering to Ple-12.
Banagher has locked the Unicorn's systems and nobody is able to get any data out of it, so they're going to have to convince him to cooperate... Martha Vist Carbine thinks Audrey/Mineva can convince him, but she doesn't seem inclined to help.
Bright has a nice chat with Banagher and it's really kind of fun to see him feeling the kid out... Getting a sense of the kind of person he is. Like I said earlier - this isn't his first rodeo. Bright knows how this works. He knows about newtype aces and prototype superweapons. He knows enough to get out the way and let fate take its course.
So they're going to take Mineva, Banagher, and the Unicorn to Granada. They figure they ought to be able to get into the Unicorn's systems there. But this means they're going to have to coordinate a rendezvous and get everyone into space together... And this makes a fantastic opportunity for things to go wrong.
Zinnerman, aboard the Garancieres, plans to rescue Mineva. Bright has nudged things behind the scenes and encouraged Banagher to follow his heart. So, when the opportunity presents itself, he does just that.
We get a half-hearted battle with Marida in the Banshee. Banagher clearly doesn't want to hurt her. He's trying very hard to wake her up.
Riddhe is also trying to rescue Mineva and kind of gets in the way of everything. It's really not clear what his plan is... Or if he even has one... He just seems to be kind of driven by getting Mineva back. He seems very possessive of her. Almost obsessed.
Mineva again rejects Riddhe and leaps off the back of the Garuda. Banagher rescues her. Zinnerman rescues Marida. Riddhe is left behind aboard the Garuda, bloodied and injured, glaring at the Banshee.
The Garancieres is supposed to rendezvous with the Nahel Argama, but it's got engine trouble. It can't gain sufficient altitude and it's not going to be able to connect with the cable. So Banagher flies up with his Unicorn and attempts the impossible.
Much like Amuro with the Axis Shock - the psychoframe resonates with his will and behaves in unexpected ways. The Unicorn glows green instead of red... The light spreads to encompass both the Garancieres and the Nahel Argama... And they're able to rise into space.
Unfortunately the Federation planned for any eventuality and they've got a ship - the General Revil - ready to destroy everyone connected with Laplace's Box. They attack the Nahel Argama. Things are looking pretty bad until Full Frontal's Neo Zeon forces arrive to save the day.
Episode 4 - At the Bottom of the Gravity Well - begins with a bang.
We start off with some kind of flashback to the colony drop and it's about as horrifying as you'd expect.
We then hop back to the present... We're down on Earth now and some Zeon remnants are attacking Dakar. We've got an absolutely massive mobile armor, the Shamblo, laying waste to the city. It turns out this was just a diversion to keep the Federation away from the Garencieres.
We see Mineva and Riddhe at the Marcenas estate... It doesn't look like things are going the way Riddhe had hoped. Mineva is basically a political prisoner at this point. Riddhe's father isn't really listening to either of them. And then Riddhe straight-up proposes to Mineva and gets rejected.
Bright Noa makes an appearance... He's captain of the Ra Cailum and has been tasked with finding/recovering the Unicorn. It's great to see him again. I like how his personality and role have evolved. He's clearly learned how to flex the power and authority he has... How to get away with bending some rules. How to influence the course of events. This is clearly not his first rodeo.
Meanwhile, out in the Sahara, we see that the Garancieres has crash-landed and is in rough shape. Banagher has somehow wound up working with that crew... And he takes a walk across the desert with Zinnerman to get some help. They have a couple philosophical discussions along the way and it really feels like Banagher is growing into himself. Figuring out what he wants to accomplish. Where he's heading.
Then things get loud again... Zeon Remnants are mobilized across the globe. We see several attacks on various Federation bases and there's some terrific action. We get to see a lot of neat old designs beautifully animated.
The Shamblo is again attacking a civilian area and Banagher can't stand by and let it happen. He launches in the Unicorn to try to stop it... He's almost talked them down, but it's not enough. Riddhe arrives to help out and the pilot of the Shamblo is killed - much to Banagher's dismay.
We end the episode as a new mobile suit, a black version of the Unicorn, descends towards the battlefield.
More Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn and I think Banagher might be my favorite UC protagonist so far...
