Mobile Suit Gundam - General Discussion

[Sandman87]

Hey, did you hear? Carta is in charge of the "OUTER EARTH REGULATORY JOINT FLEET!!!!!!!" I expect that the windows of her command ship have specially reenforced windows to withstand her gale-force bellowing. And she can always find work over at Jojo's Bizarre Adventure if this gig doesn't work out.

[lathspel]

I'm finally caught up too. I have to admit that I care a lot more for these characters after watching five nights in a row.  

Did we know before that Barbatos was a Gjallarhorn frame?  That feels like news somehow.  

I know the Gundam universe is really deep, but in my limited non spoilered research, it seems that Gjallarhorn'a storied history in the Calamity War wasn't really in the original continuity.  I find that disappointing somehow. 

[lathspel]

So the only eating utensil Martians use is a spoon?

[Sandman87]

Is that what they've been doing? I keep getting distracted by the pretty, pretty visuals, like the vase in the old guy's island home.

[ZoqFotPik]

"It was okay to shoot, right?"

The guy shot was second from the left. The last time they did this, in episode 19, the guy second from the left was the one that was out of sync with the others and it was his Mobile Suit Mikazuki rode through the atmosphere. Doesn't seem to be a very lucky position.

Poor Biscuit. I wonder who is going to tell Cookie and Cracker that both their brothers are dead.

Edited November 14, 2016 by ZoqFotPik

[Sandman87]

Tekkadan loves their remote-controlled surprises, and every other kind too. Give them any chance at all to prepare, and the enemy might as well surrender to save themselves the trouble.

1 hour ago, ZoqFotPik said:

"It was okay to shoot, right?"

Best line of the episode. Also funny that he interrupted their posing, along with the subsequent "HOW DARE YOU!!" from Carta, who apparently is outraged that anyone would dare defend themselves from her forces.

 

Second best lines of the episode, also involving Carta:

Carta: "BLAH BLAH OUTER EARTH FLEET ENEMA BLAH BLAH..."

Mikazuki: "...shut up..."

[Lantern7]

Why does the guy closest to me physically have to die? And the vultures weren't even trying to hide during Biscuit's scenes with Orga.

On 11/13/2016 at 5:06 PM, ZoqFotPik said:

"It was okay to shoot, right?"

That was a thing of beauty.

[ZoqFotPik]

McGillis is getting ready to hang Gaelio out dry.

Edited November 21, 2016 by ZoqFotPik

[Terrafamilia]

Mikazuki telling Orga to tell him who to kill next was...disturbing.

[Sandman87]

"What do you want me to do?" apparently translates as "What you're doing is unacceptable, so get off your ass and lead us." I get the impression that Mikazuki is the dominant force in the relationship, even when he's asking Orga what he should do.

Now that they've had two funerals, with all the pain that goes with them, I wonder if someone will realize that the enemies that they kill create just as much pain on the other side. (Eureka 7 and Legend of the Galactic Heroes both made good use of that particular revelation as a plot point.)

[Sandman87]

Man, Mikazuki isn't much for ceremony, is he? His abrupt take-down of Carta and her two red-shirts seems like it might be inspired by the story of one of Musashi's duels (Musashi charged the guy without the normal preliminaries and killed him.) Stomping that one guy in his cockpit like a bug was just brutal.

On a more cheery note; the double train that they were riding on is pretty nifty, like a freighter on rails.

[lathspel]

I love the double train too, probably the  only way you can transport thousands of tons of mecha or mining equipment.

Kudos to the one redshirt who realized they could destroy the track, although with a couple mechs they probably could've ferried the train cars over any break.  

Going back an ep, I think the relationship is that Orga made a heavy promise to Mika (which we still haven't fully seen yet, right?) and Mika expects him to carry it out.  Mika is the unstoppable force, but he's suspended all moral questions and deferred to Orga's judgement.  In one sense Orga carries all the moral weight for everyone, which I'm hoping is a theme that concludes somehow in the finale. 

[Lantern7]

Bad news: We're going to run out of IBO episodes soon. Good news: Toonami has us covered. for 2017.

