FIF#43-Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt

UC0079.  The One Year War has entered its final phase.  As the Earth Federation pushes further towards Zeon’s final strongholds, the falling Principality struggles to retain any territory it can.  One such sector is an area of Side 4, the Thunderbolt Sector, one of the most dangerous areas of space to navigate.  An intense battle of attrition is being waged between the Moore Brotherhood, an Earth Federation crew made up of former inhabitants of the region; and the Living Dead Division, a Zeon squadron with mostly amputee pilots.  A brutal rivalry between Earth Federation Gundam Pilot, Io Fleming, and Zeon Sniper, Daryl Lorenz, emerges, one that will tear the Thunderbolt Sector apart, and all who desperately fight for it.

Welcome, one and all, to GundamCember.  For the final five weeks of 2017, I’ll be closing out this successful return of First Impression Fridays with a bang.  That “bang” is me sharing my initial thoughts on 5 Gundam series I have not covered yet on this blog.  And today I kick that off with Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt.

As a person far more versed in Gundam once told me, the main message of Mobile Suit Gundam is simple “war is hell”.  Like I said, simple but effective from series to series.  Still, with that in mind, there never ceases to be a sense of fantasy and a bit of fun at times when it comes to Gundam.  Gundam Thunderbolt is clearly hear to change that big time.  In fact, watching the first two episodes, I couldn’t help but feel a little…unsettled and disturbed at some of the stuff I was seeing.  It excites me and terrifies me at the same time.

Just looking at the first few minutes you cant tell how different this entry is in the Gundam Franchise.  The Thunderbolt Sector looks unforgiving, a testament to the true carnage the One Year War has wracked on the quadrant.  The same goes for the people fighting for it.  Zeon’s on it’s last legs at this point and it makes sense to see them using amputee pilots for Mobile Suits.  Brutal reality there.  On the Federation side is…well a bit more of the crazy.  Io Fleming, the designated Gundam Pilot for the Federation in this area, is quickly reminding me of one of my least favorite Gundam characters, Graham Acker.  Even before he goes “gaga” for his shiny new Gundam (tailor made for the Thunderbolt Sector), he’s a brutal maniac on the battlefield with a fancy for the most chaotic Jazz ive ever heard.  He’s certainly not the hero I want to root for but on a battlefield this hellish, is there anyone left to root for?

Looking past the unforgiving nature of the narrative and how cruel fate is being to the cast, this is one of the most stylish Gundam shows ive seen yet.  The character designs and animation fit the tired forces and their mech to a “T”.  The main Gundam itself, the FA-78 Full Armor Gundam, as mentioned above, looks tailor made for a debris ridden hellhole like the Thunderbolt Sector.  The vast amount of shielding reminds me of Lock-On’s various Gundam’s from Gundam 00 (Dynames, Cherudim and Zabanya).  Not to mention, this thing is ready for a small war all on its own.  And even though the Zeon’s look ready to kick it at any moment (it should be noted that this story takes place close to the Battle of A Boa A Qu, the battle that concluded the One Year War), the various Zaku’s and Dom’s in use by the Living Dead Division still look like they have some bite left to them.  Should also note that while Jazz is an interesting choice for Gundam, it doesn’t flow as well as say Cowboy Bebop.  As I said before, the fact that it sounds a mess highlights the battles and Io’s personality but it can be grating on the ears nonetheless.

While it’s hard to see anyone to root for in this story, Gundam Thunderbolt still looks like it holds plenty of promise.  There’s more of a grim reality to this one than previous entries in the Universal Century, more so for the One Year War.  Like 08^th MS Team, Thunderbolt doesn’t seem to be itching to throw Newtypes into this battle.  This is about real people at the end of their rope, pushed to limits further than any human could handle.  How will this battle end?  Well it can only end badly, I can say that for sure.  But this Gundam is changing things for the formula of the franchise. It’s scary change in a way, but it’s also a very mature change that I think fans who have missed such entries, in the wake of more kid friendly Gundams like Build Fighters, can really get behind.  I’ll press on with this one, see what happens.  Or, if im in a time crunch, I might try to check out the compilation movie of the first season “December Sky.”  We’ll see.