Gundam Unicorn ep4: Remember the Titans! (Banagher has earned many BRO points this episode.)
*fist pump*
I was a little bit lost at first, it has been awhile since I made my way through the third episode. And this bit of the OVA accomplished quite a bit in the one hour it had to work. I got to see some nice One Year War-esque carnage along with the grandness and beefiness of CCA era mobile suits. The beginning attack on Dakar was just a teaser apparently for the carnage that was the last 15 – 20 minutes.
The stuff in between was full of very nice character development and reflection. Banagher getting dragged by the captain through the desert was pretty ridiculous, and full of a ridiculous amount of weeping, but it wasn’t intolerable. Mineva’s conversation with the old bar keep was nice, too. A little too pointless for me at times. But hey, I’ve been immersed in this universe for a long time. I suppose someone benefitted from it. And I was glad to see the “princess” relax for a little bit. She seemed to let down her guard a bit in there. And it was impressive to see her put it back up when her pursuers came for her.
As for the episode ending battle… whew! I couldn’t be more happier with this doomed endeavor! Seeing all those old Zeon mobile suits hop up and kick ass for the first time in years felt good. What felt even better was seeing Banagher kick that Zeon captain’s ass! Where the hell did that come from?! I’ve seen punk pilots try to put up a fight before, but that was so far beyond, “even my own father didn’t hit me”, that it blew my mind. And to top it off, he convinced the whole bridge crew to take his side as well.
Only Gundam.
I knew when I saw Loni she was a doomed pilot. Whether Tomino is directing or not, some things are just absolute. A revenge driven, hateful giant mobile armor pilot is doomed. If that pilot is female it’s even worse. The high concentrations of melanin in her skin don’t help the situation either. The sad part is that she had a chance to pull back from the edge more than once. Instead she still gets blown away so completely that there won’t even be a corpse (no hamburger for you!), and the battle ended up being nothing more than a complete failure that essentially wiped out the last of Zeon resistance lingering on Earth.
And to tip things off even further into the island of despair and chaos, we see a dark, Titan colored Gundam Unicorn. That and the other unanswered questions like: what’s gonna happen to Ple/Puru Twelve? Is the rift between Banagher and Riddhe gonna turn into a rivalry? Is Angelo ever gonna take that stick out of his ass and stop masturbating to Full Frontal nudity? And most importantly, who the hell was that Feddie pilot in that Byalant Custom?! He kicked ass! Perhaps a cousin of Jerid Messa?
Regardless, this is just proving itself to be a stellar series. No offense to Gundam AGE, but this is my favorite Gundam series right now.
– Posted using MobyPicture.com
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I feel different, I’m really sick of recent Gundam protagonist crying about how they don’t want to kill people when the enemy is killing people left and right in front of them and the only thing the protagonist cares about is just that one pilot (usually a pretty girl) they randomly bump into, that to me is pure hypocrisy. I much prefer the old UC shows where the protagonists shows less mercy and are able to pull the trigger when the need calls for it, not whinging about how there’s so much hate while watching hundreds of people being killed while he tries to convert that one maniac that’s obviously a lost cause. The key is balance – not to let the hate consume you but also be REALISTIC when the need calls for it. Therefore I Banagher LOST points to me here because while he doesn’t let the hate consume him he is not being realistic, his “care” for Lori cost thousands of lives on the ground (just that you don’t see it so you don’t feel it), that is NOT something I find noble, or even moral.
Also AGE is much more interesting now when Flit is showing hints of a genocidal leaning, something we have NEVER seen in a Gundam protagonist, Unicorn otoh is just the same old hollow talks of pacifism like AU series with nice mecha porn that’s all.
I don’t really believe this is a post UC thing in Gundam protagonists. Amuro and Kamille both showed hesitation in face of pretty faces. Though I will admit they kinda squeezed that trope in here. It might have been more realistic if he was trying to face down Puru/Ple Twelve in behemoth mobile armor (where does Neo-Zeon get the funds for this sh*t). He at least had a decent sit down meal with her. Here we get the standard Newtype moment and then some dramatics. I think Riddhe has the same feelings as you right now. He had look of disgust on his face as he jacked that rifle and fired.
That said, I think Banagher was pleading more for the saving of innocent lives in the battle as opposed to just saving one broken pilot. He was pretty upset over their less than surgical techniques at taking their objective. It was definitely no better than the Titans’ attack on Dakar in Zeta Gundam.
As for AGE, I’ve been held up in watching any anime after the weekend. But I’ve heard good things. I’ll be checking out episode 16 soon, hopefully. Thanks for your comments.
I swear, Code Geass sucks me in and makes me completely uninterested in other anime series Sunrise is on a roll first Gundam 00, now this.
I’d be more sympathetic towards pacifistic characters if their decisions had horrible consequences. It would be more engaging if their beliefs did more harm than good in the short term and they suffered for trying to do what they did was right. I can understand not wanting to kill, but in war those kinds of feelings and thoughts aren’t really receptive and very few soldiers would be willing to listen. It’s just a sad brutal fact, kill or be killed, hesitation and mercy are luxuries soldiers can’t afford to give. People forget that even the path of pacifism is paved with blood, the only difference is it’s not the blood of your enemies; it’s the blood of your friends, families, and occasionally yourself.
Don’t get me wrong I like Gundam Unicorn and all its mecha porn and character development goodness, it’s just that I’m just sick of pacifistic characters in Gundam coming off as irritating and whiny, real pacifists were very strong willed, desperate individuals who stuck by their beliefs despite the suffering they and their loved ones endured.