Kidou Senshi Gundam I

Mobile Suit Gundam: the Movie Trilogy is the definitive incarnation of the massively influential Mobile Suit Gundam TV series. It may not be perfect, but it definitely deserves its lofty status in the history of anime as a proven classic. As one cannot have one part of the trilogy without the others, this review will cover all three of the compilation movies.

The first question on any new viewer's mind regarding the story of Mobile Suit Gundam: the Movie Trilogy (MSG) would be: "Do the films condense too much story from the TV series to fit into its limited run time?" The answer to that is ... "no". MSG takes the liberty to cut some of the flab from the original series and manages very well in terms of preserving the integrity of the story. The pacing may strike as a little faster than usual, but there are no glaring problems pertaining to the question above.

The story of MSG follows the crew of White Base, a secret earth federation battleship housing the RX-78-2 Gundam. The protagonist, Amuro Ray, makes the difficult transition from an ordinary civilian to the ace pilot of the federation military, along with a number of other civilians who were also pulled into the conflict against the Principality of Zeon when their space colony was destroyed by a Zeon attack, the purpose of which was to destroy the White Base, along with the experimental mobile suits being developed in secrecy. The long journey aboard the White Base exposes Amuro to many ugly facets of war far beyond the destruction of his home and the loss of life. In the midst of it all, Amuro is burdened with the responsibility of risking life and limb to protect his friends and comrades aboard the White Base, a target of constant Zeon attack, with the gundam. All this weaves an engrossing tale of struggle and growth, rife with challenges on and off the battlefield, making MSG a very interesting war story. There is an epic feel to the films, because though the adventure of the White Base stretches over many destinations, it is but a small part of the vast web of war and politics that makes up the interstellar conflict, and the characters' struggle for survival in the monstrous web makes them seem all the more vulnerable and the story that much more gripping.

The characters of MSG are some of the most iconic in the history of anime. Amuro, as mentioned above, is a very well-developed character. His teenage angst may strike as a little too much in the beginning, but his clear maturation throughout the story makes him an endearing character. The antagonists of MSG also also equally memorable, as they are some of the best antagonists one will come across in anime: the cunning and skillful Char Aznable and Ramba Ral, the bold and courageous Dozle Zabi, and even the cold and calculated Ghiren Zabi -- all of them have plenty of admirable traits that really makes the viewer respect the nazi-inspired Zeon. Even when these antagonists bite the dust, the viewer would still feel for them.

Hailing from the early 80's, MSG's visuals and sounds are quite aged. Though the animation has definitely improved from the sometimes laughable quality of the original TV series, it will not win over any new anime fans by itself. The frame rate is low, the proportion are sometimes warped, and the details are always shallow. Yet despite all this, MSG still manages to produce a number of memorable battle scenes, which is something to applaud for. The mecha designs, especially that of the gundam and zaku II, influenced mecha designs for decades to come. Even to this day, these old-school robots are sights to behold. The sound effects of MSG are almost as iconic as the mobile suits themselves. Fans will recognize the buzzing sound of the beam saber as well as blast of the beam rifle from miles away. Granted, the quality of these sound effects aren't anything amazing objectively, but they serve their functions well, and their nostalgia value is beyond measure. There are also a couple of very catchy battles tunes to be heard, as well as great sound acting, though Amuro's voice may be a little over-the-top at times.

In the end, Mobile Suit Gundam: the Movie Trilogy should be a must-watch for anyone interested in mecha anime or the history of anime in general. Its influence, popularity, and historic value is simply through the roof. There is a reason why even almost three decades later, model kits of the old RX-78-2 are still selling like hotcakes and the name "Char Aznable" remains recognized almost everywhere in japan. MSG is the very definition of a classic, and this fact cannot be denied. What lies in question is the modern viewer's enjoyment of the aged classic. But with a stellar story and memorable characters, MSG still has the quality to win over its viewers, a quality that will most likely remain as long as there exists people who watch anime.

