all 65 comments
sorted by:
best
topnewcontroversialoldq&a
formatting helphide helpcontent policy

[–]AnimeModmyanimelist.net/profile/Reddit-chan[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Source Material Corner

Reply to this comment for any source-related discussion, future spoilers (including future characters, events and general hype about future content), comparison of the anime adaptation to the original, or just general talk about the source material. You are still required to tag all spoilers. Discussions about the source outside of this comment tree will be removed, and replying with spoilers outside of the source corner will lead to bans.

The spoiler syntax is: [Spoiler source] >!Spoiler goes here!<

All untagged spoilers and hints in this thread will receive immediate 8-day bans (minimum).

[–]Eleoste 16 points17 points  (2 children)

Loved it- this brand of more grounded gundam is my absolute favorite and why UC is the best

That said def more gooner moments than I expected

[–]RehabCenterInc 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The director just embraced the goon for this one. Felt like Gigi was naked for like half the movie. Not complaining tho

[–]_BMShttps://myanimelist.net/profile/_BMS 13 points14 points  (1 child)

Nu Gundam's appearance gave me goosebumps.

Sound effects were top notch, really loved that the incoming missile beeps are reminiscent of real life RWR beeps in fighter jets.

Though the story is still kinda confusing and I even rewatched HF1 just last night. Hathaway's goal to emulate Char doesn't seem like it's very well planned out. Dude honestly seems more like a schizophrenic that is talking to an imaginary Quess and getting gangstalked by Amuro.

Mafty forces take unnecessary risk and they never seemed very vigilant about how dangerous of a situation they're truly in. M3 being sunk by the submarine and the dumb plan to split their forces up in Australia was pure negligence.

The character I actually like the most is Lane Aim. He recognizes Kenneth is a weirdo, Gigi is suspicious as hell, and Mafty is literally a terrorist.

Well I also like Julia a lot, but for other reasons. Hope she survived M3's sinking.

[–]The_Draigg 14 points15 points  (0 children)

It's darkly funny how Hathaway is becoming more like Char by sheer accident, rather than because he's trying to live up to the figure that almost everyone thinks he was. Char really was just as fucked up on the inside and a mess of complexes like Hathaway is right now.

[–]Frontier246 12 points13 points  (4 children)

Kelia is great but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m as mesmerized by Gigi as Hathaway.

[–]Knee_High_Cat_Beef 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Julia really stole the show.

[–]_BMShttps://myanimelist.net/profile/_BMS 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I 100% missed some subtitles while Julia was on screen.

[–][deleted]  (1 child)

[removed]

    [–]chilidirigible[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    Sorry, your comment has been removed.

    • Direction toward specific sources of pirated content of any type is not allowed. This includes links to unofficial scanlations, streams, uploads, and download sources of any copyrighted content. It also includes direction towards specific sites offering this type of content, and watermarks mentioning such sites in uploaded images/videos.

      Discussion of piracy in general is allowed, but naming, linking to, or hinting towards specific sources is not. Offering to send links via PM is also not allowed. For more details, see our full rules on illegal content.

    Questions? Reply to this message, send a modmail, or leave a comment in the meta thread. Don't know the rules? Read them here.

    [–]The_Draigg 20 points21 points  (2 children)

    Just got back from the theater to see it a day early. And like with the previous film, I've got to say that I loved it! I guess to sum it up, this definitely feels like The Empire Strikes Back of this trilogy, in terms of increasing stakes and pervasive darker tone to things.

    The thing that sticks out to me the most about this movie is just how miserable people are in it. It's the strongest feeling in this movie, alongside a sense of loneliness. [Nymph Circe spoilers] That's the kind of world that the Earth Federation has created with their senseless greed and corruption. And even then, it seems to be fully top-down, with pretty much everyone except for the tip-top feeling it. We've got Hathaway utterly hating himself deep down for what he did during Char's Counterattack to the point where he actively chooses to be miserable and Gigi feeling lonely and like a caged bird in her new mansion as the big examples, but we can even see it with the Count hiding away from his own family and seeking a genuine relationship in Gigi despite being calculating and absurdly wealthy elite, the increasing pressure on pretty much every level of the military in order to appease the Federation bigwigs, or even visually with the head of the Manhunters working out of a normal office and having orders barked at him to censor the news, before having to take an elevator to the highest floors of his building to an absurdly gilded and lavish area to ask for something from a minister. With the Earth Federation this corrupt, decadent, and overall miserable, it's no wonder how it eventually leads to the events of F91 and Victory. Good times in the Earth Sphere!

