Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt: Episode 1 (2015)

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.

Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin I: Blue-eyed Casval (OVA: 2015)

This week I move back to the Gundam series with part one of a new OVA series Mobile Suit Gundam The Origin. This OVA is interesting as it is essentially based on a Manga adaptation of the original 1979 television series which was not produced by series creator Yoshiyuki Tomino but Character designer for the original series Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. The reason for this adaptation was to look at the One Year War in a lot more depth by focusing on the reasons the war started, the politics and also the characters themselves. Due to this there are a number of changes to the story in order for it not to be a complete retread such as Mobile Suit designs, characters and plot points.

The Manga also has entire volumes dedicated to certain characters and their perspective, in one case being series antagonist Char Aznable, how he came to be involved with the conflict and his subsequent awakening as a Newtype. This OVA rather than beginning where the Manga does actually decided to use this volume as its basis and tell the story of Char who at the time was known as Casval. Perhaps this decision was made as not to reanimate familiar scenes and focus on what had never been animated before or perhaps it was due to the popularity of the Char character who has been involved heavily in the majority of the Universal Century time line.

Originally this OVA was announced as a four part series with room for more episodes in March of 2014 as part of the Mobile Suit Gundam 35th Anniversary ~ RISE! project along with the final episode of Gundam Unicorn and its release and the announcement of a new television series set after the Universal Century time line by original creator Tomino titled G no Reconguista which aired its final episode a few months ago. Clearly this event was jam packed with great content for fans and while the latter animations were received quite well how does this OVA fair?

The first episode was released in February of 2015 and sits at just over an hour long as opposed to the 45 minute time frame usually seen within the series OVA's and begins with the story of Casvel and his Sister Artesia as they must survive after their father Zeon Deikun's death during a speech for independence from Earth which would soon be known as the precursor to the Principality of Zeon. We soon find out the cause of Deikuns death was actually due to an assassination via poisoning by the Zabi family who would go on to control Zeon during the One Year War.

We soon see the Deikun family ripped apart as they are moved around for their own protection thanks to the loyal Ral family. But as time progresses and the situation worsens the children are taken away from their mother and smuggled back to Earth.

While the focus is very much on the past of these characters there is a brief action sequence set during the One Year War at the beginning of the animation which I believe was done purely to sell more Gunpla model kits as there is only one mobile suit featured during the main focus of the story, although I'm not complaining as the sequence was quite well done and gives a viewer not familiar with the franchise a quick look at why Char is regarded as the Red Comet of Zeon and an Ace pilot.

What I particularly enjoyed about The Origin was that is likes to focus not only on what happened before the conflict but also the roots of a lot of characters and factions motives which are just sort of there in the original series. For example we get to see the roots of the rebellion from the Earth Sphere via the protests riddled throughout the colonies as well as the low morale of those who would join the side of Zeon. We see that they are not just some evil soldiers like they are presented to be in the original series but a group of people who truly believe that they need their independence and not be governed by Earth.

It also makes use of showing the squabbling and betrayals ridden throughout the Zabi family siblings with numerous siblings plotting the others deaths in a bid to gain complete control of Zeon.We even see one of the siblings die early on from a bomb assassination implied to be by his sister, however it is blamed on the Federation and only fuels the growing hatred between the two parties.

While it does paint Zeon supporters a lot more positively it also shows the Federation in a more negative light, especially during the protests by having the use of tanks and other means as scare tactics to quell the problem. This differs from the way they are portrayed in the original series as the saviours and just side of the conflict. This portrayal actually works really well with the way the federation is portrayed in later series such as Zeta Gundam and Unicorn in that there is no 'good' side during a conflict and each has their questionable methods, this is a portrayal of each side I greatly appreciate as it adds some depth to both sides rather than a simple good v evil storyline.

The Animation quality is quite good all round especially in terms of character designs, however unfortunately it is not as spectacular as the previous OVA series Unicorn which is a shame as that only increased the overall quality of the animation in that case, but perhaps there was less budget to work with this time around and we must remember that there are not as many action sequences with robots pulling off crazy moves like in Unicorn.

Thankfully a few of characters voice actors from the original series make a return such as Shūichi Ikeda who reprises the role of Char in the opening sequence. Interestingly before release there were rumours circulating that the majority of voice actors were to be replaced as they were getting on in years and many important characters Seiyuus had unfortunately passed away in recent years, however much like with the latest Dragonball films using as many if the original voice cast as they can this OVA tried to do the same.

