Mobile Suit Gundam I

The Gundam franchise holds a very special place in my life. Going back to my first exposure to it, my 11 year-old self was rather indignant that this new "Gundamn Wing" show was going to be replacing my favorite cartoon Dragonball Z. I now know that my local network was simply attempting to introduce a new, more serious anime and using the DBZ timeslot was a perfect test-drive. And I was hooked. A serious story, political drama, and giant robots, what wasn't there to love? As I put more research into this strange new series, I learned of course that it was only a smallpart of a much much larger franchise which consisted of alternate universes and of course, the Universal Century. Of course, I did watch other Gundam shows in between, namely SEED, SEED Destiny and 00. However, nearly all Gundam fans kept recommending me to go back to one series of shows I've missed... Finding myself with plenty of free time and in need of much relaxation after a hard semester, my summer this year will consist of me watching every single UC series, OVA and movie (well, maybe except G-Savior) Beginning my arduous task was this movie, which was recommended to me over the TV series. I was expecting something a little more light-hearted during the opening minutes as I had watched the OP for the original series on Youtube (KIDOU SENSHIIII GUNDAMUUUUU) No, it was during those opening minutes that I realized the Universal Century was something entirely different from the alternate universes I was familiar with. It was a rather awkward situation for someone who was used to the slickly animated AU shows to be so disturbed by relatively crude images of colonies falling. Yoshiyuki Tomino's vision was simply uncompromising. A couple of very common criticisms of later Gundam shows are awkward characterization and slapdash plot, two criticisms which cannot be leveled at this movie. Amuro's characterization is rather realistic, showing plausible battle fatigue and interpersonal tension. From the get go, the viewer is drawn into the mysterious relationship between Char and Sayla. Captain Bright establishes a commanding presence on screen, just as he should. The great extent at which we sympathize with the characters and believe in them really lie on the shoulders of the seiyuus whose performances result in very believable overall characterization. As mentioned above, the plot cannot be criticized, mainly because there really isn't one. The movie is simply a series of battles, albeit entertaining ones. A situation is established, and the characters are thrown into it. Rinse, repeat. Glimmerings of underlying story do shine through, namely Char's. The famous SIEG ZEON speech gives a good impression of the inner workings of the enemy who up until that point were simply cannon fodder. Visually, the movie shows all of the hallmarks of 70s anime, a bit of a negative. Bright, pastel colors punctuate every scene. Explosions are eye-assaulting fireworks shows. Uniforms resemble those of the super robot animes that Tomino fought so hard to differentiate from (this probably stems from executive meddling) Everyone wears ridiculous looking tights for some reason. However, it is because the designs are so eye-catching that they stick in the mind. Having 30 years to get to know their beloved characters, everyone in Japan will know who Amuro Ray, Sayla Mass or Kai Shiden is, what they look like, how they act. Even more iconic than the characters are the mecha. I remember first seeing the Zaku model kits, thinking "what a weird design" Placed within the context of the UC, they are excellent designs and do what they were intended to do: evoke totalitarian militarism. The titular mecha is by today's standards bare-bones, but it's presence on screen is always attention grabbing through it's actions and it's color scheme. To sum up, every character and mecha is distinctive. In conclusion, the first movie gave me an incredible first impression. Hitting hard in the opening minutes, the movie carries action and character development consistently all the way through. Though marred by some questionable art choices, this is overshadowed by how distinctive each and every design is. A great way to start, but I just wished there was more of a plot.