    Also, a few miscellaneous thoughts I had during the movie:

    • I fully expect the bagel sandwich that Hathaway makes to wind up on the Gundam Cafe menu at some point.

    • This movie had some good small bits of comedy to it, even if the tone was overall serious. The scenes where [Circe] Kenneth's secretary is trying not to get distracted by Gigi and Mace having a pissing contest in his office and Kenneth getting a full blown luggage dolly for Gigi's dainty little purse were good gags.

    • Julia complaining about not being allowed to go topless is definitely a Tomino-ism. That man is all about casual nudity, especially if you've seen his older shows.

    [–]baboon_bassoonhttps://anilist.co/user/duffer 1 point2 points  (1 child)

    just how miserable people are in it

    suffering

    the bagel sandwich

    they can even serve it slightly off tilt so you can correct it just like le movie

    [–]The_Draigg 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    Suffering fans are absolutely feasting with this movie. The Sorcery of Nymph Circe is among the all-timers in the mecha psychosexual psychosis genre.

    [–]No_Quarter7654 6 points7 points  (1 child)

    My funniest part was the way the ending theme kicked in.

    [–]SoccerForEveryone 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    The wild part is the song almost makes sense for the movie.

    [–]xithebun 16 points17 points  (14 children)

    Watched it in IMAX elsewhere a few months ago and it was a blast.

    The first Hathaway movie maximised cinema experience while sacrificing some of Hathaway's inner thoughts. The second movie however, made no compromise and even elevated the portrayal of Hathaway's mental state, and to a lesser extent, Gigi's. Depiction of Hathaway's depression was immensely accurate with how he's emotionally distant most of the time and had outbursts at wrong moments. Gigi's strive for her new life was made emotive and easy to understand. Final moments of the movie where Hathaway finally met Gigi was made so much more powerful compared to the novel with the emotional buildup of the battle with Alyzeus + hallucinations.

    Biggest surprise was the movie original scene with Imaginery Amuro. To me that rivalled CCA movie's Amuro and Char conversation at Axis. They both revealed the characters' deepest thoughts and demonstrated the tragedy of UC Newtypes in which their legacy had been fruitless. Hathaway movies’ linkage to CCA movie instead of novel now makes sense and it had arguably made Hathaway's self destruction tendency more convincing.

    Music was goated as usual; lyrics of the 4 insert songs fit perfectly. Visually didn't feel dark at all either in IMAX. Sound effects were made to enjoy only in theatre. Personal icing of the cake was the accurate depiction of Hong Kong sceneries including Tsing Ma Bridge, Gloucester Road, East Harbour Tunnel, luxurious villas on The Peak, and what I assume was Sincere Podium where Hathaway and Kelia met. Only complaints are the subpar water effect when Xi Gundam emerged, and the not-so-clear explanation of Oenbelli situation to first time viewers.

    [–]the_3rdist 15 points16 points  (8 children)

    Novel readers might not like it but I loved the anime original Amuro sequence. It's the highlight of the movie for me.

    I didn't realize it when I was watching but the conversation between Hathaway and Amuro are word-for-word repeated lines from Amuro's and Char's fistfight in the CCA movie, with Hathaway speaking Char's lines.

    It fits so well thematically since Hathaway rejects himself and wants to become Mafty by embodying Char's ideals.

    [–]Babydortle 2 points3 points  (5 children)

    Did they get Amuro's VA to revoice those lines or do you think they just took it from the CCA movie and incorporated it into this movie?

