This week I thought I'd go back to Anime as Gundam has had a few releases I need to catch up on, it seems the franchise has been going at light speed recently with multiple Anime releases one after another and OVAs on the side every few months, It kind of worries me in some respects because while I have enjoyed each entry I have viewed so far back in the early to mid 90s the franchise had one series after another non stop and this generally fatigued audiences and made the last of these series, Gundam X suffer with a huge amount of episodes cut.
The latest entry is Gundam Thunderbolt in the format of a four part OVA series which will be released every few months. This entry is interesting as it was originally a Manga with the same name produced by Yasuo Ohtagaki in March of 2012. It's actually still going now which makes me wonder if this series will differ from the Manga or just go in its own direction. The first episode aired on the 25th of December 2015 and has been praised by many.
The series' plot is actually very similar if not the same to the original series as in many ways it is a retelling of that show. The year is again 0079 in the Universal Century and the war between Zeon and the Earth Federation has again been raging. This is the same war, the same factions and pretty much the same ideologies at play, but this is not set in the same universe as that show or any other it is very much its own self contained show.
There seems to be an attention to detail throughout the episode which I suppose is warranted as it is only a very short piece of animation compared to a usual OVA. The scenery is very dark and industrial as are the mobile suits themselves, it really shows that is a war and not a particularly nice one at that. The battlefield is not just dark because it's set in space it's full of the derbies of not only previous battles but of now uninhabited colonies.
This is a theme in the Universal Century where those living in space seem to suffer, the destruction of a colony is the destruction of all life in that sector so really hits home the nature of this war without actually showing you what happened. The amount of derbies really greys out the battlefield but has its uses in that it provides cover for snipers and also multiple objects to dodge when flying at high speed, this can of course be a negative or positive to the pilot but it does make for some interesting scenes.
As I mentioned this episode is only around seventeen or so minutes long, I don't really think this is a negative thing though, it keeps it concise and to the point, there was no scene that I felt was particularly unnecessary and no scene felt like it went longer than it needed to, the plot flowed pretty well although there was not really an in depth look at what was going on. I think what you need to bare in mind while watching this is it's more an advertisement for the Manga which is still ongoing, I don't really feel as though we're going to get some in depth plot as the show goes on for a further three episodes but I could be wrong.
This series generally feels like a war, everything is dark the scenarios and scenery are bleak, the conditions of the ships are super cramped much like in real life and the monotony of the suits launching is much like the almost cog-like format of real military vehicles rolling out. There seems to be nothing flashy about the way in which the suits launch (other than the Gundam) and I really like that, usually it's a big song and dance every time a suit launches in Gundam.
It's interesting as Zeon who is generally portrayed as the 'big bad' of much of the original series time line is so far portrayed as just another side of the coin in that they have suffered losses too, their conditions are much the same as the Federations and their side has dealt with a lot of tragedy from the start. I'd almost argue that Zeon seem more victimised this time around as the majority of the soldiers have artificial limbs from previous battles and they're the only ones who focus on the death of their comrades.
I suppose this series is an alternate take on the original story but so far there has been no focus on certain areas of the original series, the only mentions so far are the two factions, I like that though because in your head you can treat this as you like, you can have it as another battle during the original series if you'd like or just treat it as something totally unrelated and standalone.
I think a big stand out part of this episode was the music, it was only for a few short moments but the main character tends to listen to Jazz music, kind of like what you'd expect from Cowboy Bebop in some respects but much faster, now I've seen pretty much every Gundam series and I don't ever remember there being any Jazz or at least a focus on it to this degree. It's a nice change actually and it's become a part of Io's character as he informs his enemies that as soon as they hear Jazz they better run because he's coming for them.
Although there was only one proper battle scene within the episode I felt it was really entertaining, it focused on a number of Federation suits flying into a heavily littered debris field while trying to locate the enemy. What they didn't know was that the enemy consisted of snipers with high powered weaponry. Needless to say the federation suits were totally destroyed save for a few, almost effortlessly at that, it shows what was mentioned in the original series that the Federation were suffering.
Io as a character is quite fresh to the franchise. He is an utter daredevil as he seems to live for the thrill of the battle, he seems to speed through the battlefield with no regard for the debris around him that claimed the lives of some of his comrades during the battles. He's also very sarcastic and quite funny when insulting the music taste of the enemy when stealing their mobile suits. I like his attitude really he seems unafraid to die and almost quite sadistic in his methods, he honestly feels more like a villain at this point than a protagonist.
I think the use of Io flanking the entirety of Zeons forces and jacking a suit after headshoting the pilot with a standard pistol was brutal yet shows again that Io is not your squeaky clean protagonist and this is war, war is hell for every side.
I absolutely adore the designs of the mobile suits in this show, I had actually bought one of the model kits back when it was only Manga because of this. Generally this series just takes existing suits from the original series but tweaks them in such a way that they remain faithful to their classic look but also have these exaggerated features.
What I mean by this is the base of the suit is the same it looks pretty much the same as its original series counterpart but once you begin adding weapons to it it becomes this heightened version of itself, be it by having huge guns, multiple shields or beefy armour. I also like that this series makes the suits feel more like something belonging to the military rather than a kids robot show. the colours seem more akin to military aircraft or machinery and they also have relevant markings, decals and general wear and tear.
If you're familiar with the franchise as a whole you know they are trying to sell models, they always seem to tweak the original Gundams design ever so slightly in order to sell another model of their flagship suit. This time around the lead Gundam actually feels different enough to warrant a new model to me it's so far removed from what it is based on it's quite refreshing.
I think my favourite scene is when the Gundam first launches and we're treated to a first person point of view shot of the Zaku it absolutely decimates, this scene is really great at conveying the power of the Gundam as the way the zaku moves in first person is like a struggling unarmed person scared for their life, something that is never really done in Gundam.
I feel like this was a good entry in the series so far as it did enough differently in the short amount that it had to make it stand out, the soundtrack the animation and the mobile suit designs are all pretty unique to this show, especially in the way that they are matched. At this point however I feel as though this was a show to promote a Manga and some model kits that had already been out for a few years. This is fine but also bitter-sweet because I believe that even if the West gets this series I believe it will end on a cliffhanger for the Manga to finish.
With the Wests track record for bringing over Gundam Manga I feel that unless a group online begin to translate the Manga then Western fans of this series may never really have the experience of finishing this series without looking up a written synopsis online in a few years time, this kind of bums me out if it is indeed the case.
For someone who has never really watched Gundam I would say this series will probably be a nice easy ride to start with if the first episode is anything to go by, I say this because it's self contained while remaining true to the themes of the original series, beautifully animated and has so decently choreographed fight scenes so far.
The short length of this series' episodes is also a huge bonus to someone new to the franchise, it's only roughly 15 minutes an episode so it's not really much to sit yourself down for, this would make it pretty easy to make a decision on before you've used up too much of your time only to find that halfway through you don't enjoy it.
Overall I think this format has been quite beneficial so far, it's a story that usually would only be told in a Manga that the West would never get and perhaps a few models from the series would appear, but there are so many Manga side stories in this franchise, some quite good and some downright bizzare but this series shows that they can be animated and used to sell more model kits even if they length of the show is quite short.
The thought of this is really exciting to me and I hope Sunrise and Bandai take advantage of this, it really wouldn't hurt them to do so and would be way better to me to have a short series rather than no animated representation at all. I wonder how this series will fare overall when it's over and I wonder if this will perhaps tip the balance for Sunrise and make them more open to trying new things with their franchise.
