Coming into our third week of GundamCember 2, we take a
look at the series that closed out the Universal Century for a little while,
Mobile Suit Victory Gundam. Right out
the gate, this is already a very odd Gundam title, and that’s saying something
compared to alterverse Gundam shows like G Gundam or Gundam Build
Fighters. I could, and probably will, go
into the weird mecha designs or the cast or the setup but mostly im confused
about why the series starts in a very Star Wars style manner…in the middle of
the opening act.
Rather than start things out with a more proper
introduction (setting and conflict and soft introduction of characters),
Victory Gundam throws us right into the middle of the action, presumably after
things just kicked off on Earth. We meet
Uso, our young Gundam protagonist, and a few of his allies but there isn’t any
time to get to know or get a feel for them with all the non stop chaos around,
caused by a random ace pilot in a ski mask (I guess he’s our Char of the series
then). I understand wanting to get the
ball rolling on a new show but it’s very possible to do an action heavy intro
while still introducing the new world the show will take place in (every Gundam
from the original series to Wing to Iron Blood Orphans managed this simple
feat). There’s also the bit where,
outside of a few teeny references, this doesn’t really feel like the Universal
Century. Victory Gundam is supposed to
take place the furthest in that timeline, 30 years after Mobile Suit Gundam
F91. F91 itself was set 30 years after
Char’s Counterattack and it still felt like a UC entry thanks to the heavy
Federation presence and a couple of familiar Mobile Suits. Victory Gundam starts so fresh with all of
this it might as well feel like a test bed for the Alternate Reality Gundam
shows that came after it.
The characters were a bit all over the map and that isn’t
entirely their fault. Coming into the
middle of a story without a proper intro can hurt characterizations a little
bit. I feel this strongly about the Char
type, Chronicle Asher, who is presented as a hot headed pilot looking to redeem
himself in battle by any means necessary.
He lacks the chill and calculative nature of Char types before him…maybe
he was just having an off day? As for
Uso, well he’s the youngest kid to pilot a Gundam (13 years old I believe) and
his age shows in his attitude. He
doesn’t seem to realize that once he begins to pilot the Gundam, there’s only
one thing he’s gonna be asked to do by the League Militaire (weird name btw)
and that’s fight. He’s unaware that, like Amuro Ray or Kamille Bidan before
him, this is going to hurt him a lot.
There are a few others introduced from cute blonde Katjina to Uso’s
mentor and fellow pilot Marbet. Katjina
will be one to look out for. Her
conclusion that the bombing of her hometown because they were so complacent is
a big red flag into dark side territory.
Marbet, I could see maybe as a less sexualized Misato Katsuragi from
Evangelion but we’ll see.
With a very whimsical artstyle and the daringness to jump
right into the middle of the story, Victory Gundam kicks off and I really
wonder if this will live up to the legend behind its troubled production. There are signs of dark times to come,
especially considering we saw a sea of charred bodies from an earlier
battle. I wonder if Victory can recover
from this rushed beginning and live up to the previous successes of the Gundam
television legacy. For now, I think ill
table this one and come back to it another time. There’s a lot of other Gundam im curious to
watch before this one but im glad I got a taste for now.
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