English Dub Review: Mobile Suit Gundam the Origin: Advent of the Red Comet “The Principality of Zeon Declares its Independence”

 

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Emboldened by Garma’s military strike against Earth Federation, and given an excuse because of Dr. Minovsky’s near defection, the Zabi family on behalf of Zeon declares independence. And in true Zabi fashion, they make their declaration with violence in lieu of diplomacy. And since they are the only principality with the latest mobile suits, they excel at violence more than anybody else.

With Degwin declaring himself Sovereign and Gihren promoted to fascist-y Supreme Commander, Zeon is quickly becoming the type of place the Deikun family always feared. While the younger Zabis attempt some faux diplomacy, most of their meetings end with political assassinations or unfortunate “accidents.”

Meanwhile, the Federation, with the uneasy support of the Anaheim corporation, is trying desperately to keep up with the mobile suit arms race. Tem Ray—father of young Amuro—has figured out the technology to create a mobile suit called RX-78, or Gundam. This amazing mobile suit has the potential to change the course of the war in the Federation’s favor. If only they’d agree to fund it.

Amuro, while in the dark about his father’s designs, starts to get suspicious because his dad just leaves a bunch of blueprints and governmental paperwork lying around. He suppresses his curiosity; however, because he has more problems with his mind—bullies at school. When greaser, Kai, and his gang aren’t mocking Amuro while he’s talking to his pretty classmate, they’re scooping him up in their bulldozer to cause trouble at the Anaheim factory. That latter scheme nearly gets all those boys killed, but luckily Amuro’s father’s clout spares them the gallows.

Ramba Ral, once a noble hero, is now living each day in shades of gray. After slaughtering a bunch of people with his near-unstoppable mobile suit, his conscience finally get the better of him. Knowing all the bloodshed isn’t necessary, Ramba confronts Dozle. But Dozle’s orders are contradictory, as he wishes for Ramba to bomb Earth. Ramba, not a fan of destroying humanity’s home planet, refuses to carry out the order, calling it “the work of the devil.”

The episode ends on Island Iffish, where all sorts of anarchy are going on. There, a soldier boy named Yuki and a girl named Fong Li connect on their way to a fallout shelter. Yuki, who must stay behind the guard the shelter Fong Li and her family plan to reside in, believes in the system and assures her everything will be fine. With doom on the horizon, they share a kiss.

 

Our Take

Oh man, is this show sliding off the rails. Who the hell are Yuki and Fong Li? Why should I care about them? Sure, they seem sweet enough, but why are we just getting to their story in episode eight? Who is the protagonist of this story, anyway?

We only got one short scene with Casval and Lalah. He was doing the exact same thing he was doing the last episode—blowing everything up with the most powerful mobile suit ever. Not much character growth for Char’s blue-eyed doppelganger. Lalah continues to be weird and spacey. I think we’re supposed to like her—and I do—but she needs to do something meaningful before this show is over.

Ramba, who used to also be a main—if not the main—character, has been reduced to a whiny extra. Granted, it’s good that he doesn’t want to be a party to genocide, but we already know that Ramba is a noble character and that he’s been struggling with his morality. His tipping point needed to be bigger, especially since he’s been kowtowing to the Zabis for years.

Amuro is the protagonist of the main series and that’s why it’s necessary to check in with him in this origin tale—I get that. But this kid couldn’t be more passive if he was in a coma. He’s awkward around girls and he refuses to stand up for himself even when his bullies are driving an actual bulldozer. And what’s the deal with his toy? Does it play an R2-D2 type of role in the main series? Or is it around just to give the dud something to talk to? Either way, that toy is crap!

For seven episodes the creators have done a lot to humanize the otherwise irredeemable Zabi family. But they negated that in a single episode. They’re now the epitome of the despots Casval believed them to be ever since his father was murdered. Sure, Degwin and Gihren have always been lost causes, but it seemed like Dozle and Kycilia were a bit more than just rotten extensions of their family. Nope. At least Garma still has the potential to redeem himself. But maybe not…