Mecha Marathon – Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack

Several years after the events of Mobile Suit Gundam, Char Anzable is the leader of Neo-Zeon and still wants to drop a colony on the Earth. His long-time rival and fellow Newtype Amuro Ray is out to stop Char. Between them is Quess Prayana, a rebellious Newtype teenager in need of a mentor. She finds one in Char who convinces her to fight against her Earth-born family, a move that only ends in tragedy.

screenshot via trailer

This film (movie? OVA?) has some good things going for it. It passes the Bechdel test in the first fifteen minutes. There are small moments of characters having difficulty navigating microgravity. The narrative doesn’t stretch itself to get everyone of importance on the same battlefield. Unfortunately, none of these are enough to redeem it.

Dear God, this director did not believe in establishing shots. Establishing shots, for lack of a better term, establish the scene. Oftentimes in anime, it’s the shot of the school building before cutting to the students’ antics. In a GUNDAM show, it’s usually a shot of the space ship before cutting to the drama on the bridge. For Char’s Counterattack, the narrative jumps from Earth to space to spaceship to mecha battle without first establishing these things that it took all my concentration just to keep up, which only added to my general confusion. I debated on pausing the film after every scene just so I can write down what the hell just happened and see if there was a connection. Then I decided that any enjoyment I would have gotten from this would have decreased by putting in that extra work. Besides, I kinda wanted to finish up as quickly as possible.

Char’s Counterattack is not accessible to newbies. Newtypes, maybe, since they can probably sense what’s happening, complete with the little noise effect. People new to the Gundam franchise, though? Absolutely not. The narrative relies on the audience already knowing the characters and their backstory–no one gets an explanation on what they did to get to where they are or anything.

I have problems with the character Quess, since her mentorship is entirely based on whoever she happens to love in that moment. She first encounters Amuro, who rejects her advances. Char, however, is more willing to indulge despite not reciprocating her feelings. First of all, girl, not every dude you encounter is romancing material. Why you gotta fall in love so easily? Female characters are always, always, always there for  the romance; even when they’re not, there is always a romance around a female character. I hoped Quess would step aside from that trope, but Quess did not agree. Minus points for feminism.

Quess’s constant romancing also sets up both Amuro and Char to be bad guys. Amuro rejects her advances, which is a good thing! You’re not supposed to romance your mentor, you’re supposed to treat them like a teacher. So Amuro does a good thing but is punished by the narrative for it because Quess then finds solace in Zeon where she fights against her family and wants to send the Earth into nuclear winter (more on that later). Meanwhile, Char indulges her romancing by having her sit on his lap and saying sweet nothings to her. But Char is clearly taking advantage of her, making him the skeevy one of all the characters. Everything about that was uncomfortable.

Finally, can I just say that I do not understand Zeon’s obsession with sending a colony on Earth? Why does everyone want to destroy the Earth? Are the Sides self-sufficient that they can grow everything they could possibly need? Do they make their own textiles for clothing? Are there factory Sides devoted to processing metal and plastic and glass? Wouldn’t having a habitable Earth help with the production of these resources? Odd questions, but still relevant.

screenshot via trailer

As you can probably surmise, I did not enjoy Char’s Counterattack. It was too fast-paced for a clear understanding of the narrative and it relied on the viewer’s already having a history with the characters therein. I recommend it to die-hard GUNDAM fans, but no one else.

Mecha Marathon [Surplus] – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED

Why hello. Sorry I’ve been AWOL. I’ve been busy with life things–moving, new jobs, moving again, family drama. You know the drill. Things are calmer now, calm enough to watch an old favorite of mine. It’s not an official part of the Mecha Marathon, but have a write up about it anyway. 

One year after the Bloody Valentine tragedy, where a nuclear missile destroyed a civilian colony, a covert ZAFT special forces team infiltrates a colony of the neutral nation of Orb and steals four of the five top secret weapons called Gundams. The fifth is piloted by Kira Yamato, a student-cum-soldier who escapes on the United Earth Alliance’s warship Archangel with his friends and a small pod of civilians. Understaffed, under-supplied, and unprepared, Archangel must somehow get to UEA headquarters on Earth before they are destroyed by the ZAFT team pursuing them. But Kira is reluctant to fight, especially when his best friend Athrun Zala is one of his pursuers.

screenshot via third opening; I added this image to my Mecha Aesthetic board on Pinterest

Gundam SEED starts off really good. The drama is simple and engaging with a focus on a struggling, top secret warship with a reluctant pilot. There is even something I can only call racism which, despite what you may think, adds an extra layer of intrigue. ZAFT is entirely populated by Coordinators, genetically-modified humans who are capable of much more than unmodified Naturals. There’s jealousy on both sides–Naturals feel inferior and Coordinators crave equality. Kira Yamato is a Coordinator working for “the enemy,” and this conundrum underlines his reluctance to fight with the Archangel despite growing up in a neutral colony.

