KIDOU SENSHI ZETA GUNDAM

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME DramaKidou Senshi Gundam
OVA AdventureKidou Senshi Gundam 0083: STARDUST MEMORY
ANIME DramaKidou Senshi Gundam Double Zeta
MOVIE AdventureGundam Neo Experience 0087: Green Divers
MOVIE DramaKidou Senshi Z Gundam: A New Translation - Hoshi wo Tsugu Mono
MOVIE DramaKidou Senshi Z Gundam: A New Translation II - Koibito-tachi
MOVIE DramaKidou Senshi Z Gundam: A New Translation III - Hoshi no Kodou wa Ai
SPECIAL ActionALL THAT GUNDAM
SPECIAL DramaAkai Shouzou: Char, Soshite Frontal e
SPECIAL Mecha30th GUNDAM PERFECT MISSION
OVA ActionGundam EVOLVE
MOVIE ActionKidou Senshi Gundam III: Meguriai Sora-hen
SPECIAL DramaKidou Senshi Gundam UC: episode EX - Hyakunen no Kodoku
NOVEL MechaKidou Senshi Z Gundam
MANGA ActionKidou Senshi Zeta Gundam: Define
MANGA ComedyArasa OL Haman-sama
MANGA MechaKidou Senshi Z Gundam: Day After Tomorrow - Kai Shiden no Report Yori
MANGA DramaKidou Senshi Gundam UC: Niji ni Norenakatta Otoko
MANGA MechaSide Story of Gundam Z
NOVEL ActionKidou Senshi Z Gundam: Four Story - Soshite, Senshi ni...

REVIEWS

• 

  biogundam

  73/100
  if it inst broken why fix it.

  Waring this review may contain spoilers.

  Frist impreions, so my first impression was that this is going to be a continuation of one of the most important anime of the 1970s and also considering i have gundam in my username name so why wouldn't i watch it and review it.

  Story, 7/10
  7 years after the one year and stardust happened an elite military group known as the Titans have come to power who job is to hunt down the remaining Zeon forces, but soon after the organisation devolves into a tyrannical group that opposes the local space colonies and becomes even worse than the very Zeon forces that they where fighting, but hope is not lost as a ragtag group known as the AEUG have come to challenge this tyranny and hopefully restore freedom. Our story begins with main character Kamille who to make a long story short in a temper tantrum steels a prototype Gundam unit and joins the AEUG. so basically zeta Gundam did attack on titan years before attack on titan even did it, but jokes aside lets get into the real meat of this review.
  So when compared to the original gundam series, zeta gundam is a lot more focused and polished. When it comes to the of the idea of war is bad and what's happenens during war, like the pure destruction of city's, forests and other locations or the lost of human or wildlife during this confits. Like for example There are entire scenes where its dead humans and animals in the backdrops of destroyed cities and jungles on fire. while at the same time talking about political and ecological themes like for example humanity should leave mother earth behind and take to the stars, before war and contamination destroys the planet and most importantly the human race with it, or the political theme of how the space colonies should have the right of self-govern and not have to bow down to the whims of a super-government.
  Those kind of messages I feel are quite relevant today considering the grave predictions from ecologists or how member states of the EU are leaving because of various reasons.

  But for the negative and there are quite a few problems with this series,
  Like the main conflict which is about as black and white as you can get as the Titans are portrayed in a way that makes you not care about them while making the aeug out as the good guys. Which goes against what other series or Gundam shows have done by showing the negative and positive aspects of both sides But no such things happen in zeta. because let's be honest about 99% of the Titans themselves are more are less a band of stick up the ass knight templar grade psychopaths who give zero fucks about civilian deaths, commit wholesale war crimes and most importantly disregards and even undermines the authority of the government.
  Which makes the aeug completely justified in almost any act they do, even though they could have made it a bit more morally ambiguous.

  The next nail to stick out is while zeta Gundam focus on the horrors of war it also has a big focus on the human element which is both this series of the high and low point. On the one hand, the drama is stort of justified because they are in a middle of a war. but on the other hand, its used for over the top mellow drama that overstays it's welcome and I am not joking when I say that almost every episode either has someone getting the shit beat out of them or the emotions running at an all-time high which leads to more drama. Which in retrospect derails a lot of the series stronger points.

