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「重力の井戸の底で」 (Juuryoku no Ido no Soko de)
“At the Bottom of the Gravity Well”
The eight-month-long wait for the fourth episode of Gundam Unicorn has been a grueling one, but it was well worth it. The movie-like production quality of this six-part OVA series hasn’t disappointed yet, nor has the complex and intricate story involving the search for the lucrative Laplace’s Box, during which Banagher tries to break the cycle of hatred between the Earth Federation and the Zeon. To that end, there was plenty of action to go around from a myriad of old mobile suits — some dating back to the One Year War of the original Mobile Suit Gundam — but surprisingly, it was the exposition that caught my attention the most.
I have a new-found appreciation for good exposition thanks to Fate/Zero this season, so I was fascinated by the in-depth dialogue in Gundam Unicorn that reflected upon mankind’s migration to space and the mistakes they’ve made as a species. Some of the best reflection came from Mineva’s talk with the old diner owner (Mori Katsuji), who wasn’t aware that she’s the last surviving member of the Zabi family and heir to the Principality of Zeon. It was an open-ended discussion about our humanity, and a very depressing one at that since there are no simple answers to a war that’s dragged out for so long. Their conversation left with me a real sense of hopelessness and sadness, because there they were, an Earthling and a Spacenoid, talking over a cup of coffee and reaching a mutual understand of the mistakes mankind’s made — and continues to make — but are helpless to do anything about it. It also made me feel sorry for Mineva, because she should be in a position to put an end to the fighting, but continues to be used by both sides as a political figurehead in their ongoing conflict. She doesn’t expect any sympathy though, which is why I absolutely love her character. She didn’t outright reject Riddhe’s feelings, even after learning that his father Ronan (Ogawa Shinji) intends to leverage her pedigree to prevent the opening of Laplace’s Box, making her a perfect example of the powerful female heroines that have graced this franchise, and one of the best to roll around in anime altogether in recent years.
Naturally, Banagher provides the other half of the exposition after descending to Earth with the Garencieres Team. As suspected, the deaths of Daguza and Gilboa weigh heavily on his conscience and serve as the driving factor behind his desire to stop the needless fighting. His interactions with Captain Suberoa Zinnerman (Tezuka Hideaki) and Flaste Schole (Koyama Rikiya) in the desert were character-defining, as they opened Banaher’s eyes to the same suffering experienced on the Zeon side but didn’t sway him from his neutral stance. That wasn’t all that unexpected given the balanced portrayal of both sides up until now, but their conversations did reiterate the sadness expressed from Mineva’s talk and further depicted the war in a tragic light. That in turn made the attack on Torrington by the Earth Zeon Remnants from all over disheartening to watch, especially since the dated mobile suits made it feel like a throwback to the beginnings of the war. However, it definitely set the mood the story was going for, as well as the stage for Banagher to feel powerless to save a single person despite how hard he tries. The pain of loss is an all-too-familiar theme for UC Gundam pilots, so it’s not all that surprising that Banahger isn’t exempt from it.
That’s not to say I didn’t feel bad for him, as his desire to save Loni Garvey (Ise Mariya) — daughter of the late chairman of Garvey Enterprises, Mahdi Garvey — wasn’t out of feelings of love, but simply from not wanting to see the senseless fighting take another victim. It was surprising to see the focus of this episode shift to a newly-introduced character and her commander Yonem Kirks (Ishizuka Unshou), who quickly displaced the attention on both Full Frontal and the search for Laplace’s Box, but boy did it leave an impact with the mobile armor Shamblo’s similarities to the Psyco Gundam and other units that take advantage of Cyber Newtypes with their Psycommu system. I really got my hopes up when Banagher refused to fire, so I can’t help but hate Riddhe a little for pulling the trigger right when Loni came to her senses. I couldn’t help but sense some disappointment in Suberoa either, who deep-down inside, was probably hoping Banagher would prove him wrong and free him from the hatred in his own heart. Their back-and-forth jostling on the Garencieres’ bridge made it pretty clear that Suberoa knew Banagher was right, but was simply in denial since he’s too caught up in the flames of war to escape them. Flaste’s refusal to help spoke volumes about how he thought so too (though I did have to question the vicious stomping Banagher delivered). There tends to be a lot of lecturing to superiors in Gundam series, but that had to be one of the most convincing I can recall.
