The Official Gundam Reconguista Anime Thread Mk I

[Destiny_Gundam]

So I was never particularly enthused about the show (not a Tomino fanboy) so took me awhile to actually start watching it. And after 3 episodes I must say I'm not very impressed. The starts of Destiny, 00, Unicorn, AGE, and Build Fighters all had me eagerly awaiting the next episode, but not so much here. In fact I could see myself letting episodes pile up again.

It suffers from an extreme lack of set up and context. All this stuff is thrown at you with barely any kind of explanation. And it doesn't even give you a moment to catch your breath before it jumps to the next thing. Heck, once Bellri got cut off mid-sentence because the camera couldn't bother with him before it had to jump to the next scene. Conversations jump all over the place just as they did in Zeta Gundam. It does indeed feel like an older show, which isn't inherently bad, but it also carries over the problems of that era.

I find a lot of the goings-on to be rather nonsensical and I often wonder aloud "Why?" Why is he doing that? Why is this happening? Bellri gets called to meet with some high ranking officials and Noredo is allowed to tag along because... Reasons? Isn't that a security risk? Why can no one figure out how to close the G-Self's cockpit hatch?

In episode 3,

Spoiler

why did they let Aida pilot the G-Self? Why did they let her anywhere near it? Maybe that researcher guy wanted her to escape, but what about Bellri? He made no indication of being okay with leaving his mother and defecting. Noredo also went along with it for some reason, though she at least attempted to get Aida to stop. They didn't even stop to consider the possibility that she'd run away.

Why did Aida twirl before entering the room? Isn't she supposed to be grieving and mad at Bellri or something?

At least the show is bright and colourful and not full of DESPAIR. I don't feel drained after watching it, though I don't have a huge grin on my face for the duration either. None of the characters have particularly grabbed me at the moment except for Manny. That could be because I feel her design stands out because it's the most normal looking.

[latenlazy]

So I was never particularly enthused about the show (not a Tomino fanboy) so took me awhile to actually start watching it. And after 3 episodes I must say I'm not very impressed. The starts of Destiny, 00, Unicorn, AGE, and Build Fighters all had me eagerly awaiting the next episode, but not so much here. In fact I could see myself letting episodes pile up again.

It suffers from an extreme lack of set up and context. All this stuff is thrown at you with barely any kind of explanation. And it doesn't even give you a moment to catch your breath before it jumps to the next thing. Heck, once Bellri got cut off mid-sentence because the camera couldn't bother with him before it had to jump to the next scene. Conversations jump all over the place just as they did in Zeta Gundam. It does indeed feel like an older show, which isn't inherently bad, but it also carries over the problems of that era.

I find a lot of the goings-on to be rather nonsensical and I often wonder aloud "Why?" Why is he doing that? Why is this happening? Bellri gets called to meet with some high ranking officials and Noredo is allowed to tag along because... Reasons? Isn't that a security risk? Why can no one figure out how to close the G-Self's cockpit hatch?

In episode 3,

Spoiler

why did they let Aida pilot the G-Self? Why did they let her anywhere near it? Maybe that researcher guy wanted her to escape, but what about Bellri? He made no indication of being okay with leaving his mother and defecting. Noredo also went along with it for some reason, though she at least attempted to get Aida to stop. They didn't even stop to consider the possibility that she'd run away.

Why did Aida twirl before entering the room? Isn't she supposed to be grieving and mad at Bellri or something?

At least the show is bright and colourful and not full of DESPAIR. I don't feel drained after watching it, though I don't have a huge grin on my face for the duration either. None of the characters have particularly grabbed me at the moment except for Manny. That could be because I feel her design stands out because it's the most normal looking.

As I mentioned last week Tomino's one of those figure it out yourself kind of creators. I wouldn't say that there's a lack of context and set up but that the context and setup isn't deliberately stated and discretely fed to the audience. They're things you have to piece together. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but I suspect that things will get clearer halfway through the series as Tomino begins to give answers (which he does do eventually).

[Destiny_Gundam]

I dunno, he seems to give out tons of answers in those interviews. None of those details are even remotely touched upon in show so far. The whole kuntala thing stands out the most. Obviously it's meant as an insult but why it's insulting and what makes a person a part of that group is something they could easily explain briefly.

[latenlazy]

I dunno, he seems to give out tons of answers in those interviews. None of those details are even remotely touched upon in show so far. The whole kuntala thing stands out the most. Obviously it's meant as an insult but why it's insulting and what makes a person a part of that group is something they could easily explain briefly.

