Final Impressions / First Impressions / Gundam Unicorn / OVA/Movie

「虹の彼方に」 (Niji no Kanata ni)
“Over the Rainbow”

It’s been quite a journey with Gundam Unicorn–a four year journey in fact–but the seven-part movie-like OVA series finally comes to a close. Was it worth the wait? The short answer is yes, especially for a longtime fan of the franchise like myself, whose perspective of the Universal Century timeline has been forever changed.

While Captain Otto put it best when he said “For something as trivial as that?”, the weight and implications of the omitted article on the Charter of the Universal Century that promised to prioritize the involvement of “a new space-adapted human race” in the government resounded loud and clear. After all, the charter was signed by all of the world’s leaders when humans started migrating to space in U.C. 0001, including the first Prime Minister of the Earth Federation, Riddhe’s great-grandfather Ricardo Marcenas. Had the original charter not been hidden away from the world after Syam Vist assisted Georges Marcenas in the assassination of his father during the Laplace Terror Incident, (Gundam) history would have been drastically different than it is now. There would have been no need for the One Year War, when the Republic of Zeon led by Zeon Zum Deikun fought for independence from the Earth Federation because spacenoids where treated as lower class outcasts. Instead, once Zeon Deikun’s Newtype theory was proposed, the Earth Federation would have made strides to acknowledge the emergence of a new human race and entrust the future of the mankind to them. Unfortunately, Ricardo’s omitted article, which was added as a sort of atonement for “discarding” Earth’s excess population to space once it was clear that the planet’s resources could no longer sustain everyone, changed from prayer to the curse the moment war broke out. And of course, all the subsequent wars in the U.C. timeline only made it that much harder to reveal the truth.

Putting that into perspective, everything else that transpired in the finale came off as more of an unfortunate consequence. This of course includes Marida’s death, which had death flags all over it when she left the Nahel Argama and didn’t say anything to Suberoa. While I was pretty irked that Riddhe killed her, I surprised even myself by the fact that I didn’t hate his character for doing so. Like everyone who gets dragged into war, he’s also a victim in a way. Also, once he awakened as a true Newtype, he repented for his mistake, revealed the true identity of Laplace’s Box to Nahel Argama crew, and risked his life with Banagher to save Industrial 7. Last but not least, he even screamed out to Banagher to return to his body for Audrey/Mineva’s sake when the latter “transcended” (for a lack of a better term) to a “perfect Newtype” who no longer needed his physical body. Admittedly, part of me found it rather cliche to have Banagher live in the end, but given that Gundam pilots have a tendency to sacrifice themselves to save everyone and disappear in a huge flash of Newtype phenomenon light à la Amuro Ray in Char’s Counterattack, I actually like the fact that he returned to Audrey’s side like he promised.

As for themes, I really like the emphasis on children being born innocent and entrusting the future to them. We had Cardeas Vist, who designed Unicorn Gundam to lead a true Newtype to Laplace’s Box, and Syam Vist, who stayed alive with the help of cryonics to see this through. Then there was Full Frontal, a multi-faceted antagonist who had the original charter within his grasp and could have used it to unite all spacenoids against the Earth Federation, but tried to convince Banagher and Mineva to use it wisely and not simply reveal it to entire world. This subsequently led to the whole scene where Full Frontal used his overpowered GP03 Dendrobium-like Neo Zeong to take Banagher through space and time to see what lies in mankind’s bleak future, which albeit far-fetched even by Gundam standards, echoed the same theme when he also gave up on his aspirations for a Side Co-Prosperity Sphere (a.k.a. Side Kyou-eiken). Granted, we did have a “transcended” Amuro Ray, Lalah Sune, and Char Aznable to help convince him–the former two of whom were voiced by their original seiyuu, Furuya Tooru and Han Keiko, in uncredited cameos.

As for the conclusion itself, I like the fact that Banagher and Mineva decided to reveal the original charter to the world, simply because it wouldn’t sit well with me to build a future based on lies regardless of how difficult it may be to accept the truth at first. Most important of all, it places hopes on the “possibility” of the human race to understand one another, acknowledge our mistakes, and move beyond them to a better future.

