[Characters]
Spoiler
-There's a pretty heavy focus on character, so it's good that that's something I absolutely love. Not that there isn't plenty of mecha action to be had (there's a major battle in all three episodes) but it never takes up the bulk of the screentime - I'd estimate about a third at most. The rest is dedicated to the people in the show, so it's a good thing they're pretty great people to spend time around. Character chemistry is something that these episodes do really well in general, and it really sells the various bonds between them, be they student friendships (Bellri, Luin, Noredo, Manny, etc) or military chain of command (Dellensar and Kerbes).
-Bellri is fun in a way we haven't seen in some time, maybe not since Garrod, and he has great chemistry with Noredo (which kinda makes me disappointed that she's not the main love interest) and Luin (who seems like a super swell guy, despite being Kuntala, something that's brought up casually a couple times in the episodes but never elaborated much on). He's got this weird little quirk where he's always licking his lips - not in an obnoxious serial killer sort of way, and it's only like a split second of animation, but it's obviously meant to be a trait. Klim Nick, on the other hand, is exactly as obnoxious as his character design made him seem to me, and definitely isn't a favorite so far.
-Noredo and Manny both get a fair amount of screentime, and are really fun to watch together. They're a great argument for Tomino writing strong women. Less great in that regard is Aida, who often comes off as more stereotypically weak; this struck me as odd, since the Gundam Ace interview had a whole discussion about her as a Strong Female Lead and Tomino really supported that read of her. Presumably she'll develop as the show goes on. Also a bit off-putting is Raraiya - I know she's supposed to have amnesia, but she's so awkward to watch do basically anything, and it makes me wonder if there's more than the amnesia making her act like that.
-There are lots of other people introduced, mostly on the Capital side of things. We get to meet their king and an older military leader who comes off as kinda shady. Clearly we're getting the requisite politics with this Gundam. I was surprised that Cahill Saint died so quickly, though - he seemed like a guy that would stick around for a bit, like a counterpart to Dellensen Samatar.
-Bellri is fun in a way we haven't seen in some time, maybe not since Garrod, and he has great chemistry with Noredo (which kinda makes me disappointed that she's not the main love interest) and Luin (who seems like a super swell guy, despite being Kuntala, something that's brought up casually a couple times in the episodes but never elaborated much on). He's got this weird little quirk where he's always licking his lips - not in an obnoxious serial killer sort of way, and it's only like a split second of animation, but it's obviously meant to be a trait. Klim Nick, on the other hand, is exactly as obnoxious as his character design made him seem to me, and definitely isn't a favorite so far.
-Noredo and Manny both get a fair amount of screentime, and are really fun to watch together. They're a great argument for Tomino writing strong women. Less great in that regard is Aida, who often comes off as more stereotypically weak; this struck me as odd, since the Gundam Ace interview had a whole discussion about her as a Strong Female Lead and Tomino really supported that read of her. Presumably she'll develop as the show goes on. Also a bit off-putting is Raraiya - I know she's supposed to have amnesia, but she's so awkward to watch do basically anything, and it makes me wonder if there's more than the amnesia making her act like that.
-There are lots of other people introduced, mostly on the Capital side of things. We get to meet their king and an older military leader who comes off as kinda shady. Clearly we're getting the requisite politics with this Gundam. I was surprised that Cahill Saint died so quickly, though - he seemed like a guy that would stick around for a bit, like a counterpart to Dellensen Samatar.
Spoiler
-This was the hardest to get a read on, my Japanese ability being what it is, though as I mentioned above it's at least paced well enough that I never lost interest in watching. It has a very atypical start for a Gundam show, mostly focused around the capture of the G-Self and various attempts to snatch it back (first by the space pirates, then by Amerian forces). Bellri never "falls into the cockpit", although the point that he can mysteriously activate the G-Self is brought up (and interestingly, it seems to identify him as Aida). He hasn't actually taken it out alone yet though - Aida's always been in the cockpit with him.
-On that note, one thing that bugs me is how passive Aida seems about cooperating with the Capital Forces - she never gets proactive in stealing her machine back, despite regularly being in its cockpit even after capture and during rescue attempts by her own forces. She doesn't even try to overpower Bellri in these situations. Maybe the show gives her adequate reason not to and I just missed it, but it seemed kinda weird and took me out of the show a bit.
-On that note, one thing that bugs me is how passive Aida seems about cooperating with the Capital Forces - she never gets proactive in stealing her machine back, despite regularly being in its cockpit even after capture and during rescue attempts by her own forces. She doesn't even try to overpower Bellri in these situations. Maybe the show gives her adequate reason not to and I just missed it, but it seemed kinda weird and took me out of the show a bit.
Spoiler
-Seeing the mecha in action caused them all to grow on me (except maybe the Grimoire, which I was already 100% sold on), though some more than others - the Recten still comes across a bit like a cheap child's Lights-n-Sounds robot toy, though it gets its moment in the sun in the first episode. I may not like its pilot much, but the Montero and its beam whip was plenty cool, and the G-Self's bug-eyed curves make a strong showing across all three episodes.
-There are these weird bipedal bird-legged transport mini mecha used by several characters in the second episode, and they really stood out to me (possibly because I hadn't seen anything about them before watching the episode). I've never seen anything like them and everybody in the show just reacts like it's the most normal thing in the world to see people stroll in on them.
-We get our first UC mecha cameos as early as episode 2 - a Capital hangar houses life-size stone statues of various Zeon MS, including the Zaku and Dom and a bunch of others. Minovsky Particles are also mentioned fairly frequently - clearly not everything from the UC era is lost.
-There are these weird bipedal bird-legged transport mini mecha used by several characters in the second episode, and they really stood out to me (possibly because I hadn't seen anything about them before watching the episode). I've never seen anything like them and everybody in the show just reacts like it's the most normal thing in the world to see people stroll in on them.
-We get our first UC mecha cameos as early as episode 2 - a Capital hangar houses life-size stone statues of various Zeon MS, including the Zaku and Dom and a bunch of others. Minovsky Particles are also mentioned fairly frequently - clearly not everything from the UC era is lost.
Spoiler
-Technically, the series is also very good; though I'll admit to not having much of a super technical eye for things like animation, it still all felt smooth and consistent and vibrant, something I hope the show can keep up once we move beyond the episodes prepared for theatrical release. There's a solid attention to detail as well, including the G-Self's shield getting progressively more battle damaged as time goes on. Battle effects tend to look really neat too.
-The score is also nice, and contributes to the generally upbeat atmosphere of the show. Tomino's decision to stick to established voice talent really paid off as well, and is probably a big reason why the characters in the show stand out so much.
-The score is also nice, and contributes to the generally upbeat atmosphere of the show. Tomino's decision to stick to established voice talent really paid off as well, and is probably a big reason why the characters in the show stand out so much.
