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Oct 21, 2009 9:27 PM
#1

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THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE.
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The best one of the trilogy. Intense and bloody finale of a well-built war story with interesting characters. To the trilogy as a whole I give it a 6/10.
VeethornOct 25, 2020 4:51 AM
Oct 5, 2010 7:21 PM
#2
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Jun 2010
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That was good. 7/10 for the first movie, 8/10 for the second and third movie.

I personally prefer the TV series cuz there's more character development and it's more detailed because they had 14 hours (43 episodes of 20min) to tell us the whole story.

One think I prefer in the movies though is the lack of fillers.
supersayenOct 6, 2010 11:12 AM

Jan 9, 2011 9:34 AM
#3

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Aug 2009
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I enjoyed it, but I enjoyed the TV series a lot more.

This film is also the only part of MSG that I fully watched in dub. It was terrible, as expected. Mirai was the worst.

I'm ashamed to admit that I like Bright's fake, OTT 'English' accent. Bright probably would talk like that, ahahaha
頭脳は子供、見た目は大人! ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ
Mar 29, 2011 4:08 PM
#4

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Jun 2009
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The trilogy as a whole, including this movie, was sort of lacking in character depth. That is to say, I don't think many of the characters that weren't Char or Amuro weren't developed as much. I mean sure we got a bit of depth for Kai and a few other characters but it felt very...clumsy. The romance subplots were very bare bones and I still have no idea why Mirai fell for that lieutenant guy who slapped her.

But, at the end of the day the rivalry between Char and Amuro, who were both pretty good characters, saved the day. Lalah Sune, though very brief in appearence, was also fairly memorable. Not much else to say, I'm giving this trilogy a 7/10.
"Yes, I have been deprived of emotion. But not completely. Whoever did it, botched the job."

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Apr 7, 2012 11:24 PM
#5
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insan3soldiern said:
The trilogy as a whole, including this movie, was sort of lacking in character depth. That is to say, I don't think many of the characters that weren't Char or Amuro weren't developed as much. I mean sure we got a bit of depth for Kai and a few other characters but it felt very...clumsy. The romance subplots were very bare bones and I still have no idea why Mirai fell for that lieutenant guy who slapped her.

But, at the end of the day the rivalry between Char and Amuro, who were both pretty good characters, saved the day. Lalah Sune, though very brief in appearence, was also fairly memorable. Not much else to say, I'm giving this trilogy a 7/10.
I echo pretty much these same thoughts except im at a toss up of between rating the entire trilogy a 7 or 8.
Amuro for me at the beginning was such an annoying main character who made the first movie a bit unbearable to watch but you can see how he grows and matures throughout the movies.
One thing though is I don't really see why Char is so admired. I mean, his plot was pretty interesting but nothing really stood out. Maybe if I saw the TV series id have understood the love for Char more?
Aug 19, 2012 8:31 PM
#6

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Alright series, 6/10 for all three movies. Can't believe I sat through all that early 80's animation. It was a okay watch. Will never watch it again.
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Jul 18, 2013 11:35 AM
#7

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Mar 2012
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The whole Trilogy i would say is an 8/10, the last movie was pretty awesome though and my favorite one worth a 9/10. The thing i enjoyed most about Mobile Suit Gundam was the Amuro and Char rivalry, probably my favorite rivalry in anime.
Dec 13, 2013 12:32 PM
#8

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Jun 2012
2593
This was my favourite movie out of the trilogy. Although, they skipped M'Quve's death, which I found disappointing considering his last words are "priceless".
Jan 6, 2014 7:51 AM
#9

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Aug 2012
738
What an amazing trilogy, I actually watched the original series 2 years ago. This made me remember how epic that experience was. On to Zeta !!!!
Feb 10, 2014 9:49 PM

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May 2008
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While I would agree this movie is the best of the three I would still give it a 7/10 for keeping things that could of been cut and would of affected *nothing* while changing and cutting other things. Mirai and Sleggar's sudden romance is still bad and Char and Lalah's kiss is still out of nowhere and pointless. With everything that got cut out, these scenes seem like annoying, pointless fluff. The very thing this movie was supposed to cut out.

Add that they suddenly changed the Guntank into another Guncannon (with no explanation, no less), Lalah's purpose is still barely explained (did she give Amuro her Newtype powers somehow?), and one of my favorite scenes was cut down heavily and I can't help but wonder what made them choose which scenes to cut or keep.

But, they expanded on the Newtypes more effectively compared to the TV series and movie 2, so that was a plus. And that awesome headshot was worth re-seeing in bright colors.

7/10 for the whole trilogy. Same as the TV series.

JogaBonito said:
One thing though is I don't really see why Char is so admired. I mean, his plot was pretty interesting but nothing really stood out. Maybe if I saw the TV series id have understood the love for Char more?


Not really. Char in the movies is mostly the same than in the TV series. I've found that he's a bit more flip-floppy in his goals in the TV series and the movie helps cuts it down a bit.
Dec 23, 2014 12:19 PM

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Amuro was somehow even more amazing in the movie rendition than in the TV-series. And so was Char, actually. Fights were pretty entertaining as expected, and the iconic assault against A Baoa Qu and the subsequent sword duel were just as epic as I wanted them to be.

Overall, this movie series wasn't a waste of time, and I think I appreciate 0079 Gundam even a little more now - these movies are actually superior to the TV-series!

