Reviews

Apr 16, 2015
Mixed Feelings
Preliminary (1/6 eps)
Some people think Gundam is the Japanese Star Wars. Well, we can safely say this is Episode One. I dread that newcomers to the franchise will see this OVA and judge Gundam Universal Century for it, because despite being a prequel, there is practically nothing here reminiscent of the classic show, or even most other entries. Even worse, it insults and bastardizes almost every character that the fans love. It has no reason to exist, and coming from a guy who's seen about 60-70% of all Gundam anime currently, that's immensely disappointing. Let me explain, using the prologue as a demonstration:

The story immediately rushes off to a sweeping space battle sequence featuring an adult Char Aznable, cleverly shown in the trailers to get fans hyped for the lovable, masked antihero. Then, after about five minutes, it ends, and we never see anything impressive like it again. Instead, we cut years into the past to Char's father hollering about the political lynching that's about to befall him. After this, he storms into his children's bedroom, where a cartoon cat shrieks in a slapstick manner and climbs up the bed post. He hugs his child, Artesia, lovingly. A minute later he's shown dying before a speech. Finally, the kids attend his funeral and scream obnoxiously at his corpse for no reason. That's the prologue, folks, killing off Char's father, who we've wanted to see since 1979, in three minutes! The other shows portray Zeon Deikun as an enlightened leader, so why was he shown as a raving, paranoid, messianic lunatic? Canon-concerns aside, we go from action to intrigue, then from comedy to love, and then finish it off with morbidity in a span of about ten minutes. Who directed this thing and haven't they ever heard of tone? What am I supposed to feel here?

Indeed, these questions permeate the entire OVA! Every time something serious happens, the cartoon cat, Lucifer, comes and acts silly, or something with an entirely different emotion is introduced. You see, Gundam usually has either a militaristic or adventurous tone, and when Tomino is directing, it can even be jovial. This OVA tries all of these tones at the same time, ensuring the viewer never knows what emotion is trying to be conveyed, and it happens at the same breakneck pace as the prologue. Also, in the proceeding pseudo-industrial era space setting, you'll spend the next hour, completely separate from anything Gundam-related. That's right, there's no Gundam in this Gundam. There's very sparse mecha, no science to speak of, no character introspection, and no philosophical banter. There's nothing here for Gundam fans, and the fan-favorite characters are now little kids who scream a lot.

You heard me right, the story portrays the Deikun family as an impotent family who, by some miracle, managed to come to political power and then surround themselves with Zabi family despots, then cry when they get eaten by obligatory treachery. Their entire role in the story is to helplessly watch as the Zabis take over the outer space republic of Zeon, which of course, Gundam fans already know about. We already know the fate of Zeon. This begs the question: what's the point of this OVA's story? There isn't one. It exists solely to bastardize what could have been a much more interesting story, the story every fan already had in their imagination. At least you get to see familiar faces, though...

Familiar faces without familiar souls. There are essentially only three characters because the rest of them are Zabi family one-note villains. There's Ramba Ral, Char, and Artesia. Char is present in name only, however; not only does Char act like a vengeful brat when in all other portrayals he acts calm, but also he tends to be extremely reckless and unrefined. Char outright says to the Zabi family that he's going to take revenge at one point in the story. He's an angry kid, but fans never wanted to see Char as an angry kid. Nobody wants to see this version of Artesia, either. She is a toddler who shrieks and sobs. However, they do get Ramba Ral right; he's the honorable military guy with a heart of gold we know from the original show, at least when the cartoon cat isn't stealing his scenes to make them more upbeat. You know, upbeat, like military mecha anime!

Really, the only absolute joy of this OVA comes from the production values. The characters look great with a retro vibe, and the action scenes are done in a dynamic 3D the likes of which haven't been seen in a Gundam show before. It was exceedingly wise of the trailer to show off these action scenes, as well, to put the best foot first. Of course, it is slightly jarring to go from stunning 3D action to 2D forced melodrama or misplaced comedy, but that's the issue with production budgets. Musically, the soundtrack is also impressive, just check out the trailer and listen for yourself.

Actually, watching the trailer is sound advice. You miss out on nothing by simply watching the trailer and saying you saw the whole OVA, first five minute action sequence aside. If you're a Gundam fan you already know what happened in this OVA, and your imagination probably fills in the gaps far better. The trailer presents the potential that was unrealized: a fiction with historical allegory, an action space opera. What we got is a confused melodrama, a glorified prequel storyboard that, like Star Wars, has no idea why its original source material gained popularity. If you're a newcomer you'll be completely lost, and none of the events will have any meaning to you. Don't fret, I am a longtime fan and they have no meaning to me either.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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