As for some other developments, the sight of the Ra Cailum and the “Captain of all Gundam Captains”, Bright Noa (Narita Ken, replacing Suzuoki Hirotaka), instantly brought back memories of Char’s Counterattack, whereas the picture of Amuro Ray on the wall (in glorious HD) took me all way back to when I was a kid. That sense of nostalgia kind of overshadowed Ronan’s personal request to Bright to retrieve or destroy Unicorn so that the Marcenas can maintain their prestige as “caretakers” of Laplace’s Box. At the moment, that kind of pits the Earth Federation against Anaheim Electronics, due to Martha’s insistence in obtaining the box for herself. Her nephew and Banagher’s half-brother Alberto will be someone to watch for, as brainwashing Marida, a.k.a. Ple Twelve, into piloting Unicorn Banshee is clearly weighing on his conscience, seeing as she saved his life. I can see him redeeming himself later on and freeing Marida, but I don’t anticipate he’ll betray his aunt altogether. Anyway, I didn’t really mind the cliffhanger this episode left off on, as there was plenty of other things that I needed time to soak up. It was quite an episode when I consider the bigger Universal Century picture.
Other thoughts:
ED4 Sequence
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ED4: 「B-Bird」 by earthmind
Watch the 4th ED!: Streaming ▼
in the novel, Loni piloted the Shamblo with her father & brothers, was was affected by the killings at Torrington. She died after being shot by her father & told Banagher the weakness of the Shamblo thru pyscho-ghost mode, who didn’t hesitate to shoot it down.
I agree. This episode was well worth the wait. I only wish they would have included some sort of “Last time on Gundam UC…” montage. I found myself having to use Wiki summaries to remember certain things.
I have to admit that I needed a refresher too. I even read my old posts just to remember my impressions on the first three episodes.
Gundam Unicorn, proving once again that waiting a long time for something can be worth it afterall.
Seriously, 8 months of waiting for an 1-hour episode and the first thing in my mind was how much the wait was worth it for this level of greatness. All those old MS are just icing on the cake.
This just prove that you don’t need a flamboyant novelty to make something astounding. This is made by people that know the real meaning behind the “Mobile Suit Gundam” title. If Sunrise doesn’t lean that they’re totally wrong with their approach of the franchise by creating Age, then we can only hope that Yasuhiro Yoshikazu’s The Origin will be as good or even better than Unicorn.
I already knew that Riddhe was a cock, but I expect that Banagher beat the hell out of him in the next installment. Since the action occurs near Torrington, I’m tempted to say that the Byalant Custom was handled by a certain Kou Uraki…
Except Kou was transferred to Oakley at the end of Stardust. While it’s possible he survived everything between 0083 and 0096, and eventually transferred back to Torrington… the connection is too weak to even put that forward as a guess.
It would be cool, though.
Well, it would’ve been cool considering we got a clear view of a derelict Albion mid-way through the episode. Not to mention misc views of the Dra-C, a Delaz-original MS from 0083.
The MAIN problem I see with it being Kou is that he himself became disillusioned by the Earth Federation at the end of 0083, with all the backroom deals leading to meaningless deaths like Burning and Kelly, guys like Bask Om firing on their own ships/MS JUST so he can get a last-ditch shot at the Delaz Fleet with the remains of the Solar System II, and so on. Then you got him more than likely learning about the atrocities of the Titans and the ignorance of the Federation throughout Zeta, ZZ, and/or CCA too, so I really doubt Kou would end up whole-heartedly fighting for them at this point.
If he were under Bright’s command, maybe, but “randomly” under someone else, I doubt it.
As a big fan of Gundam mecha, seeing the Byarlant Custom shoot down at least 10 MS and single handedly wipe out an entire prong of a three prong attack was like the best icing on a cake made by the gods.
Also, given Bandai’s older official statements that MSV suits cannot be certainly “canonical” until their animated, all the old stuff in this really lends credence to the idea that they’ve somewhat moved away from that stance so firmly.
