Kidou Senshi Gundam: Gyakushuu no Char

Char's Counterattack should not exist. This movie was a slap in the face to those who enjoyed Zeta Gundam and Char Aznable. I'm shocked to see many users here giving this movie such a high score when it really doesn't deserve it. Spoilers ahead, You've been warned. Let's start off with the plot, with no reason given nor hints during the entirety of Zeta Gundam and it's sequel ZZ (which Char never appeared in), we see that Char Aznable, the man who gave that great speech to ward off the titans from Earth, is now the leader of Neo-Zeon. Char's goal is to wipe all lifeon Earth by dropping an asteroid on it. Yes, the same Char who refused to join with Haman Karn in Zeta who also had a similar ambition (dropping colonies in ZZ) is now trying to kill all of Earth's inhabitants. Why and how did this happen? We saw that Char got over the death of Lalah in Zeta, yet here he is in this film complaining to Amuro that Lalah could've been his mother. It's almost like that "MARTHA" meme from Batman v Superman. Does this movie at least take the time to explain why he's doing this? Barely. His motive for doing all this is to get back at Amuro for killing Lalah, when he actually teamed up with him during Zeta without even a hint of a grudge against him. Again this all doesn't make any sense. Do you see a pattern in this review? It's like Yoshiyuki Tomino and his writers wanted to undo Zeta Gundam's story when it's actually one of the best stories from the U.C. Another gripe I had with this film was the characters, there was barely enough time to get to see characters like Amuro and Char. Instead screen time is given to characters like Quess and Hathaway, and let me just say, if you thought Reccoa was a bitch, wait till you see Quess. Within the first 20 minutes of the film, you'll come to wish Bright came out early to slap the shit outta her. I was actually cheering for Chen when she killed Quess but that turned into disappointment with Hathaway acting even worse than Kamille or Amuro's tantrums by killing Chen. I almost felt bad for her but then I realized it was Chen's fault that one of the key crew members from the Argama, Astonaige dies due to her recklessness. A pointless death that wasn't given any mourning or impact. Just a quick boom, he's dead. Just like how Tomino cared for Zeta when he wrote this movie. I wanted to see some of the characters like Astonaige and Bright react to Char's sudden change of character, but instead we're given a sappy side love triangle/square between Quess, Gyunei, Hathaway and Char. What for? At least 3 of these characters end up dead anyway. Another thing that I would've love to see are characters like Sayla and Kamille show up. Remember that crappy ending with the Newtype Psychic wave that covered the Earth? I would've loved to see Kamille and Sayla sense and feel that wave. What did we get instead? An old grandma and some animals reacting to this wave. Not even a cameo from those two. I guess Kamille and Sayla missed out on this shitfest. I think the movie would've been slightly better if we had them show up in some way to remind viewers that those characters still exist. I would've loved to see Kamille and Sayla just try and ask why Char is doing all this exactly like I was when I saw this movie. The ending was a WTF moment too, did Amuro and Char die? Did they just disappear out of thin air? The last thing we hear from Amuro is a "aughh". We didn't even see the cockpit explode or the asteroid explode either. It just moves away from the Earth. I guess I'll have to watch Unicorn to find out. I'm getting a lot of mixed messages on this ending. I read some background information on this film and found that Tomino actually based this film on a novel he did. So basically this movie was all just a cash grab to get his novel to sell but most of the stuff he writes turn outs to be the exact opposite of what actually happens in the anime so I guess this time we didn't get so lucky. (He originally wanted Amuro dead in the original series and in Zeta, he wanted Kamille to commit suicide after killing Scirocco.) I think we should be glad that someone is forcing him to change these endings around but I guess since he was allowed the reigns to do as he pleases in this film, we got such a sad and pathetic sequel. Trust me, I wanted to like this film, this was hyped up among the Gundam fandom for being the thrilling conclusion between Amuro and Char's rivalry, but instead I left disappointed. This was as much as a negative whiplash to me as Tenchi Muyo's OVA 3 was. Both this film and Tenchi OVA 4 required reading outside source material that never left outside of Japan, leaving viewers like me just confused on this whole film. This film probably would've been a lot better if it was another TV series instead of a movie, that way we might understand these new characters better. For now, this movie really blows. 4/10

Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, by the well-known Gundam creator and director Tomino Yoshiyuki, is the first movie to enter the Gundam franchise. Watching this definitely requires the viewer to have at least seen Mobile Suit Gundam and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, because otherwise you will simply not get the full enjoyment out of it. With that being said, the film has some great aspects and memorable moments, but there are a couple disappointing flaws that weigh down its score. The biggest flaw lies in the story. And not in the plot, but in the back story. The plot is a fairly basic tale in theUC Gundam universe that pits long-time rivals Amuro Ray and Char Aznable against one another again, but the background is a little foggy. Char is now the leader of the new Zeon army, and Amuro is back in action alongside Bright Noa, just like old times. This is all great and it sets up a nice story, but we get absolutely no explanation as to how these things came to be. Between Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, the predecessor to this film, and CCA, there is no telling of how Char, who went missing after Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, climbed the latter to become the Zeon big dog. Likewise, there is no telling of how Amuro, who was also last seen in Zeta, became a star fighter of the Federation again. But aside from the poor lack of background, the story that we witness in the movie is fairly good and nicely played out. It has a decent mix of saddening situations and epic moments, as expected of Tomino and the Gundam franchise. Now the art and animation, when taken into account dates back to 1988, is something truly stunning. The mecha designs look so much more detailed and the battles have wonderfully animated choreography, resulting in some pretty impressive action. Adding to the action's intensity is the well apt music, which has the classic space opera vice to it, once again suiting the atmosphere very well. The quality of character is a little debatable. Mainly because there were some new supporting characters that made appearances that were a little unnecessary. The attraction and large amount of screen time to these small co-stars took away some of the focus on the fierce rivalry of Amuro and Char. And really, these two adversaries are who we want to see the most out of here. These two men are prominent stars of the Gundam metaseries, and we want to see them in all their glory. They deserve all the screen time is the point I'm basically trying to get at, and unfortunately these small fry that are introduced in this film steal the spotlight just a bit too much. In the end though, this is still a thoroughly enjoyable watch for any Gundam fan. The rivalry between Amuro Ray and Char Aznable is truly unforgettable and one of the best in all of anime, and watching this undoubtedly caters to those who want to see more of it, even if they get a tad sidetracked along the way as I've explained above. Overall, this is a pretty solid movie and it deserves its place in the Gundam franchise.

*Spoilers for Char’s Counterattack* A harrowing tale of love, betrayal, grudges, death, and faith, an epic battle to save the world, and a final battle to settle one of fiction’s greatest rivalries and conclude an epic saga that has spanned an entire decade. This is final chapter! This is Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack! Much like Char’s plans themselves, this movie didn't quite pan out as intended. Instead of the gripping and somber finale to an iconic rivalry, the film is more of an exhibition of how stupid people can be and how a lack of foresight can damage a saga, film, and finale. The epic conclusionto this legendary and awkwardly managed saga somehow doesn't utilize the saga's canon very well, resulting in a misfire as tragic as its characters' fates. Let's find out how, shall we? 0093 Universal Century Calendar. A plan has been initiated to drop Axis onto Earth by none other than Char himself. Why Char is doing this is beyond me thanks to the fact that not only was he never remotely like this, but there was no progression from any Gundam series to this point. Either way, this has gotten the Earth Federation panicking, especially since whenever they try treaties, he backstabs the hell out of them and blows whatever forces are near him to kingdom come. None take it worse than Amuro Ray, the ultimate rival of Char, and thus, the rivalry begins again. Sounds like an interesting premise, don't it? If you made it so that Char’s plan is in line with his typical actions and how he is as a person (since they aren't), this would be totally kickass. That said, you'd also have to give a good justification for why he went back to being an awful person considering how he was in Zeta Gundam. On top of that, you'd need to justify why these two would butt heads again, and the film's attempts at this aren't very compelling. Already, this film fundamentally fails. Speaking of reasons this film fundamentally fails, we get the introduction of 3 characters: Gyunei, Hathaway, and Quess. I'll talk about how fucking retarded these pieces of shit are later, but