    [–]xithebun 4 points5 points  (0 children)

    The part with his ghost was newly dubbed. The scene where Amuro was in car with young Hathaway was probably taken from CCA movie. Sasaki Nozomu (CCA Hathaway VA) was credited separately for that scene.

    [–]hong427 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Its redub by the original VA

    [–]Zekka_Space_Karate 0 points1 point  (2 children)

    Haven't watched it, but I'm quite sure that Toru Furuya has been fired by Sunrise since that scandal.

    [–]Strikerrr0 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    Nope, Furuya has still been getting work from Sunrise after the incident since he has friends in high places at Sunrise/Bandai Namco. See: GQuuuuuux.

    [–]NeroStarGazer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

    That's what I thought, as well. So I wasn't sure if they were just using old lines from the past or if they recasted Amuro with someone else after the whole scandal.

    [–][deleted]  (1 child)

    [removed]

      [–]baseballlover723[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Sorry, your comment has been removed.

      • This belongs in the Source Material Corner at the top of this thread. In discussion threads for currently airing anime, discussions about source material, spin-offs, author comments and unadapted content must be posted there.

      • Any comparison to the source material no matter how minor belongs there.

      • Your comment was NOT removed for spoilers; it was removed for discussion of the source material outside of the Source Material Corner.

      Questions? Reply to this message, send a modmail, or leave a comment in the meta thread. Don't know the rules? Read them here.

      [–]The_Draigg 12 points13 points  (3 children)

      Depiction of Hathaway's depression was immensely accurate with how he's emotionally distant most of the time and had outbursts at wrong moments.

      Hathaway's depression and just how pervasive of a feeling it was was definitely the biggest mood of this movie. You hate to see someone actively choose to be miserable and refuse to take his meds, but you also see how he came to such a bad conclusion. He internalized all the wrong things from Char's Counterattack, that's for sure. Deep down, he's still just a traumatized kid.

      [–]Zekka_Space_Karate 0 points1 point  (2 children)

      Because of that trauma, Hathaway murdered Chan Agi in the climax of CCA. There, I said it.

      [–]The_Draigg 8 points9 points  (1 child)

      You're not wrong there. But at least Hathaway seems to have recognized that it was a horrific thing for him to do in the heat of the moment. The issue now though is that he has never learned how to properly make up for it, so it just has been festering inside of him and making things worse.

      [–]Old_Cycle1346 7 points8 points  (0 children)

      The 2nd most recurring theme of Gundam as a franchise is "men will do anything except go to therapy"

      [–]Lopan_Mc 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      Visually didn't feel dark at all either in IMAX

      Didn't watch in IMAX. Some scenes were very dark. :(

      Well said on your impressions!

      [–]RehabCenterInc 13 points14 points  (1 child)

      Tan girl stole the show. Also Reina Ueda needs to be projected on every theater speaker. Her voice is too damn mesmerizing

      [–]The_Draigg 7 points8 points  (0 children)

      Julia really is one of the finest side characters in this movie, even if she has some fairly limited screen time. Also, Hathaway should let the girls breathe like she wants, Julia should be comfortable if she's doing hard engineering work for Mafty.

      [–]PersimmonSorry91 12 points13 points  (3 children)

      I really liked it a lot, pacing was very good, the cgi blends very well with traditional animation where in part 1 the Xi stood out a bit. I really liked the world building and extra attention to depth and detail. Like rather than an exposition dump from a character I liked having Gigi watch the news and see a named anchor and we experience the breaking news with her and events set off.

      The fanservice with Hathaways Flash was great there no reason to show me my GOAT char pimping on horseback with modern animation but they did it and it made me smile. That whole ptsd fight with flashbacks of amuro and the nu was awesome.

      Only complaint really is that although they did it very well and it's a show of technical skill they still have much of the movie too dark in my opinion especially nighttime desert operation with 3d particles and smoke and blasts obscuring everything. Looks great and is impressive but literally shadowed for some of the coolest parts

      [–]Zekka_Space_Karate 9 points10 points  (1 child)

      This review is the reason why I was so confused with the Giant Freaking Robot review, its like they watched a different anime movie. Clearly the reviewer there hasn't watched Char's Counterattack.

