After War Gundam X Part 7 Episodes 31-35

Tiffa is captured by SRA spies and brought to their home colony of Cloud 9.  Desperate to get her back, Garrod heads into space with the Double X.  Once there, Garrod learns that the troubles on Earth are just as bad in space as an ancient faction seeks to begin war anew.  Teaming up with a beautiful space resistance fighter, Garrod begins his mission to save the girl he loves.  Meanwhile, the UNE and SRA prepare for their final showdown, unveiling new weapons and new agendas.  The 8^th Space War that many have tried to prevent…now seems poised to begin.

When it comes to Gundam, I’ve always enjoyed seeing Mobile Suits in space.  There’s just something grand about it and it’s giant robots battling in the sea of stars…it doesn’t get more scifi than that to me.  So it’s about time we managed to get there, even if, just like Turn A Gundam, it might’ve been a super brief stay.

This set of episodes was Garrod’s set hands down.  From his emotional breakdown losing Tiffa, and seeing the picture she drew for him, to playing the ultimate Gundam negotiator, if you ever needed proof that Garrod might be one of the Top 5 Gundam Protagonists, look no further than this little arc.  Garrod’s been the never ending beacon of hope and optimism for this entire series, able to change the hearts of even the most hardened cynic, with a little help from Tiffa.  This work continued this time around with an SRA pilot who looks like he was plucked right out of Legend of the Galactic Heroes with his character design.  Lancerow Dowell (where do they come up with these names?), is basically Jamil’s space counterpart and he immediately came off as such.  Sure he serves a corrupt master but he’s always questioning the guys motives.  Meeting Garrod and Tiffa and learning from them that Jamil is doing what he should have been doing all along will definitely give Garrod a valuable ally in the colonies. 

Speaking of the Colonies, the leaders of the SRA and New UNE are so alike they might as well be clones.  Both Rasso and Bloodman (THESE NAMES!!!) are so twisted in their desire to bend the concept of Newtypes to their own notions of conquest, it’s easy to see why things got as bad as they did during the 7^th Space War.  So it’s no surprise that there’s a splinter group, Satelicon, battling the SRA.  While it does allow for the intro of the cute and plucky Pala Cis, we only get to see Satelicon for one episode before theyre wiped out instantly so the SRA can focus exclusively on Earth.  It begs the question how Satelicon lasted as long as they did before this series when their downfall was handled in such a casual brushoff.  Oh and the SRA has a Colony Laser, the sure sign you’re a bad guy in a Gundam series.  But even that didn’t last long as Garrod blew it to kingdom come with his Gundam after he got Tiffa back.  I think it’s probably just before this point that the Japanese production found out that their show was pretty much cancelled and now we’re feeling the effects of quick introductions and resolutions before the probable forced ending we’re going to see tomorrow.  That said, as I likewise said about Turn A Gundam, this Space arc should’ve started a long time ago.

We did eventually get back to Earth and we freaking missed something.  All of a sudden, the crew of the Freeden have been taken captive and are on their way to a firing squad…stop right there, WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?!  Yeah it was the shows goal to focus on Tiffa and Garrod’s separate endevors in space but we couldn’t take an episode to see what became of Jamil and his crew after they destroyed the Freeden to get Garrod into space? (BTW that was a cool sequence and I love this crew to bits for being so ballsy together, a sign of how far they’ve all come).  This is another effect of the forced acceleration of the rest of the Gundam X story and it’s a lesson I’d hoped Studio Sunrise would’ve learned after skipping over two important plot points of X’s predecessor Gundam Wing: the resurrection of the Sanc Kingdom and the rise of the White Fang.  Still the gangs slowly getting back together and even got a special save from execution thanks to the return of Carris.  I cant wait to see him reunite with Garrod and Tiffa in the finale.

Hard to believe that Gundam X only has 4 more episodes to close out a story it probably needed 10 more episodes to do properly.  You’ve got two sides heading to war and whichever one wins, we lose.  You’ve got the Frost Brothers snickering in the background thinking theyre going to win it all.  You’ve got the scattered Freeden crew who are the only hope for true peace.  And theres one added mystery for the final run, one word that freaked out both leaders of the SRA and New UNE-D.O.M.E…what the hell is that?  Here’s hoping we get a decent answer and a decent ending overall to this not as bad as one might’ve thought Gundam series.  See you back here on New Years Eve for the Series Finale of After War Gundam X right here at the Gundam Anime Corner.