The Gundam franchise holds a very special place in my life. Going back to my first exposure to it, my 11 year-old self was rather indignant that this new "Gundamn Wing" show was going to be replacing my favorite cartoon Dragonball Z. I now know that my local network was simply attempting to introduce a new, more serious anime and using the DBZ timeslot was a perfect test-drive. And I was hooked. A serious story, political drama, and giant robots, what wasn't there to love? As I put more research into this strange new series, I learned of course that it was only a small ... part of a much much larger franchise which consisted of alternate universes and of course, the Universal Century. Of course, I did watch other Gundam shows in between, namely SEED, SEED Destiny and 00. However, nearly all Gundam fans kept recommending me to go back to one series of shows I've missed...

Finding myself with plenty of free time and in need of much relaxation after a hard semester, my summer this year will consist of me watching every single UC series, OVA and movie (well, maybe except G-Savior) Beginning my arduous task was this movie, which was recommended to me over the TV series. I was expecting something a little more light-hearted during the opening minutes as I had watched the OP for the original series on Youtube (KIDOU SENSHIIII GUNDAMUUUUU) No, it was during those opening minutes that I realized the Universal Century was something entirely different from the alternate universes I was familiar with. It was a rather awkward situation for someone who was used to the slickly animated AU shows to be so disturbed by relatively crude images of colonies falling. Yoshiyuki Tomino's vision was simply uncompromising.

A couple of very common criticisms of later Gundam shows are awkward characterization and slapdash plot, two criticisms which cannot be leveled at this movie. Amuro's characterization is rather realistic, showing plausible battle fatigue and interpersonal tension. From the get go, the viewer is drawn into the mysterious relationship between Char and Sayla. Captain Bright establishes a commanding presence on screen, just as he should. The great extent at which we sympathize with the characters and believe in them really lie on the shoulders of the seiyuus whose performances result in very believable overall characterization.

As mentioned above, the plot cannot be criticized, mainly because there really isn't one. The movie is simply a series of battles, albeit entertaining ones. A situation is established, and the characters are thrown into it. Rinse, repeat. Glimmerings of underlying story do shine through, namely Char's. The famous SIEG ZEON speech gives a good impression of the inner workings of the enemy who up until that point were simply cannon fodder.

Visually, the movie shows all of the hallmarks of 70s anime, a bit of a negative. Bright, pastel colors punctuate every scene. Explosions are eye-assaulting fireworks shows. Uniforms resemble those of the super robot animes that Tomino fought so hard to differentiate from (this probably stems from executive meddling) Everyone wears ridiculous looking tights for some reason. However, it is because the designs are so eye-catching that they stick in the mind. Having 30 years to get to know their beloved characters, everyone in Japan will know who Amuro Ray, Sayla Mass or Kai Shiden is, what they look like, how they act. Even more iconic than the characters are the mecha. I remember first seeing the Zaku model kits, thinking "what a weird design" Placed within the context of the UC, they are excellent designs and do what they were intended to do: evoke totalitarian militarism. The titular mecha is by today's standards bare-bones, but it's presence on screen is always attention grabbing through it's actions and it's color scheme. To sum up, every character and mecha is distinctive.

In conclusion, the first movie gave me an incredible first impression. Hitting hard in the opening minutes, the movie carries action and character development consistently all the way through. Though marred by some questionable art choices, this is overshadowed by how distinctive each and every design is. A great way to start, but I just wished there was more of a plot.

Story: At first it seemed pretty messed up. I couldn't distinguish between the good guys and the bad guys but then innocents got killed so yeah. The story started slowly with a little display of conflicts, nothing wrong here. The problem is that it kept dragging on till the first hour and a half. I got sleepy there and had to take a break. However the "second part" got a lot better because the actions made more sense and some characters got development.
A mix of good and bad so 5.

Art: The art part was good for such an old movie, the chara design was great, ... no look-alike. That's a plus for me. However some scenes were weirdly drawn like one where Amuro puts a sad face but the way I see it, it looked like he was high on mushrooms with eyes gone white and staring at the wall like a broken robot. Not much to be considered a flaw but had to be noticed.
Good old stuff: 8.