Note: For those wondering, Mineva’s broadcast about the omitted article in the original charter ends conflicts between the Earth Federation and Republic of Zeon until U.C. 0120, when some Zeon remnants start a new movement.

 

ED7 Sequence

ED7: 「Star Ring Child」 by Aimer

Final Impressions:
After seven spectacular OVA episodes and countless deaths that could have been avoided if Laplace’s Box was revealed to the world 96 years ago, this is what Gundam Unicorn culminated to. More specifically, the series reiterated to me how behind all the mecha action, the Gundam franchise is deeply rooted in philosophical and political conflicts at its core. I find it very intriguing to learn about how their wars started and even more so, how they could have been avoided. At the same time, it doesn’t lessen the importance of the events that transpired in the original Gundam, Zeta, Double Zeta, or Char’s Counterattack, because those series showcased the repercussions of the decision to hide the original Charter of the Universal Century. In addition, they remind me of the mistakes that we make as a species and how we need to learn from them so that we don’t repeat them, which may very well be the underlying theme of Gundam. As always, the first step to ending a conflict is to understand one another, so it’s probably no surprise that Newtypes have a telepathic sixth sense to do so and we often view the story from their perspective like we did here with Banagher.

71 Comments

      2. Riddhe didn’t give a shit about his squadmates. He was just butthurt that he tried to NTR Banagher by stealing Audrey/Minerva and failed, causing himself to be NTR.

        Hell that’s the best type of NTR i’ve seen in forever LOL. One does not NTR Jesus Banagher, you are the one that gets NTR.

        magoiichi
        Reply

  4. This OVA series was one heck of a ride, lasting that long of a time and generating even more hype in the end than in the beginning. (and probably the only thing what kept the franchise afloat when AGE flopped extra hard).

    Though this success might be the greenlight that Sunrise take for starting more series with similar magnitude and format (Apparent with the Origin series.)
    Good luck to us all (and to our wallets)…

    info600
    Reply

    1. No surprise it took so long considering every episode was basically a very high quality anime movie in of itself rather than just an “episodes”, especially episode seven given that, unlike the first six episodes (six months or so a piece), episode seven took a whole year to come out.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

    2. (And probably the only thing what kept the franchise afloat when AGE flopped extra hard.)

      Well, I beg to differ. I believe both Unicorn and Gundam Build Fighters kept the franchise afloat after the trainwreck that was AGE.

      I did like how Gundam Build Fighters decided to embrace the merchandise-driven aspect of Gundam and run with it. All while having mobile suits (in Gunpla form) from different eras/timelines duke it out thanks to fictional phlebotinium. Making mythology gags to the various Gundam anime (whether Universal Century, Future Century, After Colony, After War, Correct Century, Cosmic Era or Anno Domini) through the characters playing Gunpla Battle also put a smile or two to longtime fans of the franchise.

      And did I mention it’s getting a second season this fall and will be airing alongside Gundam: Reconguista in G?

      Incognito
      Reply

      1. I actually didn’t think the first two arcs of AGE were that bad (Flit and Asemu). Nowhere near the best of Gundam, but I feel they get a lot more hate than deserved.

        It was Kio’s arc that was a total train wreck when they tried to turn him into a total Kira clone, introducing new characters who have their back-story shoved into a single episode and then die at the end of that episode with obvious expectations of sympathy from the viewers, the whole thing with the Vagans seeming a little nonsensical (if the colony could’ve been moved away from Mars and spare who knows how many people from the Mars Rays, why wait SO long to do so?), Flit just dropping his LIFE LONG thirst for vengeance against the Vagans because…Kio pretty words…the whole EXA-DB thing and so on…

        HalfDemonInuyasha
        Reply

  6. Gundam Unicorn also deserves praise as being, IMHO, a great way for gundam fans to introduce potential fans or anime/mecha fans in general to the series. A friend of mine who is a pretty hardcore fan of the series tried to hook me in with this and was quite successful. I found this whole series to be quite a fantastic space opera at heart, with some amazing and intense action sequences to break up the exposition and slow pacing at times.