Also, to all of you claiming that the Pegasus class ship was the Albion, it’s most definitely not. It’s one of the unnamed refits of the Pegasus class in the same vein as the Grey Phantom as seen in 0080. Just look at the central section and the bridge “head” and you’ll see.
I actually thought that the pilot of the Byarlant Custom could be Amuro at one point….but it was revealed in the manga that it wasn’t him after all….Wouldn’t it be better if the pilot were to be Amuro? An epic comeback for person that won’t die even after centuries have passed.
To put amuro in there after what happened at the end of CCA isn’t something you could just throw in, it would change the focus of the entire series.
I’d like to think he was the reincarnated soul of the Badass Star Jegan Pilot of episode 1.
But actually his name is Diez Robin according to the Japanese Wiki. He also happens to have a manga short all about him.
Is there any chance it could be Kou(0083) or Christ (0080) … or maybe it’s Keith!!!!
The idea of Kou is kind of cool, but I don’t know if Keith is capable of kicking that much ass.
If it was Keith, he took SEVERAL levels in Badass in the intervening years.
Gundam unicorn makes gundam age look like child’s play.
oh wait? gundam age’s for wider range of audiences!!!
Ahh, the RGM-96X Jestas! Finally! I hope I get to see these things in action.
Damn right! I’m getting a second one, so I can make a standard squad of em. XD
It sucks that my toy store never had stocks of those things…I would have done the same.
Amazon. ebay. HobbyLinkJapan, etc…got mine through Amazon iirc.
I’m honestly disappointed with this episode. The highlights to me were the Audrey’s Diner Scene and Banagher’s Desert Walk. Both had a simplicity to it, and it related to different perspectives of people who are embroiled in the war. I’ve always enjoyed such scenes especially when they don’t give pretentious ham-fisted messages about the evils of war.
The “Duel” with the the Shamblo however was just stupid. Put it simply, I didn’t care about Loni. They try to play up her death as tragic, but I have little emotional investment to it due to her lack of screentime. When characters like Gilboa or Daguza die it meant something, since they took the time to develop these characters. Apparently, I’m supposed to believe that Banagher would risk himself to save her after roughly two lines of dialogue. Worse was the way the whole dialogue seemed. Banagher just kept talking while Loni kept shooting and KILLING MORE CIVILIANS. And of course they had to resort to Newtype psycoframe resonance magic powers again. It was stupid in CCA, and its still stupid now.
I can’t fault the technical aspect of the episode at least. Seeing so many vintage designs was a blast. They even took the time to animate some old MSV designs. The real star of the show though, had to be the Byalant Custom pilot. Honestly I’m sick and tired of the Feds jobbing, so I was cheering when the Byalant started wrecking everything on its path.
The Bylant kicking ass was the best part. The Jestas appearing were the other. The Jestas need to kick more ass though. ;-;
I was kind of surprised at how little involvement the Tri-Stars team had in the battle. I was hoping to get some more Macross vibes from hearing Nakamura Yuuichi as part of a squadron again.
Yeah, that was the main gripe I had. Was that they featured tons of Feddies being killed, the Byalant custom getting alot of the screentime. The Jesta was billed as the true specops suit. It’s like saying “oh Delta and SEAL Team Six is gonna appear and kick ass in this movie” and then they don’t show enough screentime.
Heck, I preordered the model kit and getting two more just to complete the squad, but to show little snippets here and there was…
It was a cocktease.
Your being far too simplistic and not considering of the big picture here. Its not about Loni at all in this case, its about the tragedy of war and the cycle of hatred that has encaptured these people, Loni, Riddhe, Audrey, and Mineva, who have been burdened with it even after a generation since its supposed end.
In killing Loni, the true sadness is that nothing has effectively changed, and the real tragedy is that Riddhe has fallen into that pit and seemingly no longer able to escape from its grasp either now.
For you to like the exposition scenes and not understand the implications her shows a disconnect with what the underlying message was. A Visual representation needs to be made in order to really convey it, hence the confrontation with the zealotry of Loni who firmly believed in fighting this war until that point.