Episode 3 does touch upon some of those details, but at least for me most of it just confirmed ideas I noted in 1 and 2. For example, when Aida and Bellri get into an argument about solar panels and then Aida slaps Bellri, you could probably figure out a few things without hearing the actual content of the argument by piecing together the fact that Aida was trying to steal photon batteries, her possible ties with another country, and the implication that there's a taboo against other countries installing solar panels. We're not given exposition to why this is the case until Episode 3 of course, but those details are subtly there if you work to try to piece things together.

[Compass]

It felt like a Disney movie with those animals going bug-eyed. That leopard falling onto the snake was like O___o

[gunform1010]

It felt like a Disney movie with those animals going bug-eyed. That leopard falling onto the snake was like O___o

Tomino's no stranger to quick throwaway gags with animals. He's been doing this since 0079.

[Ryujin]

One thing I've really been enjoying with G-Recon is the production design. Imho, the show has a look and atmosphere that really makes it stand out from the usual generic 'tall sleek skyscrapers & smoothly paved surfaces' sci-fi look. Being set in the tropics helps, too.

[Wellman]

So that episode 3 really did just have two instances of showing how pilots go to the rest room in their mobile suits?

Not sure if I ever wanted to know that was how it was done honestly.

[Destiny_Gundam]

Normally it's the pilot suits that have a waste gathering feature.

[Arbiter GUNDAM]

So that episode 3 really did just have two instances of showing how pilots go to the rest room in their mobile suits?

Not sure if I ever wanted to know that was how it was done honestly.

It actually does make a certain sense. For decades now, astronauts of all nations have had to rely on what is essentially a fancy diaper for relief. Granted it's not as bad now, since the ISS, space shuttle and Soyuz all have working toilets but if you're in the middle of an 8 hour spacewalk, it's diaper time.

Now imagine you're stuck in a mobile suit cockpit for six hours and feel a powerful urge to go. Which would you rather use? A fully functional toilet or the infamous Apollo relief tube for number one or a plastic bag for number two?

[HellCat]

The toilet thing amuses me because it's one of those things Tomino sees no problem with but most other anime (with their obsession in creating idolised, fictional husband and wife fodder) would consider too icky. Humans dump waste products out of their bodies. Unpleasant but it's a fact and so an MS that might be out by itself for hours if not days covering that basic need makes sense.

It made me think of stuff like how in 00 Setsuna got punched several times in the face by an angry Lyle, yet is right back to his pretty boy self. Not even a broken nose.

[Mythgarr]

I simply wonder if next time Tomino would show a mobile suit dumping the said "hidden throne" content.

Not to mention that we need to think that there would be debris of "those things" floating in space

Good job Tomino, you're revolutionized "mobile suit" once more

[HellCat]

Aida: "That mobile suit is the G-Self. No one can open it but me."

Bell: *swipes hand across panel* "Sir, it's open"

Aida: "But that's impossible!"

Bell: "Hey, there's another hatch on the seat"

Aida: "You REALLY don't want to open that one!"

[Amion]

Now would be a good time to mention that Victory Gundam, Tomino's last UC show as we all know, featured at least one instance of pilots complaining about their urine packs being full. somehow I find myself believing Tomino is giving poor Odelo the one thing he desperately needed all those countless ages ago, a functional toilet seat. Which, by the way, I'm pretty sure is installed in some modern aircraft nowadays. *Haven't researched, but there was this one news article I saw that showed one*

I admit I'm mildly irritated about episode 3, same as Destiny, though not quite as thoroughly. In a possible answer to your question about why Belri is there, Destiny, it could be because he's also able to operate the G-Self, and they wanted him in it or something. Disregarding Noredo's presence, I'm guessing the old researcher guy intentionally made some kind of deal with her. She's obviously gone from castle tower imprisonment to what amounts to house arrest, even less so from what we saw. Surely a deal was brokered. "His Holiness" may also have to do with it.

Of course, it comes off as extremely shallow right now. Once again, it's not explained. If I had to make a somewhat tentative argument, I would state that we're all mostly used to either 1st person styled mecha shows, or the more common omnipresent ones. The first person makes it so we know there's stuff happening we don't and can't know, so the viewer just takes it for granted that he/she will end up with answers as soon as the MC does.

Then we have omni's where if there's evil dealings or webs of conspiracy, we AT LEAST get a shadowed pan of the camera to some dark room with a top conspirator doing their Gendo pose equivalent before panning back to MC and his clueless gang.