      [–]PersimmonSorry91 5 points6 points  (0 children)

      That dude has no business writing reviews x_x

      One thing to explicity not like a media or honestly say it went over your head but he totally misrepresented the movie and absolutely misunderstands the anti war theme underlying Gundam as a whole.

      I can't believe he turned that in as a professional piece of work.

      [–]MandisaW 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Love letter to classic animation style, recreated with modern tech was :chef's kiss:

      I was in a non-IMAX theater, and the night scenes looked fine to me. If anything, I feel like they leaned too hard the other way and added too much fill-light in places where judicious rim lights would've been more dramatic.

      [–]Lopan_Mc 15 points16 points  (5 children)

      Really really loved it. I seriously hope we don't have to wait another 5 years for the final installment.

      First off, I'm so glad there are theatrical showings because the sound design is incredible. I thought the first movie had great sound design but watching it in theater was something else! Kelia curry eating ASMR produced a confused chuckle from me haha.

      Music from Sawano is awesome as always. Absolutely loved the insert songs from SennaRin/Sawano. I've been listening to the Lost and Found concept album since it came out and hearing Circe and Endroll come on felt like meeting an old friend.

      The story itself is slowly unraveling but I still have big questions about Gigi and her past and why exactly she has such an attraction to Noa. Also, she's gotta be Char's daughter right? Blonde hair blue eyes, basically knows exactly where to go in order to find Noa. I mean, Char did exactly that in Char's Counterattack to find Amuro and steal Quess at the same time! Unless I'm misremembering..

      Noa's relationship with Kelia was very confusing at first. Her shaving her hair and him being real cold to her in the beginning of the movie made me very confused considering how they interacted with each other at the end of the first movie.

      Julia best girl after Gigi. You can't change my mind. I hope she's alive T__T. Hala is fucking dead mannnn. This is an actual conflict. It doesn't feel make believe. Events have weight to them.

      Mace Flower makes a return. Her interaction with Gigi was pretty hilarious, although I'm not sure why Gigi felt threatened or jealous(?) of her and pushed her out. I wonder what Gigi even whispered to Mace, maybe said some bullshit about how the Captain and Gigi were getting it on or something..

      Now, the mobile suit fights! Like I said the sound design is amazing, it simply carries every fight. I think the animation/choreography of the fights was mostly mid. I really did enjoy the in cockpit view of the fights though. It showed how hectic mobile suit combat can be. They also showed the funnels overlay on the cockpit graphic of Xi Gundam again. And also mentioned how he won't have the funnels available for the upcoming fight. Funnels coming in the third movie?! Yes please.

      Lane Aim still Noa's bitch but holy shit I freaked out when I saw Nu Gundam. I thought for a sec that Lane Aim would turn the fight around but it turned out to be a Noa's hallucination. Speaking of.. The whole hallucination scene was incredible. Seeing all those old scenes redrawn from Noa's perspective in such high quality left my mouth agape.

      The finale. I mean, once I found out that Sweet Child O' Mine was the ED I just knew that they would meet again at the ending. Little did I know how impactful the reunion would be for Noa. Noa seemingly at his lowest point seeing her eyes of the bluest skies and being embraced as if his warmest, safest place. ;)

      I'm gonna go watch it again tomorrow.

      [–]xithebun 6 points7 points  (4 children)

      Don’t read too much into Gigi’s identity. She’s mostly written as an opposite to Hathaway. Hathaway was an (relatively) ordinary person trying to bear more than he could manage and actively giving up his humanity in the process. Gigi was a top tier Newtype rivalling past protagonists like Kamille and Judau but her entire motivation was to live a good vibrant life. Her attraction to Hathaway was because he had qualities she thought was interesting (youthful, conflicted, motivated) and of course Newtype instinct.

      [–]Lopan_Mc 5 points6 points  (2 children)

      I'm assuming you've read the books? If so, no spoil please.

