A lot of todays set of Victory Gundam episodes felt like a prelude to the final act of the series. This meant it was time to do a few last minute tie ups of plot threads on the Earth surface before heading back up into space. Uso naturally had his own issues to work out but it was nice to see some of the supporting cast, who have grown on me, get some time in the spotlight and show they’ve changed just as much as Uso. The story might be rocky from time to time but I think Uso and his friends have mostly held this series together (except Shakti, she will never be an asset to anyone).
I’m sure you were wondering just how Uso would handle the death of his mother. I’m surprised he got the OK from the LM to go to Kasarelia to bury her, but Gomez is a stand up guy and would definitely allow time to Uso to take care of such a sensitive matter. Uso ran the gauntlet of emotions in the heat of battle: he wanted revenge against Zanscare but didn’t want to kill and lose himself to his turmoil. This can be seen in the Victory 2’s newest ability with its Wings of Light: apparently it can disable enemy Mobile Suits without actually destroying them, they just have to pass through them. Uso even attempted to save a Zanscare pilots life towards the tail end of a battle, only for the guy to die in his arms. Uso buried him, along with his mother in Kasarelia while making graves for all the others he and the LM have lost in this war. While im not sold on trying to make sympathetic Zanscare characters this late in the game, I applaud Uso for still having a heart despite the terrors hes witnessed. The image of Uso hugging baby Karl in front of the fallen soldiers grave spoke volumes and Uso even went so far as to save said soldiers family before he left for space. Uso’s a good kid and might be one of my favorite Gundam protagonists. I think he’s gonna be ok.
While Uso sorted out his conflicted soul, we spent some time with his support crew. Odelo’s been mostly the comic relief of this series (along with Flanders the Dog and Haro, who are a very solid team BTW). He has grown though since becoming a Mobile Suit pilot and his new relationship with Elishia, who’s been with him since they met in space. Odelo can still be a crafty troublemaker but even he knows now when he might’ve overdone things in battle and will take responsibility for them. His adoptive brother, Warren, got some good moments too as he tried to explain to Elishia and her sister (and Warrens crush), Martina, that Earth isn’t perfect but it is possible to live there and find some beauty in it, even if the planets still recovering from more than a century of conflict. Wont lie, this cast has really grown on me. Unlike say ZZ, the bulk of the child cast hasn’t been that annoying and has always done their best to help whenever possible. Even Haro and Flanders haven’t been super obnoxious and Karl, bless his heart, this kid will know NO FEAR when he grows up considering he’s survived being carried around by Shakti, aka Worst Mother of the Year EVER. Seriously, Shakti will walk into the middle of a battle with Karl on her back like she’s looking for freaking groceries and now she rides into space…while climbing up to the White Ark on a rope hundreds of feet above the ground with a baby on her back…I think im running out of ways to voice how irritated I am with Shakti and I know I cant be the only one who doesn’t like her.
It should surprise no one that Zanscare didn’t hold up their end to the cease fire with the Federation. Rather, they figured since the League Militaire isn’t part of the Federation, they’re fair game. Foes from way back in the beginning of Victory Gundam returned to get some payback, including Fuala, who wasn’t dead and I so called it. She’s a bit more crazy now, rocking bells on her pilot suit and proclaiming she’s a living Guillotine or something like that…like I said, crazy. We also got a hint at Zanscares endgame for the war: a not Death Star looking weapon called Angel Halo. Apparently, it’s a massive Psycommu Sattelite capable of mass brainwave manipulation. I think I can see now how Maria’s mysterious powers might be put to use by Kagatie now and if I’m right, man even Zeon didn’t have the balls to try this kind of move during the One Year War. We should be very concerned.
The most surprising highlight of these episodes was the League Militaire officially joining forces with the Earth Federation. In yet another “Not” shocker, we learned that the real Jinn Jahhanan was actually Uso’s Dad, Hangelg. Turns out the reason he hasn’t been around is because he’s been hard at work procuring Federation support for the LM’s fight to come in space. I can understand Uso’s reluctance at seeing him again but he and his Dad did have a nice scene and I could really see Hangelg has missed his son but is proud of him due to hearing about all of his exploits. I also like that Hangelg told Uso he hasn’t been training him since birth to be a Gundam pilot because of the Mobile Suit Simulator they had in their basement (take that Flit Asuno, you’re a horrible parent and even worse Grandfather). Couple of notes on the Federation cast: General Mubarac Stern’s resemblance to General Revel from Mobile Suit Gundam is uncanny and a curious callback (if that’s what was intended). Also, the unit that helps the White Ark get to Kasarelia is the Londenderry. The unit shares a name with a colony and maybe even a group of old friends from Char’s Counterattack: the space colony Londenion and the Londo Bell Unit, which was commanded by Bright Noa with Amuro Ray as their frontline pilot in Char’s Counterattack and Gundam Unicorn. That might be a reach to say they’re connected but I like my theory so there.
Well now that we know what Angel Halo is and the threat it might pose, I guess it’s time to go after it right? There’s a massive fleet of Federation ships backing the Reinforce so you’d think the final battle would be coming real soon, right? Well there are still 10 episodes left and we didn’t see a single frame of Cronicle or Katejina and you know they’ll have a large role to play in things. Still, we’re getting close to the final battle and it kicks off Next Monday as we check out the penultimate set of episodes of Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner. See ya then.
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