We open episode 3 as the Federation attempts to "rescue" Banagher from the Sleeves on Palau... And you know, I guess I'm not entirely sure if that sentence is correct?
There's several different factions/groups and I feel like the lines of responsibility are a bit fuzzy.
The folks actually carrying out the operation are called ECOAS. They seem to be kind of a special-forces unit. Maybe the Federation equivalent of a Seal team or a SWAT unit or something.
They're operating out of the Nahel Argama, which is part of Londo Bell. That's an independent group inside the Federation military that's tasked with dealing with Zeon remnants.
Of course this all falls under the umbrella of "Federation" forces... But I guess it's not super-clear who's calling the shots. ECOAS is generally under orders from the Federation, but here we see Mackle showing a lot of independent decision-making.
And Mackle is just in-charge of ECOAS - he can't order Londo Bell around. He's got no control over what the Nahel Argama does. So I guess Captain Mitas is just agreeing to go along with the plan because it seems like a good idea? Seems like the best way to accomplish the goal of getting Banagher and the Unicorn back?
But we've also got Alberto Vist throwing his weight around a bit... I guess he's just supposed to be a representative of Anaheim Electronics? Or the Vist Foundation? But he seems to have some kind of authority or influence over the whole operation. He's not outright ordering people around... But they're listening to him.
Anyway - the operation to "rescue" Banagher begins... And it's immediately obvious that this isn't exactly an actual rescue operation. Yes, the Federation wants him back... But we find out that the Sleeves are letting this happen. Full Frontal reveals that they've essentially bugged the Unicorn so that they can steal data when the NT-D activates so they can track down Laplace's Box.
And, to that end, he sends Marida out in her Kshatriya to bait Banagher into activating the NT-D.
We get the reveal that Marida Cruz is actually Ple-12 - one of the many clones of Elpeo Ple that Glemy Toto created back in ZZ.
During the fight we find out that the NT-D is almost kind of an autonomous system. It basically takes control of the Unicorn and handles a lot of the decision-making and whatnot. It nearly kills Marida when we get a very cool newtype-connection moment between Banagher and Marida, and he's able to regain control before it's too late.
So Marida is taken as a prisoner. We get a little bit of backstory about the Ple clones and what happened to her after the war. She's clearly been through a lot of shit... And things aren't going to get any easier for her.
We meet another Vist representative - Martha Vist Carbine. She tells Alberto to bring Marida to the Augusta Newtype Lab which just sounds like an absolutely terrible idea.
We get some discussion between Banagher and Mackle about the upcoming plan... About whether Banagher is a soldier and needs to follow orders... About taking responsibility... About taking lives...
And then the next operation begins - they're going to the old ruins of the Laplace Colony we saw destroyed at the opening of the series. They're hoping this will activate the La+ program in the Unicorn and get them one step closer to Laplace's Box.
Meanwhile - Riddhe has taken Audrey/Mineva to Earth. She wants to meet with Federation officials to try to end this whole thing peacefully... Which sounds awfully naive - but also kind of on-par with the youthful idealism we've been seeing from her. She's clearly underestimating how far folks will go on pursuit of power.
The operation begins... Full Frontal shows up to goad Banagher into activating the NT-D mode again, so that they can get the La+ data. Mackle gets killed in the fighting. Everyone descends to Earth in a dramatic reentry scene. And as the credits roll we see Audrey/Mineva arriving to talk with officials.
More Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn last night... And watching this is really making me feel kind of nostalgic for OVAs in general.
Again, I missed Unicorn when it was new so I didn't really get the full OVA experience from it. But growing up in the '80s the first anime I really had access to were OVAs.
Yeah, it kind of sucked paying $40+ for a single VHS tape with only two episodes on it... But that price was obvious on the screen. They clearly had a bigger budget for these productions because they could immediately recoup that in the tape sales.
OVAs like Macross Plus just blow the doors off a series like Super Dimension Fortress Macross. And here, with Unicorn, I think we're seeing similarly-high production values. This show just looks fantastic.
So, episode two, The Second Coming of Char.