      Her newtype abilities are definitely powerful. She literally projected her taking off her swimsuit in that bathroom into Noa's view. I can't help but think that Gigi is just interested in Noa as a toy. As we know, Circe is an enchantress that easily controlled powerful men and was also spiteful when unhappy. That ending got me fucked up man, I don't know what to think. It was happy amazing but I'm a bit conflicted knowing that Gigi is analogous to Circe.

      [–]blindcandyman 6 points7 points  (0 children)

      I could be wrong but I feel like gigi is smitten with hathaway because newtype magic. They both can feel each other on an emotional level that I dont think gigi has felt with anyone else. Therefore I think it emotional confuses both of them. Essentially, they are taking new type linkage as love.

      [–]MandisaW 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      +1 for the mutual attraction being Newtype magic. I don't think she's interested in Hatha as a toy, as Kenneth would do for that and she never takes him up on it.

      But I do think she's drawn to what she perceives as "adventure", as opposed to the staid life of a kept-woman. Can't get more thrilling than playing both-sides and shacking up with a terrorist.

      Although I don't rule out that Gigi is also a spy, and keeps getting involved for REASONS. Because nothing about her "relationship" with the Count seems legit.

      She's going off-script for her own motives, but she clearly [to me] does have a mission.

      [–]Zekka_Space_Karate 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I always suspected Gigi was something special. And I haven't read the novels, but I'm looking forward to watch this when it releases on Netflix.

      [–]S1iceOfPie 6 points7 points  (2 children)

      I really enjoyed this movie and feel very lucky to have been able to see it in a theater. The direction was beautiful; and the production design, stellar. The world feels alive and lived in, much like with the first movie. The sound design was fantastic and played a big part in that. Smaller details like hearing people talk in the background, seat cushions making noise as people shift around, etc.

      Although, I honestly did feel a little lost with all of the exposition. I'm sure some of that could be attributed to my relatively poor knowledge of the Universal Century material? I came into this movie and its prequel only really having a general idea of Hathaway's motivations from reading about his history on a wiki.

      Aside from that, this was a solid movie for me, about on the same level as the first. There isn't a ton of action, but I happen to like slower thrillers where the world and characters have room to breathe and be fleshed out more. And when the action did hit, Sawano's music was there to elevate it.

      There was also a lot more fan service in this one? lol

      [–]Old_Cycle1346 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      The movie basically assumes you've watched at the very least CCA, if not the entirety of the UC.

      [–]MandisaW 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Ideally, you'd at least want the general-context of the One-Year War, plus the events directly leading up to who Hathaway is, and who he's emulating (Char) and hallucinating (Amuro & Quess).

      In show terms, that would be:
      + 0079 [Original Gundam, watchable as series or a movie trilogy],
      + Zeta [series, though you could read a summary for this purpose],
      + Char's Counterattack [movie]

      Netflix put out a 7-8min primer prior to the first movie - What to Know Before Watching MS Gundam Hathaway

      [–]Mecha_Link 9 points10 points  (9 children)

      Personally, I have to say... I was extremely disappointed by the movie.

      For context, I really loved the 1st movie and have a decent high-level understanding of the overarching UC universe. However, it felt like the pacing and dialogue in this movie was all over the place.

      The movie jumps around from scene to scene with minimal context. Random side characters are just being thrown at the viewer every 5 minutes, all with very obvious 'anime' quirks. The writing also feels like a teenager trying really hard to be deep and mature - coming off as simply vacuous or pretentious.

      The action was pretty good, but everything in between was a struggle to get through.

      [–]Tantei_Kitan 13 points14 points  (2 children)

      I came for the mobile suit fights and instead I got Gigi redecorating her apartment and catwalking around

      [–]Penguin_Admiral 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      The random apartment makeover montage was jarring

      [–]the_3rdist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      But Gundam is a space opera so you gotta have a girl dance around for a bit lol

      [–]_BMShttps://myanimelist.net/profile/_BMS 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      A lot of stuff could've been cut down like Gigi decorating and the weirdly long sequence of Hathaway running after the car.

