English Dub Review: Mobile Suit Gundam the Origin: Advent of the Red Comet “Colony Drop”

 

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

We begin where we left off, amidst mass chaos on Island Iffish. The brave Yuki watches and is prepared to fight as his beloved Fong Li retreats into her family’s shelter. Alas, there love is not meant to be, because the entire domed island turns out to be the tactical assault on Earth that Dozle mentioned in the previous episode.

Despite the opposition firing at the island, it breaches Earth’s atmosphere and separates into three parts. One section decimates Australia, another Canada, and the final annihilates the South Pacific. Chain reactions from the blasts result in the scorching of the planet and the death of nearly half its population.

Meanwhile, at a periodic meeting of the entire Zabi clan, warmongering Gihren insists they need to destroy Loum. Degwin is amiss because they’ve already sent billions of innocent colonists to their deaths. Dozle, surprisingly the most level-headed family member, rushes to see his newborn daughter who he sired with a former cadet, Zenna Mia.

Like with everything, he is super loud and aggressive with the baby and upsets her almost immediately. Once Zenna finally gets her to bed, Dozle confesses that he feels terrible about how many children—like his daughter Mineva—he is responsible for killing as a result of his family’s war. But then he talks himself into a complete one-eighty and decides that he must kill more people—millions more if necessary—to keep his new family safe and prosperous for generations. Zenna Mia agrees, but only because her husband is big and intimidating.

On Loum, we’re re-introduced to an almost adult, Artesia Deikun. She’s lying low and working as a doctor. Lt. Tachi tracks her down to share some news. He tells her that—in his humble opinion—her brother is still alive, and that she should… maybe… keep an eye on Char Aznable for the foreseeable future. Desperate to know more, she runs after Tachi only to be interrupted by a distressing phone call from the real Char’s father. He informs her that her father-figure, Don Teabolo has collapsed.

The Federation is prepared to use the remainder of their forces in the ultimate battle for Loum. After catching the wind, the Zabis amass their best generals to discuss strategy. Dozle first reminds everybody that if they lose, every last one of them will be executed for war crimes. And that’s why he calls for an all-out strike on their opponents to end the Federation threat once and for all.

Ramba Ral, after an embarrassing demotion, now spends most of his days at Club Eden. As his former unit members and friends are leaving for Loum to possibly sacrifice their lives for Zeon, he curses the Zabi family, calling them a bunch of no good murderers. The former commander no longer cares who overhears him.

 

Our Take

Thank you, Mobile Suit Gundam for immediately explaining your reasons for focusing on Yuki and Fong Li. Because they both died not long after the shelters were sealed, it showed the viewers the human side to this horrible war. It doesn’t matter if you’re rooting for the Federation or Zeon; the Zabis or Char Aznable; Ramba Ral or Amuro’s stupid little ball toy; there will always be innocents in the cross-hairs that have it way worse than any of our so-called protagonists.

Holy crap, Dozle is crazy. And yet sometimes he’s smarter than all his siblings combined. But today, he was too smart for his own good when he justified genocide if it meant a good legacy for his daughter, Mineva, and her hypothetical brothers. It seems that philosophy and the Zabi family don’t mix. Then again, I suppose every warlord in history had to justify his horrendous deeds or warmongering wouldn’t even be a thing. Then again, maybe all warlords are sociopaths—that’s feasible.

It was nice of Casval to show up for two seconds just to remind everybody how amazing he finds himself. While Zeon’s only true heir has always been a cocky little shit, his attitude is way worse now that he has the power to back it up. The realism of everybody insulting him behind his back but groveling to his face—his weird masked face—is a nice touch. The show creators must’ve spent some time in the military, or they did a hell of a job researching the subject.

The best part of the episode, by far, was the return of Artesia. From the beginning, she’s been the only main character we can relate to. While she makes mistakes, she’s a generally kind person who cares about the common people as much as she does her family—what’s left of it anyway. The girl has lost almost everybody in her life, and now it looks like she’s about to lose her surrogate father. And now we’re left to wonder if she’ll seek out her lost brother or if she’ll hang back and continue to provide aid to the injured and needy. Either way, at least she won’t be on Loum when the fighting starts.