FIF#68-Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative

UC 0097. A year has passed since the “Laplace Incident” which ended with the disappearance of two Gundams and a revelation of monumental proportions.  The world, however, remains the same with little change to come from the aftermath of that battle.  That is until a third Gundam Unicorn type, the Phenex appears and the hunt for its capture begins.  As two desperate forces search for this powerful Newtype machine, the lives of three people, who bore witness to the greatest clamity of the One Year War, will come together again with the fate of the Newtype myth now hanging in the balance.

Welcome dear readers to the start of a special set of First Impression Friday features, GundamCember 2.  Much like last December, im once again looking at the first episodes of four Gundam shows I haven’t covered here at the Gundam Anime Corner and offering up my initial thoughts.  To kick things off, im actually going to be looking at a nice surprise we got last week.  To coincide with it’s opening in Japan, GundamInfo, the official Gundam Youtube page, posted the first 23 minutes of the newest Gundam feature film, Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative.  Long enough for a first impression, right?

For the longest time after Gundam Unicorn ended, I wanted a sequel.  The game changing discovery of the contents of Laplace’s Box boggled the mind, and it was just one tiny inscription on the Universal Century Charter too.  Would this propel the Universal Century right into UC 0100?  What sort of ramnifications would this have on Earth and the continuing emergence of Newtypes?  Well, Gundam Narrative is hopefully here to answer those questions and more.  At the beginning though, I guess it makes sense but it’s also surprising nothing has come of the contents of Laplace’s Box.  Federation’s still playing power games in the name of peace.  Zeon’s still barely on life support but still causing trouble…its like nothing really changes ever.  But that was just the beginning.

The first 20min look at Gundam Narrative gives a lot to chew on and ponder.  Yes we get a couple of decent action sequences, one even involving the titular Narrative and the Gundam Phenex.  That was actually a relief that we got some exciting moments because you’d think most opening thirds of a movie would focus on backstory and exposition heavy dialogues.  And there are those but the most fascinating bit of the intro is the fact that the films three leads: Jona, Rita and Michele all had a shared vision of the colony drop on Sydney, Australia during the One Year War just before it happened.  And no one was making a big deal about this Newtype level situation because?  Or was it kept under wraps?  What ever the case, the event plays a big part beyond its general place in UC Gundam mythology.  It tore the core trio of characters apart in various ways and only now are they slowly coming together again in the worst way possible, as adversaries…mostly.  I can even sense a bit of a Macross like love triangle cause I think Michele has feelings for Jona, who has feelings for Rita, furthering her hatred to the “Miracle Child” (is that early slang for Newtype?).  Having these three at the front of things doesn’t mean we wont see any familiar faces.  As this is a Gundam Unicorn sequel, I suspect Banagher (and probably Ridhe God forbid) will pop up and Mineva Zabi appears briefly in the opening too, with the promise of Captain Zinnerman coming along for the ride too. 

Presentation wise, all of the stops have been pulled out.  I didn’t realize this is the first original Gundam film since Mobile Suit Gundam 00: The Movie AND it’s the first Gundam film in 27 years since Mobile Suit Gundam F91.  I guess we’ve gotten more compilation films than original Gundam features in big screens over 40 years…that’s weird.  Still, it means Narrative needed to make a statement in its production quality and WOW, it looks like Unicorn might not be the best looking Gundam out there anymore.  The fast paced action scene between the Narrative and the Phenex was great, lots of colors flashing, lots of moving parts and lots of explosions.  The mecha designs look great and the more detailed look at the colony drop is just as terrifying as you’d expect it to be.  If this movie looks good in just a 20 minute demo, imagine how the rest will play out.

I can wait to watch the rest of Gundam Narrative, and probably review it too cause why not?  It continues one of my favorite Universal Century tales but still has a very fascinating story to tell.  And it’s continuing the theme of looking back on the past before we get to a monumental date in the Universal Century (and begs the question, will anything exciting happen when the UC turns 100).  I want to know about the new characters, I want to know what Mineva and Banagher have been up to, I want to see the Phenex and maybe even the Unicorn back in action.  Hell, I guess I want a ticket to Japan just to see this movie now.  And you know a Gundam film has done right when it gets that kind of reaction out of me.

Since this was kind of a spur of the moment insert, you’ll get two GundamCember features today on First Impression Friday.  My initial reactions to Mobile Suit Gundam AGE should be up now, go check it out.