With Haman Kahn’s sights set on Earth, the Argama hurries
to head off the Neo Zeon invasion fleet.
Too late, they discover that Haman has already captured the Federation
capital of Dakar. Now stranded in
Africa, the Argama and it’s Gundam Team make their way to rendezvous with their
terrestrial allies with the unpredictable Elpeo Puru in tow. As the battlefield shifts and becomes more
dangerous, Judau discovers the wonders of Earth and the still healing scars
from the One Year War, scars that will only become worse if Haman isn’t
stopped.
What the FRAK?!
Where the hell has this show been all this time?
I know people said that ZZ got better in the
second half but this soon, this much?
The characters, the tone, the drama, the intensity, the action…it’s like
I’m watching a brand new series.
A few
days ago, I could care less if Judau, Beecha and their Brat Pack survived the
First Neo Zeon War.
Now though, I’m
invested, I’m interested and I’m a little worried for Judau’s little
sister.
In short, THIS is the Gundam ZZ
that should have followed Zeta from the get go.
From the moment this set of episodes began, something
felt different.
Yes, there’s still a
twinge of forced humor but it is just that, a twinge.
It’s minimal and the drama has been dialed up
in its place.
The attitude of Judau and
his friends has changed seemingly overnight and now theyre committed to the
cause of helping the AEUG stop Haman and Neo Zeon.
Sure Judau’s first priority is saving his
sister but he’s still a far cry from the selfish get rich or die tryin
scavenger he used to be and being on Earth helped expand this new Judau
greatly.
Not only is he playing
caretaker to Puru, Judau is also experiencing an Earth still dealing with the
aftermath of the One Year War.
While the
Africa stories could be seen as filler, theyre good filler.
Mariners selling their expertise to Neo Zeon
for a quick buck; an aged Zeon Mobile Suit looking to prove themselves; a woman
haunted by the need to avenge her dead Zeon husband’s honor; all of these are
scars from the Universal Centurys greatest conflict and now Judau knows that if
Haman isn’t stopped, this is only going to get worse.
This isn’t the time for taking out Mobile
Suits with wiring around their feet, the time for fun and games is over…and its
about damn time too.
Haman returned and showed some surprising new sides to
her character.
During the Dakar attack
by the AEUG (and KARABA, was that Hayato leading the charge?) Haman used the
battle to her advantage to convince the Federation higher ups attending her
gala of the true power of Neo Zeon, to crush any force that would stand against
it.
The Federation is still the bunch of
corrupt cowards they were back in Zeta, so it was easy for Haman to seize
control even before setting foot on Earth thanks to sending spies in way in
advance.
This is Haman the cold
tactician.
But the big surprise was
seeing Haman the Vulnerable.
In her
second face off with Judau, Haman confided in her reasons for starting the Neo
Zeon rebellion: wanting to save the Earth from further pollution by the Earth
Federation Forces.
Noble sentiments but
it’s Haman, she’s already got enough blood on her hands theyre anything but.
And then Haman accidentally unleashed the
beast by shooting Leina, who was shielding Judau.
Whodve thought Judau could be a true Newtype
Super Saiyan.
The amount of Newtype
pressure he put out in his rage was felt by everyone who was a Newtype (so the
main cast) and Haman was freaking terrified, so much she ran off in a rare show
of true fear.
Ive gotta admit, as much
as I love Haman, that was bad ass on Judau’s part…also Judau’s costume during
the Dakar attack looks like a sleeved version of Kenshiro from Fist of the
North Star, “Haman…you’re already dead.”
Life changing treks across the African desert and amazing
action sequences helped this set stand out even more…but ZZ still has some
lingering ties to the first half of the series.
While the bickering between the Gundam Team isn’t as annoying, Puru’s
first appearances in each episode usually are.
Puru basically gets factory reset with each episode: pining for Judau
super hard and doing something super selfish to piss everyone off before
joining up with Judau and helping him see through a problem with her own
Newtype intuition.
I like wise and much
calmer Puru compared to the hyper selfish ten year old brat she can come off
as.
The true test is gonna be how she
handles Judau if he gets Leina back and she’s still injured.
Will Puru try to stand in his way?
I hope not.
Then there’s Beecha and Glemy.
Beecha has finally dropped his pompous attitude but his sudden change is
very sudden.
I like this Beecha a lot
better, don’t get me wrong.
If ever
there was a Kai Shiden equivalent for ZZ it could be Beecha.
Still, everyones attitude transition from
goofy to serious in this half seemed more fluid compared to Beecha’s sudden
heel turn.
Also, HE inherits Char’s
Hyaku Shiki?
Hmmm…
As for Glemy, somehow he went from wet behind
the ears rookie to Haman’s second in command and potential rival for the
leadership of Neo Zeon?
I feel like this
is a retcon made just to make him into the main sub villain of the series
behind Haman.
Couldn’t he have just
started as a high ranking Neo Zeon officer with his own ambitions that threaten
Haman and not just have them written into his character code between episodes?
I still cant believe Gundam ZZ actually got better and
I’m excited to see it continue.
Leina’s
life is hanging in the balance and, as much as I hate to say it now, her
possible death could serve as Judau’s motivation for the rest of the series,
though he’s been growing steadily for a couple episodes before this soft reboot
so maybe it’s not necessary.
Haman’s
been rattled and Dakar could be on the verge of being retaken from Neo
Zeon.
So yeah…should get to watching the
next episodes of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ to see what happens next.
Maybe this should could net above a 2/10
after all.
Come back tomorrow to see if
it can right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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