It is The Dark Knight, Dawn of Justice, Godfather: Part Two, The Empire Strikes Back, Skyfall, and Spectre with Mecha

zanghi_james

Let me start right off the bat by saying that this is definitely the best Gundam series that I have watched, yet.

Set about five years after the finale of Gundam 0079, the Earth Federation has become incredibly oppressive towards the colonist population in Outer Space. An organization made of up of heroes from both sides of the One Year War, the A.E.U.G., launches a campaign of rebellion to stop the Federation's cruel new military organization, the Titans, use of brutal tactics. As a result, a new war begins and drags a pair of young teenagers into it.

This show is much better than Gundam 0079 and is an excellent follow-up to it, as well. There is major-league drama and action in Zeta Gundam, and the character development is magnificent.

However, this show is not without flaws. I wasn't too thrilled with the character development of Reccoa Londe who switches sides just so she can basically find a 'real man' to be with. Also, the main character of Kamille Bidan is beyond self-centered and arrogant. The arc of the character of Quattro Bajeena/Char Aznable is not bad, but knowing that he eventually becomes a genocidal psychopath in the sequels makes the story a bit of a let down. I would have also appreciated more appearances from more of the White Base crew than just a handful of episodes. The main White Base crew members we really only get to see are Amuro, Hayato, and Bright while Kai, Fraw, and Mirai are relegated to partial cameos.

As for the villains, this show has them aplenty. Paptimus Scirocco is a little like Treize Kushrenada from Gundam Wing, but much more of a twisted lunatic. He's probably the second-best villain of the Universal Century shows with Char Aznable as number one. In perfect contrast is Jerid Messa, who is technically the rival for Kamille Bidan, but his constant defeats at Kamille's hands are so much that he becomes utterly ridiculous and pathetic. Sarah Zabiarov, for what appears to be a fourteen-year-old girl, is a perfect companion for Paptimus as a cruel femme fatale. And, of course, there's Haman Karn, the Neo Zeon's military leader. She's definitely tied with Paptimus for the second-place best villain of Universal Century.

PROS:
There is much more darker drama in this series than Gundam 0079.Way better opening credit and end credit sequence than Gundam 0079.Great Mecha DesignsGreat Animation, especially since it is seemingly hand-drawnNot bad music.Some really awesome battle/action scenesWay better development of the Female Characters, who are not basically damsels in distress or femme fatales like in Gundam 0079.

CONS:
Kamille is such a whiny jerkJerid is such a pathetic loserReccoa switching sides merely so she can be with Paptimus Scirocco

One last thing, and this is a major Spoiler Alert BTW, this probably has one of the most depressing and darkest endings for a TV show ever. A lot of great characters get killed off and one is practically lobotomized. It's about as dark as the original proposed ending that George R.R. Martin hinted would be the ending to Game of Thrones. Still, the show's great and shows the real cost of modern warfare.

score 9/10

zanghi_james 14 October 2019

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5188737/