Mobile Suit Gundam: Universal Century tv Review
Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Z Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, Char's Counterattack and other Universal Century anime series
Story & Characters
Story Introduction
Seven years after the downfall of the Zabi Family in the One Year War and four years after Operation Stardust , the
Earth Federation had founded a new organization called the "Titans" - a group of elites whom are dedicated to
annihilating all Zeon remnants.
However , their methods are extreme and there is more to this special division than it seems to be - the acts of their
tyranny had allowed the rebel group known as the AEUG to form.
Kamille Bidan , son of a Mobile Suit developer , was swept into the currents of war by his temper and was eventually
made pilot of the Gundam Mk-II for his prodigious skills.
Story Overview
The story of Zeta Gundam is relatively darker compared to it's predecessor - Mobile Suit Gundam.
It had featured many tragedies within 50 episodes and had displayed corruption of those in power.
Confinement of war heroes owing to fear of the next evolution of mankind , setting poison gas on innocent civilians ,
holding civilians hostages and using humans as guinea pigs for experiments - the lax Earth Federation government had
allowed the tyrannical Titans to run free and gain power , this had allowed the viewers to bear the similar hate the
protagonist have for the organization.
The general focus of Zeta Gundam , too , is different from that of the original Gundam.
Whilst the original Gundam features a desperate struggle for survival and the bonds between the crew of the White Base ,
the Zeta series is more focused on political corruption and the tragedies which intertwines with such events.
The viewers would also get to see how the war had affected various individuals from the previous installment and the one
whom had the strongest impact on the viewer is , ironically , the protagonist of the original Gundam.
The audience would experience the struggles Amuro is experiencing and how he finally broke free of his "shell"
upon the prompting of others and even his ex-rival had given him some advise.
The characters were also well-built considering that their strengths are occasionally outweighed by their flaws.
Such as Emma's stubborn nature , Kamille's temper issues and Katz's insensibility.
The audiences' views on the characters may not necessarily be positive at first but as the series goes on , the
viewer would develop a liking for the cast - namely the more prominent roles in the Anime to be exact.
However , the series is not exactly free of flaws - the cast seems to be somewhat oblivious to the deaths of those
around them whilst the cast in Mobile Suit Gundam had actually wept for a comrade and performed a burial for him.
It is fairly disorienting to see a character losing someone important to him/her , look disturbed for a couple of
minutes and return to his/her formal state.
Meanwhile Amuro is still tormented by the death of Lalah which had happened seven years ago and that had turned him into
a broken man in Zeta Gundam.
Rating:
Art
Artwork Review
Compared to the predecessor , naturally , drastic improvements could be seen.
Mobile Suits no longer looks round around the edges and both the animation and the artwork had seen some impressive
improvements.
Improved lightning effects on the Mobile Suits , impressive maneuver animations could be witnessed in every battle and
it was a very impressively animated series with minimal flaws.
Such as the fact that certain parts of the Mobile Suits doesn't expand or minimize in a mysterious manner as with the newer Gundam installments and every combat scenario is fresh and exciting.
Rating:
Sound
Music Review
It may prove fairly disappointing to the viewers that there are no vocal music in the Opening of the show - nor is there
one for the Credits.
Still , there were some pretty memorable themes such as Riders in the Sky and Amuro Again.
Though ironically , despite it being called "Amuro Again" - it is constantly recycled in every scene which is
about to get touchy and emotional.
Sure , it is a beautiful piece but seriously , using it in every scene just kills it - finding out that it was
Amuro's theme made it even worse considering that it is used on several other characters after the theme was
introduced in the middle of the series.
Rating:
Presentation
This is a Review of Mobile Suit Zeta
Gundam
Political corruption , a darker setting , impressive animations and well-built characters - what really kept this series
from being perfect is how some of the characters behave at times. ( Kamille was badly affected by his parent's
situation , and not his fellow crewmates? Seriously? )
Other than that , the series is well-executed and it had brought back old casts not as a manner of fan-service but to
show the audience how they had fared after the One Year War and the struggles that Amuro was experiencing.
Ignoring the flaws which rarely bumps up in the series , this is one heck of a Gundam experience.
Overall (Others)
Pros
- Tragedy is in the air!
- Strong ending
- Have a fair bit of politics involved
- Some memorable theme songs
- Well-built characters
Cons
- No vocal opening - which makes the Opening rather repetitive and not worth viewing by the second time
- Amuro's theme is beautiful - but overused
- The heroes keep using the same Mobile Suits whilst the enemies changes them like undergarments - it gets old after a
while.
Genre : Mecha , Action , Drama
Romance
Well , you can't really expect any strong romance settings to be in the early UC series.
It just... clunks in , just like that.
Kamille's romance was particularly confusing - he fell in love with someone ( Or rather , it was because of they
were "drawn" together as Newtypes ) , eventually lets go of her in like one episode and returns to romancing
Fa Yuiry.
Amuro on the other hand mourns for his Newtype soulmate for like seven whole years.
Combat
The combat scenarios in this series changes from one episode to the other - may it be free-falling combat , atmospheric
combat , space combat or fighting on the Moon , this series keeps pumping out the fresh combat scenarios with every
episode and every battle have a unique event in place.
So , in other words , battles in Zeta Gundam would NEVER be boring and would be equally exciting with each episode.
Rating:
Final Verdict
7.8333 (good)
Reviewed by z827, Oct 26, 2012
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