8/10 for the whole trilogy.
Jan 5, 2015 10:31 AM

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This movie series reminded me a lot of Star Wars just with a bit more complicated chain of events. :p
But it starts with light sabers, has a "enemy" with a signature helmet and even the finale felt similar to me. But I liked it. I think this would be good with a remake, just for the visuals.
Jan 16, 2015 9:55 PM

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I don't know if this is better explained in the TV series but Mirai and Sleggar's sudden romance came out of no where and kind of pissed me off. I'm like good romances in series but that one made absolutely no sense, I figured it would be a romance between Lt. Bright and Mirai but whatever.

Overall I still really enjoyed this trilogy and the 3rd movie was fantastic, the battles throughout this series were a spectacle to watch even in early 80's animation. Well I guess its time for me to watch Zeta now.
May 3, 2015 10:59 PM

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Is there any new content/scenes that the movie adds? I can't find it online so I was considering picking up with the tv show.
Sep 11, 2015 12:38 AM

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Well that was a fun ride. I'm glad these compilation movies were made. This was definitely the best movie out of the trilogy.

Gundam Zeta movies here I come!
Nov 5, 2015 10:27 PM
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Jul 2015
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Just finished watching the trilogy. The movies is definitely a fast watch than tv series and definitely drop knowledge of the beginning uc. Is char alive? Was that him leaving in the red ship?
Dec 9, 2015 5:51 PM

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This is maybe the best anime film Ive ever watched besides "Macross: Do you remember love?".
The final is emotionally epic; the animation is beatiful and the characteres are memorable.
Definitely a true classic.
Mar 4, 2016 11:44 AM

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So I just watched this trilogy over the course of two days, and I have to say I enjoyed it a lot more than the series. I don't really want to turn my thoughts into a proper review because then I'd have to explain what MSG is all about, and I'm pretty sure everyone knows that already. So instead, I'll just type them here.

I found it a lot easier to follow everything in the movies. Not that the plot was that complicated to begin with, but it all moved very slowly and there was a lot of pointless filler, especially early on, that actually made me stop paying attention and miss something important.

They're also considerably more spectacular to watch, especially when the revamped animation starts kicking in. Operation Odessa and the final battle at A Baoa Qu were both amazing to watch.

The only part that I didn't like is that the movies sort of cut off at weird points. I guess for some reason they wanted them all to be around the same length, but if it was up to me, I'd have made them increasingly longer.

The first movie seems to climax with the battle against Garma, but then it keeps going. While the rest of it includes some of my favourite parts of the story, it feels a little strange when it's still in the first movie... I kept waiting for it to end, which was distracting. It's especially strange because some of the characters get swapped out; Char leaves the story and instead we're introduced to Ramba Ral and his team, who don't really do anything until the second movie.

That's why if I'd been in charge of editing these movies, I would've ended with Garma, then picked up the second movie after that. Starts you off with the aftermath of that, then Ramba Ral and co. are introduced. Then I'd end the second movie with Operation Odessa, so you get that entire arc contained in one movie.

The trickiest part is what remains of the second movie. I always thought the entire plot with the bombs and the kids discovering them was really lame to begin with, but it looks like they couldn't think of a way to reintroduce Char as well as justify the kids joining the rest of the crew in space.

To be honest, I can't either, but if the budget had stretched a bit further, maybe they could've started the third movie with a much more to the point sequence of the White Base returning to space and gone from there. You -would- have to remove the Miharu and Kai subplot, and while I like that Kai actually gets to not be a jackass for a little bit, it doesn't really tie into anything.

After that, just cut out Sleggar and the return of Amuro's dad (boy, was that pointless and jarring) and you're in the clear!

But even as it is, I'd wholeheartedly recommend this trilogy to Gundam newcomers, which is more than I can say for most Gundam stuff--a lot of it comes with a "but you have to ignore this part" when I have to give my honest opinion.
Mar 22, 2016 3:23 PM

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Film: 9/10. (personal enjoyment: 5/5)
Trilogy: 8/10. (lack of link between some scenes, and of time for certain characters)

This movie was the best of the three, and a reason enough to watch them all (or at least to watch this one instead of the TV show's last batch of episodes). Despite the problematic allocation of time to the different segments, each one felt great and the resulting film felt more cohesive. The short calm period on Side-6 delivered some great moments (Lalah's first scene, Amuro/Char's first real meeting and Mirai's reunion with his fiancé). The death of Dozle at Solomon was memorable (but I would have personally added a few minutes of family time about him) and the battle itself correct. Obviously, Ao Baoa Qu was the highest point of the story and that was very well rendered. It was at times thrilling, exciting or moving (when I first read it in The Origin, but even revisiting it through the movie was effective). Too bad its nature of compilation prevents the existence of well-drawn links between a few scenes or sequences.
The drawings and animations felt a good level above the previous films and the related TV episodes. Lalah Sune's voice was so good (a lot better than I had "voiced" her reading the manga), I recognized it instantly but needed time to understand it was "Kido Saori" (St.Seiya) among other well-known roles.

What is this last scene showing a red or orange ship near the battlefield debris then flying away (toward the Earth) with two silhouettes onboard meaning? Almost the exact same scene was featured in The Origin (without a silhouette).
edit: the scene is absent from the TV series. (it only shows Amuro's jet then ends)


Nevermind, I found the answer accidentally while watching reanimated footage from 0079:



=========================
@MichaelJackson Wich events are you refering to? Because everything that was adapted in The Origin was made up (based on what was said in the TV series/movies you just saw) long AFTER.

About the animation, I never realized it was bad... I even see a jump in quality between the second and third movie (notably the A Baoa Qu battle or a bit earlier with the encounter).
Beware for Zeta: the soap-opera and drama ingredients will be amped up beyond your imagination to the detriment of other "serious" aspects (war, "politics, ...)