[Lantern7]

"Eye for an eye. That's the only thing Gjallerhorn understands." "I confess that I didn't know Biscuit well, but I'm 95 percent certain he didn't want Tekkadan to be wading hip-deep in the blood of their enemies." "We've gone too far to stop. We have to make it to the end." "Orga, don't you realize that a sizable chunk of this team is teenage or younger?" "For Biscuit. For all those we've lost along the way." "Fuck, maybe the next Gundam-based anime won't be as depressing. Who am I kidding? It's never light-hearted."

[Sandman87]

Although Gundam ZZ was pretty funny compared to the first two series...which is why a lot of fans didn't like it. The bad guys sometimes seemed more like the Monarch and his henchmen in that one.

[ZoqFotPik]

Decent finale. I felt bad for Gaelio having to listen to McGillis talk about taking care of his sister while killing him. I thought it was funny that Mika didn't seem to remember who Crank was at first. I wonder when we'll get season 2. Also, another Gundam series called 'Unicorn' will be taking this shows spot in January.

[Sandman87]

I see now why they stopped making Gundams with the Zenyatta Mondatta system (or whatever it's called), because the side effects are pretty brutal when it works at full efficiency. If my super-weapon makes blood pour out of my eyes, I'm going to get someone else to pilot it, thank you very much. I noticed that in a closeup of Mika's face at the end when he was talking to the girls, his right eye looked subtly different from the other one; There was no specular highlight on it, and it was slightly less 3d-ish. A nice touch.

McGillis's motivation for taking on the corruption in Gjallarhorn is still unclear, but he mentioned the anger that he constantly feels, so it sounds like something happened to really piss him off at some point. And talk about being totally committed; he's willing to use everyone to achieve his ends, no matter what it costs him.

Once again they drop a hint that Barbatos is sentient in some way. Rather un-Gundam, since it has always been a Real Robot type of franchise, rather than Super Robot.

[ZoqFotPik]

It's called the Alaya-Vijnana System.

[Sandman87]

Don't make me explain the joke.

[Lantern7]

As opposed to the Hakuna Matata System. If these people have no worries, what would they have?

"We did it." "Yes, we did." "Arm bump?" "Cool. Remember, one of my arms is shot to shit. And an eye. And I'm still emotionally dead, where I don't feel anything for Cordelia." "Eh, she's above your pay grade, man."

[lathspel]

Please move if a different forum is preferred   

I'm liking Gundam Unicorn 0096 so far.  I know it's recent, but somehow the animation style is a lot better than I expected for back near the beginning of the Gundam universe.  All the Zeon discussion feels like quite a throwback compared to the Iron Blooded Orphans story.

I did a bit of research and it seems the tapestry they keep showing is Sight.  

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_and_the_Unicorn

[Sandman87]

Put the show title in the thread title if we're going with the "all Gundam shows in one big forum" thing, because there are currently 38 different Gundam series, movies, and OVAs.

[Lantern7]

Thanks, @lathspel. So far, all I got is teen drama, adult drama, political drama, and a giant robot. Only this time, it's got a horn. And the opening credits aren't as cool as "Raise Your Flag."

[lathspel]

So far I haven't figured out how to change my thread title, at least on mobile. :(  I'm really hoping a Lady is central to the plot, otherwise it's going to be even more confusing.  

[lathspel]

I need a program to tell the political parties apart in the Gundam 'verse, as usual.  

So far, the colony builder snail is my favorite mecha on the show.  I'm a sucker for mega construction projects.  

[Sandman87]

Pretty visuals, but completely wasted during the action sequences. All the quick-cuts and the wildly swinging POV camera mean that keeping track of what's happening in a fight is an annoying chore. As far as the story, generic-yet-confusing just pisses me off. The dialog isn't impressing me much either.

So far the only thing I find enjoyable about the show is seeing all the familiar little things that are features of the U.C. continuity: The zero-G conveyer handles in the corridors, the awful hair and clothing, the Haro robot knock-off, remote controlled Funnel weapons, and so on.

[lathspel]

Sadly, for now I'm mostly in agreement.  The quick cuts definitely made it seem like we were right in the thick of a chaotic battle, but I'm wishing I could go back and slo-mo the ep just to remind myself what happened when.

I'd never fully internalized the Gundam "war is hell" trope, until they fought one inside the colony.  I'm hoping they got that hole patched soon, and the central sun repaired eventually.   Now I see why mobile suits fighting near civilian areas was such a taboo in MS Gundam: IBO.

