FIF#146-Gundam: Reconguista in G

It is the year 1014 of the Reguild Century.  Over a millennia has passed since the close of the Universal Century.  Following centuries of turmoil and chaos, Humanity has finally found a measure of peace and prosperity in this new era.  Bellri Zenam emerges as one of its newest defenders, tasked with protecting an orbital elevator that the world relies on for energy.  During Bellri’s first sortie, the tower is attacked by Pirates with a mysterious Mobile Suit, the G-Self.  This is only the beginning of a strange journey for Bellri as he meets the beautiful pilot Aida Rayhunton and learns he is one of only a handful of people who can pilot the G-Self.  The eras may have changed, but once more a Gundam chooses a young man to protect the future.

I’ve always said that I feel it is my destiny, having a blog with the title “Gundam” in it, to review just about everything Gundam in existence and I’ve done a pretty good job over the last seven years I think.  There’s plenty still left to review, including what I have planned for December.  But come 2022, there are only a small batch of shows left in the Gundam franchise left for me to take a look at.  One of those is my First Impression today, Reconguista in G.  Now, this isn’t one of Gundam’s most beloved entries, in fact I hear it’s one of the worst.  Most of the complaints I’ve heard stem from G Reco being a confusing mess with little clarity.  And judging from the first episode…they may be right about that.

The first episode of G Reco plops us right into the middle of a Mobile Suit chase like we’re just coming back from a commercial break.  Immediately afterwards, we get a church scene that looks like we’re about to watch the opening cutscene from Devil May Cry 4.  Then we fly into space to meet our main character, Bellri, and watch a bunch of cheerleaders straight out of Macross Delta show up to cheer him on.  Oh and at some point a hideously designed Gundam shows up to cause havoc.  The pacing of this first episode is all over the place and it’s throwing a lot at once.  You know how most Gundam shows of the past like the original series and Gundam Wing had 2min recaps that kept repeating at the beginning of each episode?  Well apparently Tomino himself thought that wasn’t needed to set up this new world that’s supposed to be the successor to the Universal Century.  By just throwing us into the deep end and expecting to like what we see, Tomino makes G Reco’s premiere feel less like Gundam and more like the pilot for a Gundam poser trying to ride off of the franchise’s success…and notice how I’m mentioning Tomino in all of this.  Well that’s because G Reco is the first Gundam project directed by Gundam’s founding father, Yoshiyuki Tomino, since his work on the Zeta Gundam New Translation Trilogy.  The man who gave us Gundam is back…and this is what he’s delivering?

I’ll also be honest: while the visuals and character designs do invoke Eureka Seven, I don’t think G Reco is a particularly good looking show.  I mean compare this to Iron Blooded Orphans, which came out a year after and how cool and polished it looked and G Reco pales in comparison.  The overdeveloped jaws of pretty much every character makes me think they all skipped an evolutionary step and given Bellri’s hyperactive attitude and penchant for licking his lips every five minutes, I don’t think I’m far off.  Then there’s the Gundam of the series: the G-Self…or “G!!! G??? G!!!!!” as that Lallah Sune type character keeps screaming…I don’t like it (and I don’t like that character either and her constantly calling it G).  The big eyes and antennae, give it a very insectoid like vibe…though im sure those antennae could be remniscnet of cat ears too (reminds me of Beerus from Dragon Ball Super and how I thought he was a Bunny with the tall ears but he’s supposed to be based on an Egyptian Cat).  The other mecha we see aren’t much better, in fact they might be the worst designs I’ve seen in Gundam to date, looking like giant versions of those bargain bin 80s robot toys with the flashing faces. 

Given what I’ve gone over, this would be the point where I’d say I’m passing on this.  However, my First Thought aside, this is Gundam…which means I will be watching Reconguista in G in full and reviewing it.  When that might be, I don’t know, maybe I can pencil it in for 2022 but we’ll see.  Still, I’m not looking forward to it.  With the most confusing world, terrible looking character and mecha designs and only tenuous connections to the Universal Century, this might say it’s Gundam but it certainly doesn’t feel like it.  Maybe it will get better.  Or maybe the community’s consensus will be right and there will be a reason why Tomino himself apologized for this one…damn shame.