Great to see someone who did the jump from the Origin OAVs to the (almost) original story!


MichaelJackson said:

the relationship between lalah and char for example, or how lalah is some type of esper.

I see. Firstly, the relationship between Lalah and Char, like many things in the series/movies is infered through behaviours/dialogues (that's probably the aspect I like the most in Tomino's and the least appreciated among US/Internet people who prefer when everything is layed down on paper). One of the best and worst examples of this "technique" is Char Aznable (the character of 79/Zeta/Counterattack).

Secondly, the Newtype thing (if this is what you mean by ESPer) is actually better introduced in the movies. And despite being a summary trilogy, the third movie is (at least partially) better build than the end of the series so don't regret choosing the "fast option".



June 26, 2019
@Gytanzo Glad you aknowledged the difference in animation&drawings between the TV and movie footages. (you're the 1st one I see here)

About the character development, I won't say "it's because of cuts or time": you can establish a character very well in a short time in video formats, and the same goes for portraying traits change plus nothing of importance for the side characters was lost here (apart maybe facing the refugees "mutinery" in the early episodes). No, Tomino is the kind of person who will often not focus the attention on a character's change (with a few exceptions like Kai) and rather show it directly (for me, an easy example of that would be Bright), neither does hehands out every info, some being simply "implied" through what we see.

... going to fly over your post to answer more (unless it bothers you)
"Sympathy for the dead"
It's war, it has deaths, many. While emotional attachment can be indeed an interesting thing to play with your audience, it isn't a necessary thing when you are simply piling up dead bodies (although Tomino didn't go so far here, he actually waited the early 90s to "toss death around", in Gundam at least). I'll use a few examples here:
- Amon's death was, for me, a way to insist on the fact "good people" die on both sides of the war, even when they're not actually trying to defend their camp's idea (she was doing it for her lover's death, and Ral was stucked with the Zabi despite being presented as a "partisan" of Zeon Deikun). That 's facts. I won't be sad that this blond beauty died, I will think it's sad that war can affect people this way.
- Miharu's death; easy enough, I didn't care for the orphan who found a way to survive, I thoughtthat it was regrettable for Kai, as he was changing from being a petty teenager to be a bit more responsible and he became partly responsible of a girl's death.
- Lala's death was to reinforce Amuro and Char's conflict with a personal aspect (it was until then only a matter of pride for Char and survival for Amuro, plus Char was mainly fighting for his own revdnge scheme, not for ideas).
Her (and the NT's) point was to enforce the post-war idea that conflict could be avoided if people tried to connect more. But here we see that the NT / hippies/ understanding peoples / whatever are only a minority,
Of course, you can see NT as something only made as a supernatural elmnt, but it was obviously a simple representation (can I say metaphore in this case?)

At most, I connected with Amuro (understanding what hz was going through and seeing things from his perspective), was interesting by Char enough to try to understand his mind (it took two series and a movie!), appreciated Bright. I also "felt" something for the crew, but it was nothing emotional, it was more like I saw them as a family that I accompanied for a certain time.


"just boring"
It certainly is boring if you expect mainly action and soap-opera dramatics to entertain you. The war drama aspect is more on the war (and its effects) itself than on the personal side of things (although Amuro being the hero, we get some of that too).
This was never meant for "mecha-fan", the "target audience" of the TV series was kids, as in a large generalist children audience. The creator (and the team who joined him) wanted to try, for once, to tell a story that didn't took kids as dumb little ones but instead tried to convey them some things about war. Ans, I'll admit, Tomino originally never wanted to make animation, he studied with the idea of becoming a movies director.
The lack of "gundam fights" comes from the fat trimmering: while Tomino was forced by producers (toy makers) to make regular (weekly) robot action with as many different new models as possible, he removed most of it when he got the freedom to do so (also, he considered it as rather unrealistic).

fairly grounded"
I saw this universe as such, the way the SF innovations, the effects on the society are portrayed. Along the war representation and characters depiction (although one can't see Char as a logically made character at first).
But yes, the NT thing seems to contradict the visible efforts on this aspect. It didn't bother me in this movie as it is presented as nothing more than a commentary (I found that elegant) coupled with a slight 6th sense. I came to love the sound effect but the increasing reliance on it and constant mentions in direct sequels annoyed me a lot.


I hope the remainder is better
It is... not. At the very least, based on a part of your terms.
The war drama you seem to dislike recedes while the soap-opera antics and drama are powered up out-of-scale with the second series (Zeta). But again, most deaths are made to be felt by the characters, NOT YOU: it gives purpose, saddens, encourages, ... characters. We are merely the observers. A problem I share with many peoples is the way NT takes an increasing relevance with the next few installments, firstly because the director decides to exploit it as a convenient shortcut for many things, including battle powers, 2ndly he tried to use it as a way to express a new interesting point, 3rdly it was popular: it is used as soon as the 1st ep of the first sequel. The worst point of the NT exploitation comes with no surprise in Unicorn , a novels series (turned into OAVs) written by a japanese author that happened to be a big Tomino Gundam fan, sadly.
It's better animated and drawn (being from the 80s and coming after the incredible all-age boom that was the movies release). It has many, many, many, many mechaction ! As a TV series, it proceeds to progress extremely slowly (making the road of the hero that much depressing and nerving) by fedicating 50% of EVERY episode to battles. (reaching an absurd point, where skirmishes happen out of nowhere). After all, the audience was there not for the serious points the director wanted to express or the great universe he developed but for the teenagers soap and/or the robots.
Also, don't watch the movies remake/compilation hybrid.

The mecha porn/fan-service and full-on robots focused series can be found mainly in other universes (those series that do not happen in the creator's world).


