The Capital Army and Ameria head into space for long
anticipated showdown. As Klim leads
Ameria forces to quietly seize Sankt Porto, the top of the Capital Tower and
its most holy landmark, a new force enters the fray. True to Ameria’s predictions, Towasanga has
come to pass judgement upon the people of Earth who have used technology to
nearly bring back the dark days of the Universal Century. In the midst of negotiations, Bellri, Aida
and the Megafauna head for Towasanga itself…where they hope to find some answer
to this conflict and the origins of Raraiya and the G-Self.
Usually, when a Gundam series heads for space, it’s cause
for excitement.
Space has always been my
favorite setting in this series because watching Mobile Suits duke it out in an
nearly unlimited scale environment means they can cut loose and show off like
nothing on Earth.
Also, large scales
battle with armies ranging from dozens to hundreds of Mobile Suits is always
such a sight, Gundam does draw a lot of inspiration from Star Wars after
all.
So why am I so surprised that G Reco,
which hasn’t managed to do anything right by Gundam, also manages to somehow
make Space Battles so damn boring?
Looks
like my ranting is about to continue though I might actually have some nice
things to say before reviews end.
Much of this mid series set of episodes was nothing but
space combat and man oh man did it get repetitive super quick.
The first two episodes alone could
essentially be copy and pasted from one another with Mask launching some kind
of willy strike on the Megafauna and getting beaten back by the G-Self while
Mask cries about how he cant beat the damn Gundam.
I swear, the guy who’s supposed to be Char in
this series always looks like he’s going to throw the biggest grade school
temper tantrum.
Also, the Capital Army
is trying to launch a space incursion with no space battle experience…of course
theyre gonna get their asses kicked.
Klim and Bellri weren’t much better out there either.
Klim had the gall to invoke boxing legend
Muhammad Ali by saying that now he’s in space, he’ll “Float like a Butterfly
but sting like a Bee.”
This guy fancies
himself “a genius” but I don’t think that word means what he thinks it
means.
As for Bellri…well this is basically
his battlefield attitude at this point: “I have a huge laser cannon now and I
don’t wanna kill you but you’re trying to kill me so try not to die when I fire
my big gun…”
Now, other Gundam pilots in
the past have had this same philosophy: Quatre Reberba Winner, Kira Yamato,
Loran Cehak come to mind.
Unlike them,
Bellri is a happy go lucky idiot who’s not taking this nearly as seriously as
his other Gundam pilot counterparts and he could very well be aiming for Shinn
Asuka’s thrown as the Worst Gundam Pilot in the franchise…though I always wanna
punch Shinn no matter where he stands.
Oh and is that a Project V Book Bellri’s
reading?
How dare this piece of crap
series invoke the OG Gundam series with the book that Amuro Ray used to pilot
the Gundam.
This episode set also saw the introduction of a third
faction to this mess of a war: Towasanga, a space colony hidden on the far side
of the Moon.
A delegation from the
Dorette Fleet shows up to ask the Capital Army and Ameria what the heck is up
with all the military build up on both sides since, according to that stupid
taboo, they shouldn’t be doing that.
Actually, that’s a big point in this set: ENOUGH ABOUT THE FREAKING
TABOO!!!! Everyone is violating the Taboo, its dumb to assume anyone wouldn’t
violate the taboo that says don’t look at the Moon and don’t build a Mobile Suit.
Bellri and his Mom are chief among those who
wont shut up about it.
Bellri’s Mom is
in denial anyone firing weapons near Sankt Porto-The Top of the Capital Tower,
where they get their photon batteries and the holiest site in space.
And Bellri is freaking out when the battle
gets to close and wants to just quit fighting altogether.
It’s a dumb set of rules to have in place
cause no way in hell anyone was every gonna follow them on scouts honor.
Towasanga wants to put the Earthnoids in
their place it seems…but really they don’t seem that much more powerful in
combat than anyone else.
Look no further
than Rockpie, yet another addition to the Bellri, Mask, and Klim Club of Guys
who are all talk and no show.
Every guy
who’s supposed to be a hotshot ace is basically a kid given the keys to an
expensive car (Mobile Suit) and thinks theyre the greatest at anything.
This is made most clear when, during the
initial meeting between the representatives of the Capital Army, Ameria and
Towasanga, Klim makes boisterous accusations and Rockpie hits back and Bellri
jumps in cause there’s no fighting in the war room…er Cathedral.
To paraphrase Doctor McCoy from Star Trek IV,
“It’s a miracle these people even made it out of the Universal Century.”
Also Colonel Cumpa’s not even trying to be
subtle in his villainy: Take out the Towasanga military leadership after they
leave holy ground (Jeez are we in Highlander?)
The only minor bright side that’s managed to come out of this travesty so far
is surprisingly Raraiya. She was
insufferable in the beginning with her needing to be tied down so she didn’t
run out to the G-Self while it was in space and try to take a nap in its hand
again. Being back around the Towasangans
restored her memories and did away with her toddler hopped up on too much sugar
bit. A much more mature and less
annoying Raraiya was a welcome change and we even got some bits of info about
her initial mission to Earth: Apparently she was sent to there for recon for
the Dorette Fleet, which was coming to Earth to teach Earthnoids how to make
Proton Batteries…and several Towasangan families aren’t ok with this since it
could break their monopoly on such a prized resource. It would have been nice for a change to focus
on this important piece of world building that made sense…but Bellri had to go
fight again in another big fight scene so that didn’t last too long. We did eventually get to Towasanga but who
knows how G Reco will find a way to mess up any potential to tell a decent
story for even a sliver of this shows runtime.
I cant believe I had actual praise to give Reconguista in
G for once, even if it was minimal.
Still don’t think it’s saving it from a very, very low score. We wasted a lot of time getting to some
potential good stuff but at the cost of G Reco making Space Combat a slough to
get through in a Gundam series, that is a bigger sin than any Taboo Bellri and
his Mom think is a big deal. 11 episodes
and 2 reviews left to go. I can only
hope they go by quick. See ya Next
Monday for more Gundam: Reconguista in G right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.
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