English Dub Review: Mobile Suit Gundam the Origin: Advent of the Red Comet “Char, the Red Comet”

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

After giving Loum a routing on the battlefield, Degwin Zabi wants to discuss the terms of the Federation’s surrender. Unfortunately, Gihren, who’s been steadily amassing power, takes a more hawkish approach and doesn’t want to give up until the Federation’s troops are eviscerated. Degwin’s daughter, Kycilia, takes her father’s side in private, but as soon as the tricky vixen gets beyond the palace walls, she’s as bloodthirsty as her eldest brother.

Kycilia, after slithering a bit, meets the Zabi’s lieutenant-general at a bougie art gallery. Confident they won’t run into Dozle or her father at such an establishment, the two power players plot. She tells him to go to Loum to discuss peace so long as he never signs on the dotted line. The stalwart, female Zabi assures him Garma will be there to have his back, and Degwin would never do anything to put his precious blue-haired son in danger.

By the way, Garma got his title of major and control of the ground units on Loum only because he bitched about it to everybody. First, he begged his father, then Dozle, then a few random dudes we never see, until finally, his father gave in. Even though he did nothing to earn his new position, he still bragged about it to Char Aznable at the Zeon victory party.

Char, on the contrary, doesn’t give a damn about Garma or promotions in general, but he fakes interest all the same. Char is now beloved by the people; the women want to be with him, and the men… well, they also want to be with him. The other soldiers hate him because he gets all the glory, and Garma is increasingly jealous of him because despite having been equals in military school, Char now has way more experience. And it’s because of his fame and experience that Dozle sends him on a super-secret mission.

Somewhere, there is a team of scientists working on a special mobile suit known only as V. How does Dozle know this? Because it’s been featured in the closing credits for the past three or four weeks. It is now Char’s job to destroy this secret weapon. To help him, Dozle gives him an amazing new battleship and a more than capable crew. Will our anti-hero succeed?

Meanwhile, Degwin is super-serious about making peace with the Federation. He even breaks bread with the imprisoned admiral. And while the admiral was susceptible to Degwin’s plan, that evening a group of Federation officers breaks him out of prison. Except they’re not Federation officers, they’re hired mercenaries hired by Kycilia to make it look like the Federation is still hot for a fight.

Geez, Degwin can reign supreme over an entire galaxy, but the man can’t keep his damn children in line. I sense blood in the water and a number of sharks ready to strike.

 

Our Take

It’s weird when these future people mention the likes of Hitler and Napoleon. It feels like their worlds are so far apart, so how could they even relate? After that, the art museum was an even more surreal experience. The curator had no idea what the artifacts really were or that a clearly Japanese mask didn’t come from ancient Rome. It’s almost as if these survivors have forgotten history and are therefore doomed to repeat it.

For an episode called, “Char, the Red Comet,” we didn’t see too much of Char. Yes, much of the plot revolved around his secret mission, and Garma couldn’t shut the hell up about how established his buddy has become, but we didn’t get a lot of quality time with the man himself. Also, where the hell is Lalah? He’s supposed to be protecting her from the galaxy’s worst criminals at all times, and yet he neglects her every chance he gets.

My god! I didn’t think Garma could get more annoying after witnessing his behavior last week, but damn if he didn’t triple his annoyance level this time around. How is this despicable creature his father’s favorite? Is it because he’s the only one Degwin can count to remain loyal? I mean, that’s obviously true since his other children are running amok while ruining everything the Zabi family has attempted to build. Dozle remains loyal, but he’s far too dumb to become the sovereign leader. At least Garma finally shut up as soon as he was allowed to blow stuff up.

The next episode is the finale—unfortunately, it won’t air next week because Toonami has opted to show a Dragon Ball Super marathon. However, the week after that we’ll get a sort of conclusion to this prequel series. Most of the lingering questions will remain unanswered since it already unfolded forty years ago in a much cheaper animation style. It also aired on Toonami almost twenty years ago. But here’s hoping they remaster the original version and give it an Evangelion-style reboot on Netflix or one of the half-million other streaming services.