That’s the thing. She was barely there. Why should I instantly latch on to this person who has done nothing but show her infallible faith to the Zeon cause, to the point of continuing hostilities, using weapons of mass destruction on two cities (Dakar and Torrington)and in Torrington, the slaughter of citizens?
To me, Ridhe had it right. He can’t risk a relapse back into letting the thing take over and possibly utilizing it’s main cannons or wide area weaponry to damage more of the non-military sections, and she was clearly losing it. Loni was ordered by Kirks to fall back, upon seeing the rest of his men slaughtered, but she still pressed forward. Banagher managed at the last second to convert her, but there was no way in telling (non-viewer perspective) that she would quietly stand down and be taken prisoner.
In less related thoughts: Holy shit I didn’t realize the beam magnum was THAT strong. It damn near disabled/did disable the Delta Plus’ right arm.
Because she makes the very best example of what the tragedy of war really is, someone blinded by there hatred and obligations of the past, who truly believed that all the horrible things she did were justified because of what was done to her in turn. And then begins to have all these illusions stripped away to see what war really is, sadness and tragedy stretched across all sides and people. As I said, its not about Loni, its about the overall message spread throughout the entire episode, including the well received exposition scenes.
Sure in Riddhe’s mind everything he did was justified, just as easily everything in Loni’s mind was justified, just as easily how to the Nahl Engram destroying Palau was justified or the fighting in Industrial Seven and so on and so on. But tell me did anything change in the end? Obviously not, for people like Zimmerman what happened now only justifies their own war and thus the conflict goes on. In the short run the fighting may have stopped, but in the long term only more slaughter awaits. And unless Banagher manages to unlock the recurring theme of the possibility within mankind it will never end.
At that point, you’re merely pointing out the dark side of human nature.
In my own mind though, in a time of relative peace, her actions constitute terrorism. In a time of war, her actions constitute a violation of the Geneva and Hague conventions (if they are still enforced). So to me, she got what she deserved.
And isn’t that the root for everything that’s occurred up till now?
Sure, but does that really change anything? We’ve negotiated with terrorist leaders and war criminals before, we’ve even put them in power ala the PLO, the IRA etc while plenty former Nazis were put back to work in rebuilding Germany or working for the West. Why? Because we needed to look at the big picture and make conscious steps to resolve the underlying problems in the long run, or the conflict will only go on and more tragedies like this one will continue.
And what have we gotten? More entanglement. In the series, they weren’t actively engaging in dialogue or giving up their arms.
As for the PLO and Nazis. The PLO still demands the destruction of Israel and still looking for a unilateral ‘ending’ to their ‘struggle’, while Nazis are a hit or miss. People who needed to work in Germany before the Allied occupation had to be registered to the Nazi party, or had joined up earlier. There is a whole new conversation and me needing to dig out my old essays for this.
And we weren’t really seeing much in the way of policy changes in turn. Only whenever the Federation is backed into a corner do they give up the goose, otherwise when they’re on top they see little to no reason to change and as Audrey pointed out in episode 2 have even used the Zeon Remnants in order to justify their continued control.
Your thinking about HAMAS there, that’s like comparing Neo-Zeon to the Republic of Zeon seriously. The PLO has actively engaged in negotiations with Isarel before, as for Hamas, though its stated goals and methods are deplorable you can’t say they don’t have some fair points either, or that they can simply be ignored now that they’re a part of the PLO. Regardless fighting one another won’t change anything, it hasn’t for 50 years, and it’ll likely keep going on unless a political solution is found, much like with the ongoing conflict in the UC universe. I’ll digress on the Nazi point in any event, but I’m fairly certain people who’ve done some questionable things were left off the hook. The U.S didn’t get NASA started without a little help after all.
@Krimzon
You missed the point. You seem to think the whole “cycle of hatred” is some new deep message. It’s not. It’s literally the same message almost every Gundam tries the ram on our throats. I wouldn’t mind it if they actually executed it properly. But they didn’t.
It would have helped if we understood Loni’s rage. A flashback of her dead family or maybe her witnessing a Fed massacre. But nope, she just said she hates the feds, and now we’re supposed to think her massacre is tragic result of it. Ever heard of show don’t tell?