Sound: The film had good music and the ending was great too. The main theme is a plus (the dvd menu theme). I give it a 8.

Character: Some guy need some development (Char: good introduction as the Akai Suisei but then fall into oblivion). Maybe I'm asking too much with just the first movie but then I'll see how it goes. The same goes for Sayla Mass. She seems like a strong female lead character but the only thing I know about her is that she hates cowardice. The main character Amuro is getting more interesting as he has some inner conflicts with war stuff but there's a chance he just turns out to be an ace pilot who's good at saying "Yes Sir!". A 6 for now might get better for the second movie.

Enjoyment: I couldn't watch this movie as a whole so no plus here. A 4 because it wasn't shitty yet nothing amazing.

Now, I may be a little biased, but I really really love Gundam. It's one of my favorite things, UC Gundam especially. The Original movie trilogy is my typical go-to if someone wants to experience the original story, as 40+ episodes can be pretty daunting to someone who is interested in Gundam but not yet ride-or-die, y'know? But, I always lay it out like this-

The first movie is kind of a tough watch in lots of places.
The second movie gets it's shit together in the right places, and is pretty dang enjoyable!
I have requested in my will that I am buried with a copy of ... the third movie.

This movie is a tough watch- it's pacing is odd, as it tries to capture as much as it can in a short amount of time. That's just the nature of a compilation, I can't fault it too hard! I doubt I could do it better, in fact! But, in my opinion, this movie is slow going, but with the two that come after it, I'd recommend powering through! Hey, you might even end up liking it a lot more than me! :D

Story:
It's about a young boy joining the military, and the harsh reality of that process. However, with such a large ensemble cast, the story doesn't focus so much on Amuro like it should. The beginning jumps around a lot and around the halfway mark is it clear that the main arc we're following is Amuro's transformation from geeky teenager to self-sufficient soldier. It was annoying, because once I realized this I was wishing for more time to be spent with it.

I really enjoy the gray area nature of the narrative. Both the Federation and the Zeon have a cast of characters that are only fighting ... because they're aligned to different factions, not because they are inherently evil. That said, we do see on both sides the evidence of hatred and evils within the factions. It's a nice addition to something that could have easily been a white and black conflict. It means there will not only be combat within the story to come, but politics that come into play where we as viewers may sympathize with the opposition during an event.

All that said, nothing particularly special takes place outside of Amuro's evolution. War is war, but character development makes war a story. If we'd seen something similar with other characters (which we get a tease of with Garma) then my rating for Story would have been above a 7.


Art:
I can't say whether there had been better animated works during the year this released, but I can say that certain scenes in this film are better animated than others. I find this to be incredibly lazy, and it's only made worse when some scenes are re-used. Not only that, it uses some classic animated gimmicks that thankfully have not been used in ages (outside of references or satire). There's a reason we don't see triangular profiles of speaking characters anymore.


Sound:
Really enjoyed the sound effects. I thought they sounded really cool and always enjoyed hearing the ships take off or Gundam in combat. This may be my favorite part about the film, in all honesty. The sounds are solid.

Soundtrack was okay. It's nothing special. It feels like it was made real cheap and with no inspiration what-so-ever. A real shame, as some songs sounded good, but as they went on I felt like I was lied to.


Character:
Designs are neat. I always liked realistic character designs. Outside of Char's goofy outfit, nothing to really note here.

Personality wise, I felt as though Amuro's character was strange and kinda bipolar. Perhaps it's because of the run-time (although it's a WHOPPING 2 hours and 20 minutes) but after each fight, he enters a new stage of emotional reaction that seems too swift to appear and too swift to resolve. Honestly, it's kind of stupid. This, again, is the fault of the ensemble cast that must also be attended too, despite the story trying to put an emphasis on Amuro.


