Story: This is story happens before Zeta Gundam. As this series progresses its dark tone gets darker and darker, which totally fits it since this is basically a prelude to Zeta Gundam. I enjoyed the atmosphere of this series, as well for its dark tone and the final acts, which are good, and truly provides you with a genuine plot-twist, that will set the events of Zeta. However, some things are very cliche, and they steal away some of this series charm. The fact that some characters are extremely lame ruins some interactions and pacing of the story. They also fitted a massively badly-written romance in the middle that just doesn't feel right. I can sum the story as enjoyable, with its dark tone and final plot-twist, but loaded with uninteresting characters that undermine what Stardust Memory could have been.
Art & Sound: The art is amazing for the time, and the sound is pretty good. The OST is forgetfull. I must highlight how I enjoyed the atmosphere of the series. The art director of this series knowns who to create a good ambiance, the colors are well-chosen, the city has some sort of nostalgic fell about it. Props for the art!
Character: This is a mixed bag. Some characters like Gato, are good and enjoyable, with personalities that you wish to see more, but most are either neutral (like 70% of them), or lame. The protagonist, Uraki, is cliche and childish to the point you don`t actually understand its motivations. One of the villans, Cima, is cliche at the point of evil laughs, and sly evil comments, which is very distant of the overall tone of this series, even Gundam in general. Nina has nothing to stand out, looking like a watered-down version of Sayla Mass with a touch of some Flay c**p. There is no character development, which is no excuse just because this is only 13 episodes because War in the Pocket was able to make great character development in 6 episodes. Uraki is a terrible pilot, maybe the worse Gundam pilot in the series, and an immature teenager to the end. At least you will get some more stories of characters that will be major in Zeta Gundam.
Mechas: I like the main Gundams of this series, the GP01 to 03 types. They are variations of the RX-178 type, but with some cool mechanics and better appearances. GP01 is basically RX-178 in HD, but GP02 looks like Zeta mixed with ZZ, kinda nice. GP03 is a deluxe edition of RX-178, inside a Mobile Armor. Also, in this series, you will see what I think was the inspiration for MS Kshatrya, of Gundam Unicorn.
Overall this is an enjoyable series because of the art, final plot-twists and its dark tone. But the characters (except for Gato) are tiresome and lame, especially Uraki, the protagonist, Nina, and Cima, one of the antagonists. If you like Zeta Gundam and good art, see this series.