In this first episode there was not a huge reason to do this however as Casval and Artesia were still children and therefore used different Seiyuu, but perhaps as the episodes go on and the need to expand into a complete retelling of the series like the Manga goes on to do then there will be more reason to have a returning cast even if it is only the likes of original series protagonist Amuro Ray. With a number of returning characters in the mix generally it was great to see them again and see how they began their paths to wherever they may end up during or after the war but there was one character who pretty much stole the show for me and that was a younger Ramba Ral.

I really enjoyed the portrayal of Ramba Ral, a character who was more or less the first Ace pilot faced by the protagonists in the original series and a loyalist to Char and the Deikuns, Ral was always shown in the original series as an honourable man who enjoyed a battle and not necessarily one who agreed with the majority of Zeons motives. While he died quite early in to the series he was always a fan favourite character so it is great to see him as a more important entity in this OVA as well as a caring and charismatic ally to the Deikuns with one scene involving him going out of his way to retrieve Artesias cat.

While he is a lot more goofy and perhaps even innocent than he is in the series I think that works well, by having him help in the seclusion of the children he quickly becomes a much more serious man and the episode even takes a quick turn into a sort of noir spy thriller with him by having him go undercover in a bar in order to find his soon to be lover Hamon and get her help in smuggling the children to Earth. I sincerely hope we get to see Ral more as the OVA progresses as a reanimated segment of his battle with Amuro would be absolutely fantastic.

Of course the main focus is on the two children and I found Casval to be quite an interesting character with  the way he becomes almost like an adult  as the innocence of childhood is quickly taken away from him, especially when he meets with the Zabi family to show he is not and will never be afraid of the people who killed his father. Already we can see this will be the man to adopt the name Char and work his way up the Zabi ranks to destroy them internally during the end of the One Year War.

But while his innocence is quickly taken away from him his younger sister remains the same, even though I have seen her as an adult and seen her become a more capable character entirely I believe by having her remain innocent at this age it keeps Casval in check and stops him becoming too reckless as we see when he takes control of a mobile suit for the first time and begins picking off the enemy. If it were not for his sister he surely would have continued killing or got everyone else on board killed.
Perhaps this is why he becomes the man known as Char later on and why his  sister becomes Sayla and joins the protagonists in the original series, because without her he loses his way and becomes a character driven purely by revenge only.


Towards the end of the episode there are some very sad scenes which involve the children leaving their mother forever, which Casval understands but Artesia believes will just mean they will see their mother not long after they arrive on Earth, while some may not find this that upsetting I always find I can't deal with any emotional scenes involving young children or animals for whatever reason and this scene got to me a little!

While the episode begins to change Casval the ending is great because it ends on the child like wonder of discovering new things and looking on at something amazing as the children travel to and see Earth for the first time, which I feel works quite well in that it reminds you they are just kids caught up in this whole thing that they never asked for, but to have Casval explain to his sister the reason they left Earth was because it was beautiful until the humans polluted it really does remind you this is the child who will one day take this to an extreme and try to make the earth uninhabitable for humans to they move on to space and evolve as a species.

While I greatly enjoyed this episode there are a few issues that i've seen mentioned online. For example a number of people seem to complain about the popularity of using CGI in action based sequences as it sort of cheapens the look of the animation and is very noticeable. Personally I have never minded it too much but I have not seen many shows or movies that have actually used it, but more recently when I watched the first of the new Berserk movies I found it to be really bad and not suited to the beautiful art style that was in the majority of the film. While in that case it allegedly gets better in the latter films released in the case of this OVA I actually did not mind it's use at all.

I feel that style actually suits the action sequences because it fits with something mechanical and makes them stand out as more than just animated in the same way as humans therefore if it doesn't look as organic in its movements it actually benefits the whole use of something mechanical.

Another issue I've seen pop up is that there really is not enough action in this episode, which I again don't find as an issue but perhaps that's because I know the battles that will come. I understand that the average viewer of a Mecha Anime are expecting over the top battles but I feel like this series was produced more for the long time fan who want to get a deeper understanding of the events and characters of the One Year War. That is why the focus is on these back stories and more of a political drama at times, I honestly think this is fine but we must remember it is only the first episode and with the second approaching soon there may be more action as we progress.

Overall this OVA acts as a nice little start point for the Origin storyline and gives a wealth to expand upon in the next few releases. While it is light on the mecha action it more than makes up for it in terms of character development so I believe it is well worth the watch for any Gundam fan interested in the Universal Century.

But is this OVA a good starting point for someone new to the series? Yes and no, yes in the sense that it is set before anything during UC and does a decent enough job of explaining what is going on but no in the sense that you don't really know where any of this is going if you don't have prior knowledge to the original series. In my opinion I would recommend viewing the 3 compilation films of the original series which cut out a lot of filler and has superior animation quality and then view this OVA.