The Official Gundam Thunderbolt Anime Thread Mk I

[Iris Scope]

Rewatched the first episode and also got caught up with episodes 2 and 3.

I changed my negative opinion on Io, only somewhat. He's still arrogant but he has a lot of baggage from the past due to his father's suicide, perhaps more than Daryl who had a happy childhood and gave away hand and foot literally for his cause. Also, I agree with him that rookie teenage soldiers have no place on the battlefield but they recruit straight out of boot camp so...

The scene when Daryl goes through getting his right arm amputated was hard to watch, made even more unbearable because Carla doesn't want to do it to him but the higher ups pretty much coerced her into doing it. I don't think I can support his claim later on that the amputation was an honor.

Claudia was a total wreck for the whole time, sending kids to die and having to put up with Io's ego. Written more or less as a tragic character and given an ending that accompanies such.

I look forward to the fourth episode and if the tagline of "Two men fated to kill each other on the battlefield" holds up, I guess no happy outcome for either Io or Daryl but at least hoping that Carla doesn't die and that Sexton gets what's coming to him.

[domino]

They are really going to serious lengths to up the grit in this OVA...

It's clear that those Federation pilots were so green that they may have JUST come from training.

Also, that scene with the GM Cannon shooting down the escape pods was completely unnecessary.....

[Gelgoog Jager]

I'm really concerned if there will actually be anyone left alive from the Zeon side at this rate.

In the EF's case there's the bunch of escape pods from their mothership, which included Io's and Claudia's blue-haired friend, so at least those guys might make it out alive, but in the case of Zeon the Papua remains right in front of them and we know how Io won't hesitate to use hostage tactics on his favor.

And even if Daryl survives, if Carla dies and/or the Papua sink I can only imagine he will have one hell of a time afterwards, specially if he has no means to reattach by himself at least a prosthetic hand to his mechanic limbs.

I do am hoping that at least Carla or even Sexton end up surviving, so that the data from the Living Dead division does survive. Considering the futuristic setting of Gundam, I think that the theme of advanced prosthetic limbs should come up more often, specially in a war setting. And the fact that in Gundam Thunderbolt the crippled soldiers were given a more significant role in the very frontlines, culminating with Daryl and his Psycho Zaku taking on an enemy as terrible as the Gundam, is quite remarkable.

[Iris Scope]

Why Sexton? I know he cares about the data on the prosthetic Zeon troops but other than that, his character is slimy and scummy. Characters like that usually meet gruesome and much deserved deaths. But I sincerely hope that this doesn't spread to Carla as well because she's a sympathetic Zeon character but then again, kill 'em all Io might ruin the happy ending for me.

[Gelgoog Jager]

I would also much prefer for Carla to survive over Sexton, but the preview does seem to show a scene where she seems about to die. On the other hand, Sexton's "death" was left ambiguous enough to leave open the question of whether or not his escape pod was one of those shot down. My point was that I do would prefer for the data on the Living Dead division to survive so that it could re-appear again in later works.

For instance, the biological weapon Astaroth from Gundam Rise From The Ashes, had been considered to be destroyed, but since one of the HLVs did manage to escape the base, that did left the doubt if a sample or data on it could have survived. As it turns out, it seems that it is mentioned again in the MSV-R manga of Johhny Ridden which takes place 10 years after the OYW. I haven't read the whole manga, but I think it might have been one of the things stashed in the Minaret, which is said to have been something of great value which Kycillia had the Chimera Corps flagship escort by the end of the war.

On the other hand, I'm now more worried about Daryl, since I imagine it's possible that even if he defeats Io, he could end up captured by EF forces and turned into a guinea pig (well, worse than he already was since he would be a prisoner).

[tHeWasTeDYouTh]

What happened to the GMs at the end of episode 4? All of the GM cannon and Guncannons are sent to attack the zeon but no MS are left to defend the federation fleet(there must have been some of the blue gms left)

[domino]

What happened to the GMs at the end of episode 4? All of the GM cannon and Guncannons are sent to attack the zeon but no MS are left to defend the federation fleet(there must have been some of the blue gms left)

We can assume that the majority (or all) were destroyed (or damaged beyond repair) during the last skirmish (end of episode 2)

[Deathzealot]

Which is the reason for the Resupply most likely. And what is with this different episode numbers? I thought Episode Four wasn't out yet? We are on Episode 3, which is where the two fleets fully comment their forces against other.

I was quite surprised to find old World War II fighters still around during this time. And that they where either constructed either on the colonies or had been brought up to the colonies. I do wonder though I thought the center area of a colony was low gravity therefore how in the world did those planes fly in that?

[domino]

Oops....I accidentally mentioned the wrong episode number there after the previous post.

I'm not sure what you're referring to re: WWII fighters. Is that Io's plane? Perhaps it's similar to when mobile suits fly within the center of the colony

[Deathzealot]

Err.... The planes we see in the small flashback earlier in this episode before the big battle where it is revealed that Io raced planes in his home colony. Those planes looked like World War II fighter planes.

[Destiny_Gundam]

So... Was that really it? I guess it's one of those "Now go read the manga" endings. I dunno, kinda felt unsatisfied that it was a Zeon victory.