  Another one of Zeta Gundam problems story-wise is that the pacing is very slow and there are quite a few moments where I am like oh my god get to the fucking point already and there are episodes that feel like filler like the one episode where this woman thinks Kamille is her older brother and I found this episode along with a few others completely unnecessary and episodes like that don't really contribute anything to the overall narrative or themes. But While we are on the topic of themes I do want to mention that while I feel that some of the presentations of these themes are kinda dated when compared to other series that talks about similar ideas, but I would say it does a lot more with the content when it comes to more recent series.

  Characters, 6/10
  So main character Kamille oh where to i start with this dude.
  Well Kamille is probably one of my lest favourite gundam protagonists, more and less for the reason he is exactly like eren yanger from attck on titen.
  At the start he is this reckless and arrogant teenager that's full of angst and while I like to appreciate what he brings to the series. Becuase that pure blind anger fits pretty well in a war setting and his reactions feel a lot more organic than compared to Amuro's reactions that felt at times a little robotic. Now i will say that he goses though i little bit of character development as he become more motivated to bring an end to the war not just for himself but also the people around him. Which is better than i going to kill every last titen and gargle on there blood motivation he had which he still hasn't dropped completely.
  When it comes to the side cast of characters, there are quite a lot of new characters with also some old favourite added in like amuro ray and Char Aznable.
  When it comes to the cast as a whole they all have sort of personality and quite a few of them go though some nice character development and fleashing out
  Like for example, Amuro development is basically him getting over the past and moving forward or Emma who was once a member of the Titans but joined the aeug when she realizes that things aren't as black and white as she first thought as let's be completely honest the Titans aren't exactly the most honest or kindest bunch.

  But the elephant in the room character wise is that zeta gundam has some of the worse character handling i have seen in a gundam show so far not counting gundam seed. There are just tons of death and betrayal left and right.
  for one example the character Reccoa who about 3/4 into the series, she betrays the AEUG to the Titans with reason being that men are mean and she wants a strong man in her life, so bottom line it was feminism and toxic masculinity to blame. But jokes aside that's just one example in quite a few I can name where characters just go off the fucking rails because reasons that make no sense in the grand scheme of things or situations that are being blown way out of proportion, Which also results with more slaps to the face or at worse another beating. Like the human drama almost drags the characters down to the abyss as character motivations become extimety hard to follow as character will continuety switch sides
  Becuase reasons.

  But one thing that kinda saves it are the character interactions and relateships.
  One of my favourite being Amuro and Char interactions because where pretty interesting considering their history together or how char and Amuro are in this mentor figure role for Kamille which is also pretty cool as well.
  But the rest of the character interactions feels very disjointed because almost every episode someone is beating slapped and the shit beaten out of them out of there comrades, and this problematic because for a military group like the AEUG there is no sense of comradery or any cohesiveness what so ever.
  Its like they took a bunch of assholes, put them in a room together and sied hay you guys are now a team, go fight titans and good luck.

  Art,7/10
  for the time it came out Zeta gundam had very good art and animation because sunrise knew how to do a good bugget, and considering how clanky and stale some series from the 80s looks visual wise. Zeta gundam has aged pretty well considering and I would say the dated aspects of its visuals adds some grittiness to the whole series, which helps the show portray war in a more honest way.
  On the negative side though the backgrounds are slighty above average and the mech battles are kinda meh. When it comes to character design its more a less an updated version of what we got for and I have nothing negative or positive to say about them, but when it comes to mech design I actually really love it because I am quite the big fan of mecha and Zeta Gundam just takes the 70s design, updates them to feel more real and adds some new designs which also look cool.

  Sound, 6/10
  First oping song is pretty great and so is the second opimg song,but I prefer the first oping becuase i feel its fits the series more. When it comes to ending songs there also decent and worth a listen even if I don't really like them that much.
  When it comes to ost its has a wide range of moods and atmosphere it wants to protry and I really dig that part about it, but the problem is that this is probably one of more weeker ost wise when compared to something like gundam seed ost, Which gave this grand feeling and also added so much emotions into the scenes.
  The ost was done by Shigeaki Saegusa who done the ost for series such as astro boy.
  Sub and dub are pretty decent, but I would say that the dub feels a bit more chessey when compared to the sub which is a bit more dry.