[Sandman87]

Yeah, the franchise has never been shy about showing the horrible results of conflict on innocent civilians.

On a related note: I'm going to be very disappointed if we don't get to see one of Gundam's signature colony drops before this is over.

Edited January 24, 2017 by Sandman87

[Sandman87]

Hello, Nahel Argama! Long time no see. It's like old home week here. Too bad Bright Noah isn't around to slap annoying teenagers around when they need it, but maybe the current captain will act as his stand-in when the need arises. Then again maybe not, considering the sarcasm being directed his way by his second in command. At least I think she's his second in command.

And we have a guy who's wearing a mask piloting a red mobile suit. Because what would Gundam be without a Char-alike? Unlike most of the other series, this one is explicitly imitating Char. And he goes by the name Full Frontal. I'm sure there's a funny story about how he got that name, and I don't think I want to know it.

"Norm Bacillicock?" Sounds like a nickname for a guy who spreads social diseases.

Yay! The Argama has two or more factions aboard that don't get along completely. And of course we're given minimal information to use for figuring out who's who.

Edited January 30, 2017 by Sandman87

[lathspel]

In my very limited survey, it seems that all Gundam shows will have a guy in a mask, and a blonde who's got to get to Earth to set things right.  

[Sandman87]

Not just a guy in a mask; a mysterious rival/antagonist to the main character, who wears a mask, who has his own agenda, and who pilots a custom-built mobile suit.

BTW, while Barcalounger (or whatever) was being escorted down the street in the latest episode, I noticed that one of the seedy storefronts had a sign that said "RED COMET."

The new plan calls for firing the Argama's Hyper Mega Particle Cannon. Sometimes you just need to make hyper mega holes in things.

[Terrafamilia]

I did get rather ticked off with Banagher's insistence that the princess was really "Audrey". Way to cramp your notgirlfriend's agency, Banagher. Run, Princess, Run! If he's this controlling now, just think how bad he'll be if you ever become a couple.

[brinpol]

Loved Zeta Gundam. ZZ was such a let down and disappointment.

[Sandman87]

Damn, I had forgotten how the mobile suit pilots in the U.C. shows manage to capture each other with ridiculous frequency. But only the named pilot characters.

Marida is a clone Cyber Newtype? That's never good. That probably means that she came with an extra-large helping of what psychologists like to refer to as "cray-cray." I'm sure the child prostitution didn't help any either.

Everyone keeps talking about Laplace's Box, but no one knows what's in it. It'd serve them right if it just contains a scroll that reads "Peace on Earth." More like Laplace's Pig In A Poke, am I right?

[Lantern7]

Watched the latest episode today. I'm just not feeling it. Iron-Blooded Orphans was easier for me to grasp. All I know is that Palau is an island nation in the Pacific that hosted the tenth season of Survivor. That was the year the Koror tribe went sickhouse all over Ulong.

[lathspel]

Was that a five minute recap to start things off?

Also, have noses always been so poorly drawn on this show?  Maybe we just showed people from an unfortunate angle today.  

[Sandman87]

Since you asked, I just timed it: Three and a half minutes. I wonder if each episode is going to start with a "story so far" from now on. Doesn't bother me as much as just repeating the same intro over and over and over, like they do on One Piece.

I haven't noticed the noses, but maybe the problem is an artifact of the producers' conscious decision to imitate the look of previous series.

This episode: Psycho-Frame Technology, manufactured on the Moon, blah blah blah. I wonder if that's actually going to be important information.

Marida is a prisoner/patient. A deep sounding nonsense conversation about newtypes results.

Barcalounger has to take the unicorn through the magical coordinates in order to unlock the magical macguffin box a little bit. Maybe there will be candy inside. Magical unicorn candy.

[ZoqFotPik]

I guess the four minute recaps are a thing now. So nine episodes in and I have very little sense of what is going on. The Earth Federation and Neo-Zeon are attempting to acquire a "box" that belonged to the assassinated first Prime Minister of the Earth Federation and was in the possession of Banagher's Father at the start of the show. Is that right? My only exposure to Gundam has been this show and IBO, so I don't know all of the background to the world and all of the various factions. I feel that the plot to IBO was much clearer.