Enjoyment:
Yeah, I had a good time. The run-time was the biggest problem. It's long, and the film doesn't particularly have much to offer during its length, and I refuse to pause a movie and come back to it (despite the fact I left 15 minutes into the film to go shopping before it was too late)


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I first watched the original Mobile Suit Gundam series from 1979 when I was in high school and I first started to get into the anime medium. Back then I wanted to learn more about the history of anime and Mobile Suit Gundam is definitely one of those foundations the expanded anime to the western world. Before Pokémon came along, the craze was all about Mobile Suit Gundam toys and games in the 80s.
Although the series hasn’t aged well, the trilogy movies is a slight improvement from the original series.
It is easy to digest and the series doesn’t feel too dragged ... out as the original. Art work is fairly decent and the diologue in English dub is really nice. For some reason when I watched the series it takes me to the decades of the 80s, in a way you can learn a bit about the lifestyle of people during the 80s
This first film covers the events of Amuro Ray’s first flight into the Gundam all the way up to the fight with Garmna Zabi.
Definitely the trilogy movies is a good option if you don’t want to watch it’s longer version.

The Gundam franchise is one I've talked about a few times. Half of the time, Wing and Iron-Blooded Orphans, it's been good. The other half, 00 and 8th MS Team, has been mediocre to sub-par. This time, we're going back to the beginning. To be specific, we're watching the first recap film based off the original series.

Story:

Our narrative is set in the distant future when humans have formed various colonies in space to handle our growing population. In this climate the Zeon colony declares itself independent from the Earth federation and they go to war. We open in the Side 7 colony where ... Federation troops are delivering a new mobile suit weapon and Zeon forces attack.

The biggest problem with the narrative is that it's all kind of formulaic. And I'm not just talking about the Gundam specific tropes that started with this series. In general, it just uses a lot of very obvious flags and old sci-fi tropes. Like, there's a point where a character is about to go into battle and you know just from thirty seconds of build up that he won't survive. The death flag is just really obvious. We're talking a senior cop two days from retirement obvious. Which makes things more than a little uninteresting since you can always predict what's coming. Another issue is that the film tries to present this balanced perspective where the Zeon aren't all bad but then they have a Nazi style speech and salute towards the end of the film which pretty much destroys any moral grey area. I mean, the moment any side is reminiscent of Nazis, they're the bad guys. Just objectively.

On the positive side, this series does do a good job of explaining why young teenagers are the best choice for piloting these destructive weapons into battle. It's a simple explanation of "most adults have already been killed in the war" but it works.

Characters:

The big problem with the characters in this is that they're very bland. one of them have much complexity or development. About the most we get for that is our protagonist, Amuro, sulking in his tent like Achilles because he feels overwhelmed and that ends up boiling down to three minutes of "I can't go back out there and kill more people" followed by "guess I have no choice." So, it ends up coming across as him being an easily malleable tool. Another issue I have with Amuro is his relationship with his parents. His dad disappears during his first battle and he barely says anything about it after. And his mom, who he hasn't seen in like ten years, gets mad at him for changing in that time and for killing someone in self defence. Which just lacks verisimilitude.

The only character with some potential at the end of the first film is Char. His story arc is kind of obvious. He has some vendetta against the family at the top of the Zeon empire and he's infiltrated them for the sake of his revenge. But I do think if that gets properly developed it can be really interesting. Other than that, the cast is boring.

Art:
The artwork is dated. It uses a lot of those old school animation tricks to save on frames. Reusing cells, blurred motion lines, segments where characters basically stand completely still and the only animation is some mouth movements. It also doesn't have designs that are as good as the subsequent instalments of the franchise. Which is understandable since this was laying out the groundwork but it also contributes to the whole thing looking dated.

Sound:

The acting is fine. Furuya Toru, Ikeda Shuuichi, Inoue You, Ukai Rumiko and the others all sound fine. It's just one of those series where the acting is limited by the lack of character complexity. The music is pretty good.

Ho-yay:

There isn't any to be found.

