Back to ZEROthefirst's Profile ZEROthefirst's Profile

I'm not going to make a long review for this series, as I have quite a bit I would like to actually cover, but do not feel doing so here would be the best. So I will make a very basic review, more or less outlining some of the points of Gundam: Reconguista in G.


--Story: (This is the part I have a lot to touch upon, but will wait until I have a more fleshed out script set up to add back in if possible or re-do my review later on since there is more I would like to add to the rest as well)

The ... story for Reconguista is G is very basic and straight forward. It follows the same basic set-up of most Gundam series' in that faction a is after faction b, with some sort of side agenda, or in Reconguista in G's case, factions a, b, c, etc. are after each other and will occasionally work with each other for their goals.

Now while the story is very basic and easy to follow, you NEED to pay full attention while watching. Gundam: Reconguista in G was very likely condensed from a 50 episode series into the 26 episodes we see. With this there are things that are skimmed over or information is fairly scarce. However it is so basic that as long as you pay full attention you will understand what is going on (aside from the first 4-5 episodes, they're genuinely a bit chaotic and you may need to re-watch those episodes). This is not something to excuse however.

The story for the show also does not require background knowledge of past UC timeline Gundam shows, however it does have some easter eggs and terminology that will resonate with those who have viewed them, making it a nice touch.

Overall the story isn't much to gawk at. It's very simple and easy to follow so long as you pay very close attention. If you do not go into Reconguista in G and give it your full un-divided attention, you will likely be lost. Tact that with the series likely being compressed and you will not enjoy yourself. The story gets a 6/10, it's not deep, it's not dark aside from a few things on history, and it doesn't do a lot to really set itself apart from other Gundam series', and it may as well be considered an Alternate Universe timeline rather than a continuation after the UC timeline since there is no real connection between the two present.



--Art:
The art is where Reconguista in G really shines, if you've watched Overman King Gainer, Eureka Seven, etc. then this is what you're going into. The animation looks extremely weird on some characters at first, some are down right awkward, however the environments, mobiles suits and a good majority of the characters will look very good and at times it looks almost hand-drawn, something that really made me enjoy the way the animation was handled for Reconguista in G.

The best compliment I can give Reconguista in G is that it's animation is always very consistent. It's action sequences are always very detailed and it doesn't resort to the pathetic streaking lines battles that seems to have become normal in Gundam since AGE. It is also something done in a lot of mech animes these days, but I won't stray to far. There isn't much more to say for the animation other than it is beautiful, and it genuinely deserves a 10/10.



--Sound:
There's not much to say about the sound. You have the usual Gundam sound effects that have been used for years, the musical scores are nice, albeit not the most memorable. There are a few scores that are still stuck in my head and randomly pop in and out here and there, but aside from that not much spectacular, yet nothing is bad so it's more of a hit or miss collection of tracks.

The voice acting is very well done as most would expect from a Japanese dub. Personally I very much enjoyed Mark Ishii's portrayal of Bellri Zenam (the main character of the series), even though it was his debut role as a voice actor. There were one or two times where I felt he overreacted a tad, but other than that he did a very good job, and the rest of the cast was no exception. Since there really isn't much to go about with the sound it gets an 7/10. While there weren't a lot of memorable tracks in the series, there were those really good ones that stood out, having the Gundam sound effects added in was a nice bonus and obviously good voice acting is important, which it fulfills on.



--Character
Here's the other part of the series where the show falls. It has a lot of characters that it attempts to introduce, but then a lot of these characters will either die, have no relevance until later into the show or at random intervals or they just flat out disappear and are never seen or mentioned again. For the main characters it does do a good job of fleshing them out, however Reconguista in G has a bad tendency of bringing in too many characters from all sides, trying to make them feel as though they may be relevant, only to have them become pointless tack-on characters for the sake of it.

If it wasn't for the MAIN characters getting developed well and fleshed out all throughout the series I would give this a 2/10, however because of how well the main, main cast is handled, it gets a 6/10.



--Overall:
Gundam: Reconguista in G was a fun ride. It can definitely be confusing if you're not in it 100%, but pay full attention and you will understand everything going on. It's a basic story that really doesn't try to set itself too far apart from the rest of the franchise. It does have very beautiful animation, with action sequences being some of the best I have seen in Gundam in years, the mech designs are interesting and diverse... give or take one obvious and very stupid mobile suit near the end of the series. The majority of the music may not do much for you, but the voice acting will, and the characters fall flat aside from the mains, but overall it's a fun watch.

Overall Gundam: Reconguista in G gets a 7.4/10, on the review itself it will say 7 since it does not let you judge outside of basic numbers, and I round to the nearest whole number so obviously 7 is it. I would recommend this to seasoned Gundam fans such as myself, and would likely steer newcomers of the Gundam franchise towards something else. However it does not require any previous Gundam history to get into so I wouldn't completely ignore recommending it to newcomers, although I would likely recommend older series' regardless just because.

Again I do have MUCH more I would like to actually touch upon for reviewing Reconguista in G, however I will wait until I can fully flesh out my review, and edit back on here or re-do it completely if the earlier is not possible.