UC 0088. The
Titans have only just fallen when the forces of Neo Zeon begin their assault on
the Earth Sphere. The Federation and the
AEUG are both exhausted from their last conflict to muster an immediate
response. To keep hope alive, the AEUG
entrusts its fate into the hands of Judau Ashita and his childhood friends to
take up arms against the Neo Zeon. With
the powerful new Double Zeta Gundam at his disposal, it’s up to Judau to pave
the way for peace between Earth and the colonies.
Gundam ZZ (pronounced Double Zeta) is an infamous entry
in the Gundam mythos for a couple of reasons.
The chief of these reasons is its incredible 180 on the dark tone set by
Zeta Gundam in the beginning, followed by another 180 turn when that approach
doesn’t work. It’s also one of the few
Gundam shows that has taken forever and a day to find its way to U.S.
shores. With the whole series on
Gundaminfo’s Youtube page, I figured it was time to see if the legends of this
show (good and bad) were all true.
The series starts off Zeta like (from what little ive
seen of Zeta anyway. I’ve seen the three
compilation movies but heard theyre nowhere near as good as the series…plus
they end differently, in a way the ZZ probably wouldn’t happen at all). The first episode is mostly a recap of the
history of the Universal Century, seen through Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile
Suit Zeta Gundam. Seeing the Argama in
such shape, devoid of many of its Mobile Suit pilots, and the feeling of dread
with Zeta lead Kamillie Bidan in a vegetative state following Zeta’s finale, is
pretty somber and dour. But then the
second half of the episode gets going and this is where the lighter tone comes
in. We get a “Who’s that Pokemon?” style
montage of Mobile Suits followed by a sneak peak of events to come and…yeah
it’s weird to see such slapstick humor in an otherwise serious universe.
Gundam doesn’t have to be dark all the time. There are various bits of humor throughout
the original series that worked for the moment but never ruined the serious
tone. The introduction of ZZ’s new cast,
especially Judau Ashta, feels like a slap to the face against the show that
preceeded it. Zeta is one of Gundam’s
most popular titles for it’s darker take on the story established in Gundam
0079 and was honest to a fault with the horrors of war. Seeing a former Titans villain and the first
of possibly many Neo Zeon commanders portrayed in comedic fashions is a big “uh
oh” for how things are going to proceed.
In truth, I wasn’t a fan of Judau or his junkyard friends, or his
bickering back and forth with his sister.
It feels like we’re watching a totally different series than a Gundam
one, one set in the Universal Century anyway.
The plus side is this, BRIGHT MOTHERF****G NOA. Sure Judau might be determined to upstage him
and steal the Zeta Gundam. But Bright is
having none of that and even with all the unexpected hilarity, he’s still the
bad ass Captain he’s been from the beginning.
I also like how he made the connections between Amuro, Kamille and
Judau’s first time piloting the Gundam (it definitely makes something he said
in Gundam Unicorn make more sense). It
wouldn’t surprise me if somehow Bright wrote a book about the legacy of the
Gundam Pilots, seeing as how he’s met and mentor for four of them. Also, Kamille in his vegetative state in the
dark truck was creepy and the moment he shared with Judau was very fitting of
Zeta’s darkness. If the first couple of
episodes had been more like this, I’d start to wonder why people aren’t fans of
this series.
Still, I don’t think I’ve gotten even close to the more
insulting comedic moments yet. That
might be worth sticking around for, or at least skipping around the series, to
see how bad this show gets with its humor.
Also, would like to see fan favorite Roux Louka at some point as well. Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ is available to watch
after all this time. Feel, in any case,
that not watching it in full would be a disservice to myself as a Gundam fan. At the very, very least, I need to see the
actual Double Zeta in action just once.
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