Review: Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack
Movie (Anime) Also Known As: Kidou Senshi Gundam: Gyakushuu no Char, Gundam CCA Consumed in English Sub
Released just over a year after the end of ZZ in 1987, CCA is here to finally draw the first era of Gundam to a close. A capstone on the original trilogy. CCA however, isn’t simple. There’s a lot going on in this movie, and a lot left to the viewer, making this movie a source of debate. The question lies, is that a good thing? Let’s rock.
PLOT: UC 0093. After the events of Zeta and ZZ Neo Zeon has been built once again, this time with Char as its head. Char is running a plan to end the struggle between the Spacenoids and the Earth Federation once and for all, by permanently destroying the Federation. A 2 phase plan of dropping asteroids on the Earth to put it into a new Ice Age. Amuro and the Londo-Bell unit seem to be the only thing truly standing in his way. One of the initial complaints many people have with this movie, is how abrupt the start is. After ZZ only had one monologue in reference to Char, we suddenly have the movie opening with him dropping an asteroid on the Earth. However I feel the lack of build-up is quite intentional, as throughout the movie Char’s motives are hotly discussed and it leaves the viewers with interesting questions. We’re given enough to come up with answers, but we never truly see what’s going on in Char’s head. The movie continues along this plotline at a rather brisk pace, the 2 hour runtime of the movie is well earned even if it’s not enough to truly set up the new cast of the film. Seeing the conclusion to the battle between Amuro and Char is a worthwhile selling point. Seeing the old enemies battle again 14 years after their original war was quite impactful. The ending of this movie is... interesting. I definitely found the last few lines surprising and honestly I still am unsure what to make of them. It does bring things to a satisfying end however.
9/10, a dramatic finale to a strong series
CHARACTERS: Now here’s where the anger from fans really sets in. Sure there are some returning characters. Amuro, Char, Bright, Astonaige, Mirai, and Cameron Bloom all return in this movie. All of the returning characters were on-character and enjoyable. There are also a lot of new characters. On the Federation side we have Kayra, a character who’s thwarted by a lack of screen time and basically earns investment from her relationship with Astonaige. Chan, who spends the movie working with Amuro, has enough screen time but was never characterized too strongly outside her relationship with Amuro. On the Zeon side we have Nanai, who’s close to Char and generally comes off as being a cold bitch when not around him. The best of the new cast would have to be Gyunei, who probably would’ve been a super interesting character in a longer series, but instead serves as a semi-interesting view of Zeon and on Char. Any viewers of the movie will notice two characters I’ve left out. Quess and Hathaway. These characters are controversial to say the least. Hathaway, while not a new character, has his first major role where we get to see his personality. Hathaway is largely in over his head and emotional, causing intense ire from many audience members. Quess is kind of a similar case, her character thematically plays her role well, but is also a dumb brat who I doubt has any fans. Many complaints about CCA are about these characters being unbearable to watch. I found them effective despite being unlikeable.
6/10, they tried too hard to introduce a new cast and ended up introducing the most obnoxious characters in Gundam history.
VISUALS: This movie is a good example of “good for the time.” Some of the effects haven’t aged well but I can clearly see how they looked amazing at the time. The frame rate dropping when colonies were shown was annoying, but the real 3D look of the colonies was neat. The animation was somewhere between good and impressive the whole movie. As for design- I want to start off by saying how much I like the nu-Gundam design. Fitting with the movie, it’s very similar to the iconic Gundam but yet still looks newer and even a bit more mature. Some of the other new Mobile Suits had some interesting designs but didn’t stick around long enough for me to really get to know them. Char’s mobile suit was pretty cool and had the nice, fitting red. The returning characters have aged rather naturally, and as new characters go their designs were effective and memorable. Gyunei was a personal favorite of mine design wise.
8/10, aged but rather good.
SOUND: I don’t think I could listen to a Char not voiced by Shuuichi Ikeda. The OST for this movie was rather strong, though my favorite piece was the people in the train car singing for Char. The ending theme was also pretty good. As for sound effects, this is Gundam sounding it’s most Star Wars yet. It does come off as a bit cheesy, but fun. The voice acting was pretty on point, fantastic performances for Amuro and Char especially.
7/10, pretty good
FINAL SCORE: 8/10
A bit of a messy project, but the strengths definitely show through. Perhaps this should have been part of a TV Gundam, but it worked as a movie. UC Gundam up to this point has been a long story, and with CCA we draw it to a satisfying close. I know this isn’t the last page in the Gundam story, but it’s a good ending for what it is.