Anyways, as a whole it was impressive from a visual and action standpoint, but characterization felt pretty rushed at times.

[domino]

The Darryl x Karla is especially rushed and comes from literally nowhere - how and why does he develop feelings for her? In the first episode, he seemed completely indifferent to her request. This wasn't handled any better in the manga

This episode certainly delivers with a fast-paced battle and Karla's bone-chilling screaming after her final failure to take revenge

I think this is the first time any Gundam series has ended with a distinctly Zeon victory.

[Iris Scope]

I do agree that Daryl/Karla felt a bit rushed but I suspected it was coming from the first episode. I was thinking if he does survive, who is gonna take care of his needs when it comes to prosthetics and she is the only option.

I was surprised by the fake out of what looked to be from trailers Karla's supposed death but it was really just her comrades which brought out some of the best helpless screaming out of her seiyuu.

As for Io, I did feel shocked that he managed to scrape by as a POW along with Cornelius. His fateful meeting at the end with Daryl reminded me of The Dark Knight where Joker tells Batman that he thinks they are destined to quarrel forever. Really similar.

Things did end at a bit of a stalemate even if the Zeon gained the upper hand, here's hoping December Sky helps flesh the material out a bit more. Overall, it was a pleasant experience that made me feel proud to be a Gundam fan again.

[tHeWasTeDYouTh]

This episode was amazing and man that beam saber scene!!!!
One thing that took me by surprise was that the EF forces surrendered to the Gelgoogs but I guess it makes sense since all of the pilots are kids and most of the officers are dead.
(the song that plays when both Daryl and Io leave their ms and Io sees that Daryl has no limbs, best song ever)
This has been the best Gundam show for me because it literally brought me back after I got burned from Age and Reconguista.

[domino]

Even with the inexperience of the EF forces aside, they LITERALLY had no choice and were in pure survival mode after their last-ditch effort to take over the Zeon ship failed.

Since the ship was already unusable for much more than a few days of air (before it eventually exploded), their ONLY chance of survival was by surrendering.

They were probably low on ammo or exhausted.....or some would've gone to help Io against Darryl. I simply think they just wanted to find a way to survive since they no longer had a mothership to return to.

[Zeonista]

Jeez, I get back to MAHQ after a bout of computer trouble and this series is over already. *sigh* Well, it's over now, and my chances for sage commentary have gone a glimmering. Still, it was a great short take on the latter days of the One Year War, and I hope it does well enough for us to get a little more of the story in the future. It is a rather mature perspective on the story of First Gundam, more akin to War in the Pocket than anything else, minus the cute kids and 200% more seemingly pointless slaughter. But it's something that no one has really pointed out before, a close-up look at the furious and frequent destruction, the memory of which will haunt the Universal Century for 17 more years, and maybe longer.

So much for the Big Picture. Closer to home, our two antagonists were well detailed and believable participants who didn't really need to still be fighting on the front lines, but who couldn't really be spared either. They were very real people, but somehow I could still see them alongside classic UC characters as well. The mecha action and detail was mighty, and there was lots of MP on display as well as the two great hero MS. All in all, it was an excellent 88 minutes of so of gundam animation. If Sunrise could deliver this sort of performance with every Gundam anime, we would be more inclined to applaud and less likely to heave brickbats.

[Turn-A Binker]

Saw the final episode, and IDK, but I felt shocked by the ending. I guess its because I thought the Federation would win, but to see Io get captured and tortured (naked as well), same could be said for the others which is sad, and Zeon getting the Gundam; I guess its the equivalent of having the bad guys win, then take your property, even though they were the ones who started the whole mess.

[Zeonista]

Gelgoog Jager: One of the constant sorrows of being a Zeonista is having a lot of beloved characters with "RIP" following their names. This show actually spared a few, which was a bit of a surprise for me, as I had not read a lot of the manga. Daryl & Karla survived, that was OK by me. Sexton could go die in a fire, and he did.

Deathzealot: Yes, those were WW II fighter planes, or at least some functional replicas of them. We sometimes forget that UC characters fly because they like it, not because it is their duty. Flight in the center of a Type III colony is easy, birds can be seen doing it from time to time.

Iris Scope: Don't worry, the Living Dead fleet's victory will only be temporary. That's Aboawakau visible in the end... The EFSF personnel including Io were captured because they had some intel value, and because despite the Feddy propaganda not all Zeons are genocidal maniacs. Daryl/Karla romance was a bit telescoped due to time restrictions, but have no fear, they were destined to get together. If nothing else they had a great deal to draw them together. Karla did a good thing by reminding Daryl he could still return after his mission. Helpless screaming is a requisite skill for a UC heroine sometimes, her seiyuu followed through very well. Even I thought she had bought the farm for a minute.

domino: One should remember that in past naval conflicts the victors frequently pulled the survivors from the water to safety as POWs afterwards. All men are united in brotherhood against the cruel sea, and the stranded EFSF personnel no different in space.

[excalibur2008]

despite the Feddy propaganda not all Zeons are genocidal maniacs.

No, they all just work for one.

[Zeonista]

despite the Feddy propaganda not all Zeons are genocidal maniacs.

No, they all just work for one.

Earth is blue, Luna is white, Gihren-sama has the mental ability-and soul-of a numbers-crunching super-computer.