Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack

Well, I personally felt that this movie was conclusive, but felt more like a conclusion or some extension to the original series, and not really that well connected to Zeta and Double Zeta. Then again, this was the intention but I felt this movie could have used some of the main characters from that series or give us an update on Camille, Fa, and Judau, though there are other materials out there exclusive to Japan on what happened to them. Since the movie really has no direct connection to Zeta or Double Zeta, I don’t feel it’s really required that you watch those series, but I recommended you watch the Mobile Suit Gundam trilogy to understand the foundation of the rivalry between Char and Amuro. Resuming characters that play a significant part are of course Captain Bright, his son Hathaway, Bright’s wife’s former fiancé Cameron also plays a part as well. New additions for this movie are Nanai Miguel, Char’s right hand woman and Quess Paraya, the daughter of a Federation politician who has teenage issues and has erratic newtype abilities. The movie is reasonably paced and the characters all have their use. Granted the new characters do stand out, I just don’t think they were worth sacrificing some other characters over. In addition to this movie going back to its roots with the Char and Amuro rivalry, the style and design of the mobile suits, specifically the Nu Gundam, Nu being N-U gives that impression as well. The current Gundam’s style goes back to its roots with the more blocky design rather than the aerodynamic frames that were present in Zeta and isn’t really as heavy packed as the Double Zeta. A notable difference is that it breaks the tradition of the red, white, and blue color scheme to a black and white one. With the Nu Gundam comes a new kind of material that is meant to go with the newtype abilities called the Psycho Frame and the addition of funnels also gives Amuro the chance to use those abilities at their fullest potential as well. The suit Char has this time is the Sazabi, also reverting back to his iconic red scheme. The Sazabi is more cylinder like and kind of goes back to the bulkier and bloated design of the Zakus. The battles are more intense than ever with the heavy fire power and the potential of nuclear weapons being deployed by the Neo Zeon. There is more of a risk factor to the fights that make it more realistic and reasonably paced, but yet exciting. The character designs for the most part are still in tradition and faithful to the original, but presented in a new quality of resolution that really compliment the updated costume designs. Char’s design is quite unique. He’s more muscular looking and he’s more dignified, but yet still recognizable. Well, the roles of Amuro, Char, and Bright are still respectively reprised by their respective seiyuus throughout the lifespan of the franchise and still pull off their roles as if they never aged a day. Anything I had to say about their roles in previous installments can be said here as well. For the dub, this came out before Zeta got licensed in America so some of the roles are reprised by the dub actors from the TV series as well such as Brad Swaile is still Amuro. I personally thought the dub was excellent in its own right. The music is constantly intense. Not really as militaristic as Gundam soundtracks, but enough to pull you into the battlefield of space. The ending theme Beyond the Time also truly reflects the nature of the ending of the movie. I wouldn’t call the movie fan service, but is truly meant for fans of Gundam because it’s really what I may call the symbolic ending to the original Gundam series. I wasn’t really that disappointed with Char’s character, but I think they could have built things up much better. But I guess I have to find other material that is either in manga or game form to get what I’m looking for. For what it’s worth, I do feel delighted this movie does pay homage to the original Gundam in its own right, but I felt they could have done some other things with it to make it more complete and balanced with the other series, but I guess they really wanted to make this movie distinctive with the newer cast.

Movie ini harus ditonton sebelum menonton movie Hathaway. Karena di sinilah kita bisa mengetahui bagaimana sosok Hathaway yang sebenarnya dan peristiwa apa yang sudah menimpanya. Selain itu, movie ini juga menjadi konklusi bagi rivalitas antara Amuro dan Char. Bisa kita lihat bagaimana perbedaan ideologi yang dianut di antara mereka berdua. Movie yang harus ditonton jika kamu penggemar serial Gundam.

The beginning feels like it just throws you into the middle of a movie. After watching Z Gundam this felt like a regression for Char. Quess and Hathaway were really annoying, and they took up most of the screen time. But this movie also has a really deep message. The animation and action were great, and the final scene was really emotional. Overall, this is a good movie despite its flaws, and it’s really important for later UC Gundam stories.