  Enjoyment, 6/10
  When it comes to enjoyment, I really like the ideas that Zeta Gundam brings up.
  Becuase I really like it when series take ideas like politics and ecological issues because it showcases that anime isn't just for kids just because it's animated or is all about fan service. It shows cases that even anime can provide an intriguing thought peace. But really hammered my enjoyment is that war and conflict is piss poor and as the series goes on it de-evolves into the most derivative space opera I have ever had the displeasure of sitting through.

  Overall, 7/10
  In conclusion Zeta Gundam is probably one of the more thematically rich Gundam series so far because not only does it develop and flesh out its own ideas, but the ideas it brings up are still relevant today and that in itself gives it a value that can help it transcend the generational barrier and makes it a true anime classic.
  But if you're watching it for its war and human drama aspects I feel you are goi g to be very disappointed as the conflict is about as black and white as it can get and the human drama so over bloated that not even the war backdrop can fully justify.
  My advice is don't take the war or character drama seriously and view Zeta Gundam as more of thought piece you will see where its true quality shine.

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• 

  Reeyzinzkr

  80/100
  "I came here to laugh at you"

  Well, after I finished watching Zeta Gundam I felt compelled to write a text about my experience watching the anime and describe the negative and positive aspects of the work.

  Zeta Gundam is undoubtedly one of the most praised Gundams by the community, but that does not mean that he does not have any inconsistencies.

  

  The year is Universal Century 0087. Seven years have passed since the end of the One Year War. In its zeal to eliminate any remaining opposition, the Earth Federation organized the Titans, an elite combat force. However, the Titans soon get out of control, committing atrocities on a par with the worst that the Principality of Zeon had to offer during the war. In response, dissatisfied citizens, former soldiers of Zeon and even members of the Federal Earth Forces form a resistance group known as the Anti-Earth Union Group, or AEUG. As the next war is brewing, a small AEUG group arrives at Side 7 to investigate the new Gundam Mk ll.

  Animation: Well, it's clear that the animation has improved a lot compared to the Gundam of 79, both on the part of the character design and the part of the mecha. I really wanted Zeta to have a soundtrack to match the action / battle parts, and I think this is one of the points where Zeta sins the most.

  

  Characters: Kamille, in my opinion he is one of the characters I dislike in theZeta, because he is quite impulsive and acts without thinking about the consequences of his actions and without considering his options and often, these actions end up, including, harming the people around you.

  

  Char Aznable: He's my favorite character from Gundam and undoubtedly one of Zeta's strongest points, compared to Char 79, and I think he's had an incredible development over the years. Not to mention the sensational background he had in Origin. Ithink the interaction he has with Amuro in some parts is incredible and one of them is the iconic phrase "I came here to laugh at you" although they were rivals in 79 they changed a lot in the way of thinking and I was happy that both made up.

  

  I think the "romance" between Kamille and Four is one of the things that bothered me the most about Zeta, I think that romance doesn't suit Gundam much. It's very cliché and it gets to be quite boring at almost every moment, and there are also other things I didn't like.

  

  I think Qum and Shinta are the only kids I didn't like about Zeta, because there are some moments when it gets to be super boring and stressful.

  

  I think that some female characters could stand out more, I think the only one that had a better development was Reccoa, despite, and because of Quattro's indifference to her feelings for him, she eventually deserted the Titans under the spell charismatic of Paptimus Scirocco, that is, since she doesn’t have a male that satisfies on the side of the good guys she preferred to join the enemy, she is the only one in whom I managed to see a small development, but I still hate her for her attitudes.

  So, even with these inconsistencies, Zeta manages to be very good and presented me with several cool moments and I think it was worth taking a while to finish the anime.

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• 

  ShatteredXO

  68/100
  Zeta Gundam is, in many ways, a worthy successor to its predecessor. In more others, it is worthless in comparison...

  In order to get what I do and extremely dislike about Zeta Gundam, it’s equally important to start with what I do love about the original Gundam.