    Even though this was a four year investment, it’s one I will never look back on and have seen as a great example of why everyone should at least CONSIDER trying out old series as I have done or at the LEAST recognize this franchise is not without its merits and at least look towards new entries with the expectation that some of the ‘magic’ (or all of it) will be present.

    While I am aware that Reconguista will likely not tie back into anything related to it, it goes without saying that completing UC has me greatly interested in checking it out. Overall, I’d chalk it up as a shining example of why anime fans in general shouldn’t write something off just because of a particular genre tag it has on it, in this case the somewhat long standing generalization that mecha shows aren’t exactly fonts of substance or depth as many seem to believe.

    DigitalFowl
    Reply

    1. It’s one I will never look back on and have seen as a great example of why everyone should at least CONSIDER trying out old series

      Anyone who refuses to consider watching older series is really cutting themselves off from a lot of interesting stuff. For example I’m almost finished watching Seikai no Monshou and love it, even though many would consider it ancient (15 years old) at this point.

      As for Gundam Unicorn I haven’t kept up with it, but with the series finished guess there’s no better time to marathon the whole thing now 😛

      Pancakes
      Reply

    2. I wouldn’t really recommend it to new fans, given all the homage to the older series’.

      Unlike most of the AU series’, the UC series’ tend to remain connected to the previous ones (in-universe anyway) in some way and Unicorn makes quite a number of direct references to Mobile Suit Gundam, Zeta Gundam, ZZ Gundam, and Char’s Counterattack that new viewers wouldn’t understand without having seen the previous series’ first. (Most of the AUs are standalone series’ minus SEED Destiny for SEED, and Season 2 and the movie for 00.)

      I’d probably say the only exceptions would be F91 and Victory given their gaps in the later Universal Century from Unicorn (27 years and 57 years after Unicorn respectively).

      Otherwise, if potential Gundam fans want to get the gist of what’s going on, I’d suggest watching Gundam from the beginning and watch chronologically.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

    1. Lotta reasons if you think about it. Top notch animation takes time, as does translating it to all those languages upon release. Good sales tactic from a business point of view too. I think the question to ask really is whether or not it was worth it, and arguably it was well worth it.

      Zephyr
      Reply

    1. When Shin Sasaki was asked at Animazement, he seemed to be surprised by the interest remaining in the USA for Gundam. I personally am hoping that they will be trying some nicer, limited edition set releases given that it’s been successful for Aniplex.

      amagee
      Reply

  11. This episode also had a lot of great mecha appearances to appease us technology nerds: Bawoo, Quess’ Jagd Doga, and that Schuzrum Gallus.

    Going to be watching this again with my friend from start to finish one weekend with a nice bottle of single malt scotch to accompany us. Looking forward to that as I loved the themes contained here.

    amagee
    Reply

    1. Also some more Gaza-Ds and a Za-Gowmn from ZZ, another Stark Jegan from CCA universe, a Zeta Plus from the Zeta universe, and a ReGelg, a Zaku III, and a couple Zssas from ZZ,

      Not to mention things like the Mega Bazooka Launcher used by the Hyaku Shiki and the Gryps 2 Colony Laser from Zeta Gundam.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

  12. I have a legit, curious question that does not need to be flamed on, especially since it is my personal preference. The question: are they still releasing Gundam Unicorn in English dub, and are they still releasing it via PSN? I’ve been suggested that I should watch it and while it doesn’t matter if I watch anime subbed or dubbed, I tend to watch it in English if the option is available. Again, this is a legit question that doesn’t require any flaming or debate, just information or a yes/no answer.

    ThatGuy31907
    Reply

    1. That’s a legit question; no flames here. All eps of Gundam Unicorn have been released in english…as for whether their are releasing them via PSN still, I dont know.

      sonicsenryaku
      Reply

    1. The Neo Zeong feels like a combination of the Zeong (of course) of Mobile Suit Gundam, the Neue Ziel of Gundam 0083, the Psyco Gundams of Zeta and ZZ (who themselves had some inspiration from the Zeong), and the Alpha Azieru from Char’s Counterattack.