It does not escape me that Gundam SEED is basically the original Mobile Suit Gundam with a couple extras. The warships Archangel and White Base have similar missions with similar characters: Captain Ramius is the new Lieutenant Bright, Kira Yamato is the new Amuro Ray, and Commander Rau Le Cruset is the new Char Anzable. Despite this, Gundam SEED stands on its own; viewers need not know or understand previous Gundam properties to enjoy SEED.

What’s there to like? On a personal level, I am down with the main leadership of the Archangel, which consists of Captain Ramius, Lieutenant Badgiruel, and Commander Mu La Flaga. I interpret each a representing a part of the body: Ramius is the heart (idealism), Badgiruel is the brain (rationalism), and La Flaga the arms (realism). The heart rules the ship and ultimately makes the final decision, but she is greatly influenced by the brain and supported by the arms. At least at the beginning. When Archangel finally arrives in Alaska, Badgiruel is transferred to another posting, leaving Ramius and La Flaga on the ship to feel the betrayal of the United Earth Alliance on their own. (La Flaga was also transferred, but he returned right before shit goes down.)

screenshot via third opening; I really want to meet the parent that looks at a baby and decides to name them Mu.

I give the show some points for feminism too. Ramius and Badgiruel ensure the Bechdel Test is passed almost every episode until they’re separated. There is an equal split in genders of the main four characters (Kira and Athrun with Cagalli and Lacus). Erika Simmons is the head engineer for Morgenroete, an engineering company in Orb that built the Gundams. The three pilots for the Gundam Astray models are all female. And every named female character that crosses the screen is a badass in her own right. My heart goes out to Lacus, the pink-haired, childish songstress of ZAFT who does crazy things like order a military commander to stop an opportunistic pursuit of the enemy vessel and eventually leads an entire fraction of soldiers to commit treason.

There is still a little work to be done. Cagalli and Lacus are both of the main four but they barely speak to each other the entire show, even when they’re working together in the final episodes. Miriallia is the only woman in the combined posses of Kira and Athrun. Though ZAFT shows some female representation in their leadership, there is no female presence on the leadership of the United Earth Alliance. Yeah, they’re supposed to be the most evil of the evil organizations, but showing a little equal opportunity oppression goes a long way.

The animation and music is amazing. More than ten years after its initial release, the first ending theme song, Anna ni Issho Datta no ni by See-Saw, still plucks the heartstrings with equal parts nostalgia and energy. Then again, See-Saw’s main composer is anime legend Yuki Kajiura, so of course the music is amazing. Kajjiura did not contribute to the overall score of Gundam SEED, but her hand is seen in the insert songs at least two op/ed songs. The character designs are dynamic. Coordinators may have a brighter color palette (i.e. Lacus Clyne’s pink hair and purple dresses) but the Naturals of the Archangel are still distinguishable in appearance despite the same grey uniform. Throw this together with fluid animation and you have a very pretty show. Pretty in appearance and pretty in sound (until Kira starts to cry, which is awkward enough to hear, but his animated sobs don’t match with his screams and it’s jarring).

 

screenshot via third opening; those boys are Lacus’s bitches. The narrative may not phrase it that way, but it’s the true.

SEED is prone to melodrama, and there are some specific events that prove how off-the-rails it can get. The final battle between Kira and Athrun is the turning point of their friendship and the show. After that, there is a lot more melodrama in the show. Events like Miriallia’s assault on Dearka in the Archangel’s infirmary become commonplace. Kira, despite nearly dying on Earth, wakes up in space under the care of Lacus (who just so happens to be friends with the dude who found Kira). Yet some of this melodrama makes the show fun to watch. The episode where Athrun and Cagari are stranded on an island is a fun time. And I do have a soft spot for the burgeoning romance between Miriallia and Dearka, which is borne of empathy and sorrow.

As a side note, my main ship is AthrunxLacus, because I am super super into aristocratic pairings like that. Also, they were really sweet together. AthrunxCagalli is sweet once you live through their respective arcs, but I need a bit more convincing. Lacus, meanwhile, can choose anyone she damn well chooses and it will always be the right choice.

screenshot via third opening; oh yeah, this show has giant robots too

If you’re looking for a serious mecha show a la Mobile Suit Gundam: War in the Pocket or Aldnoah.Zero, you have it in the opening arcs when the Star-Crossed Bros arc is the main chorus. Gundam SEED likes to place characters where they shouldn’t be for drama, especially after the halfway point. I recommend Gundam SEED to casual mecha fans and people who easily emote over beautiful people.