The worst part was the implication the Loni was possessed by his dad’s Newtype ghost. What was the point if that? Is it saying that the children have no free will and that are dead parents will compel us to continue a cycle of hatred? That was stupid and unnecessary.
Another problem was how Banagher is being painted as the “right” one by trying to stop it peacefully. Except that the more he talked, the more Loni continued to kill more civilians. So the whole scene basically made Banagher look like an idiot and Riddhe being correct in putting a stop to the massacre. The entire point of moral perspective fell flat.
TLDR: It had all the hallmarks of an emotional tragic story, but executed sloppily.
I’ve followed the series well enough to pick up on that thank you. Its a good message though, and one that carries bigger ramifications precisely because of the history behind the UC series, we see the continuation in everyone of its series and then the consequences for those actions in each installment. What makes Unicorn different though, is the feeling that we are on the brink of something profound, the possibility for a final resolution that can put away the ghost of the past
And once again your taking the scene as a standalone example without incorporating everything involved like those exposition scenes you really like (coincidentally are all about talking about the problem). Loni and her actions are in and of itself the living example of these themes, as I said its not about Loni its about the bigger picture and the start of trying to change it with one step, one person in this case.
The series is fraught with ghosts from the past that continue to haunt the characters which push them to continue this war. Did that picture of Amuro not imply that, or our dear friend Full Frontal, Marida the Puru clone, Audrey the last Zabi, Riddhe and the legacy of the Marcenas family, or Banagher and the Vist Foundation? In contrast with these characters with the young characters who are struggling with and against the legacy of their forefathers, Loni provides a much needed contrast of one who was bound and blinded by duty to her progenitors.
Yes good for Riddhe… so what difference did that make in the long-run exactly? Did the death of most of the Zabis stop the fighting, of Haman, or Char? The war will go on, more people will die, nothings change and everyones gone back to feeling justified in continuing on this self-destructive path. Give him a medal for doing basically what everyone else is doing. Banagher gets props because he was looking to do something different with the probably the hardest and most extreme example he could have to work with. With Loni’s death just when it was starting to sink in to her we’re basically back to the same hopeless deadlock where another Loni will arise, heck Riddhe may himself have condemned himself to that role now because, while having all the justification in the world, he coped out and gave in to the cycle.
Gotta agree with Krimzon here.
It was never about developing Loni, making us attached to her specifically, or anything like that. It was about her “representing” the angry, vengeful side of mankind with Banagher representing the want/need to change, but Riddhe came butting in with the SAME side as Loni, thus all they do is replace one tragedy with another and continue the never-ending cycle with Riddhe becoming the new Loni.
As said, you need to look at things beyond JUST the things that take place in this 1 episode.
For the love of god people just stop. The animation are pretty, but that is way to much ‘intellectual’ discussion for something that is essentially the animation of gundam fanfic.
this is why UC series are superior compared to the other series, designs of the suits and ships are spectacular. As a gundam fan, I feel sad about people only knowing the newer generation units, 00 and seed series….. they dont even know suits like Fazz, Deep Striker, Ex-s, Nightingale. I hope this series will show the newer fans the beauty of the UC series. Speaking of which shambloo resembles nightigale so much and for byalant it reminded me penelope. Anyway it looks like the battle of the lion and unicorn gonna be exciting^^
Wait people actually like the Deep Striker design? That’s the first I’ve heard of this.
If you think UC designs are better than AU, then what did you think about the Juaggu (that elephant looking suit in the first 5 min).
Just want to point out neither one is better than the other. Both universes has a share of atrocious designs.
The storytelling, the dialogue, the emotional see-saw (ups and downs)…
the characters’ interaction, the pace of the story…
the reiterations of philosophies and messagaes…
this is, this is…
THIS.IS.GUNDAM!
(Hint: What happen if a ‘Gundam’ show have none of the above qualities? 😉 )
Gundam SEED Destiny?
Pretty much actually
Erm, I’m trying to refer to Gundam AGE actually; does it even have any of those? IMHO, My Neighbour Totoro feels more in-depth than AGE…
Talk about bashing a series that has barely started.