In those times, to approach the original Gundam, I would have advised to read the beautiful comics adaptation The Origin (by the chief animator) that rounds everything that was rough and changes the order of events so that geography itself is logical.


Finally, this is never a waste of time to read how others understood/saw something, I could always notice something new or learn how to word something I thought too.

PS: may I suggest you to turn your attention to the prequel OAVs (currently broadcasted as a recut for TV, available as simulcast) ? The Origin series is a nice companion piece if you don't mind seeing a lot of Char along Zabi peoples. It's based on the flashback chapters created by the charadesigner when he rewrote Tomino's 79series and trilogy compilation into a refined manga series.


PPS about Geass: unlike this war story, Geass wants to make you feel sad about people dying like they were your own relations. This thriller soap actually NEEDS to, since its two biggest assets rely on illogical "thinking":
- as a thriller, it requires regular turnarounds/turnabouts in order to maintain a degree of "what could happen next?!" among its viewership,
- as a soap-opera "feuilleton", the high dramatics (including death events) have to impact you like you were part of it, thus it has to provoke some sort of slight emotional connection / habit between you & characters.
I may highly dislike this series but I didn't wrote this as a negative critic. (my main point of contention is the extent the show is ready to go to produce its turnabouts and prompt "feelings" from the audience)


=====
@St0rmblade
[0079 theatrical compilation] → The Origin OAVs (unless you read the books) → Zeta Gundam TV → ZZ Gundam (maybe hard to endure thanks to the worst ratio good/bad ideas of all Tomino's creations) → CCA (theatrical finale of this whole part)
Then UC 's 2nd century: F91 (WARNING: not a film but a feature-length trailer that displays some great or genius scenes, Star Wars nods and most importantly the beauty of Yasuhiko's art, the failed rebirth of Gundam for a new generation) → Victory Gundam (a technically weak series weakened by producers will and wandering aimlessly for too long, a great presentation of "war is bleak", experimental in some themes)
Then after a big leap in time: G-Reco (entirely facultative, highly condensed deluxe TV show featuring everything Tomino, except his marks of depression, a new discourse for its creator. Supposedly "unintelligible" and stupid for most internet sheeps) → Turn A Gundam (THE epilogue of Tomino's saga, where he goes in a totally different direction to illustrate again his anti_war sentiment.

I recommend you to watch 0080 at any time, a pretty "in-colony" story using what you just saw as backdrop.

Others will also talk about Unicorn (deluxe OAVs), the series that received the best ( PHENOMENAL ) welcome among the internet consumers, who liked or disliked the UC (I wonder how).
A wanna-be epilogue for the first part (0079-Z-ZZ-CCA) based on novels by a novelist that appears to be some sort of Gundam fanatic, recycling everything he can, making everything way too grandiose and cool, pushing the NT ESP beyond Tomino's lrevels, etc. It seemed like an amateur's take on his beloved fiction to me, making itself grand and important-looking while it's actually irrelevant thanks to being written a posteriori.
Or they will mention the recent ONAs (or 2 films) based on a derivative manga, Thunderbolt. It's a "big guns"/big drama heavy "gritty" (= heavier lineworks, darker colours, sex/drugs/violence, just like the 80s OAVs we westerners loved back then) series telling of a side battlefield during the last film you saw (1st "season") then going on with its own intrigue (2nd season). Currently inconclusive.

PS: great moments, great ideas/concepts (butchered or not) await you. But no equal to 0079. Not even the most popular series, Zeta (considered the best in the West despite its glaring faults). Have a good and long travel ! (it will only make Turn A better)
Rei_IIIJul 31, 2020 11:38 AM
Jul 25, 2016 11:29 AM

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I like the heartwarming moment when Amuro communicates with his White Base comrades.

Novels I have read/am reading pending approval: since November 10 2022
Jul 25, 2016 2:10 PM

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Available until September 21st

Novels I have read/am reading pending approval: since November 10 2022
Jan 15, 2017 5:33 PM

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777
This last part was little dissapointing with all the "new-type" stuff since it tooks alot part of the movie, making the last battle at A Baoa Qu so rushed and even the ending was just the narrator saying something like "and they made a peace act. End". They would expand it more with one movie more or just take it out that stuff and focus more on the war, which in my opinion it started pretty well.

At least that concept of the new-type was taken in Gundam 00 (as innovators) where it was considered from the start of the story and is well implemented in my opinion (yeah even with that so so CGI of the last movie).
JoycdonnellJan 15, 2017 5:37 PM
Feb 27, 2017 7:00 PM

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Nov 2014
334
Great movie and the best of the trilogy, was surprised at the amount of new stuff compared to the previous movies they just had a couple new scenes and a different soundtrack but this like even in the scenes that were mostly the same as the series there was like a slight change in dialogue or a bit more detail, felt more like a remake than a compilation film.

Anyway the trilogy was great but I still prefer the series. The series has way more time to focus on the characters, also the films have a noticeable lack of space guntank.
Sep 26, 2017 9:23 AM

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1939
I still think the second movie is the best of this trilogy
Feb 13, 2018 1:45 PM

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The series was certainly superior, but I definitely appreciated the new animation. Also Lalah and Amuro's ill fated meet will forever be incredible.
All you can hope for in your worldview is consistency
Apr 2, 2018 10:13 AM

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3776
Man, the death flags were so obvious. Also the more I watched the movies the more boring it was getting, glad I decided to skip the main series, I doubt I'd stand it being 2.5x longer. Nice animation for early 80s movies, I guess. I liked Char, so I'm looking forward to Zeta.
Dec 2, 2018 7:10 PM
Voltekka!

