Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam

 

Yoshiyuki Tomino, Sunrise, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam A New Translation (2005), “Copyrighted Image”

It is the year 0087 of the Universal Century. At the end of the One Year War, following the Zeon rebellion in 0083, a group has been formed known as The Titans, and elite group of soldiers who are tasked with preventing Zeon rebels from ever committing such an atrocity ever again. However, the Titans group of the Earth Federation has gone corrupt and power-hungry, and would do anything to gain power over the Earth Sphere. In response to this, the Anti-Earth Union Group (A.E.U.G.) is formed to defeat the oppresive and tyrannical Titans. The A.E.U.G, led by Commander Quattro Bajeena, infiltrates a colony and tries to steal the three Gundam Mk-ll units, which is outfitted with the new movable frame technology. Kamille Bidan, a teenager whose parents have been developing the Gundam Mk-ll, decides to steal a Gundam Mk-ll for the A.E.U.G., as he hates the Titans. After stealing the Gundam, he decides to be join the A.E.U.G, and fight against the Titans.

Story and Characters:

Before I start, I will say that I had high expectations from Zeta Gundam. Mobile Suit Gundam was a great anime, and I expected Zeta Gundam to build on the first series and deliver a better Gundam series. I wanted a better show and an even more memorable experience than the first. So, did it meet or even exceed my expectations, based on all of the hype and praise surrounding this series? To answer that. first of all, I want to talk about the main politics between the A.E.U.G. and the Titans. While I found the politics between the Earth Federation and Zeon more interesting, they discussed the politics more in-depth than Mobile Suit Gundam. It was very interesting to see how people of both sides think of each other, and the different and clashing ideologies between the two sides. Also, one highly noticeable change between the two series that anyone who has watched this series will tell you is how much darker it is in tone. The death count in this show is incredibly high, and shocked audiences in Japan when it first aired for being so dark. This was the show that earned Yoshiyuki Tomino the moniker of “Kill em’ all Tomino.” The show even shocked his own wife for having being so dark.

However, the thing about Zeta was that it was dark just for the sake for dark. This leads me to the main problem: the characters. Zeta Gundam has a large cast of characters, but I’ll be talking about some of the main ones. To start off, Kamille was an even more angsty protagonist character than Amuro, and thinks that people don’t understand him and is stubborn and ignorant. He has a more impatient personality, and often uses his fists to solve problems. However, as the shows goes on, he matures and becomes a better and more intelligent person. However, he is still considered tolerable throughout the series.

Another important character for the show is Kamille’s mentor, Quattro Bajeena, which is actually Char Aznable with cool sunglasses. He is calm and acts as a great mentor and support for Kamille. Another better developed character is Amuro Ray. After the One Year War, he doesn’t feel the same motivation as before to fight, and struggles to find a reason to fight in the A.E.U.G.

As for the side characters, many of them were quite annoying and were a pain to watch. One of the main ones is Katz Kobayashi, the son of Hayato Kobayashi. He, and many others aboard the main ship Argama, always seem to run off for their own purposes. He was selfish and did not care about the consequences of his actions. Finally, there were a few romances in the show, but it wasn’t handled well at all. One female character that was also Kamille’s mentor betrayed the A.E.U.G because of “love.” The drama in this show was handled terrible. The relationship between Kamille and Four was memorable, because the characters related and cared for each other. However, what made it bad was that it failed not only once, but twice.

Finally, I want to discuss how pointless the deaths were for many of the characters. So of them memorable, but most of the characters make you actually want to wish they were gone, which I think is unfair and I avoided thinking like that but it’s true. I didn’t care about many of the characters in the show. Final thing to mention about the Titans was how crazy they went at the final 15 episodes or so. They were killing people in colonies left and right, and it’s so ridiculously dumb that you cringe and want them to stop. By now, if you couldn’t guess, Zeta Gundam completely disappointed me. The ending, however, was bleak and was a good ending for the show.

Animation and Music:

The animation for the show was done by Studio Sunrise, which has also animated almost all Gundam series to date. It was a significant improvement compared to the original Gundam. The mobile suits now have a more consistent shape and silhouette, and it looks a lot more fluid with less animation errors and reuse. You can clearly see this is 80’s animation, not 70’s animation. It’s so much more detailed with even thruster details. When mobile suits want to turn right, a thruster will shoot out to make them turn right. The use of colour in Zeta Gundam is also darker as well, which really fits the show. Admittedly, I actually prefer the art style of the original Gundam, though that may be because I enjoyed that show and not this.

Also, I also liked the mobile suit design from first Gundam more than Zeta. Due to the movable frame design, mobile suits in Zeta Gundam are able to transform. The mobile suit designs in Zeta are a combination of Earth Federation and Zeon designs, and use technology from both factions. The only two mobile suit designs I like are the Gundam Mk-ll, the Zeta Gundam and the Qubeley Mk-ll. Despite my dislike for many of the MS in the show, I really like how unlike most mecha shows, none of the lead mobile suits are overpowered. By the halfway point of the series, the Mk-ll even becomes underpowered when compared to the more powerful mobile suits developed by the Titans. Even the Zeta didn’t seem too powerful except for the ending. Speaking of the two lead mobile suits, this series also introduced the type of story where the protagonist gets a good mobile suit at the start, and upgrades into a better mobile suit in the end.

For the music, I quite like the second opening, Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete (水の星へ愛をこめて). It had some memorable instrumental tracks, like “Mobile Suit” and “Pursuit,” and they were 80’s styled, for a definite lack of a better word.

Conclusion:

It’s very difficult for me to express my thoughts on Zeta Gundam, as I don’t really know what to think of the series. I don’t understand this series, and while reviewer Brian Newhall recommended thinking and discussing this series, it has been a year and a half since I have watched Zeta Gundam, and my thoughts are still the same. I would like to get someone to watch it with me, though that will not happen until I actually find someone who wants to or is already into Gundam. I still recommend watching Zeta Gundam, as you will probably have a better chance or understanding and appreciating it compared to myself. I expected too much for the show, and it did not even deliver a decent show. My final advice would be to not let the praise for this series set too high of an expectation for the show. Watch Zeta Gundam knowing that it may not be as good of a series that you thought it would be.