Yep, that's a colony being dropped. Original it ain't.As requested of me by House of Pain, I am jumping around (though in defiance, I am remaining seated) a bit here. Truth is, I'm still trying to decide whether or not I want to watch the first Gundam as a Series or a 3pack of movies. On the one hand, it's quicker to watch the movies, on the other, there's the f'n Gundam Hammer, which was cool enough to feature in Gundam Battle Assault 2. Tough one.
This lead me to instead watch a series that had intrigued me when I saw it on Adult Swim- The OVA series known to me as Gundam 0083.
I didn't really know what to expect from this one, and I still don't really know what I think of it. I do like it, but there's a lot of "yes, but" sentences that have to come out.
Where to begin? Well, first off, the art is pretty damn amazing, enough to be wallscroll worthy for me. Granted, I didn't get the exact wallscroll I wanted, but at least they exist. For a 90's anime, it's really sharp and well animated to boot.
Yes, but there's a problem (told ya). While human beings actually look the part in this series, the Gundams start out being well-designed, if not bland, and then...well, just look.
Hey kids, can you spot the Gundam in the Dendrobium Orchis?Yeah. We start of with the nice one up top and then move to this monstrosity. I have to wonder how much fucking mercury is in the water fountains at Anaheim Electronics for them to come up with this beast. It's basically an arsenal that also houses a Gundam. And that long, straw-looking apparatus? That's the stamen. Check that one out in your dictionary/biology books for a cheap laugh.
As for Zeon, they actually jack the GP-02A (The bigger Gundam with the boosters and the bazooka), which is good because most of their stuff seems to be left over from the One Year War.
And because it sets up the very first instance of hot Gundam-on-Gundam action (the good kind, not the DeviantArt kind) which is awesome. I'll even give them props for the Neue Ziel, a way-too-big extender class Super Robot that's actually kinda cool.
Gundam battles in this series are a bit easier to stomach than others; if a Gundam goes into a battle ill-equipped, it will get fucked up- no gods here, just machinery and tactics. Granted, this leads to some shenanigans in one of the characters deaths, but at least there are rules. It also helps that this is an OVA, as it's significantly less drawn out than other series would be.
Character wise, it's a very mixed bag, especially depending on what you know about the UC thus far. But even if you don't know anything, you'll soon realize this: Kou Uraki is so dense I'm surprised he hasn't collapsed into himself. This guy takes "rookie" to levels not seen again until ZZ Gundam, and even Judau hammed it up a bit and made it funny. Sure, Kou gets "better", but along with this improvement, he develops an incessant need to yell every 5 goddamned seconds.
As for Zeon, they actually jack the GP-02A (The bigger Gundam with the boosters and the bazooka), which is good because most of their stuff seems to be left over from the One Year War.
And because it sets up the very first instance of hot Gundam-on-Gundam action (the good kind, not the DeviantArt kind) which is awesome. I'll even give them props for the Neue Ziel, a way-too-big extender class Super Robot that's actually kinda cool.
Gundam battles in this series are a bit easier to stomach than others; if a Gundam goes into a battle ill-equipped, it will get fucked up- no gods here, just machinery and tactics. Granted, this leads to some shenanigans in one of the characters deaths, but at least there are rules. It also helps that this is an OVA, as it's significantly less drawn out than other series would be.
Character wise, it's a very mixed bag, especially depending on what you know about the UC thus far. But even if you don't know anything, you'll soon realize this: Kou Uraki is so dense I'm surprised he hasn't collapsed into himself. This guy takes "rookie" to levels not seen again until ZZ Gundam, and even Judau hammed it up a bit and made it funny. Sure, Kou gets "better", but along with this improvement, he develops an incessant need to yell every 5 goddamned seconds.
"GATOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO *breath* OOOOOOO!!!"
I get that the point is to show how far behind Zeon's military the Feddies are, but Kou takes idiot savant and capitalizes the hell out of the "idiot" part. He still gets the job done, but he's kinda 'meh' on my list of Gundam pilots- he's there because somebody has to pilot the damn thing.
However, this series does bring along a very memorable character in Anavel Gato, an ace pilot who survived the One Year War. Gato's a hell of a loyal soldier and a damn good pilot, and boy does he stick out. The difference between him and Kou is best emphasized by this scene: After lecturing Kou about principles (or something), Kou says "Yes, sir" and Gato has to verbally remind Kou that he's playing the part of Kou's enemy. All this during a battle. Gato's one of the few people in all of the UC who actually sticks to his principles. Also, he manages to avoid going out like a bitch, which is more than I can say for Char.
The other characters are more minor, though I will say that Nina Purpleton went from being fairly harmless to airlock fodder in a hurry. She's no Flay Allster, but there's a few things that make me generally want to do without her. Like the fact that she can't get over a guy, even though he ditched her on the goddamn moon. Others, like Cima Girahau, were mere annoyances until I read her backstory (check wikipedia). Oh, and South Burning? Yeah, that's a weird name, even in the Gundam universe, but the man bitchslapped an Ensign clear across a repair bay and would have to be played by Clint Eastwood if this ever went live action. He's that badass.
VERDICT: Iffy. I would give it a try, even if you haven't watched the rest of the UC stuff (continuity goes from MS Gundam->Zeta Gundam anywho), as the art's splendid, and there are some truly great characters here, as well as a decent story. It's more mature, and it might be worth a spin just for the fact that there's people over the age of 15 piloting a Gundam. However, there's also a great deal of stupid and some really, really bad Gundam designs. Just a heads up.
However, this series does bring along a very memorable character in Anavel Gato, an ace pilot who survived the One Year War. Gato's a hell of a loyal soldier and a damn good pilot, and boy does he stick out. The difference between him and Kou is best emphasized by this scene: After lecturing Kou about principles (or something), Kou says "Yes, sir" and Gato has to verbally remind Kou that he's playing the part of Kou's enemy. All this during a battle. Gato's one of the few people in all of the UC who actually sticks to his principles. Also, he manages to avoid going out like a bitch, which is more than I can say for Char.
The other characters are more minor, though I will say that Nina Purpleton went from being fairly harmless to airlock fodder in a hurry. She's no Flay Allster, but there's a few things that make me generally want to do without her. Like the fact that she can't get over a guy, even though he ditched her on the goddamn moon. Others, like Cima Girahau, were mere annoyances until I read her backstory (check wikipedia). Oh, and South Burning? Yeah, that's a weird name, even in the Gundam universe, but the man bitchslapped an Ensign clear across a repair bay and would have to be played by Clint Eastwood if this ever went live action. He's that badass.
VERDICT: Iffy. I would give it a try, even if you haven't watched the rest of the UC stuff (continuity goes from MS Gundam->Zeta Gundam anywho), as the art's splendid, and there are some truly great characters here, as well as a decent story. It's more mature, and it might be worth a spin just for the fact that there's people over the age of 15 piloting a Gundam. However, there's also a great deal of stupid and some really, really bad Gundam designs. Just a heads up.
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