      Ironically, those happen to be the series’ that are most referenced in Unicorn too, lol.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

  16. It’s a bittersweet ending, especially when you think about what will happen after this conflict… …(Victory, F91, Crossbone) It’s like a neverending cycle of conflict in the UC universe

    Asmalti
    Reply

  17. Marida 🙁

    Unicorn once again shows me that Short gundam series are way better dan the longer ones.
    Favorites still being “The 08th MS Team”, “Stardust Memory” and “IGLOO” Unicorn however jumps to 2nd place with the finale.

    .Mero
    Reply

  19. Unicorn is definitely among the top of the Gundam scale for me and it really shows…well…the possibility of what future Gundam series’ could be when you put in a lot of hard work and effort into plot and characters as well as the Mobile Suit combat.

    You don’t need shonen style action where the “good guys” own the “bad guys” so easily most of the time (which tends to come at the cost of plot and character development).

    You don’t need a majority of (main) characters to be “pretty” and simply look good together.

    You don’t need all the Mobile Suits to be SO pretty and flashy.

    And so on.

    Though while there is definitely a lot to like about the ending, there are a few holes I take issue with…

    1.) One of the biggest points being Full Frontal himself. He is implied earlier on to have been an artificial creation from the ground up, not merely a Cyber-Newtype who looks like Char, who was “filled with the wishes of the people”. (Which was…what exactly?)

    The big questions being just WHO created him and WHY? I mean, did whoever create him have any sort of actual big purpose or was it simply an anti-Federation group who used Char’s appearance to gain support behind him while they worked behind the scenes? It seems pretty clear by episode seven that whatever programming he may have had and demonstrated early on (like the “Side Co-Prosperity Sphere”) was more or less thrown out the window and he became a total nihilist with the whole “there is nothing waiting for us except darkness” and such.

    2.) Another big point being the significance of Laplace’s Box. The whole series revolves around its hype, but there are some things that just make little to no sense with it.

    Like did the Federation really have ONLY one single copy of the original UC Charter and ONLY such a small number of people who knew its contents? It just seems a bit stupid that they would only make one copy to put on total display like that and, as shown, to potentially be destroyed. Wouldn’t such a significant government document have had many copies made JUST for such an occasion of the original being destroyed? I mean, that would be like if there was only one single Declaration of Independence, but absolutely nothing else made that contained its contents should the original somehow be lost. And it’s not like the fear of Newtypes was around back then, and wouldn’t be for several decades until Zeon Deikun started his philosophy by pure coincidence. If they had made copies, then Syam Vist would’ve had no blackmail against the Federation and he could’ve been ignored or, if they really feared him for some reason, assassinated him or something.

    And even though the One Year War had already happened and there was fear of another one should the contents be revealed, we’ve already seen that no Zeon force has EVER had the capability of defeating the Federation. Even the original, and the biggest, Principality of Zeon lacked the resources and production capabilities to fight any kind of sustained war with the Federation (they had the element of surprise and an advantage with Mobile Suits, but that only lasted for a few months). Even when they took Earth by surprise with their ground invasion shortly after Operation British, the Federation still managed to hold them off at a stalemate for months, and once Zeon started to lose its footing on Earth (coupled with the in-fighting of the Zabi family like Gihren and Kycillia), it became clear that they wouldn’t be able to win the long run.

    The subsequent Zeon forces like the Delaz Fleet, Axis/Haman’s Neo Zeon, and Char’s Neo Zeon all paled in comparison to even the original Principality’s forces much less the Federation (even 0083 had said that just one third of the Federation Fleet that was operable after the GP02A’s nuclear attack still greatly outnumbered the Delaz Fleet) and, despite how they may look in their respective series’, the conflicts with those subsequent Zeon forces were nowhere near the scale of the One Year War. They were usually just against small portions of the Federation (like, in Char’s Counterattack, all the Federation Forces you see fighting Char’s Neo Zeon are just part of the Londo Bell task force). Even as far as Victory Gundam, the Federation Forces that are shown fighting alongside the League Militaire against the Zanscare Empire is really just a small, more local force and nowhere near the Federation in its entirety.

