Deranged Lolicon Loses Everything and Gets Lost in Space for Five Years, Radicalizes Some Refugees, Gets Funding from a Corporation Playing Both Sides for Profit, and Attempts GENOCIDE: The Movie.
Welcome to Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, the big finale to the Universal Century saga that is a much better version of The Rise of Skywalker, but then got its legacy shat on 30 years later through the combined efforts of Unicorn and Hathaway.
Almost everything about CCA is a masterpiece. The political intrigue; the epic and satisfying conclusion to Amuro and Char's rivalry; Char embracing his demons after losing everything, including all hope for the people of Earth, at the end of Zeta; the sound design; the animation; the action; and the soundtrack, oh God the soundtrack, it legitimately makes me tear up every time I listen to it.
I say CCA is almost a masterpiece because the arc between Quess and Bright Noa's son, Hathaway, is not as good as the rest of the movie...at least upon the first viewing. After rewatching it twice, I definitely do see their perspectives a lot better. Quess is fed up with watching her dad and all of the Federation's politicians being shady bastards, and Hathaway is a scared little kid going through puberty and being sent up to space for the first time in his life. But in the first viewing, Quess is a massive bitch and Hathaway is a giant moron, and even after rewatching it the arc is still a bit rough.
Everything else is really, REALLY FUCKING GOOD THOUGH. Too bad Unicorn shat all over Amuro's sacrifice and brought back Char in a clone body. Also I wasn't a fan of Hathaway suddenly being the leader of a Zeon terrorist movement in Hathaway, considering in CCA he didn't even agree with Char's motivations or ideals at all. However, those are two topics for two future reviews.
All in all, despite a flawed subplot, Char's Counterattack is a fantastic movie, and as long as you ignore the fact that ZZ, Unicorn, and Hathaway exist, it's a satisfying conclusion to the saga that began in 1979.
