Speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Considering how many times Domon has brought up the freaking thing, im amazed the Devil Gundam hasn’t shown up sooner. Well it only took 16 episodes but the infamous Demonic Mobile Weapon appeared and no one was spared a truly traumatic and disheartening experience. G Gundam had been building to this encounter and it did not disappoint, same goes for the aftermath.
Understandably, even with their new Shuffle Alliance tattoos, Domon and his friends were pretty much powerless against the Devil Gundam when it burst forth from beneath Shinjuku. This is as crushing as crushing defeats get as Master Asia mopped the floor with Chibodee, Sai Saici, George and Argo all at once and Domon hesitated and gave the Devil Gundam the last of its energy needed to evolve. Normally I’m not a fan of still images being used in lew of animated segments but the one we saw of the fully emerged Devil Gundam was pretty damn beautiful to look at. And it managed to take out Shinjuku in a matter of seconds while Master Asia’s laugh haunted the scene. Yeah…suddenly deciding who gets to rule space for four years seems like it should be on the back burner.
Like I said, Domon hesitated to strike the Devil Gundam because for all his anger and bluster, he still cant bring himself to strike Kyoji. And that carried into the next couple of episodes…the denial I mean. Domon was a bit more frustrating than usual. He spent an episode unable to handle the truth that his beloved Master Asia has gone over to the enemy even when the old man was bragging about it both to Domon’s face and in his secret lair. Domon isn’t all talk and no show. The guy is an impressive fighter but even he needed to get some sense beaten into him after being so stubborn. Luckily, Domon took some friendly advice, albeit grumbling and probably cursing under his breath, and is looking to spend some time training on the same island he trained on with Master Asia to get back into the game.
And who gave Domon this helpful nudge in the right direction? Why a secret German Jester Ninja named Schwarz Bruder…I could not make that up if I tried. Yes, if Master Asia was the prime example of excess that perfectly describes G Gundam, Schwarz is a close second. His pilot suit makes him look like a clown but he dresses like a shady intelligence officer who just so happens to be good at ninjutsu arts. He also seems very, very interested in Domon and the others, enough to manipulate Chibodee, Sai Saici, Argo and George into going to the same island to bump into Domon. I’d almost say he was a puppet master pulling strings. But Schwarz isn’t nefarious. He’s actually pretty blunt and pretty powerful too, enough to give Domon the schooling he needs and cut a tree down with a rusty sword…in short he’s kind of a bad ass. I’ll be anxious to see what his stake in all this is since, much like Master Asia, we don’t know Schwarz’s true motives yet.
This set of episodes also gave some welcome spotlight to characters just as vital to the success of the Gundam Fight as the pilots: the Support Crews. Chibodee has a quartet of beautiful women: Shirly, Cathy, Janet and Bunny. Sai Saici has two speaking in unison Shaolin Monks: Zuisen and Keiun. Argo has the super sexy jail warden Nastasha and George has his family butler Raymond. All of these characters get to shine in helping their respective pilots overcome the trauma they faced being brief pawns of the Devil Gundam. In a way, these guys aren’t just extra players in the game, theyre the family that many of these pilots don’t have and would do anything to help their guys win their battles, personal or otherwise. I particularly liked Nastasha trying to raise awareness of the Devil Gundam’s existence because there’s no way a threat like that can be ignored. But the true MVP is Raymond, who rushes to Geroge’s aid in his own little Butler Mobile Suit in one of the funniest moments G Gundam has shown to date, definitely something needed after the dark cloud cast by the Devil Gundam. And their support and guidance all paid off as Domon’s allies all worked out their funks in their own way. Special shoutout to Argo’s fight with Sai Saici for being so hard hitting and fun at the same time.
Rain wasn’t excluded from the Support Crew love as she acted as the go between for all of them. I especially enjoyed the bit where Sai Saici flashed her panties and Domon got a glimpse and tried to deny it as he went scarlet red…so he does know that Rain is cute eh? Well Rain has always been important and Domon shows concern for her well being a couple of times, during which he manages to activate his Gundam’s Super Mode. Considering he’s managed to unlock some powerful attacks with Rain either directly present or helping him in the cockpit, Domon should really start appreciating how good he has it with Rain. Everyone else loves her to death, it’s only right the guy who gets to hang out with her everyday sees that…as soon he manages to cut through that waterfall and cut down a tree…priorities for Domon, sigh. Sometimes it’s not hard to compare this little training trip to something out of a Rocky movie, with Rain as Adrian telling Domon her doubts before standing by while he works out.
Next Monday we arrive at the halfway mark of Mobile Fighter G Gundam. Will the Devil Gundam be making anymore moves with Master Asia and Kyoji as its emissaries? Will Domon and his friends clear their heads and complete their training? Will we actually get back to the Gundam Fight and how might the Devil Gundam possibly muck it up? Tons of questions and I cant wait for the answers. See you back here Monday at the Gundam Anime Corner.
No comments:
Post a Comment