    We can’t even say that it would be because of more people getting behind such Zeon-related, anti-Federation forces if they knew of the extra article in the charter because the Principality of Zeon, Haman’s Neo Zeon, and Char’s Neo Zeon also had a lot of backing and all of them failed, and finally, the way Laplace’s Box is described as being able to “change the scope of the Universal Century” is just untrue when you consider events like F91 and Victory still (“officially”) happen.

    3.) I wish Marida’s death had a little more to it, like if she died protecting Banagher or the Nahel Argama or something from an otherwise fatal attack by Riddhe. The way Marida and the Kshatriya just sat there like a sitting duck for Riddhe to shoot felt…eh…

    4.) I guess the constant repetition of certain dialogue could get a little tiresome by the end of the episode, like all the talk “possibility” and Laplace’s Box being a “prayer or a curse” and such.

    5.) While definitely expected, I do wish SOME Newtype hax would actually be explained. Like what was with all the crystals (which I presume were possibly psyco-frame crystals and what the psyco-frame is actually made of, though still unexplained where and how Char created it) forming on the Unicorn with Banagher almost becoming a “perfect Newtype”?

    I say “almost” because, to me anyway, it seems like a “perfect Newtype” is like a Jedi being able to become a Force Ghost after becoming “one with The Force” (not everyone can and does become a Force Ghost), so like Lalah, Char, Amuro, and the others spirits we’ve seen in previous series’, but Banagher chose to return rather than become one of those spirits.

    Though it was really cool to what I guess was to “see time itself” with the flash-backing through such major Universal Century events which harkens back to Lalah’s last words to Amuro before the Elmeth’s destruction. (“I can see time itself.”)

    But despite those points, Unicorn still ranks highly for me and I really enjoyed the ride and hope we can get more of such quality in the future.

    Believe in the god called “possibility”.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

    1. Sheesh, if people are going to down-vote me, they could at least post a reason why besides just being fanboys/girls who can’t stand any form of criticism of what they like and just down-votes anyone and everyone who doesn’t proclaim “perfection” of it.

      I even said that I still love Gundam Unicorn in the end and think it’s one of the best series’ I’ve seen overall (especially within the last few years aside from Gundam Build Fighters).

      I’m just pointing out actual issues that were never really covered or overhyped.

      Full Frontal, despite being one of the “main antagonists” and driving forces of the series was never really developed or had anything revealed about himself before he…well…just dies on the spot.

      And Larplace’s Box was made out to be some huge world-changing thing when it really wasn’t. It’s times like that where more knowledge of previous series’ (that take place before and after Unicorn) comes in handy.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

      1. I have the same opinion with your thoughts. I enjoyed the first half of this episode but the 2nd half was filled with some serious flaws. Laplace’s box being such a ridiculous plot device despite of how it was mentioned so many times that it was gonna “change” the course of Universal Century history and the logic behind that of just having 1 copy when it’s such an important documentation. The lack of Full Frontal’s origin was completely left out as you said. Being a vessel is something anyone can do. As for newtype powers, I accepted the whole weird time travel illusion thing but the physicality of when Unicorn burst out psychoframe crystallization and completely repairing the Gundam outta no where in a second feels so random. The problem with this OVA is it tries to go beyond something that’s already established in its universe and that’s where it fails because of the existence of F91 and Victory.

        Flame-X
        Reply

  20. I don’t know, I find Unicorn to be disappointing. The four year long wait to finish didn’t help. All the amazing designs, all the gorgoeus animation, the incredible soundtrack and it all felt hollow.

    Despite having roughly seven and a half hours of screentime around (14-15 episodes)the whole plot felt rushed at and full of plot holes almost like they were trying to squeeze everything in the climax. A lot of characters are also poorly developed, especially Riddhe and Angelo. Riddhe went from idealist, to annoying douche, to evil douche, to redeemed character so fast i felt I had whiplash. Angelo was a complete waste, having no personality other than his man-crush for Frontal.

