Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance Part 2 Episodes 4-6

While continuing to avoid pursuit by the Gundam, Iria and her remaining Squad are given an impossible mission: infiitrate a Federation Base and steal their GM Mobile Suits for research.  When the mission goes horribly wrong, the survivors have no choice but to flee the planet as Zeon lines continue to crumble.  At the Battle of Odessa, Iria faces her fate, and the Gundam, in one final showdown.

I cant believe how excited I was to keep going with Requiem for Vengeance after the first three episodes.  I was worried the fully 3DCG animation would be its downfall and while I’ve still got issues, the shows overcoming those shortfalls thanks to an intense story headed by a great lead heroine and some of the best and most realistic action in the Gundam franchise in a long time.  So, does Part 2 live up to the surprising heights of Part 1?
 
As a longtime Gundam fan, I was wondering just where exactly Reqiuem for Vengeance fit into the One Year War timeline.  I had some guesses but the unexpected return of a fan favorite that confirmed my theories.  I never expected to see Rear Admiral Yuri Kellarny from 08^th MS Team again.  His scene with Iria was great, showing he’s still the jovial but respectable commanding officer he’s always been and also giving the struggling Zeons a bit of hope they’ve been lacking since the series began.  Like I said, his appearance also helped me deduce when Reqieum for Vengeance takes place and all I could think of afterwards was if we were going to reach a certain landmark battleground in the One Year War before the finale…
 
And we did.  WE GOT TO SEE ODESSA BABY!!!!  Sorry, for me, being a big fan of the original series, seeing the legendary turning point battle between the Earth Federation and Zeon was just a nice extra treat for an already great ride.  Granted the battle was almost over and there wasn’t much more the Zeon’s could do but still, revisiting familiar Gundam stomping grounds (no pun intended) is always fun.  While we didn’t get to see full on armies clashing, the scale of the battle still felt huge thanks to the animation on the Mecha and the scenery too.  It felt like I was watching a scene from Saving Private Ryan but with giant robots..  But then again, this wasn’t about Odessa (that was just a bonus).  It was about Iria getting her friends and comrades back into space as the Zeon foothold on Earth was on the verge of collapse.
 
Iria’s journey’s been an interesting one and she’s a character I came to feel quite a bit for.  The second half of the series does share a few obvious answers about her abilities if you know your Gundam lore.  Yeah, Iria’s a Newtype and it does become a plot point throughout.  I don’t think it takes away from the realistic combat or her internal struggles.  This is still Real Robot combat through and through.  Is the Newtype angle necessary?  No, series like 08^th MS Team and Gundam 0080 have proven you don’t need them to up the ante on all One Year War stories.  However, it does become a problem here in regards to one question I really didn’t want answered: the reveal that the pilot of the Gundam EX isnt just a Newtype, he’s a kid even younger than Gundam protagonist Amuro Ray.
 
Now I get it, we don’t know every single facet of the One Year War or what the Federation was working on before their Mobile Suits were ready.  But using a Newtype kid as the ultimate killing machine, it comes off as more “huh?” than anything.  I feel like Requiem should have added a 7^th episode to delve into this kids backstory after Iria’s failed raid to steal some GMs.  It might not have helped the decision to reveal who the man (or kid) behind the Monster Gundam.  It might have helped the overall disappointingly anticlimactic finale though.  Yeah to see the kid get cut down so easily due to brief hesitation kind of kills the slasher monster mystique they had going for the EX throughout the series.  It just feels unearned and more an attempt to add another Newtype tragedy to the Gundam history books.  That said, Iria’s final showdown with him is still pretty damn awesome.
 
Final thoughts:  This was a quick one but one that surprised the Hell out of me.  Mobile Suit Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance might suffer from not so flattering character animations and the ending needed a bit more work.  Beyond that, the characters, mecha animation and the pulse pounding story carried everything from beginning to end and added a few new surprises into the mix.  How often do you get to see a Gundam acting like Michael Myers or Jason Vorhees stalking poor Zeons with no chance of winning?  Iria’s fate leaves the door open for a possible sequel (one that could even tie into Gundam 0083 considering where she ends up) and I’d like to see more of her story in other forms.  I wasn’t sure if this had anything to add to the already crowded list of One Year War stories.  Turns out the story of the day Zeon learned the hard way they were no longer top of the Mobile Suit food chain was one we were missing, filled with excitement, terror, heart and some damn good action to boot.
 
8.5/10