And so the 8th year of the Gundam Anime Corner begins and I think I’ve chosen a pretty exciting title to kick things off. Ever wondered how a Gundam could fight if it moved like Ryu from Street Fighter and could master any advanced fighting style known to man? Well this is your lucky month cause we have finally arrived at the first of several Gundam shows I intend to review in 2021. Welcome to the first of the Alternate Universe Gundam shows…welcome to Mobile Fighter G Gundam.
Like I said, this was the first Gundam Anime that didn’t involve the Universal Century or any of the decades of extensive history that came with it. No, this was an attempt to have the franchise branch out and attract new viewers with new concepts while keeping the spirit of Gundam alive. And for its very beginnings, G Gundam does work in both regards. It is Street Fighter meets Gundam but also contains plenty of the deep war analysis commentary that Gundam is best known to convey. However, this isn’t meant to be a super dark series like several of the UC shows that came before it (especially Victory Gundam). G Gundam is meant to be a fun, new accessible way into the Gundam multiverse. And come on, what’s more fun that watching Gundams play Rock Em Sock Em robots eh?
The Future Century is an interesting setting that I want to explore a bit further. The Space Colonies are now hulking land masses protected by barriers (I guess we haven’t really gotten a good look at one in better detail yet). World peace has…more or less been attained through the creation of the Gundam Fight Tournament, which allows all of the varying countries to duke it out to see who rules space for the next four years. It is a little weird to see Gundam approach conflict like this since it’s mostly been known for conveying the “war is hell” adage to different effects. Well the Future Century mustve finally taken it to heart and I wonder how things were before the Gundam Fight was enacted. That’s not to say it's a perfect system, far from it. Space might be nice and pretty but Earth is kind of a dumping ground for the rest of humanity and wrecked Gundams from previous tournaments. We get lots of time to experience life for those left behind on the planet and its rough. When the cities aren’t being decimated by giant robot brawls, it’s a pure fight for survival, with various cities having varying degrees of law and order. Earth is no longer a coveted prize, it is a battle ground pure and simple. The Gundam Fight may not be a traditional “war” but the end result sure looks like Hell to me. And while the spirit of good sportsmanship may be prevalent amongst the fighters themselves, there are those like in Neo America and Neo Russia who are trying to abuse the system to make sure their either their Gundams win or they do something that nets them the chance to escape Earth. Honor isn’t for everyone in desperate times.
Our protagonist for the duration of this series is Domon Kasshu…and he’s kind of a mixed bag. Domon seems to have two and a half speeds: one is quiet but gruff loner; the second is hyperactive, loud and kind of a broken record fighter; and the half is the occasional nice side of him that keeps him from being a total douchebag. If the opening set of episodes does have a problem, it’s the repetitive nature of some of Domon’s adventures. He goes to a city, asks random people about the guy in a photo he carries around, gets into a fight, fights an actual Gundam, then leaves, wash, rinse, repeat. Thankfully, I wasn’t totally annoyed by this repetition. Domon does have his moments of levity: being nice to a bunch of orphans in Rome and helping a prisoner escape a Russian gulag. He isn’t a cruel person…he’s just got a very one track mind. And that one track is finding the man in the photo, his brother I assume. We aren’t given the full details of Domon’s special mission within the Gundam Fight but it is important and family is at stake. I get him wanting to get to his target quickly and get this mission over with…but man he can be a jerk too: picking fights at random because he thinks everyone knows the guy in the photo…and he continuously, coldly brushes off his super cute support member, Rain Mikamura. Mechanic, Medic, Sharpshooter and possessing killer style, Rain is the kind of girl you’d want by your side on a Gundam romp across the globe. She’s kind to a fault and is a perfect foil to Domon’s often brash attitude towards just about everything. Rain would rather talk like a normal person compared to Domon’s punch first, punch some more and then when his opponent can barely talk THEN he askes them questions…about the photo (seriously, one track mind).
Being this is a series involving a worldwide international Gundam Fight, you’d better believe Studio Sunrise is bringing their A-Game and having a blast designing Gundams for every world nationality taking part. No doubt this helped boost the Gunpla sales for this series. Domon’s Shining Gundam is a great model, definitely flying the colors that have long been associated with Gundam from the getgo. The Gundam Maxter, Rose Gundam, Dragon Gundam and Bolt Gundam are all well designed models, tailored specifically to their cultures and fighters. Maxter is a lot of fun as a boxing Gundam in particular and the Dragon Gundam clearly had an influence on the Gudnams of Wufei Chang in Gundam Wing, which came after G Gundam in Japan. Extra cudos to Domon’s character too, he does respect his fighters when they aren’t bad guys. Chibodee, Sai Saici, George and Argo all have their various reasons for fighting in the tournament: dreams, honor, redemption, all that good stuff. Each guy gives Domon a great fight and the fact that he doesn’t crush their heads (btw did I mention the Gundam Fight plays by Highlander rules? Lose the head and youre done no matter how intact your suit it) means we’ll see these four again down the line for more exciting fights.
For a beginning, G Gundam is very, very different and I wonder how long time Gundam fans saw this. Was it exciting? Was it a betrayal of everything that’s come before? Considering it made it through its near 50 episode run, I’d assume it was popular enough. Personally, the first few episodes are a great little ride in a different direction that is a breath of fresh air for the franchise. It can be serious but it’s also supposed to be fun and exciting, and it is. Plus it’s not like the Universal Century isn’t still around to revisit. I just hope Domon can grow a bit and find a couple more emotional gears to shift into instead of just calm and then enraged. Guess what? We’ll see if some of those hopes can be answered tomorrow with a special bonus review of Mobile Fighter G Gundam. All set. Ready? GO!!!!
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