The Cyclops Teams mission to destroy the prototype Alex
Gundam ends in failure. With most of the
team dead, Bernie is the only one left to complete the mission. The price of total failure: the nuclear
annihilation of Libot. As the final
battle of the One Year War rages on far away, Libot becomes the battleground
for a smaller, more desperate battle. Al
Izuruma. Bernie Wiseman. Christina Mackenzie.
The war will take the greatest toll on these three souls, held together
by an unknown bond. And Al is about to
learn the greatest lesson of all: In war, no one is safe, not even the
innocence of childhood.
You know, there’s an alternate universe out there where
things went a lot differently. Bernie is
still alive, married to Chris and Al is their surrogate son…and it’s actually a
thing considering they all pop up in an episode of Gundam Build Fighters, like
a direct nod to the fans of this series.
Thinking about that just makes all the tears and hurt this finale
brought about all the more tragic.
Few Anime can do in twenty six episodes what Gundam 0080
manages to do in just six. Aside from
the rushed villainy of Colonel Killing, the rest of this cast is well fleshed
out and there is nary a character to despise.
The Cyclops Team shined especially in their final doomed mission. From Garcia asking Bernie not to get killed
to Mikhail sharing a drink with Steiner, you knew things were going to get bad
but the team still got a chance to feel like a tight knit group that would walk
into hell regardless. Steiner dying and
laughing off Bernie’s attempt to lie to him about the mission being a success
was nice. And Mikhail and Garcia got
their own blaze of glory ends as well, Garcia in an epic gun battle and Mikhail
going toe to toe with the Alex, finally unleashed.
It should be noted again that while Gundam 0080 isnt the
most action heavy Gundam entry, the action has always been solid
throughout. We got to see the Kampher
Mobile Suit, outfitted like it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger’s personal Mobile Suit,
tear up everything before it’s doomed duel with the Alex. Speaking of, the Alex itself only made a
couple of short appearances but man could Chris handle that baby in
action. While few in number, the battles
always felt large but also very personal at the same time. The final battle in the forest was especially
heavy, considering Al was trying his hardest to get to Bernie and tell him that
Killing’s plan to destroy the colony had failed. Seeing Bernie and Christina, two souls who
should be soulmates, unknowingly tear each other up in combat was
heartbreaking. And, to his credit,
Bernie did succeed in his mission…more or less.
Poor Al. When we
leave the kid in the parting shots of the series, he is a far cry from the boy
we were introduced to. Gone is the child
who couldn’t wait to find even a scrap of a Mobile Suit or a bullet
casing. He’s seen war up close and
personal, blood, bullets and all (Man was there a lot of blood in this one). Al cant even hear his friends assure him the
next war will be bigger and better than the last. And he’s also been exposed to unfortunate
truths, like the revelation that Chris was the Gundam pilot who took out his
brother figure. If you aren’t balling
your eyes out like Al is when this series ends, there’s something terribly
wrong with you. But just before that,
Bernie’s final message to him speaks to the heart of Gundam itself. He asks Al to forgive everyone involved in
this whole affair: Federation and Zeon alike.
“We’re all the same, Al,” he says.
And that makes me go “YES”. Gundam has always been at it’s best when it’s
giving us heroes to root for on both sides of the conflict. The Cyclops Team was always a likeable troupe
and how could you not love Chris (the Gundam pilot of my dreams). It just adds more to the unfortunate sorrow
that these people are in such a period of chaos. Killing may have been shoehorned in as the
last minute final villain for like five seconds. But the real antagonist of Gundam 0080 is
Fate itself. War is hell and it never
leaves anyone unscarred. I only wish we
could see what becomes of Al and Chris in the Universal Century. My guess is Chris continues piloting on Earth
while Al probably joins one of the numerous Zeon movements in honor of
Bernie. Would he even see Chris again
and tell her the truth of this whole ordeal?
So many questions left unanswered but in a good way, very good food for
thought.
I legitimately wanted to cry at the end of this series,
which is something I cant really say about other Gundam stories, which usually
just make me go “HELL YEAH!!!” This one
still has those kinds of moments but focusing the tale on a kid who gets to
live his dream of going to war and seeing the nightmare it truly is, takes
storytelling in Gundam to a whole other level.
Add in some fantastic art worthy of a movie (thank God for OVA budgets),
a very 80’s, nigh Tron inspired soundtrack, and slick mecha designs and you’ve
got close to a perfect entry in the Gundam cannon. Again, if you’re not crying at the end, I
dare say you’ve not only missed the point of this series but the point of
Gundam as a whole. It’s not only about
the kick ass Mobile Suit, it’s about the people with the crummiest of luck in
the worst of times and how they handle the hands fate deals them…and you’re
rooting for them all the way, no matter what.
My final score for Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the
Pocket is a very strong…9.5/10
And next week we skip ahead to the revenge of Zeon and
the birth of a dark age for the Earth Federation. The celebration of Gundam continues next
Monday for the start of Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory.
No comments:
Post a Comment