    Then there’s Marida, the most interesting character of the show, who doesn’t get to die in a blaze of glory like she did in the novels. She just stands around to get killed for no other reason than to go Newtype hax to redeem Riddhe and give Banagher a power boost. I get flak for saying that Gundam has an undercurrent of sexism on the way it treats female characters, but its moments like this that support this impression.

    There’s also the baffling rewrite of Banagher from the novels to turn him in to a “thou shall not kill” Kira clone. I still can’t figure out why they did this other than to pander to the AU crowd. Its quite frankly insulting. Worse it completely neuters FA Unicorn. Say what you want about Kira or Kio, there no-kill fights were stupid but at least their Gundams were designed with precision attacks and fit their non-lethal fighting style. FA Gundam has a lot of destructive yield and OVA Banagher would have never let this upgrade be implemented. It just makes no sense.

    The climatic battle was bad. You think it would be difficult to screw up a battle between two of the most powerful Gundams in UC vs. a Giant Mobile Armor that makes the Shamblo look like a weak. But they did. Barely anything happens, and when it finally gets exciting (AWESOME MECHA FISTICUFFS!!!), it grinds to a halt so the UC fans can be pandered with newly animated scenes of the past. Then Frontal just drops dead. How exciting.

    The Laplace Box is such a blatant retcon of UC canon. Why would the Federation ever sign that stupid charter? There were no copies? The Federation didn’t just assassinate Syam? They didn’t just try destroy the charter exactly like they tried to do with Gryps-2 this episode? The last thing UC needed was a white-washing of Zeon when they were responsible for killing HALF the population of Earth in a genocidal campaign. I’ve heard that Unicorn novel Author Fukui was criticized for having so much favoritism to Zeon and while I can’t comment on that since I haven’t read the novels, I get the impression that Fukui didn’t really understand Tomino’s idea of the Federation vs. Zeon conflict. If anything, the one thing the OVA did right was not favor either side, exactly like how Tomino would do it.

    I’m in the personal opinion that UC is done. Yes, I know about Gundam the ORIGIN and Reconguista but what is there left to explore in UC? Its the same Federation vs. Zeon on different flavors and all of its just gone stagnant.

    fragb85
    Reply

    1. I can agree with most other than the end of the UC era.

      There’s still over 20 year gaps between Unicorn and F91, and F91 and Victory, and beyond that could be filled.

      Sure there are mangas and novels that take place during such times (Hathaway’s Flash in UC 105, and the Crossbone Gundam series in UC 0133 to 0153 so far, which takes it into Victory Gundam times with a blue Victory 2 prototype used, for example), but at best, they are considered “grey areas” in that they don’t necessarily screw with any of the established canon, but they’re not “official” animated works either (so events and such should be taken with a grain of salt), but that doesn’t mean other animated works can’t be made during those time periods that could end up taking their place.

      And what is with these down-voting trolls lately? ><

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

  24. I haven’t loved gundam this much since turn A. Unicorn may not be perfect and already cluttering the UC universe but it does exactly what I loved about old gundams. I wish that new gundams follow this as example and get back to the roots, and most of all actually care about the plot and characters. It’s not like it’s all bad even seed and 00 first season had lots of good going for it until they turn it to crap second season with more wacky villains and plot armors and hacks, and damn ridiculous drama.

    Well Iam gundam fan reborn again lol. I guess the OVA did it’s job well.

    Sherylfan
    Reply

  25. Woh woh woh, who the hell is downvoting every comments? Can’t we just all enjoy a good post by an awesome blogger who we haven’t seen in a long time?

    Also, Marida!!!!!!!!! ;_;

    bakakubi
    Reply

  28. I almost like I want to stop watching at the first 10 – 15 min of this movie, I was so annoyed at both Banagher and Riddhe that time, I have seen the characters they want to portray for the nth time and hearing them spout the same thing over and over again is just causing me to face palm. Good thing the attention went somewhere else after that. Overall it’s an enjoyable final episode but the final battle between Full-Frontal and Banagher is very anti-climactic, I expected action and what I get is rainbows.