  It’s uncompromising, yet shaky depiction of war, the effect war has on Amuro Ray and how he is treated because of it, the ambitious mobile suit designs, Sayla’s entire character and, among other positives I could note, the sudden arrival of Newtypes into the mix. But for every right Tomino exhibits on the MSG show, a lot of what he’s doing has a wrong to go along with it.

  Most of the cast are underdeveloped as characters, character interactions that feel genuine are few and sparse and the way female characters are treated (outside of Sayla) highlights a lot of 70’s/80’s misogyny on a downright disturbing level. (Hell, Mirai gets violently slapped by a man who she barely even knows and the very next episode, she’s kissing him and turned on). Basically, the original Mobile Suit Gundam isn’t without its dark spots. But I think the good balanced out the bad to where you could ignore it for a time.

  Zeta, unfortunately, holds none of that balance and instead leans into MSG’s worst impulses, rather than away. While it does have stronger visuals, drastically better scoring and fights that get increasingly more dynamic and explosive, it stumbles with everything else.

  Let’s take character development and interactions for one:

  Kamille, the main character of this series, loses both his mother and father to the ills of war. After being confronted by Jerid, the man that directly killed his mother, Kamille’s response is…perplexing. He proclaims that he already forgives him for killing his mom and is instead mad at war and military institutions that put him into that position in the first place. The problem isn’t that Kamille comes to this (totally right) conclusion, but that it comes so early in his character arc that it is both uncharacteristic of an “always ready to deck someone in the face” kid who has spit at abusive authority figures at every turn. It removes suspense from his overall growth trajectory and, instead of making the Jerid v Kamille fights into bitter grudge mecha matches, just makes Jerid seem like a whiny brat in the face of a teenager that’s better than him at everything.

  These characters have interesting enough motivations, but the execution of their growth and their interactions as a whole are more half-baked than anything in MSG. You have Katz (the young screwup that never obeys even the most logical of orders), Emma Sheen (who starts out well, but ultimately has nothing to do), Reccoa Londe (who we’ll…get into later) and Fa Yuiry (who everyone around her tries to set into a forced motherly position). Other than Amuro and Char, both notably from the former series, there really isn’t a character with an arc that feels well-earned or well done. It makes the interactions these characters tend to have, mostly fueled by awkwardly written romance, hurt that much more.

  The second aspect where Zeta falters so much in comparison to the original is how it respects (or doesn’t) its female cast in the long run. While the original show had Sayla as a counterbalance to how badly done Fraw Bow was and how wishy-washy Mirai could be, there is no such solace here. Now every woman is either relegated to the status of housewife (Fraw/Mirai), the love interest/childhood friend and nothing more (Fa Yuiry) or sacrificed and fridged for the furtherance of a man’s arc and character moments (any female character surrounding Jerid, Kamille and Katz come directly to mind). Not to mention the two biggest of my faults of the female Gundam cast to date – Emma Sheen and Reccoa Londe.

  Both represent a bundle of potential that could have been reached had their characters been written with any true ounce of care. Emma is a former Titan that is forced to come to terms with how monstrous and inhumane the group’s actions are and Reccoa is a former member of the AEUG that prioritizes the need to feel pleasure and “what it means to be a woman” over moralistic check points. Unfortunately, they are not given much of a mile to get there and the character beats aren’t built up in any convincing manner. Emma is, I guess, less offensive by some degree and definitely doesn’t fit too much into the tropes for female characters that the early franchise of Gundam seemed to have settled on…But it still feels like they completely missed the mark with her. She defects from the Titans, sees what the Titans have done by going to a defunct space colony where an awful gas was deployed and…that’s it. No interesting character moments to speak of, outside of her final battle with Reccoa. Speaking of…

  Reccoa runs to the Titans because she doesn’t get enough romantic attention from Char but finds that attention and comfort in the man who slapped her silly the first time he saw her and ultimately forces her to commit genocide via gas attack on a space colony of thousands (possibly millions). This man, Paptimus Scirocco, is defined by Reccoa as “the first one to actually treat her like a woman!” Note, again, the fact that he hits her on their first encounter. Not only is the turn soaked in misogyny and put all of Reccoa’s goals and reason for being and doing anything on the axis of two men, but it completely takes a steamy dump on what is established from her previously. Reccoa knows (and even told Emma Sheen) about the horrors the Titans have committed, including genocide. So why she would not only be surprised that they would make her commit it to prove loyalty, but also ally herself with a man that commits such genocide on a daily basis like Reccoa? There are many more aspects I could write on and on about with regards to how women are treated (how Katz is excused and treated vs how Fa is), but I’d say that Reccoa’s arc and its sheer mismanagement is all you need to spell it out for you.