Areas of Improvement:

1. If you want to have a conflict that's morally grey, you can't have one side be reminiscent of Nazis. It's a good thing to have sympathetic antagonists, but once they start talking about being the superior race and doing Sieg Heils, sorry Sieg Zeons, they're never going to be sympathetic. No matter how much you talk about them having families and fighting for their freedom.

2. Develop your main cast. The protagonists in this are all just bland. And it does hurt the film that Amuro is such an unevenly written character.

3. Use some subversion. Yes, there are times when writers should play their tropes straight. But when they do it with everything, you end up with a narrative that's far too obvious and predictable.

Final Thoughts:

As a start to a film trilogy, this is pretty dull. So far, the narrative is predictable, the characters have nothing to them, the artwork shows its age. Overall, I give it a 5/10. Maybe the other two films are better. I will look at them eventually. Not a great start though.

Engaging from beginning to end and holds up like a gem. And despite having a fair amount of action, it's the the fleshed out characters and sharp, tense writing that surprised me, and make this a great intro into the series.

Story & Writing: 9/10
Characters: 9/10
Art: 3.5/5
Sound: 5/5

Avg: 8.8/10

Beyond just the action and intense mecha battles, Gundam I also has a terrific balance of drama, character development, a flawed protagonist, memorable enemy characters that you slightly cheer for, and very realized factions on each side. The story starts off quickly, but takes time to world build and allow for slight realism of letting us watched inexperienced ... 'good guys' trying to figure out how to fight back and survive. But after the initial build-up, it doesn't let up, surely buoyed by cutting out hours of extra time from the original show. The slowly developing "Newtype" concept is intriguing as well.

The writing actually most excelled for me when building characters, taking time to show their personalities, the power plays, motivations, and dilemmas they deal with. Char, without much screen time, steals the show on a charismatic level. Amuro is frustrating and melodramatic, but he's also a moody teenage boy, and not a soldier, and it would be less believable if he behaved otherwise. They build appeal with side characters as well, who are understated but distinct, and grow on you. This movie shows instead of tells, doesn't waste time, and takes itself seriously enough that you can immerse into the world of the Universal Century.

The art is passable but surely good for its time. Oh and can we talk about that sound editing!? Great Japanese voice acting, and music, but the sound when it comes to ships and mechs as they take off, fire weapons, and the dynamic stereo utilization of passing mechs and vehicles, is impeccable. Underrated in my opinion.

I was very impressed by the original Gundam trilogy. I haven’t seen the series, but these films managed to be much more coherent than I had expected, considering they had to condense something like 20 hours of footage into about 7. Even more surprising is that at least two of them - the first and last - manage to be totally functionable movies in their own right, both of them featuring something like a distinct beginning, middle, and end rather than the general homogeneous ‘this thing happened then that thing happened’ that can easily emerge from turning a tv series into a film. This makes ... sense, because the first film couldn’t have not had a beginning nor could the last not have had an end, but beyond this both these films also display a clear conceptual movement across their runtime. The first film starts in something approximating peace and quiet and moves into the exploration and exposure of the horrific effects of the war (Amuro's mother telling him, upon their first encounter in over 10 years, that the war has made him a killer, standing out in particular from the last third); the second in the standard intensity of war that has been established thus far and ramping it up to critical intensities - weapons of mass destruction, senseless slaughter, patricide, fratricide (it is worth noting the film has no epilogue, we end right on the post-climax apprehension of the destructive consequences of the climactic battle. The period afterwards, of trying to pack the horror up and establish again a veneer of normality, the film does not concern itself with at all). The second film lacks any movement like this, and, at a not-even-that-high resolution, any point in it is much like any other. The result is something that, rather than something capable of standing on its own, feels very much like watching 15 episodes from the middle part of a tv show.