    Ghostalker
    Reply

  29. If there was one person who I hoped lived, it would have been Marida. Every other person with those genes has died horribly (Plue, PlueTwo), and I hoped that at least one had bucked the trend.

    Blue
    Reply

  31. Unicorn keeps alive the Gundam franchise as it is. Build Fighters went for the plamo-way of things, but it isn’t a real “Gundam” series (no real mechs, no political income, no true come to age of characters), that’s why Unicorn carries the real will of the whole Gundam Universe in a time when Sunrise has done everything to destroy that lore (Yes, I’m watching and cursing you, 00 and AGE)

    Now, let’s wait first for Reconquista in G (hoping that Tomino delivers) and Origins to keep the real sense of what the name Mobile Suit Gundam implies

    SeedStriker
    Reply

    1. Now hold it right there. Gundam Build Fighters is just as “real” as any other of the Gundam series out there.

      “No real mechs”, there are real mechs. You might call them kit bashes or recolors but they are still mechs. Star Build Strike might not be original in build but it’s abilities definitely make up for it’s looks with it’s original abilities. Wing Gundam Fenice, a variant of the Wing Gundam that’s asymmetrical (can you name any offical Gundam or mobile suit with a asymmetrical design?), and pulls it off nicely. GM Sniper K9, a custom version of a mass production suit that can still kick butt with the rest of them. Bearguy 3, what’s not to like about a teddy bear mobile suit? So I don’t see how you can not call these, and many other suits in the Gundam Build Fighters series “real mechs”. They are just as real as any suit that comes of Universal Century or any other alternate universes.

      “No political outcome”, your right, there are no politics in Gundam Build Fighters. And it’s better for that. Who wants another rehash of Earth of Space but with different circumstances? Build Fighters is original with it’s story with the use of Gundams and focus more on it’s characters than the universe itself.

      “and No True come to age characters” is a not true. Everyone in Gundam Build Fighters grew as characters, even some of the one off characters in the beginning of the series. Sei went for not having confidense in piloting to becoming a competent pilot and builder, Reiji went from hating the Gunpla Battles to loving, Aila went from battling for survival to battling because she wants to. Everyone in Build Fighters grew as characters over the 25 episodes.

      I would now like to make an appeal. I can understand if you skipped out of Gundam Build Fighters because of Gundam Age but you are seriously missing out. I know the premise of the show sounds dumb (and I thought so too) but it more than makes up for that with it’s likable cast, action sequences, the soundtrack, and Gundam fanservice like you wouldn’t believe (can you name all those cameos?). Does it have it’s problems, yes it does (looking at you Build Knuckle) but it still doesn’t take away from it’s likability. I implore you guys: bloggers, Gundam veterans, casual anime watchers, to give Gundam Build Fighters a shot. Watch the first six episodes (you can watch it on Youtube subbed LEGALLY on Gundam.info channel) and if that doesn’t keep you onboard to finishing the series then just drop it and move on to the next series. And if it does strike your fancy than I hope you enjoy the rest of the episodes. Remember, Gundam Build Fighters is not just a toy commercial, it’s a love letter to the Gundam series if you just open the letter and read it.

      mega-dark
      Reply

      2. I liked build fighters. It definitely does not follow the normal Gundam formulas and humans have a tendency of denying change. My experience with meeting build fighters was this:

        1. Heard of the premise and thought it was dumb.
        2. Watched it anyway because it was Gundam.
        3. Mid way got good, especially after the introduction of Qubeley’s fighter, Aila Jyrkiäinen.

        Which FYI is what I believe to be a cameo of Eila illmatar Juutilainen from strike witches.

        flCer
        Reply

  32. Considering people in this site has turned into downvote hungry fiends, I’ll make it short, sweet, and no need to come back to.

    It was good, but could’ve been better. I understand people’s complaints about Banagher and other characters, and in my eyes the ones who had me connecting with most were Capt. Otto and Zinnerman. But that is just me.

    Anyways, can’t really say more. Glad Divine came back to finish this, though the RC I knew most fondly kinda went away when he did, and even then, I do miss Omni. The community has expanded but now and then, when someone expresses a view, it becomes downvoted to oblivion.

