Kidou Senshi Z Gundam I: Hoshi wo Tsugu Mono

The amended and reworked 'A New Translation' series of Zeta Gundam movies were a very exciting announcement for many Gundam fans. With Tomino behind the helm again and the promise of remastered and brand new footage there's no way this could go wrong... right?

The story itself is relatively sound, however certain excellent and iconic scenes from the original series were abbreviated significantly or cut out entirely. That's the nature of creating a film based on a dense and lengthy animated series, however, some of the choices in regards to what was removed are questionable. The changes and additions made to ... the flow of the plot between the series and the movie, however, smooth the flow of the movie significantly. While many movie adaptations of lengthy series' feel rushed, awkward, confusing and overwhelming, this movie manages to mitigate those feelings for the most part. That's not to say there aren't certain elements of character development that are lost, there are, especially when it comes to Amuro's appearance in the movie. But even that isn't a total disaster and it's apparent that great care was taken to maintain the integrity of the story line.

The art direction of this film is downright schizophrenic and absolutely the most disappointing part of the film. The new footage created for the movie is absolutely amazing and mind-blowing. It is some of the best animation ever, it's downright gorgeous. Epic space battles rendered using this new animation are truly a sight to behold. However, there's not enough of it. What feels like the majority of the film uses outdated animation from the original series. To make matters worse, rarely are entire scenes played out with the new animation, splicing together the new and old footage in awkward ways that could honestly illicit a laugh. Quick cuts between the new and old animation for something as simple as Kamille and Quattro walking through the Argama are extremely jarring and not enjoyable for the viewer. The striking new animation juxtaposed against the older animation and the amateurish nature of the cuts between them is an enormous blemish on what would be an otherwise fantastic film. It is so bad that non-Zeta Gundam fans might have a hard time seeing past it and enjoying the movie for what it is.

For those new to the Zeta Gundam series, approach with caution. The cuts between new and old animation can appear downright silly. Fortunately, if that can be endured, a story that is timelessly classic is here for your enjoyment in its most digestible form ever. But those that are sticklers for shiny animation and fantastic production values may find the cuts as too much to bear.

So the question remains, can this great movie overcome the massive handicap of its disastrous choice in the animation department? For a Zeta Gundam fan, the answer is absolutely yes. Fans of the original Zeta Gundam series need to see this movie. Some of the new animation could legitimately bring a tear to their eyes, and requisite familiarity with the original animation should make it much easier to handle. However, those familiar with the original series will be even more conscious of some of the shortcomings of this adaptation's story. That weakness, however, is nothing compared to the weakness of the animation which is far more likely to effect a casual viewer's enjoyment.

After seeing this I would have rather they just re-animated the whole damn thing because the scene that were re-animated were amazing if the whole thing was like that would have have enjoyed it so much more. But this isn't terrible BUT it wouldn't recommend this to someone who hasn't seen the OG Zeta, I would still tell them to go and watch the OG 50 episodes. I would how ever recommend this to someone who's seen Zeta back in the day and forgot the story this is a great way to refresh your memory.

Zeta is my favourite Gundam series, but despite some really exciting new material which works very well for the fight scenes, I find that the modern compilation movie lacks charm, making it a difficult watch that just made me wish I'd rewatched the original series instead.

Granted, the original animation had its problems with quality, but the modern characters, although they look expensive, also look much less aesthetically pleasing than they did in the eighties. I find that the only character who looks better than they did in the original is Paptimus Scirocco, which says a lot about how depressing everyone looks. So many of ... the female characters' fantastic 80s hair now looks flat and boring: they did Rosamia and Beltorchika so dirty by flattening their perms.
Similarly, Lieutenant Quattro used to look like the sunglasses were there because he had leaned into the obnoxious "cool guy" persona. Now he looks like the sunglasses are there to hide how hungover he is. Eighties Quattro made Reccoa's later actions somewhat make sense as he was at least charming and charismatic, but 2005 Quattro makes me think actually, she was really going through it at the time.

The frequent skips between old and new animation styles were jarring and made it almost impossible to feel immersed in the story.
However, I think that the re-entry to Earth fight was compelling and fun to watch. The best combination of old and new in my opinion was when they reused 1980s footage of the pilots inside the cockpit, combined with the smooth and dynamic modern animation for the mobile suits and mobile armours.
I was also really surprised to hear Gackt singing the opening, it was great.

As with many compilation movies, the plot is very difficult to follow if you haven't seen the original. Some skips end up generating what seems like continuity errors unless you can piece the action back together from what you remember of the original series, like how they didn't have time to introduce Kai until we see him in the cell with Reccoa. I don't recommend watching this if you've never seen the original for this reason. If you've seen the original, rewatch that honestly. I tried to watch the second New Translation movie, but they butchered Four's character so badly I couldn't sit through the entire thing.