One of things Gundam made very clear to me is that Evangelion is excellent and remarkable for reasons other than the one that is often given - that it “subverts” its genre by taking seriously both the characters emotions and the traumas that would inevitably result from the events they’re forced to bear. That feature is in fact absolutely core to the ‘real robot’ genre itself, and it's right here at its genesis with these movies and the series. Evangelion even seems to be in direct communication with in Gundam at many points regarding which parts of this conceptual space it explores; compare the opening 15 minutes of both and you’ll see multiple points where Evangelion seems to have positioned itself as a complete inverse of Gundam - the relationship between the father, the protagonist, and the conflict being one particularly obvious example. In the few psychedelic sequences that pop up in the last film, Gundam even has something of the supremely confident weirdness that elevates Eva to the level of masterpiece, although admittedly to a much much lesser extent.

Other than this somewhat-lacking element of confident weirdness (which I really is necessary for the peaks of artistic greatness), the only other real weakness of the film is how much development of secondary characters that was presumably in the series had to be cut. You can really feel this in the third film, as characters who have spoken as little as 3 lines die or suffer in weighty moments. It’s testament to the success of the film that these moments still feel reasonably significant, even when you can barely remember the names of the characters involved.

Taken as a whole then, the trilogy is mostly very good and interesting, with a slight dip across the middle. Probably a must-watch for anyone who even vaguely thought Eva was good. Also - make sure to watch till the epigraph after the last film's credits. It might be even weirder than the telepathic psychedelic visions/communications/death-experiences that feature in the first half of the movie.

This is the first in a trilogy of films adapting the original Mobile Suit Gundam series in a paced up yet still incredibly long format. This can very safely be watched in the place of the series, but you do trade some scenes for better overall animation quality. The first film covers the events of Amuro Ray's first flight in the Gundam all the way up to the fight with Garma Zabi.

The animation is passable, improving on the original in terms of avoiding stock animation (mostly) but still keeping the charm of the original's very saturated colours, large, blocky mobile suit designs and cute ... characters. I do prefer this approach to redoing the original, and I would say this means that the film generally gives the same experience as the series.

The films are edited a bit strangely, with very harsh cuts at times that don't give you much time to process what is happening. For example, in the early scenes a hole is blown in a colony and Amuro's father just gets sucked out into space, which happens insanely quickly and is barely brought up later. Characters die, jump between battle and being onboard, in and out of mobile suits and all around white base with very little warning from the score or dialogue. I have decided to optimistically take this as a way of showing how war does not allow people to take proper time to grieve or something, just make sure to not look away from the screen too long or you'll find yourself missing the whole battle.

Mobile Suit Gundam's greatest suit (lol) is by far its characters. Char particularly is THE character for most of MSG, and I am always glued to his presence and the incredible VA work. Amuro is a very interesting protagonist, subverting the expectation of a wide-eyed kid who wants to give his life in a cool robot to fight for justice, instead he is far more aware and sensitive, the first flight in the Gundam ends with him being visibly disturbed at his capability to kill. Amuro is often insubordinate to anyone he can be to, particularly Bright, the 19 year old captain of the white base who by far is the most relatable character, embodying the complaints of the viewer at Amuro and the other (child) soldiers aboard the white base by beating respect into them often.

The mobile suits are just cool. I like the Zaku II. Nothing more needs to be said without being unoriginal, big robots are cool and I very willingly assembled many gunpla after watching this film. They look cool, they sound cool, and they fight cool.

The original series and the film trilogy certainly hold up today. Maybe not as anybody's first anime, but I had plenty of fun experiencing an absolute classic in a faithful but revised form. Available on netflix brah.

While I write this review, it's the year 2021... So I need to first off mention that Mobile Suit Gundam hasn't aged very well. There are definitely unintentional laugh-out-loud moments because of cheesy lines and occurrences.

That being said, the world-building here is pretty incredible. The story is incredibly convincing, and as you follow Amuro and Char, their personalities, ambitions, motives sink into you and really resonate. This is clearly the start of something HUGE and great, and the movie excels at this sort of exposition.