    Jusuchin (Military Otaku)
    Reply

    1. Did you catch the part about them getting a few drinks after all the dust settled? Forget peace treaties and whatnot: that simple gesture was enough to show that it is possible for the Federationa and Neo Zeon to overcome their differences. Granted, there was a journey to get there, but the destination is a meaningful one. Quite personally, I liked it best when Divine was active: his posts seemed to provide the most insight into his thoughts on the episode (Omni focussed more on summaries than impressions). As for the down-votes, I wonder why it’s getting the attention that it is. Ignoring their antics, and they’ll disappear.

      Infinity
      Reply

      1. Aye, Zinnerman and Otto are reasonable adults. I can see where Zinnerman is coming from, but he;s willing to give up on the hate, to find a way past his personal pain. I think the Garencieres Team does this as well, as they’re rediscovering (or uncovering their humanity) in Banagher’s influence. I always thought though, Otto was like that. He’s a military man, and no doubt, a supporter of Captain Bright, with a flexible morality. He’s willing to work with the Garencieres Team I think with the joint force in episode 7 and of course, finding a healthy respect for his opponent in Zinnerman, yet can see who the true villains are (Full Frontal and his forces).

        Trying to put this into a proper blog post on my own was hard, so I kinda gave up on it. I’m glad Divine made one, because I’m kinda lazy. XD;;

        Jusuchin (Military Otaku)
        Reply

    2. The down-voting seemed to have calmed down for quite a while before, but now it seems to have returned.

      Technically, ever since the One Year War, the Federation and the Republic of Zeon itself have largely been at peace.

      The other “Zeon”-related events afterwards were either those who still fanatically believed in the Zabi’s (false) perverted views of Zeon Deikun’s philosophies (like the Delaz Fleet and Axis/Haman’s Neo Zeon) or, in the case of Char’s Neo Zeon, more just a set-up for personal vengeance and an extremist take on Zeon Deikun’s philosophies (much more revenge though). None of them really included the Republic of Zeon itself though, which such groups would claim is a puppet government or traitors like the Delaz Fleet did.

      “Unofficially” there’s also the Mars Zeon/Oldsmobile Army conflict in UC 0120-0122, shortly before F91, which is largely Neo Zeon remnants with backing from the then-unknown about Crossbone Vanguard and Jupiter Empire, using modernized MS with the designs of old Zeon MS (the RF or “Refined” series of Zaku, Gouf, Dom, Rick Dom, Z’Gok, Gelgoog, Gyan, and even an Adzam and “Grand” Zam), which they use to steal one of two prototype Gundam F90s (Unit 2, which actually has an AI program based off Char while Unit 1 has one based off Amuro) Quite fittingly, in the Gundam F90 manga, it’s the 13th Autonomous Corps who was testing, and then tasked to recover, the stolen F90 with their remaining one, the Unit 1, with Unit 1 even defeating Unit 2 with a “Last Shooting” pose, also fitting due to their AIs.

      A detachment of the Mars Zeon forces invade Earth in the Mobile Suit Gundam F91: Formula Report 0122 video game for Super Famicom, and get defeated with the use of the Federations down-sized Mobile Suits (like the Heavygun and G-Cannon). Of course, these designs being already ten years old, so when they’re put up against the Crossbone Vanguard’s modern down-sized Mobile Suits in Gundam F91, they get owned quite badly.

      HalfDemonInuyasha
      Reply

  34. i think we might never see any series being built up like the UC timeline again, because it took 35 years from the original gundam story to unicorn to finish, maintaining the popularity of gundam all those time is not easy, that is why unicorn felt like an epic ending to me. i have watched all the previous gundam in UC timeline prior to watching unicorn, just to understand what it is all about. so now i’m going to pretend f91 and victory never happened, even though i never watched those 2 but i can be sure they cannot be as epic as unicorn

    danes256
    Reply

    1. i also like when full frontal fought banagher they showed what happened in the past, amuro prevents axis from falling to earth, then the one year war in a baoa qu, gave me nostalagic feels all over

      danes256
      Reply

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