UC 0079. The One Year
War rages on, with combat being fought both in space and on Earth. In the jungles of Southeast Asia, the Kojima
Battalion of the Earth Federation is all that stands between a massive Zeon
offensive. Shiro Amada has just joined
the battalion as leader of the newly reformed 08th MS team,
outfitted with new ground versions of the Mobile Suit Gundam. They are as different as they come: a patched
together crew of veterans and newbies.
Some are idealistic, others have jaded pasts. If this team is to make a difference in the
greatest war of all, Shiro will have to do the impossible and bring them
together.
Gundams in the Jungle.
It’s not just the title of the second episode, it’s also the best way to
sum up the start of this entry in the Gundam franchise. We wont be seeing a lot of space combat,
outside of the series opener. And
really, that’s ok. With a setting as
intense as a hot and humid Southeast Asia, you can feel the tension of fighting
in such an environment. What’s even
better, the ground versions of the Gundam match the feel of the battlefields
perfectly. These aren’t shiny new mechs,
they might’ve been once rolled out. But
this is down and dirty combat we’re seeing, so the wear and tear shows. Hell, the first image we see is a pretty
distressing sight, a Zaku slowly coming out of the woods over a fallen
Gundam…nice little bit of “what if?” layered in that image alone. It’s not a side of the One Year War we heard
much about during the original Mobile Suit Gundam series and I really like that
we get to see it play out without relying too much on Amuro Ray or Char Aznable
to tie things together.
And who will be keeping us company during this war on
Earth? Mostly, the cast is pretty
good. Shiro is the wide eyed optimist
that you see in most Gundam newcomers.
Karen is the warrior woman with red hair and a no nonsense attitude. Sanders is the hardened veteran with a mysterious
past and owes a life debt to Shiro after the first episode (in his mind
anyway). Eledore seems like he belongs more in Macross than Gundam with his
love for music but he’s fine. Michel is
the only member of the main team I haven’t really enjoyed much of in these
first few episodes. All he does is
complain and worry about…well everything.
Why did this kid join the army and what does he expect will happen when
he gets rolled out into combat? I get
the feeling this guy is going to end up being my Graham Acker for the 08th
MS Team (Btw that might be the basis of a T5W sometimes soon).
And then there’s Aina.
She’s not the first pretty Zeon pilot to grace the Gundam universe. However, she doesn’t really strike me as a
girl meant for the life of a soldier.
And that’s not because she’s pretty (man is she). It’s because she seems so peaceful and
gentle…when she isn’t shooting at Shiro when they first meet and that’s only
for a couple of minutes. There’s going
to clearly be a key plot point with the star crossed romance between these
two. While Gundam has had romantic
subplots before, I think this was one of the first entries ive seen where love
is at the forefront of the plot rather than off to the side. That being said, Shiro and Aina bonding over
trying to survive during their encounter in space is one thing. Shiro falling head over heels in love right
away is a little too Disney in its execution.
Maybe it will get better when these two inevitably cross paths again but
we’ll have to see.
I don’t really have a lot of negative things to say about
this intro set of episodes. The setting
is unique for Gundam. The cast is
instantly likeable (save for Michel) and take a bit of time to get used to each
other. And the action is some of the
best I’ve seen in Gundam. The jungle warfare
intensifies things quite a bit, especially during the nighttime sequences. It’s a different battleground for the
legendary Mobile Suit and the Gundams feel vulnerable and not so invincible,
even in the hands of skilled pilots.
That means raised stakes, and that means this is going to be fun.
The battle continues next week. See ya then.
No comments:
Post a Comment