That being said, the movie ends "in media res", because it's really meant to be watched with the subsequent movies of ... the trilogy. Can I really judge this one alone? Perhaps not, but I recognize what it does for the Gundam universe as a whole.

Mobile Suit Gundam I (1981)

1981, what a time to be alive. Imagine this coming out and seeing such a profoundly different style of the show, especially with how different politically the world was back then with what was appropriate and what was not.

The movie 1 of 3 culminations covering a series to a certain point brings home some pretty old ideas, age roles and gender roles. A story desperate enough to push children into action, women into most basic roles always second best and an old outlook on life. This itself is a piece of history that should not be forgotten. Women can ... also be in front line roles but always feel a bit pushed down.

The movie takes from the start of the Gundam series where you really push into this crazy world. Most of humanity is already in devastation from fighting and yet it keeps going.

The sound is superb for its age and definitely has stood well considering what was available back then.

Characters are wide and varied but I cannot say they are all that memorable every day. One thing I really love especially later in the series is how they connect and how some characters here have children eventually that are involved in later movies and series. Not a spoiler just a fun fact. Amuro Ray the main character twinned as one with Char Aznable. Amuro Ray was a pretty difficult character since being pushed into such a situation but also treated like a petulant hero is difficult and you will see when watching.

The movie is a great start but at the same time almost feels a bit long with much more drama than I expected.

7/10.

Surprisingly well held up visuals for an anime from 1981, and some real nice sounding audio design. It's lacking in the striking visuals of something like Eva, which comes out much later, but nonetheless remains a visually pleasing piece of work for its time; it sort of has a "rustic charm" to it.

The real star of the film is the characterisation of Amuro and his struggle with PTSD, which grows over the course of the film to excellent pacing, until he's incapable of sleeping or eating almost entirely, barely being animated for anything but the Gundam he pilots. It completely does away with the cultural ... idea that all mecha anime pre-Eva was lacking in any sort of psychological conflict or focus; the image of war is vivid: it's not just Amuro who gets subsumed by the pointless and eternal war, but all of his friends and neighbours, who quickly assume their roles in the military as if it were second nature.

Certainly, the writing is good, excellent, even: Amuro's portrayal of PTSD, and the war he's fighting in, feel grim and real, often lacking in some of the theatrics and eccentricities that come with a lot of anime, but if one thing can be said, it's that the film likes to announce "this is war" just a little too much.

This is my second full exposure to a Gundam series--the first being Gundam Build Fighters--though I'd consider this to be my first 'main' Gundam series as, after all, this is a condensed version of the series that started it all. For true Gundam fans, the original series is a must-watch.

But I'm not sure if these movies warrant such praise. In fact, this film felt like a horrible way to introduce yourself to Gundam's core story. The first hour is pretty confusing: yes, you clearly understand that this is a war between the forces of good and evil. Yet, characters aren't fleshed out enough for the ... audience. I found myself confused as to why the protagonist was piloting a Gundam outside of it being an absolute necessity the first time around, not to mention why he struggled emotionally before and after piloting the Gundam. This, I feel, is thanks to the pacing of this film being all over the place.

It's clear this movie is made up of a bunch of episodes that have been Frankensteined into a coherent film, which makes story/character comprehension and immersion equally difficult. The pacing is absolutely shot. At first, it feels like nothing is happening, and then you're inundated with action scenes and character development which gives you no time to process what's going on. Complete focus isn't enough as there's too much and too little information to properly understand what's going on. Keeping up was impossible; I kept getting lost in the previous 5 minutes, where I then fully absorbed what happened, only to realize even more important things happened while I finished processing the previous scene.

I'm sure Gundam fans, especially ones who are somewhat familiar with or have seen the original Mobile Suit Gundam series, will enjoy this to some extent. But this feels like a significant downgrade from the original show, as there is just so much happening in a little amount of time. I didn't identify with any characters, nor did I empathize with any tragic events, because I didn't have a full understanding of what was going on. And, worse of all, when I did finally understand, the frantic pacing meant I was left in the dust as a new dramatic scene passed me by.