I always knew the end of Zeta Gundam was kind of bleak. But man…now I know why Yoshiyuki Tomino has earned the nickname “Kill Em All Tomino” throughout his career. While many of the problems of the last few episodes carried on into it, the final act of Zeta Gundam was a powerful exploration of the true power of the human heart and the dark forces it strives to shine brightly against, even if the cost was more than anyone could bear.
From the very beginning of this set, the stage was set for anyone to get swept away at anytime and each subsequent episode saw at least one main character meet a very tragic end…mostly, I mean if they’ve had it coming all series long then it’s not quite so tragic. I’ll list out the full casualty list later on but I will just say that the only person I don’t feel the least bit sad for is Katz. From the moment he first came on the scene, he’s complained, whined, questioned every order, fought Bright, Char and Kamille on every single decision and refused to budge on Sarah cause she’s his Newtype soulmate. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Katz was the inspiration for Shinn Asuka from Gundam Seed Destiny rather than Kamille. So yeah…his dying by accidentally running into a random asteroid seems fitting for the little nuisance, which is sad cause Katz is a character from the original series and I should care that he makes it out alive alongside Bright.
While there were a ton of bullets, laser and beam sabers being flung all over space, it eventually came down to using philosophy and Newtype power ups that seemed to turn pilots into Super Saiyans. The concept of Newtype pressure being a sort of weapon has been seen all throughout Zeta Gundam. Scirocco’s earlier apprearances came with an effect that made Kamille and even Char feel sick to their stomachs. Now it was time for Kamille, Scirocco and Haman to unleash that kind of power with various results. But the most important was Kamille. While I feel like we could’ve used more build up for his rivalry with Scirocco (just how much screentime did they share until now?) their final battle is the stuff of Gundam legends. Kamille reached his full potential embracing the lost souls of all of his closest friends and loved ones from Four to Emma to even Rosamia to hit Scirocco with a Newtype force so devastating he couldn’t do a thing to stop Kamille. Considering Kamille started as a self centered brat with parent problems, he’s come a long way to accepting his ultimate role and surpassing even Amuro Ray in terms of Newtype potential…which makes his end the most tragic.
Yeah, Kamille survives but Scirocco has fried his brain to the point where Kamille is mentally like a kid again. The look on Fa’s face mirrored mine. This guy…Kamille didn’t deserve this bad of an ending, not after all he’d sacrificed, embraced and fought for. But if you wanted to go for an ending that was darker and far more bleak than the original series, Tomino succeeded on that front. Yes, the Titans are destroyed but this isn’t a complete victory for the AEUG. They’ve lost most of their fighting force. Their best pilots are either lost or unable to fight anymore. And Axis is now free of interference to start their own war when the time is right. So yeah, Zeta Gundam doesn’t have a happy ending. I mean just look at who we lost:
Jamitov-Assassinated by Scirocco
Sarah-Killed by Katz while defending Scirocco
Rosamia-Killed by Kamille with help from the
spirit of Four
Bask Oum-Killed on the bridge of his ship by
Reccoa
Katz-Killed by his own stupidity
Henken-Sacrifices himself and the Radish to
protect Emma
Jerid-Killed when Jamil blasts him into the
exploding Radish
Reccoa-Killed in a duel with Emma
Emma-Dies of shrapnel in battle, dies peacefully
with Kamille by her side
Scirocco-Crushed by the nose of the Zeta Gundam’s
Waverider mode.
Katz, Henken, Jerid and Reccoa alone were taken out in the first ten minutes of the second to last episode. Even Yazan manages to get out alive, how the hell is that fair? I get that “war is hell” is Gundam’s ultimate message. But right now, as much as I rag on it nowadays, the “almost everybody lives” ending of Gundam Wing doesn’t seem so bad anymore.
As dour and tragic as it all was, the finale still delivered in spades with action and emotion. Every score was settled, every built up rivalry had a climax. Jerid’s end was about as you’d expect. He picked the wrong time to try and take Kamille out only for Kamille to basically say he’s had enough of his crap and sent him into the exploding wreckage of the Radish, that was awesome. Fare thee well Jerid, you’re blasting off again one last time. Katz killing Sarah was supposed to invoke memories of Amuro and Lalah but at that point Sarah made it clear: it’s Scirocco or bust and she chose both…so I don’t feel bad for either of them. And what a way to close out the series than a Team Deathmatch with Kamille and Char against Haman and Scirocco. Like the original Gundam, we got action in and out of the cockpit, complete with a Mexican standoff in a small theater. It’s scary to think anyone but Amuro could get the one up on Char and seeing him seemingly bite the big one would give anyone cause to cry…if they didn’t already know Char’s Counterattack was a thing. And yeah, Kamille landing the finishing blow to Scirocco was amazing. This is the kind of battle that mecha legends are made of and it was incredible.
Guess I should close this out eh? While I think it is a little overhyped, I can see why Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam was such a trend setter for the franchise. As a new beginning, it took everything that made the original work and went bigger, darker, grimmer and far more intense. Characters are flawed and most grow while others remain stagnant and ignorant from beginning to end. The tactics used by the bad guys are horrific and the villains overall are some of the best in the franchise, especially the sexy Haman Kahn. The overall story about damaged people looking for purpose and a way to survive in a devastating war has been done better since Zeta (best example would be Neon Genesis Evangelion) but I can see why it made an impact on the world of Mecha and Anime alike. Kamille endures one of the most strenuous, rewarding and yet tragic character arcs of any lead in a Gundam series and the ending he gets is heartbreaking. Except for Katz, the original cast all made welcome returns and had great interactions with the next generation. Knowing where Char goes from here, it’s especially sad to think of what could have been considering how well he gets on with his former White Base enemies, especially Amuro. If the series hadn’t wasted time on a couple of problem characters and maybe combined a few episodes for pacing purposes, it really could have fully surpassed its predecessor. As is, Zeta Gundam is still a legend of the Gundam mythos for a reason. What works, works and if it didn’t, Gundam wouldn’t be what it is today. Every major trope, theme, character arc and story beat in any subsequent series has Zeta to thank for it. And many thanks to you Kamille Bidan, whose story definitely inspired some of my favorite characters in the franchise. This show is flawed (especially later on in the second half) but if you’re a Gundam fan, this is one that should be checked out.
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