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I honestly liked this more than what I’ve seen of the tv series.
Jan 2, 2019 8:38 AM

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I guess if I didn´t watch "The Origin" series first, I would have been pretty confused most of the time, since some events that seem not developed enough can resort to the ones happening in the prequel. As a whole the plot was way heavier than what I imagined. I thought it was gonna be more childish. Amuro was well developed unlike The Origin. And I thought more Zabis were gonna survived for the sequel.

And Im gonna say it: the animation was a big pet peeve. I like retro stuff, but this kind of retro animation can look unappealing when it comes to mecha. Happened to me with original Macross, yet I was fine with it with stuff like Ashita no joe or Attack no1. Defintly deserves a remake. But despite that, fine enough to make me want to watch the zeta series almost inmediatly
MichaelJacksonJan 11, 2019 9:05 PM
:v
Jun 25, 2019 6:40 PM

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If I had to summarize my entire experience watching the Mobile Suit Gundam trilogy with just one word, I would use the word "exhausting." Going to get some flack for my opinions here, but what can I do? I should mention before starting that this was the best movie of the three (I'll explain why later if it wasn't already obvious). Despite the things this trilogy did correctly, it still had significantly glaring problems that cannot be ignored, even taking into consideration its age and its potential production failings. So without further ado, allow me to describe my thoughts as to why this movie and the trilogy as a whole was personally underwhelming.

Before I get all negative and depressing, I want to start off with what this movie did correctly, which was surprisingly a lot. First off, let's talk about the most noticeable improvement between this movie and the first two: the animation quality. The animation quality drastically improved here, and I mean drastically. Ginormous battles with incredible scale take place, with dozens if not hundreds of laser beams flashing back in forth between the Zeons and Federation forces. Everything moves significantly better, especially the mobile suits. Character movements can sometimes be stiff, and it still does look like an old show from the 70s, but the scale and level of detail that was put into this movie is more than enough to deserve my commendation. The political aspect of this film was pretty interesting at times, and Gihren comparing himself to Hitler was amusing. Some characters had legitimate story arcs, such as Degwin Zabi, interestingly enough. Coming to the conclusion that his own son was going to attempt literal genocide and motion for peace negotiations with his mortal enemy takes a lot of heart, and it was an interesting development to see. I also enjoyed how mortal the film felt, with many characters coming and going as it went through its motions. These characters weren't usually given enough character development to make their deaths particularly memorable, but it was an interesting aspect that the first two movies were mostly lacking. Besides that, everything remains at the level of quality from the first and second movie. Voice acting continued to be acceptable, and the writing maintained the same level of quality. In conclusion, improvements were made over the first two that the third can absolutely be called the best of the trilogy. But as I'm about to explain, that doesn't mean much when the first two were terribly flawed.

This film made a ton of mistakes that really dampened my enjoyment, and it's depressing to see. I had three major issues with this movie. Before I begin, I wish to warn you: This is going to be long, and it may become ranty. I apologize in advance. First, characters that died had little to no development, resulting in me feeling next to no sympathy for them. Let's take a show that handles death correctly, one that I'm watching right now: Code Geass. Code Geass manages to handle death in an important and significant way that makes you, the viewer, sympathize with the victims. You feel emotional attachment, so when the characters die it legitimately hurts. Take, for example, a very significant death from Code Geass:
[REDACTED]'s death was a complete curveball and only came after many episodes of character development for the character. Their death had an impact. It meant something. With [REDACTED] gone, it felt like there was a hole in my heart because death is such a permanent thing. Death shouldn't just be tossed around willy nilly in anime. It needs to be done correctly, and I don't necessarily think that was the case here. Do I mind the fact that people died in this movie? Absolutely not. Do I believe they should have gotten more character development? Absolutely. I'm sure someone will bring up the fact that the characters were more properly developed in the TV show, and that because of time constraints that development simply had to be cut out. But that isn't an acceptable excuse. At the end of the day, this is a movie, and it is an expectation going into a movie that you accommodate for the lack of time available. It's a part of the medium, and source material or not, this film didn't pull that off. But, I'll be fair. Looking back after I typed that half paragraph, I understand 23 episodes of Code Geass doesn't equal three movies. So let me use an example of an anime movie that pulled death off correctly. In fact, I'll give you two. The first is one I've mentioned while critiquing this franchise in the past: Area 88. Area 88 takes place on a military base where the majority of your perspective as the viewer is spent. As you spend so much time here, you come to know and understand the wide variety of characters that reside at the base. And when one of them passes on and dies, you feel it. But that isn't even my best example. The best film I've seen use death well is Sword of the Stranger, where
See the point I'm trying to make? I haven't seen enough movies to really give great examples, so these examples aren't exactly one-to-one, but I believe I have gotten my point across. The second thing that bothered me was that this film was just boring, and that hurts even me to say. I haven't always been a fan of mecha anime, so I'm certainly not this shows target demographic. In fact, the only reason I'm getting into Gundam is so I can understand the cultural significance of a show that essentially changed anime as we know it. And maybe because of this, I found this show to be boring as all hell. A lot happens, I'll give the movie that. But the things that happen aren't entertaining enough. I felt like I was going to fall asleep while watching this movie, and that isn't a good thing. Amoru's father just reappears for no reason other than to wrap up his character arc, even though it was one already finished. We thought he was dead, they could have left it at that. Characters have been appearing and disappearing for a long time for no reason, so them reintroducing his mentally unstable father had a weird impact on me. The best parts of the movie were the Gundam fights, and we didn't even get too many of them! The Gundam v Elmeth fight was fucking awesome. It showed two Newtypes (more on this later) at their prime fighting all out against one another, and it was a visual spectacle. This was the only part of the movie where I felt my heart racing. And then Lalah dies and that ends mighty fast. Oh well, good while it lasted. Lastly, but oh so certainly not least, I want to complain about Newtypes for a quick second here. Newtypes, simply put, just made me angry. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting, to be fair. They got plenty of development in advance, with callbacks as far back as the first movie. So my concern doesn't necessarily lie in how they came to be developed, but more so the fact that they existed to be developed in the first place. Newtypes are fucking stupid, plainly put. Again, I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I initially believed the Gundam universe to be fairly grounded. Sure, it features insanely massive mechs fighting against one another to the death, but from a technological standpoint that isn't that unrealistic. The next generation of the human race appearing for no reason whatsoever and magically having magical powers is. If the supernatural elements of this had been suggested from the beginning, I wouldn't have a problem. But the way Newtypes were used was terrible and is nothing short of one of the worst parts of this movie. It isn't much of an understatement to say that Newtypes took off an entire point for me. What was an interesting part of the second movie became an annoying part of the third. Sad.

