Leaving Bright Noa and the Argama behind on Earth, Judau
and his friends head back into space.
Here, theyre equipped with a brand new battleship, the Nael Argama, and
prepare to continue the fight against Haman Kahn and Neo Zeon. Waiting for them are some old enemies who
have grown fiercer and much stronger.
But theyre not the only ones with a score to settle in space. Behind enemy lines, Glemy Toto plots his own
rebellion, leading to a potential civil war within Neo Zeon itself.
Gundam ZZ reaches its penultimate set of episodes today
and…ugh, I guess it couldn’t help but return to some terrible old habits, if
only for a little bit.
I feel like a lot
of time in this set could’ve been dedicated to other storylines.
But we just had to have some more of that
incredibly tiresome and troublesome humor pop in.
I’m not even going to try and defend it as
the finale is gonna be just as serious as any normal Gundam finale, which it
should be.
But, I’m only kind of
gripping about one episode and a smidge of another.
Time wasting issues aside, some characters
got some long overdue development and Judau found himself starting the final
path towards his ultimate destiny.
Everything from beginning to end had a steady flow and
each episode segued seamlessly from one into another.
With the kids now in charge of the Nael Argama,
its off to Side 3 for a final showdown with Haman.
But getting there isn’t a quick lightspeed
jump, so there’s time for encounters with a couple of random Neo Zeon
patrols.
Beecha seems to be taking his
new Captain duties surprisingly quite seriously, even if it can be
overwhelming.
I wont lie, I also like
how Torres is ok with Beecha needing to sortie in the Hyaku Shiki if
needed.
It’s always cool to see the
Captain take the same risks as his crew.
Even if it can be argued that Beecha should just stay put on the bridge,
the Nael Argama can run itself with the people it has on hand.
Mondo, on the other hand, got the most
surprising bit of development.
I’ve
always seen him as the weakest character of Judau’s crew, a kid still stuck in
his first half of ZZ ways.
This set of
episodes showed how much he has grown: taking responsibility for the Argama
falling into a trap and defending the ship solo; and his vengeance driven
showdown with the Mayor of Tigerbaum after his love interest, Rasara from Moon-Moon
was killed.
Mondo has improved, I wont
lie about that.
But everyone else has
had their sort of graduation moment from first half ZZ to second half ZZ and
this was his time to shine, and shine he did.
Haman decided to infiltrate the Argama as a refugee
(which is how we met up with Rasara and her twin sister Sarasa again).
Her fixation on Judau has been one of the
more puzzling aspects of ZZ.
Since it
began, Haman’s been drawn to Judau because of their shared Newtype
abilities.
Judau’s put the fear of God
into the unmoveable Haman before and you’d think that would instill a need for
her to see Judau terminated ASAP.
But
even now, she’s still trying to coax him into joining Neo Zeon and ruling the
Earth Sphere by his side.
It almost begs
the question…does Haman have a thing for Judau?
Does she see him as her Lalah if she’s supposed to be Char?
Strange comparison I know but it’s the only
thing that makes Haman’s immense need to ensnare the young Gundam pilot make
any sense.
Sasara sensed that Haman has
a sad side to her story…which would be fine except Haman’s already crossed the
line ordering a colony drop and there’s no coming back from that.
So where did I have issues with this second to last set
of episodes?
Well the better elements of
Haman and Mondo stories took place during the second half of a two part visit
to Tigerbaum, a neutral colony in Side 3.
Here, we saw Judau and the Gundam Team match wits with a group of kids
who were basically them at the start of ZZ.
Then, they faced Mayor Stampa and his creepy desire to put cute girls
into his personal harem and he was dead set on adding Roux, Elle, Rasara,
Sarasa and even the disguised Haman to his collection.
This meant Judau had to dress in drag, infiltrate
the Mayors estate and do some rescuing.
If any of that sounds familiar, I cant believe im saying this but that’s
one of the early subplots of Final Fantasy VII and I’d be shocked if ZZ
inspired that odd bit of comedy (even if everyone likes seeing Cloud Strife
cross dress.
Personally I don’t mind
those beautiful outfits Tifa and Aerith are in…getting off topic).
Then there was the return of everyones least
favorite five year old trapped in the body of a mid 20s model, Chara.
Kind of like Four Murasame or Rosamia Baden,
Chara’s mind has been messed with to make her more docile and ruthless.
But the second she sees Judau, she’s burying
his head in her bosom like no time had passed (seriously, what is it with Judau
attracting a bunch of older women: Haman, Chara, Roux?).
Lastly, Emary…BRIGHT IS MARRIED WITH
CHILDREN!!! YOUR OBSESSION WITH BEARING HIS NEXT CHILD NEEDS TO STOP!!! (god
she reminds me of that horrible captain from Kio’s era of Gundam AGE).
This all felt like ZZ’s first half rearing its
ugly head again and felt like a bad trip up in the wake of all the progress
made over the last 15 episodes.
The
better improvements overshadowed these relapses thankfully and it looks like
we’re back to proper business for the finale.
Well, this is it.
The lessons have (hopefully) been learned.
All the wacky nonsense has (hopefully) been
driven out of its system.
Judau and the
Nael Argama have Side 3 and Axis in their sights.
Granted they’ll need a miracle if they wanna
get out alive.
Thankfully, Glemy’s
little wish for ultimate power might give them the opening they need.
It hasn’t been the smoothest ride…but I wont
lie, several sets ago, I wouldn’t care how it ended.
Now, I’m committed and ready without a fuss.
Tomorrow, Friday, we take a look at the
Series Finale of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ right here at the Gundam Anime
Corner…suit up.
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