Category: Mecha

Gundam 08th MS Team, Can love bloom on the battlefield?

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When NYAF announced that Tomino was coming we decide to try to watch as much Gundam as we could before he arrived. Since the original plan was to watch all the Universal Century series in chronological order this meant we had three Gundam OAVs to get through before we could move onto the next major TV series directed by Tomino, Zeta Gundam. I knew that different people liked different OAVs for different reasons so I was eager to watch them all as see which ones clicked with me. The two main selling points on 08th MS Team for me were realism and a good love story.

Since I really started to become a Gundam fan I have heard basically mixed opinions on every single iteration of the franchise. No one seems to completely agree on anything so really who knows what expectations to take into any of these shows! I can’t say I was any more or less curious about 08th Team than anything else on our plates. Nevertheless I went into 08th MS Team full of excitement and vigor, luckily the show kept me feeling like that throughout.

While Amuro Ray was still fighting during the One Year war there were countless other stories going on. One of those is the story of Shiro Amada a young Federation officer who came down from the colonies to help Earth fight the land war against the Zeon. During his trip to Earth he saves a fellow Federation officer in a underpowered Ball. Although he survives the encounter he strands himself on a derelict spacecraft and encounters a beautiful Zeon pilot named Aina Saharin. After they are forced to help each other escape, there is an undeniable bond between the two of them. Once on Earth, Shiro is assigned the commander of the 08th MS team and finds that his fate is tied to Aina who is a test pilot for Zeon’s newest mobile armor super weapon. Both Shiro and Aina must decided what is more important. Is their love doomed to tragedy when they are on opposite sides of the war?

Shiro’s new team isn’t exactly well loved and with a constant rotation of commanders people start placing bets on how long Shiro will last. And unsurprisingly this land war disrupts civilian life in the region as well. Because of this the 08th Team often finds them selves allied with a group of guerrilla fighters who live in the jungle region. While these guerrillas have no love for either side, they see as Shiro comes on the scene that they are the lesser of two evils for now. As for the flip side, we don’t see too much of the goings on as far as Zeon goes. We know there is a big, secret weapon. Though of course Aina is shown on some frequency both pining away for Shiro and also becoming increasingly wary of the project she is involved with. Most notable about this series is its focus away from the battles and robots. That is not to say that they are unimportant, but rather much more emphasis is given to the growing friendships and relationships on and off the battlefield.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #053

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We had really been digging the Gundam Universal Century OAVs, the 08th MS Team and 0080 were excellent. They both had their flaws but overall they were really enjoyable. Then we came to Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, third time is obviously not the charm. This was a chore to get through. When the Federation creates a new Gundam prototype with nuclear capabilities an ace pilot from a Zeon remnant named Gato steals it. It is up to Kou to take the other Gundam prototype and capture Gato before he can unfurl a plan that merely begins with stealing a Gundam. It is not the most original Gundam plot but it is one that has worked  but this time it utterly failed. There was something generally wonky about the plot. I kept waiting for a  reveal that all the seemingly utterly horrible decisions made by the Federation were part of some elaborate plot but that is not the case. No one in this series makes anything close to normal human decisions. Kou and Nina Purpleton’s relationship was just so bizarre I could never even attempt to get into it. When you’re longing for the authentic relationships of Tomino you know something has gone horribly wrong. The worst part is this is the Gundam OAV that really ties into the main series since the events in Stardust Memory go on to majorly help create the Titans. This series has fans for two reasons that don’ really matter that much to me: great mobile suit designs and cameo appearance of some important Zeta Gundam players like Bask Om and Haman Karn. This was an utterly horrid Universal Century Gundam series and the sooner I moved on the better.

I like the opening for Stardust Memory, yup, I sure did like that opening. Oh right, now I have to talk about the rest of it. We start with a classic rivalry of rookie vs enemy ace, the robots are cool, the animation is pretty nice, but things just feel off. Why is there a faction of Zeon pirates? And where exactly did they get their uniforms? Cima is completely decked out with a cloak and tiger skinned rug on the floor while many of her henchmen wear shirts with no sleeves or completely open chested. And seeing them interact with regular officers is even more laughable as if they showed up for a costume party that no one knew about. Our female representative on the other side, Nina, is all kinds of contradictory and so ineffectual that one has to wonder how she got her job. Also the pilots on the side of Federation are super assholes minus Kou (but he gets no points because he likes Nina who is a dumb, dumb woman) and Keith (who also loses points for lamest helmet decal). Gato I guess is a pretty bad dude but even he isn’t very engaging. The entire cast is forgettable atleast in any good way. Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory doesn’t start off too badly, but it quickly goes down hill culminating in a nonsensical ending that had me saying “WHAT!? WAIT!” I suppose it should get a few props for really surprising me! I have heard mixed opinions of the series but mine is a definitive “poor.”

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #052

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So I finally got around to building my Char Action Base over the weekend. I was quite surprised that it was in any way complex, I expected to just open up the package and be good to go. Not so. This is probably for maximum customability, there were more stickers in this kit than I think there were in the actual Zaku II Master Grade I built! Both stands can be put in many different positions as well as be lengthened and shortened easily. They are very thick so sturdiness seems in tact though trying to put the Zaku II at a 90 degree angle proved too much for it. In any case, the construction was rather quick and then came the ability to make Char’s Zaku look like it is flying through space! Watch out!

I don’t think that The Battle of Genryu: Origin is a bad manga though I am not sure it is a good one either. Our main character Jinnosuke has an unusual condition. Most of the time he is a normal clumsily high school student but every so often he get amazing bursts of athletic skill. We comes to find he has tremendous martial arts skill that lies dormant thanks to his family’s hypnotism. Jinnosuke’s older brother, Soichiro comes back determined to awaken this sleeping powerhouse. The fighting is fine and entertaining but not spectacular. Shoko Fukaki tends to use a lot of speed lines and the rest of the art work is serviceable but not outstanding. Jinnosuke is happy go lucky normally but his personality with the power is utterly ruthless. That dynamic is what will make or break this manga, but it is hard to tell which direction it is leaning here. I was somewhat saddened that even though Fusano, Jinnosuke’s girlfriend, is also a martial artist, she is really the utterly weak sauce love interest girl. The first book mostly set up Jinnosuke’s situation so how exactly the whole series is going to play out has yet to be determined so it’s hard to make a definitive statement. However, it’s not a series that is going to win over non-fighting manga fans but people who like martial arts might want to see how it develops.

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