let’s just say that their stupidity and actions are very...intrusive, to put it kindly. Two of them are the subject of bad heel turns and all of them have terrible romantic aspiration subplots that start up for no legitimate reason, and the amount of time spent on them simply bogs down the movie. They're not the only ones with romance subplots however since not only has Astionage gotten himself a girlfriend named Kayra, and Amuro and Chan have banter before sharing a kiss in the middle of the movie. Both go nowhere but I have to ask: did something happen between Amuro and Beltorika? They aren't in ZZ, and we never see that they split in either this or Zeta Gundam, so what happened between them that Amuro is now single and ready to kiss a girl? This movie doesn't say anything, making this subplot rather badly written in terms of implications. For Astionage and Kayra, he wants to cook her a pasta but in battle she dies, causing her to mourn over her corpse about the pasta he earned to make for her. Honestly, it would've been more impactful if we see him making pasta before the news got to him. Regardless, let's move on. Even with all that, there aren't many plot holes or many other inconsistencies in the film, but then we get the Axis drop and Amuro’s attempt to stop it...along with a team of mobile suits from the Federation’s 88th fleet outta nowhere just to try and make a deus ex machina, which initially seems to fail but then, out of nowhere, Amuro’s Nu Gundam starts shooting our green particles after a morality sparring match with Char and this is enough to get Axis off course and deflect it entirely, with the fate of our two rivals left unknown, and then the movie abruptly ends after this deus ex machina. I don't need to explain how bad this writing is, right? I mean, it doesn't kill the movie, hell, the plot wasn't all that great to begin with thanks to bad character subplots and decisions but this was just the final nail in the coffin. At least, it would be, but the final nail actually turned out to be how this film doesn't have any stable chronology with the previous installments, as nothing built up to this. To be fair, given how not much left over from Zeta properly carried over to ZZ, it's no surprise the same happened here. What is surprising is that where ZZ resorted to retcons, this one is disconnected from ZZ almost entirely. The only thing connecting them together is a throwaway line about the failures of the main antagonist from ZZ who made her debut in the final stretch of Zeta Gundam. As if this film needed more reasons why it just doesn't work on a basic level. For the returning case, luckily Noa and Amuro are basically kept intact, even despite how agitated they are in this crazy new crisis. Char meanwhile...let’s say that his biggest flaw is the extremes of this new plan since this is basically the product of progression that we never got to see since he was never remotely thinking of this kind of action in Zeta or the original Gundam, so what happened that made him truly hate humanity so much? Aside from that and how decidedly uncharismatic he is now given his main antagonist status, he’s kept intact as well. We never cared about Astionage, and Mirai is barely even present throughout this movie. Now to what really tanked here: the new characters. Let's start with one of the most hated characters in Gundam history, Quess! Aside from being an emotionally manipulative bitch, she, for no reason, tries to stake claim for both Amuro and Char and hated people close to them for “getting in her way” and really shows what a spoiled brat she is. The fact that she becomes to willing to kill anyone and everyone makes it worse since she’s already a flip-flop character, an inconsistent pancake that just flips and flops all the time because she’s a selfish and manipulative whore that has nothing else concrete about her! Gyunei initially to want to study her as a way of improving himself as a Cyber Newtype but then, out of nowhere, he falls head over heels for her and is ready to do whatever it takes to destroy Char to win her over. Why he would fall for a 13-year-old when he is seemingly a lot older is beyond me by it just happens abruptly without any reason as to why. The jackass doesn't even get to die properly because we never actually see him die outside of his mech getting blown up. You'd think for such a notable character for the film they'd at least show him in the process of dying. I'm aware that Hathaway isn't actually exclusive to CCA, but like Katz, we only get to see him do things and have a personality that affects a narrative in his somewhat grown-up appearance, which is here in this case. For the most part, he seems like a decent kid, even though he falls for Quess. However, late into the movie, he loves her so much (for no real reason other than they went on a date, we don't even see him having a crush on her beforehand) that after Chan kills her to save his life, he outright blasts her to death. Is the main message of the movie supposed to be that love makes you