Let's wrap this up because I 've gone on waaaaay too long on a comment in a movie nobody is watching in a discussion thread nobody will see. This trilogy was fine. That's it. It wasn't good, it wasn't bad, it was fine. It was fine and it was underwhelming. I seriously hope the remainder of the Gundam franchise is better than this, because I may stop sooner than expected if they maintain this level of "eh." I give the third movie a 6/10. Granted, a (slightly) higher 6/10 than the second movie, but still a 6/10. If you somehow read this entire thing, I thank you for wasting your time. Have a good one.

GytanzoJun 25, 2019 6:51 PM
Jun 26, 2019 11:06 AM

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Sep 2017
628
Both the quoted material and my response are super long, so I'm spoiler tagging both as to not inconvenience anybody.



Sep 23, 2019 2:24 AM

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Jun 2014
4707
Epic finale. It was amazing how Amuro can fight Char neck to neck.
Thanks to Sayla for reminding Char who's the real enemy is.
Aside from Garma's death and killing Kycilia, Char didn't plan anything to destroy the Zabi. (Zabi were doomed to fail because of Gihren's greediness) He was just obeying the Zabi's order and focused on defeating the White Base. After Lalah's death he lost his direction and got distracted by rivalry with Amuro.
Imo I think that was Char inconsistency as a character.

I noticed Amuro and Sayla barely talked until near the end.

I prefer the characters in original MSG than The Origin.

Amuro>Char :P

Time to watch some side story.
Jan 18, 2020 6:32 PM
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Nov 2018
404
best of the trilogy, the stakes are really high in this one. so much destruction. didn't really get the lalah and amuru trippy connection, but that's the price of watching a compilation film. i'm glad i watched this series
Mar 30, 2020 5:55 PM

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Aug 2017
3043
Well, this movie marks the end of my initial introduction to Gundam. It was certainly the best of the three (which is not an unconventional opinion anyway), but I think I got almost everything I wished for in it. I particularly want to note how funny it is that seemingly every space franchise wants to include a giant space gun able to obliterate entire fleets and terrains. Wave Motion Cannon in Yamato, Death Star in Star Wars, Thor Hammer in LOGH, and now Solar Ray in Gundam (I'm sure there're more in other franchises that I'm not familiar with). Anyway, to the film.

What made me love this movie from the start was the lack of action. Probably a strange claim to make, but I appreciate the time given to characters to develop. Side 6 was particularly memorable in several aspects, the most important (for me) being the small detail of showing ordinary people watching war in space as a TV show. It was just so... Telling about the war. Everyone is so used to it that it became commodified and used for entertainment, even though it's literally about real people dying. Just shows how much people are exhausted by it to the point that they stop caring altogether. The brief time spent on Side 6 also pleased me by showing (although briefly) the internal infrastructure of the colony. True, it was shown before, but what's important is that Side 6 is not some major location, it's *just* another colony, yet we see that it's not just a bunch of space junk, but an actual place with its buildings, people and entertainment. It very much reminded my of the fortress of Iserlohn from LOGH (and the ar bets there), and it's part of the reason I liked that so much.

Character interactions were also done well, from awkwardy cute conversations between Mirai and Bright, to Amuro's meeting with Lala (especially the slowed down cut of her jumping into the light, accompanied by music), to the amazing scene of Char meeting Amuro. It took me a couple of moments to realize that Amuro knew how Char looked like, but it didn't work the other way round! It made the scene more intense, and showed the good side of Char (in the end, he knew that Amuro was a Federation soldier, and helped him anyway). I'm not that sure about Mirai's interaction with Sleggar though (in fact I initially thought he was a Zion spy back in the 2nd movie), and the death flag was obvious, but he died like a good man, and helped the characters understand each other's feelings better, so I'll give him that. And he was a funny fellow anyway (though I'm not sure why did Mirai fell for him despite him slapping her). Maybe he changed her mind that way.
Char's motivation was also satisfying. Will he become the lone hero with his own goals?

I also really loved the deaths of the Zabi family members. Dozul died as a brave father and a warrior, good. But boy did Kycilia and Gihren go away amazingly! I immensely enjoyed how it was told us blatantly in the face that Gihren was like an updated version of Adolf Hitler, only to then kill him in such a cool manner. BANG! Badass shot, and a proper end for an aspiring dictator. It's especially funny to compare Gihren to Gamilas in Yamato, where we were *hinted* that they were like Nazis, but in Gundam there're no allusions, just facts - this guy is like Hitler!
Kycilia's death was probably my favorite in the trilogy (and her design too, by the way, she just looks so staggering), so intense, gory, unexpected. I was like "what is it that Char is going to accomplish in the end?"..."No way! Is this for real?" Literally the best scene in the movie, and very well-drawn - I can go frame by frame forever, watching the graphic death of Kycilia and her officers.