Barely started? Erm, it’s already 6 (six) episodes, yet there’s hardly any significant battle they have shown to us. By battle, I mean the standard, Gundam-level battles, and none in AGE pleased nor satisfied me (so far)…
BTW, to each of its own. 🙂
More love for Ridhe here. More-
OH GOD THE JESTAS APPEARED.
I actually like that Riddhe pulled the trigger on Loni, she was out of control and she must have killed hundreds if not thousands of civilians. I had no sympathy for her after that.
What I didn’t like was him out of the blue falling for Audrey.
Three days from Palau to Athmosphere, gotta understand there will be some interactions in the Delta Plus’ cockpit.
Also, Ridhe is following his oath to protect the Federation. Loni is clearly killing (from a non-viewer point of view) thousands of civilians who live and possibly work at Torrington Base.
But it didn’t change anything in the end, shooting her simply out of hatred for what she did will only perpetuate the cycle of hatred for other later on, justifying to people like Zimmerman that need to also carry on the war in turn. If Banagher had managed to talk her down successfully you would have had the same result of ending the violence while also exploring the possibility and hope to end it in the long run as well.
And it really wasn’t all that out of the blue, I could kind of sense the undertones for awhile now and realistically it makes more sense in why he went so far to help her in the first place if you think about it, Riddhe doesn’t really seem the type to truly comprehend the higher ideals of things.
Even if she was talked down do you really think anything would change. A solider who basically committed mass genocide is basically going to be arrested and executed. All the ideology is nice to talk about but all the death she created will lead to rage whether she surrenders or not.
Its happened before, the Federation has offered both Char, Haman, and the Zabi’s peace at one point or another.
Just as she felt enraged after her parents were cut down without having a chance to surrender? Plenty of atrocities are committed in war, but for war to stop a level of forgiveness must be achieved and an ability to let go as Loni was demonstrating. She needn’t have had to surrender, like Zimmerman she could have fallen back and escaped until a such a time as a resolution to the violence has been achieved. That’s what happens when a peace is finally brought about and negotiated because people are finally willing to put that above anger and revenge.
In the end, if nothing else, this episode demonstrated an emotion that truly did trump anger and hatred, sadness and the realization that all anger and hatred does is cover up and perpetuate that sadness, but never resolve it, was enough to give a pause and the chance for a ‘possibility’ to be born for one brief moment.
@divine: where was it showed that she is Banshee’s pilot? I did not remember seeing it.
You can see the name Banshee on the schematic Alberto is holding, and combined with Martha’s talk of letting Alberto give Marida her new target, its pretty much obvious she’s the pilot. Admittedly though we haven’t actually ‘seen’ her in the cockpit.
Albert showed it after he opened up that laptop with the units schematics in front of Marida while she was being brainwashed.
I already mentioned it last episode from some outside knowledge (*gasp*), but like people have already pointed out, it was heavily implied here.
Actually, since they did attack Torrington (the base from 0083), perhaps it was an allusion to Kou Uraki. Whoever piloted that Byalant should get his own show.
One thing that impressed me in this episode was the sheer number of different mobile suits. I don’t think that many different types have ever been on screen simultaneously. I counted more than 20.
As they were alluding in the Garcen…Zimmerman’s ship, the box seems to be taking them to places of Man’s sins. First coordinate was the former PM’s residence, this next one is basically the base established near the Sydney crater and the location of what was (once?) the Federation’s nuclear stockpile.
I was waiting for that Unicorn Banshee.. I like dark themes and hates white on a my Gundams.. >.<
Riddhe is a huge jerk. I hope he gets killed later on. I mean what was up with his sudden confession of love for audrey? I think one of the factors that urged him more to kill loni was because he was in protest of Banagher trying to end the battle with out killing her. He obviously disliked Banagher since he has the key to Lapalus box which audrey is interested in. Basically he just wants to crush Banagher’s hopes because audrey is interested in Banagher/key.