stupid? If so, there are better ways and settings to show that message without having such badly written as intrusive characters on display, and all of these guys have ample screen time and relevance to major scenes in the movie, just to make matters worse. Anyone else in this film is one-dimensional and basically worthless to the narrative other than Nanai (who is only really notable to me for delivering a deliciously satisfying slap to that bitch Quess) that I'm not gonna waste any more time dissecting this overall pretty terrible cast of characters. Studio Sunrise and Studio Hirabi to make this film, and if nothing else, the film looks gorgeous. The action and mech animation shows off the best of what the 80’s were capable of, with such crisp and smooth animation and detail with every bit of action and movement, making the battles brilliant to look at. The Nu Gundam and the Sazabi have particularly great mobile suit designs and all of the other new mechs look pretty neat too. The almost angel dust-like sparks coming from every shot fired from a blaster rifle and every explosion make this film just majestic to bask in when it comes to seeing the fight scenes, and the character animations and designs look great as ever. The only gripe I have is in one of the colonies having egregiously dated CGI that also fucks over its frame rate. I never knew that was possible in the 80’s and it was a disconcerting experience to be sure, though it hardly takes anything away from the glorious visuals of the film. Honestly, the visuals are so good that some viewers might just be able to brush the writing aside and enjoy it as an action spectacle. That's all this film is good for, honestly. Sadly, almost none of the tracks in this film are memorable, which is a real disappointment, especially considering how good Zeta's soundtrack was. There is only one track from one of the earlier scenes that sounds pretty good and I wish there were more pieces here that sounded actually cinematic and memorable. None of it is bad music but nothing sticks, not even the ED. It's not the worst soundtrack in this timeline, but not one of the better ones. The dub is also rather meh, barring Brad Swaile’s great returning performance as Amuro and Michael Kopsa as Char Aznable, who despite a few weak moments, sounds pretty good and has a really booming political speech at the midway point. Everyone else is rather so-so, some being worse than others but even then, the dub never sounds overall bad, but these two basically saved the dub from absolute mediocrity. Like with some of the worst anime Gundam installments out there, good mech action isn't enough to make a good Gundam series. If an action show or movie wants to have a story as its focus, the story it tries to tell actually has to make sense and the drama has to work without being an intrusion on the product and our enjoyment of it. Unfortunately, Char's Counterattack fails at all of this, so you either enjoy it as a spectacle, or you get a headache out of frustration. Despite trying to cap off one of the most monumental sagas and rivalries in the industry, the film can't justify its own existence. The more Studio Sunrise uses this film's events as a lynchpin for dodgy future titles, the more headache-inducing these failures become. There's a reason I say this timeline dies with the end of Zeta Gundam.

The movie is mediocre. On the side of the plot, there is no previous set up for the events, leaving the background like a big black hole gap behind. Plus, the antagonist's motivations are so stupid that is a pitiful to see: 'we must save thi planet of the human vermins and pollution so let's dump a massive amount of spacial trash and nukes to make then leave'. True is that even in aeug times the objetive was pull out humans... right into space, but it was a ecologist organization too, protecting earth by destroying it is well... bullshit. The characterization is a real piece of fiasco.No more than a collection of 'already seen characters' 'The kid that was brought with the sole purpose of staging something REALLY stupid' 'the cyborg new type idiot ludicrous woman' and so on, there is no a single bit of intelligence nor endearing or originality in the original cast. Not satisfied with a mediocre original cast, plus, the Char's characterization is preposterous, representing an involution in all respects. Not only in his motivations but personality too, demised to not much more than an upstart brat playing around with heavy weaponry. Leaving us with a pale reflex of old good times, when a mature epic veteran in 80's fashioned sunglasses still was there. At least Amuro was really fine and matched quite well. In the trash box we can pick up some edible rice grains in the form of some nasty good pieces of battle stage music/sounds. Not really impressive though (well, may be by the time). Included with a really joyfull pace rhythm and the enjoy of something gundam like are the only reasons for save the score of total fall off the cliff.

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