[Sandman87]

Yes, that's basically it. I think. Plus various factions want the box for whatever reason, and Princess Whatshername doesn't want anyone to have it.

Incidentally, every time the box is mentioned, it makes me think of Robot Chicken's parody of Se7en: "What's in the box Jokey? What's in the box?"

[Lantern7]

How much longer is this anime supposed to run? It's not interesting, at least compared to Iron-Blood Orphans. At the rate the show is going, we'll get a long-winded recap, immediately followed by a commercial. Occasionally, I hear a familiar word or voice (Richard "Batou" Epcar!), but it doesn't deliver the current level of batshit displayed on the other Toonami anime.

ETA: The judges will also accept "Bobobo."

[Sandman87]

It's supposed to be 22 episodes.

[Sandman87]

This time around we get a flashback to a Colony Drop (yay!), and Bright Noa joins the story (double yay!). Bonus points if he ends up slapping the fail out of Banagher, which the kid shows signs of needing at this point. The Princess stops at a diner for a cup of coffee and some perspective from the diner's owner. Marida gets to be on the receiving end of the some brainwashing.

[Sandman87]

Last week & this week: Big battle for...uh...reasons. Lots of people getting blasted, stabbed, crushed, atomized, noogied, and purple nurpled. Marida gets killed, because cyber newtypes never have happy endings. Banagher is sad at all the sadness, so he fights to prevent more sadness. And then suddenly: A Black Unicorn falls from the sky!

[Sandman87]

It seems that I was a little confused about who got killed last week. I was watching on the little B&W TV at my desk rather than the real TV in the living room, so I couldn't tell the difference between pink hair and blue hair.

This week: Banagher is captured...again! This time it's Bright Noa's ship that has him, And when the captain isn't having slightly crazy conversations with the picture of Amuro Ray that's hanging on the wall of his office, he's either making smooth behind the scenes manipulations or encouraging Benagher to go hook up with the Sleeves again so he can do the things that heroic Gundam pilots do.

Also: The Argama's current captain spits tea all over the ship's conference room for some reason.

[lathspel]

I couldn't tell if the Argama was suddenly sans gravity in that scene, or the staff spiked his tea because they were so bored.  Actually, they were watching him really closely and he was lecturing them, so maybe that second one.

I've been way behind, but even when binge watching this show it's not super clear who has what motivation, or what Banager is trying to accomplish.  He's fought for all sides at least twice now; I expect his actions in the remainder of the show will be similarly unpredictable until they happen.

I think the remnant Zeon mechs coming out of hiding and carving their way into Torrington has been my favorite part so far.  They are cute, deadly, and have superheated weapons.  And Zeon aerial sniper guy was pretty sweet.  Sadly, pretty much the whole troop lost to one ensign in a Transformer, so in the end all they had were guts. 

So NewTypes have telepathy, but appear naked when using it.  That's not going to be awkward for the 100% of them that are teenagers, is it?

[Lantern7]

Still not caring. And the end credits are switched up, so we're halfway through. Super.

Nice to know that in the far-flung future, a kick to the nuts can open up the possibility to an ass-whumpin'

[lathspel]

Only halfway through?   Plot wise, seems like we are farther along.

I like that the copilot of the Garanciere is the same VA as Franky from One Piece.  He even kinda has similar hair.  

I liked Minaeva pretty well, until the last five minutes of this ep, when she put it all in Benager's hands.  Now I'm hoping he ends up with Marida (Gundam Sestra?) instead.

[Sandman87]

I think I know now why this series seems so confusing. I read that all of the other Gundam shows were written from the ground up to be TV shows, whereas this one is an adaptation of a book. It doesn't seem as though they did much to compensate for the narration that was stripped out.

[ZoqFotPik]

So after everything that has happened, the box is on station where everything started? What the hell was the point then? If there more than 6 episodes left, I would probably drop this show.

[Sandman87]

The point was that no one knew where it was. Whatsisname Vist built the Unicorn to make anyone who wanted to find the box go through a space version of "follow the clues." Maybe he wanted the final recipient of the box to have to confront the history of the Earth-Zeon wars by visiting those sites, or something. Now they know where it is, and can go get it.