I also think that Lala's death *was* impactful, unlike the commentators above. What's important was not exactly the fact that she died, but how Char and Amuro *reacted* to her death. I shared Amuro's shock the moment he thrusted her mobile suit, and when Char shed tears, I did too. I was anticipating it ("Is he going to cry?? I'm already imagining it!"), and I was correct.

And yes, the finale battle. Incredible! Amuro and Char gradually destroying themselves backed by dramatic music was such a spectacle to watch, and truly a development for both of them. They really did grow, each in his own way. Same for Sayla!

I'm not that sure about Newtypes though. Not about the idea itself, but about its implementation. That telepathy... Well, I get that it's something of an in-universe thing now, but anyway, I wished there was something other than that. What exactly though? Increased agility and reflexes are not worth introducing a new concept. It'd probably be good to introduce Newtypes as some sort of mythical evolved humans used in propaganda purposes by both sides, to explain defeats and encourage fear. Or it could've been nice to show how the first Newtypes appeared, maybe as a result of a military experiment, and then passed their mutated genes to their children, or something like that. But whatever, Tomino did what he did, and I'm glad overall anyway. Now I just need to understand how to watch the rest of UC timeline, which I hope to be great too. I'll probably go with release order, not with chronological one. I guess the full Zeta Gundam is the canonical version, not the compilation movies.
St0rmbladeMar 30, 2020 6:21 PM
Jul 1, 2020 8:06 PM

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Feb 2017
2389

"'Why did I have to meet you like this? When you came to me, it was too late.' 'And for me, it was too soon. It's always this way for people.'"


Aug 6, 2020 5:56 PM

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Mar 2013
457
This was the best of the three. Naturally, being on movie format, they had to cut a lot of character development for people like Mirai, Hayato and Bright but the main characters were just great during the entire trilogy.

Now that I watched all three and the original series, I'd recommend the movies only for people who find long anime series to be difficult to approach like myself. But really, don't jump into any of the newer UC series without watching these because it's an integral part of the story and worldbuilding.

A shame they skipped the M'Quve fight. I always found his mobile suit to be quite cool and it was a shame the Big Zam and Zeong didn't shine as much either. But welp, it is what it is.
Nov 20, 2020 2:16 AM

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Aug 2017
11508
I'm not going to list the differences between the TV show and the movie since its almost the same except that fillers characters like the old man Newtype from Zeon and two Zeon generic characters were omitted and I appreciate this. Also, i'm not going to say if it was better than the last 13 episodes of the show since production issues made the original show rushed so its not fair. Another difference is that they reanimated almost all or a large part of the movie so its more than a simple recap with a few differences.

Things I like from this movie:
-Sayla reveals to Bright her real name, origins, surname and also from Char. This in the original series was confused since the only thing that Sayla reveals to Bright was that Char is her brother and nothing else lol. A good change if you ask me.
-Amuro's dad likely dead. It was too cruel to leave him alive in the end in that state, I think the movie killed him.


Things I don't like from this movie:

-The Gundam inability to keep up with Amuro's reflexes was omitted in the movie. This annoyed me cuz it made the Gundam in the movie look quite perfect while Amuro's abilities not have much difficulty.

Overall, the final movie from the original Gundam was quite acceptable as in the original version. 7/10 for the movie.
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Jan 30, 2021 1:09 AM

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May 2012
220
In both the series and the movie, the scene showing Kikka bawling her eyes out and Fraw putting a gun in her hands makes my heart drop.

That poor innocent kid should never have to hold a gun :(
Jun 29, 2021 12:35 PM

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Sep 2014
4867
The way they handled Newtypes was quite interesting and really artistic.

But more importantly.

Titties.

50 year old animated anime titties
"This emotion is mine alone.
It is for Madoka alone." - Homura
or how I would descripe Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica.
Jul 6, 2021 3:54 PM
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9806
Aight, finally started that freakin juggernaut of a franchise and finished the trilogy.

It was a pretty solid trilogy! Naturally, im sure i missed out on characterizations and scenes since its a bunch of recaps, but dont worry im not going to watch the trilogy of Zeta, ill actually do the 50 episodes this time, since they seem to not be that well respected compared to the OG xD

7.5/10 for the whole thing

Btw, did Slegger slapped Mirai so hard that she fell in love with him or i missed something? lmao
Jul 12, 2021 6:37 AM

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Dec 2015
6483
DatRandomDude said:

Btw, did Slegger slapped Mirai so hard that she fell in love with him or i missed something? lmao

He kinda embodied the reliable hill one could need in such hard times (by opposition to the other less confident/stable crewmates), add to this the stress induced by the overall situation (fast "love" in dire situations is a very typical fiction ingredient).
Sep 18, 2021 3:39 PM
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Apr 2019
106
I don't really understand what the fuss is about these compilation films, the actual TV series seems better to me. At least in regards to some scenes. Some dialogue was changed. Mostly for the better, I guess.

My problem is that the pacing is too erratic and fast, in contrast to the show, which was tediously slow sometimes...

I liked that they addressed the existence of Newtypes already in the first film, I think it happened much later in the show, which didn't really make sense.