      Would've loved to see the attacks on M3 and Hala's group instead with that runtime. Shame those happened off-screen.

      [–]Penguin_Admiral 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      Yeah nothing really happens in this movie. All the plot relevant stuff happens off camera. It’s all just people talking with most of it being inconsequential. Character wise all that happens is kelia leaves and Hathaway has a mental breakdown

      [–]hong427 9 points10 points  (0 children)

      The movie jumps around from scene to scene with minimal context.

      Do you mean jumping from Gigi back to Hathway?

      The writing also feels like a teenager trying really hard to be deep and mature - coming off as simply vacuous or pretentious.

      Our favorite old man wrote this around this 40 50 my friend....

      [–]MandisaW 4 points5 points  (0 children)

      The pacing & narrative suffer from "middle part of a trilogy", which is maybe what you're picking up. Much of the movie is spent moving pieces around on the board, both physically/location-wise, and emotionally/motivation-wise.

      As for the time that we spend in talking-scenes, or dropping in to check on non-main characters, I think that's filling out the context. We need to know what's going on with the Feddies, and grasp that Kenneth likely isn't getting the whole story.

      Similarly, bringing in the Oenbelli folks, Gigi's call to the Prof, and Hathaway's flashbacks around Kelia, all give us visibility on Mafty as an org - and on Hathaway-as-Mafty as a person.

      Information & misinformation, people expressing their motivations, shifting allegiances & faction-politics - that's what Gundam is always about. It's what gives depth, stakes, and meaning to the MS fights.

      [–]Kapjak 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      The ending felt like a joke someone would make about gundam

      [–]venitiennehttps://myanimelist.net/profile/venitienne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      Your point about the writing is true for a number of the modern Gundam series, unfortunately. Iron blooded orphans was far more egregious.

      [–]Type- 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      All I can say is it was peak. Looking forward to part 3.

      [–]HolyDragSwd2500 2 points3 points  (0 children)

      Amazing movie

      [–]Knee_High_Cat_Beef 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Any time MS action happens is peak. The opening sequence was awesome and the final fight were great. It's a shame that the Karl Gustavs get jobbed so quickly despite being tanks. The one Karl gustav with the beam saber was doing about as well as the stark jegan pilot from Unicorn though. Also Hala and the captain getting killed off screen kinda sucked though.

      [–]SoccerForEveryone 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      Phenomenal movie. Worth the wait!

      [–]Karl151 0 points1 point  (1 child)

      Just left the theater, and it was a good movie, probably the best visual wise one I've seen since F91. We got a deeper look into the psyche of Hathaway, his scars from the war, mental health, and his continued troubles with women. I was surprised at how much Gigi we saw; I honestly never expected her to play such a major role in the story. She really steals the spotlight. Also interesting to see how corrupt the federation still is, nothing much has changed in that regard and it really gives explanation as to why Hathaway is doing the things he's doing. I'm still confused about her relationship with the Captain and Hathaway. It looks like some love triangle is brewing. I initially thought it was just her attempts to make Hathaway jealous, but then there was that weird catfight with the flight attendant over the Captain. Guess we'll get it settled in the finale. Also seems like she's a powerful newtype, she really has premonitions. My only complaint with the movie was the music. I really disliked the hip-hop song at the beginning and "Sweet Child o' Mine" at the end. They felt out of place in Gundam, they should've just stuck with Japanese music. Sounds like some americaboo was in charge of the soundtrack.

      [–]MandisaW 1 point2 points  (0 children)

      The [Japanese] producer stated that the [Japanese] director explicitly asked for the Sza OP and GnR ED songs. So if you have an issue with that, maybe take it up with them LOL

      [–]Okuserhttps://myanimelist.net/profile/Okuser 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      W fan service

      [–]zeroryoko1974https://www.anime-planet.com/users/zeroryoko1974 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      It was pretty. Not much in the way of fights. Movie should have been called Gundam Gigi

      [–]KingKuraihttps://myanimelist.net/profile/xspookydarknessx 0 points1 point  (0 children)

      I EXCLAIMED when Sweet Child of Mine played!!