Also am i the only one who fines Martha sexy? Sure i know she may be a bit aged and her face isn’t what it used to be but god her body is HAWT. I mean she must have been extremely sexy in the past cause she still has the body of a supermodel even at her current age. Call me wired if you want but i would totally hit that {maybe with a bag on her head though}. Would anybody like to do me the honor of adding the overhead screenshot of martha while she was sitting in the chair talking on the phone, i would be most grateful.
Well, in the novel, from what I’ve read (not to say it will or won’t happen in the anime given differences already), it’s been said that Riddhe ends up piloting the Banshee after Marida, who ends up killed by him when she defends Banagher and the Nahel Argama from him in a binder-less Kshatriya.
Interesesting to see a modified version of the RX-160S Byalant. I was womndering if the original Byarlant was destoryed in the Gryps War?
THIS IS GUNDAM!!!! FAN BOY SQUEAL!!!
Once again Gundam Unicorn rocks the house down!!!!!!!
Surprised no one noticed the Zeon launching from the derelict ship in image 30. Looks like the Albion or Grey Phantom with a bit of irony to it.
I really hate that faggot bright noa.
THIS is what Gundam is all about, folks.
Great story, character, and emotional development while still keeping reasonably balanced and awesome-looking MS fighting. This reminds me of how 0080 went too (also a 6 episode OVA).
To me, the Shamblo Mobile Armor reminds me of a combination of a heavily modified MSM-07 Grabro Mobile Armor from Mobile Suit Gundam (explaining its underwater capability), the AMA-01X Jamru Fin transformable Mobile Suit (originally meant to be a Mobile Armor) from ZZ, and as mentioned, a bit of the MRX-010 Psyco Gundam Mark II from Zeta/ZZ with its Reflector Bits.
I really loved all the various MS throwbacks as well as, of course, Bright. A number of MS featured in this episode were also from the old MSV (Mobile Suit Variations) collection for Mobile Suit Gundam (and others having their own); designs that were rejected from the initial Mobile Suit Gundam anime, but stored away. We got some peaks at a couple in ZZ Gundam, but now we get to see them more in action here like the Zaku I Sniper, Juagg, Zogok, Desert Gelgoog, Gouf Heavy Arms Type, Guncannon Detector, etc. Also a bunch of old Zeon ships too.
Also, what I didn’t see mentioned in the summary that I think is pretty surprising is that, at 29:45 or so, you see some of the remnant MS launching from a derelict ship on the side of a mountain in the desert (where people also made a home). If one looks closely at it, they will notice that the derelict ship is none other than the Pegasus-class MS carrier, Albion, from the Gundam 0083 OVA. This is actually quite fitting given that Torrington Base is where the a large part of the Federation’s nuclear stockpile is and where the 0083 OVA began with the hijack of the Gundam GP02A Physalis by the Zeon remnant Delaz Fleet when they were to test its atomic bazooka and performance under gravity.
Why do all the Gundam Unicorn girls look so great? ;D
It´s really painful to hear how many mistakes the human race has commited, it´s no different from what we see in real life, humans killing each other in cyrcle of eternal hatred for everey stupid reason you could find. Banagher is right, war is nothing more than an endless pit of hatred and pain, neither side wins at hte end.
On the other hand, Riddhe is doing a good incarnating all the hatred of mankind, that guy have so much self-pity that is discusting to hear him, for the love God, those sins are not his but his family´s! He just assumed all mankind is as doom as he feels and puts all the blame in the one person who is actualy in his right mind, not poisoned by hatred.
As a big fan of Gundam mecha, seeing the Byarlant Custom shoot down at least 10 MS and single handedly wipe out an entire prong of a three prong attack was like the best icing on a cake made by the gods.
Also, given Bandai’s older official statements that MSV suits cannot be certainly “canonical” until their animated, all the old stuff in this really lends credence to the idea that they’ve somewhat moved away from that stance so firmly.
Also, to all of you claiming that the Pegasus class ship was the Albion, it’s most definitely not. It’s one of the unnamed refits of the Pegasus class in the same vein as the Grey Phantom as seen in 0080. Just look at the central section and the bridge “head” and you’ll see.
*I think this posted twice because I’m bad at this. Apologies for that*
You mean the Troy Horse or the Stallion? The Pegasus-class was very limited so odds are it’s most likely one of those two.