Story: At first it seemed pretty messed up. I couldn't distinguish between the good guys and the bad guys but then innocents got killed so yeah. The story started slowly with a little display of conflicts, nothing wrong here. The problem is that it kept dragging on till the first hour and a half. I got sleepy there and had to take a break. However the "second part" got a lot better because the actions made more sense and some characters got development. A mix of good and bad so 5. Art: The art part was good for such an old movie, the chara design was great,no look-alike. That's a plus for me. However some scenes were weirdly drawn like one where Amuro puts a sad face but the way I see it, it looked like he was high on mushrooms with eyes gone white and staring at the wall like a broken robot. Not much to be considered a flaw but had to be noticed. Good old stuff: 8. Sound: The film had good music and the ending was great too. The main theme is a plus (the dvd menu theme). I give it a 8. Character: Some guy need some development (Char: good introduction as the Akai Suisei but then fall into oblivion). Maybe I'm asking too much with just the first movie but then I'll see how it goes. The same goes for Sayla Mass. She seems like a strong female lead character but the only thing I know about her is that she hates cowardice. The main character Amuro is getting more interesting as he has some inner conflicts with war stuff but there's a chance he just turns out to be an ace pilot who's good at saying "Yes Sir!". A 6 for now might get better for the second movie. Enjoyment: I couldn't watch this movie as a whole so no plus here. A 4 because it wasn't shitty yet nothing amazing.

Now, I may be a little biased, but I really really love Gundam. It's one of my favorite things, UC Gundam especially. The Original movie trilogy is my typical go-to if someone wants to experience the original story, as 40+ episodes can be pretty daunting to someone who is interested in Gundam but not yet ride-or-die, y'know? But, I always lay it out like this- The first movie is kind of a tough watch in lots of places. The second movie gets it's shit together in the right places, and is pretty dang enjoyable! I have requested in my will that I am buried with a copy ofthe third movie. This movie is a tough watch- it's pacing is odd, as it tries to capture as much as it can in a short amount of time. That's just the nature of a compilation, I can't fault it too hard! I doubt I could do it better, in fact! But, in my opinion, this movie is slow going, but with the two that come after it, I'd recommend powering through! Hey, you might even end up liking it a lot more than me! :D

Story: It's about a young boy joining the military, and the harsh reality of that process. However, with such a large ensemble cast, the story doesn't focus so much on Amuro like it should. The beginning jumps around a lot and around the halfway mark is it clear that the main arc we're following is Amuro's transformation from geeky teenager to self-sufficient soldier. It was annoying, because once I realized this I was wishing for more time to be spent with it. I really enjoy the gray area nature of the narrative. Both the Federation and the Zeon have a cast of characters that are only fightingbecause they're aligned to different factions, not because they are inherently evil. That said, we do see on both sides the evidence of hatred and evils within the factions. It's a nice addition to something that could have easily been a white and black conflict. It means there will not only be combat within the story to come, but politics that come into play where we as viewers may sympathize with the opposition during an event. All that said, nothing particularly special takes place outside of Amuro's evolution. War is war, but character development makes war a story. If we'd seen something similar with other characters (which we get a tease of with Garma) then my rating for Story would have been above a 7. Art: I can't say whether there had been better animated works during the year this released, but I can say that certain scenes in this film are better animated than others. I find this to be incredibly lazy, and it's only made worse when some scenes are re-used. Not only that, it uses some classic animated gimmicks that thankfully have not been used in ages (outside of references or satire). There's a reason we don't see triangular profiles of speaking characters anymore. Sound: Really enjoyed the sound effects. I thought they sounded really cool and always enjoyed hearing the ships take off or Gundam in combat. This may be my favorite part about the film, in all honesty. The sounds are solid. Soundtrack was okay. It's nothing special. It feels like it was made real cheap and with no inspiration what-so-ever. A real shame, as some songs sounded good, but as they went on I felt like I was lied to. Character: Designs are neat. I always liked realistic character designs. Outside of Char's goofy outfit, nothing to really note here. Personality wise, I felt as though Amuro's character was strange and kinda bipolar. Perhaps it's because of the run-time (although it's a WHOPPING 2 hours and 20 minutes) but after each fight, he enters a new stage of emotional reaction that seems too swift to appear and too swift to resolve. Honestly, it's kind of stupid. This, again, is the fault of the ensemble cast that must also be attended too, despite the story trying to put an emphasis on Amuro. Enjoyment: Yeah, I had a good time. The run-time was the biggest problem. It's long, and the film doesn't particularly have much to offer during its length, and I refuse to pause a movie and come back to it (despite the fact I left 15 minutes into the film to go shopping before it was too late) ((If you liked this review, friend me for new reviews on other works, both manga and anime!))