  Moving on to a third point where I think Zeta Gundam misses the mark almost entirely is its depiction of war. In the original series, I don’t think there’s an antagonist on the Zeon side of the One Year War that ever comes across as “cartoonishly evil”. In fact, I wouldn’t say the bulk of the characters that served Zeon came across as evil or even “wrong”. Tomino makes it a deliberate point to name every single character that we see pilot the Zakus and other mobile suits on the side opposite the Earth Federation. He has a Zeon soldier help a woman and her son on their way to their hometown. He shows the love some soldiers have for not only their comrades, but also their families and loved ones. It’s not exactly overt and beat over your head, but it’s nuanced in a way that you can’t help but admire. Whether it’s the Federation Force of Earth or the Principality of Zeon, the true villain is war and what it forces good people on both sides to do.

  This same nuance, unfortunately, cannot be applied to how Zeta mostly approaches the issue. There is one moment I can remember and point out, but for the most part – the Titans are as evil and cartoonish as they come. Don’t get me wrong – it’s great that Tomino is going so far as showing technical members of the Earth Federation breaking war crimes and treaties that they themselves constructed and agreed to. Gas attacks, nonchalant conversations about slamming space colonies into the Earth, plans to bomb cities and parks full of children…it’s all great stuff to explore through the lens of the work. But it just stops there. We barely get a show of Titans that openly disapprove of what they’re doing or take a second to pause about their actions. We don’t get acquainted with every Bill and Jack and Martha that pilots a mech this time around. Some may take the stance that that’s a better approach, but I’d disagree from a full fundamental aspect.

  Humanizing at least some of the Titans would take the subject matter even further than its presented. Rather than getting a Jerid that laughs when he realizes that he’s killed an innocent boy’s mother, cheers for gas attacks and in general commits to being a stereotypical mustache twirler, wouldn’t it be nice to delve into the entire depth of the situation? Examine why Jerid has such a lust for power and the means to dominate? But unfortunately – it’s the mustache twirler we are left with. For lack of a better metaphor, Zeta’s perspective on war is like putting quality gas in a run-down rust-bucket of a car.

  Do all of those issues sound bad or at the very least, middling? Great! Because the final episode of the series is all of it mashed into 22-24 minutes! From Katz disobeying orders for the 10th or so time and immediately dying for it like some sort of sympathy play to Jerid dying to Kamille in lack-luster, mustache twirler fashion to Reccoa making the statement that men only use women as tools while fighting for a man that surely sees her as the same? Characters that had no real character or development to speak of give their lives in the final battle for no real reason? And it all culminates in a scene where all the dead characters come back to help Kamille fight and kill Scirocco (because, that’s a thing, I guess?), even Reccoa, who apparently realizes how wrong she was off screen in the afterlife? Welcome to Zeta Gundam, baby!

  I’d be lying if I said it was all bad, though. After all, I’m still giving it a 6.8/10! And I think it’s a hard-fought score, because when Zeta Gundam wants to, it can be absolutely brilliant! Amuro’s reluctance to join yet another war after spending 8 years living in solitude, tormented by the previous one? Char’s speech about war and the Titans polluting the Earth even more so? That same speech inspiring more impressionable Titans to take a stand against the others? Kamille’s matter of fact reaction to the death of his “sister” and subsequent mental breakdown at the end of the final battle? Peak fiction and peak Gundam! With all that it does wrong, sometimes it hits just the right note with just the right melodrama to become truly compelling! Which, at the very least, has me excited to go on to ZZ and Char’s Counterattack. For all my misgivings about Zeta, it’s finer points remind me what I love about the first series, IBO and what is surely to come…

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