Tomino on the other hand gives and withholds as he sees fit, despite having multiple characters and their threads taking place in a single episode. I don't mind, my writing style is very similar. I probably would really enjoy it if it weren't for the shamelessly silly things the characters do, like Aida's twirling. Those strange quirks are just off-putting. And it DOES make me wonder why she's not still infuriated with Belri and why she's acting so flamboyant. Unless... ...she's just discovered that her beloved Cahill is actually alive after all, as the ending credits give hope for. I personally think he's dead, simply because this is Tomino, who would do such a thing unflinchingly, but I could be wrong.

Yeah...I'm going to go out and hope Klim Nick or whatever his name is gets the axe. He seriously creeps me out with his clapping. After recently watching Code Geass, I shudder every time I see clapping. It gives me Mao chills. *Shudders again*

[Kei Katsuragi]

Ahem, well if I can join this discussion. I was sort of procrastinating on the whole watching this show thing, so I watched all three episodes in a row, and all the things I disliked initially about King Gainer and Brain Powerd surfaced; such as the weird goofy tone, the terrible world building, and really silly dialogue played entirely straight.
I like the look of everything, I love U.C, I think the G-Self is pretty bad ass, but I just need a proxy. Someone who knows as little about everything as I do. As a die-hard U.C fan I hate feeling alienated in this new timeline.
The good thing about this direction is that by the time we figure out the setting, and know the characters, re-watching the show wont feel like as much as a chore, since the show doesn't stop to tell you everything.

[Zeonista]

Episode 3 didn't have quite so many "stand out" moments as the first two, but that didn't really surprise me. The big introduction is over, it's time to advance the story. As always, Tomino-sama gives his worlds a real-world sense of politics in action. Every leader has an agenda, every nation has a goal, and the agitprop rarely squares with the actual implementation of the ideal. Against this backdrop the ordinary and not-so-ordinary people of the cast try to get on with their lives. And as always the motivation of the individual is often at odds with that individual's home society. Char and Amuro were at odds with their respective governments for personal reasons, we can expect Bellri and maybe Aida to be the same. Like many of Tomino-sama's stories, Bellri as the protagonist as of episode 3 has not reached his "proper" organization yet, and we'll have to see where and with whom he will take his stand.

The mecha battles were solid and full of action and attention to mechanical detail, and once again Sunrise serves it up without stock footage. OTOH the rather basic scene featuring the jaguar & anaconda was a loving tribute to past insert moments. The idea of a toilet built into the cockpit seat is an idea whose time has been long in coming. Once again we are reminded that MS are about the people using them as much as their symbolism and combat function!

[Kratos]

Any thoughts on the situation at the end of the episode? Aida being allowed to take the Gundam is obviously something Cumpa cooked up with her, but Bellri and Noredo don't know that, and it seems odd that they'd be so passive about her running off with it and about being taken to a bunch of pirates (especially Noredo). It also seems equally odd that Aida would bring Noredo along at all, though I guess since she's being so cooperative about the whole thing, Aida would see it as a non-issue. Still, it's a bit strange that everybody involved is so agreeable about the whole situation, and it's a point of contention with a fair number of viewers.

[Mythgarr]

Noredo just tags along wherever Bellri's going (he is Tomino's token annoying girl, after all) and Aida needs Bellri somehow...

[Kratos]

No, yeah, I get why Aida brings Bellri (and Raraiya) along - she's clearly intrigued by his connection to the G-Self, and it may have been part of Cumpa's deal with her too. I suppose the same could be said about Noredo - anybody else notice how His Holiness has the same last name as her, and is always calling her by name, despite none of the other adults knowing who she is? - and that could be why Aida bothered to bring her, but I still think Noredo and Bellri just letting Aida fly off with the G-Self, into pirate hands and with nothing more than mild surprise, is worthy of raised eyebrows.

[latenlazy]

I think Bellri jumped in with the intention of helping against the Montero, and it seemed like Aida was keeping her intentions ambiguous. My understanding is that Bellri thought Aida was going to help end the fighting, but didn't suspect that her intention was to rejoin her group. Is that entirely rational? I don't think so, but I think Bellri's still very naive, and I imagine his unspoken infatuation with her has something to do with it. One the narrative devices Tomino uses often is the tendency for people to act irrationally or inexplicably when they're compelled by their feelings (which I think is pretty true of people in real life too).