Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam Part 5 Episodes 21-25

Kamille returns to Space where he is reunited with the crew of the Argama and presented with the powerful new Zeta Gundam.  Meanwhile, Char returns to Earth in order to prevent a potentially disastrous power play by the Titans.  New enemies join the stage and new, unexpected roles are thrust upon Kamille and Char.  The action soon reaches the Moon where the AEUG must fight a desperate battle to stop the Titans from committing an atrocity far greater than Zeon during the One Year War: dropping a colony onto the Moon.

I cant remember the last time I watched a Gundam series where the titular suit takes half the series to come into picture (only other one I can think of is G Gundam).  But the wait is finally over.  Not only is Kamile back in space but he’s also got his brand spanking new Zeta Gundam at last.  And not a moment too soon as things got pretty hot on the Moon in todays set of episodes.  Plus, it’s the halfway point so that means there had to be some major shake ups as well.

While we’d seen him here and there before now, this set saw the purple haired tactician Paptimus Scirocco take an more active role in events.  This man is…well I didn’t think villains could get any worse than the Titans but there’s something far more menacing about this guy.  Maybe it’s his clearly villainous character design.  Maybe it’s his holier than thou/pompous and manipulative attitude.  Maybe it’s the fact that his name is Paptimus Scirocco and it makes you wonder if Bad Guys become Bad Guys because of the names their parents gave them.  Whatever the case, while the Titans are consolidating their hold on the entire Federation (more on that later), Scirocco is more than happy to play subordinate to Jamitov but he’s got his own agenda.  Also his fooling around with Jerid by giving him untested Cyber Newtypes as squadmates is clearly him just pulling Jerid’s leg for giggles. 

The Titans actually had their fair share of failures and major triumphs.  While they did manage to capture Von Braun City on the Moon, the quickly lost it when the AEUG counterattacked.  Not only were the Commanders shamed but Jerid hit a new low by being unable to intimidate Von Braun’s civilians, who actually lent Kamille and Katz a hand in escaping during a battle.  At first, I was unimpressed with Jerid being such an immature man child in an otherwise ruthless organization.  Now though, he’s become quite entertaining with his many failures and attempts to be awesome and important.  Plus there are far more threatening villains in Zeta Gundam.  Take Titans head honcho Jamitov for example.  While his forces failed to hold onto Von Braun and the AEUG stopped their colony drop on Granada, the old man skillfully convinced the Earth Federation to place their military power in Titans hands AND he orchestrated the swift assassination of AEUG founder Blex in the span of like a day.  A guy with that much pull and influence should not be trifled with.  Poor Char though.  In his dying breath, Blex named him the new leader of the AEUG.  Huh, guess he’ll have to stop with that Quattro Bajina crap and start being Char again...come on man honor the mans final request.

Back with Kamille, it’s hard to tell whether or not he’s grown since his time on Earth or he’s just in deep emotional mourning over losing Four.  Sometimes it’s the former since he’s starting to sound more wise.  Other times he’s still snapping for no reason and even picked a fight that Bright had to break up.  But Kamille’s angst is the least of everyones character flaws right now.  Fa and Katz are picking up that slack.  Fa has quickly become the Sochie Heim from Turn A Gundam from this series.  She might not be as much a spoiled brat as Sochie and she doesn’t treat Kamille like a man servant.  No Fa’s problem is she’s so desperate to be important that she’ll ride Mobile Suits into battle when she isn’t trained and risk entire missions just to be like “I’m ready” only to realize the second she launches, “IM GOING TO DIE!!!”  At one point Fa even shoved Reccoa out of the way to get to a Mobile Suit for battle…yeah Fa is…kind of a bitch.  As for Katz, ugh, just because you’re a legacy character in Gundam doesn’t mean you have all the answers and everyones gonna treat you like an adult.  From sassing pretty much everyone to letting a spy trick him into being set free because “love at first sight”, I’m starting to think that Amuro and Hayato’s decision to send Katz into space is probably the shows dumbest move.  On the upside, Emma is continuing to kick ass and she’s inherited Kamille’s Gundam Mark II now that he has the Zeta.  Emma’s getting the job done right…even though she cant seem to realize that poor Captain Henken cares a lot about her, no matter how much he gets shot down.

Well the AEUG might’ve kept the Moon safe but the Titans now have total control of the most powerful military in the Earth Sphere.  Little victories can only get this plucky group of freedom fighters so far.  Plus there’s Scirocco’s plans to worry about.  Even when characters are bugging the heck out of me, I cant take my eyes off of Zeta Gundam.  It’s got my attention and it isn’t letting go…fine by me.  The battle continues tomorrow right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.