To be honest, I don't like how Amuro is so capable a fighter without the Gundam, doesn't make much sense to me. How does he even know how to fight properly, considering his upbringing?
MoesianThracianSep 18, 2021 4:05 PM
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Oct 14, 2021 3:37 AM

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Dec 2008
1871
This movie was a bit long and so much was happening, I was not able to finish it one sitting.

The loss of half the federation fleet, had no visible impact on anyone apparently.
Battle at A Baoa Qu was very intense and chaotic as result, but the happy end for White Ark crew was nice.

The characters were good for the most part. Funny that I disliked Amuro a lot, but it's ok in the 3 movies. As much as I would like to watch the whole MSG anime, it's just looking too old and the plot isn't that engaging and I probably wouldn't be a fan of the filler episodes.

As movies I prefer Stardust Memory and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin over this
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Mar 1, 2023 2:15 PM

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May 2015
3228
The best movie out of the trilogy. Epic ending. I think after rewatching this story I appreciate it even more.

As far as movies go, it was a decent recap, a lot was omitted but that's to be expected in order to fit everything in just 6 hours.
Mar 21, 2023 9:11 AM
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Aug 2010
12
Not bad movie, but i prefer tv series. Here everything feel a little to much rushed. But still is close enough, if someone just want know the history this movie trilogy is fine version :)
May 7, 2023 11:19 AM

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Nov 2012
5804
Decent movie, trilogy over all was defo a good watch, and an easy(or easier) way to approach a classic anime. I get why some purists would be against someone's first introduction being this movie trilogy, but realistically a lot of people are gonna look at a 50+ episode anime from the 70's or 80's and struggle to commit to that. But a movie trilogy seems more manageable imo. I mean I got through all three of these in two days. Watching the series would probably take me months to get through.

I see when netflix added these they also added Char's counterattack. Continuity wise how bad is it to jump straight into that after these 3? And Hathaway/Iron blooded also? I figure the timeline probably goes a bit wild but them being easily accessible on netflix makes it much more likely I just jump into one of those when I get a chance.
I have a third testicle that gives me psychic powers
Dec 13, 2023 11:51 AM

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Jun 2021
1288
HOLY SHIT, THE FINAL BATTLE WAS GUN-DAMN GREAT!!!!! ALL THE CLASH OF EMOTIONS, THE ADRENALINIC BATTLES BETWEEN AMURO AND CHAR AND THE TWISTS INSIDE THE ASTEROID-BASE OF ZEON, EVERITHING WAS SO FUCKING GOOD, THANKS TO GOD THAT BLESSED ME WITH THE MOMENT OF WATCH THIS SHIT, NOW I HAVE AN ENORMOUS ANXIETY OF WATCH MOBIRU SUTZU >>>Z<<< GON-DAM
AAAABBRBRBRBRBRBBRYRBEURY
BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH
Oct 27, 10:32 PM

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Apr 2016
187
what an ending! what a movie! that was incredible! the story of Mobile Suit Gundam kept taking me places i didn't expect! i'm so glad i got to see this in a theater! the sound was cranked up, which i think made the visuals much more intense :D i loved the animation! it took some getting used to hahaha. but at the end of these three movies, Sunrise won me over :) bravo to all the people involved! fantastic work!

something i didn't really notice before was how great the voice acting is. even though there are some parts where the animation gets a little choppy, the voice actors do a great job of carrying those scenes; i felt like they always conveyed real emotion in their lines which helped make the animation more impactful. and the overall sound was great too. again, when the animation was not the smoothest, the background music and sound effects kept everything on the screen flowing. the soundtrack for this third movie was especially good too. i don't really remember the soundtracks for the other movies, but the music in this own got me right away. it was beautiful when it needed to be, but then could also be fraught with tension when necessary.

man, i thought i had an idea of what a newtype was...... but damn. Lalah and Amuro's interactions, from when they first meet and Amuro bumbles the conversation about the swan, to the end where..... they have a psychic conversation in the middle of battle (that's what it looked like to me)? all that fucked me up pretty good. i thought newtype abilities ended at extraordinary anticipation and enhanced reflexes. but the whole scene where Lalah and Amuro are flying together and conversing against a beautifully colored background was astounding. it visually stunning; but also the idea behind it, that there is yet ANOTHER level of connectedness human beings can experience with each other. if Mobile Suit Gundam would have just been about the straight forward idea of war, it's horrors, and what it does to people, i would have considered it a great success; but then it goes further and shows the opposite end of the continuum. it showcases war as the great separator and then offers a view into the next next level of human connection. Lalah and Amuro discover too late (or too early) that they want to keeping being together, but war prevents that and keeps them apart. fucking brilliant contrast. the question posed by Char's and Lalah's differing views on newtypes is incredible in magnitude: if we can know what fellow humans are thinking, will that lead to peace or more war? what a question!

and once again, the depiction of death was brutal! When Gihren fires the Solar Ray and it obliterates everything in it's path!!! then later, it gets more personal when you see individual soldiers dying and calling out to loved ones in their final moments of life!!!! hahaha oh man i almost forgot the gnarly head shots! Kycilla shoots Gihren, but then Char blows off Kycilla's head! shocking! the savagery of war is on full display till the bitter end.

Mobile Suit Gundam has gotta go down as one of the great stories of science fiction. not just for it's themes, but how it gets it's point across. that being said, these movies aren't bulletproof. Mirai and sleggar's romance COMPLETELY cam out of left field! what the fuck was that! all signs had been pointing to Mirai and Bright being together :/ maybe there's something in the series that explains that, i dunno. there's other stuff that people point out as well. but if you can look past it's foibles, Mobile Suit Gundam has a lot to say and says it in grand fashion. once again, bravo!
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