Some body please post the full body overhead screenshot of martha while she was sitting in her chair talking on the phone. Thats one hot MILF. Too bad her face isn’t on par.
Did anyone notice the animation of the mobile suit was really different? Like there is a lot shadow on the mobile suits.
Man, this shows was very emotional. Good stuffs. Getting War in the Pocket and 0083 Team vibe here. More than a few dust in the eyes moment.
When Riddhe shot, I was like ‘That DICK!!!!’. But yeah, I suddenly develop this sudden hatred towards him. What a douche.
just like old gundam story, weird pacing, suddenly ridde falling in love with audrey, loni only say hallo to banaji, and then banaji get too emotion in the end
duel magic power unicorn vs shamblo, come on that only work for child.
newtype and psicoframe limit only imagination, just like magic story this is not science fiction anymore
loni and “crybaby banaji” what the heck, you change original novels story to be stellar, destroy and shin wannabe, sorry you fail in emotion & dramatic part
good job on first minute, shambloo attack and demolish dakar then simply retreat, the Fed not do anything???
advice to banaji, with ur powerfuuuull beam magnum you can easyly disable that sambloo while you talk to loni..well unicorn full with plothole
Response to last two points
1) Most of the federation mobile suits close to the Shambloo were either wiped out or pre-occupied. The federation did send reinforcements, but the Shambloo retreated into the sea and was long gone before they arrived.
2) The Shambloo was clearly shown to have been equipped to deflect beam attacks, so any shot would have been deflected and possibly hit the civilian areas. The final shot that was fired by Riddhe managed to hit, because the Shambloo redirected its shield bits (or whatever they’re called) to prevent its own shot from hitting the Unicorn and Delta Plus and therefore leaving itself wide open.
I just simply wanna say; This is Gundam. THIS IS WHAT GUNDAM IS ABOUT. Honestly, as vulgar as this sounds..Fuck Gundam AGE.If they wanted to bring back the “boy-ish” charm that the old Gundam series had, then something similar to this is what needed to be done. I mean, just look at how wonderful UNICORN has played out. It really does bring back the nostalgia.
Does anyone miss Micott as much as I do? 🙁
I’m very disappointed with this fourth episode, and I just can’t understand how so many seem to be satisfied with it. There’s very little story and characters development, most of the sceentime shows randomic scenes from the two battles, but the main story seems somehow to miss a turn. I’ve been a Gundam fan since 1980 and I know what I mean when I say that Gundam is about characters and story well before being about battles. So the main Gundam feature is missing in this episode, as well as it was definitely NOT missing in the previous ones.
So, may we stick to the action scenes and enjoy them? NO. Because Gundam is also about realism and many of those cutscenes lack this realism. How can you make a hole in a carrier ship, from the hull to the flight deck, and NOT A SINGLE DROP OF WATER LEAKS OUT??? How can you fight hand to hand while underwater and have your blows as effective as they’d be on the ground (physics say that you shold be pushed in the opposite direction of the blow, with little damage to your target). Someone could say that these are just meaningless details… well,I say again, Gundam is always been about STORY, CHARACTERS and REALISM IN DETAILS.
Gundam Unicorn ep 1-3 fulfill this legacy decently. This fourth, definitely NOT! And let me say one more thing: giving cheers and appreciation to this episode could ONLY affect the overall quality of the next one.
I know Japan went through hard times lately, and I understand some of the artist involved in this episode could have something way more important crossing their minds these days. But let them know we NOTICED a downgrade in this OVA quality, so they will AT LEAST try to focus and do better next time.
Wait… Ple 12 was shown saving albert in episode 3. How did Albert manage to turn the tables on her? And I agree with Bright, this episode was almost non-stop action sequences and the realistic feel took a backseat.
Having watched this episode right after finishing ZZ, I have to wonder: Were any of the other Ple clones recovered?
No one is gonna talk about the score in this movie. The score is something Hans Zimmer would cook up.
It’s been so long since I saw the last one, so I can’t remember if it was in the original, but Banagher’s constant philosophising in the dub gets really grating.