We open with the Unicorn in NT-D mode and it's really kicking the Kshatriya's ass. We get a neat hint at Marida's true identity when she sees the Unicorn in gundam mode... But the Sleeves weren't really there to start a fight and once everyone is recovered to the Garencieres they leave the area. Then Banagher passes out from the efforts of piloting the Unicorn in NT-D mode.
We get a flashback/memory/dream of Banagher as an even younger child... He's hooked up to some weird machine in the Vist mansion we saw last episode. It's pretty clear why his mother would've dragged him away from all that - definitely doesn't look like wholesome childhood enrichment.
Back in the present and the Federation has rescued our main characters. Audrey and Banagher's classmates are all aboard the Nahel Argama. They've got the Unicorn, too, and eventually get the cockpit open... Banagher isn't looking too good and he's hauled off to the infirmary.
We're seeing some clear interference from Anaheim Electronics. They've clearly got some sort of ties to this whole Vist Foundation thing. Clearly had something to do with the development of the Unicorn. And their representative aboard the Nahel Argama, Alberto Vist, is very eager to keep their secrets.
We get to meet ensign Riddhe Marcenas - he's the mobile suit pilot that rescued everyone back on Industrial 7. He seems to have some sort of interest/attraction to Audrey... If this were a Macross show I'd say this was setting up a love triangle. But this is Gundam, so I'm sure it's just setting up something tragic.
Banagher wakes up, they interrogate him, and don't seem too happy with his answers. Why the hell would anyone at the Vist Foundation just give this cutting-edge mobile suit to a child?
We get the revelation that Audrey is actually Mineva, which probably doesn't come as a surprise to anyone who's familiar with UC lore. And this time around I think it's actually the real Mineva and not some body-double.
The Sleeves launch an attack to recover Laplace's Box... Which the Argama doesn't actually have... But they'll take the Unicorn instead... And the Federation uses Mineva as a hostage. It doesn't work and Full Frontal calls their bluff.
We get to see Full Frontal in action in his Sinanju. He's absolutely terrifying. He cuts through the Federation forces like nothing. He could clearly disable the Argama... But Banagher launches in the Unicorn to stop him.
And as impressive as the Unicorn is - especially in NT-D mode - we're really seeing Banagher's inexperience holding him back. I'm kind of reminded of the early episodes of the first Gundam when Amuro is clearly being propped-up by the RX-78. If Banagher were piloting any other mobile suit he'd be dead already. But, instead, he's actually giving Full Frontal a run for his money. At least until the Kshatriya shows up again and sucker-punches Banagher.
So now Banagher is a prisoner of Neo Zeon... But they're doing the thing where they treat their prisoner nicely and try to sway them to their side with ideological arguments and glimpses of normal, day-to-day life.
And we get to meet Full Frontal...
He's clearly this show's "Char clone", but I wonder who or what he actually is. I was all ready to dismiss him as some kind of pretender until he took off his mask - he's actually got a scar on his forehead like Char did.
Is he really Char? Back from wandering wherever he was after the Axis Shock event?
Is he some weird Char fanboy?
A cyber-newtype that's been built and brainwashed to act as a new Char?
Or maybe an actual Char clone?
He says he's a "vessel" that's been filled-up with purpose... Is he somehow possessed by Char's newtype ghost?
I suppose there's probably a canonical answer out there somewhere. Hell, this is Gundam, there's probably a side-story manga that explains it all. But, for now at least, I'm enjoying the questions more than I want the answers.
We get some philosophizing from Full Frontal. An argument around the dinner-table that reminded me of an awkward Thanksgiving get-together. And then Marida has a surprisingly thoughtful talk with Banagher.
As we end the episode the Federation is getting ready to attack the Sleeves at this mining colony and "rescue" Banagher.
We meet Full Frontal in the second episode of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn... And I find myself wondering who/what he really is.
It's easy to write him off as some imitator... After all, Char went missing after the Axis Shock event. But he disappeared after Zeta, too. And when Full Frontal takes off his mask he's even got a scar on his forehead.
Is he actually Char? Some cyber-newtype that's been built in Char's image? Some poor soul that got possessed by Char's newtype ghost? An actual clone of Char? Or something else?
